Posts
I harvested the last of the peas and carrots today. Sad event but the good news is: I get to make another awesome Indian recipe using fresh veggies from my garden! Tonight's dinner is an angus beef burger, some potatoes and the peas & carrots. Mmmmmmm...
The peas & carrots recipe is another courtesy Madhur Jaffrey. This is from her "An Invitation to Indian Cooking" cookbook.
Carrots & Peas with Ginger and Chinese Parsley
Ingredients
A fresh piece of ginger, 2 inches by 1 inch, peeled and coarsely chopped
1.5 pounds young, slim carrots
6 tablespoons vegetable oil [Missy's note: I use canola and I used about 1/2 that amount]
1/4 teaspoon whole black mustard seeds
5 whole fenugreek seeds
1/4 teaspoons ground turmeric
1 packed cup coarsely chopped Chinese parsley (aka cilantro)
1 fresh hot green chili, washed and finely sliced [Missy's note: I substituted about 1/8 teaspoon red pepper]
1 pound fresh peas, shelled
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 teaspoon salt [Missy's note: I usually withhold the salt]
Put the ginger in blender with 3 tablespoons of water and blend until smooth (about 1 minute). Peel the carrots and slice them into rounds about 1/8 inch thick. Heat the oil in a 10-12 inch skillet over medium heat. When very hot, add the mustard and fenugreek seeds. When mustard seeds begin to pop (10-20 seconds), put in the ginger paste and turmeric, keeping your face averted [Missy's note: That safety point is VERY important! The ginger paste will sizzle something fierce when you add it to that heat. I use a splatter guard, raising it the end opposite my face to add the ginger paste.] Fry for about 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add chopped parsley and green chili or cayenne, and cook, stirring, another 2 minutes [Missy's note: I'll add about 1/4 cup water if things seem a bit dry]. Add carrots and peas and cook 5 minutes more, stirring frequently.
Now put in the coriander, cumin, garam masala, salt and 3 tablespoons warm water. Stir for a minute, cover, lower heat, and cook slowly 30 minutes [Missy's note: I have found 15 minutes works just fine]. Stir gently every 10 minutes or so.
Serves 4-6.
Madhur recommends this: "To serve: Lift gently out of skillet and place on serving dish. Serve with hot pooris or parathas. This dish goes well with any sauced meat dish - Lamb with Onions and Mushrooms, Kheema, etc. It is also good with Shrimp with Dill and Ginger, plain Moong Dal, and Rice with Potatoes and Cumin Seed.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Well, At Least I Have Some Onions
The friendly people on the forums of Organic Gardening magazine have informed me that the large, hollow stalks on my onions means that they have bolted. :( That's part of the bad news. The other part is that I won't be able to dry & store these onions as "keepers" (the gardening term for being able to store them for months) because I didn't let the leaves dry on them in the garden. So, I have to eat them all RIGHT AWAY! My friends and family are going to l-o-v-e me! There is no way I'll get through them all in a timely manner so I've already given some away and will give more away over the next few days. I've also been told that I can either dehydrate them or I can slice or chop them up and freeze them (no blanching required - woohoo!) for use later. I haven't tried one yet. I need to get some lettuce so I can make a nice salad. :) Tonight the rest of them are drying on the hood of my car, sans leaves, with a fan blowing on them.
Oh - my Organic Gardening friends also shared with me some tips for next year: 1) buy sets from a catalog, not from a local vegetable stand (like what I've been doing); 2) plant with enough space in between to allow air flow; 3) fold the leaves over at the base of the leaf, where the leaf meets the bulb; 4) the bulb should be partially above ground; 5) wet weather is bad for onions which is why lots of sun and no/minimal mulch is a must. I probably also need to fold the leaves over earlier in the season. Everything says when they first start to droop. I know I waited too long this year.
Oh - my Organic Gardening friends also shared with me some tips for next year: 1) buy sets from a catalog, not from a local vegetable stand (like what I've been doing); 2) plant with enough space in between to allow air flow; 3) fold the leaves over at the base of the leaf, where the leaf meets the bulb; 4) the bulb should be partially above ground; 5) wet weather is bad for onions which is why lots of sun and no/minimal mulch is a must. I probably also need to fold the leaves over earlier in the season. Everything says when they first start to droop. I know I waited too long this year.
Friday, June 19, 2009
H-O-T!!
Ugh! Summer has arrived in St. Louis! We have had over 100 degree heat indices the last 2 days. I think it's supposed to stay this way all weekend. We will be attending a wedding tomorrow so I'm going to have to go out early and give everything a good soaking. I didn't get a chance to water tonight but when I walked around the beds, nothing looked wilted and in need of water. I suspect that the good dousing we got earlier in the week means I still have enough water in the beds to make it through tonight - but I'm not going to risk making it through tomorrow! :)
I now have 2 green bean plants growing up a stake! Here I thought I would grow them up my corn stalks but the corn is a much slower grower than the green beans. For the future I will have to plant corn first and then green beans maybe 2-3 weeks later. I'm disappointed with my corn. Only 5 seeds sprouted out of 8. I'm a bit concerned they may not pollinate properly as they are a bit spread out because of the poor sprouting. All of my sunflowers are coming in nicely except some rabbit got into the garden again and ate the top off of one of them! We'll see if that one survives. I'll be surprised if it does. Needless to say, I whipped out the Bobex again tonight and sprayed around the perimeter of each bed.
