This Saturday is the first National Food Bloggers Bake Sale (part of the Great American Bake Sale). This sale raises money for Share Our Strength, a national organization fighting to end childhood hunger in the United States. The Bake Sale will take place on Saturday, April 17th, from 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. at The Pizza Place Restaurant at 43 Broad Street in Westerly, RI.



If you can’t make it to the Bake Sale please consider a donation to Share Our Strength online. Thank you.

On Wednesday, April 14, 2010, McCoy will speak about her experience writing a cookbook based upon her blog. The talk is free and will be held at the URI Kingston Campus, Coastal Center, Weaver Auditorium, at 6:30pm.

As a successful freelance producer for network and cable television, McCoy once enjoyed gourmet food with little concern for price. Then the recession hit and the freelance work all but disappeared. As a result, McCoy embarked on a mission: to eat the best food she and her husband could while spending as little as possible. Fortunately, both McCoy and her husband, JR Richardson, have been having fun meeting the challenge, with McCoy sharing humorous moments (such as the time Richardson attempted to hypnotize one of their slightly-past-prime-for-egg-production hens in preparation for humane slaughter, but instead ended up scaring the whole coop into increased egg production, or McCoy’s obsessive squash bug management techniques) in addition to recipes on her blog.

The Poor Girl Gourmet cookbook aims to dispel the myth that inexpensive food is of inferior quality, unhealthy, or difficult to prepare. Each meal for four costs $15 or less, with many of the recipes coming in at under $10. McCoy relies on techniques learned from her mother, grandmothers, and years of home cooking to create memorable meals from less expensive ingredients, and always with an eye toward quality and flavor. McCoy included a “splurges” chapter that features recipes for $15 to $30 for four, as well as a wine recommendations chapter. In addition to recipe development and writing essays on gardening and preserving, McCoy shot the photography for the book.

Braised Red Devon Short Ribs
from Chef Twillia Glover co-owner Little Farm Catering

I use Conanicut Island Grass-Fed beef from Watson Farm in Jamestown, Rhode Island. When preparing grass fed beef, remember to reduce cooking time and use additional liquid.

Yield 4 servings

4 pounds grass fed beef short ribs, cut into 1 rib pieces
3 tablespoons olive oil
Half of an Empire apple, about ¾ cups chopped
3 garlic cloves, 1 tablespoon, chopped
1 medium onion, 1 ½ cup, chopped
2 peeled parsnips, ¾ cup, sliced
2 peeled carrots, ½ cup, sliced
3 stalks celery, 1 cup, chopped
¾ cup Newport Vineyards Merlot
3 cups natural beef stock
3 sprigs of thyme

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Heat olive oil over medium high heat in Dutch oven. Salt and pepper ribs to taste and brown 2 ribs at a time on all sides, remove first 2 ribs and place on a plate, then brown remaining 2 ribs.

In remaining oil, reduce heat to medium and cook all vegetables until onions are translucent about 5 minutes. Deglaze the Dutch oven with the red wine (vegetables remain in Dutch oven). After the alcohol has burned off add the beef broth and bring to a boil while stirring. Place thyme sprigs on vegetables and place ribs in Dutch oven and cover. Place Dutch oven in preheated oven and cook for 3 hours, until tender, turning every 45 minutes.

Remove ribs and place on a serving platter, cover with foil to keep warm. Carefully strain cooking liquid over a saucepan, discard vegetables and skim the fat, pour remaining sauce over ribs and serve with crusty artisan bread and local greens.