One thing you need to realize about dinner in this house, ANY dinner, is that it’s a bit of a process.
First, there’s the harvest, then the impromptu semaphore dance with the leeks.
Then, there’s the lengthy discussion about meat or no meat in this dish: we went with meat.
Then, unseen, the kitchen fairies made pate brisee. Salad. Soup. Galette, and pie.
Dinner:
- Mache salad with Long Keeper carrot, toasted scavenged walnuts and non-local but homemade mustard vinaigrette (our herbs, shallots)
- Chicken soup (our bird, Scarlet Nantes carrot, Golden Self-Blanching celery, Copra onion, our herbs)
- Leek galette (2 Bleu de Solaize leeks, one cube smoked pork belly, thyme; spelt flour/butter crust)
- Pumpkin pie (spelt flour/butter crust, Amish Pie pumpkin, our eggs, cream from our milk share, and nonlocal spices)
Glad you came to visit!
Got something to say? Email me at fastweedpuller at gmail dot com.
fast grow the weeds 
I bet the dance added to the flavor. At my house, I’m an unseen kitchen fairy. How about at yours? The manu sounds delicious.
MMMmmm, you are making me drool! I would love to be able to make something like that to eat with mainly stuff I grew!
I suppose I cannot type what I actually said out loud here in snowy Vermont upon reading your post but it sounded something like, “F’ing A, that woman knows how to cook!”
My Dearest El… you failed to tell us “what time dinner is served” in your house… and directions to said house…. I can bring the beverages 🙂
I want to be you!
How can I attract kitchen fairies? Any kind of pastry is unlikely at my house.
I like the taking the goat for a walk.
How about a recipe for that pastry? Looks yummy! Happy New Year El!
OMG- can I come over for dinner some time?! Good thing for you I live in Oregon. You’d be in trouble, otherwise.
Parts of that menu sound fantastic. You have redesigned my Wednesday dinner….leek pastry, indeed.
You will love, Pamela, that the debate about meat/no meat in the leek galette was between my daughter and my husband. It got added, and her dinnertable comment: “it tastes so much better without the bacon,” with me laughing (and agreeing).
🙂 Getting the leeks from outside would make me excited too. Funny about the meat/no meat debate!
Stef, oh yeah, I am the kitchen fairy, though I have a kitchen-fairy-in-training, especially when the rolling pin is involved. But indeed we’re quite big on “playing with your food” here.
Ashley, well, I will tell you it took a couple solid years of timing the harvests before I figured out how to do it (1. a year-round harvest and 2. 100% home-grown produce). BUT: so worth it! Leeks alone were worth me figuring out how to do it…I can use them shamelessly if I grow my own.
Randi, I saw you got a lot of snow dumped upon you. But: cooking keeps me off the streets.
My dear Mavis, beverages would be most certainly appreciated!! And, usually around 7 EST.
Mom, but you have lots of fun too!
Aimee, they’re easily spooked, those fairies. BUT: they like some buttery crust…so find your favorite crust vehicle and give it a go.
John, every day, we walk the goat. She’s easier on a leash than many dogs I know, including my next-door neighbors’ untrained beasts, which secretly delights me.
Jules, not much of a recipe. 2c sifted flour, about 6T cut-up butter, some ice water, some salt. I use a pastry blender, I never chill the dough, and it makes enough for 2 small piecrusts or one pie and one galette. The galette is ridiculously easy too: just saute two leeks in butter or olive oil (or cubed bacon) and add some fresh thyme, salt, pepper; put pastry on a pizza peel and plop the leeks on it, wrap up at edges and bake @375* until browned.
Paula, pick up Mavis and come on by.
Pamela, leeks are so wonderfully sweet at this time of year. You could of course make an onion tart too, with a bit of garlic thrown in at the end of the saute. Throw some crumbled feta on the top for the last couple of minutes of baking, yummm.
MC, usually I don’t seek input (as it’s usually My Way or the Highway) but that day I did. It’s fine without!
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That’s a great meal, especially the galette.
Since you’re using homegrown ingredients, would you like to enter this post into our Grow Your Own roundup? Full details at
http://chezannies.blogspot.com/2010/01/rambutans-plus-grow-your-own.html
Hi Nate (and Annie)
Sure; I would love to join in. I will follow your link and post it.
thanks for considering me! Everything is either grown here or in Michigan in general.
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