Weeding

My weeding tools.



And the garden -over a week ago. Since then, a whole new crop of weeds has grown up.



I will not give up. Instead, I will weed in the garden every morning, then eat a salad every day for my lunch. And repeat as necessary for the rest of the summer. That's my battle plan at least.

Radishes and Roosters

"Farming is the worst way to make a living, and the best way to raise a family." -Farmer



The sheep are content with the abundance of grass available for grazing. The new ducklings were moved yesterday from a brooder (where they were making an impressive mess) to outside where they are pretty much terrified -though I expect they'll be more enthusiastic about their new home once they discover SWIMMING. Sadly, one of the little pigs died (she had been sick) and we are nervously keeping an eye on the remaining healthy one. The seven new little rabbits are growing and I have selected the four to keep for breeding, and hopefully our pea patch bunnies bred successfully and we will have more babies like this (click here). The hens are laying well and our rooster, Taj Mahal takes his job of guarding and bossing them all around very seriously. Yesterday, I heard a pip from the incubator (like I said, he's been doing his job well) and the chicks are due to hatch out in the next few days. Farm life is always filled with ups and downs, endings and beginnings -and lots of hard work.

I spent a delightful hour or two yesterday, spinning under the lilac after several hours spent in combat with weeds that appear these days to be on some sort of plant steroid. My spinning project is progressing very slowly, so I was pleased to make some progress with it. I have been knitting a bit but my fiber activites have taken a back seat these days to other activites (like weeding and working). The past five summers I was at the Farmers Market once a week selling yarn and bags (click here) -and spinning. This is the first year I'm not there and I miss my weekly spinning time and all the wonderful people.

There are less than a half dozen things on the list of foods I don't really like. Radishes, pretzels -and arugula is at the top of the list. I think it tastes like a cross between skunk and old tires. "Wow," said a friend of mine when I described my perception of it to her. "You really don't like arugula!" I can live without ever eating any arugula but it's really a shame to not like radishes since they are the first thing to come out of our garden every spring. I grudgingly tolerate a few token slices in a salad, but I don't happily bite into a whole radish fresh from the garden like my husband does. I hate the idea of growing produce I don't like to eat, so I have been looking for radishes prepared in a way I'll enjoy. Though I liked the radish salad from the Victory Garden Cookbook I made over the weekend by tossing sliced radishes with a simple vinaigrette, no one was really terribly keen on it (and its aroma by the next day was declared downright offensive by everyone).

But a couple night ago I prepared a bunch of radishes another way I saw suggested in The Victory Garden Cookbook. I tasted them -and immediately went and pulled and prepared a second batch so the rest of the family could have some too. Seriously, THIS is what to do with radishes: Pull a sizable bunch fresh from the garden, wash, tail and top and then chop them (quartered or eighths), and saute them in a bit of slightly browned butter (this part was really by accident but I think it was a rather happy coincidence and I will continue to allow the butter to brown a bit before adding the radishes) until they are browned a bit. They shrink down in size quite a lot, and cooking them takes the sharp bite out their flavor and the result reminds me of sauteed turnips. Tonight, along with preparing a huge bowl of spinach salad for dinner, I am going to roast a rooster a la Julia Child, and saute lots of radishes in a bit of browned butter -an early summer celebration.

Green Enchilada Sauce

I can't believe I haven't talked about making green enchilada sauce yet! Every year, we grow tomatillos to make and freeze into this sauce. In the late spring, my husband and I negotiate how many plants to grow. I always propose 'LOTS' but my husband, ever the voice of reason, manages to convince me to exercise a bit of restraint -last year I think we bought four plants.

It doesn't matter how few plants we grow, we always end up with a bumper crop of tomatillos. And the next season, volunteer plants will continually be popping up all over in the area where the tomatillos were grown the year before. I make green sauce in late summer and early fall to freeze in 1 quart containers that we use all year round. I love it's bright, citrusy flavor that's especially welcome now, when it's still several months before we can expect any fresh produce from our garden. March can be particularly dreary, garden-food-wise as well as otherwise, and this green sauce is an uplifting reminder of the green and growing garden flavors of spring and summer.

Green Enchilada Sauce

In a large pot, place:

2 quarts peeled and washed tomatillos

4 quarts water

Bring to a boil and cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Allow to cool slightly.

In two or three batches, put in blender with 3 c. cooking liquid and:

3 garlic cloves

1 1/2 c. cilantro leaves

1 onion, diced

Puree until smooth. Heat 2 T. oil in heavy-bottomed pot and add puree. Add 1/4 -1/2 t. salt and 1 t. sugar. Simmer 5 minutes.

