Fall harvest 2009- Beginning at the end...

So, it's a little unfortunate to begin this blog with an entry about the end-of-the-growing-season meal, but sometimes I guess you've got to begin at the end? Plus, every end is a new beginning, or some other feel-good phrase along those lines... In any case, we picked up our last CSA share from Stillman's Farm last Saturday. It was a little sad to wrap up the season, but fortunately we still have a good backlog of fruits and veggies to work with. Plus, the end of the CSA signifies that we are coming closer to the always wonderful Winter Farmer's Market in Pawtucket (starting Nov. 7th this year). If you're within an hour's drive I highly recommend checking it out, as they always have a really great variety of farms, bakeries and various forms of deliciousity represented. Plus, it's a great way to eat local all Winter! (There's that "end is a new beginning" concept I guess... I'm really working on the optimism...) In terms of full disclosure, I have to admit that I love the pink grapefruits they sell at the market. Obviously you can't grow grapefruit in New England, so they bring them up to the market from a small farm in Florida. I have some degree of guilt about this- as they're certainly not "local" per se- but I digress.

Anywho, we have amassed a large supply of chili peppers at various rankings on the Scoville

scale from jalapeno to habanero, to several mystery varieties in between. Together with the onions and garlic and local ground pork and ground beef we had on hand, (both from Stillman's as well,) I thought I'd make a nice, hearty chili. I had made a chili with some CSA peppers about a month ago and had simply chopped up the chili peppers and sauteed them; it was pretty good, but there was definitely room for a bump up in tastiness so I thought I'd try something a little different this time.

So, instead I roasted the chili peppers over the gas flame on the stove.

I then stuck them in a paper bag to steam a bit, and then boiled them briefly with some chicken stock to soften them a bit further.

I then pureed them in the blender to create a sort of chili paste.

This worked out nicely so I could adjust the hotness as I liked as the chili cooked. I didn't really use a recipe, but if you're interested in trying this at home, the ingredients included the already mentioned onions, garlic, chilies, ground pork and beef, plus canned tomatoes, cider vinegar, brown sugar, chili powder, garlic powder, cumin, oregano, bay leaves (and the ubiquitous salt and pepper, of course). It turned out fairly delicious, if I don't say so myself.

What goes better with chili than cornbread? Fortunately, we had some really great cornmeal we had picked up on VT recently and I had good recipe in my old Fannie Farmer cookbook.

Our friend Carrie, (who we actually share our CSA with,) came over and brought some beets and onions she had pickled earlier this season. This made for a tasty salad with the lettuce and carrots from this week's share.

She also brought a delicious apple crisp which she had made from apples she picked at Honeypot Hill Orchard in Stow. This was particularly scrumptious when doused with "sweet cream" ice cream from JP Licks! All and all the meal was hearty and comforting on a cool Fall evening in JP, especially when accompanied by a nice glass of Pinot provided by Carrie. Plus, apart from the canned tomatoes, spices, wine, and a couple other small items, all the food we ate was locally produced which I find rather enjoyable:) Also, a side note on the chili: You may have noticed that there were no beans in the chili. I maintain that authentic chili does not have beans. In addition, I hate beans. All kinds.

So, there you are. You can color blog post #1 completed (finally!) I'm hoping we'll manage to share a bunch more harvest dinners with good friends and family this Winter. We'll keep you posted!