Now that's what I'm talking about!

I've been waiting all summer for the tomatoes to be ready and now they're here! Yay! There's nothing in the whole world like a tomato off the vine. I have had some real growing experiences this year with my garden, learning alot about the joys and pitfalls of growing food plants. Here are some of the pests, other than weeds, that I've come into battle with this summer.

I nearly had one tomato stripped clean by a tomato hornworm. I can't believe how big that thing was or how many leaves it could eat so fast. As soon as I noticed the top of one of my tomato plants deprived of leaves, I went looking for it. I found it by it's own weight! As soon as I touched the branch it was on I knew because it was so heavy! Unbelievable. Luckily for me, I noticed it quickly and before it ate the whole thing. The plant bounced back, grew new leaves and is now producing. From what I hear, and I believe it, they eat so fast that you most often loose the whole plant.

Another pest I came into contact with is the dreaded squash vine borer. I had two squash plants, one zucchini and one summer squash essentially killed by them. Well, I saved the plants with squash surgery, but they were so mutilated that they won't produce any more this summer, so it prettty much amounts to the same thing. Squash vine borers are revolting creatures that look like maggots. They chew into your squash plants vine and start eating their way up and you know when all of a sudden your beautiful, healthy plant just completely wilts overnight.

Unfortunately, I am too much of a novice gardener to know what had happened quickly enough to extract the borer before it ruined the plant. It took me two days to find out what happened, and by the time I cut into the vine and removed the grub, the damage was done. I buried the vine to encourage new roots, and they're both still alive, but they died back to just a few leaves as opposed to a huge fruit bearing vine, but oh well. Now I know about it, and will know what to do for next year. One thing about gardening, I'm learning, is that you really have to jump in and get your feet wet to learn.

The zucchini on the left weighed over 2.5 lbs! Crazy! And it still was sweet and tender, couldn't believe it. The eggplants are really yummy, and not bitter.

Another pest I had land on my poor squash, again, was the Mexican bean beetle. I saw these bright yellow, spiky things crawling all over one of the plants, and it looked like they were eating the leaves, so I physically removed them. Found out they were the larvae of the Mexican bean beetle, which looks like a yellow ladybug when mature, and is actually a member of the ladybug family, but one of the few non-friendly ladybug types. Usually ladybugs are good, the red kind anyway, they kill aphids that suck the juice out of your plants.


Mmm, raspberries. Didn't have any problems with them, I think their prickles take care of that themselves, and they were tasty!




I grew a beautiful sage plant. The leaves are huge!! If you've never had fried sage leaves, this is the time to try this wonderful delicacy. Pan-fry sage leaves in butter or olive oil, either as is, or dusted with a little flour, until crisp. You will marvel over the oh, so delicate taste, which is quite unlike fresh sage, and the crisp, buttery texture. They cook quickly, and the flavor goes nicely with beurre noisette, in my oppinion. I've seen them offered as is for hors d'oeuvres just by themselves, or as a garni for meat or grain like polenta or scrapple. Try them yourself, see what you can do with them. They are definately a summer-time treat, or anytime you can get nice fresh sage.

Anyway, happy summer eating and gardening!

Really Good Vegetable Curry

So I had this post all ready to go and I added the photos like I normally do, put in the captions and it all went to hell in a handbasket. And because blogspot autosaves your work for you, which is usually a good thing, all my recipe goodness was lost. I have to tell you it made me so mad I haven't even thought about a redo for a week now.

However, I felt that I should move on with life, and so I'm going to attempt the remake of my last post, however I'm sure it won't be as witty or clever and will be but a poor shadow of it's former self, but such is life when the computer eats your homework.

This first picture is a show-off because I just can't believe that I'm growing anything that lives, much less is producing tasty things I can eat. It is amazing! I want a pair of overalls and a straw hat, pronto! Actually, really I do, it's like the perfect gardening getup. Anyway, so here one of my zucchini plants doing it's thing. I love it!

