Seasonal and regional eating, mostly

More grassfed beef from Farmstead Ltd. in Millersburg, Ohio, around an hour and a half away. This time it was a hanger steak--since it was their last appearance at the Crocker Farmers Market I bought three of the steaks, but I'm already planning a trip down to the farm for when I run out.

Those roasted things in the back are some of the Jerusalem artichokes (sunchokes) that were pictured a few posts ago. I roasted them in bacon fat with some fennel fronds. They had the texture of a perfectly roasted marshmallow, and almost the same level of sweetness.

As for the greens, those are thinly sliced underdeveloped fennel bulbs from the garden and shallot, with a few very thinly julienned slivers of ginger (hence the "mostly" in the title), marinated in a little olive oil, cider vinegar, salt, and pepper.

While I make no claim to be participating in a 100 mile diet, aside from the ginger, oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper, everything was from well within that radius. The things that weren't were sourced appropriately.

Steak
- It's just a seared steak, with salt and pepper being added just prior to cooking
- It was seared in sunflower oil (also not local)
- I also made a pan sauce by deglazing with water (yes, water, or as Jacques Pepin once said, chateau la faucet) and then swirling in a small pat of butter

Jerusalem Artichokes
Ingredients:
- Jerusalem artichokes, peeled (I imagine the peel could be left on)
- Fennel fronds, chopped
- Fat (As noted, I used bacon fat, but butter or oil would have worked)
- Salt and pepper
Method:
- Heat up a fat in a pan
- Add the sunchokes, fronds, salt, and pepper and mix well
- Place in a 450 degree oven, occasionally opening up the oven to stir
- After about 10 minutes start sampling to see when they're done to your liking

Fennel/Shallot Slaw
- It's described above
- I let it marinate in the fridge for about an hour
- It was addictive

That's it. After staring at the sunchokes for a while and not knowing what to do with them, now I can't wait to eat the rest.

Also, if you are into the sustainable food thing, or are just curious about it, you owe it to yourself to check out tonight's (11/18/07) episode of King of the Hill, which should be available here shortly. I'm not a weekly watcher of the show, but this week's show caught my eye. It's funny, relevant, and not too far off.