This week I challenged myself to cook items new to me for cooking, but not new from experience in restaurants. Bison, from Gunpowder Bison, and bought at the Silver Spring Year Round Farmer’s Market. Short Ribs, slow cooked in the oven. Served over soft creamy polenta and with honey glazed carrots.

The bison was first rubbed with “RubJoeMeat” coffee based dry rub bought last year at one of the local home shows. It is not local, obviously, but perfect for bison. Then, I placed it in an olive oil rubbed shallow pan, added red wine, balsamic vinegar, sliced white onion, and spread some McCutcheon’s tomato preserves over the top. Salt, pepper and cayenne. Baked at 225 degrees for three hours.

The polenta was made using Burnt Cabins roasted cornmeal. Nothing but water, cornmeal, salt, pepper and unsalted butter. Also, I steamed carrots then glazed them with honey.

Here are the supporting ingredients that went into the meal.

This was a really tasty meal. The polenta set up beautifully with an earthy quality: using roasted cornmeal created this heartier version of a soft polenta. The bison is lean, but using the wine and vinegar kept it from being dry or tough. The tomato preserves are awesome. Just tomatoes, sugar, and citric acid. Slightly sweet but still tart like tomatoes. This stuff is also great on toast for breakfast. The McCutcheon Family has been in the butters, preserves, jams and jelly business in Frederick for 74 years. We can find their jars of goodness all over the area.

As for the wine to stand up to this meal, we chose the 1998 Linden Hardscrabble. A fourteen year old Virginia red wine. Still with oodles of fruit and still tannic. Not brown around the edges. This wine is a killer wine and it proves that Jim Law has truly mastered the art of making big wines right here in our backyard. If you are a fan of Black Ankle and have tasted their big Crumbling Rock or Slate wines, they are babies compared to Linden. Sarah O’Brien is pushing Black Ankle in the direction that Jim Law took Linden. These are very concentrated wines. It will be interesting to see if Black Ankle can get to the level of Linden as their vines mature.

I have added Jim’s notes from his web page below the picture for those who want to know more about this lovely wine, that almost but not quite upstaged my bison and polenta.

Linden Vineyards Cellar Notes:

Aromas: Cocoa and dried herbs, especially rosemary.

Palate: Flavors of dark cherry, cloves and black pepper with firm, yet fine grained tannins.

Food Pairings: Red meats, rich cheeses, and dishes with olives or garlic.

Vineyard: Estate (100% Hardscrabble Vineyard), on Blue Ridge at 1,300 to 1,400 ft. with an eastern to southern slope. Deep, well-drained mineral soils give cherry character, deep color, and good structure. Vine ages from 8 to 14 years.

Vintage: 1998 was an unusually hot and dry year. A severe hail storm on June 15 reduced average yields to just 1.5 tons/acre (about 22 hectoliters per hectare). Harvest was September 22 through October 7.

Winemaking: A blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Cabernet Franc, 5% Petit Verdot and 3% Merlot. Grapes were destemmed and lightly crushed and fermented warm in small open bins. The cap was punched down by hand two times a day. The wine was pressed off just prior to dryness and put immediately in primarily one and two year old Virginia oak barrels. The wine was bottled after 21 months of oak ageing. 332 cases produced.

The training is in March. Four days, three hours each. Thursdays or Tuesdays, depending on which programs you are interesting in leading. There are about 40-50 registered volunteers currently, but the Conservancy keeps expanding their offerings and any interested people are welcome to come and be trained.

Two years ago, 3000 students participated in the field trips. Last year it was 5000 visits. Some schools come fall and spring, while others pick one program yearly.

The grounds are lovely and spending a few hours at least three times a semester is an easy commitment. Some of us volunteer at least once a week. I have been known to sign up for as many kindergarten and first grade trips as possible. New volunteers also shadow us until they feel ready to lead on their own.

I love the program and the spring is my favorite. The kindergartners come in the spring to do “I Spy Nature”. We take them around to see the animals and to smell and touch the herbs and flowers, and they have a great introduction to nature. Including the resident owl, Ranger.

What are you waiting for? Come out and enjoy the sights and sounds on the farm and watch children become enthralled with bugs and chickens and goats and birds. It is truly a wonderful opportunity to give time and get so much in return. Call 410-465-8877 if you want to know more.

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Where else do they grab all your bags and take them to your car and make sure they are securely stored? Where else do they take special orders for things like osso bucco or crown roasts, for the exact amount you need? And, their bacon and sausages. They are so good. Plus, ask HowChow about their crabcakes! Yum! Put those crabcakes on portabellas and place on the grill. Summer can’t come fast enough.

Friday I needed to go to Columbia for a doctor’s appointment. It took longer than usual for whatever reasons and I needed to run to the store before returning home. Do I venture into the 5 pm crowds at Safeway or Giant, or do I run up the road to Boarman’s?

I needed deli, milk, bread and fruit. Boarman’s certainly delivers. Canela sourdough rolls to serve with soup, made in Baltimore. Smoked turkey for less than Giant charges, and I am getting Dietz and Watson. Homemade sausage. Two in one pack, four in another, all freezer wrapped. This is what a butcher did for us years ago.

