Transitioning to winter meals

The hurrier I go, the behinder I get. I now know exactly what that means.  Lately I've been too busy to sit down at my computer to write my regular posts, and I do have some things to write about.  In the meantime the weather has changed drastically, making all that I have to tell you about the garden old news. But, I'm just not ready to give it up.  Some things you have to do in order, so I will continue to tell the of the aging of our garden and our transition to a winter diet.

  Any of you who have been regular readers know by now that my M.O. is to wander through my garden until I receive divine inspiration regarding what to cook for dinner. That approach has worked so well for me this summer, although in recent weeks the pickings have been slim, indeed.  I have fought many an internal battle about food planning.  For months I have made trips to the grocer only when milk, flour, or some other essential was needed. Now I'm facing the need to plan and shop.  What a drag. Well, only if that's what I tell myself.  Finally I have taken on the challenge.  And, really, once I got started, it wasn't so bad.  It's true that we can still eat well in the winter.

Last week I finally spent a day drinking tea and pouring over some of my favorite cookbooks.  I organized myself, made a list of about 25 meals I wanted to make, sorted out some for the first week, and made a shopping list.  The following day I shopped.  Since then we have been eating, mostly according to plan, vegetables still provided by the garden, but supplanted by the grocer.

We still have very nice salad greens, carrots, leeks, and a few tomatoes that were picked when still green and have been slowly ripening in the house.  We also have cabbage and brussels sprouts.  For this meal I combined our lovely greens with gently blanched carrots from the garden, our tomatoes, hard cooked eggs from a friend, and Oregon-caught tuna for a  Salad Nicoise.  I tossed the greens with a vinaigrette and topped the tuna with a dab of dilled mayonnaise.  A few slices of fresh bread and a glass of red wine made a very nice meal.  November 11th, our very last summer-like dinner.

Great Recipes Soon

The November rush is on.  You may not have missed me, but then again, maybe you did notice that I've not been keeping up with my regular postings. November is always a complicated month for me. We have 4 birthdays this month, exactly 1 week apart.  In addition, I've been preparing for my annual Holiday sale, which has taken up most of my time.  I've still been cooking some tasty meals and have a few outstanding things to share with you, but it will have to wait one or two more days.  In the meantime you're invited to join me and my two cohorts  for our annual Artists' Holiday Sale this weekend. I'll also be teaching a free jewelry making class on Sunday, November 21st between 10 am & 2 pm.  Stop by if you'd like to design some jewelry for yourself or, perhaps get the start on your Holiday crafting.  Here's the skinny:

The Best Chanterelle Risotto



Risotto with Roasted Chanterelles

 In a Funk -I have to admit that I'm not doing very well on the Fall to Winter transition.  I have relied so heavily on my garden for so many months that I have gotten out of the habit of shopping, or even planning ahead so that I can have the necessary ingredients on hand to prepare a meal.  Until now I have embraced the idea of roaming around the garden looking inspiration for our evening meal.  I found it a challenge and a delight.  I never knew what would come out of my kitchen until I discovered what was available and abundant in the garden. But now things have changed. It's a little bleak out there - cabbage, Swiss chard, carrots, leeks and greens.  Not only that, it's dark, cold, and wet. The move out of Daylight Savings has also thrown me for a loop. It's no fun to be out there in the dark and rain trying to find greens for a salad.  I'm going to have to work this out.  My goal for this week is to face my dilemma head-on and get back in the groove.  We do have to eat, after all. 

In the meantime I thought you might like to hear about my best-ever recipe for Mushroom Risotto - it involves Chanterelles.  By this time all of our Chanterelle harvest has been prepared and frozen.  I'm missing those fresh mushrooms and am looking forward to another romp in the forest this weekend.  But first, I must document this recipe before I forget.  The Risotto is pretty straight forward with one exception, at the very end of the cooking process I added mushrooms that  had been roasted with garlic.  The flavor was spectacular.  The roasted Chanterelles were tender with a rich caramelized flavor; the tidbits of roasted garlic were divine. Well worth repeating.  Here's how I made it:

Risotto with Roasted Chanterelles

2 cups of medium sized Chanterelles, whole or cut in half
1 Tbsp olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, slivered
pinch of salt

1 leek, white part only, sliced
1 1/2 cups Chanterelles, chopped
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup arborio rice
3 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup white wine
salt to taste
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

To roast the mushrooms:  toss mushrooms and garlic with olive oil and spread on cookie sheet or roasting pan.  Roast in 425F oven until the mushrooms are golden, have released their liquid and it has evaporated -about 20 minutes.  Any accumulated juice may be added to the risotto for flavor.

