Posts from the ‘Food’ category

Cooking and eating from the garden, cont’d.

I think it is week 17 and 18 from my CSA bounty. But I have also been buying some seasonal Western produce: peaches and peppers from Washington State and hopefully soon, some blueberries from Oregon. Washington, Oregon and California are close enough that I am including their seasonal stuff that comes direct to Montana as local :)!

Here we go!

More cucumbers and I dressed them in a creamy dressing of a wee bit of homemade mayo, greek yogurt, buttermilk, dill, salt and a good dose of fresh ground pepper.

In addition to a refreshing salad, the mix made a good topping for a spicy corn chowder. My CSA corn and green pepper went into the chowder.

I blitzed a bit of the cucumber salad to make a riff of tzatziki sauce which also went well with some chowder.

Oh…those little tomatoes!!! They are sweet like candy and I ate most of them just like candy – as a sweet snack!

Kale, sweet onion and green beans roasted in olive oil and basalmic vinegar…

…. they went in another soup.

As the calendar flipped to September, the weather flipped to Fall. Cool/cold nights warming to Fallish afternoons. Soup sounded good and it was.

But…still time for some salad. This last week had beautiful lettuce mix. I added some ham, corn off the cob, pumpkin seeds and a ranchish dressing…along with some Washington State Elberta peaches.

Roast Chiles!! Anaheims, Red, Jalapeno – on the grill…for chile rellenos…

Oh, yeah! And in addition to the above which were part of my CSA distribution, the local grocery had a chile weekend and I bought a number of the best Anaheim peppers I’ve seen in these parts. Those have been roasted and frozen for Winter enjoyment.

Cooking and eating from the garden and local produce. It continues to be wonderful eating and preserving.

not pretty, but beautiful!

Last evening (Wednesday) was not a pretty night…in front of a cold front, heavy overcast moved in. It was that eery stillness of ‘calm before the storm’. Everything was quiet…no breeze, no birds, no squirrels, no bugs. Not pretty, but beautiful in its own way and we enjoyed.

And even though the yard and woods are a bit dry and crunchy…

…they still inspire a good roll around!

Overnight, the wind blew and I woke to the sound of a good soaking rain.

I also woke with a strong craving for a cinnamon roll. I grabbed a peach sized bit of dough from my dough crock, rolled it into a thin rectangle, brushed it with melted butter, added some chopped apple, cinnamon and brown sugar. Rolled it up, folded it over, let it rise for half an hour and then into the oven. The finishing touch: a caramel glaze of brown sugar, butter and milk. Not pretty, but beautiful and seriously, YUM!!

A celebratory treat

Homemade peach yogurt (greek yogurt, buttermilk, peaches and vanilla extract), pecans and homemade vanilla bean caramel sauce (sugar, cream, vanilla bean, vanilla extract and sea salt) – to celebrate the last day of birthday month, the second full moon of birthday month, and the last weekend of the Summer … YEE HAW!!

***my first go at caramel sauce…too good!
****yes, the autumnal equinox does not occur until September 22 but September always seems like Fall just like June seems like Summer :)!

Eating from the garden weeks 15 and 16

Yep, I missed a week. Things are hoppin’ around here what with the work and the weeds and getting ready to launch Wild Thing in two weeks. The entire crew: Captain Bear, First Officer Bob and me, the lowly pilot and supply officer are planning a September 13 departure for points south and a visit with the folks, Grandma Betty and the 4 legged “cousins”! Departing from my previous “blast south like the devil is on my tail” kind of trips, I intend to meander a bit and take it easy…as if I am actually on vacation :)!

Usually, the prep for such a trip is minimal and amounts to keeping an eye on the weather and work and then going. But Wild Thing is 9 years old and I’ve put a good many miles on her and some maintenance was in order. And the maintenance stuff has been like the proverbial can of worms. I believe we have found the last worm and all is ship-shape and ready to go pending receiving and installing (Billy Bob’s RV doing the installing) one last part.

Meanwhile, I’ve been sharing much of the garden produce and getting a few ready to take over the bounty after I leave.

BUT…the summer stuff is really starting to kick in. A few small cucumbers, some cherry tomatoes, BEAUTIFUL cabbages, green beans, broccoli, larger carrots, some small but tender and flavorful sweet corn and also some small summer squash…along with chard, kale and basil.

