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Cultivating Sustainability

Cultivating Sustainability

Author Archives: John Reinhardt

More from Rooting DC – Canning with Mo Moodie

21 Monday Feb 2011

Posted by John Reinhardt in CSA, Farmers' Market, Gardening, Recipe, Side

≈ 2 Comments

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canning

More videos from Rooting DC, sponsored by the DC Food to Fork network.

During the canning session, Mo Moodie from the Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food and Agriculture demystified the art of canning. She assured the nervous group that if you follow safety precautions (such as keeping jars sterlyized, always using new lids, etc.) that there shouldn’t be much of a problem.

This is something I will definitely be trying in the coming months – as soon as I can find some cheap ball jars on eBay or Criagslist. You can find additional videos from my day at Rooting DC at Grown in the City.

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Making Kimchee with Ibti Vincent, Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food and Agriculture

21 Monday Feb 2011

Posted by John Reinhardt in Side, Vegetarian

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cabbage, kimchee, korean

On Saturday, I had the pleasure to attend Rooting DC, sponsored by the DC Food to Fork network. One of the sessions I attended was “Puttin’ it up: Canning for Beginners”.

There, I was able to shoot a video about making kimchee with Ibti Vincent, from the Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food and Agriculture. It’s very easy – greens, ginger, scallions, salt, and hot pepper get mashed until the liquid from the greens covers the mashed greens. If there isn’t enough liquid, it can be topped with water or the whey from yogurt.

I can’t wait to try this! You can find additional videos from my day at Rooting DC at Grown in the City.

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Licking Creek Bend Farm Spring 10 CSA – Week 1

11 Friday Jun 2010

Posted by John Reinhardt in CSA Bounty, CSA Meal Plan

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licking creek bend farm

Well, it’s finally here!  The Licking Creek Bend CSA.  This is my first time with the spring CSA, and it turns out you DO get a lot of greens.  But I also got a nice basil plant that is doing well in my garden.  I also got a bunch of garlic scapes, which I’ve never tried before, but adored.  I made white bean and garlic scape dip (5 ingredients – a can of white beans, scapes, olive oil, salt and pepper!) and roased scapes along with my roast chicken.

Here’s the bounty:

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Comfort food with a local, upscale twist

10 Monday May 2010

Posted by John Reinhardt in Dinner, Farmers' Market, Meat, Menu

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

cheese, grass-fed beef, veal

Last evening, Greg and I hosted some colleagues for dinner.  I knew our guest of honor was a huge fan of two comfort food staples: meat loaf and macaroni and cheese (I usually make these whenever he comes to visit).  After a stop at the DuPont Circle Farmer’s Market, I was all set to make something comforting, yet special.  The results were worth it and our guests, I believe, felt very special!

Macaroni and Cheese:

The ingredients for my Mac and Cheese

My first stop at the market was Copper Pot Food Company, to see my friend Maude, who was volunteering.  Stefano Frigerio, the chef-owner gave me all the market intel.  When I explained that I wanted to make macaroni and cheese, he handed me the last two boxes of his cavatelli and said “Go there and get milk, then go there and talk to her and ask which cheese they have today that will melt best.  Then come back.”  I did as he said, and when I came back with the dairy, he told me “Here’s what you do.  Don’t bother with butter and flour.  Heat some milk in the microwave with the shreded cheese for about a minute.  Then pour the mixture into a blender and whip it into a cheese sauce to pour over the pasta.”  I had never done this before – I’m a fan of the beschamel type of mac and cheese, which gives a decidedly-rich and heavy end product.  I wanted Stefano’s pasta to be the standout, highlighted by the cheese sauce, so I took his advice.  The resulting mac and cheese was amazing – light, airy, and not oily!

