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Post by heidihi on Mar 24, 2011 8:26:05 GMT -5
I know it is early and I know there is snow and frost so lets leave this open to anyone who is cooking from the garden even if it is the end of your larder and you are using food from last years harvest.
are you as interested in food as I am?
from the flowers to the main entree to dessert! I love to go into the garden pick everything I can from it and if I prepare decorate and enjoy literally the fruits of my harvest..
I had a big cooking day yesterday
I made Korean chive pancakes with the beautiful first chives of the year ..both garlic chives and regular chives about 1 good cup chopped up....I just use a simple recipe of flour, baking powder a little corn starch salt and water ...no eggs ..and then chop chives, slivered green onions and whatever odds and ends you have ..I put grated carrot, some sliced new potatoes and a few slivered jalapeno peppers in
then fry the pancakes in hot oil ..and serve with soy sauce mixed with ginger
other options for this recipe are zucchini...slivered green beans...mushrooms ...yams or sweet potatoes ..and I love to put Kim chi in them!
you want a loose but not water batter
second I made humus!
this year I am going to grow chickpeas after reading a thread where Atash talks about glowing them I know I can do it here since we are in the same region and I adore fresh chickpeas so I have a bed ready and waiting ..for now I just cooked up a pound of dried re hydrated ones
tossed the cooked chickpeas in the food processor with some of the bean broth...lemon juice, and a huge assortment of freshly grown mint, cilantro and parsley and a little thyme ..I thinned the green garlic and used that ..tahini salt and pepper ..and I added some chile and lots of good olive oil....topped it with a roasted pepper puree (from last years pathetic pepper harvest)
made a huge batch of home made pitas to serve the humus on
last but not least I did a lovely fish cake soup ...it was loaded up with lots of fresh herbs again (since all I have in the garden now are the fresh herbs ..and I am not complaining as I am so grateful this time of year to see them poking through with all the tasty fresh goodness
my broth was Japanese bonito flakes ..green onions ..green garlic ..slivered carrots ...some minced kimchi assorted fish cakes and noodles
so herbs herbs herbs I am cooking from the garden and eating with a bunch of sapodillas on my table!!! Let's hear it for the spring ..
anyone else cooking from the garden? want to share and inspire more culinary adventures
I am going to be picking nettles soon and plan lots of things with them ..I adore nettles ...they are good for seasonal allergies ..
I am even going to try nettle beer!
please share if you like and I hope this is posted appropriately
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Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Mar 24, 2011 9:29:19 GMT -5
My preparation of things from the garden consists of:
Frying potatoes, onions, and sometimes carrots, garlic, or parsnips either by themselves or jumbled together.
Pouring a mayonnaise based dressing over salads.
Eating raw vegetables sometimes with salt and/or pepper.
Boiling anything else or adding it to a soup or casserole.
Boring, but that's how I learned to cook when I was 5 years old and I haven't learned anything different since then.
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Post by mnjrutherford on Mar 24, 2011 11:25:02 GMT -5
oooo Joseph, Heidi and I need to give you some lessons! Heidi, are you Korean? I sure do miss fish cake! Other treats as well... Mandu I can make but without the kimchee. No loss in my view, I'm a wuss mouth and can't handle it anyway. I'm cooking the naturalized mustard I seeded out into the corn field last year. I warm some olive oil, add minced onions and sliced garlic and allow it to soften for 2 or 3 minutes, add the washed greens, cover tightly and allow to braise in its own juice for about 10 minutes. Add a few drops of balsamic vinegar, chop it up, serve. YUMMO! Oh yea, salt and pepper to taste!
Tonight we are having cream of asparagus soup. I picked a spear that NO LIE is as long as my arm and at least an 1" thick!?!?!?! HOLY COW! I'll use broth from a previously executed Cornish X rooster.
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Post by steev on Mar 24, 2011 12:33:32 GMT -5
It is indeed the lean time in the garden, but I wish I was working off my Winter fat, instead of snacking around indoors. The remains of 2010 salad stuff are getting scarce and the 2011 stuff is still too small, but growing. Right now, fresh is limited to greens: dock, wild mustard, onion leaves. The last Navet turnips were history last week. The little puffballs are sprouting, so I'll keep my eyes peeled for the bluets and two kinds of meadow mushrooms that I find on the farm.
Some chicken broth, green onion, mushroom, and a little mustard makes a decent light soup to warm up with.
That sort of braised mustard keeps me healthy, body and spirit, every Winter.
I learned that sort of foraging and cooking from Grandad before I got the sense to like it. His side of the family were all from western NC, btw.