I harvested the last cabbage head this evening. It's a doozy! Can't wait to cook it up! I should try a different cabbage recipe. As much as I love Madhur Jaffrey's cabbage and fennel seed recipe, they say variety is the spice of life. And, it's not like I won't be without that tasty recipe because I made it with the first head I harvested. I will put the recipe below.
I think my snow peas are done. There are definitely no more flowers and I harvested only a handful of distorted ones this evening. Still tasty but the distortion usually means the end. I'll try to get those plants pulled out of the bed before I leave for the wedding because they are smothering a perennial I had planted but thought died. I think it's a nice Bachelor's Button plant. They get a really pretty eery white formation where the flower will pop out. Very cool!
Tonight I also pulled all of the onions out of the ground. My fear is that they would rot if I left them in the ground even though the leaves are still quite green. I have not had any luck with onions (them and cucumbers will be the death of me!). The first year I got all green and some pretty flowers but no bulbs. I discovered I gave them too much nitrogen. The past 2 years I got nice bulbs but they always rotted near the neck or, when I'd leave them out to dry, they would get sunscald. This year I had several that had big, thick, hollow stalks on them so when I bent the leaves over, these broke. I don't know what that means! When I cut one down, I discovered that the onion part was growing on the inside of the stalk! So, I pulled everything out - I have some really nice bulbs! - and spread them out on the hood of my car. Haha! I have a fan blowing on them now to help dry things out and I've posted for help on the Organic Gardening forum. Hopefully someone will be able to tell me if I can dry these and store them or if I'll have to eat them right away...and, if I can dry them, how to do it properly so the neck doesn't rot before they are completely dry! I know I'll be leaving these in the garage all weekend with the fan blowing on them. I'll either have to hang them in the morning or come up with a quick drying rack.
OK, here's Madhur Jaffrey's Stir Fried Green Cabbage with Fennel Seeds. It's my favorite way to cook cabbage. The recipe comes from her Quick and Easy Indian Cooking cookbook (I highly recommend this for your cookbook collection). I love the taste of all the spices along with the sweet taste of the carmelized onions. Yum!! The comments before the ingredients list are hers. Oh! One hint about cooking Indian - lots of spices are added to the mix in quick succession. What I do is stage my spices. So, I read the recipe instructions and see which spices are being added to the mix together. Then, I pre-measure everything and put in a small bowl. That way when I need to add them, all I have to do is dump them into the mix. If you don't do that, you'll end up burning the spices.
Stir-Fried Green Cabbage with Fennel Seeds (Bhuni bandh gobi)
The cabbage and onions get nicely browned here and taste gloriously of fennel. You could easily serve this with Western-style sausages, ham, pork chops, or any kind of roast pork meat, or with roast lamb or even duck or venison. [Missy's note - I like serving this with grilled tilapia]
Ingredients
1.5 pounds green cabbage (half a large head)
1/4 cup vegetable oil [Missy's note - I usually cut this in half or less; I use canola]
3/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon sesame seeds
1 medium-large onion (7 ounces), peeled and cut, lengthwise, into fine half rings
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper [Missy's note - I usually omit. Even 1/8 tsp is too spicy for me]
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon store-bought garam masala [Missy's note - For the St. Louis metro area I have only found this at Dierberg's (expensive!) or at Indian food specialty shops (cheap!). I buy all of my spices at Indian specialty shops because the prices are much more reasonable.]
Remove the course outer leaves of the cabbage. If you have a cabbage half, cut it in half again, lengthwise, and then core the sections. Now cut each section, lengthwise, into very fine, long shreds. A bread knife is ideal for this. (You could also use a food processor.)
Put the oil in a wide, preferably nonstick pan, and set over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, put in the cumin, fennel, and sesame seeds. As soon as the seeds begin to pop, put in the onion. Stir and fry for 3 to 4 minutes or until the onion has browned a bit. Put in the cabbage. Stir and fry for about 6 minutes or until the cabbage too has browned somewhat. Now put in the salt and cayenne. Turn down the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring now and then, for another 7 to 8 minutes or until the onions appear carmelized and soft. Add the lemon juice and garam masala. Stir to mix. Serves 4.
I now have 2 green bean plants growing up a stake! Here I thought I would grow them up my corn stalks but the corn is a much slower grower than the green beans. For the future I will have to plant corn first and then green beans maybe 2-3 weeks later. I'm disappointed with my corn. Only 5 seeds sprouted out of 8. I'm a bit concerned they may not pollinate properly as they are a bit spread out because of the poor sprouting. All of my sunflowers are coming in nicely except some rabbit got into the garden again and ate the top off of one of them! We'll see if that one survives. I'll be surprised if it does. Needless to say, I whipped out the Bobex again tonight and sprayed around the perimeter of each bed.
