Garden Salad

The first of the fennel came ready this week.  The bulbs are still really small, but the color and the soft, wispy greens are truly beautiful.  I went out into the garden to harvest cauliflower for my Auntie Hannah's pasta, and was inspired to make a small salad to go with the meal.  I plucked up one of the larger fennel bulbs, snipped a bunch of new growth from one of the parsley plants, and picked a few bright nasturtium flowers.  Just a few things I passed in the patch that jumped out at me in the moment. 

Onto a dinner plate, I used my japanese ceramic slicer to thinly shave the fennel.  On top of the fennel, I layered the roughly chopped parsley and torn flower petals.  I sprinkled it with sea salt and fresh pepper, our "good" olive oil, and a healthy squeeze of lemon. Done.

The quick bit of inspiration from the garden was fresh, crispy, cool, and a fun combo of flavors.  It went well with the savory pasta and, as Jeremy was quick to comment, was super pretty! 

 

So definitely not so much a "garden salad" garden salad.  More just a salad from our garden.

Cauliflower Pasta from the Rancho

Several years ago my mom described to me, in great detail, a meal that she had eaten at my aunt and uncle's house.  A simple pasta dish, but one that she had found so surprising and delicious that she couldn't stop talking about it.  My Aunt Hannah had cooked down loads of onions on the stove top until they were soft and sweet, and then added very roughly chopped cauliflower.  After the the veg had cooked awhile, she seasoned it with salt and crushed red pepper, mixed it with penne pasta, and topped it with grated pecorino romano cheese.  It sounded fine, I thought, but not necessarily warranting this extent of my mom's praise.  I decided I would have to make it myself to see what the fuss was all about.  My mom couldn't have been more right.  The dish was simple, with few ingredients, but highly delicious.  Not overly rich like macaroni and cheese or alfredo sauce, but creamy and flavorful, and really satisfying.  It quickly became a favorite.  It also set cauliflower as an absolute given in our garden.  Despite attracting colonies of dusky, gray aphids to our vegetable beds, I have increased the number of seeds sown each year.  Last night, in celebration of getting to spend more time in the garden after work now with day light savings, I harvested our first two heads of the season and made my aunt's delicious dish.

Ultimately, I found out that my aunt had adapted it after seeing Mario Batali prepare it - on television I think.  Following is my interpretation of hers.

Auntie Hannah's Cauliflower Pasta

ingredients 

• red onions, 4 large - cut into 1/8 inch half moons
  
• cauliflower, 2 large head - cut roughly into large chunks
  
• flat leaf parsley, 1/2 cup or more - chopped
  
• zest of 1 lemon - I like long strips, but grated could work, too
  
• crushed red pepper flakes - I like quite a lot, but to your own taste
  
• salt
  
• good olive oil
• Pecorino Romano, or other salty, hard cheese -1 cup grated
• Penne or fusilli, 1 bag
  

method

1.  Heat a tablespoon or so of oil in a large pot or dutch oven over medium heat.
2.  Add onions.  Sprinkle on a couple hearty pinches of salt to get them going.  
     (It seems like way too much, but they will cook down significantly.)
3.  Cook 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions are soft and beginning to color.

4.  Add cauliflower. Stir to combine. Continue cooking until cauliflower softens to desired bite.  

note:  The softer it is, the creamier/saucier the dish turns out.  We like some whole pieces of cauliflower left.  I usually cook it at this phase for 20-25 minutes.  The smaller pieces break down, with the larger pieces staying whole and more firm.

5.  While cauliflower is cooking, heat salted water and cook pasta until al dente. Drain, reserving some pasta water.

6.  When cauliflower is softened, add pepper flakes, zest, and parsley.  Stirring gently to combine.  Taste for seasoning, adding salt if needed.
7.  Add pasta. Add in stages, until you have the ratio of veg to pasta that you prefer. (I don't usually use quite all of the pasta.)  Gently combine.
8.  Add cheese.  Combine.  Use reserved pasta water if you need to loosen the dish to desired consistency.
9.  Serve.