For Risotto:  Bring chicken stock to a simmer.  Keep at a low simmer while making the risotto.  heat olive oil in a  sauce pan over medium heat, add leeks and chopped mushrooms.  Saute until the leeks are limp and mushrooms begin to give up their liquid.  Add the rice and stir to coat.  Begin adding the simmering stock one cup at a time, stirring until the liquid has been absorbed each time. Add the wine and continue stirring and adding stock until the rice is opaque and tender, but still somewhat firm in the center. This should take about 20 minutes.  Adjust seasoning, adding salt to taste.  Stir in cheese and roasted mushrooms, reserving a few mushrooms for garnish.  Serve right away.

A Tale of Tomatoes

Tomatoes in November - One of the more pleasant surprises our garden has provide this Fall is simply that it is still providing us with food.  It's the beginning of November and I have yet to purchase produce.  I know that will change very quickly, but as for now I'm just grateful.  The cucumbers have finally given up, the squash are history, but there are still salad greens to be had each day, and, best of all, tomatoes. The tomatoes are lovely.  As you may know, in the Northwest, this was not a great year for tomatoes.  Others have said the same. We got a late start, we then hit by cold damp weather and the tomato plants didn't like it.  Our plants were smaller than usual, and much later to produce.  Every year Reyn plants close to a dozen tomato plants.  His favorite variety is  Early Girl.  They are vigorous plants which produce an abundance of very tasty fruit.  We also grow a few varieties of cherry-type tomatoes and maybe some Romas.  This year we were excited to try something new.

My mother had mentioned our garden when speaking to her 90 year old brother who lives in Missouri.  He and his wife still live in the country and grow a garden every year.  They kindly sent my mother some of the tomato seeds from their favorite tomatoes, Arkansas Travelers, to be shared with us.  They have been saving seeds for years.  The Arkansas Travelers have now made it to the Northwest.  Now, mind you, the growing conditions in Missouri are quite a bit different from those in the Willamette Valley, but how could we pass up the opportunity to try these beloved seeds.

Reyn planted the seeds, then moved the plants into the garden.  They looked kind of scrawny and not happy with the cool weather, and by late summer had not really produced much fruit. The tomatoes were fairly small in size and a kind of a pinkish/red color.  The flavor was good, and quite different from the Early Girls, but they were late in ripening, with lots of green tomatoes on the vines as Fall approached.  Well, Fall is here, Winter is approaching, and we are still eating Arkansas Travelers.  They have been ripening a few at a time, long after our Early Girls have given up. Whenever cold rainy weather was predicted I headed out to the garden and harvested any tomatoes that were beginning to turn toward red, bringing them inside,before they could be damaged by the rain.  I've been doing that for weeks.  The tomatoes on the vines have held on, undamaged.  No rot, not splitting.  Still giving me very nice, tasty tomatoes - in November.

 Reyn has been cleaning up the garden beds and needed to pull the tomatoes to make room for his cold-frame.  I brought in the remaining Arkansas Travelers hoping that the green ones will also make it to red.   I think we'll plant them again next year. Thank you Uncle Loyd.

Freezing Wild Mushrooms

Too Many? - It's so hard to pass up a nice looking mushroom, even if your basket already weighs 15 pounds.   Those of you who are lucky enough to live near a good picking spot know what I mean.  Where we pick the woods are dense and usually wet, and the hillsides steep.  It is not easy going. We climb over downed old growth stumps, through masses of vine maple branches, and poke around under thick beds of ferns and Salal. All for the pleasure of spotting the beautiful golden, trumpet-shaped Chanterelle coming up out of the moss and fir needles. The mushrooms were plentiful this year and the recent rain had caused them to be full of moisture and , thus, very heavy. 

So, what does one do with 25 pounds of Chanterelles?  We brought ours home and cleaned them right away.  We did this by quickly dipping each mushroom in water and brushing off the forest debris.  We then sorted them by size and spread them out on towels to dry overnight.  Of course, we eat fresh mushrooms in everything we cook for several days.  So far we've enjoyed a fritatta and Chanterelle risotto.  Tonight we're looking forward to a great mushroom soup.  Meanwhile, I've been preparing lots of mushrooms for the freezer.  We've found that unlike many frozen foods, the flavor of Chanterelles seems to improve and become more concentrated once frozen.  I use them often throughout the year.  I usually freeze the mushrooms in three different forms: 1) chopped and sauteed with shallots or onions and maybe a little Marsala - these are great mixed with rice, in stuffings, or with baked chicken breasts; 2) made into duexelles - which are finely chopped then sauteed, also with shallots -  these I use for flavor in soups and sauces, they are also nice as a filling for rolled fish or chicken and roasted whole or in large pieces; and 3) oven roasted whole or in large pieces - these maintain their shape and are very nice in rice and grain dishes or as a garnish in soups or with meat or chicken.