Ok, so the original purpose of this post was to talk about this really awesome vegetable curry that I found from Gordon Ramsay, who I really like actually. Not the hyper-obnoxious American TV persona, but the Gordon Ramsay who you find from British sources and is a damn fine chef. So one of the mystiques of looking at him from British sources, is translating the recipes. Once we get past the obvious, like courgette=zucchini, the mystery of this recipe was an ingredient called madras curry paste, which is something I'd actually never heard of. I love when that happens! So after a little research I found out that it is a dry spice masala, mixed with a little fresh ginger, garlic and vinegar to form a paste. It's actually sold pre-fab in England, and I'm sure you could order it, but you can certainly whip up your own and stick the extra in a jar in the fridge, which is what I did.

Madras Curry Paste

Madras Curry Paste

2.5 T coriander seed
1 T cumin seed
1 t black mustard seed
1 t black peppercorns
1 t red chile flakes
1 t ground turmeric
3 garlic
1 T ginger, grated
3-4 T vinegar
Toast the coriander, cumin, mustard and peppercorns in a dry skillet until they start to release their fragrance. Be careful as they can scorch easily. Next grind the toasted spices, or grind in a mortar. If using a mortar, pound in the garlic. Add the chile flakes, turmeric, grated ginger and moisten with the vinegar until a nice paste consistency. That's all there is to it!

Now for the vegetable curry. I'll post the original, and then I'll tell you what I did. Not because I wanted to mess with it, but because I use what I have on hand, and a good method will embrace that, which it does, so experiment!


Easy Vegetable Curry

2 T oil (I used butter)
1 banana shallot, chpd (I used onion)
1 garlic, chpd (more!)
1 sm celeraic, peeled and chpd (Didn't have this :( Hard to get where I am, next year I'll grow my own!)
sea salt and bl. pepper
3 T madras curry paste
few cardamom pods
1 gr. pepper, deseeded and chpd (I used Hungarian Wax chiles from the garden)
1/2 cauliflower, cut into florets (I had some frozen cauliflower)
400g can chpd tomatoes
1/2 head broccoli, cut into florets (Ihad some nice mixed veggies, edamame, corn and red peppers and some fresh swiss chard that I used instead)
1 large courgette, chopped (Zucchini fresh from the garden)
250ml container Greek-style yogurt (I used Kefir)
chopped fresh cilantro if you want

The method is such, heat the fat and start cooking the aromatics, onions, garlic and chiles, then when they're soft, add the curry paste and cardamom. Next add the celeraic and the cauliflower since they would take the longest to cook, or whatever you're using that would take the longest. Salt and pepper- a little water if the pan is getting too hot. Next add the can of tomatoes, and the other veggies. If you're using greek-style yogurt which is very thick, add a can of water to start it to stew. Since I was using kefir, which is much thinner, I added just a little water, put a lid on the pot to capture the steam, and let it stew in it's own juice since the kefir was going to thin it out considerably. When the veggies are tender to your desired degree, on low heat, stir in the dairy and cilantro.

That's all there is too it. Very tasty!

I've noticed that Gordon Ramsay has a little how-to video of this curry circulating around, so if you want to see it, it's available. The only annoying part is that the camera-man focused mainly on his face and upper torso, but not so far out that you could see what his hands were doing- or the pot for that matter....hello, cameraman, we want to see the food! But other than that, you can get a fairly good idea of the method.

Enjoy!

To the Farm, in dream if not reality

Hungarian Wax Peppers (rather chiles)

I've been living in suburbia and cities my whole life, with brief visits to the very rural part of Louisiana where my husband spent summers on his Uncle's farm. That hasn't stopped me from realizing that I've been bitten by the farm bug.

Maybe it happened because I love the country. Maybe it happened because the more I read about food production the more I realize that I want to have control over mine. Maybe it happened because I've always wanted to live in a zoo. I have no idea. However, I do know, that sometime in the future, I will have my farm. Until then, I will continue to learn what I can, dream what I may, and have fun with my garden.

