What are You Eating from the Garden?

[Ridgerunner]

I hesitate to post these photos because I know how much it bothers @seedcorn to see this as he is looking out of his window at the snow and ice, but I will anyway. Last night we ate one of Seed's favorites, kale. This is Red Russian, not the typical curly that seems the most popular. My daughter-in-law said it was the sweetest kale she'd ever eaten, but I think that was because it is the freshest kale she's eaten.

I'll probably get some collards for supper tonight, they are doing really well. This variety is called Flash.

The Fordhook Giant chard hasn't been doing really well, something was eating it but frost took care of that. I have had it a couple of times.

This is the third batch of lettuce I've grown this season. I recently transplanted it from where I started seeds so it needs to grow a bit more. This is the Black Seeded Simpson, first time I've tried it. Sort of a fluorescent green.

 

[Artichoke Lover]

I love black seeded Simpson it’s not bitter at all and doesn’t bolt very quickly. I’ll be planting mine this week!

 

[Trish Stretton]

Lunch.
Fish I caught on sunday.
Coconut cream with my tomatoes, shallots, pickled cucumber and a tiny bit of coriander leaf.
This is what we used to call 'raw fish' before we knew about sushi. I think you guys call it ceviche. Its now know as 'Island raw fish'.
Here, its made with lemon juice to marinate the fish and onions, then coconut cream and other secret ingredients are added....and everyone has their own way of doing things and what they add.....I put the coconut cream in and leave it in the fridge for a few hours so that soaks into the fish and onions/shallots, then later just before eating, I add the other things with a little salt and pepper.

 

[Dirtmechanic]

View attachment 39038
Lunch.
Fish I caught on sunday with my tomatoes, shallots, pickled cucumber and a tiny bit of coriander leaf.
This is what we used to call 'raw fish' before we knew about sushi. I think you guys call it ceviche. Its now know as 'Island raw fish'.
Here, its made with lemon juice to marinate the fish and onions, then coconut cream and other secret ingredients are added....and everyone has their own way of doing things and what they add.....I put the coconut cream in and leave it in the fridge for a few hours so that soaks into the fish and onions/shallots, then later just before eating, I add the other things with a little salt and pepper.

That sounds awesome! I truly have never used tomatoes as bait. Definitely gonna get some looks but I bet I can really cast the bait a long, long way! Plus the bait can will be full of lunch!

 

[flowerbug]

View attachment 39038
Lunch.
Fish I caught on sunday.
Coconut cream with my tomatoes, shallots, pickled cucumber and a tiny bit of coriander leaf.
This is what we used to call 'raw fish' before we knew about sushi. I think you guys call it ceviche. Its now know as 'Island raw fish'.
Here, its made with lemon juice to marinate the fish and onions, then coconut cream and other secret ingredients are added....and everyone has their own way of doing things and what they add.....I put the coconut cream in and leave it in the fridge for a few hours so that soaks into the fish and onions/shallots, then later just before eating, I add the other things with a little salt and pepper.

that all sounds great to me. i love seviche' my first exposure to it was at a beach party held on Cozumel Mexico (island in the Carribean). i won't say it was the highlight of the cruise but it was way up there. fresh caught fish. mmm.

we had some scrambled eggs here for lunch and drank some of the tomato juice we put up last fall. so good.

 

[Trish Stretton]

I had another go at cooking down the beefsteak toms. Had to stop and think about how I used to do it, cos last weeks took foreeeever!
This time, they got a cross cut on the bottom, a quick blanch then peeled and some seeds squished out, then cut up and put in a colander with a small amount o salt sprinkled over to draw out the water. Worked really well, although there was more as they cooked, so that got drained off as well.
So, now I have a 700ml and 500ml jar of tomato juice in the fridge along with the big jar of tomato chutney.
I also harvested another 3 beetroot which were really well washed then steamed.
Once they were peeled, they got sliced up along with my last onion and put in a vinegar pickling mix.
I toasted some of the celery seed I just harvested to sterilize them- heaps still to shake out of all 4 bags of the stuff.
A pinch of my celery seed went into the jar....one isnt full of beets yet, so its full of pickling mix while I wait for the next lot of beets. One thing I did differently this time, was use the water that steamed them cos it was a deep red color-just had to add a few tablespoons of water to make up the cup.

On the left is last weeks lot....pickled beetroot and onions, passata, herb paste under olive oil, pickled gherkins.
On the right todays-tomato juice, 2 lots of pickled beetroot and onions, tomato chutney and the glass jar with the glass lid is the sun dried tomatoes with olive oil.

 

[flowerbug]

@Trish Stretton we don't use beefsteak varieties for making sauces for that reason, it's just too much time and effort to separate the liquids and solids. we grow the beefsteaks for juice and cutting up into chunks which by the time we get them in the jars end up being about half to two-thirds juice too. which is all good with us.

when we make juice from them we core them and cut them into chunks and then stew them for a while to soften everything up and then run that through the food mill to extract as much juice as possible and leave behind most of the seeds and skins. the result about 5% or less of stuff left in the food mill (it's not perfect at extracting all the last bits of the juice).

the result is like summer in a jar. i had some this morning from a jar we opened the other day. mmM.

if we were into making sauce and wanted that we'd be growing different varieties of tomatoes. the problem with those to me is that they often lack the umami flavor we really find in the beefsteak varieties because that is in the juicy stuff around the seeds. when people talk of removing the snot from the tomatoes before using them i just shake my head and wonder why they bother growing those kinds of tomatoes then? there are plenty available that are more on the dry side and have fewer seeds and thus less snot too. ah, well...

all looks good, except, well, i'd never store anything under oil unless it was pressure cooked. herbal mixes may not have enough acid in them and while sun dried tomatoes may have enough acid i'd still not trust them. the beet juice from when steaming i've always used because i always cook onions with them too so i want all that flavor and then i add the vinegar and sugar to bring it up to what kind of flavor i want for the pickled beets - always liked the dark color from doing that and the flavor as a result. when we gave pickled beets away people who liked them were always happy to get them.

 

[Dirtmechanic]

Since its produce time again and I have a good time in the kitchen when I am allowed to break out my heavyware, I share these reminders.

 

[Artichoke Lover]

Pulled some green beans out of the freezer to steam to go with tonight’s pork tenderloin.

 

[Dahlia]

Today I made a soup with some butternut squash that was still good from my last year's garden!!!! It was quite tasty! Squash lasts forever!