This year I have chosen to oven roast most of the mushrooms mainly because roasting imparts a wonderful flavor and color to the mushrooms, they become almost caramelized.  It is also nice to end up with some large and shapely pieces.  I've roasted the mushrooms two different ways, whole or halved, and chopped with garlic  Here's how it's done:

Oven Roasted Chanterelles

Set oven to 425F. Clean mushrooms, sort by size. I like to roast small or medium mushrooms whole or cut in half, depending on how large they are.  They shrink during cooking, and my goal is to obtain something that still looks like a mushroom, but is small enough to eat in one or two bites.  Place the prepared mushrooms in a large bowl and drizzle with 1-2 Tbsp or olive oil, and a little salt.  Toss the mushrooms to coat.  Spread mushrooms out on a large baking or roasting pan.  Place in oven  until they release their liquid, it evaporates, and the mushroom become a dark golden brown color, about 30 minutes. The smell will be wonderful.  You can now eat them or place in freezer bags and freeze.

Oven Roasted Chanterelles with Garlic

I used the same technique for these except that I chopped the mushrooms into smaller pieces and added several large slivered garlics along with the oil and salt.

Watch for more recipes to come.

Chanterelle Happiness



A perfect little Chanterelle

 It's hard to beat a sunny Fall day spent tromping through the woods. There's nothing like it.  Today was one of those days.  It seems like we've had weeks of nothing but gray skies and rain, lots of rain.  But, today was beautiful.  As October comes to an end we are always sad to put away our garden and give up the constant supply of fresh edibles. At the same time we begin to feel the pull of the woods where the moisture and cool weather has begun to coax Chanterelle mushrooms from the forest floor. We have been wanting to head for the woods for over a week now, but just couldn't get away.  Today was the day. Our supply of treasured frozen Chanterells has dwindled to almost nothing and we desperately needed to restock.

For me, mushroom hunting is a magical thing.  I love walking through the woods alone enjoying the peace and quiet; the dappled sun filtering through the forest above, the soft floor of moss and fir needles muffling my footsteps. Today I realized that I cherish this private time with nature and that I only experience it when mushrooms are my focus. I feel safe.  Reyn and I always start our hunting together, but the illusive mushrooms quickly entice us in opposite directions. We return to our favorite "secret" spot every year.   It's not really possible to get lost as there is a road on one side and a ridge on the other, but for hours at a time we don't see one another or communicate.  We simply enjoy the sounds and sights of the deep woods,  along with the pleasure of a treasure hunt. 

When we arrived at our spot today we were disappointed to find another car parked not too far up the road.  It is always a surprise to learn that someone else knows of this place.  The car departed soon after we arrived, but we were afraid that not many mushrooms would be left.  Over the years I have learned that regardless of who or how many people have picked before us, there are always mushrooms to be found.  Today was no different.  We had to look a little harder, and found many that were buried in the fir needles, exposing just the slightest bit of their golden edge, but mushrooms we did find.  See for yourself, together we picked 25 pounds of beautiful Chanterelles.

Our dinner for tonight?  Chanterelles, of course.  By the time we drove home and cleaned our mushrooms it was late, and true to form, I had planned nothing for dinner.  A quick and easy fritatta fit the bill.  This could be the best.  Garlic, a leek, and potatoes from our garden, eggs from a friend, Chanterelles, along with a bit of bacon and a bit of cheese made an exceptionally delicious combination.  The final touch was a little smoked Spanish paprika sprinkled on top.   Here's how I made it.

Potato and Chanterelle Fritatta

3 strips bacon

1 clove garlic, slivered

1 leek, white part sliced

1 Tbsp olive oil

2 potatoes, quartered lengthwise, then sliced

2+ cups Chanterelle mushrooms, cleaned and chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp Sherry
2 - 3 TBS cubed aged cheddar cheese (white)
4 eggs
1/4 - 1/2 cup milk
salt and pepper to taste
Smoked Spanish paprika

Cut bacon into small squares and cook until crisp.  Drain and set aside.  In a non-stick frying pan heat olive oil, add garlic and leeks.  Saute until soft.  Add the potatoes and cook on med/low heat until the potatoes are cooked through, sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Meanwhile clean and chop mushrooms into pieces about 1 - 2" wide.  Heat oil to medium in a saute pan and add mushrooms. Cook until they release all their liquid, add sherry and continue cooking until the liquid has completely evaporated. In a small bowl, beat eggs and milk together.  Arrange cheese cubes and bacon on top of potatoes, top with mushrooms, then pour on the egg and milk mixture.  Cook over medium heat, lifting the edge of the eggs as they firm up and allowing remaining liquid eggs to run under the edge.  When the fritatta is firm around the outside, but still runny in the middle, place the pan under the broiler briefly to finish cooking.  Voila!