Peppers: Canned Roasted

One thing I have been wanting to make is roasted canned peppers.  I grew up having these as part my family's normal antipasto plate before any large holiday or important meal (my grandmother is from a large Italian family).  Occasionally we buy the canned roasted peppers from Trader Joe's, but with the Great Pepper Harvest of 2010 I had the opportunity to try my hand at a homemade version.  While roasting may take a few times to get the hang of, the process is quite forgiving, the results rustic and delicious.

ingredients:

• about 10-20 peppers (I used our Russian Healthy peppers, Chocolate Beauties, Violet Bella and an unknown small orange variety)
• 1 cup good olive oil
• 3/4 cup white vinegar
• 2 cloves garlic (plus 1 extra per jar)
• 1 Tbl salt
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (I used chopped dried red Shishito peppers from my office's vegetable garden)
• fresh oregano or basil (I used "Hot & Spicy" oregano from our garden)

method:

• Place your peppers on a baking sheet and roast at about 400 degrees for about 30 min or until blistered and blackened turning once.  Place in a brown paper grocery bag, or covered bowl or similar to steam and cool - about 20 min.

• While this is going on you can cleanup a bit, boil your canning jars, and get the canning mixture prepared.

• Now comes the messy part: pealing those peppers.  Don't be so concerned about having perfect results, just try to get the seeds and as much of the skin or tough bits off.  I had good luck with the larger red peppers while much more difficulty with the smaller orange ones.  These were much thinner and had less"meat".  I pealed what I could but left most the skin on (and they turned out great).

• Place a pounded clove of garlic (I hit once with the bottom of my fist) in each canning jar and pack with peppers leaving some room for the canning liquid.

• Heat oil, vinegar, chopped garlic, salt, herbs and red pepper flakes. Simmer 5 min.  Take mixture off the stove.  Stir vigorously to mix the oil and vinegar as they will separate. Be careful, its hot!

• Carefully fill each jar with the canning mixture leaving about 1/2" room at the top.  Wipe edges clean, seal and either process in a water bath for 20 min or cool and place in the fridge.

Let the flavors mingle for a few weeks (or try after a few days if you're like me and can't wait.) Enjoy on toast or with a fried egg or on a sandwich.  This is something I could definitely fill our pantry with.

Peppers: Stuffed

before

After the first Great Pepper Harvest of 2010 (okay, so what's "great" to some might look sort of flim flamy to others...) one of the things we couldn't wait to eat were warm, sweet and savory stuffed peppers.  Like many things that we make, stuffed peppers never seem to come out the same way twice.  Though they do seem to be a vehicle that stands up to reinterpretation.  This go round we stuffed ours with a mixture of wild rice with sauteed turnip greens and sausage.

Getting Started

I started by selecting the largest of the sweet varieties that we had harvested.  Mainly we had red Russian Healthy peppers, but there were a few Chocolate Beauties, one smallish Violet bell, and a couple very small orangey guys.  After deciding which sides of each pepper would behave the best and not tip over, I cut them in half and removed the seeds.  I cut enough peppers that they pretty well filled up a 9x13 baking dish.

Fill 'er Up

• 1 cup long grain wild rice
• 1 lb. sweet Italian sausage, uncooked  (you could use any sort.  I got an organic chicken variety.)
• 1/2 onion, finely chopped
• 1-2 garlic cloves, finely diced
• 1 1/2 lbs. turnip greens,chopped
• olive oil
• salt and pepper and crushed pepper flakes
• fresh herbs

 Method

• Cook the rice -  either according to package directions on the stove top or in a rice cooker.  I'm all about the rice cooker.  As it is cooking, get the rest of the filling prepped.

• Remove the sausage from its casing,  add a good bit of red pepper flakes, and brown  with a little olive oil in the trusty cast iron skillet.  When it begins to crisp up, remove it to a bowl and set it aside. 

• Using the oil left in the skillet, get the onion and garlic cooking just until they begin to take on some color, about 5 minutes. 

• Add the chopped greens, a couple hefty pinches of salt, black pepper, and whatever assortment of chopped herbs you like - my random assortment from the garden was parsley, oregano, and a little marjoram. 

• When the greens have wilted and begun to turn tender, I took them off the heat, and gently tossed them and the sausage with the cooked rice. 

• Taste for seasoning, add another pinch of salt if needed, and set to stuffing the peppers.

Into the Oven

• After the peppers are stuffed and positioned snugly into the Pyrex cover tightly with foil and bake at 350 for about 40 minutes.  Pull them out, remove the foil and top them with thinly sliced cheese.  We had some with provolone and some with cheddar.  Put back into the oven for another 5 minutes or so until the cheese is oozy and melted.  

