Chez Us » Eat Local Challenge

Happy Halloween

Denise Woodward — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 01:41:16 +0000

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Tonight we roasted a sugar pie pumkpin which was filled with baguettes, cheese, wine, cream and veggie broth … the end result was a creamy baked fondue. Served with Vampire Wine from the Central Valley and Grilled Aspargus drizzled with blood oranges, olive oil and sea salt. Very good! *All was local except the cheese – Wisconsin.

Recipe.

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Post tags: Eat Local Challenge, Fondue, Organic Food, Recipe

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Chilaquiles

Denise — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 00:11:12 +0000

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Whenever we travel we always like to eat what the locals eat, no pizza (unless we are in Italy) or grilled cheese here – yes, I use to travel with people who would order these items no matter what country they were in, can you say “boring”! Even though I had been to Mexico before, on our first morning in Sayulita, I was not sure what we were in store for besides the coffee ritual. I was thinking it would be a pastry of some sort or maybe a breakfast burrito. Our first breakfast we decided to pick a spot where locals were eating as we wanted to submerge ourselves into the breakfast culture. The menu was basically eggs and egg related items. We looked around and told the waiter we would have coffee and what the table next to us was eating as it looked great and it the plates had had chips it, where else could you get away with this for breakfast! We were hooked! The next 4 mornings our favorite breakast became a couple cups of surprisingly good coffee and a big platter of Chilaquiles (torillas cooked in sauce) with eggs. Every morning I would wonder out loud, how could I make this at home, what could possibly be in the sauce. I knew it was a tomato based salsa but the peppers were mildy sweet and spicy. After our trip I kind of put the idea into the back of my mind and decided it would be one of those dishes I would save for our trips to Mexico.

I was flying back from Madison and decided to pick up the breakfast issue of Saveur at the airport. I always love the photos in Saveur but I really never make anything in them. It is definitely more eye candy for me than anything else. I squeeled with delight, when I started flipping through the pages and the first one I stopped at was a recipe for Chilaquiles. I could not believe it! It clearly was meant to be! As a regular reader you know we really don’t do breakfast at our house, so I knew these dishes would clearly become dinner.

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© Denise for Chez Us, 2008. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Breakfast and Brunch, Chilaquiles, Dinner, Eat Local Challenge, Eating Local, Eggs, Entertaining, Mexican, Organic Food, Recipe

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Chicken Cutlets

Denise Woodward — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 04:46:17 +0000

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…. after a long spin night, the last thing I wanted to do was cook something new for dinner. So, I took out the leftovers I had intended for us to have for lunch tomorrow, heated them up and this is what we got.

my version … nicely spaced food

Lenny’s version …. so very French & 5 star’ish

VOTE for our Mashed Potatoes! Please!

* Local meal, everything was except the Panko Breadcrumbs and the chili peppers.

© Denise for Chez Us, 2008. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Chicken, Chicken Cutlet, Eat Local Challenge, Harissa, Organic Food, Recipe

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Lil’s Chicken Cutlets with Celery Root Mashed Potatoes

Denise — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 04:30:43 +0000

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Lenny & I have been battling our first cold of the season. When we are run down we tend to turn to comfort food. I decided to make a dish we had in Boston earlier this year, Lil’s Chicken Cutlets. The recipe is really easy …. pound the heck out of a plump chicken breast, coat it in some egg and flour and then toss it in some crushed panko. Tonight I seasoned the panko with left over croutons and used grapeseed oil, which you can heat to a high heat without burning. They came out very light, not greasy and incredibly moist and juicy.

Since we were really going for comfort I decided to make more of those fantastic celery root mashed potatoes, presented with some Harissa. The end result was a very “comforting” meal to help chase away our colds. We are also submitting these tasty mashed potatoes into Chowhounds (Chow, now) Food Fight for Thanksgiving Sides – Please vote for us!!

* Local meal, everything was except the Panko Breadcrumbs and the chili peppers.