Back to reality



Prawns with tomato saffron risotto

 Rain - here we go again.  It seems to have happened so suddenly.  I still have plenty of yard work to do, but somehow it is less appealing when it's raining.  I have recently hired someone to help me dig up the beloved and dreaded Lily-of-the-valley that has taken over much of my front yard.  We have dug up and removed wheel barrows, many wheel barrows, full of the roots.  Of course, I know that it is impossible to get rid of all of it, but I am sure the presence of those beautiful, fragrant flowers will be much less next spring.

One unsuspected result of all this digging has been the unearthing of an entire bucket full of tulip bulbs. Bulbs that have been clustered together for years, never producing flowers.  Bulbs that I didn't even know I had.  Over the years I have planted and replanted tulips.  I seem to get a few flowers each year, but not many.  I had always blamed the squirrels, thinking they had moved my bulbs to a location more to their liking.  Well, it turns out that the bulbs were there all the time, patiently awaiting the day when I would divide and replant them.  This would be that day. . . . . . . if only it weren't raining.  I'm willing to wait a few more days, but you may soon find me donning the rain gear and digging in the mud.  Finding places for all those bulbs will not be easy.  Hmmm, really, it's a good problem to have.

While we may be marching toward winter, we are still able to find good things to eat in the garden.  Although I must admit that the daily harvest is getting a little slim, and at this stage, is not the main portion of our meals. We did end up with a great dinner last night, which once again got it's start in the garden.  I was able to pick a nice combination of greens for a salad, and finally did pick the last two small very crisp cucumbers. For weeks now I have thought that I was seeing the last of the cukes, but they just kept producing.  Sadly, it really is over now.  I also used cauliflower, leeks, a couple of tomatoes, and our last onion.  I roasted the onion and cauliflower for a side dish.  I combined the leek and tomato with garlic and saffron in a delicious risotto which I topped with seared prawns.  It was all a success.

Prawns with Tomato Saffron Risotto

2/3 pounds of jumbo Mexican Prawns

1 tbsp olive oil

Pinch of red pepper flakes
2 cloves of garlic, slivered
a splash of white wine

1 cup arborio rice
1 Tbsp olive oil
3 cups of chicken stock

1/2 cup dry white wine

1 tsp saffron threads, crumbled

1/4 cup warm water

1 leek, white part, sliced
1 clove garlic
1 tomato, cut into small dice
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tsp chopped parsley
1 Tbsp chopped chives
salt and pepper to taste

For risotto:   sprinkle saffron threads in 1/4 cup warm water, allow to steep. Bring chicken stock to a simmer, add wine.  Let sit on low burner to maintain heat while making the risotto.  In a large deep pan add olive oil, heat to med/low add garlic and leeks, saute lightly.  Add the rice and stir until it begins to turn opaque and is coated with oil - just a few minutes.  To the rice begin adding the liquid.  Stir in about 1 cup of stock, then add the saffron water and chopped tomato.  Cook stirring until the liquid is absorbed by the rice.  Continue adding stock, one cup at a time, stirring each time until it is absorbed.  Rice is done when most of the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is creamy and just a little bit firm in the middle.  When the rice gets to this point remove it from the burner to wait while the prawns are cooked.

For the prawns: Heat olive oil over med/high in a heavy skillet.  Stir in garlic slivers.  When the pan is hot, but not smoking, toss in the prawns and sprinkle with red pepper flakes,  Cook briefly on each side until the flesh is pink and opaque - don't over cook.  At the last minute add a splash of white wine and/or lemon juice.  Sprinkle with a little chopped parsley or chives.  Serve over risotto.  I think you'll like it.

Changing with the Seasons

The Changing Plate-  I can tell that the seasons are changing by the colors that are appearing in my photos and on my plate.  Looking back over earlier blog entries every photo was filled with bright reds and greens. Lettuces, radishes, tomatoes, cucumbers and squash in vibrant primary colors. It seems that now the palate is subtly changing.  Take a look at my offering for today - purple and yellow potatoes, orange beets, ruby carrots.  A rich Fall palate to be sure. 

The flavors have changed as well.  The bright crisp flavors of tomatoes and cukes we are giving way to the rich deep flavors that comfort us as the weather gets colder.  I'm more often choosing to roast and braise the vegetables, which blends and concentrates the flavors, than to eat them raw or use quick cooking techniques, as I do in the summer.  Reyn has been clearing some of our garden beds in preparation for a winter mulch.  Today he presented me with the stragglers from one of the beds: baby carrots, a tiny eggplant, several very small colorful beets, and cauliflower.  I added potatoes and garlic from the cellar and came up with a wonderful melange of flavorful roasted vegetables.  I put them in a roasting pan, along with a chicken and an hour later we enjoyed another delicious, beautiful, and very easy meal.