They were really delish - sweet peppers, slightly bitter greens, savory, spicy sausage, sharp, tangy cheese - yum!  The recipe is just a loose guideline, really.  Just a jumping off point.  We have made them with seasoned ground tofu meat instead of sausage.  With chard or beet greens or mushrooms or grated zucchini instead of or in addition to anything else.  With brown rice or red rice or lentil/barley/couscous mix.  You go.

after

Peppers: Louisiana Hot Sauce

One thing that I have come to realize over last few seasons is the intimate link between growing and preserving.  With an edible garden, you are constantly trying to figure out new and different ways to utilize what your garden is providing.  Generally you can only keep up with the production to a degree and sometimes you have so much of a particular fruit or vegetable you are left with giving it to friends and neighbors, putting it back into your compost pile or preserving it.  This winter we have had a bumper crop of peppers (both regular and hot versions) and it has forced us to figure out ways to preserve to bounty.

Right around Christmas time, in midst of the holiday crunch, I saw that our pepper plants were overflowing.  We weren't going to be around and I was worried about them going to waste, so I picked the plants clean and  made a quick batch of Louisiana Style vinegar hot sauce.  Similar to Tabasco or Frank's Red Hot  but without the fermenting step, it is really quick and easy to make, ready immediately, improves with age, and has tremendous flavor.

ingredients:

• 1/2 cup peppers (I used Serranos and Rooster Spur)
• 1 3/4 tp salt
• 2/3 C white vinegar
• half a carrot (Rachel suggested we try this out on the second batch)

method:

• Cut the tops of the peppers and seed depending on hotness.  Be careful with the eyes here.  Some people use gloves.

• Toss peppers in a kitchen blender with the carrot, salt and vinegar.  Cover and blend for about 5 minutes until completely smooth.

• Pour into prepared canning jars and seal.  I did not process the filled jars as I put this batch directly in the fridge.  Use immediately or let it ferment in the fridge over time.

Voila!  We now have plenty of hot sauce whenever we need it.  Next time, I would really like to use empty hot sauce bottles, though this might be a problem as the finished product is so good I can't imagine ever buying hot sauce again.

final notes:

The carrot was an idea Rachel had for our recent second batch.  It was a great addition, giving a touch of sweetness, cutting the overt presence of the vinegar and adding some complexity to the flavor.  I can't wait to try pickling jalapenos or trying to replicate one of the Chinese chili oils from 99 Ranch Market that we are so fond of using in our stir fries.

Rancho Rewind: Beet Pizza

One of the things that I'm most looking forward to in the winter garden are all of the beets.  Last year Jeremy and I made beet pizza a couple of times, and flipping through photos, I came across one of our creations that got me excited for this years crop.

We used the regular pizza dough from Trader Joe's for this one.  (We need to start making our own, I know it's easy, but not as easy as buying it from TJs!)  We usually brush a little olive oil onto the sheet pan and then sprinkle that with some yellow corn meal. (Nope, we don't gots a pizza stone.)  After a couple of initial versions, we decided that with a beet pizza we need to pre-bake the crust before adding the toppings (the beets and beet greens have so much moisture that it makes it hard for the crust to crisp up if you don't). So we bake the plain crust for 8 minutes or so, pull it out and dress it up.

Dressing it up:

• sauteed beet greens
• I just chop them up and through them into a hot cast iron pan with a little olive oil, salt and crushed red pepper.  Cook until wilted and just tender.
• roasted beets
• I scrub them, cut the tops off, and put them into a roasting pan or pyrex.
• larger beets I might cut in half, but otherwise I leave them whole.
• sprinkle a couple of teaspoons of water into the pan, cover tight with aluminum foil, and roast at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes, until fork tender.
• let the beets cool, then peel the skins off with your fingers.  (it's a little messy, but the skins come off really easily.)
• cut the cooled beets into thick slices.
• walnuts , rough chopped
  
• goat cheese
• parmesean cheese
• fresh parsley, chopped
  

Spread the goat cheese on the pre-baked crust.  Distribute the greens and the sliced beets over the cheese.  Sprinkle walnuts and parmesean over the top.  Bake for another 8-10 minutes. Sprinkle parsley on the finished pie.

We kept it pretty basic, but you could easily add other flavors that would be great.  Maybe some balsamic vinegar or flavored olive oil or walnut oil drizzled over the top when it comes out of the oven?  Chives, onions or shallots?  Pickled onions or shallots?  Pine nuts?  Blue cheese?  No cheese?  However it is modified, I am looking forward to recreating it with at least a part of the new season's crop.  Hurry up beets!

