The first Dark Days

Welcome to the Dark Days, and it has certainly been dark. We're nearing the shortest day of the year. It's a good season to spend lots of time in the kitchen.

Having a 6-month-old, however, makes kitchen time a bit of a premium. Actually, it makes any time a bit of a premium. So I'm approaching the Dark Days this year simply. I want to discover new sources for local ingredients and I want to enjoy them with my family. I'll be keeping most of my meals simple. Happily, my family is an easy audience. Especially Hazel.

For the purposes of the Dark Days, I am defining local as anything within Washington state, but I am aiming for less than 100 miles. I will make exceptions for items like spices and salt. I will make sure all of the food is either organic, or if not certified organic, from a farm that I'm familiar with and trust their methods.

For our first meal I started with a giant bowl of kale from our side garden. It had snowed recently, but the kale hadn't given up yet. I added garlic from the Ballard Farmer's Market and olive oil from Oregon.

Yes, olive oil from Oregon. I'm calling that local, since I hand-carried it home from a visit with friends. We went to the Oregon Olive Mill for their Olio Nuovo celebration weekend. Olio Nuovo is the first pressing of olive oil. The oil isn't filtered or let to rest, which mellows it a bit. The flavor is amazing. I bought an oil from the Arbequina variety of olive, one of several they offered. They oil has a nice buttery taste and feel. The best part, though, is the surprising peppery finish. It's spicy. Some of the varieties are very spicy.

The oil really shines when used raw, it is also delicious if cooked.

I used it to sautee the kale with some bacon from Hempler's in Ferndale. This was a bit of a cheat. I'm not certain that their meat is actually sourced from within Washington state -- or if it is humanely raised. Next time I want bacon I'm going to take the time to go to a farmer's market or one of our local butchers. There's nothing like talking to the people who produce the food to know it's done well.

I also roasted from fabulous beets from the Ballard Farmer's Market. I used some chioggia beets and some golden beets. I roasted them with a smidge of garlic and the olio nuovo.

To finish off the meal, we had a nice, old-fashioned style bread baked in Arlington. I'm not sure where the ingredients were sourced, but I do know the bread was delicious.

Oh, and we had Washington wine. Chateau St. Michelle is in Woodinville and the grapes were from within the state.

The meal was good. I loved the kale and bacon. The beets were a bit of a dissapointment. I'm not sure what I did wrong but they were a bit bitter. Usually my roasted beets are nice and sweet or at least mellow. I'll try again soon. I'll have plenty of chances throughout the dark days to come.