Archive for February 27, 2009

27 Feb 2009
Bees • Garden

Postcard From The Meadow

Yes, this is a food related post. Look closer… can you find the honey bee? her butt sticking out from one of the snowdrops? “her” indeed… they are all “she”, you know.

ah… honey: the food of the gods! bee barf!

snowdrops-bee-2009-02-241

On warm sunny days, they fly out of the hive where the cold weather has kept them cooped to stretch their wings, clean the hive (yes, they do! really!) and see if they is any foraging to do. Pickings are slim, but there are some: crocuses, snowdrops, Johnny-jump-ups, early willows and anything flowering in the greenhouse. Whatever it is, some of them are coming back to the hive with sacs of dark pollen, and you know, they only collect pollen from one species at a time…

There must be something else blooming in the woods.

sylvie | 2 comments | Tags: , , ,
22 Feb 2009
Appetizer • Cookery • Garden • herb • herb recipe • Kitchen Garden • locavore log • Side Dish • Soups • vegetable • Vegetable recipe

Lovely Lemony Sorrel

There are indubitable signs of springs out there (besides the 2 minutes of additional daily daytime we are getting now).

For once, the snowdrops are nodding their tiny white bells in the still blustery gusts of wind and then, then!, yellow IS swelling the buds of the early daffodils. But for the ever hopeful kitchen gardener, a much surer sign that spring is coming is what’s budding, swelling, germinating, pushing up or otherwise showing signs of life in the vegetable garden.

Is there something fresh I can sink my teeth in – or at least wake up my taste buds (pun intended) with? Something green? With a little bite? Something… live? I have talked about reliable mache growing outside in winter, but a few other denizens that grow happily enough in a cold frame provide fresh taste at this time of the year: spinach, cutting celery, parsley, arugula, and sorrel are among them. They do not need a cold frame per se, but the protection provided by a cold frame allows them to send forth new leaves much earlier than their unprotected brethren, left totally outside in what is otherwise a generally bleak landscape at this time of the year.

sorrel-2008-04-057

Sorrel might be less well known on the list, so let’s talk about it, a little, shall we? Read more

sylvie | 23 comments | Tags: , , , , , , ,
20 Feb 2009
Cookery • Kitchen Garden

Upcoming Workshops

OK! commercial plug for … me!

Those in the Washington DC area, Charlottesville area and in the Piedmont, who are interested in cooking or kitchen gardening may be want to take a look at my upcoming cookery and kitchen garden workshops in Washington, VA in Rappahannock County. Also listed on my web site here and here. Attendance (especially in the cookery workshops is limited, so register early if you are interested.)

  • Gardening Workshop: Start Your Own Vegetable & Fruit Transplants from Seeds.

Offered on Saturday February 28, 2009, 2:00 to 4:30 and again (same class) on Wednesday March 11, 2009, 1:00 to 3:30 PM.
Learn when and how to start specific seeds indoor in flats and pots for later transplanting and which ones are better direct-seeded. We will review sowing calendar for various plants (vegetable, fruit, herbs and even some edible flowers), appropriate soil(s) to use, germination conditions, light requirement, care after seedlings emerge, how to harden seedlings off, good transplanting techniques, fertilization practices, pest and disease control. Participant will choose seeds from the instructors’ collection to start up to two flats. They will take their flats home to tend and transplant at the appropriate time. Handouts will be distributed. All supplies (flats, pots, seeds, soil) provided. Bring your own apron & gloves! $45 person / $75 for 2 people sharing trays.

  • Cookery Workshop: Provence in Rappahannock/ Saturday March 14, 2009, 10:00 AM to 2:30 PM.

Learn to prepare a festive Provencal style Sunday lunch (a meal suitable for dinner too, of course!) using ingredients readily available in late winter: Cream of Leek and Potato Soup; Roasted Duck with Olives; a Provencal Vegetable Gratin; Winter Mesclun Salad; Fresh Lemon Tart. Then sit-down to enjoy lunch of the just-prepared dishes. Printed recipes provided. $75/ person Read more

sylvie | No comments | Tags: , , ,
18 Feb 2009
Garden • Kitchen Garden • Pests

Of Seeds And Mice

Swiss Chard and Cardoon. Cardoon!!!

Since those two are not interested in mice hunting in the greenhouse (only the great outdoors)…

chickchick-in-the-snow

keith-dodo-in-the-snow

… we had to resort to those:

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…baited with organic peanut butter – no less.

Round 2: minus 2 mice.

Ungerminated flats also moved to the house until germination and all re-seeded as necessary. I suppose that’s why I start seeds early. Sigh!

sylvie | 4 comments | Tags: , ,
16 Feb 2009
Garden Technique • Kitchen Garden • Pests • Seed Starting

Of Mice And Seeds

ARGGGH!!!

Swiss Chard. Round 1: Mice.

seeds-mice-feb-09

AARRGGH!!!!

E-VE-RY-SIN-GLE-ONES!!!!

Lucullus, Perpetual, Poiree a Carde Blanche de Lyon, Fordhook, Carde Blanche! AARRRRGGH!!!

sylvie | 6 comments | Tags: , , , ,
14 Feb 2009
Cookery • locavore log • Recipes • Soups • Vegetable recipe

Cream Those Sunchokes

So what do you do with that almost, but not quite forgotten vegetable, Jerusalem Artichokes or Sunchokes, freshly dug from the garden?