Roasted Chicken and Fall Vegetables

1 chicken, rinsed

2 cloves of garlic, slivered

salt and pepper

Assorted fall vegetables:

carrots, beets, eggplant, onion, garlic,
cauliflower, potatoes
really, whatever you have
1 Tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Clean vegetables and cut into somewhat regular pieces.  Dry with paper towel, then in a large bowl toss vegetables with olive oil to lightly coat each piece.Season with salt and pepper.  Spread vegetables in the bottom of a large roasting pan.  After rinsing the chicken slide the slivers of garlic under the skin of the breast between the meat and the skin. Rub the skin with a dab of olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place the chicken on a roasting rack in the pan, right over the vegetables. Roast in a convection or regular oven at 425F for 50 - 60 minutes.  That's it!  Add a pear crisp, baked at the same time, for a lovely meal.



Ready to eat.



#2 World's Healthiest Vegetable!

Swiss chard -  #2 on the World's Healthiest Vegetable list (spinach is #1),  and we have a lot of it.  Chard is easy to grow, does well with neglect, likes poor soil and withstands frosts and mild freezes.  What more could anyone ask for?  It's also very high in vitamins and minerals, is an antioxidant, an anti inflammatory, and helps to regulate blood sugar levels.  Really, maybe we should eat it every day.  Some of us are. As of mid-October as chard is still thriving.

Chard is a member of the beet root family but only the leaves and stems are edible, no bulbous root.  On young leaves the stems are small and tender and may be eaten raw in salads. As the leaf gets larger the stems become tougher and must be cooked.  I often cut off the stems, chop and briefly saute them, then sprinkle them on the top of the cooked greens to provide a contrast in color and texture.  Our chard plants have been so prolific that I am constantly in search of new ways to prepare and serve chard. 

 I recently had the pleasure of joining a dinner party at the home of a friend of my daughter.  This group of friends frequently shares meals, and it is not unusual to find an assortment of children, siblings, parents and grandparents in attendance.  Good food and wine is always the order of the day.  Amy is the recipient of a CSA farm box and made this delicious salad with the chard that came with her weekly vegetables.  Fresh raw chard is chopped, stems and all then topped with a sprinkling of lightly candied walnuts, dried cranberries and crumbled feta.  A very nice combination.

Amy's Chopped Chard Salad

1 large bunch of Swiss chard

1/2 cup walnuts

1 Tbsp olive oil

maple syrup, a splash

 Dressing: 2 Tbsp olive oil

juice and zest of 1 lemon

1 garlic, finely chopped

splash of maple syrup

pinch of salt and pepper

1/4 cup dried cranberries or currants

1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

Place walnuts in frying pan and lightly toast.  Add oil and a splash of maple syrup.  Cook to lightly candy the nuts.  Set aside.  Rinse chard and remove stems.  Chop both stems and leave into 3/4" pieces.  Mix together dressing ingredients.  Toss chard with the dressing.  Top with a sprinkling of nuts, cranberries, and feta. Enjoy with friends!

Cauliflower, Chard and Beautiful Carrots

A change of pace - My harvest of late has been short on tomatoes and squash, and long on cauliflower, leeks, and carrots. Oh, and of course, chard.  It seems that we are never without chard. The change is prompting me to consider different options for dinner. Which is really not a bad thing after all those summer vegetables.  I'm enjoying coming up with appropriately autumnal dinners.  Reyn has just returned from a 10 day conference and was really glad to get back to our fresh-from-the-garden meals.

Our dinner last night came entirely from the garden.  I put together a mix of summer and fall dishes.  Zucchini fritters were accompanied by a fresh tomato and basil relish.  I also tried to replicate a slow cooked potato, garlic, and chard dish I had seen, but not eaten, at the wonderful Seattle restaurant, Sitka and Spruce. Although my dish didn't end up with the exact look of the Sitka and Spruce version, the flavor was fabulous.  Sauteed garlic, chopped greens, and fingerling potatoes are slowly braised in chicken stock.  This is a combination that I probably would not have thought of on my own, but one that melds into a perfectly flavored iconic comfort food. In addition, the leftovers made a delicious frittata for breakfast.  I will surely add this recipe to my regulars.

