I'm on the BOD, yeah you know me!

I have exciting news!
I have been elected to the Co-op's Board of Directors! I ran for and won one of three open positions a few weeks ago. I was very nervous (I had to give a speech at the annual meeting--yikes!) but I am VERY excited to serve in this position. What does this mean for you, my trusty AE readers? Who knows! Maybe I'll meet a farmer with an excessive cabbage crop, or hear about a sweet deal on canned tomatoes at the co-op from an employee, or discover a little-known produce stand that a friend of a friend tells me about. The possibilities truly are endless. I am SO excited about this position and can't wait for the adventure to begin!

Slow-Cooked Bison Stew

Abandoned Edibles
Local bison roast, discounted ($6.99--slight freezer burn)
Fingerling potatoes (abandoned)
(additional ingredients: onions, beef stock, mushrooms, cornstarch, carrots, beef broth powder, garlic powder, spices, etc.)

What I did: okay folks, this meal was ALL ABOUT THE CROCK POT! I was seriously beyond ecstatic to use my new toy, and a bison roast was the perfect cut of meat to slow cook in ol' black beauty (yes, I named my crock--deal with it.) To start, I rubbed the roast down with beef broth powder, garlic powder, and spices and seared it before I placed it in the crock. Searing roasts is KEY if you want the meat to retain its juices--by searing the outside, all the 'good stuff' gets locked in. I filled the pot with a few inches of beef stock, and set it on the lowest possible setting. Then, I drank a six pack of Grainbelt and watched a few episodes of Land of The Lost while I waited about 6 hours before dumping in the (scrubbed and cleaned) fingerling potatoes, onions, mushrooms, and carrots. I seasoned the dish one more time, turned the crock up to medium, and let it sit another 2 or 3 hours. Unfortunately, I was out of Grainbelt at this point.


The Verdict
OhmygodILOVEcrockpots! Black beauty did not disappoint. It was super easy to make this dish, and the bison was moist, tender, and succulent--slow cooking is key to this particular cut of meat! Before I served the stew, I made a quick broth/gravy out of the juices left in the crockpot by whisking in a cornstarch slurry, and I also sliced the roast on the bias. It was simple, easy, delicious, AND I got to drink beer and watch horrible 1970s television shows whilst cooking: the perfect winter dinner.

Taste: 8
Creativity: 6
Appearance: 7

Improvements for next time: as Carrie from SATC would say...'I couldn't help but wonder'....would BRINING make a difference? Can one brine bison cuts?! Stay tuned!

What a Crock!

Oh lordy, watch out! Ring the alarms, lock up the women and children. Look what I just bought! Bold, black, and beautiful. I like my crock pots like I like my c...offee.

Adieu, Cull Bin

Greetings, earthlings. It is with a heavy heart that I must inform you that I no longer work for the local food co-op, which means...I no longer have access to the glorious cornucopia of abandoned edibles known as the cull bin.

However. I have thought long and hard about this, and realized two things: 1) I don't want to give up my food blog! It's fun. and, 2) I still enjoy having access to all the wonderful local food found at our co-op...not to mention the sweet deals I find by scouring coupons, specials, and in-store sales. So why not keep on bloggin', I say, and switch my focus from the cull bin to sale items and local foods?

So that is what I'm gonna do. The format for each blog will change a bit, but the overall theme shall remain the same!

Crunch on!

(Blue Cheese Stuffed) Bratwurst Stuffed Cornish Game Hen

Abandoned Edibles
tomatoes, fingerling potatoes, french baguette
(additional ingredients: blue cheese stuffed bratwurst (a birthday present from Al and Al, mahalo!), prosciutto, cornish game hen, carrots, mozzarella cheese, butter, olive oil, peppercorns, onion flakes, flour, candied ginger, sugar, thyme, chicken broth, spices, etc.)

What I did: this meal was INSANE! Okay, so first I brined the hens for about two hours in a simple brine mixture of salt, peppercorns, candied ginger, and sugar. Then I cut up the baguette into smaller pieces, so I could stuff the hen with it. I crumbled and cooked the blue cheese stuffed bratwurst. When the hens were done soaking, I patted them dry, rubbed them down with a butter/olive oil/spice mixture, stuffed them with the bratwurst and baguette, and wrapped them with prosciutto--into the oven they went! For the potatoes, I roasted them with carrot curls, olive oil, thyme, and spices. I also made tomato and mozzarella stacks, broiled them in the oven for a few minutes to melt the cheese, and seasoned them with salt and pepper. And lastly, I made a gravy using chicken broth, butter, flour, and onion flakes.



