A Small Bite from the Chef – March 2017
By Charles Lewis
We all have to eat. So eat well, eat clean, eat local!
Food has brought generations together since the beginning of time. It has turned war into peace, it has healed, and it is celebrated. Food is about family, friends and, life.
The things that are happening in the food industry are amazing. In many of our communities we are now seeing more and more local farmers, fisheries, cheese makers, bread makers, cattle ranchers, ice cream vendors, cage free egg producers, gestation free crate raised pork and many more artisans sharing their passion with us, the consumer. How lucky are we? The back to grower, small farm, small batch, movement has put the giant mass producing, preservative laden food companies in a pickle (pun intended). The big guys are starting to take notice and changes are happening – Mc Donald’s serving cage free eggs, Chipotle using only chicken that is humanely raised, not routinely fed antibiotics, and more to follow. The local guys are making the big guys take notice that things must change for the better. Sustainable farming needs our support and our commitment to eat local to help our communities thrive.
Take a look at what’s in your refrigerator, your pantry and your freezer.
Do we really need all that stuff in the freezer, buried way back behind the other stuff that’s been in the freezer since who knows when? Or the pantry? Or my personal pet peeve, the refrigerator? Any idea what’s in there? Not really huh? Clean it all out and start over. Go to the market with a purpose and the thought of buying local and fresh. Buy small batches of food and produce, stay away from packing the freezer and the pantry with foods of convenience. The staples in a refrigerator should be milk, eggs, fruit, butter, bread, condiments (pickles), and of course, beer, wine and other necessities. Enough about that for now and more to come in the future. I want to leave you with these thoughts and an idea (recipe) for tonight’s dinner:
- Local sourcing is considered 150-mile radius from your home
- To lessen your carbon foot print buy seasonal and local, resist fruits and other products that are flown in from faraway places
- Buy beef that is not treated rBGH a synthetic version of a naturally produced hormone in cows also called rBST
- Buy poultry that is not routinely fed antibiotics
- Eggs should always be cage free first, free range can be misleading
| Servings |
|
- 1 medium chicken Mary’s or other organic
- 1 cup onions largely chopped
- 2 cups carrots cut into pinky size
- 1/2 pound small fingerling potatoes
- salt & pepper
- olive oil or grape seed oil
- 1/4 cup fresh herbs finely chopped (you pick ‘em, – rosemary, thyme, oregano, sage any one, or all four)
- 1 teaspoon garlic
Ingredients
|
|
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Wash all produce, mix chopped onions, potatoes and carrots with salt, pepper and olive oil. Mix well and set aside. Wash and dry chicken. Remove the back bone and spread chicken out so it lays flat bone side down.
- Rub chicken with garlic, salt, pepper and herbs then drizzle with olive or grapeseed oil. Place vegetables and potatoes into a large iron skillet or any pan with depth. Place chicken skin facing up, on top of the vegetables and potatoes.
- Roast at 450 degrees for 45 minutes and then 350 degrees for another 15 minutes. Remove chicken from oven when thigh temperature has reached 165 degrees. Squeeze lemon all over and drizzle with a little more oil. Let rest for 10-15 minutes.
- Place vegetables in serving dish. Carve chicken and enjoy with a soft pinot or a bold chardonnay.