Beautiful blueberries!

Blueberries are abundant!  I went this past weekend to Blueberry Bay Farm in Stratham and the blueberries were so ripe that they were just falling into my bucket!  My friend Sheryl brought a blueberry crisp over the other night (see recipe below) and it was so good I had three helpings. It was a little embarrassing actually as I just couldn’t stop eating it!  I thought the almonds really made this dessert! 

There are plenty of U-Pick blueberries for the taking in the seacoast area. It’s a great field trip for kids.  There are 32 farms with blueberries in the seacoast area. Prices range from $1.25 to $2.25. 

You can easily freeze blueberries for your winter smoothies and save lots of money as the frozen ones in the grocery store are more than twice the price. To freeze blueberries, just lay them on a cookie sheet to freeze so they don’t stick together, then throw them in a zip lock. The folks at Blueberry Bay told me that they don’t spray so you don’t need to wash them. Ask the farmer as many don’t spray, or use very little pesticides. If they do, give them a light wash, and dry them on paper towels before you freeze them.

Blueberry Crisp with Oatmeal and Almond Topping
(comments in parenthesis are from me)

Ingredients:

3 1/2-pint baskets fresh blueberries
2 tablespoons plus 1/4 cup (packed) golden brown sugar (Suppose you could use maple syrup)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup quick-cooking oats
2 tablespoons all purpose flour (or gluten free flour)
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces (Brookford Farm is selling fresh butter!)
1/4 cup sliced almonds (or just chop up your own)
Nonfat vanilla frozen yogurt (or go with the full fat organic ice cream!)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Rinse blueberries. Drain, allowing some water to cling to berries. Place berries in 9-inch-diameter glass pie dish. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons brown sugar and cinnamon; stir to blend. Let stand until sugar dissolves and coats berries. Stir oats, flour, salt, and remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar to blend in medium bowl. Add butter and rub in with fingertips or fork until moist clumps form. Stir in almonds. Sprinkle oat mixture evenly over blueberries. Bake crisp until berries are bubbling and topping is golden, about 35 minutes. Serve warm, each serving topped with a spoonful of frozen yogurt. (Source: www.Epicurious.com)

By Sarah Jacobson, guest writer. Sarah is studying nutrition and eco-gastronomy at the University of New Hampshire. Following her passion for food and sustainability Sarah was an intern for Seacoast Eat Local, and this will be her second year as the president of Slow Food UNH. In August she leaves to study at the University of Gastronomic Science in Pollenzo, Italy.

The New Hampshire cheese-making industry has really taken off in the past few years, with many of the state’s 130-plus cow and goat farmers offering customers an abundance of fresh local dairy products. Despite this, the state’s dairy farmers are struggling to keep their businesses and livelihood – buying local mozzarella, quark, and yogurt is a delicious way to promote our state’s small farms while protecting vital farmland, and encouraging conscientious animal husbandry.

Yogurt, milk and cheese provide high quality protein, vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids, along with distinct flavors and complex aromas that vary with the breed and diet of the dairy animal. Many farmers offer grass-fed, or pastured milk products, which can contain more Omega 3 fats and a beneficial fat called conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) shown to prevent heart disease , fight cancer and build lean muscle. Products like yogurt and kefir contain live cultures, some of which are considered probiotics – microbes that are beneficial to our digestive system. In addition, locally-made products, especially those that are certified organic, typically lack chemical additives, preservatives, and artificial colorings.

Brookford Farm is small, family-owned, dairy farm located in Rollinsford, NH that offers a wide range of products from their certified organic dairy herd and gardens. Their pasture-raised Jerseys produce the organic raw milk that is available in whole and reduced fat varieties and used to produce raw cream, yogurt, and quark – a soft, freshly fermented cream cheese-like spread. Brookford, as one of the few farms offering raw milk, is a great resource for amateur cheese makers. One of their newest additions is fresh, hand-stretched mozzarella. Visit them at the local farmers markets or at their farm stand.“Cheesemaking is a craft that makes perfect use of milk that isn’t being sold as fluid. exciting to create another product out of the rich and organic milk from Brookford’s herd. People have been really pleased to see another dairy product (from our milk) in Brookford’s offerings, as many folks have been turned on to the quality that comes from a local-scale dairy farm, and are eager to sample artisan cheese from a farm in their area,” said cheesemaker Erin Ehlers.” For more info go to www.brookfordfarm.com.

Another New Hampshire-based dairy farm is Sandwich Creamery that offers homemade specialty cheeses and ice cream. Each small batch of cheese is made by hand, following traditional recipes to produce wheels of soft Brie and Coulommier, Jersey Jack and flaky Welsh Caerphilly. The farm offers unique flavors of homemade ice cream and fruity sorbets. You can find their cheeses at your local farmer’s market, a select number of retailers, or you can order online. The website also has a complete list of the stores in the area that carry Sandwich Creamery products: www.sandwichcreamery.com

For the serious ice cream lovers, there’s Walpole Creamery – a New Hampshire ice cream oasis which uses only fresh milk from cows raised in Walpole, NH. The fresh, local milk produces creamy, sweet ice cream with ginger, mango, caramel, cashews and other unusual ingredients. Check out the Walpole Creamery Scoop Shop in the town of Walpole to see how the ice cream is made or pick up a pint in local stores like Philbrick’s Fresh Market in Portsmouth. For a complete listing of where you can by them check out their web site at www.walpolecreamery.com.