Sam Adams $6.99 a six pack. Boarman’s sells beer and wine and liquor for good prices. They have a liquor license because they have been a general store in Howard County since the 1950′s. They have been in Maryland since 1933, and before that their family had a grocery in DC. They live in HoCo. George Boarman is there all the time and will ask how things are, and what do you want to see in the store.

They have their branded coffee made for them by Orinoco.

I got my bread, milk, deli and fruit. I also picked up some sausage.

For the past two nights, I have been crock pot cooking so I would have soups for the week.

Last night it was beef soup with Boarman’s beef ribs, and tonight it was sausage and kale Tuscan bean soup with their hot Italian sausage. Two nice dinners, plus lots for the freezer and fridge. During the week it is easy to throw them in a pan and heat up.

Beef soup

Tuscan bean soup

My CSA makes it easy to have fresh veggies and Boarman’s delivers on all other levels.

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There are tiny little signs of growth on the weeping cherry. I hope we don’t get a hard frost that will take away the beauty of my favorite season. The reason we don’t move south. I love spring and fall in Maryland.

Right now, though, it is the Great Backyard Bird Count weekend. I am checking out my feeders and seeing if anything new shows up. I did get the massive cedar waxwing visit last week, but so far today they have not shown up at the wild crab apple trees.

There are 12 of them in this picture, although I had to zoom in quite a bit to find all of them. They were really enjoying the berries,

and the water on the driveway

I know it is spring though once the hummingbirds return, and the juncos leave. It can’t get here soon enough.

The cooler had a great surprise in it. A chicken. From the Zahradka farm. Free range. No hormones or antibiotics. It has been squeezed into the out of control freezer destined for the crockpot sometime next week.

This week I asked for and received:
1 large yellow onion
kale
spinach
sweet potatoes
leeks
radishes

Everything looks good, and has been cleaned for storage. Menu planning is in full swing.

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Micro-greens from Sharp’s at Waterford Farm. A wonderful place in southwest HoCo. Denise Sharp gives talks about farming and takes visitors on a tour with a history lesson. Worth the time to do, if you get the chance. I was there helping a friend set up lunch for the Howard Legacy Leadership Institute of the Environment (HoLLIE).

I buy plants from the farm. My chrysanthemums came from there. In the fall, we go there to get pumpkins. They sell plants commercially and at the greenhouses in the spring and fall. The greens are from their new high tunnel, and since it never stayed cold long enough, they never died back. She encouraged us to take some home since they would be dug up soon to put in the spring seeds. I certainly enjoyed these for dinner that night with honey mustard dressing.

Also at the farm, the Howard Bird Club gets permission to hike there on a Sunday to find waterfowl, eagles, migrating birds, and owls. Last year we found two northern bob whites walking down the dirt road next to the tall grasses. It had been years since anyone saw them wild in this area.

Kevin Heffernan took this picture which is now featured on the Howard Bird Club photo pages. His three bob white pictures featured there are the only recorded pictures the club has published in their photos taken on field trips by members.

This week the group with Denise walked back one of the old dirt roads and learned some of the history of the farm. The lovely old house on the hill, which is one of those farmhouses around here that just kept growing and adapting to the family’s needs is the sort of place that brings back memories to me, memories of my great grandparents farm beyond the Liberty Reservoir, where they farmed from the end of the 19th century until they had to sell and move in with my great aunt and her family.

When the greenhouses open in April I will be there looking for some heirloom tomato plants. For those who live in Howard County, this farm is one of the really interesting places to visit. If not in the spring, the corn maze and pumpkin patches in the fall are worth the trip down Route 97 to Jennings Chapel Road.

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But the point of this post is “What did we do for Valentine’s Day?”

Wine and chocolate.

More of the first and less of the last. I try to limit the amount of chocolate in the house, so just a taste is what I want. Not a box full of empty calories.

This fit the bill. Just enough to enjoy, and the wine lasted two nights. 15.9% alcohol will make it last more than one sitting. I have to thank Les Amis du Vin, the predecessor of Taster’s Guild, for introducing us to Biale Zins. Big Zins. With interesting names like Black Chicken. For a trip down memory lane, we reminisced about Yogi Barrett and the wine tastings at the old Chez Fernand, where we first tasted Biale wines. A piece of HoCo loco trivia. The names of the restaurants where Fernand worked. Where was Papillon? Chez Fernand? It also had us to trying to remember the name of the restaurant when he was in Baltimore after the fire in Ellicott City. Then returning to Ellicott City with Tersiquels.

This wine is from 2002. It is a Lodi appellation, from Spenker Vineyard. High in alcohol yet not with that burn that high alcohol wines sometimes contain. Perfect with a chili infused dark chocolate.

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Sunday night is the night we relax and have a great meal. And, since my husband teaches on Monday nights, plus we are not crazy enough to try and go out on Valentine’s Day, I decided to do our Valentine’s Dinner on Sunday. For me, as an avid cook of real food using local ingredients, I love to find great inspirations to build a meal around.

