Local Steak, Maine Potatoes, Homemade Kraut

At least here in Massachusetts, it's that time of the year for incongruous eating. The weather is warm, the trees are in bloom and the birds are singing, but we're stretching the last of our sad, winter squash. If you go by what's on display at Whole Foods, you'd think we're smack dab in the middle of corn and cubed, seedless watermelon season. But we're not, so don't eat like it.

I finagled this entirely local meal entirely from my wares. The River Rock Farm steak was frozen since Fall, the Maine (okay, local to New England) taters are the last hangers-on from my annual latke fest, and the kraut is of course homemade from FarMar cabbages from, say, October.

I seared the steak in Kate's Butter, then crumbled on a little Berkshire Blue. I browned the taters in more K.'s B., and added homemade stock wrung from the remains of a local bird. It cooked down into a nice demi glace. The kraut was served raw with nothing but the billions of tasty bacteria that colonize it.



The stock, butter, and demi glace were all inspirations from Anthony Bourdain. After finally getting around to reading Kitchen Confidential, I was left with two major impressions:

1. This guy is a jerk.
2. French cooking does sound good!