30 Apr 2021
Recipe Jen Langdon 0 comment

Moroccan-Spiced Braise with Lamb, Beef or Chicken

Moroccan-Spiced Braise with Lamb, Beef or Chicken

This dish is highly adaptable to your preferences, working well with lamb, beef, or chicken. Try customizing the thick and richly spiced tomato sauce to be chunky, or smoother, depending on your taste. We like this braise served over quinoa or couscous, but gnocchi, farro or even tagliatelle would be delicious!

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Ingredients
  

  • 4 lb Lamb shoulder, neck, and/or shank (or 2lb prepared stew meat)

    - Or if you prefer beef, alternately use 3-4lb beef shank, or 2lb prepared stew meat

    - Or you could use one large, whole chicken, or 6 chicken thighs

  • 1 large onion, diced
  • 1 Tbsp tomato paste
  • 2 Tbsp whole cumin seed
  • 1 tsp ground ginger, or 2 tsp freshly grated ginger
  • 1 tsp salt, or to taste
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 tsp chili powder
  • 1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp ground cloves
  • 4- 28 oz. cans diced tomatoes (or 3qt home-canned tomatoes)
  • 3- 15 oz. cans white beans (great northern or cannellini)

Instructions
 

  • On your stovetop, heat a large, oven-safe, heavy pot with a lid over medium-high heat. Sear meat on all sides, in batches until nicely browned. Avoid overcrowding the pot to ensure good browning. Set meat aside on a cutting board or in a bowl.
  • Lower heat to medium. Add onions to any fat left in the bottom of your pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden and well caramelized. Add olive oil, tallow, or lard as necessary to prevent burning.
  • Add tomato paste and spices to the onions and cook for one minute, stirring often, until the spices are very fragrant and smell toasty.
  • Add the tomatoes to the pot a little at a time, using a wooden spoon to scrape up all the caramelized bits off the bottom. If you prefer a smoother tomato sauce, use a blender, an immersion blender, or a food mill at this time, returning sauce to the pot once your preferred consistency is reached.
  • Add the meat and any accumulated juices back to the pot, incorporating with the tomatoes.
  • Cover the pot and bake at 300º until meat is extremely tender, 4-8 hours. The time will vary depending on if your meat is boneless/thinner cuts (less time needed) or bone-in/thicker cuts (more time needed).
  • If your meats have bones, remove bones at this time and shred the meat before adding the beans.
  • Add beans to the finished braise. If your sauce is a little thick, do not drain the beans before adding. If your sauce is on the thinner side, drain the beans before adding. Stir well to combine.
  • Serve the finished braise over a bed of your favorite starch or grain: couscous, quinoa, farro, pasta (like tagliatelle) or even gnocchi are excellent pairings.
05 Apr 2021
Idea Jennifer Mansfield 0 comment

April is Ohio Native Plant Month

April is Ohio Native Plant Month

With April being “Ohio Native Plant Month” and many of our native spring ephemerals currently in bloom, this is a great time to think about native plants and the role they play in our ecosystem. The importance of native plants is even gaining national attention with the U.S. Senate recently passing a bipartisan resolution designating April 2021 as “National Native Plant Month”.

As you make plans for your garden, remember that native plants are beautiful additions to your landscape and also contribute to ecosystem health by providing food and shelter to wildlife such as bees, birds and insects. The plants are well adapted to our area and require less maintenance than other species. Use the slideshow below to familiarize yourself with some of the native plants in bloom this month. When you are ready to learn more about natives or find out how to purchase them for your yard, visit: https://www.ohionativeplantmonth.org/

18 Mar 2021
Recipe Jen Langdon 0 comment

Chicken and Barley Soup

Chicken and Barley Soup

There’s nothing quite like soup to provide comfort and nourishment when the weather is less than ideal! If you have an Instant Pot or a stovetop pressure cooker, this soup can come together in a jiffy, but it’s also delicious made entirely in a pot on the stovetop.

