Archive for the ‘Recipes’ Category

« Older Entries

How This Garden Coach Has the Energy for Long Days in the Garden

Wednesday, September 9th, 2009

Okay, so honestly, this post isn’t so much about the garden except that I often find myself out in the garden, starving, because I didn’t take the time to eat something before I ran out to water or dig or weed or harvest. Not eating means I end up not getting very far in my work day. Whether I’m laboring in the soil, discussing a garden with a garden coaching client or just sitting at my desk designing the next great garden, I need to eat.

Fresh Baked Power Patties

Fresh Baked Power Patties

Recently, I had a craving for cookies. (Those who know me, know this isn’t a rare occurrence; I adore cookies.) When I set out to make up a batch of my favorite oatmeal cookies from the Fanny Farmer Cookbook (Cape Cod Oatmeal recipe in this book rocks!), I ended up veering off course and coming up with a fantastic breakfast cookie that has sustained me through many mornings since. Lacking raisins in the pantry, I looked to the fresh huckleberries I had picked up from Foraged and Found Edibles at the Sunday Farmer’s market and the dried apples remaining from last winter. Together with a few other pantry staples, I concocted a new household breakfast favorite.

As we head into the cool, garden-clean up days of fall ahead, consider making a batch of this dough on hand in the fridge. It keeps for several days. Each morning, just flip on the oven, toss a few scoops on a cookie sheet, and you’ll have a delicious treat in about 20 minutes.

Huckleberry, Dried Apple, Oatmeal , Pecan Power Patties

  • 1 cup white, unbleached flour
  • 1/2 cup emmer flour
  • 1.5 cup rolled oats (uncooked, not instant)
  • 3/4 t. baking soda
  • 1 generous t. cinnamon
  • 1 cup brown sugar, packed
  • 1/2 t. salt
  • 1/2 cup dried apple rings, coarsely chopped
  • 1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans (or hazelnuts, walnuts)
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 cup melted butter
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 3/4 cup fresh huckleberries (or blueberries)

Preheat oven to 350F.

In large bowl blend together first seven ingredients. Then stir in apple rings pecans. Set aside.

In small bowl whisk egg, butter and milk together. Then stir into flour mixture.

Gently fold in huckleberries.

Drop blobs of mixture in about 2-3T size onto parchment lined baking sheet. Press together gently if berries roll out.

Bake for about 12-17 minutes (if freshly mixed); 15-20 minutes (if cold from the fridge)

With satisfying baked cookie in hand (and one in your belly), enjoy a healthy, strong day in the garden!

And, consider the recipe here for a great apple breakfast bread too!

  • Share/Bookmark

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Food, Recipes | 2 Comments »

Slow-cooked Tomato and Snap Beans

Thursday, August 27th, 2009

Right now we are inundated with tomatoes and snap beans. I adore both of these summer crops, but after a while I find myself staring at them in the kitchen wondering what I can do differently to keep us enjoying them. Soon enough winter will be here and we’ll be desperate for delicious, fresh veggies. Yet, here we are mid-season with so much to choose from sometimes we find it difficult to appreciate the bounty.

Tomato, Bean and Onion with Olive Oil

Tomato, Bean and Onion with Olive Oil

Yesterday I stared just long enough to find inspiration! I put together this delicious slow-cook medley that I guarantee we’ll eat again and again. Plus, it should be wonderful in mid-winter using the beans and tomatoes we’re putting up now.

This recipe couldn’t be much simplier, and I bet you could make it in your crockpot if you aren’t around to watch it on the stove or in the oven for hours. And, the cooking is worth the wait. The beans take on a melty texture and richness that is delicious in a stick-to-your-ribs kinda way. Enjoy! (more…)

  • Share/Bookmark

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Edible Gardens, Food, Recipes, cooking | No Comments »

Garden Coach on Community Supported Agriculture Programs

Wednesday, August 19th, 2009

I’m so appreciative to live in a part of the world where delicious, local, organic, sustainable agriculture is readily available to me. Each week, year-round, I can visit any number of farmer’s markets in the greater Seattle area any day of the week. Not only can I purchase fruits and veggies, but whole grains, fresh fish, delicious meats, eggs, honey and all sorts of great dairy are offered in these fun, friendly environments. Sure, offerings get a little spotty in winter, but the point is, they’re still available. And this time of year, summer? Well, the smorgasbord is unbelievable.