Our trip to Wegman’s Friday found us that inspiration, wild caught Chesapeake Bay rockfish. Our rockfish are really striped bass and are a best choice on the Monterey Aquarium Seafood list. It is advised though not to eat large amounts of fish that could contain mercury, so this is one of those “eat occasionally” seafood choices.

The morning after I brought it home, I put together a marinade and placed it all in a plastic bag for 24 hours. The marinade is not local. It is one of the few non-local items on the menu. I used St. Helena Olive Oil and some leftover white wine (Bota box pinot grigio) plus cilantro from Wegman’s, salt and pepper, and a squeeze of lemon.

This lovely Bibb lettuce, from Mock’s Greenhouse in Berkeley Springs WV and bought at Wegman’s as well, is the basis for the salad.

We usually find Mock’s greens at the Silver Spring Freshfarm Farmer’s Market, and we were happy to see more than one item of theirs located in the produce section at the Frederick Wegman’s.

The salad was made from this lettuce plus baby beets from our Zahradka Farm CSA, and Mountain Top Bleu Cheese from Firefly Farms. Both of these sources are on our local source page. I used Catoctin Mountain Orchard’s peach vinaigrette for the dressing. I stocked up at Catoctin in December since they take a very long break in the winter and don’t return until spring. I know not all the ingredients in their dressings are local, but the peaches are theirs.

I baked two small sweet potatoes from the CSA delivery, and served them with South Mountain Creamery butter. Sauteed a mess of collard greens in TLV Tree Farm bacon with onion and garlic from the CSA, and plated it all with the baked rockfish. The rockfish was baked in olive oil with a couple of pats of South Mountain butter placed on top at the end to melt.

Dinner was served with a Glen Manor 2009 Sauvignon Blanc. Jeff White used to work for Jim Law at Linden, and his sauvignon blancs are lovely. They have that citrusy note. This wine was big enough to stand up to that cheese as well. We always eat our salads after our dinner, almost as a palate cleanser and the salad went well with the wine. You had to have the fish before the cheese kicked in. That mountain top cheese from Firefly is intense.

All in all, it was a really nice meal, for a fraction of the cost of going out. $20 for the wine, $20 for the fish, and everything else from the weekly CSA deliveries plus freezer and pantry. I like splurging on good ingredients and good wine and making a celebratory meal like this. Less stress. Easy to cook. Really it is easy to cook these things. They just take time. Sundays for us are the perfect night to enjoy the results of my hobby.

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I looked out this morning in the sub freezing temps and found that my bluebirds were back and papa was on the bird bath. As I grabbed my camera, a new visitor never seen in our yard came along with friends. Papa bluebird wasn’t impressed.

After establishing himself as king of the bird bath, he proceeded to drink and leave. In the meantime, the cedar waxwings hung out in the burning bush next to the bird bath, the local bird hangout off my patio.

Once the coast was clear, they started in.

This was now their spa, with nice warm fresh water right next to an entire row of trees with berries, and coniferous trees for cover. Hopefully, they will hang around like the bluebirds are.

I was told repeatedly that water is the most important thing you can provide birds in the winter, particularly when the temps hit the teens. Today is a busy day off our patio. One more picture — take offs and landings anyone?

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It is chili weather. I always make chili when it snows. Today was no exception so the crockpot is bubbling along with venison black bean chili in it. It is the last of my neighbor’s ground venison mix that he gave us last fall. I need to catch up with another friend and see if I can split some venison with them. They bow hunt to thin the herds on a few of the large farms around here. I will be serving the chili with one of our favorite local beers, Flying Dog. They are up in Frederick, MD. This chili was made by browning the venison with onion and green and red peppers, then dumping it all in the crockpot with seasonings, black beans, plum tomatoes, and a box of organic black bean soup. I will thicken it up with cornstarch before it is done.

I really need to get a chest freezer since I am now getting offers for sharing a side of beef, and a good friend of my husband is sending us lamb pictures, of all of the babies his ewes are having. He is priming us to make our first purchase this August.

Since their children are in 4H, they will have lamb and pigs at the Howard County Fair for auction this summer. This is the first year we will be bidding for at least lamb, and maybe split a pig with friends. We went last year and watched. Really interesting to see the care put in to raising these animals by the members of the 4H clubs in the county.

If we change how we buy our meats, making lamb, pork and beef as bulk purchases, it will be one more step I am making in the direction of moving from supermarket foods to locally sourced foods for more of what we eat. It still won’t keep me from craving and finding ethnically diverse and exotic foods to make, but it is changing me from using packaged foods, to making real food from scratch.

Seven years after moving, we are more in tune with what is available all around us. We hear the rooster from the coop down the road. He crows off and on all day long. On those quiet weekend mornings, I hear the cows across the hills from us.

Our other neighbor raised goats for a while. They used to get loose and run through our meadow. They have since moved but I still remember trying to chase them away from our garden.

As I sit here watching it flurry while the sun is out, I think how much I love being out here in an area that still has those little things that make me smile. Time to go check on the chili.

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