Ratatouille

Since even before we got our first seeds into the ground several seasons ago, it has been a goal of ours to home grow all the vegetables it takes to make a hearty pot of ratatouille. For those who are more familiar with the film than the dish, ratatouille, simply, is a French vegetable stew. People seem to agree that it can be served either as a side dish or on its own with some crusty bread; however, that seems to be the end of what people agree on. Some recipes call for all the ingredients to be sauteed together in one big pot. Some recipes, including Julia Child's, call for the ingredients to be layered in a casserole and baked. To me, the best ratatouille is a summation of each vegetable's individual expression layered into an intricate (and delicious!) whole. This means that each veggie is cooked on its own, in the method that suits it best, and then combined. Whatever your method, ratatouille piled on a piece of crusty bread with a good glass of wine is the perfect bookend to Summer and transition to Fall. It is good, simple food at its best.


This year we have gotten closer to our goal than ever before! Though we didn't have much luck with the onions, we did have a bumper crop of gorgeous eggplant, zucchini, and peppers. Our tomatoes kind of pooped out by the time the rest of the veg was ready to go, what with the two major heat spells we had, but we still manged to get a usable crop. All the herbs, the basil, sage, and thyme, were also ready to go in from the herb garden.


This recipe is not difficult, though it does take some time and is definitely not for those looking for the easiest route. But, if you can set aside an evening, it is a wonderful way to spend some time together - plus your efforts will provide additional meals for the rest of the week. We ate a quick dinner before we started and worked throughout the evening over a bottle of wine.

Rachel's Ratatouille

ingredients

• eggplants, 2 or 3 big ones (or enough little ones to add up to 2 or 3 big ones)
  
• zucchini, 4 or 5
  
• bell peppers, 3, 4, 5 (whatcha got?)
  
• tomatoes, 12ish
  
• onions, 2 medium
  
• garlic, 5 or 6 cloves
  
• basil, a grip (about 1 cup of fresh leaves)
  
• sage, thyme, parsley
  
• good olive oil
  
• salt, pepper
  

method

Clearly, as you have just read the ingredients, there is no need to be exact here. The trick is for each ingredient to be prepared independently to develop its own unique flavors, then gradually layer these flavors on top of each other.

Eggplant and Zucchini:

1. Preheat oven to 400°.
   
2. Cut the stem off your eggplants and then cut them into cubes, roughly 3/4 inch. Pay more attention to keeping them about the same size, as opposed to exactly 3/4 inch cubes. Put them into a large bowl and set aside.
   
3. Do the same thing with the zucchini, but make the cubes a bit smaller than the eggplant, about 1/2 inch. Put in a separate bowl.
   
4. Drizzle each bowl of veg with olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt. You know, just enough oil to coat the cubes, 2ish tablespoons. More is fine if you want to go there. And a big, hearty pinch of salt. Toss to coat.
   
5. Pour the eggplant out onto one sheet pan. The zucchini onto another. Spread them each out into a single layer and stick them into the oven. Pull them out after 20 minutes and turn them about with a spatula. Stick them back in the oven for another 20 minutes.
   
6. The eggplant is done when is goes golden and soft. The squash should also begin to get lightly brown, but should hold its shape, don't let it get too soft.
   
7. You can shut the oven off when these guys are done, you won't need it again.
   

Tomatoes:

1. As the eggplant and zucchini are cooking, put up a large pot of water to boil.
2. Fill a large bowl with water and ice. Set aside.
   
3. Take the stems off all the tomatoes and, using a sharp or serrated knife, cut an "X" into the bottom of each fruit.
   
4. When the water on the stove begins to boil, carefully drop the tomatoes into the pot. Wait 60-90 seconds (90 for large tomatoes, less for smaller ones). Pull the tomatoes out with a slotted spoon and put immediately into the ice bath.
   
5. When all the tomatoes are in the ice water, pull one out at a time and the skin should peel away very easily. Peel all the tomatoes.
   
6. Quarter the peeled tomatoes, remove the seeds, and set aside. If you're using larger tomatoes, larger than plum, cut them into eighths.
   

Peppers:

1. Ummm, where are we? Ahh, peppers. I roast my peppers right in the fire on my stove top. Get them all black and charred. You can do this in the oven as well, but at this point my oven always has eggplant and zucchini in it.
2. However you have done it, when the peppers are roasted up, stick them into a paper sack, roll the top up, and leave them steam for about 15 minutes.
3. After 15 minutes, take them out of the sack and the skins should peel away without too much trouble. When peeled, cut them open, remove the seeds, and cut them into 1/4 inch slices. Set aside.
   

