November 22, 2019

crispy pickled peppers

I harvested a lot of peppers the day before our first frost. (100!!) Bell peppers, cayenne, Tex Mex, Shishito, even some heatless Habanero’s called Habanada. We’ve been working our way through eating them fresh, but we weren’t making much of a dent. Time for pickles! I’ve made pickled peppers a few times, but never liked the way they end up mushy – not at all crispy like store bought ones. So I tried out a new method – I made fresh pickles. Fresh pickles aren’t processed in…

July 31, 2017

beets ready to roast

Today’s fresh beets, ready to cook my favorite way! Two deep red Merlin’s and one pink Chiogga. I love to roast them in foil. It’s so simple and it keeps in all the flavor. Just clean and trim the beets, wrap them in foil and roast at about 400 F til tender, about 45 minutes depending on size of the beets. The skin peels off easy after roasting and they’re ready to eat. With these beets I made a beet salad with goat cheese, candied walnuts, a nice vinaigrette, and…

March 31, 2016

cilantro soy pork meatballs (with kale or bok choi)

This is SOOO good I had to share the recipe. I made it earlier in the winter with bok choy from my winter tunnel. Last night I made it again with kale that I sauteed with garlic and sesame seeds. Last night I also used cilantro fresh picked from my tunnel. That cilantro is amazing! I’ve never grown such flavorful cilanto with big green leaves. It overwintered very well. The recipe is partly from Shrinking Singles Pork Meatballs with Ginger Soy here. I’m sure the local pork I used from…

November 23, 2014

bok choi recipes

Again I have LOTS of bok choi. I just love the flavor of it and how nice it looks in the garden. Tonight I am thinking about how to prepare it. My usual recipe is to sauté minced garlic and ginger, maybe adding a dried chili pepper, in a high heat oil like peanut or sunflower. Then I add the coarsley chopped stems of bok choi and stir fry a few minutes. Next I add coarsley chopped bok choi leaves and stir ’til they wilt. Then I add some corn…

October 16, 2014

parsley pesto

I think I’ll make Parsley Pesto today while it rains outside. I had a nice patch of basil, but it got the new basil downy mildew and never amounted to anything I could use for pesto. I don’t know what I’ll do next year for basil. Has anyone seen resistant seeds yet? Anyway, I have way too much parsley in the garden, so Parsley Pesto it is! This recipe looks good: Parsley Pesto at Food and Wine.com. I’ll just process the parsley, garlic, olive oil and salt then freeze it.…

August 19, 2014

red sauce

My tomato bowl filled up again today, so time to make red sauce. When I make red sauce I peel, seed and chop tomatoes, then simmer about an hour. More detail: I boil a big pan of water and then put a few tomatoes at a time in it for about 1 minute till their skin starts to split. Remove and cool. Then peel skin. I squeeze out as many seeds as I can, then chop the pulp. I put all tomato pulp in a big pan and simmer, stirring…

February 8, 2014

mini pies and Meyer Derby

My favorite dough recipe is this one: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/bobby-flay/apple-pie-recipe.html I like it for apple pie as in the recipe. Today we made a double batch and used half for mini pies with canned fruit and froze the other half. My favorite fillings for mini pies are canned cherry or blueberry. To make mini pies, I roll the dough in a square, slice it in three or four sections, dollop on the fruit, fold over the dough, crimp and bake. I’m looking forward to canning my own fruit soon for these little…

June 1, 2013

rhubarb crisp

I picked a big handful of rhubarb today – first of the season. It made a delicious rhubarb crisp for desert. My rhubarb is green, but tastes every bit as good as red rhubarb. Recipe Topping: 1/4 cup roughly chopped walnuts 1/4 cup old fashioned oats (not instant) 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon 3/4 cup flour 1/3 cup light brown sugar 1 tablespoon sugar 4 tablespoons unsalted butter Filling: 1 1/2 pounds rhubarb, cut into 1/2-inch pieces 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour Preheat oven to 400 degrees.…

January 1, 2013

Jacob’s Cattle bean chili

I bought some beautiful dried beans at the Farmer’s Market this past fall. The variety: Jacob’s Cattle bean. They are big red, white and maroon beans that I plan to try growing myself next year. I cooked them up, with some of my canned garden tomatoes, into a rich chili today. Recipe: 1.5 cup dried Jacobs Cattle beans (or any other type of dried bean) 1 onion 5 large cloves garlic 1 shallot 1 sweet red chili pepper, fresh 2 large dried chili peppers, crumbled, with seeds 2 tsp cumin…

August 22, 2012

canning tomatoes

I bought 25 lbs of local tomatoes at the Farmer’s Market, added a few of mine and canned 11 quart jars. Recipe: – Peel tomatoes after scorching in boiling water 1 minute. Slit and remove seeds. Slice in food processor with 1/4 inch blade. – Clean quart canning jars in dishwasher. Boil lids and rings in water on the stove. – Pack tomatoes in jars to 1/2 inch of the top. (I added a small chili pepper to half of the jars.) Clean rims. Apply lids and rings. After tightening…

weeks and counting until my last spring frost