Caption

Summer Run Farm Stand at the Ballard Farmer's Market

Last summer, a year when my own garden harvest was less than ideal, I found myself buying loads of fresh veggies each week to eat and even more food to preserve for winter. As I was filling up bag after bag of potatoes from one of my favorite vendors, Summer Run Farm, I spied farmer Cathryn’s sign up form for her 2009 Farm Girl Collective CSA program. In the end, after watching one of her 2008 clients empty his weekly box into his bicycle bags and seeing all the great food he was getting each week for what amounts to about $28, we signed up and prepaid for 2009 in October of 2008. By paying early in the year prior to pick up, our funds help the farmers get through winter, procure supplies, and make various repairs to their farms.  Even if you haven’t signed up for a CSA yet, many still accept members at pro-rated prices, mid-season. Read on for more details on CSA programs, where to find them, what comes in a CSA box, a lemon-blueberry cocktail recipe, and more…

(more…)

  • Share/Bookmark

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in CSA, Cocktails, Edible Gardens, Food, Recipes, Sustainability | 2 Comments »

Keeping Cucumber-Cool with Cucumber Soup

Wednesday, July 29th, 2009

Last night, coming up with a dinner item was tough. I refused to turn on the stove in a kitchen already cooking at close to 85F. Even turning on the bar-b-que sounded painful, so I put together a cold soup that required little effort and no heat source.

Cucumber on the Vine

Cucumber on the Vine

Today, we woke up to a house that had only cooled down to 77F overnight. And, later today, Seattle temps are expected to break all-time records over 100F — not a pleasant prospect. So, consider making up a batch of this soup early in the day and chill it for an evening refresher!

Remember to get out early in the day to harvest your veggies. Although these temps may be a strain on you, your veggie garden is likely thriving. Too much heat and/or not enough water and they may drop flowers or begin to show other signs of stress. But, likely, they’re producing like crazy right now. Keep up the harvests or your plants will begin focusing their energy on maturing seed inside the fruits already on the plants; this focus will result in less new, young fruit (aka veggies like cucumber, squash, beans, tomatoes, etc… for you to harvest later).

Cool Cucumber Soup

  • 1 clove garlic crushed with sea salt
  • 2 cups greek yogurt (or strained yogurt)
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and grated
  • 1 Tablespoon chopped mint
  • 1 Tablespoon chopped parsley
  • salt & pepper

Stir yogurt and milk together. Add crushed garlic, chopped herbs, lemon juice, salt & pepper. Stir. Refrigerate until chilled. Before serving, taste and adjust with lemon, salt and pepper as needed.

  • Share/Bookmark

Tags: , ,
Posted in Edible Gardens, Food, Recipes | No Comments »

Farmer’s Market Black Truffles

Thursday, October 30th, 2008

I often talk about foraging my way through my local farmer’s market and around my neighborhood during harvest time. It’s not true foraging like the folks at Foraged and Found do. They really get out in the woods and find wild treasures. When I’m “foraging” at the farmer’s market, I make sure to stop by their booth to pick up a few treasures.

Ripening, Unwashed Black Truffles

Ripening, Unwashed Black Truffles

In spring, I jump on the morels…and cook them! In late summer, I stock up on hand-picked Wild Huckleberries. I gorge on them and freeze some to enjoy later in the winter. In fall, I try out all sorts of fungi, ranging from sweet, woodsy chanterelles to musty rich boletes to icicle looking old man’s beard to odd fans of cauliflower blooms and when I’m really lucky, I stock up on black truffles.

Yes, here in the pacific northwest we do have black truffles growing in our woods. Apparently, they’re partial to our native Douglas Fir. And these guys know where to find them. And, no, they aren’t cheap. But a little goes a long way.

Black Truffles in Salt & Risotto

Black Truffles in Salt & Risotto

I’ve taken basic mushrooming classes and am a card-carrying member of the Puget Sound Mycological Society. But, I don’t think that makes me any kind of mushrooming expert. You’ll definitely want to contact this, or your own local society for mushroom identification, edibility and other information.