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Post tags: Celery Root, Chicken Cutlets, Dinner, Eat Local Challenge, Eating Local, Mashed Potatoes, Organic Food, Potatoes, Recipe

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Fourth week of …

dwoodward20 — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 22:59:24 +0000

the Eat Local Challenge. I cannot believe it is the last week of the eat local challenge. I had all all intentions of doing most of our shopping at the Ferry Plaza Farmer’s Market but I got a late start today and I am coming down with a cold. So, I did one stop shopping at Whole Foods. 90% of the groceries were local and/or organic. A weeks worth of groceries including 3 bottles of sustainable wine and an additional dinner with dessert to take to a dinner party came up to $175.00

This week’s menu will include:

Straus Yogurt for breakfast

Fair Trade cafe lattes w/local milk

Fresh baked Zucchini bread for breakfast & for a gift

Cereal – Organic

Steel cut Oats – Organic

Chicken Stock – for the freezer

Lasagna & two containers of Straus ice cream w/homemade toppings (dinner party)

Merez Lamb w/roasted squash

Lil’s Chicken with potatoes & grilled asparagus

Salad with pomegranates and prosciutto

Baked Pumpkin dish

Fresh Fruit for snacking

Roasted Almonds for snacking

Zucchini bread for breakfast & for a gift

Pumpkin Creme Brulee

Homemade Meyer lemonade drink

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Eat Local Challenge | Chicken Soup

dwoodward20 — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 22:08:10 +0000

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We are both coming down with something and decided to blow-off our spin class last night. Instead we stayed in watched Planet Earth and ate chicken soup with fresh cranberry beans.

I picked up these beans at the Farmer’s Market last weekend they were an impluse buy, their brilliant color caught my eye and provoked intrigue! I was really not sure how I would use them, until now. My goddaughter, Maggie, came over at the end of the day and we sat on the floor shelling them. I had a feeling we would only have a couple left, as she preferred to shell and then put into her mouth! I was quit surprised when we had a large bowl of them left. I warmed up some of that really fantastic Chicken Stock that I had put into the freezer last weekend, added some carrots, celery, onion and the beans. The end result was a very nice and hearty (thanks to the beans) chicken soup.

Any other suggestions for Cranberry beans?

Breakdown for this meal & the Eat Local Challenge:

Chicken from other meal – Organic & local

Carrots, celery, onions & cranberry beans – Local & Organic from SF Farmer’s Market

Salt & Pepper – what we have on hand

© dwoodward20 for Chez Us, 2008. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Chicken, Comfort Food, Dinner, Eat Local Challenge, Entertaining, Organic Food

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Eat Local Challenge | Mushroom Soup with Hazelnut Gremolata

dwoodward20 — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 14:18:04 +0000

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I was scrambling last Saturday while planning out our weekly menu, when I stumbled upon this recipe in Bon Appetit. We like mushrooms and we like soup so this was perfect to add to the planning. I am sitting here and I just don’t know what to say about this recipe. I definitely was not crazy about it. I am not sure it was the overpowering porcinis or that is really tasted like a forest. The entire time we were eating it, I kept thinking the roasted wild boar should be coming out of the oven. It was as if we were in the deep woods of Germany eating wild mushrooms in a dark but cozy hunting lodge. At least the gremolata definitely helped break up the wooded out doorsmen taste. Thank god for the wholewheat bisquits I made to go with it, or I would have starved ….

We have leftovers, I may try it over pasta tonight, to see if that helps. Oh, Lenny thought it was good, he said her really liked it; but, did not have to see it in the house again.

Breakdown for this meal & the Eat Local Challenge:

Mushrooms – Local Far West Funghi

Onions & Carrots – Local from SF Farmer’s Market

Veggie Stock – Organic

Garlic – Local from SF Farmer’s Market

Parsley – Local from SF Farmer’s Market

Orange – Local from SF Farmer’s Market

Flour – Organic & had on hand

Milk – Local & Organic

Butter – Local & Organic

Salt & Pepper – what we have on hand

© dwoodward20 for Chez Us, 2008. | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Eat Local Challenge, Gremolata, Hazelnut, Mushroom, Soup

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Contradicting …

dwoodward20 — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 03:29:32 +0000

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Just a couple nights ago, I wrote about how we never really eat breakfast so we had “breakfast” for dinner. Today we had breakfast and it was so simple and so ordinary that I wanted to share it. As well since we are have been doing the Eat Local Challenge, I have been receiving emails asking if we eat local at dinner or all our meals; the answer, we try to at every meal. So for the next couple of weeks I will give a recap of our entire day.