I had this sort of surreal experience the other day. I was in Costco, and I discovered that they've created a huge walk-in cooler space for milk and eggs. So I walk through these plastic swinging door-thingies, and I'm in the cooler space, and it's quieter in there, and all around me on gleaming steel shelves are gallons of bright and shiny milk containers, and cartons of eggs, bundled two-by-two in plastic-wrap. As I picked up a gallon of milk and my hand closes around the cold, plastic handle, and grab a bundle of eggs that I couldn't even check to see if they were cracked, I just got this awful, bone-deep sensation of wrongness, of knowing that this was not natural, this was the farthest thing from natural, and with my skin crawling, just wondering what on earth was in this stuff? I started to balk, but unfortunately, or fortunately, or whatever, I sucked it up because where else am I going to get food? I vow, that someday soon, my food predicament will change. I vow that all my eggs are coming from my own happily scratching chickens, not stuffed and caged critters fed whatever crap makes them spit out the most eggs in the shortest amount of time without keeling over. And my milk will be from happy, pastured animals, chewing on whatever they chew on, the milk split between my family and theirs. Sigh..the dream.

The reality...I ate my first home-grown zucchini tonight...I should have taken a picture, but I didn't think about it. I cut it from the vine, cut it into sticks, dusted them in some flour, and fried it in olive oil. Sprinkle on the salt and my-oh-my. It was heavenly. The flavor was so mild, it was pure zucchini divinity. It really tasted different. Maybe because it ripened on the vine, maybe because there were no chemicals used in it's production, maybe it was the varietal. I really don't know the reason.

What I do know, is that I can't wait for my first yellow summer squash. I have one that's only a few days away. I have delicious, brightly colored swiss chard that I am starting to use in many different things. I also have young green tomatoes and baby eggplants growing. It's so exciting to see them start to produce fruit. Amazing!

My first real yield of anything was Hungarian Wax Peppers...they're really chiles. They are early producing here in the northeast, and prolific! I was very pleasantly surprised, they've gotten a big jump start over the sweet peppers I've planted, although the plants themselves look fairly identical. I've got tons of little babies after bringing in a bunch just a few days ago. They have a nice flavor, a grassy, sharp heat when raw, especially with the seeds, but mellower, losing that bright, sharp edge when cooked. I'm going to start pickling them. They seem like they would be perfect for it.

I'm sort of amazed at how much I am loving growing food! I love the planting, the watering, less keen on the weeding, but I know it's necessary, so I do it. I am eagerly awaiting the next fruit of the vine, so to speak. I'll keep you posted.

My Favorite Strawberry Shortcake

Strawberry Shortcake is one of the delectable delights of strawberry season. There are a few different versions on the same general theme, the biggest difference in the varieties seems to be in the style of cake that comes with it. I will label the two main varieties as the "sponge-cake variety", and the "short-bread variety". I prefer the short-bread variety, and this is my favorite recipe.

Ingredients:
2 cups white flour
1 T. b.powder
3/4 t salt
3 T. sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 egg, beaten
About 1/3 cup milk
4 cups strawberries, sliced, cut in half, or crushed mixed with a little sugar
enough butter to spread on the cake generously
heavy cream

Heat oven to 450*. Mix dry ingredients, and cut in butter with 2 knives or a pastry blender until it resembles corn meal.

The butter cut in

Next add the egg, then add enough milk to make an easily handled dough.

Complete Dough

Next pat the dough into a 1/2" round. Alternately, you can make a rectangle and cut out individual rounds or squares.

Dough rolled 1/2"

Baked pastry

The next step is to split the cake while hot and butter it generously. You can do this in one piece, or in smaller slices, it's up to you. Sprinkle with sugar and fill with berries.

Yum

Whip up some cream... Mmm I love whipped cream.

The complete cake

For serving, top the shortcake with berries and whipped cream, or pass plain cream. My Mom and Gram used to eat this with milk, so there's a few ways to do it. This recipe makes 6 servings.
Enjoy!

Kefir - a picture tour

Kefir is a cultured milk product, and a wonderful probiotic. It's much less temperamental than yogurt culture, and has a pleasant taste that I think is more akin to sour cream than to yogurt. Taste ranges from very mild, to quite tangy, depending on the proportion of culture to milk. Fermentation time also helps determine the taste of the final product. It is perfect for smoothies and lassi since it's not firm or jelled. Rather it's thick, more like crème fraîche, and very drinkable.

One thing I love about kefir, other than the health benefits, is that it's cultured at room temperature, and you don't have to boil the milk before you add the kefir culture. I simply add the kefir culture, or "grains" to milk from the fridge in a clean jar, put on the lid, and use the next day. Once the kefir is done, it's easy to make a new batch. Watch:

Kefir after 24 hour fermentation

Kefir curds and grains

I've poured the contents of the jar into a strainer with a bowl underneath, so that I can strain out the kefir culture from the kefir.