A couple of big warnings I got in my mushrooming class is to cook every mushroom I think about eating, just to be safe. But, then I buy the black truffle and am told (and read in many places) to not cook this one. Being a scardy-cat, I did try cooking some shavings into almost-finished-cooking scrambled eggs. The result was all-egg-no-truffle flavor. Part of the problem was the cooking; part was a not-quite-ripe truffle.

Black truffles emit a sweet, earthy, chocolatey aroma as they ripen. It is the fragrance that is potent. I kind of wonder how much flavor there really is, ever. So, some of the things I’ve done with my collection of ripening truffles:
  • Thinly slice and air dry on food dehydrator trays. I don’t turn on the dehydrator as I don’t want to heat/cook the scent out of them.
  • Add dried bits to high quality sea salt to infuse the salt with the fragrance
  • Scrub a couple of truffles clean and drop hole into a bottle of olive oil to infuse oil with truffley-goodness.
  • Put a ripening truffle in a paperbag. Don’t wash it as it will store better dirty. Place the bagged truffle into a ziplock bag filled with risotto to infuse the uncooked grains with a fantastic truffle aroma.
  • Scrub clean ripe truffles and freeze whole or sliced to use later.
  • Squeeze, touch and sniff daily. I don’t want them to “go over the hill”, so I check my ripening truffles regularly. They seem to be storing well in the fridge in a sealed glass container. I do get some sweating in the jar, so I check to be sure that isn’t causing “resting spots” on the truffles, ripening them too fast.

I’m definitely learning more about these little oddballs. My kitchen (and probably most of my house) smells like truffles now that I have some drying. And I love it!

  • Share/Bookmark

Tags: ,
Posted in Edible Gardens, Food, Foraging, Fungi, Localvore, Recipes | 2 Comments »

The Elephant (garlic) in the Garden

Monday, October 27th, 2008

I planted one last clove of garlic today. I was rummaging through my eating garlic drawer and happened upon a last clove of elephant garlic a friend had given me from her garden this summer. Is it organic? I dunno. Will it produce here? Again, dunno.

But, I had one last large-ish container filled with potting soil that was moist and drained, so I ran out and planted it instead of chopping it into my dinner cassoulet.

Bob’s Favorite Cassoulet: This warm supper whips up fast. Its a meaty-veggie-over-brown-rice favorite that sticks to the bones!

  • 4 Skagit River Ranch Andouille Sausages cut into 1″ rounds
  • 1 large onion, sliced
  • 2-4 garlic cloves chopped
  • 1-2 Tablespoons chopped mixed fresh herbs like oregano, rosemary, thyme, savory (optional)
  • 1-2 cups frozen or canned tomatoes
  • 1/2 cup chicken broth (optional)
  • 1-2 cups (or 1 can) navy beans
  • 1 cup chopped chard or beet green stems (or any green you prefer, just adjust cooking time for stem stiffness)
  • 2-4 fists full torn up chard or beet greens (same as with the stems)
Simmering Cassoulet

Simmering Cassoulet

Saute chopped sausage until browned. Pour off all but about 1 T. oil. Add onions and chopped greens stems and saute until limp. Add herbs and chopped garlic and toss until release fragrance. Add tomatoes, beans and broth. (I add broth only if it seems dry.) Saute over medium-low heat for about 10-20 minutes to let flavors mix. Just before serving, stir in greens and cook until wilted.

Serve in steaming mounds over brown rice.

By-the-way, everything in tonight’s cassoulet is from my garden or the local farmer’s market…except the rice.

  • Share/Bookmark

Tags: ,
Posted in Edible Gardens, Food, Localvore, Recipes, bulbs, cooking, herbs | No Comments »

Lemon Verbena – How To Grow, Preserve and Enjoy All Year

Saturday, October 25th, 2008

One of my favorite blogs to read is Garden Rant. A few weeks ago a few of us got into a discussion about how to keep the winter blues away. I mentioned that preserving lemon verbena and enjoying its sunny, sunshine taste through winter was a way that helps me. Adding a splash of vodka to it to make a cocktail also helps brighten the mood. So, if you’re looking at your garden and wondering what to do with the last of the lemon verbena before your plant goes dormant, I suggest gathering up as many leaves as you can to save them for the dark months ahead.