Print Recipe

Ingredients
  

  • 1 whole pasture-raised chicken
  • 2 sprigs rosemary, divided
  • 1 small bunch thyme, divided
  • 2 Tbsp Butter or olive oil
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1-2 quarts chicken stock, homemade or store-bought for a collagen-rich homemade stock, check out our recipe here: http://green-acres.org/chicken-feet-stock/
  • 3 lb carrots, diced
  • 2/3 cup pearl barley, wheat berries, farro, or another whole grain
  • 3 stalks celery, including leaves, diced
  • 1 15 oz can white beans, undrained
  • 1/2 lb sturdy greens (kale, spinach, collards, cabbage, etc.), chopped
  • salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Instructions
 

  • If you have an Instant Pot or stovetop pressure cooker: place chicken, 1 sprig of rosemary, half of the thyme and 4 cups water in the Instant Pot or pressure cooker. For extra flavorful broth, add the trimmings from your vegetables to the pot. Cook for 20 minutes at high pressure, using the quick steam release method at the end of cooking.
  • Alternatively, add ingredients from step 1 to a pot on the stove and simmer gently until chicken is fully cooked and very tender, 1.5-2 hours.
  • While the chicken is cooking, heat oil or butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion and saute until caramelized, stirring often. Add celery and garlic. Mince remaining rosemary and thyme and add to onion mixture, stirring until very fragrant.
  • Add 1 quart broth to the onion mixture, scraping up any browned bits in the bottom of the pot. Bring to a gentle simmer. Add barley, beans and their liquid, and carrots to the pot and cook until grain is tender, about 30-40 minutes.
  • When chicken is fully cooked, carefully separate the meat from the bones, reserving the bones to make your next batch of chicken stock. Dice meat and add to the soup.
  • Strain broth created while cooking the chicken and add it to your soup pot.
  • Add greens. Continue to simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 10-15 minutes while the flavors meld and the greens become tender. Add additional broth if desired to make the soup the consistency you like, more chunky or more broth-y. Add salt and pepper to your taste.
  • This soup is excellent served with rye toast or whole-grain crackers.

 

08 Mar 2021
Learn Jennifer Mansfield 0 comment

The Spotted Lanternfly

The Spotted Lanternfly

(Updated November 2022)

The spotted lanternfly has become more firmly established in Ohio, with established populations in Cuyahoga, Lorain and Jefferson counties.  Last month, this insect was positively identified in Hamilton County (near the Mill Creek) and its arrival may have been via the rail system. The Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) asks that individuals keep watch for the spotted lanternfly and if detected take the following steps:

  1. Eggs- scrape them off the tree or other surface, double bag them and throw them away. Alcohol or hand sanitizer can also be used to kill them. Report all destroyed egg masses.
  2. Specimens- Collect and report specimens to the ODA. Specimens can be placed in a plastic bag and frozen.

The following link allows you to report a suspected spotted lanternfly in Ohio by completing the form or scanning a QR code. There is a “general information tab” and a “report suspected” tab.

https://agri.ohio.gov/divisions/plant-health/invasive-pests/slf

U.S. Department of Agriculture - Lance Cheung/Multimedia PhotoJournalist/USDA Photo by Lance Cheung, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

(This post was originally written in March 2021)

Traveling this summer?  Beware of unwanted hitchhikers.  The spotted lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula) has officially entered Ohio with a confirmed population in Jefferson County. This insect was first reported in Pennsylvania in 2014 and now resides in several eastern states.  Lanternflies are poor fliers but can hitchhike.  Large egg masses are formed and these masses are laid on trees, wood or rusty metal (e.g. old train cars). It is these egg masses that are often moved by human assisted spread.

The spotted lanternfly can congregate in large numbers and preferred hosts are Tree of Heaven and grapes but spotted lanternflies have been documented on a variety of species. These phloem feeders concern fruit producers as their large numbers can cause a nuisance.  They squirt honeydew from their abdomen (which can rain down on people) and this substance promotes the growth of black sooty mold.

If you are traveling east, do not pack up the lanterfly when you return home.  Check yourself and your belongings for any tag-alongs.  Adults are the easiest to spot and are most abundant late summer through fall.

The spotted lanternfly can congregate in large numbers.
The lanternfly with its wings open.