The Verdict
I'm usually not one to toot my own horn, but god DAMN this was amazing! Somewhat labor intensive, sure--but it was worth it. The hen was absolutely delicious, so moist, and the flavors were complex, thanks to the bratwurst and prosciutto. I literally licked my plate clean. Also, as an aside, can I just say--I loved the carrot curls! Kind of like carrot 'noodles' I suppose, but I think they really added to the presentation. Overall, an excellent meal.

Taste: 10
Creativity: 9
Appearance: 10

Improvements for next time: honestly, I can't think of any! This may be the best meal I have EVER cooked, no joke. Hurrah for me!

Salmon Sausage Alfredo

Abandoned Edibles
onion, salmon sausage, parmesan cheese
(additional ingredients: fettuccine, garlic, cream, lemon juice, butter, milk, dill, lemon pepper, spices, etc.)

What I did: I had been sitting on this package of salmon sausage for a few weeks, but when I found a container of parmesan cheese in the cull bin, I knew that the time had come: it was time to make a weird, freaky dish. I had heard from some of my co-workers that this particular product had some serious structural flaws--bizarre texture, crumbling of the sausage formation, etc.--so I thought it would be best to cut up the 'sausage' into smaller pieces and use it in a pasta dish. I sauteed onions and garlic, added the salmon sausage, lemon pepper and lemon juice, and made a simple alfredo sauce using butter, cream, and the entire container of parmesan. I combined the two together, tossed it with fettuccine, and garnished with a bit of dill. Voila: salmon sausage alfredo!



The Verdict
Naaaaasty. Nasty! Salmon sausage? Nasty, nasty, NASTY! My co-workers were right: the texture of this product is BIZARRE, and totally ruined the dish. The taste was okay, but the salmon sausage was grainy, gritty, and yet somehow mushy at the same time. Sure, the finished product looked great (and the alfredo sauce was excellent, if I do say so myself) but I will never use this product again in any of my cooking. Bah humbug!

Taste: 4
Creativity: 7
Appearance: 9

Improvements for next time: leave the salmon sausage in the cull bin, cousin! That shit ain't cool.

Tortellini with Veggie Marinara

Abandoned Edibles
red cherry tomatoes, portabella mushroom, zucchini, broccoli, onion, sweet peppers, green pepper, parmesan cheese
(additional ingredients: tortellini, marinara sauce, beef stock, butter, olive oil, minced garlic, spices, etc.)

What I did: since I had such a plethora of wonderful veggies at my fingertips, AND since tortellini was on sale at the co-op, I decided to make a veggie marinara. I sauteed the veggies in olive oil and butter, de-glazed the pan with a bit of beef broth, added some marinara sauce, and simmered for a bit. I added the cherry tomatoes at the last minute, threw the tortellini in some boiling water, and voila: veggie marinara with tortellini! I topped everything off with a generous helping of parmesan cheese (you can never have too much, in my opinion)--it was simple, easy, and fast.



The Verdict
Great! Somewhat uninspired, I must admit (especially after last month's posting of beef stick stew) but overall tasty and satisfying.

Taste: 7.5
Creativity: 6
Appearance: 7

Improvements for next time: protein! Some type of meat?

Beef Stick Stew

Abandoned Edibles
Bob's Black Bean Soup Mix, leeks, yellow onion, parsnips, beef sticks
(additional ingredients: beef stock, garlic, carrots, potatoes, butter, olive oil, etc.)

What I did: okay, before ya'll get super weirded out, let me just say that this dish is not as nasty as it seems! Okay, so what I did was essentially make a black bean soup...with beef sticks. First, I roasted the root veggies in olive oil, butter, and spices. I boiled the bean soup mix in beef broth until they were nearly done, and then combined the two pots. I chopped up the onions and leeks, sauteed them, and added them to the mix. Lastly: the beef sticks. This poor lil' pack-o-beef was in the cull bin because they had been accidentally frozen, so the texture wasn't great as a 'snack'--but it was PERFECT for a stew! I removed the casing from each stick and cut them into smaller pieces, threw them in the pot, and let everything simmer until the beans were fully cooked.



The Verdict
You would be surprised how delicious and tasty this was. The beef sticks worked wonderfully with the black bean soup mix, and as a bonus, I had these perfectly round little cylindrical discs of beef suspended in my stew--how cute! (seriously, though, it WAS adorable). The only negative to this whole dish was the appearance, namely the color--the purplish/black hue from the beans and beef broth was somewhat....oh, what's the word?....yes...NASTY. Other that that: delicious!

Taste: 7.5
Creativity: 9
Appearance: 5

Improvements for next time: less beans, more beef! And somehow fix that purplish hue...how does one do that, by the way?