Lemon Verbena in the Garden

Lemon Verbena in the Garden

But what if you don’t have a lemon verbena plant to work with or what if you’re reading this next spring to learn about lemon verbena? Well, here’s a tip. Buy a plant and put it in a sunny spot in the garden. This woody perennial may or may not survive winters in western washington, but I promise it is worth buying year-after-year for an unsurpassed lemondrop lemoniness fragrance and flavor.  Starts are readily available in nurseries and farmer’s markets beginning in early spring. Even a 2″ start will become a good sized shrub in the garden once the heat kicks in for summer. If your plants take hold and become a returning shrub, give them room to become a good 5′ tall and wide.

So, how to harvest your lemon verbena… I try to tip mine back regularly to encourage branching and more leaves during the summer. Pinch to a node and you should be good to go. Just don’t take out more than 1/4 of the plant at any one cutting, and don’t pinch below a point you pinched earlier in the season (unless you take out the entire branch). Leaves freeze well, make a great herbal sugar paste and a wonderful simple syrup. Some will say that the taste doesn’t preserve well in a simple syrup. I think its pretty great. However, I will admit that the herbal sugar paste is a must have in any good kitchen.

Lemon Verbena Simple Syrup

  • 1 big fist full of lemon verbena leaves, stems reserved
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 cup water

Heat water and dissolve sugar in it. Add leaves and stir to cover. Remove from heat and let steep about 20 minutes. Strain leaves from syrup.

To store: Pour into airtight container & put in fridge for up to about 3 weeks or so. Or pour into ice cube trays and let set over night. I suggest using the smallest cube size you can find in a tray. The cubes will not get icy-rock solid because of the high sugar content in the syrup. It will be more like a slightly mushy frozen fruit pop. Using small cube trays means it will freeze up faster and better. And, your portion sizes will be appropriate for recipes. This stuff is potent!

Reserved branches are great tossed on a grill to add fragrance. Or add to a potpourri mixture. Or just crack one apart now and again to take a big whiff of lemon sunshine fragrance.

Lemon Verbena sugar paste: Well folks. I have to say you’re going to have to figure this one out for yourselves or buy The Herbfarm Cookbook. Jerry Traunfeld taught me to make this paste in his book, and I’m not going to steal it here. Really, you want the book…and not just for this recipe! He offers growing tips and many other ways to use this and other great herbs.

Lemon Verbena Drop: I will give another shout out to Jerry Traunfeld for the Lemon Drop he offers in The Herbal Kitchen, but this is one I “McGyver’d”, if you will, on my own. This recipe makes one large cocktail. Reduce or omit orange liquer to reduce sweetness. Or add more lemon juice to make more tart.

  • 2 Shots Vodka
  • 1 t. orange liquer (Grand Marnier or Triple Sec)
  • 1 lemon
  • 1 lime
  • 1/2 shot lemon verbena simple syrup or 1 tiny cube frozen lemon verbena syrup
  • 1 T. Lemon Verbena sugar paste
Lemon Verbena Martini

Lemon Verbena Martini

Spread Lemon verbena sugar paste on a plate. Slice lemon in half and cut off one lemon slice to reserve. Cut one wedge off remaining lemon. Run lemon wedge around rim of martini glass. Dip glass rim into sugar paste to create sugar rim on glass. Set glass aside so sugar rim will harden.

Squeeze all of the lemon juice and lime juice, less the reserved slice, into a martini shaker (Should equate about 1 shot of fresh lemon-lime). Pour in vodka and orange liquer. Add simple syrup (if using syrup and not frozen cube). Add pinch of remaining sugar paste to shaker. Fill shaker with ice. Shake hard. Strain into martini glass.

Float lemon slice on top. Drop in lemon verbena frozen cube on top of lemon slice (if using).

