Inside my head

OLS 20070819 (3)
Originally uploaded by bibliotecaria2

I did continue to cook locally, as I’ve said, and this is a recipe that reoccurs from last year. A potato gratin, mixed in with squash and onions and garlic, all local, with cheese on top, still local. What isn’t local is the salt and pepper and cream. (Here it is before going in the oven for some 30-45 minutes at 350 degrees.

It’s remarkably easy to cook, plus it’s very adaptable to whatever roastable vegetables you have on hand.

I wonder if I could do it with a blend of mascarpone and local milk in place of cream? I’ll have to try that on a small dish.

Here it is cooked and lovely.

OLS 20070819 (1)
Originally uploaded by bibliotecaria2

One of my favorite and most persistent meals is things with pesto. The local part — I make my own as much as possible, but only during the summer when the basil is growing like crazy. I’ve been taking advantage of the CSA subscription, because he regularly has all you can eat basil each week as soon as it is growing enough. I make large batches and freeze quite a bit. It’s never quite as good, simply because the garlic loses its bite once it has been frozen. But that okay, it’s still good, just not as good.

The basil and garlic are local; unfortunately the other ingredients can’t be local, since I know of no source for salt, pine nuts, olive oil, or Parmesan cheese within local reach. But there’s always a trade-off when you are making a regional recipe. It’s local to them, but not for us. But I love it so much, that I accept it.

I don’t just eat it on pasta, obviously. Here it is on toast with tomatoes, and some extra Parmesan sprinkled on top.

Purty, innit?

OLS 20070812 (1)
Originally uploaded by bibliotecaria2

Although I have been extremely silent through the majority of One Local Summer, I thought I’d make up for some of my absence (lots of travel) by telling people about what I did do. Because, you see, even though I didn’t tell everyone about it, local food was on my mind as much as possible. And here you have one of my experiences with snacks.

In fact, with something this filling, sometimes a snack was a meal.

Here you have the lovely local apple and the creamy local cheese, both found at the farmer’s market. I really like putting a slice of apple and a slice of cheese together. It’s especially good with creamy cheese and tart apple, which means that summer apples aren’t the best for this snacks; it will reach its apex of taste in the fall, when the Staymans and Granny Smiths and such come into season. But even an average apple tastes better with a little bit of cheese.