December 25, 2007

Christmas guacamole!

It’s the middle of winter and there is lots of produce in my parents’ Florida garden. Three avocados fell from the tree today and I made a delicious guacamole. My recipe: avocado, garlic, lime, and a little salt. Add chips and beer!

December 3, 2007

super kale soup

I planted this kale early last spring. It was bitter when tasted it in September. Not now. It made one of the best bowls of soup I’ve ever had. We’ve had several good cold nights now, which helps improve the flavor of kale. Today, at 25F, as our first serious snow started to fall, I picked a big bunch. Since I also had some nice dried beans from my summer garden, I opened my Portuguese kale soup recipe. Back in September and October, when these beans ripened, I didn’t have…

November 25, 2007

winter root veggies

On of my favorite vegetable combinations for this time of year. Its a mix of carrots, parsnips and beets. I wrap the beets in foil and bake at 375 for an hour, then peel and slice the next day. Boil sliced carrots 8 minutes, adding sliced parsnips for the last 5 minutes. Then mix everything in a baking dish with herbs and olive oil and bake for a bit. Good additions are potatoes, celeriac and onions. I have a rutabaga in the fridge I will try soon too. I also…

September 8, 2007

pizza with tomato sauce

We have a convenient tomato processor that separates the skins and seeds from tomato juice and pulp. We add quartered tomatoes to the hopper and crank them through. The skin and seeds come out one side and the pulp comes out the other. We ran about 25 big tomatoes through the tomato machine and make a nice batch of puree, which we simmered about an hour to make a nice sauce for pizza. We used a bit of this and froze the rest in baggies. Almost everything is better grilled…

October 11, 2006

eggplant parmasan

I finally made eggplant parmigiana tonight. It was fantastic! I like a recipe from “The Romagnoli’s Table”, with my modifications. Fried Eggplant: 3 medium eggplant, salt, flour, olive oil Sauce: 4 halved garlic cloves, 1 small chopped onion, 1 24 oz can chopped tomatoes, 6-8 big basil leaves, some salt, 1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese, 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese Topping: 1/2 cup unseasoned bread crumbs, 1 sliced fresh tomato Preheat oven to 350. Slice eggplant into long 1/4 to 1/2 inch slices. Salt liberally. Let stand 20 minutes. Meanwhile,…

September 24, 2006

cooked carrots with parsley

Daucus carota I don’t think I’ve ever grown enough carrots to really taste them. Last Tuesday, I pulled a big bunch and cooked enough to make five nice servings. They were delicious. Like a home grown tomato, a whole different flavor than store bought. I think I’ll expand my carrot crop next year with some different varieties.

September 6, 2006

grilled summer squash

Finally a yellow summer squash!! Sunday evening I picked my first one. I sliced it in 3/4 inch slabs, brushed with herbs in olive oil(rosemary, parsley and garlic), let it sit awhile, then grilled and ate it.

August 31, 2006

tomato and cucumber salad

My basic tomato, cucumber and lettuce salad. I usually cut up garlic on top and sprinkle on some Parmesan cheese.

August 13, 2006

pesto

We’ve made pesto from our garden basil for maybe 20 years now. Always a slightly different mix of nuts, cheese, garlic, oil and basil. Sometimes we use the classic: pine nuts, sometimes walnuts. Sometimes only Parmesan cheese, sometimes cheese mixtures. For this batch the recipe was: 2 cups of pecans 2 cups of walnuts 2 heads of garlic 10 oz grated cheese blend: Grana Padano, Asiago, Pecorino, Romano, Provolone 5 oz grated Parmesan 1 liter extra virgin olive oil Salt to taste: maybe 2-3 Tbs 1 pile of basil This…

July 31, 2006

cucumber salad

I was surprised yesterday by finding a hiding cucumber. It was in between the lattice of my trellis and I hadn’t noticed it before. So we got a spur- of-the-moment cuke salad. I found a recipe in The Victory Garden Cookbook, Marion Morash (one of my favorite’s) and modified it to use things I had in my ‘fridge: 1/4 cup plain yogurt, some chopped dill and mint (both fresh from my garden) several cloves of garlic a little gray salt some lime juice Mix together, then add sliced cucumber. Serve…

weeks and counting until my last spring frost

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