Ingredients:

  • 2 packages cavatelli pasta from Copper Pot Food Company
  • 1 cup organic creamline milk from Clear Spring Creamery
  • 1/2 pound Wallaby cheese from Keswick Creamery
  • 2 oz Claire’s Organic Camembert from Clear Spring Creamery (my own addition!)
  • salt and pepper to taste

For the Topping

  • 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
  • 8-10 fresh young garlic chive shoots, chopped
  • 3 tbsp truffle oil
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

  1. Cook the pasta as directed.  Drain, and place equal amounts in 4 ramekins.
  2. In a microwave safe bowl, heat milk and cheese for about 1 minute on medium heat to soften.
  3. Blend the mixture on high speed in a blender until smooth.
  4. Pour cheese mixture over the pasta in the ramekins.
  5. Bake at 350 until the cheese starts to bubble.
  6. Top with panko mixture and broil until the top is golden brown.
  7. Allow to cool for 3-5 minutes before serving.

Meat Loaf Sandwiches:

This very simple sandwich used local, sustainably raised meat from EcoFriendly Foods, LLC.  I just eye-balled the recipe.

Ingredients:

  • 1 large package ground beef from Ecofriendly Foods, LLC
  • 1 small package ground veal from Ecofriendly Foods, LLC
  • 1 onion, minced fine and drained
  • 1 carrot shredded fine and drained
  • 1 clove garlic, minced fine
  • 1 egg
  • 1 pinch cumin
  • 1 pinch celery salt
  • 1 pinch garlic salt
  • 1 slice fresh whole wheat bread, ground into breadcrumbs.
  • salt and pepper to taste

Sauce:

  • 1 cup ketchup
  • 2 tablespoons dijon mustard
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons apricot preserves
  • 2 tablespoons white vinegar

Directions:

  1. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients loosely (do not overmix or you will have tough meatloaf)
  2. Line a loaf pan with two peices of fresh bread to absorb the drippings during cooking.
  3. Shape the mixture into a loaf, and place in the loaf pan.
  4. In a saucepan, combine all ingredients for the sauce and cook over low heat until combined.
  5. Top the meatloaf with 1/4 of the sauce and bake at 350 until the loaf is cooked through (depending on the size it will take a different amount of time.  Mine took 50 minutes).
  6. Half way through cooking, top with another 1/4 sauce, reserving 1/2 to serve with the sandwiches (be careful not to cross contaminate!)
  7. Cool the meatloaf for several minutes before cutting.
  8. Serve over thick sliced white bread from the farmer’s market that has been buttered on both sides and grilled in a pannini press.

Salad

I picked lettuce and chives from my garden for an extremely local salad.

The meal was fantastic – the table was set with white tulips and a bottle of wine, and we enjoyed good conversation, good food, and good friendship.  The meal was topped off with homemade Philadelphia-style vanilla bean ice cream, another of our guest’s favorites.  He was tickled pink, and it wasn’t that difficult to pull off!

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Orange-Basil Simple Syrup

10 Monday May 2010

Posted by John Reinhardt in Beverage, Dessert, Recipe

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basil, orange

This simple syrup works well in cocktails, but would also be delicious drizzled over pound cake, or even ice cream!

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup water
  • the peel of one orange (cut into strips, remove after cooking, and save for cocktails)
  • 5-6 fresh basil leaves, torn

Directions:

  1. Place sugar and water in a saucepan and cook over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved
  2. Lower the heat and add the orange peel and basil
  3. Ensure the mixture does not boil and stir occasionally.
  4. Strain the mixture and cool completely.  Discard the basil, but save the orange peel for orange-basil cocktails.

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Orange-Basil Cocktails

10 Monday May 2010

Posted by John Reinhardt in Beverage, Recipe

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

basil, orange

Last year, I dined at Chinghale, a fantastic Italian entoeca and osteria in Baltimore, run by chef Cindy Wolf (who is building her own Baltimore restaurant dynasty I must say!)  I was inspired to make this summery cocktail from my experience there, and while they used Aperol in the drink, I think Contrieu worked just fine.  The basil (which is growing nicely in my garden) adds a fresh, almost medicinal quality to the fresh citrus, and the seltzer keeps it light and bubbly.