And, if you’re a t-totaller (or just love sweet tea), check out this great iced tea recipe from Willi at Digginfood. It’s another great way to enjoy your Lemon Verbena. And, I bet you could adjust her recipe to use your reserved simple syrup. Just remember, a little lemon verbena simple syrup goes a long way!

Enjoy the taste of summer all year long!

  • Share/Bookmark

Tags: , ,
Posted in Cocktails, Edible Gardens, Recipes, books, cookbooks, herbs | 6 Comments »

Last of the Veggies Are Planted and Clean Up is Underway!

Monday, October 20th, 2008

Here we are on the other side of the middle of October, and I can say that the last of my veggie planting is done for winter. My seed garlic is all tucked into deep, black (heat absorbing) planter tubs. The last of my chard starts replaced fading summer annuals in a bed that gets winter sun. And, that’s about it.

Fava starts have several sets of true leaves and are working away to rejuvenate tired beds, including the parking strip where we grew corn this summer. The corn stalks have been cleared out. Spent Anemone flower stalks are cut down, and a few weedy beds have been cleared and mulched. Tiny hardy cyclamen are beginning to peek out from under a Japanese Laceleaf Maple starting to lose its leaves. The delicate plants were protected by it during the heat of summer and are now revealed in their fall wonder.

Of course, this isn’t the last of the fall work around here. There’s plenty more clean up to do, but nothing is urgent. Trees are still bright with fall color, so their leafy messes will be tasks in a couple of weeks. For now, the rain is gently watering the newest starts in the garden.

I’m enjoying harvesting from my fall/winter veggie container. Last night the container yielded enough chard to feed two adults a wonderful sauted side dish, with a little leftover for today. And the other great thing? the container is designed in a way that we must be harvesting regularly or the chard will shade out other smaller plants and destroy the rhythm of the tiny garden-in-a-pot. For the first time since early summer, I did not purchase lettuce at the farmer’s market. Mine, in the pot and in the garden beds, is about ready for the salad bowl. And, like with the chard, I must start taking it out of the container or risk losing other plants to overcrowding. What a shame, right? ;)

Wondering how to quickly make a great chard side dish? Try this super fast method:

Ingredients:

  • Big Bunch of chard
  • 1 sliced red or white sweet onion
  • 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 2-3 late season tomatoes, cut into wedges
  • salt
  • dash of balsamic vinegar
  • olive oil

Remove chard mid rib and stem. Chop into ~1″ pieces. Tear up remaining leaves into 2-3″ pieces.

Heat olive oil in wok or large saute pan. Add sliced onion and saute until onion becomes limp or golden. Add red pepper flakes and  chopped chard stems and continue to saute until they soften. Add fistfulls of chard leaves and toss with warm onion. As the fistfulls begin to wilt, add more until all is incorporated and nearly limp. Toss in tomatoes and saute lightly for a minute or two. Hit the pan with a dash of balsamic, toss. Serve.

In our house this recipe is a favorite side to go with a savory meat and potatoes meal. Or, add a bit of chopped sausage to the saute and call it a meal in itself!

  • Share/Bookmark

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Container Garden, Edible Gardens, Food, Recipes, cooking, seasons, vegetable gardening, vegetable starts | 1 Comment »

Back from the Dead…A Food Dehydrator’s Return

Friday, October 3rd, 2008

I plugged in the food dehydrator later in the day, and it started up again. Thank goodness! Now all the tomatoes are done drying, and I am contemplating buying another batch to dry today. A good 15 lbs of tomatoes dried down to about a paper lunch sack full. It seems like such a waste, but what it really shows is how high in water all living things really are!

For dinner I made a fantastic quiche using a fistfull of dried tomatoes.

Crust:

  • 1.5 cups unbleached, organic all purpose flour
  • .5 cup flax seed meal
  • 1/2 cup chilled butter
  • pinch salt
  • 2-4 Tablespoons water

Sift flour, flax seed meal and salt. Cut butter into Tablespoon sized chunks and then blend into flour mixture with your hands until pea-sized and smaller butter is well mixed through the dough. One Tablespoon at a time, stir water into dough. Add only enough water so that the dough forms a ball when gently pressed together.

On a floured board, roll out the dough to 1/4″ or less thickness. Place in pie plate and crimp edges. Set aside.

