October 26, 2010

Garden update: The arugula in the greenhouse is sprouted and the lettuce is just starting. No sign of the spinach yet but that usually takes a bit more time.


Worked on the path some more. Not much is needed in the outside garden right now. Aside from eat the kale, swiss chard and leeks.

Picture above is of red carrots from my garden. The one below this are the beets I used for the Borscht disaster I discuss on Facebook.

Kitchen update: One of the things that makes cooking interesting for me is, for various health reasons, I'm on a low carbohydrate diet. And one of the things I miss a lot is Leek and Potato Soup. 


So.... Last Sunday I thought I'd try making it with Turnips. I'd always been told that in the British Isles before the "New World" brought over potatoes, amongst other goodies... like chocolate... (can't imagine life before chocolate) people used and ate turnips like we do potatoes. Supposedly it was one of my Grandfather's on the English side of the family's favorite veggie.


I've not had many encounters with them actually. I've put them in soup I think back when I was in a CSA and turnips were on that weeks list. (One thing about joining CSA's is you get a lot of exposure to vegetables that you might not explore otherwise).


Looking them up I found that turnips; boiled with no salt, have 5.0609 grams of carbohydrates.
Potatoes cooked the same way have 17.2109.  Seems like good numbers to me.


Now if they tasted good and didn't over power the gentle flavored leeks I was in business.

I've never grown turnips: yet, so I bought one at my green grocers in the Organic department that was about the size of a soft ball.

First I went out and picked about eight leeks: they are skinnier then the ones I usually bought so thought I'd need more. I'd guess it was about 3 cups of chopped leeks.

I chopped up the turnip  and put it in a bowl of water.


Then I chopped up the leeks and a fat clove of garlic, sauteed them over medium flame in a little olive oil and when they were at that "limp" stage (don't let them brown) I put in the turnips and their water. Added a small bit of salt and pepper to taste.


The water just  covered it all and I brought it to a boil. Once it gently boiled for about ten minutes I put a lid on it, turned off the flame (I prefer gas cooking) and took a nap. The latter in an important step :)


When I woke up I put the mix in my food processor and pureed it. You can leave it with some chunks if you want but I like mine smooth. You can use a blender too if that is all you have or one of those hand crank mills for pureeing.

I then took 1/2 of it and froze it; this was about 3 cups. Don't freeze it with the milk in it as it will curdle. 



The other half I added some 2% milk; though you could use 1/2 and 1/2 or cream... warmed it up (don't boil milk; it will go sour). If you want to be fancy you could put some chopped chives or other herbs on top. 


It was not only good but great. I didn't miss it wasn't potatoes at all though I could tell the difference in taste: it was very good in it's own right.

I followed this with a salad and all in all it was a great meal.

Also this week plans are: Kale and white bean soup, stuffed (organic local) cabbage with (local naturally raised) spicy Italian sausage and brown rice; froze half of all that as well. 

One thing I like to do is to try, usually on a Sunday, to make as much food as I can. Not only for the week ahead but to freeze some for up to 6 months or so for nights when it's not convenient or I'm too lazy to do a lot of cooking.  

October 19 2010

That was as far as I got.  A synopsis of the rest of the year to today is:

~ We had a great crop of tomatoes both in the garden and in the greenhouse. There are still some growing in half the green house bed. I'm not sure how long we'll have them before the cold kills them back but they are still thriving. I've already pulled up the outside tomatoes and brought in green ones that wouldn't ripen before the first heavy frost. And I've mulched the bed and put it to "sleep" for the year. Next year that bed will be the lettuce and greens bed. 

The picture above are the tomatoes in the greenhouse.

I have a ton of tomatoes frozen and ready for soup, sautes, bruchetta and whatever else I think up.

~ We had a pretty good bean crop. Mostly green and wax beans but I have some pods of Black Beans and Italian/Americans drying in the greenhouse for soup this winter. Not much but they'll be good. ... I hope. :)

~Peas were ok; a few meals and a lot of munching off the vine. The latter is one reason I don't get a big pea crop. :)

~ The Greens crop was really good this year and I still have a ton of Kale and Swiss Chard (Rainbow) going. I just planted seeds in the greenhouse of a mesclun mix I put together myself, Spinach and some Arugala. There is some Swiss chard still, parsley and basil. And a couple pepper plants near the tomatoes. So lots going on in there still that will survive the cold.

The cement block path project is going slowly but surely. Lots of work to lay down the gravel (on landscape cloth) level it then put the blocks on. I decided to put them down flat after all. Once this is done it will not only look good but make getting around in the garden much easier as well as keep the weeds away from the paths. Did I mention how *long* it takes to do this? :)

As in most gardening years there are successes and failures. My most surprising failure was my zucchini and summer squash. Hardly  had any and had to buy them from the road stand. Almost embarrassing. :)  At least I get to help support the family that has the stand. 

The great success was I grew the biggest Butternut Squashes ever. I can't wait to have them in soup, sauted in olive oil and garlic and of course, pureed for the traditional Thanksgiving Feast next month.

Another success and my first ever with it is my leeks. I planted them by using my dibble and making a hole about 8" deep, 4" apart and placing the baby leeks I'd started in the greenhouse in the spring into the hole one at a time.  The rain and hose water refilled the holes naturally and I didn't have to do any "back filling". I've just this past weekend pulled up about half a dozen to make into leek soup and was delighted with how long the white part is. I'll leave as many as I can to over winter and harvest in the Spring.

Here are some pictures to give some visual insight as to where the garden and greenhouse are at this point. I've written under them to give you some idea as to what you're looking at:

Standing in the doorway end of the greenhouse looking down the bed. First the tomatoes and you can just make out the chard and fennel plants. At the far end is the new seed bed for the salad mix, spinach and arugula.

 One end of the Kale bed. These were planted along the pea fence and are just now coming into their own. Pea fence was moved this past weekend to it's new bed for 2011.

 Looking south down the lower garden beds. First wood fence is where the Tomatoes were grown outside... you can see left over calandula and the first leek bed. In the back is the bean fence where the tomatoes will go next year. Way back is the potting shed.

 You can just see the cement block walk where the peonies are starting to go to sleep for the winter. In the far back is the bed with the other leek bed.

 mmmm. Can't wait. Not quite ready to come in for storage yet. There is still a little green on the stems.

A first for me: French Sorrel. I've found some recipes to try including Sorrel Vichyssoise that I can use my leeks with too. I'll report back. :)

 Food for the eyes. Even this time of year there are still some flowers to feed the soul.