I served this before dinner for a nice light start.

Ingredients:

  • 1 oz Contrieu, Aperol, or Grand Marnier
  • 1 oz Vodka
  • 1 tbsp citrus-basil simple syrup
  • 2 oz fresh squeezed orange juice
  • 1 basil leaf
  • Seltzer water
  • Orange peel, for garnish

Directions:

  1. Mix first five ingredients in a tall glass with ice.
  2. Top with seltzer water and stir.
  3. Add the orange peel for garnish.

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Extremely Local Salad

09 Sunday May 2010

Posted by John Reinhardt in Recipe, Side, Vegan, Vegetarian

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

lettuce, organic

This is the most local of salads – picked from my garden 10 minutes before I was about to serve, and hand washed on ensure there was no dirt or bugs.  I dressed it with a little of this vinaigarette dressing and it was a huge hit!

Salad greens from my garden

The salad, while simple, took center stage.

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Philadelphia Style Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

09 Sunday May 2010

Posted by John Reinhardt in Dessert, Recipe, Vegetarian

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

cream, vanilla

This is a simple, yet delicious, 4-ingredient recipe for Philadelphia-style ice cream from Ina Garten.  I served it over strawberries with some amaretto-grand marnier whipped cream on top.  Perfection!

  • 3 cups heavy cream
  • 2/3 cups sugar
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • Seeds scraped from 1 vanilla bean

Heat the milk, vanilla bean, and sugar over low heat until the sugar dissolves.  Add the vanilla extract.  Remove the vanilla bean, scrape the insides and stir the specks back in.  Cool the mixture, then chill the ice cream by placing it in a sealed container and placing it in a mixture of ice, salt, and water (or put it in an ice cream making machine.

Heat the milk, vanilla bean, and cream over low heat.

Scrape the specks and add to the mix.

Roll the ice cream through an ice bath of ice, water, and salt.

Freeze, then serve with fresh strawberries and amaretto-gran marnier whipped cream.

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Ethiopian Feast – The Menu

03 Saturday Apr 2010

Posted by John Reinhardt in Menu

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ethiopian

Last Saturday marked the sixth meeting of a cooking club Kim and I are involved in with our significant others and one other couple.   We’ve done Indian, Irish, Mexican, Greek…it was never intended to be a trip around the world, but it’s ended up that way.  This month I decided to take us to the continent of Africa for an Ethiopian feast.  The menu:

Doro W’ett (Chicken Stew)

Beet and Potato Salad with Lemon

Atar Allecha (Spiced Green Pea Puree)

Stewed Kale

Misr Allecha (Stewed Red Lentils)

Yemiser W’ett (Spicy Yellow Lentils)

Yetakelt W’ett (Vegetable Stew)

Served with Honey Wine and Injerra

I didn’t make the Injerra, I purchased it from a shop on 18th street in Adam’s Morgan.  Everyone really enjoyed the meal, and there was enough left over for lunch all week (and dinner on Sunday).  It was delicious and economical.

Stay tuned throughout the week for the recipes!

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Greek Dinner Menu

21 Monday Dec 2009

Posted by John Reinhardt in Dessert, Dinner, Entree, Menu, Recipe, Sauce, Side, Soup

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greek

This past Friday, before snowpocalypse 2k9, Greg and I had Kim, Rex, John and Sutton over for our monthly dinner party.  After making lamb meatballs and tzatsiki as an appetizer for our christmas cocktail the week prior, I had Greek food on the brain, and devised the following menu:

Chilled and Dilled Avgolemono Soup
Simple Greek Salad
Grilled Lamb Skewers

Tzatsiki
Orzo with Feta, Tomatoes, and Dill
Roasted Garbanzo Beans with Garlic and Swiss Chard
Semolina and Ground Almond Cake

I was able to use a lot of the items from our final CSA box that Kim and Rex picked up for us last week.  Red wine and good conversation flowed, and before we knew it, there was a few inches of snow on the ground.

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