Braised Swiss Chard with Fingerling Potatoes

1 large bunch of Swiss chard, or other greens
4 -5 cloves of garlic
2 Tbsp olive oil

4 -5 fingerling potatoes, other waxy potato could be substituted
1/2 cup chicken stock
salt and pepper to taste

Rinse chard and cut stems from the leaves, reserve for another use.  Slice the leaves into 1/2" strips.  Wash potatoes and cut into 1" lengths.  In a dutch oven, heat olive oil to medium, then add garlic cloves, saute briefly.  Add chard and cook until it begins to wilt, just a few minutes.  Add potatoes and chicken stock.  Stir  to distribute.  At this point you can cover the pan and continue to cook slowly on the stove top, or place in the oven, heated to 325 - 350F.  I cooked mine in the oven alongside a pan of roasting vegetables.  Continue cooking for about 45min to 1 hour adding more stock if it becomes too dry.  This is a very forgiving dish which would probably improve with longer cooking, so don't feel rushed.

Along with the fritters and potatoes I oven roasted cauliflower with some of our beautiful ruby carrots. These I simply cleaned and cut to size, tossed them with a little olive oil and garlic cloves, and popped them into the oven next to the potato/chard braise. Simply beautiful and delicious.

Mid October garden notes

Changing seasons -  Each day we get closer to the rainy season here, but it hasn't fully arrived yet.  I'm forever grateful for every bit of sunshine we receive, and feel obliged to be outside working in the yard.  Fall weather here can be sublime.  The past few days have been sunny and warm.  It rained last night and I expected more today, but instead it is beautiful. I've been overhauling the front yard, digging out tons of overgrown lily-of-the-valley and sweet woodruff. I've been hoping to get it all under control and my tulip bulbs planted before the cold, wet weather sets in.  I'm making pretty good progress, but am not finished yet.

Our vegetable garden is changing rapidly now, but is still providing us with good things to eat.  Twice now I have thought that I had picked the last of the cucumbers, only to find another one ready to be eaten a few days later - a gift from Mother Nature.  The basil plants are giving up their leaves to brown spots, the remaining tomatoes are slow to turn color, and the summer squash seems to have given up at last.  However, we have lots of cauliflower, and carrots, and the chard marches on. Still growing big beautiful leaves and strong red stems. We've been eating broccoli and the brussel sprouts are beginning to form.   We also still have a nice supply of salad greens. In the next few days we hope to get the cold frame set up to cover the new bed of mesclun mix I recently planted.  The greens have successfully germinated, but our neighborhood squirrels are very busy hiding any type of seed or nut they can find, and they have taken to digging in the mesclun.  I'll have to convince them to try next door.

One thing of particular note that I forgot to add is that we are still picking strawberries!!!!  They are still big and beautiful, though not quite as flavorful as those grown in the heat of the summer.  We enjoyed a lovely strawberry clafouti for dessert yesterday.  What a treat in October!

From pancakes to fritters

Something good to eat - there are times when it seems almost impossible to come up with something interesting and tasty to eat.  Those are often the times when I neglected to think about dinner until the very last minute, or when I have no responsibility to prepare food for anyone other than myself.  I hate to admit it, but I get kind of sloppy about proper meals when I am alone.  Today was one of those days.  I'm alone.  I fooled around and snacked all day, until suddenly it was getting dark and I felt compelled to come up with some kind of dinner.

I had made zucchini cake earlier in the day and had about a cup of grated zucchini left.  I also had some buttermilk pancake batter left from breakfast.  Voila!  Zucchini Fritters.  They were soooo good!  You may want to try them. A friend had given me a beautiful Pineapple tomato from her garden. (Thank you, Jill)   I added a cucumber and enjoyed a delicious dinner.  Here's how I put it together:

First, the batter
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 egg
2 tbsp oil
Mix flour, baking powder, soda and salt together.  Mix buttermilk with oil and egg.  Stir into dry ingredients.  This is a great pancake recipe, so you may want to do what I did and have a few pancakes for breakfast.

For fritters: 

1 cup grated zucchini
2 tbps slivered Parmesan cheese
1 tbsp slivered basil
1 tbsp pine nuts
1/2 tsp lemon pepper
salt to taste
2 tbsp oil for frying
1 cup batter

Place zucchini in a large bowl, stir in batter.  Add parmesan, basil, pine nuts, and lemon pepper, and salt.  Heat oil in a frying pan. When hot, drop in large spoons full of the batter.  Cook until brown on one side, then turn and repeat.  Drain on paper towel if necessary.  Nice served with a tomato chutney or salsa.

The small addition of cheese and the pine nuts definitely lifted these fritters out of the ordinary.  I would happily serve these to friends.  I hope you like them.