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Post by robertb on Mar 24, 2011 13:01:21 GMT -5
Never mind, the nettles will be growing soon. Young stinging nettle tips make a good soup which must have got out ancestors though the hungry gap many times.
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Post by heidihi on Mar 25, 2011 5:56:25 GMT -5
Oh I love nettles ..MJR I am not Korean but I play one in the kitchen! I am actually half middle Eastern and half Anglo ...I just adore Korean food!
I love Green Goddess dressing ..this is NOT exact science but this recipe is wonderful to use all those beautiful fresh herbs coming up frist thing in the spring
you can use whatever tender greens you have in this ..I have even tossed in sorrel ...chervil ..taragon is fantastic in this ..but I have none up now ...
in the blender toss everything but the olive oil and whirl until smooth
1/2 cup vinegar (I like to use the chive flower vinegar ..just soak chive flowers in a white vinegar ..I use coconut vinegar but any white vinegar will do until it is bright pink and fragrant ..usually 30 days) or any vinegar you like
you need a total of 4 handfuls of fresh herbs as I said this is just a suggestion based on what I pulled up and used this time
please know any combo of what you have will do ..
2 handfuls of chives
small handful of mint
small handful of cillantro
1 big handful fresh flat leaf parsley
1 (2 ounce) cans anchovy filets (if you do not want to use anchovies that is fine but it will not be the same!)
3-4 big fat cloves garlic
1 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt (use less if you use table salt)
1 1/2 tsp fresh finely ground pepper
dash of honey or sugar to round out the flavors
2 lemons, juiced
then drizzle the olive oil slowly while the blender is running so it emulsifies until all the olive oil is in and you have a smooth creamy dressing
2- cups good olive oil (some recipes call for mayo but I do not think that is right!
enjoy
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Post by mnjrutherford on Mar 25, 2011 6:28:27 GMT -5
LOL I'm Spanish & "Suthuhnuh". My dad is from Mallorca. I remember growing up and when we decided what to eat we couldn't eat the same cuisine 2 nights in a row. "We had Chinese last night!" I remember thinking, "Why can't we have Chinese 2 nights in a row? Don't Chinese people eat Chinese food every night?"
Your recipe looks wonderful and I'll probably be giving it a shot. Do you realize how close it is to being mayo? If you want to make it a bit "mayoish", add an fresh egg BEFORE you begin to drizzle in the oil. Actually, put the egg, lemon juice, and salt/pepper in FIRST. Then add the herbs and anchovies, and then the oil.
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Post by heidihi on Mar 26, 2011 10:45:50 GMT -5
if you like salsa and have not tried a fresh mint chutney you are in for a real treat! My mint has the most tender fragrant 4 inch tops on it now that I have to make this today to go with a wonderful leg of lamb ..some basmati rice (also cooked with a bit of dried mint in it) micro greens the pretentious way of saying I am gong to pinch all the little weeds, pea shoots, fennel sprouts. lots of sorrel out there and other more peppery greens ..first salad of the season! ok so Mint Chutney (this also evolves as my garden offerings evolve) in the food processor or blender 2 big handfuls fresh mint..a mixture is nice 1 bunch chives 1 handful cilantro 1/2 tsp ground coriander 1/2 tsp ground cumin 2 large cloves of garlic ( I have a giant shallot I may use that instead today) 1/2 cup fresh lime juice..limes suck right now they are expensive and so I am going to use lemons 3 tsp honey or sugar 1 tsp kosher salt 1-3 habaneros depending on how hot you like it ..I like 3 husband likes 1 so I use 2!! you can also use jalapeno or any hot pepper you like this recipe to me should be hot hot but feel free to leave out the chile and use a mild pepper of your choice .I would probably use a sweet red if I did not like the heat but can not imagine a world where that would happen enjoy  |
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Post by steev on Mar 26, 2011 12:22:19 GMT -5
This thread reminds me of the time I really sprained my back and spent three days in one position on the couch taking stupid-pills (muscle relaxants); the most rigorous mental activity I was up to was reading cook-books; any plot-line longer than a recipe was beyond my memory capacity. I think the only thing I retained from all that is the sense that I'd like to take a shot at making charcuterie and salume.