Off and on these last days of summer have been hot and smoky and refreshing cool food sounds good. I blitzed green cabbage, broccoli and carrots into a slaw dressed with a simple sweet vinaigrette (olive oil, sugar, apple cider vinegar).

A bit of bacon, with a side of fresh peaches and the slaw made a good lunch.

I cook burgers every 3rd or 4th day as I feed Bear burger/rice/yogurt twice a day. Oh…and hamburger with fries is one of my most favorite meals so I always have a fresh burger on cooking day. As good as my bread, bagels and muffins are, I’ve been using a leaf of chard for a bun to lighten things up and I’m finding I do NOT miss the “bread” at all. The chard from the garden is tender but firm and works very well as a holder for a burger!

Although small, the first of the corn is very good. I couldn’t resist eating one cob (with plenty of butter!) before scraping the rest off to use in a salad…

…or a scramble. Broccoli, corn and scrambled eggs with cherry tomatoes. Although the garden did produce a half pint of cherry tomatoes, these are from a local hydroponic garden, not my CSA.

This weeks slaw is made with red cabbage and the same vinaigrette, but I did experiement with the little cucumbers. Those I dressed in a creamy yogurt-buttermilk-tarragon dressing. Tarragon is a new herb for me and I like it! It did well in this with the cukes….with a bit of chives, cumin, salt and pepper.

I blanched and froze green beans, ate carrots dipped in homemade ranch and put fresh kale in my smoothies.

Some potatoes are still in the bin for a rough mash as it gets cooler and I have 2 little squash that I hope to make into fritters for a zucchini squash fritter benedict in the morning.

***EDIT

The zucchini fritter “benedict”…hardly a benedict, but zucchini cornmeal pancake, sausage, poached egg and a dollop of greek yogurt with a drizzle of chipotle tobasco…worked for me :)!

Whereupon Bear and I socialize and I make the best pizza I have ever made

If you have followed my blog for very long and/or know me in person, you know that I have a bit of a hermit/recluse/stay-at-home kind of lifestyle…and I LIKE it!

But, I do have friends and even some close enough to actually visit and I’m trying to help Bear be comfortable with other critters (he LOVES people!)…so, this past weekend Tina and Arcturus were invited for a Friday evening get-together here.

However, earlier in the day, long before our guests arrived, Bob wanted to join me in the office. Bear was sleeping in his chair in the living room. I opened the gate and Bob sauntered past Bear into the office and onto the corner chair to have a nap in a spot of sunshine.

Bear joined us and I stayed at my desk and watched in the reflection of my monitor. They sniffed…a nose sniff/touch and then Bear gave Bob a onceover and turned away. This happened several times and then Bear lay down on the rug behind me.

All was calm and the afternoon was spent with the house gates open. The calm continued even after Bear and I went out for a bit…and Bear surprised a squirrel…chase/bark/chitter-chatter/bark. We came in. I watched closely to make sure that being frustrated outside did not translate to “eat the cat” inside. It didn’t…all over sniff and lie back down. And let me just say, Bob is a CHAMP! He stays quiet and calm which I am sure helps Bear.

Onward.

Evening…

Arcturus ran around outside and Bear was excited and barking inside. With Bob safely in the bedroom, we brought Arcturus in the house with the gates separating he and Bear. Some barking by Bear, but fairly quickly, after nose sniffing through the gates, everyone settled down.

At some point…WELL, it WAS Friday and we had wine…. we opened the gates. All was fine. We wished for cameras… Then there were some words and I panicked and stepped in. In hindsight, I wish I had had the presence of mind to just say “Knock it off, Bear”. Tina took that route, but once I stepped in all was interrupted and I never got my sang froid back…RATS!

We are both travelling and won’t have a chance to try again for a bit. BUT, I was very much encouraged that Bear was fine with Arcturus in the house – gate separated and for some time without gates. And they both recovered quickly and were quietly curious and calm. They sniffed noses through the car window as Tina and Arcturus were getting ready to leave. Arcturus is very sociable with other dogs. Bear has just not had the experience and is unsure. I have some fear…which I absolutely HATE – Rats!

So…THE Pizza.

The dinner plan was pizza on the grill. Earlier in the week, Tina emailed a suggestion of peaches and cinnamon basil – that she would bring. I thought she meant on the pizza. I learned later, she was thinking a side or dessert of grilled peaches and basil.

