Farmers Market to Table

After reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver the family has been very excited about growing and making our own food items. Obviously, we are not perfect, but we do make our effort. Not only is it ecologically responsible and what not, but it's fun. Not to mention, often times cheaper. I gave Ma a cheesemaking kit from New England Cheesemaking for Mother's Day. So, when Sister came home last weekend we made cheese! We got our milk straight from South Mountain Dairy at the Baltimore Farmers Market and made our very own pizza with it that night. It took less than an hour to make a pound of mozzarella!

While my dad took care of composing the pizzas, I composed a salad. Now, not everything was from the market, and the dressing wasn't even homemade. But I just made some cheese, so I get some liberties here. The point is, this could be made entirely from the market if you go on the right day.

Obviously for a salad, the quantities are left to individual tastes. I, of course, go heavy on the cheese. The lettuce is from the market and it's a mix. Next time, it will probably come right from the garden!

Since it's getting close to summer and the salad had fruit in it, I went with Annie's Mango Dressing. I believe a cider or basalmic vinegar type dressing would be excellent as well.

Pear & Cheddar Salad

Lettuce (I used a mix of red leaf bibb and romaine)

Bosc Pears, diced

English Cheddar Cheese, diced

Tomato, seeded and diced

Cucumber, diced

Cheesey Chicken

I see I had a request for "more cheese please!" so here is an old family favorite, discovered by accident. It used to be a Christmas Eve tradition . . . it's unknown where the tradition got to. It still makes an annual appearance in our house though. The recipe is written for a clay pot, but I believe it could be done in a slow cooker.

You would never know this cheesey chicken is actually rather healthy. I always like a tortilla to mop up the extra sauce (can't stand a dirty plate you see) and I like putting the sauce on some Spanish rice as well. You will definitely be joining the Clean Plate Club if you get this on your plate.

Chicken with Cheddar & Green Chilis
Clay Pot Cookbook
Serves 6

3 pounds chicken breasts, skin removed
2 tablespoons flour
2 teaspoons chili powder
½ teaspoon ground cumin
1 rib celery, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 4-ounce can diced green chili peppers
1 jalapeno or serrano pepper, minced
½ cup defatted low-sodium chicken broth
½ cup reduced fat sour cream
1 cup reduced-fat shredded cheddar cheese

Soak the top and the bottom of 3-quart clay pot in water for 10 minutes; drain.

Coat chicken pieces with mixture of flour, chili powder and cumin. Combine celery, onion, jalepeno, and garlic in presoaked clay pot. Top with chicken and green chilies. Pour in chicken broth.

Place covered clay pot in a cold oven. Set oven at 450 degrees. Bake, stirring once or twice, until chicken is tender and brown, about 1¼ hours. Remove chicken from clay pot. Skim and discard fat from cooking liquid in clay pot. Stir sour cream into cooking liquid until smooth. Return chicken to sauce. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake, uncovered, until cheese melts and browns, about 10 minutes.