September 16, 2009

stir fried green beans

I’m growing four types of green beans this year: – Shung Yuang Asian White Pole beans (the best!) – Fortex pole beans (very nice) – Provider green bush beans – Royal Burgundy bush beans They are growing in next to my house in reduced sunlight (about 11-3pm). They do well here and are always ready for a quick vegetable dish. I’ve been letting some of the pods mature on the vines recently. I’ll harvest these later and let then dry for seed for next year. I’m thinking I’ll skip the…

September 14, 2009

potato and squash casserole

This is a casserole I often make with summer squash and potatoes. (The recipe is here.) I used four of the varieties of potatoes that I grew this year: Rio Grande Russet (bright white flesh), Yellow Gold (red skin), Red Norland (red skin, white flesh) and Green Mountain. (Here’s a nice chart of potato varieties from Fedco.) All of these varieties were very tasty. Nice to have the mix. Next year I’d like to add a blue potato too. Most of my potatoes are still waiting to be dug. I’ve…

August 22, 2009

Mexican cole slaw

I got the idea for this Mexican cole slaw recipe from a TV show on fish tacos. Its great with any kind of tacos – and maybe even any meal. Perfect with fresh homegrown cabbage. The unexpected combination of cabbage, lime juice and cilantro is just fantastic. RECIPE1 cup cabbage, sliced1 scallion, chopped1 tsp lime juice2 tsp sour cream1/4 cup chopped cilantro2 slices pickled jalapenos Mix all ingredients. Use more or less of everything to your taste, but don’t use too much sour cream (or jalapenos!). Makes 2 servings.

August 12, 2009

grilled beets

The bottom line is – fantastic! My husband invented this one. My Lutz beets, his grilling. It was an experiment. I’ve looked on-line for grilled beet recipes. They suggest grilling whole in foil, or par boiling, or marinating slices 30 min then grilling. We like to do quick food prep: very fresh vegetables – very quick grilling. My husband make really nice grilled potatoes, carrots, fennel, onions, squash, etc. He slices about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick, brushes with olive oil and adds herbs and/or spices while cooking. Why not…

August 5, 2009

what to do with zucchini (and other summer squashes)

My summer squash are coming in so fast I thought I’d get a list of ideas together of things to do with it. – grilled, with olive oil and herbs– grilled, chile-coated with honey lime dressing (Dan’s post with photo)– grilled with olive oil, salt and pepper (roasted or fried in sunflower oil works too), with a yogurt-garlic-dill sauce (a Bulgarian classic from Svetla)– zucchini risotto (I’m going to try this tonight and I’ll add the recipe!)– fried zucchini (maybe Friday night…)– squash carpacchio (raw zucchini with goat cheese)– stuffed…

June 19, 2009

stir fried bok choy on noodles

Encouraged by my pretty little bok choy, I have taken up wok cooking. I think this will be my preferred method this summer. So versatile: – only one pot to clean – I like to see everything cut up and laid out ahead of time – QUICK! – delicious My Mom gave me this recipe: sliced pork lion chopped garlic (I used scapes) cooked thin spaghetti noodles chopped greens (bok choy or cabbage) chopped carrots chopped onions cilantro peanut oil Steam the carrots in a half inch of water in…

June 13, 2009

bbq’d pizza with grilled garlic scapes

I picked a big bowl of garlic scapes today. We sauteed them whole in olive oil over the wood fire. Then we chopped and sprinkled them on pizza and grilled the pizza on the fire. The pizza sauce was the last of my garden tomatoes, stored frozen, from last summer. The salad was my first heads of this year’s garden lettuce. Nice to finish the last of last year together with the first of this year.

February 9, 2009

Sunday night pizza

I wanted to share a photo of the delicious pizza we’ve been making often this winter. The sauce is from my garden last summer. I threw in many different tomato varieties, some carrots, basil, onions, cooked it down and froze it. The pizza also has the last of the cayenne chiles I grew, dried and crumbled. A delicious pizza. A taste of my garden on winter weekends. We make a fairly simple pizza. My son makes the dough in the bread machine. A simple recipe from Beard on Bread, by…

January 4, 2009

potato pancakes

I ran into a very nice woman and dog the other day and we walked around the fields and talked. She’s a good cook and, when I told her I grow potatoes, she asked “what do you do with potatoes?” (with her expression implying “why on earth would anyone want to eat potatoes…”) I sheepishly told her, “well I like to make French fries…..” Then I thought it best to change the subject. But I do enjoy cooking with potatoes. In early summer, when I first dig small handfuls of…

December 21, 2008

humble leek and potato soup

Marian Morash says this is a “perfectly simple, humble soup is wonderful for supper on a cold, wet day”. I got the recipe from page 158 of the Victory Garden Cookbook, but substituted celeriac for celery and plain yogurt for heavy cream. It was absolutely fantastic! Gretta pulled this leek from her field last week. (The potatoes, onion and celeriac are from her CSA share.) I’m thinking of growing leeks next year, so I looked up some information. Leeks are another vegetable that do well very late into the cold…

weeks and counting until my last spring frost