Unlike when canning it, sauces that are frozen do not have to be exact. I don't really measure this when I'm making it, and sometimes I make huge batches and sometimes just a quart of it. Speaking of canning sauces, I was so excited to see this recipe, which can be made during canning's off-season, for making and canning red enchilada sauce (click here). Now, thanks to dandelion at Knit & Nosh (Thank-you, Thank-you, Thank-you!!!), I can make and store both green AND red enchilada sauces. How cool is that?

I mostly use my Green Enchilada Sauce to make enchiladas like these (click here), but it is also great in soups, and this amazing burrito filling (click here) with pork, black beans and rice.

A Simple Meal

The most important things in life are often the most simple. This is a very simple meal composed of straightforward, mundane even, foods: mashed potatoes, baked Delicata squash, frozen broccoli, and oven roasted chicken with homemade barbecue sauce. This simple meal though is the culmination of a year of hard work; everything (almost) on this plate, we've raised ourselves. It is a simple thing, and not uncommon at our dinner table, but it still gives us immense satisfaction -and the very best of straightforward foods are hard to beat. The barbecue sauce is one my husband learned to make from his mom as a kid, and our kids have made it since they were wee tots. None of us measure anything, we just add and taste until it's right. The Soup Queen, my husband's sister, sometimes adds a bit of vinegar, Italian seasonings, or hot sauce, and I have added hoisin sauce once or twice, but my family prefers this simple traditional version. It is also good poured over any cut of meat and left 8-10 hours on low in a crock-pot to make BBQ sandwiches.

Homemade Barbecue Sauce

1 c. ketchup
2 T. brown sugar
1/2 T. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 t. garlic powder or 1 pressed or minced garlic clove
salt and pepper



And simply knitting by a window with the thin winter sunshine coming through, what could be more enjoyable?

Green Bean Casserole

Green Bean Casserole is a Thanksgiving classic for many families, but not mine. The truth is before last week, I had never eaten it. A few years ago, my daughter had it at a friend's house, and she came home raving about how amazingly good this bean thing she'd had was. I decided to make it this year with frozen beans, though I think fresh beans (of course) would probably be much better.



I've seen this recipe many times over the years, and also the strategic displays in the grocery aisles, but the main reason I've never made this classic before now was that, to me, fried onions from a can does not sound at all appetizing. On the other hand, this year my husband grew some really nice shallots, and fried shallots definitely does sound appetizing! The addition of fresh mushrooms and tarragon enriches and complements the frozen garden vegetables, making this a scrumptious side dish. Next time I make this, I think I might go completely sans cans, omit the can of mushroom soup, and make a simple roux based mushroom cream sauce instead.

Green Bean Casserole

Defrost one quart frozen beans, drain, and put in casserole dish.

Peel and slice 5-6 shallots into rings. Shake in Ziploc bag with:

1/3 c. flour

1 t. Lawry's seasoning, or paprika

Put in colander and shake to discard excess flour.

Fry in 2+ inches of hot oil. Drain.

In saucepan, melt:

2 T. butter

Add:

1/2 lb. chopped fresh mushrooms

Cook until browned without stirring too much.

Add:

1 can cream mushroom soup

3/4 can milk (use 1 can for fresh beans)

1 t. lemon juice

1 t. soy sauce

1 T. fresh tarragon (1 t. dried)

Whisk until smooth and bring to a simmer. Pour over beans. Stir. Add half shallots. Stir. Bake 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Top with remaining half of shallots and bake an additional 5 minutes. Serve hot.

Carrot Ginger Soup

I had a long phone conversation yesterday, with my daughter in Austin, Texas that inevitably turned to food. It ended with us both deciding we should immediately make Carrot Ginger Soup (she has a copy of my recipe collection). Despite record November temperatures here matching those in Austin, a garden vegetable soup sounded like a perfect dinner to us both. For her, with limited means and an almost nonexistent larder, frugal and delicious carrot soup is perfect. And for me, wanting a simple vegetarian dinner, carrot soup is also perfect. I hung up the phone and went directly to the garden for carrots. I washed them off outside with the hose -and then got distracted for several hours. I returned to making soup, and while putting the ingredients in the pot I realized with horror, we had cut the original recipe by fourths -but not the amount of white pepper. Also, I use a wand blender to puree soups in the cooking pot while still hot, but she has a food processor and my recipe didn't warn to cool it first. I just knew she had made a soup way too spicy for her to ever eat, and then exploded the same boiling soup all over herself, and was probably in the emergency room (which she REALLY can't afford) with 2nd degree soup burns. She called later that evening. Luckily, she had gotten even more distracted than myself, and hadn't made her soup. Lessons learned: 1) moms will always worry and imagine the worst, 2) mistakes in a recipe can be a dangerous thing, and 3) even with lots of white pepper, Carrot Ginger Soup is really good!