I did a bit of googling and found several recipes for peach/basil pizza with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar reduction (balsamic syrup). I like a bit of meat on my pizza and thought that the fried cajun sausage my folks give me would work with the peaches/basil/balsamic. I had the sausage, the balsamic reduction and the dough (my high moisture mix) ready for Friday evening.

As I was telling Tina about the peach/basil/balsamic recipes, I discovered that she hadn’t thought of the peaches and basil on the pizza. And she said: “But, I like a bit of ‘salty’ on my pizza”. I told her about the sausage. We proceeded…and it was wonderful! I didn’t take photos that night, but I made the same pizza for myself again on Saturday and DID take photos…below:

A brush of olive oil on the crust, then: slices of mozzarella, peaches, cinnamon basil and fried sausage bits – then on the grill until the crust is crisp and the cheese is melty!

A drizzle of balsamic syrup and we have the best pizza I have ever made…AMEN!!

Well.

After Friday’s Bear and Bob togetherness AND guests for dinner… Bear, Bob and I had a later night than is our norm. And some of us were a bit keyed up and took awhile to wind down to sleep.

Saturday morning, some of us had energy readings riding on E (Empty)!!

BUT, we had more fun and getting together on the agenda! Bear and I went to Whitefish to visit Auntie Kris, Uncle Hal and Magic. Magic is Kris and Hal’s 11 month old Samoyed “puppy”. Bear has been to visit Magic only once before when Magic was quite young, but before that we’ve been there and enjoyed walks around their 40 acres. Bear gets excited when we turn on their road and knows there is fun to be had.

This day, after seeing Magic outside in his yard, Bear and I took a walk down the driveway and around their large field before going back to say hello. With a little steam blown off, we walked up to the fence and Bear quietly touched noses with Magic. Hoo rah!!

The people visited, Bear and I had another walk and then came home…

…exhausted. It was a fun and wonderful weekend, but tiring for us stay-at-homes.

Bob, though – he was on the job! Rested – a full day with the house to himself…he took over guard duty.

Cooking and eating from the garden

The garden and all local produce is hitting its peak.

This week: peas, carrots, potatoes, parsley, basil, salad mix, head lettuce, beets, kale, chard and hiding from me…2 itty bitty zucchini found just in the nick of time. I shared quite a lot as I was still working on some pea pesto, carrots and chard from the week before.

The chard has been wonderful – tender, flavorful and I enjoyed it on sandwiches but especially on this savory version of a basil ricotta creme “pastry” – on the left…the creme topped with fresh tomato slices and a chard/onion saute. On the right, a pastry to save for breakfast: huckleberries!

I had huckleberry or cherry pastries several mornings – all made on the grill. It was mostly a bit warm to fire up the oven. As I am hoping for garden tomatoes and corn, it is a bit easier to take the heat. I pass the farm garden on my road and can see the corn and tomato plants. I think there are cucumbers in there also and I’m waiting. We’ve passed mid-August with the days getting shorter and the nights longer and cooler so it is a race to see if things have time to ripen before the first frost.

A lousy photo but I made two roast veg salads and only took this one photo. One salad with the red potatoes and one with beets. Both I added celery and onion and dressed lightly with a mayo/yogurt vinaigrette. I scarfed the potato salad forgetting to take a photo and only took this one of the beet salad…oops. Aside from the good roasted veg and the light dressing, the celery gave both a wonderful crunch and flavor. I added goat cheese and walnuts to the beet salad to make it a complete lunch.

Later in the week, the last of the kale needed to be used. Fresh kale, left to marinate for at least two hours in a vinaigrette, softens just enough to be crunchy but not tough. In fact, I’ve made a large kale salad and eaten from the bowl for 3 or 4 days. This salad, I used a lemon juice/garlic/vinegar mix, and topped with goat cheese, flathead lake sweet cherries and sunflower seeds.

So, those zucchini! They were hiding under some carrots. I found them late in the week and I was getting ready to make some baked sweet potato fries so cut up one of the squashes and threw it in with the sweet potato. A ranch dip made with yogurt, buttermilk and spices on the side.

Round 2 with the remaining zucchini, I added a coating of bread crumbs (from my broa bread), parmesan, salt and pepper. Same dip – another hit and another good week of cooking and eating from the garden.

And not to be forgotten…spearmint from my herb patch… and ice and white wine. All of this fresh green stuff…it is not bad :)!