KITCHEN UNCONFIDENTIAL: VERMONT

             

                           



LIVING LOCAL in WINTER'S LAST HURRAH

        Eating within a 100 mile radius of your home is the locavore mantra. Living in Vermont

        makes that very easy. Local foods here are high quality and prolific per capita. Vermont is #1

         of fifty states where the Foodies Locavore Index recognized this distinction, using USDA

        and US Census data from 2010 & 2011.  California where the eat local and fresh movement
   
         began turned up at number 41!  Florida is last, which is pathetic, since planting can be rotated
     
         year round.

             My husband and I decided to move to Vermont and we have never looked back.

       It was the best decision we made together for many reasons but the lure of fresh, organic food

       was top of the list. The quality of life here is a phenomenon in these twisted times.

           In my kitchen we eat at least 85 to 90% local ALL Winter, hardly any trucked in food.

      Vermont products and produce are seasonably fresh and abundant. VT really is the Green

       Mountain State. The Farmers are entrepreneurs who are dedicated to innovation.  Every Spring

       new products and sources appear. I personally know them and to me they are the real Rock Stars

       on the Planet. Some of their products that sustain us all winter are Grass-fed beef, chickens,

       turkey, goat, eggs, magnificent cheeses, maple syrup, honey, beans, wheat, oats, corn, sunflower

       oil, yogurt, butter, rye whiskey, vodka made from milk, gin made from honey, best beer

       in the East, carrots, onions, potatoes, beets, celeriac, winter squash, apples, pears, mushrooms

       and herbs just to name some. I also have a large veggie garden, a kitchen herb garden and a big

       blueberry patch that  I share with the black bears.

            And yet with all this, I buy citrus, some lettuces, pineapple, bananas, parma cheese,  

        olive oil, olives, fish, salt, pepper, spices, and chocolate. I'm a passionate cook!

           When the Spring crops come in, more amazing bounty from our fabulous farmers; lamb,

        ramps, fiddleheads, asparagus, artichokes.... I could go on.

        So to all the readers of LCD, anticipate delicious tours of the farms, gardens, markets and

       breweries of our notoriously independent state. 



              
                                                      
    SIMPLE DISHES for the END of WINTER

   Blueberry muffins made with Cyrus Pringle(Vt grown wheat) Vt eggs, butter, milk and maple syrup
    the blueberries are from my garden. I freeze them for winter recipes.
  

                      This is the last of the Winter squash, I had a bumper crop this Summer it lasted 

                                until mid-March. I gave a few baskets to friends as well.

                                              In prep;  Butternut squash oven frites

                                                       
                                              A SIMPLE SUPPER                      

                Steamed local greens, butternut squash frites and not local cara cara orange salad
                                                            with olives and parsley
            

                            
                                        

                                          A QUICKIE LUNCHEON

                                    Beets with local lettuce and fennel with mustard vinaigrette

                                         My husband prefers his with cold Filet Mignon
                                            (grass-fed organic Vt beef@Hardwick Beef)



                                                                TARTINE
                                                                   Luncheon for One
    

                            Vermont eggs, Cyrus Pringle toasts, homemade mayo, peppers
                             put up from the garden, olives from California          




     Beans from Butterworks Farm and Cornbread

                                       

                                    A hardy supper, we always have this with good chunk of
                                    Vermont cheddar. Cornmeal, butter, eggs, yogurt all local.
                                   

                                     
                                        LE BOULEVARDIER
                                                               VERMONT STYLE

                                  1 ounce Whistle Pig Rye made in Vermont, 1 ounce campari
                                              and 1 ounce sweet vermouth and 20 shakes




                                Golf ball size turkey meatballs

   Pureed roasted tomato sauce with put up tomatoes from our garden, Stonewood Farms turkey

                                     

                                     

                                               
               
                                                                Add spelt spagetti

                          A nutritious spin on an old classic, warm and hardy on a cold night

                                           Parmigiano Reggiano                                     
                                              absolute essential in la mia cucina (Italia)



                                                                                                          
      

         
                                   Don't forget the wine!  a Super Tuscan or a smooth Barolo

                                              Spelt spagetti with turkey meatballs with too much cheese!








                              I'll be  your tour guide through the wonders of living local and large
                              in this great spot on the planet. In the meantime I'll see you for NEW
                              YORK CITY STYLE next week, meanwhile I'm chopping leeks for
                               Vichyssoise. Spring is near!

                                                                          Beautiful!