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.

October garden notes

Fall is here and our garden is still producing more than we can eat.  The weather last week was beautiful, warm and sunny, just what was needed to give our tomatoes, cucumbers, and squash a little boost.  I was quite sure that we had picked the last of my beloved cukes, but they have been revived and are still producing, to my delight.  This morning we were also surprised to pick nearly a quart of large beautiful strawberries.  Our biggest problem has been that the resident squirrels are madly eating - or at least tasting - the strawberries, and everything else they can get their little paws on.  They are digging in the garden, busily storing snacks for winter.  My only hope is that this year we are the recipients of tulips and daffodils in the Grand Squirrel Redistribution program, and not the usual acorns from the neighbor's tree.

The garden tour in early October reveals that we are still harvesting carrots, swiss chard, several varieties of lettuce and salad greens, cucumbers, tomatoes, basil, chives, leeks, fennel, eggplant, peppers, three kinds of summer squash, as well as strawberries, and a few raspberries.  Additionally, we have now added broccoli and cauliflower to the list. 

This week I made a very simple last-minute evening meal with garden produce and eggs from a friend's hens. We had been busy throughout the day and I had not given any thought to dinner preparation.  A search through the cupboards left me with little inspiration;  it seemed that I had tried every variation of pasta dish and fritatta known to man.  A simple omelet of steamed vegetables and fresh tomato relish, along with a green salad suited us perfectly.

Summer Vegetable Omelet

4 eggs, farm fresh
2 tbsp milk
1 tsp olive oil
1 tbsp chopped chives
summer squash - I used zucchini and patty pan, chopped into 3/4" pieces
1 cup broccoli florets
tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup chopped onion
balsamic vinegar
2 stems fresh basil, slivered
salt and pepper to taste
2- 3 tbsp crumbled feta cheese

Steam broccoli and squash until crisply tender, about 5 minutes.  Set a side.  Make tomato relish by combining chopped tomatoes, onion, and basil with salt and a dash of balsamic vinegar. Whisk eggs, chopped chives, and milk together until light and foamy.  Heat olive oil in omelet pan until hot, then add eggs and cook, lifting up edges as they become firm and tilting pan to allow liquid eggs to run underneath. When eggs are just barely cooked, add salt and pepper to taste, top with steamed vegetables, and sprinkle with feta cheese.  To serve, slide omelet out of pan onto serving plate and top with tomato relish.

When you can't think of anything to cook, this is a great fall-back.