Summer harvest winding down

Switching gears - slowly, but surely, the summer crops in the garden are putting on the brakes.  This week we saw the last of the Patty Pan squash, and today I picked the last 5 cucumbers - a sad occasion for me.  As far as I am concerned, nothing compares to a freshly picked cucumber.  I'm never satisfied with cukes from the grocers.  I optimistically left one of the cuke plants in the ground with the hope that the predicted warm weather for later this week might encourage it to put out just one more precious cucumber.  We'll see.

While the squash and cucumbers are coming to an  end, I am happy to report that our late summer planting of salad greens have taken hold and are now providing us with lovely tender salads once again. We are also still picking tomatoes.  We have three plants of  cherry-type tomatoes that have been very disappointing this year.  The plants are producing lots of tomatoes, but for some reason they are all splitting just as they get ripe.  In past years this has happened when the tomatoes got wet from rain, and we did have rain in late August, but they just keep splitting.  It has seemed that the only way I have gotten any to eat has been foraging in the garden and eating them out of hand just before they are really ripe.

Today I managed to find just enough undamaged fruit to demonstrate one of my late Summer/early Fall standbys.  I love the tartness and intense flavor of cherry tomatoes and have found that the flavor can be measurably enhanced by a quick saute.  I like to use a variety of tomatoes for the flavor and color.  This is an easy, last minute dish that is really a special treat.

Flash-in-the-pan Tomatoes

Cherry tomatoes, a variety is nice
1 tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, slivered
1 sprig of basil, leaves chopped

Wash and removes stems from tomatoes.  Place oil and garlic in saute pan,  gently cook garlic for a few minutes until fragrant.  Increase heat to med-high.  Toss in the tomatoes and basil, cook, stirring or shaking the pan, until the tomatoes become very fragrant, soften and the skin splits.  Sprinkle with salt and serve while still very warm.  This dish is best when prepared right before the meal is served.  Oh, so good!

From the garden to the roasting pan

I do love to cook.  I realized that anew yesterday afternoon as I was cruising around the garden once again in search of something to prepare for dinner.  I am one of those who goes through phases in all areas of my life, but especially in the kitchen.  Sometimes I am very organized, with menus planned far in advance, and posted on the refrigerator door, all ingredients at hand.  In reality, that happens only in short bursts, which don't come with any regularity or frequency.  Who am I kidding?

The real me is the person wandering around the garden, basket and knife in hand at 6 pm , looking for inspiration.  That's what I was doing yesterday afternoon/evening.  Fortunately I came up with an idea for a meal plan and the pursuit of that meal left me smiling and very pleased with myself.  I understand now that the satisfaction I find in cooking comes not only from the pleasure I derive in eating food that is flavorful and pleasing to look at, but from the creative process involved -  from start to finish.  New ideas get my juices flowing.  I tend to use cookbooks and magazines mainly for inspiration and ideas; I am usually not one who closely follows a recipe. Occasionally that gets me into trouble, but, really, do you think those cute old Italian, or French, or Turkish grandmas are following a recipe?

So, here's what I came up with for dinner, when there was really nothing to cook.  Vegetables. Lots of them.  Straight from the garden and into the roasting pan.  I chose squash, broccoli, cauliflower, red pepper, eggplant, onions, and a couple tomatoes for moisture.  I served the vegetables with garlic polenta.  It turned out to be a very satisfying, colorful, and tasty meal.


Roasted Vegetables with Garlic Polenta

For the Polenta-
3 cloves of garlic, minced

3 1/2 cups cold water
1 cup coarse ground yellow corn meal
1 teaspoon of salt

Combine all ingredients in a heavy saucepan.  Bring to a boil, stirring constantly.  Reduce heat to moderate and continue to cook, stirring constantly, until the polenta thickens and pulls away from the sides of the pan.  About 10 minutes.  Serve hot in a bowl, or mold as I did by spreading the polenta to 1/2" thick on a non-stick baking sheet and allowing it to cool.  Chill until firm.   To finish, cut into pieces, brush each with olive oil and cook in a heavy frying pan or grill until crisp and brown, top and bottom.

For the vegetables-
2 summer squash, cut in 1" pieces

1 red pepper, cut in chunks
1 stalk of broccoli, cut in florets
1 cup cauliflower pieces
4 small onions, cleaned and left whole
1 small eggplant, cut into 1" pieces
3 tomatoes, cut into 1" pieces
2 cloves of garlic, slivered
2- 3 Tbsp olive oil
3 branches of basil, slivered
salt and pepper to taste

Set oven to 425F.  Place empty roasting pan in oven to heat. Wash and cut vegetables into pieces.  In a large bowl toss all vegetables with olive oil, garlic, and salt and pepper to coat.  Place vegetables in the hot roasting pan and roast until they are tender and slightly browned, stirring 2 or 3 times to allow them to brown evenly - about 30 minutes.  About 5 minutes before they are done, sprinkle the slivered basil on top of the vegetables and stir to distribute.  Serve on polenta, or use with pasta.