I harvested the last cabbage head this evening. It's a doozy! Can't wait to cook it up! I should try a different cabbage recipe. As much as I love Madhur Jaffrey's cabbage and fennel seed recipe, they say variety is the spice of life. And, it's not like I won't be without that tasty recipe because I made it with the first head I harvested. I will put the recipe below.
I think my snow peas are done. There are definitely no more flowers and I harvested only a handful of distorted ones this evening. Still tasty but the distortion usually means the end. I'll try to get those plants pulled out of the bed before I leave for the wedding because they are smothering a perennial I had planted but thought died. I think it's a nice Bachelor's Button plant. They get a really pretty eery white formation where the flower will pop out. Very cool!
Tonight I also pulled all of the onions out of the ground. My fear is that they would rot if I left them in the ground even though the leaves are still quite green. I have not had any luck with onions (them and cucumbers will be the death of me!). The first year I got all green and some pretty flowers but no bulbs. I discovered I gave them too much nitrogen. The past 2 years I got nice bulbs but they always rotted near the neck or, when I'd leave them out to dry, they would get sunscald. This year I had several that had big, thick, hollow stalks on them so when I bent the leaves over, these broke. I don't know what that means! When I cut one down, I discovered that the onion part was growing on the inside of the stalk! So, I pulled everything out - I have some really nice bulbs! - and spread them out on the hood of my car. Haha! I have a fan blowing on them now to help dry things out and I've posted for help on the Organic Gardening forum. Hopefully someone will be able to tell me if I can dry these and store them or if I'll have to eat them right away...and, if I can dry them, how to do it properly so the neck doesn't rot before they are completely dry! I know I'll be leaving these in the garage all weekend with the fan blowing on them. I'll either have to hang them in the morning or come up with a quick drying rack.
OK, here's Madhur Jaffrey's Stir Fried Green Cabbage with Fennel Seeds. It's my favorite way to cook cabbage. The recipe comes from her Quick and Easy Indian Cooking cookbook (I highly recommend this for your cookbook collection). I love the taste of all the spices along with the sweet taste of the carmelized onions. Yum!! The comments before the ingredients list are hers. Oh! One hint about cooking Indian - lots of spices are added to the mix in quick succession. What I do is stage my spices. So, I read the recipe instructions and see which spices are being added to the mix together. Then, I pre-measure everything and put in a small bowl. That way when I need to add them, all I have to do is dump them into the mix. If you don't do that, you'll end up burning the spices.
Stir-Fried Green Cabbage with Fennel Seeds (Bhuni bandh gobi)
The cabbage and onions get nicely browned here and taste gloriously of fennel. You could easily serve this with Western-style sausages, ham, pork chops, or any kind of roast pork meat, or with roast lamb or even duck or venison. [Missy's note - I like serving this with grilled tilapia]
Ingredients
1.5 pounds green cabbage (half a large head)
1/4 cup vegetable oil [Missy's note - I usually cut this in half or less; I use canola]
3/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon sesame seeds
1 medium-large onion (7 ounces), peeled and cut, lengthwise, into fine half rings
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper [Missy's note - I usually omit. Even 1/8 tsp is too spicy for me]
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon store-bought garam masala [Missy's note - For the St. Louis metro area I have only found this at Dierberg's (expensive!) or at Indian food specialty shops (cheap!). I buy all of my spices at Indian specialty shops because the prices are much more reasonable.]
Remove the course outer leaves of the cabbage. If you have a cabbage half, cut it in half again, lengthwise, and then core the sections. Now cut each section, lengthwise, into very fine, long shreds. A bread knife is ideal for this. (You could also use a food processor.)
Put the oil in a wide, preferably nonstick pan, and set over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, put in the cumin, fennel, and sesame seeds. As soon as the seeds begin to pop, put in the onion. Stir and fry for 3 to 4 minutes or until the onion has browned a bit. Put in the cabbage. Stir and fry for about 6 minutes or until the cabbage too has browned somewhat. Now put in the salt and cayenne. Turn down the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring now and then, for another 7 to 8 minutes or until the onions appear carmelized and soft. Add the lemon juice and garam masala. Stir to mix. Serves 4.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Building an Ark
By the time I got home this evening around 6:30pm (yes, too many long days at work!) the rain gauge had recorded 3.25". Downtown a record rainfall of 1.86" was set today. They are talking about more thunderstorms and heavy rains tonight. Many rivers and streams are flooding with flash floods likely this evening. Sigh...I looked at the yard and some of the pea gravel had been washed down the yard with large ruts formed in the soil. A LOT of soil got moved to the lower right portion of the yard next to the storm drain. Looks like I'll be moving dirt this weekend!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)