Carrot-Ginger Soup

Heat: 2 T. oil

Add: ½ chopped red onion
2-3 T. grated fresh ginger (The fresher, the better. Mine had been languishing in the fridge for quite awhile, and though still good, was rather fibrous.)
Sauté onion and ginger in oil.

Add:
2 c. chopped, fresh carrots
2-3 c. vegetable stock or water
1/8- ¼ t. white pepper
1 t. fresh ground coriander
½ -1 t. salt or vegetable bouillon cube

Bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer and cook 15-30 minutes, or until carrots are soft. Use a wand blender, or cool and puree in food processor or blender. This freezes really well, so you may want to double or triple the recipe and freeze portions.

Variations: Substitute chicken stock if preferred, and/or add 1 c. V-8 juice. For Moroccan Carrot Soup, omit ginger and add 1 ½ t. cumin and 1/8 t. allspice, and serve plain yogurt at the table to stir in.

Season for Soup

Tis the season for soup, one-of-a-kind soups you put together from 'what is on hand'. Not always the most visually lovely of foods, but homemade soups of any kind are definitely among the more comforting and soul-satisfying meals I've eaten. My sister-in-law, Gretchen is the undeniable Soup Queen, and I have learned a lot watching her put together a pot of soup. A variety of vegetables with a leafy green included are a must, like these I used from our garden: Bright Lights Chard, pole beans, carrots, patty pan squash and parsley. With the variety of late season produce now available in the garden (and before the frosts come) now is the season for soup making.



Any kind of one of the less desirable cuts of meat is also a must: meaty goat bones, lamb shanks, chicken necks, turkey wings and here I used the leftovers from a roast goose we had the night before (and yes, it was REALLY good). There is no recipe for soup made with the ever changing 'what is on hand'. The leftover risotto from several nights back, the cornbread stuffing and roasted potatoes served with the goose and the drippings all went in to this pot, along with more sage and some salt. Another time I may use leftover cooked kidney beans, roasted beets and cabbage shredded, but not used, for salad. 'What is on hand' soup is never the same but it's always good. Even though this is my not-so-big-pot, and all of us ate several bowls of soup (and yes, it was REALLY good), I was pleased to freeze a couple containers of soul-satisfying soup to have stashed away simply needing to be heated. When needed, it will be like finding a forgotten $20 bill in a coat pocket!

Mixed: Pickled Vegetables and Berry Crumble

I wanted to make Bread and Butter pickles today, but when I picked the cucumbers there weren't enough for the recipe. The same with the raspberries I wanted to make into a pie. What do to? These Pickled Mixed Vegetables I've made the past few years, incorporates many of the vegetables ripe in the garden this time of year, so I added other vegetables from the garden to the cucumbers I'd just picked to make a batch. It is an all-purpose pickle that goes well with many ethnic meals, and in the dead of winter will bring us the taste of our summer garden. The red and gold raspberries I picked weren't enough to make a pie, but when blackberries and a few strawberries (hidden deep within the weeds that have take over there) were added, it was enough to make this scrumptious crumble.



Pickled Mixed Vegetables

Wash 7 wide-mouth quart jars.

Collect a laundry basket of vegetables from the garden: green beans, small carrots, summer squash, jalapeno or other peppers, basil sprigs, cucumbers, gold beets and cauliflower (all recipes I've seen leave out broccoli, so I do too). Wash/scrub vegetables and cut into chunks. Layer vegetables into jars and fill to shoulder.

Place 4 allspice berries, 1-2 garlic cloves, 1-2 jalapenos, 6-7 black peppercorns, 1 bay leaf and a basil sprig in each jar.

Mix brine and bring to a boil:
9 1/2 c. cider vinegar
7 c. water
2 1/2 T. pickling salt


Pour brine into jars over vegetables to fill 1/2 inch from the top. Wipe rim and put on lids and bands. Process in water bath canner for 20 minutes. Wait 3 weeks to eat.



Mixed Berry Crumble

For crumble topping mix in food processor:
1 1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 t. cardamom (or spice of choice)
1/2 c. soft butter

In a baking dish mix:
4-5 c. fresh mixed berries
1 T. lemon juice
1/2 c. sugar
2 T. cornstarch
1/4 t. cardamom (or spice of choice)

Spread crumble topping evenly over fruit mix. Bake 350 degrees for about 50 minutes. Serve with vanilla ice cream.