green beans

Today, Willis pickled some of the never-ending green beans from the garden.

Red Currants

Last year, we planted two currant plants.  One red and one white.  The red ones are starting to ripen for the season.  Last year, I made some scones and added some currants to lemonade.  This year, I found a recipe for red currant and fennel muffins.  The recipe says to soak the oats but them doesn't add them in during the instructions, I improvised and added them to the eggs and oil.  I added in strawberries from the garden, cinnamon, a little bit more sugar, and used some of our fennel leaves instead of seeds.  I used mason jars instead of a muffin pan, so they took a little longer in the oven, due to their size.  They'd be even more delicious with chocolate chips.

Red Currant, Strawberry & Fennel Muffins


1 cup milk
1 cup instant oats
1 egg
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 1/2 tsp fennel
3 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup red currants
1/2 cup strawberries

Line a 12 muffin tin or mason jars or grease it with butter. Soak the oats in the milk for 15 minutes. Beat the eggs with the oil in a large bowl and add in the soaked oats. Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Set aside enough of the dry mixture to coat the currants. Mix the dry ingredients into the egg mixture until combined then add in the fennel and cinnamon. Mix the currants and berries into the reserved dry mixture first so they are coated and then gently fold this mixture into the batter. Fill the muffin pan or jars with the batter evenly distributed between the 12. Bake for 20 minutes at 425F.

Strawberries

 

We planted strawberries around our plum and dogwood trees last year, with the (false) hope that the dogs would stay out of them.  They are not in raised beds, so of course like most things in our lives, they have gone to the dogs, both literally and non-.  They are also one of the Scrub-Jays' favorite meals.

They are one of Banjo's favorite places to run after she catches the frisbee.  She also loves our neighbor's dog and spends time pacing at the fence trying to go play.  And now that Bandit is off his long-line, he has discovered that there are so many new smells over there.

But despite all the trampling by the dogs, pecking by the birds, and damage caused by slugs, they are doing fairly well.  Every day, I pick about a half cup to a cups worth of ripened strawberries.  They are so sweet, I love them. 

Mostly, I just eat them whole, but earlier this week, I made some lemonade with strawberries.  So good. 

Now, if only these clouds would go away, so I could sip some ice cold lemonade in the sun like a real summer...

Bronze Fennel

Last year, we purchased a fennel start from Garden Fever.  At the time, it was an impulse buy.  We had never grown fennel before, had no idea what type to buy, or that there was even a difference.  We didn't really touch it throughout the year, and during the rainy fall months and through the (again) rainy winter, we thought we lost it.  But, it's back.  Bigger and better than ever.

It's a bronze fennel plant, and like I said, we didn't know this at the time but it's different than most of the fennel you find at the grocery store.  But, not much different.

The leaves are a darker color and it doesn't bulb as much.  It's a great ornamental and attracts butterflies and birds.  I've also read that it reseeds a little too well and will spread if not controlled.  

The taste and use is very similar.  The whole plant is edible: bulb, stems, leaves, and seeds.  You cook the stems of the bronze fennel, just as you would the bulb.  It's delicious.

We've been doing a lot with the plant over the past few days, and there is still plenty more left in the garden.

Willis made the most delicious sandwich with the stems. I've also been throwing them in with the onions and garlic in almost everything I've been cooking.  And we've dried a lot of the leaves to be used as an herb or a tea.

If you live in the area and would like some dried fennel leaves, let us know!

Currently Listening To:

Weekly menu: #8

Monday:

Mini Tortillas with Kale and Garlic Puffs  -  This was basically two appetizers.  I wanted to make a bunch of small things that we could enjoy throughout the week.  I think it only lasted two days.  I lined a muffin pan tortillas, filled with beans, cheese, red pepper and garlic and baked for about 10 minutes at 350F.  For the Puffs, I blended kale, spinach, and chard (all from the garden) with some garlic and added bread crumbs and eggs.  I also baked these on  a greased cookie sheet for about the same amount of time.  I drank Izze Sparkling Grapefruit Soda and Willis enjoyed a homebrew.

Tuesday:

The Fishwife

Wednesday:

Grilled Cheese - Field Roast, avacado, & pepperjack cheese on sourdough bread.

Thursday:

Pizza - I made a Cinco de Mayo Pizza.  I combined refried beans and salsa to create the sauce and topped it off with pepperjack cheese and red peppers.  Willis picked up some Corona on his way home to enjoy with this meal.