Filling:

  • 3 fresh eggs
  • 1 cup half and half
  • 1 cup milk (or forget the 1/2 and 1/2 and use 2 cups milk…you’ll just get a runnier quiche)
  • salt
  • pepper
  • fist full of dried tomatoes
  • 2 cups grated cheddar cheese
  • 1/4 cup grated gruyere cheese (or grated parmesan)
  • 1 bulb roasted garlic (yes, the whole bulb, not just one clove)
  • 1/4 cup flax seed meal — yay! Highly nutritious!

Preheat oven to 475F. Squeeze pulp from roasted garlic and rub on uncooked pie crust. Fill unbaked shell with cheddar cheese, sprinkle with flax seed meal and arrange dried tomatoes decoratively over cheese.

Scald milk. As it is heating, whisk eggs together. Remove scalded milk from heat and whisk in eggs. Whisk in pinch of salt. Pour over tomatoes and cheese in pie plate. Sprinkle grated greyure over top. Grate a bit of fresh pepper over top.

Place in preheated oven and bake at 475F for 10-15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350F. Bake for another 30-45 minutes or until quiche is set. Watch for burning and bubbling over. A cookie sheet or foil on a lower oven rack will help with bubble overs. Foil lightly placed over a browned quiche will control burning as baking is finished.

Remove from oven and let cool 10-15 minutes before slicing. Enjoy!

  • Share/Bookmark

Posted in Food, Localvore, Recipes, cooking | No Comments »

Ninety-nine Pounds of Tomatoes to Preserve…

Thursday, October 2nd, 2008
Tomatoes Galore! These made Soup.

Tomatoes Galore! These made Soup.

You know the tune. And, if you’re putting up fresh summer vegetables to enjoy over the winter, you may be singing a similar tune. I really did end up preserving close to one hundred pounds of tomatoes, or at least that’s what I bought with the intention of preserving them. We ate quite a few raw, and a few hit the compost before I could get through preserving all of them. But, today marks the last day of putting up tomatoes. My food dehydrator is on the last hours of drying the last batch I think I’ll do. Granted, you never know, I may be lured into buying more to dry, but freezing more is starting to be out of the question. My freezer is nearly full, and I still have about 5 lbs of carrots and a few lingering ears of corn to put by.

I think I’ve mentioned before that I’m not really into canning a lot of vegetables. I do make jams and preserves, but something about canned vegies just doesn’t appeal to me. I may need to come around on this, but this year its all about the freezer and the dehydrator. I’ve dried probably around 20 lbs of tomatoes, and the 80 or so remaining pounds went into chopped frozen tomatoes, two different soups and basic tomato sauce. I have about 10 meals for two in soups and about 5 meals for two in tomato sauce. I have somewhere around 20 bags of chopped tomatoes that will go into 20 more stews and soups through the winter.

I was pretty amazed at how little food these actually produced. I think I had visions of much more as I lugged in each tub of the fragrant red, orange, yellow, green-striped and blackish orbs, But, really, this is a load of food that will keep us well.

Dried Tomatoes -- a Sweet Treat!

Dried Tomatoes -- a Sweet Treat!

If you’ve never dried tomatoes, its a fantastic way to preserve them. They become sugary sweet and are wonderful on a cheese and cracker appetizer, mashed into a tapenade, spun into tomato paste or just popped in your mouth as a sweet treat. When you taste them, you’ll understand why I may just buy another 20 lbs of tomatoes at the local farmer’s market to dry. Wondering how to do it? It’s pretty easy:

Slice and seed tomatoes. Cherries, plums and small tomatoes work great cut in half. Larger tomatoes should be sliced into 1/4″ thickness. Dry as is in food dehydrator for about 11-18 hours or in 250F oven for about 2-3 hours.

OR

Toss with a splash of olive oil, a pinch of salt, a pinch of thyme and a pinch of sugar. Then dehydrate according to the same method above.

And when they’re done, consider making the sandwiches from this earlier post. They’re divine!

  • Share/Bookmark

Tags: ,
Posted in Edible Gardens, Food, Localvore, Recipes, cooking, vegetable gardening | 1 Comment »

« Older Entries