breakfast in the pasture
a couple of weeks ago we had the joy of getting up early on one of the coldest days (that is relative I know) of the year and heading off to parts unknown (Ocoee) to tour Lake Meadow Naturals Farm and eat breakfast prepared by local chefs in the pasture. I had bucolic images of sitting at a white tablecloth listening to a brook gurgle past while I sat all dainty-like in white flowing dress with Hunter boots a la Beekman….. oh my word. Get real. I did have an image of something other than it turned out to be but it went a bit like this… 
We drove up to the farm and parked in a field where some adorable goats and their donkey shepherd usually live. We saw one of the little goats escape out the fence and wander around the cars until he freaked himself out and squoze back in. We walked down the drive seeing small chicken houses, bunny houses, a large garden and a little store and a big house with a well kept ornamental garden. We met our farmer-guide who walked us through the premises explaining all they do there on their little farm. They garden and tend the animals and this is fun, have u-pick eggs. We had a little talk from a local seafood purveyor called Wild Ocean told us about the shrimp we would be eating a little later and how they wild catch them off the eastern coast near Cape Canaveral. The tour continued in the egg washing room where they clean up the eggs and then to see 100 or so newly hatched chicks…fuzzy and peepy in big heated washtubs. Then into the main free-range open to the great big chicken house. The chickens swarmed around our legs and pecked at my jeans. I love those birds. They do have a terrible reek but they are so friendly and interested in visitors. Then out the door to the field where we shared breakfast with the birds. Tables set up in the yard with mason jars filled with rosemary, eggs, and straw, each table supplied with locally bottled hot sauce by Fat Cat. We went through the line and picked up shrimp and grits smothered with a tomato sauce, fresh Maldon salted biscuits with fresh kumquat and strawberry jalapeno jam and roasted vegetable and egg frittata. I think the biscuits and jam where my favorite taste of the morning besides hot coffee-so fresh and bright. It was one of the few times I have been cold in Florida so far. While we ate, the chickens ambled around our feet and gave little innocent pokes with their beaks. We watched the more timid geese, ducks and guineafowl who kept their distance. We finished off our visit with a trip through their little farm store where we picked up some blood oranges for marmalade and a slab of crazy bacon. Then home to dump all those clothes straight in the washing machine.
apple glazed meatballs
we tried these most amazing meatballs I pinned on pinterest. The original recipe links back to Better Homes and Gardens. 
We used turkey for the balls which were glazed with apple cider and soy sauce served over mashed potatoes. We’ve now actually made them twice they were so good. Sweet and spicy and topped with green onions. We halved the meatballs and made the same amount of sauce and used it for gravy. Huh-I want these today!
burger21
does it feel like not a week can pass here without a burger? Do I get tired of them? No. I love handheld food. I found myself tearing bites of na’an off this week to deliver my butter chicken instead of a fork…but I digress. Another (?!) new burger ‘chain’ has opened recently in Orlando. I am beginning to understand that I moved here just on the cusp of what I heard called the great recession on NPR this week and the lull in places to go that were not chains may have come of that. With most of their locations in the Tampa area Burger 21, has now opened two locations in Orlando. I’m not sure about the name and didn’t find a reason for the 21 on the interwebs but recall they had 21 versions of burger? I’m not sure – they did have beers on tap but really appeared to specialize in shakes. 
They did seem to post a lot of b. this and b. that -like, b flavorful or b juicy. We ordered an Ybor City Double Espresso laden shake and enjoyed the buzz of sugar and caffeine. (Ybor City is an area of Tampa-historic) I was excited to have a Tex-Mex haystack burger topped with onion strings (can’t pass them by-ever), gouda, guac, lettuce, tomato and chipotle aioli. I was delighted by the height and super juicyness of the burger. I’ve only recently come to appreciate lettuce and tomato on a burger and this made it crunchy and bright. Hits of cheesy ale fries added their saltiness and upped the crave factor. Z had a philly cheese burger and I can’t overly comment on it. It had a gooey melty layer of cheese, onions and peppers. I don’t understand his ordering it as he doesn’t like green peppers at all. But he enjoyed it. They had a sauce bar for dipping and it drew me like a magnet. I didn’t realize when ordering the cheese fries that if I had ordered sweet potato I could have sauces specially for them – apple cider with cinnamon and toasted marshmallow. They might have missed a sale on that for not advertising it sooner. But we did pick up a sauce cup of the thai ketchup – yummy with eel sauce giving it a nice umami. We have looked in our local stores for this since and haven’t turned any up. This may well be my new favorite burger joint-other than home of course. That is saying something.
evoo aside
when Z and I were dating, a whirlwind after actually being friends and youth co-workers for 10+ years, we went out for one New Years Eve dinner. It was at a great neighborhood place in Denver called Parisi. Sounds French but is a decidedly Italian trattoria upstairs and fancier dining in the basement. It being five years ago I can only suppose I had my usual pollo con funghi (chicken with cream and mushrooms) and olive oil roasted potatoes. Brian had pasta all’Amatriciana, was blown away and returned to Orlando after the holidays. I suppose on his return he wanted to recreate his wonderful New Years date or that pasta or impress me by deciding to learn to cook it. I can never be sure. But we turned to foodnetwork.com and found a fairly easy recipe by Rachael Ray and Z went to Publix and bought Rachael’s recommended own label, EVOO. Awesome. Ok…that’s where the story begins. Rachael Ray. I have a fair amount of both respect and derision for her. I hate her slogany cheese. Yum-O! EVOO. Sammys. But on the other hand she’s taken her interest in food and parlayed it into something much more-an empire. …..and I get her magazine. There it is. I said it. I got something like five years for $5. And I usually flip through it and leave it on the table as a donation at work to whosoever would like to read it. But recently I spied a recipe that beckoned to me. Sloppy Moussakas. Something of a bastardization of sloppy joe’s and moussaka. A tomato rich ground meat concoction with a pinch of cinnamon and the piece de resistance cheesy bechamel but in this case, loaded on a buttered hamburger bun. I often think Rach’s (can I call her Rach?) recipes call for too many ingredients but I suppose they often combine two separate recipes and look for the best pieces of each. I think it’s an unnamed hallmark of her cooking style. It was an easy recipe and it smelled really great. I added more tomato paste than required and it didn’t suffer for it-probably like 3 tablespoons instead of 2 teaspoons. I also managed to smother both sandwich and french fries with that delicious creamy sauce. As Rach would say, ‘Delish!’
My Urban Pantry 