Currently Listening To:

Growing Potatoes: Spring 2011

If you've never grown potatoes, you should.  Especially if you're new to gardening.  They are one of the easiest root crops to grow.  There are many different varieties and they are all delicious.

In order to grow a potato, you basically just put a potato in the ground and bury it.  Then it turns into lots of other potatoes.

Potatoes can be grown in many different ways.  At our old house, we grew them in containers.  When we moved into our new place, we created a specific plot for potatoes.  

Most websites and nurseries suggest that you only use certified seed potatoes, but we've used both seed potatoes as well as just regular ol' potatoes from the store.  You can either cut the potato or just plant it whole.  We've done both.  With smaller potatoes, just plant them whole.  Larger ones, you can cut them in half or quarters, let the cuts callus-over and then plant.

After you bury the potatoes either in the ground or in a container, you wait for them to start growing.  As they develop to about 4-6 inches, add more soil around the plants, this adds more soil for the tubers to continue to develop.

It is also suggested that crops are rotated every year.  So, this year Willis built another raised bed for our new potato crops.   We didn't have enough wood for a whole bed, but we'll build it up when  the potatoes start growing and we need to add more soil.  We plan on replacing the bed to the left of it as well as building a 5th bed, so we'll pick up some more wood for those as well.

Potatoes can be harvested at a variety of stages.  In order to harvest an entire crop, stop adding soil and wait for the tops of the plants to die off.  You'll have to dig around for the potatoes and you'll think that you've found them all.  But you're probably wrong.  We thought we got all the potatoes out of the last bed, but they're popping up all over the place!

After the potatoes are harvested, it is also a good idea to plant a cover crop to re-establish the soil.  We planted fava beans.

How do your potatoes grow?

For more gardening tips, check out this blog carnival:





Currently listening to:
The Babies - Wild I

The end of our winter garden

We're pulling up the last of the winter garden, mainly leeks and kale, to make room for spring time plantings, like potatoes!  We've given some to family members and are throwing the rest in morning scrambles.  Willis has set up the grow station in the basement to start seeds and this past weekend, we purchased some chard starts.  Since, we've had a few seasons worth of garden in our home, I thought I'd show a one year time lapse of one section of our yard.

March 2010: 2 months after we moved in. You can't really tell, but there is a random pile of rocks, lamb's ear, and prickly pear in the middle of the yard! WTF!

April 201: We planted a mini plum tree in between the wisteria and the hibiscus. We pulled up a bunch of bricks that the previous owner had laid and put in a border.  We used cardboard and compost to kill off the grass, and put up a bee box.  The dogwood blooms.

April 2010: We moved the random pile of rocks and lamb's ear and added in some moss and blueberry bushes.  We also added stepping stones and added in some drip irrigation, to make watering easier and less wasteful.  The wisteria blooms.

August 2010: The squash goes crazy!!  The squash winds up the fence and attacks the wisteria.  The strawberries gasp for air.  The hibiscus blooms.

March 2011:  The wisteria is gone!!!!  Although you can't tell, the lamb's ear, strawberries, mosses, and blueberry bushes still surround the plum tree.  I don't know why this photo looks like it's from the '70s.

December? Already?

It's been quite awhile since either of us have posted anything.  So, I figure it's time for an update.

Garden:
Willis has made some winter cloches for the beds, my little ginkgo tree has shed all of it's leaves, and we've still yet to build a fence.  We've decided, however, to move the current landscaping from the backyard to the front yard come spring time.  This way the dogs can roam all over and we don't have to worry about them trampling through the fava bean patch or peeing on the strawberries.  We'll keep the beds and plant another tree or two, but other than that the backyard will be all for the dogs.

 Kitchen:
This giant squash is from our fall garden.  Willis made some delicious muffins with it for our family Thanksgiving feast.  We also provided a green bean casserole (my favorite recipe listed below), some stuffing, and celebration roast.

In the past few months, we've had plenty of leeks and scallions from the garden as well as some greens to cook up.

And, we've welcomed a pizza stone into our lives, thanks to Taleia!  The dough is currently rising, and I'll be giving it a test run tonight.

Outdoor Adventures:

Willis has continued to go mushrooming and has had luck with a patch of chanterelles in Forest Park, not too far from our house.  Good to know for next year.  He and Taleia also spent a day at the cost hoping to try their luck at some clamming.