Thanks Sarah for your contribution!  I also just found out that Brookford farm is selling grass-fed butter!

Wendy Berry and her husband Jon, decided to start raising their own animals about 10 years ago because they were concerned about the quality of the food they were giving their six children.  At the time, there were an increasing number of health reports about the antibiotics and hormones that conventional farms were putting into the “feedlot” animals and other health issues associated with large industrial food production. 

Education plays a bit part in Wendy's CSA

Thankfully Wendy and her family lived on a non-working family farm, Lasting Legacy in Barrington, NH, that had been passed down in her husband’s family for 200 years –  all they needed were some animals. Their simple family project started out with three pigs in 2000 to learn the ropes of raising animals. Wendy eventually quit her “day” job at the Rochester Opera House in 2003 to work full time on the farm and now they’re raising more than 30 cattle, 700 chickens, about 30 pigs, 80 turkeys, and a few sheep a year.

The cows are 98 percent grass fed, but are treated with a “cookie” size portion of grain which ‘mellows out the grass fed beef flavor” and gives them a few extra minerals and vitamins. They chose non-organic grain because the organic grain is cost prohibitive, nearly 3 times as much. Their consumers are also more concerned about the animals well being and that they are not given any hormones, steroids, or  antibiotics.

The Lasting Legacy Menu

To respond to customer demands, they offer several ways for customers to purchase meat, so in addition to buying beef directly from the farm, or the farmers’ market, customers can buy cow shares, or join the Lasting Legacy CSA which offers customers a weekly share in their community supported agriculture (CSA) in the spring and the fall. Buy a cow share and you get a quarter share of a cow that is flash frozen so you can store it in your freezer over the winter. Pig shares are also offered. Half a pig or a quarter cow will feed a family of four for about 4-6 months. 

The CSA gives customers a menu for just about everything they need except milk and bread. Working with other farmers the CSA provides a one-stop-shop of food including: beef, chicken, pork, eggs, vegetables (from Heron Pond) fish (from Eastman’s Fish Market) and even ice cream (from Sugar and Ice).  

Raising cattle is as much as a science project as it is an agricultural project and Wendy has become an expert on “pasture raised” animals.  She works hard to keep her grass healthy so that the animals are getting everything they need and is even looking at bringing in seaweed to help fertilize the soil.

I’ve seen firsthand how much time Wendy spends at the farmers’ market and her CSA pick up educating people about the benefits of grass-fed food and how to cook it. This is a big part of her job as more and more people choose to buy directly from the farm instead of supermarkets. Wendy has also helped organize local events around eating local and will be hosting some cooking classes to help new foodies learn the ins and outs of grass fed meats. She is even working on a cookbook  on “eating local” that will hopefully be available this fall!

Wendy was kind enough to share one of the recipes for flank steak, a flavorful, but slightly tougher piece of beef which she marinates to help tenderize it. it  Thanks Wendy!

Steak Fajitas

Ingredients

1 lb of flank steak or skirt steak
1 large yellow onion, peeled and sliced with the grain, not against the grain as one would normally slice an onion. Slice first in half, and then slice off sections a half inch wide at widest point.
2 large bell peppers, stemmed, seeded, de-ribbed, sliced lengthwise into half-inch wide strips

Marinade:
Juice of 1 lime
2 Tablespoons of olive oil
2 cloves garlic, peeled, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 fresh Jalapeño pepper, seeded, ribs removed, finely chopped (be careful not to touch your eyes or anywhere near your eyes after handling a Jalapeño pepper!)
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro, including stems

Directions:
Mix all marinade ingredients. Set the steak in the marinade and let it sit at least an hour, the longer the better.

Heat to high heat a large cast iron pan or griddle. Add a teaspoon of olive oil to the pan. Add the steak, frying on each side for 3 minutes, or to desired doneness. 3 minutes per side will yield approximately medium rare doneness for an average cut of flank steak. If pan starts to smoke too much, reduce the heat to medium high. We want the steak browned, not burned. Remove from pan and let sit for 5 minutes.

Reduce the pan heat to medium high. Add a little more oil to the pan if necessary. Add the onions, bell peppers. Cook, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes, until the onions are slightly translucent.

Slice the meat against the grain into thin slices. If you slice the meat at a slanted angle, you will be able to get your slices pretty thin.  Flank steak is flavorful but can be a little tough, so thin slices will really help make it easier to eat.

Serve immediately with shredded cheese, salsa, shredded iceberg lettuce, sour cream, guacamole and warm flour tortillas. (Hint for warming tortillas – put in microwave over a paper towel for 20 seconds on high heat.)