Odds and ends:

1. Cut the ends off of your onions, cut them in half, and peel them. Then cut each half into half-moon slices about 1/8 inch thick.
   
2. Peel your garlic cloves and slice thinly.
   

Putting it together:

1. Now, finally, get your big old pot on the stove. (I use a big 10 quart Le Creuset cast-iron and enamel pot.) Over a medium-high heat, add enough olive oil to just cover the bottom of your pot. 3ish tablespoons? (4ish?) Let it heat up for a minute or so.
2. Add the onions and garlic, a big pinch of salt, and saute until they begin to turn golden. You don't want them to caramelize, just to get soft and begin to color.
3. Turn the heat down to medium. Add the tomatoes and the sliced peppers. Stir to combine. Add another pinch of salt and a big pinch of fresh black pepper. Turn the heat to low and cook for 10-15 minutes.
4. Add the roasted eggplant and zucchini. Stir to combine. Add half of your herbs. Basil and parsley can be roughly chopped. Thicker, stronger herbs like sage, thyme, etc. can be more finely chopped.
   
   
   
5. Stir and cook on low for 45-60 minutes. Stir occasionally
   
6. Add more basil and/or parsley. Taste. Season with salt and pepper as needed. Add more olive oil if you like. Your finished product should be think and unctuous, but still chunky, with all the ingredients still identifiable.
   

Seems like a complicated recipe but honestly, this dish is super rustic and does not need to be exact. I have added roasted mushrooms, yellow crook-necks, raisins, kind of whatever you're feeling. We have eaten it with the crusty bread mentioned above, but also tossed with pasta and cheese, over creamy polenta, inside an omelette, on toast with a fried egg on top...be creative!


Bon appetit!

Lacto-Fermentation

Since our first crop of cucumbers and cabbage last year I have become increasingly interested in home pickling. While I have always liked a good half-dill from a Jewish deli or finely shredded German style sauerkraut with a grilled Bratwurst, making your own is a different business.

Back in March of 2008 I found myself captivated by a discussion on KCRW's Good Food between the show's host Evan Kleiman and Local Forage co-editor Steven Fineberg about lacto-fermentation: a method of pickling vegetables that uses neither heat nor vinegar but rather natural fermentation processes. This method produces food that not only tastes delicious, but is also full of living microorganisms that are supposed to promote digestion, health, and overall well being. Plus it is simple and easy.

While Steve Fineberg uses whey from yogurt as a starter for his version, I did some additional reading and settled on a method given by Sandor Katz, self proclaimed "fermentation fetishist":

ingredients

• 1 head of cabbage (preferably from your garden)
• Salt

tools

• medium size crock
• plate (slightly smaller than the crock)
• weight ( I used a mason jar filled with water and capped)
• clean kitchen towel to cover the crock.

method

1. Get a good chef's knife or mandolin and shred the cabbage as fine as you can get it.
2. Take a handful of the cabbage and toss it in to your crock.
3. Add a few pinches of salt and mash the cabbage with a potato masher or drink muddler.
4. Repeat until all your cabbage is in the crock. Taste a piece. It should be briny but not overwhelming.
   
5. Pack your cabbage well and place your plate down inside the crock on top of the cabbage. Place your weight on top of the plate and then cover the your crock with a towel. Place somewhere out of the way on your kitchen counter.
6. Now this next point is critical: check your crock after 24 hours. The salt should pull enough moisture out of the cabbage to completely cover the cabbage and plate. If not mix some water and salt and add to the crock to cover the cabbage and plate by an inch or two. Check occasionally and skim any "blooms" off the surface. Don't worry, this is a natural part of the process.
7. Wait a few weeks. Take some out to try - the flavors will continue to develop over time. You can take a little bit out at a time and place in a separate jar in the refrigerator.
   

That's it. It took me about 3 weeks of fermenting before I started to taste the unique properties of my sauerkraut. It is a bit sweet and sour and tangy and has an ineffable flavor unlike any store bought sauerkraut. This is simple rustic food at its best.

Additional resources:

• Gold Mine Natural Foods - This is where Rachel purchased my crock - she also has a cousin who works here.
• KCRW Good Food - March 29th 2008 - this is a link to the webcast - scroll about halfway down for the segment.
• Wild Fermentation - this is Sandor Katz's website. I would really like to get his book.
• Boing Boing - Making Sauerkraut is Easy - I've been a regular Boing Boing reader but only came across the post when I was putting together this list of resources. It has photos and explanations of the process. Any similarities are entirely coincidental.