Fresh Green Bean Casserole

Yield: 10 to 12 servings
Prep Time: 40 minutes | Bake Time: 15 minutes
For the Topping:
4 slices white bread, each slices torn into quarters
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
¼ teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
3 cups canned fried onions (about 6 ounces)
For the Beans and Sauce:
2 tablespoons salt
2 pounds green beans, ends trimmed, and halved
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 pound white button mushrooms, stems removed, wiped clean and broken into ½-inch pieces
3 cloves garlic, minced (about 1 tablespoon)
Salt and pepper, to taste
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1½ cups broth
1½ cups heavy cream

1. For the Topping: Pulse bread, butter, salt and pepper in food processor until mixture resembles coarse crumbs, about ten 1-second pulses. Transfer to a large bowl and toss with onions; set aside.

2. For the Beans and Sauce: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees F. Fill a large bowl with ice water. Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot or Dutch oven. Add 2 tablespoons salt and beans. Cook beans until bright green and crisp-tender, about 6 minutes. Drain beans in colander and plunge immediately into ice water to stop cooking. Spread beans on paper towel-lined baking sheet to drain.

3. Add butter to now-empty pot and melt over medium-high heat until foaming subsides. Add mushrooms, garlic, ¾ teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper; cook until mushrooms release moisture and liquid evaporates, about 6 minutes. Add flour and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in broth and bring to simmer, stirring constantly. Add cream, reduce heat to medium, and simmer until sauce is thickened and reduced to 3½ cups, about 12 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

4. Add green beans to sauce and stir until evenly coated. Arrange in an even layer in 3-quart (or 9×13-inch) baking dish. Sprinkle with topping and bake until top is golden brown and sauce is bubbling around edges, about 15 minutes.

Beet Hummus

We've been growing beets at our house since about May. They've been growing slowly, very slowly. Most of the year they've just been greens, but recently they've started to fatten up, at least some of them.
Ciara turned me onto Taste Spotting last year. It's basically a website that links to a bunch of food blogs. What I like most about the site is that you can search for dishes that have a certain ingredient in them, like beets, and it will give you a page or more of links to different blogs/recipes. It came in handy when we were getting a lot of produce from Organic to You and we didn't know what to do with it.

Taste Spotting is also a way to keep up on food trends. Yesterday I wanted to make some kale chips from some kale growing in our garden. I looked it up on Taste Spotting and found an obnoxious amount of blogs about kale chips. I guess kale chips are pretty trendy these days.

There is also a lot of blogs about beet hummus. I'm about to add to the list in a pretty lazy/easy way.

I made my beet hummus by wrapping two small beets in aluminum foil and baking them in the oven at 350 for an hour. I then peeled the beets and ran them through the food processor. Once the beets were cut up into mush, I added some store bought hummus to the food processor and blended it all together. The result is a sweet/savory hummus with a pretty rad color.I put my hummus on some Dave's Killer Bread and sprinkled some feta cheese on top. It was pretty good.

Canning: Tomatoes

I bought myself a canning kit for my birthday about two years ago.  My first attempt involved beets and you can read about that here: B-E-E-T-S.  This year, we've had an amazing amount of tomatoes from the garden, which is exactly what my kitchen has been waiting for. 

Canned Tomato recipe from Preserve It! my new favorite preserving book.
Ketchup recipe from The Complete Book of Small-Batch Preserving.

Garden Update: squash and tomato

The tomato and squash plants are a bit overwhelming.  The tomatoes are finally starting to turn at a decent rate, and we're getting tons every day.  We've already made a batch of tomato sauce for the freezer and some tomato soup.  One squash plant has decided to attack the wisteria, which I thought was an impossible feat.  I am actually not a fan of summer squash, so we try to come with creative ways to cook it. 

Tonight for dinner, I made a quick salsa and Willis is making a Tex-Mex Squash Casserole.  It smells delicious and I can't wait to eat it!

Tex-Mex Squash Casserole 

2 lbs. summer squash

1 small block of tempeh

1 onion, chopped

2 jalapeno peppers, chopped

8 oz. cheese, shredded

1 cup sour cream

1 1/2 cups tortilla chips, crushed

paprika

Directions:

1. Cut up squash and saute with onions and tempeh.
2. Saute until the onion is glassy and the squash a bit softer, but still al dente.
3. Add chili and jalapeno peppers, shredded cheese and sour cream; toss gently so squash will not be mashed.
4. Spread half of crushed chips on bottom of a greased 2-quart rectangular dish.
5. Pour the squash mixture in dish and sprinkle the remaining chips on top.
6. Dust with paprika.
7. Cook 10-15 minutes in a preheated oven at 390 F.