It was a cold and dreary day out this morning, so when we woke up we drank lattes, watched the news, read and just kind of hibernated. It was really nice as usually we are heading out for a bike ride or separately to ride bikes, meet friends or worse, do errands. It was really great to hang out with each other. After about 5 cups of coffee, we decided to make breakfast. We had this baguette and great hunk of cheese on our minds, which then wandered to some lazy breakfasts in Germany I had years ago, so I added some soft boiled eggs. There I go again, contradicting my feelings about the runny egg. Back to my first trip to Germany where I had a breakfast of soft boiled eggs and warm bread daily – it was sublime! I loved these breakfasts and this morning it returned to me, some 20 years later. Today’s breakfast was so good that it flooded my mind with these warm feelings of this first trip to Europe and my first German Breakfast. I decided then, that I don’t mind “runny eggs” as long as they are not raw and as long as they are not on pizza. Warm “runny eggs” with sea salt and fresh cracked pepper, well, it is still sublime!

soft boiled eggs, warm crusty baguettes, cheese, blood orange marmalade & lattes …..(got to love natural light …. someone make a light bulb that does the same!)

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Post tags: Breakfast and Brunch, Dinner, Eat Local Challenge, Grow Your Own Event, Organic Food, Recipe

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Third week of

dwoodward20 — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 22:46:42 +0000

the Eat Local Challenge. I actually got to spend the morning at the Ferry Plaza Farmer’s Market today. It has been years since I have really shopped this way and I really enjoyed it. I was able to get most of this weeks groceries there and the reminder I got at Whole Foods. 90% of the groceries were local and/or organic.

A weeks worth of groceries two bottles of sustainable wine from Sonoma County came up to $90

This week’s menu will include:

Mushroom Soup

Chicken Soup

Grilled cheese & baguettes

Pasta with Spinach

Green Salads

Zucchini bread

Sausage Lasagna

Lamb & chickpea stew

*Please keep in mind when I am writing the weekly menu I do not put breakfast nor lunch down, but, the price of groceries does include both of these additional daily meals.

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Eat Local Challenge | Cream of Fennel Soup

dwoodward20 — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 03:27:37 +0000

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I stumbled upon TS & JS’s food blog, [eatingclub] vancouver and drooled over their Cream of Fennel Soup – YUM! After, last nights over indulgence, we decided it was a good night for soup – soothing soup!

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Post tags: Bacon, Dinner, Eat Local Challenge, Fennel, Organic Food, Recipe, Soup

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Pre-wedding cocktail party ..

dwoodward20 — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 01:56:09 +0000

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……last night we took a little cocktail party over to Andy and Jeff’s house. They are getting married on tomorrow and we wanted to give them something in celebration of their special day. These guys are the the couple who have everything and really don’t need anything, as well they did not want anything. As they love food and wine, we decided to put together a little soiree. In keeping with our Eat Local Challenge, I am proud to say everything on the menu was local, and/or organic, except for the bottle of Deutz Champagne! I wish the photo was better as the food was really fantastic; but, we wanted to have it dimly lite for the romance!

The menu was:

Smoked Salmon Dip w/crudites

Fig & Blue Cheese Tart

Lavash Crackers (fennel/garlic/smoked pimento, cracked pepper/sea salt and rosemary/sea salt) with Tapenade

Sweet meringue nuts

© dwoodward20 for Chez Us, 2008. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Barefoot Contessa, Blue Cheese, Eat Local Challenge, Organic Food, Walnut

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Pancetta & Tarragon Chicken

Denise Woodward — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 02:53:46 +0000

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We have had a pretty long week which did not end on a great note – problems at work, servers, demanding clients, etc… not what you want for a Friday. We left the office early and wanted to just get home, open a bottle of wine and relax. Cooking helps me relax and comfort food was definitely in order.

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© Denise for Chez Us, 2008. | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Cake, Dessert, Dinner, Eat Local Challenge, Pudding, Recipe, Spongette, Things with Wings, Vanilla Bean

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