Open Farms: How to prepare local food

On August 1, 2020 Wolfe Island Chef Laura Buckley posted this photo of her meal to her Instagram account: This Wolfe Island Life.

Her post was in celebration of Food Day Canada, an annual "massive celebration in praise of our farmers and fishers; our chefs and researchers…and, above all, our home cooks". Mark your calendars for July 31, 2021 and in the meantime check out their website for a vast collection of recipes!

On preparing her meal, Laura says: "Summer cooking is all about quick and easy for me. No need to cover up the flavour of local produce in the height of the growing season. I used a mixture of Fin de Bagnol filet beans and Purple Peacock pole beans from Kitchen Table Seed House. Just a simple steaming and a bit of butter and salt.

And using de Ruiter grass-fed beef is so full of rich flavour, all you need is a bit of salt and pepper to enhance it. If you’re not familiar with cooking grass-fed beef, it needs to be cooked a little differently because it doesn’t have the internal marbling of grain-fed, but the small amount of fat it does have is delicious and full of heart-friendly omega-3 fatty and linoleic acids. 
A fool-proof way to grill grass-fed beef is the reverse-sear method.

Learn the reverse-sear method from Serious Eats." 

At The Rise Farm, their slogan is Eat Different. If you want to try some different meat products -- like rabbit, duck, lamb, smoked jowls (what?) -- but don't know where to start, follow The Rise Farm on Instagram for so many incredible and simple meal ideas.

Plus, in this video Rob shows you how to break down a whole chicken in just three minutes! 

Classic Pulled Pork

• ¼ cup packed brown sugar
• ¼ cup molasses
• ¼ cup ketchup
• 3 tablespoons vinegar
• Spices of choice (salt, pepper, garlic, onion powder, smoked paprika, etc.)

Mix together in a bowl and pour over roast in crockpot. Cook on low for 8-10 hours. Take our roast from slow cooker and remove bone and fat. Pull apart meat with two forks and return to juice in slow cooker.

Enjoy over buns or salad greens.

If you have leftovers, try it for breakfast with eggs or over salad for a health lunch.

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Maple Ridge Beef Stir-Fry

This is a delicious, quick and easy meal that we enjoy in our house.

• 1/3 cup of Maple Ridge raw honey
• 1/4 cup soya sauce
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 2 tbsp cornstarch
• Pinch red pepper flakes (optional)
• 1pkg Maple Ridge Farm beef strips or sirloin steak, sliced
• 2 tbsp oil
• 3 cloves of Ontario grown garlic
• 2 tbsp fresh grated ginger
• 4 cups of assorted sliced fresh vegetables (whatever you have on hand)

In a pot over low heat combine honey, soya sauce, vinegar, cornstarch and red pepper flakes.

In a large skillet, heat oil, ginger and garlic and add the lean beef strips. Stir fry until the meat is browned but still pink in the middle. Add the vegetables and stir fry for a couple of minutes until tender.

Pour honey mixture from pot over the meat and vegetables and stir fry until thickened and heated through.

*You may need to add additional cornstarch missed with a little bit of water depending on the water content of the vegetables used. Serve over noodles or rise. Enjoy!

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It's not difficult to shop local, and meals made with local food can be simple and delicious. Find out how easy and cheap it can be to eat local! Inside is a handy directory of local farms, producers, farmers' markets, and stores that carry local food – and it’s a great way to support local producers in these challenging times. The listings for farms, producers, stores, and markets in this book were provided free by Farm Girl Books in support of local food.

This great local food resource costs just $10

Find a copy at the YGK West Market in Kingston, Food Less Travelled in Verona, Limestone Organic Creamery in Elginburg, Seed to Sausage in Sharbot Lake, and Kudrinko's in Westport. Check out the Farm Girl Book’s Facebook Page. 

Food doesn't have to be complicated.

And that's the beauty of locally produced food, it shines when it's simple. 

Back in June, Andrea at Sonset farm posted this photo of her lunch-on-the-go to her Instagram account: sonsetfarm with this caption:

On the run lunch.
Lucky for me... there was the heel of yesterday’s loaf of sourdough bread, a few cleaned and ready to grab spring onions sitting beside the bowl of Redmonds salt on the kitchen island!! A few swipes of the knife into organic butter... a spring onion sandwich was in my hand!! A few bites later.. along with the hmmm hmmm hmmms of appreciation, I think of past summers on the farm at my grandparents, where all the grandkids took great delight in one of summertime’s simple pleasures.

Too many tomoatoes?

Freeze to use later on in soups, sauces or salsas!

To freeze, wash tomatoes and remove stems. Place in a single layer on a cookie sheet and place in freezer. Once flash frozen, remove tomatoes from cookie sheet and place in a bag or storage container for long term freezer storing. When ready to use again, place tomatoes in a sink full of cold water. Tomato skins will slide right off and tomatoes will be ready to cook with.

Greek Salad

• 4 large tomatoes, diced
• 2 cucumbers (or 1 English cucumber), peeled & diced
• 1 bell pepper, cut into chunks
• Feta, crumbled, to taste
• Kalamata olives, to taste
• 1/4-1/2 cup diced red onion (optional)
• 1-2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2-4 Tbsp red wine vinegar 
• 1 tsp dried basil (or 1 Tbsp chopped fresh basil)
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano (or 1/2 Tbsp chopped fresh oregano)

Toss all ingredients together in a bowl, comes together very quickly but let mellow for 20-30 minutes before serving to allow flavours to blend.