Straining the Kefir

As you strain, you will start to see the grains emerge from the kefir.

Beginning to see the grains

They rather look like bits of cauliflower to me, however, the texture is sort of more on par with a gooey gummy bear. You don't rinse them off, as you run the risk of damaging them. Simply strain and place into your new milk. These little guys like to eat, and grow quickly. I'm amazed at how many grains I've had to give away in the weeks that I've had them. I was told that they will eat you out of house and home if you let them. However, I've learned to be ruthless. I like my kefir mild, and that means less grains, so I have to get rid of the extras. They are edible, for those of you who really want a probiotic kick.

Kefir grains

Strained Kefir ready to go

The finished product. I swirled the glass so you can see that it does have legs, it's fairly thick, but not jelled. I love to make rosewater lassi with this, it's perfect on a hot summer day. Normally made with yogurt, the kefir works wonderfully. Take 2 cups of kefir, add a teaspoon of rosewater, a crushed cardamom pod and a bit of ground black pepper. Add some honey, jaggery or sugar and sweeten to taste. Pour over ice, or blend with ice in the blender, and you have delicious kefir lassi.

Aren't yellow poppies pretty? I love summer!

Another great use for kefir, especially for the stuff that's a bit tarter than you like (too many grains!) is to make a marinade for chicken. Use your favorite garam masala, the kefir and a bit of salt and pepper and let it all set for a few hours in the fridge. I love it! I have an aversion to grilling chicken with the skin on...it's so flammable, it chars, it's fatty, but the chicken can get dry without it. I've found the kefir gives the meat wonderful flavor and keeps it moist so you can lose the skin. It's really tasty. Grilltastic, even!

Anyway, I definitely recommend kefir. It is a delicious, versatile cultured milk product, super easy to maintain and keep happy and productive, and fantastic for your internal flora. I'm glad I started keeping the little buggers. They're better than hermit crabs or sea monkeys, I swear.

Enjoy!

It's easy to make kids happy...Cone Cupcakes

Kid-tastic Cone Cupcakes

Here it is... Voilà! or is it Eureka? Either way, this is the perfect Kid Party Cupcake!!!

Isn't it frightful? My son's kindergarten class loved them!!

One box of cake mix made enough for the whole class. The method is easy. Fill the cupcake cones about 1/2-2/3 full. I used that vanilla cake-mix with the colored bits in it, usually well-received by the kids AND those garishly colored ice-cream cones to add to the effect. These cupcakes cook quickly, only about 20 minutes. The biggest trick for me to figure out was how on earth to bake them so they don't fall over? Well, I used a glass lasagna pan and carefully placed them in that. It worked fine, none of them tipped over. I cooled them on a wire rack as normal.

For the maximum kid-love I used half-chocolate, half-vanilla frosting, dabbed on the little sprinkles that came with the frosting, and draped on a gummy-worm for a truly kid-tastic effect.

They're horribly delicious

Talk about sugar-bombs, but they certainly are colorful!

Enjoy!...well, at least your kids will.

Gjetost

Picture of Ski Queen Gjetost sold in the US

I have been made me a happy camper :)

Oh, before I start, I created a new look to the blog...I actually went in and changed the code..pretty simple to do, but I still get all excited about it. Me...changing code. Haha!

Anyway, back to the food. I've started making my own kefir, so I'm getting into things dairy, and on one of the message groups I belonged to, someone who shall remain anonymous, yet lauded from afar, mentioned that you can make Gjetost from whey AND provided the link for an awesome site that I hadn't been to in years that now possesses said information.
I did not know that you could make Gjetost from whey, and you can do it at home, rather easily! And I love Gjetost, it is the weirdest cheese on the planet. It is brown, soft, salty and sweet, it tastes like caramel cheese or like cajeta cheese.

Ski Queen Gjetost on Toast-hehe

This is the link to how to make Gjetost. It's located on a site called FANKHAUSER'S
CHEESE PAGE which has some other really cool recipes for cheese like blue cheese and marscapone, mozzerella, and feta.

Gjetost Cheese Making Page

Enjoy!

Photos gratefully lifted from the Norwegian Cheese website.