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1066
gopher
Posts: 38
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Post by 1066 on Mar 27, 2011 3:12:44 GMT -5
Your Korean pancakes sound great, and remind me of a recipe we do, I think they are Vietnamese pancakes, very similar to yours but you sprinkle sesamae seeds into the frying pan, then add your veggies and herbs, and then the pancake mixture, and fry. Served with a dipping sauce of soy, chillie, garlic, and palm sugar. Delicious. In fact I'm going to have to make some soon
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Post by heidihi on Mar 27, 2011 7:42:47 GMT -5
I have some Italian jowel bacon hanging on the porch charcuterie is a wonderful thing to get "in to" 1066 these pancakes just evolve with the season and I adore them most of all made with kim chi today I will make some for lunch with chives minced jalepenos ..cilantro and slivered potatoes then top them with the sauce you mentioned thanks! yesterday I made some Salvadoran "Ensalada" I took a pitcher and put some diced fresh pinapple in it along with fresh pinapple juice and the juice of one lemon grated a few wintered over carrots in to the pitcher I raided the freezer for last years cherries and berries that need to be used up now and tossed them in the pitcher then I took some of the micro greens I picked ..to include dandilion, spinach.. cilantro..fresh mint leaves and pea shoots chopped them up ....put them in the pitcher stir it up and serve it ice cold with a spoon and if you want some marichino cherries are really good in this and kind of birghten the glass ..I just had some pitted bing cherries when you want to give it a bit of an R rating add some white rum! ..I missed having a nice crunchy few chunks of iceburg lettuce in it (really that makes it1) this is a fun wholesome drink to let kids make as well enjoy a nice big glass of salad! please post em if you got em I would love to know what you do with early sprouts and also how you use up the last of the larder to prepare for spring |
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Post by steev on Mar 27, 2011 20:44:00 GMT -5
I pulled some green garlic today, so the tops of that will flavor some chicken broth into which will go fine-minced sorrel and crushed red pepper, not a bad cuppa. It was too rainy for my comfort, so I didn't dally about gathering dock, cheeseweed, mustard, or shepard's purse for greens. It's OK, they're all growing bountiously and not going anywhere. I really must get a chicken flock turning these weeds into protein. A nice Spring forage frittata would be goood!
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Post by heidihi on Mar 29, 2011 12:41:51 GMT -5
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Post by steev on Mar 29, 2011 20:21:08 GMT -5
If you're sparking up the barbie, I suggest along with whatever your entree, you grill whatever Spring alliums you have: onions; scallions; garlic; whatever, a mix is primo. Just cut off the roots, strip whatever leafage isn't appealing, brush with EVOO, and grill to tenderness; eat as much of the plant as isn't too tough. Once you start cooking green garlic, you may never grow any to maturity again!
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Post by heidihi on Apr 4, 2011 11:20:41 GMT -5
Ok one more recipe
as soon as I finish typing this recipe to share with you ... I am going to wander out and pick the sorrel and make this soup for breakfast today.. I am so surprised more folks do not enjoy this most amazing tasting and healthy green! as a kid I used to pick it out of peoples lawns...Lord knows what else I consumed when I was eating that! But now I grow a great big bunch of French sorrel and I can not imagine not making room for this somewhere because it is so good!
this is my basic "cream of" soup recipe I am sure most folks have their own ..I modify according to whatever is on hand but I can tell you after sorrel comes nettles and then asparagus and perhaps some wonderful morrels will show in between here ..and as the summer progresses ..I make this soup out of everything from carrots ..onions...peas..garlic ..corn (cream of corn with deep fried sage leaves on top is out of this world good) ...I highlight herbs with this base..try a cream of basil ..then move on to the tomatoes...squash..pumpkin...even figs!!! ...you get my drift here this is my base the soup comes to me from it
(quantity of the batch is only limited by your pot!)
1 quart to 6 cups chicken or vegetable broth (nice light one)
2-3 med diced waxy type potatoes (1 inch dice)
nice big handful/bunch of sorrel washed blotted dry ..quatities are up to you but I figure a cup of greens per cup of stock works for me ..
1/2-3/4 cup heavy cream (the really thick good heavy cream is best)
salt and fresh finely cracked pepper
toss the potatoes and sorrel in the pot with the broth ..bring up to heat and cook until tender (about 20 min)
when tender puree..if you have one of those hand blenders they are perfect for this! (and yes someday I will have one!) ..I love my soup "rustic" and like to leave it kind of chunky but you can make this very smooth by running it through a sieve
finish with the cream.. heat through .this can be served chilled of you like cold soups
if you use it and have some recipes to share please do I tend to just use it in soups and salads ..it adds so much to Italian wedding soup ...in fact I think I will dig a chicken out and make that as well this week ..I love those little meatballs
sorrel and chicken broth is a stunning match!
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