We ended up with leftover vegetables which I'm planning to combine with some juicy tomatoes, a few olives, perhaps some capers and some feta cheese to serve with fresh pasta for lunch tomorrow.

Green chile revisited

Ahhhh, the aroma of roasting chile.  Those of you lucky enough to live in the Colorado, Arizona, or New Mexico know this smell - a sure sign of Fall, the chile vendor set up in a parking lot with the roaster going.  The rest of us just have to imagine the Bingo basket full of green chiles rotating over a hot fire, sending forth an aroma not to be forgotten.  While our climate does not make it easy for us to grown an abundance of peppers, our farmers' market does support a chile vendor, complete with roaster.  Most often, however, I end up roasting my own chiles when needed.  This I usually do while standing in the back yard, keeping watch over the gas barbecue - sometimes in the rain.

If you want an overview and recipe for a great green chile refer back to my blog entry for 8/3/10.  I'm revisiting it now to pass on one of my favorite side dishes to go with the chile, and to pass on a quick tip I just learned for roasting chiles at home.

First - the roasting tip:  I have found an alternative to roasting whole chiles on the grill.  It is much quicker, and easier,and results in nicely charred chiles.  I usually use a combination of Poblano and Anaheim chiles.  For either, simply remove the stem, quarter the fresh chile lengthwise, remove the seeds and membrane, then place the chile portions skin side up on a large baking sheet.  Place in the oven, under the broiler, and broil until completely charred, which only takes a few minutes.  I then place the chiles in a bowl and cover the bowl with a plate to allow them to steam for a few minutes.  The skins are then easily removed.  Chop the chiles and you are ready to go.

Now, for an unusual and very satisfying side dish:

Potatoes and Rice with Cumin
(this is one I really love)

2 waxy potatoes
1 cup white rice
2 cups chicken stock
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp. turmeric
2 tsp cumin seed
salt to taste

Peel and cut potatoes into 1/2" cubes.  In medium sauce pan, heat olive oil.  Add cumin seed and turmeric.  Stir and toast briefly until quite fragrant.  Add the potato cubes and stir to coat with the oil and seasonings.  Stir in the rice and salt.  Add chicken stock and bring to a boil.  Cover pan and reduce heat to low,  steam for 20 minutes.

I don't usually think of potatoes and rice in the same dish, but here they are perfect.  You can increase the amount of seasonings if you like more flavorful food.  The turmeric doesn't really add much flavor here, but you probably know that it is a natural anti-inflamatory, so it's good for all of us.  I hope you try, and enjoy this combination.

The sweet smell of garlic

Baskets of Garlic - ready for storage.  Today was another beautiful Fall day.  It won't be long until our weather turns and the rain begins to settle in for good, but, for now, I'm enjoying the sun.  I've been slowly working around the yard doing a little clean up as I go, dead-heading flowers and pulling up annuals that have run their course.  Reyn has begun collecting up the falling leaves and I've been policing the weeds. I'm hoping that if we can stay ahead of things I'll be able to spread a layer of mulch on my flower beds before it gets too cold.  I'm also planning to plant tulip bulbs soon, but not until I get everything cleaned up.  I've been worried about the industrious neighborhood squirrels stealing my bulbs, so yesterday I went to the local recycling center and picked up a small roll of chicken wire with which to protect the bulbs once they are planted.  I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to use the wire, but I trust that I'll figure it out in time.

Today I cleaned out our garden shed in anticipation of storing our porch furniture there over the winter.  The clean out involved removing our harvested garlic which had been hung to dry in the shed in July.  We grew 6 different varieties of garlic, both hard necked and soft necked.  I have labeled the different varieties and kept them separate so that we can determine which ones we want to grow next year.  There are notable differences in the size of the heads and cloves, also their ease of peeling.  Determining which has better flavor is a bit more challenging.  It seems that they are all quite good.  We conducted a taste test of each variety - just like a wine tasting. The garlic was oven roasted and served on fresh bread. While there were clear differences between the garlics, all of them were great.  A couple of favorites stood out, but from the 8 people doing the tasting there was no consensus.

The garlic are now all dry and ready to be processed for storage.  That involves cleaning up the heads and cutting the roots off each head.  The hard necked varieties are cleaned of dried dirt, the loose papery skins are rubbed off, and the heads are cut from their stems.  The soft necked varieties are cleaned and braided together, then the braids are hung in the kitchen until the garlic is needed.  This is the first time that I have braided garlic, so it was a learning experience for me.  Now the challenge becomes using all of this beautiful garlic before it begins to go soft.  I think I'm up for the challenge.   I'll keep you posted.