I have read that you can eat it raw, but have not tried that yet – except for a sliver to taste: it’s crunchy and mildly sweet , like a good young turnip, not as crunchy as a a water chestnut, and with a taste of its own, vaguely nutty. El mentioned that she has eaten it in a gratin (and although she likes it, it does not like her), Colleen turns it into a creamy sunchocke soup, and Hank pickles it to avoid the noisy side effects (See Note) that sunchokes have on some people. While the pickle recipe looks tempting, reminding me of the Indian-style pickles “Zachards” that I was eating when growing up, it takes more time to make than the soup (especially as you must let it age two weeks). So soup it was I made. Many sources suggest sunchokes be used like potatoes, so I decided to adapt my leek & potato soup to become Leek and Sunchoke Soup.

sunchoke-cream-of-001

Read more

sylvie | 13 comments | Tags: , , ,
12 Feb 2009
Cookery • locavore log • Main Dish

Presto Garden Buckwheat Noodles

garden-buckwheat-noodle-002

I don’t know about you, but when I am home working and need a quick lunch, I want it QUICK. It’s often throwing together a green salad & omelet, or fajitas (or quesadillas), or – in winter – reheating some soup and making a sandwich (tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwich being a favorite). Sometime, I want a little more, though, and that’s when stir-fry come to the rescue. Like today.

All one need is some noodles, a couple of veggies to keep the taste simple, some seasoning, and a little protein – today, it was eggs. At other time, left over meat or chicken works just fine.

So I put a big pot of water to boil. Run to the the garden to see what I can get and settle on some baby kale and tatsoi (raiding the fridge will do, in a pinch); I’ve got plenty of shallots, garlic and ginger on hand (I know, it amazes you that I keep ginger on hand); soy sauce? here. Sesame oil? check. Looks like we are leaning towards “Asian” flavors here, so let’s use some buckwheat noodles… yes? yes! Let’s go. Stir-fry eggs, then the veggies as the pasta cooks, add pasta, add seasoning. Serve. Eat.

Oh, and do note, that this is very flexible. Adjust the quantities to fit your needs and appetite. I only provide quantities for those people who can’t do without. You know who you are. Ah, yes, I need to call this something too, right? How about Presto Garden Buckwheat Noodles? I am hungry, so that’s good enough. Read more

sylvie | 2 comments | Tags: , , , , ,
11 Feb 2009
Harvest • Kitchen Garden • vegetable

Guess what..

Can you guess what this is (without hovering over it with your mouse)?

sunchokes-feb-021

Hint: it’s not ginger.

Answer – and recipe – in the next episode.

Oh, and if you are the first person to guess right, I am happy to send you some (US only, please… but not to AK; AZ; CA nor HI ). Then again… if you guess right, you may grow it and want no extras…???

sylvie | 13 comments | Tags: , ,
08 Feb 2009
locavore log • Main Dish • Meat/poultry Recipe • Recipes

Goodbye My Sweets!

red-cooked-beef-with-sweet-potatoes-011-gawker

I love ginger. Is there anybody who does not? I grew it one year and got the most amazingly tender and delicate roots where the skin was so thin that it was nonexistent. I had incredible ginger shoots and pickled ginger that year (note to self: need to grow ginger again this year). Where was I? oh yes, so I cook quite a bit with ginger: curries, stir-fries, stews, candied ginger, tea, ice-cream, steamed pudding, you name it!

And sweet potatoes, full of bright vitamins and flavors, are also a favorite. Although they are not at all related to potatoes (they are related to morning glories, if you ask… you didn’t? too bad!), I often used them like potatoes. They bake, they steam, they roast, they fry, they mash, they gratine: is there anything the sweet potato can’t do in the kitchen?

I also love those one-pot dishes of which I can make a big batch that will keep for several days in the fridge and reheat well.

So… having on hand some stew beef from Joyce Harman, plenty of ginger, some tatsoi greens that survived the truly cold weather and the LAST of the sweet potatoes from the garden, I decided to make a dish that totally fits the bill (and that will be an appropriate good-bye to the sweet potatoes) : Red Cooked Beef With Sweet Potatoes.

Read more

sylvie | 2 comments | Tags: , , ,
06 Feb 2009
Cookery

Secret Ingredient

anchovies-can-stack

That’s my little dirty secret. Dirty, because, you know, it’s not local. Shhh … don’t tell anybody. (I drink coffee too)

Use immoderately: in tomato sauce (of puttanesca inspiration); mashed in salad dressing (beyond Caesar) – really good with steamed baby leeks; cooked with Swiss chard or spinach until it has melted in; pounded with nuts, garlic & cream and tossed with pasta; with garlic, lots of it, olive oil and pasta; in tapenade – bien sur! nothing secret there, isn’t it?; to boost the flavor of a meat stew; on pizza; with caramelized onions; in mayonnaise spread… PriceClub used to carry big glass jar full of them little fishies, but Costco does not: I have to buy them in little tins. Which I do. In quantity. Keeps forever, right? except, they don’t last that long.

And fish sauce which is often made from fermented “it” anyway. For stir-fries, and rice-based soups,

What’s your secret ingredient?

sylvie | 7 comments | Tags: ,
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