More Stuff to Do with Green Tomatoes

Pineapple Green Tomato Salsa 

12-14 Green Roma Tomatoes
1 small Yellow Onion
16 oz chopped fresh pineapple
Handful of Cilantro
1 Jalapeno Pepper

1/2 C White wine
1/4 C Sugar

Chop veggies or throw them in the Food Processor. Add wine and sugar. Bring to a boil, then simmer 10 minutes.

Fills 3 8 oz jars plus a little left over to put in the fridge. This is really really good.  Goes good with Sam Adams.

Most of the tomatoes I chopped up in the processor, added about a cup of white wine,  a quarter cup of sugar, some salt, and cumin and cooked it down for a half hour and put it in a ziplock and threw it in the freezer.   Next time my daughter comes home I'm gonna mix that with some cream, and pour it over my chicken enchiladas with some Jack cheese.  

That is some good stuff.

And finally, I save about 10 green romas, one jalapeno, a handful of cilantro, a squeeze of lime, about a cup of sugar, maybe more. Brought it to a boil, then simmered for 10 minutes. Put that over some cream cheese on a cracker.  More good stuff.

Chow Chow

Most of you have probably given up on this blog.  I haven't given up yet.  Just haven't been inspired to rant for a while.  But there is always food.

It was an odd summer.  Early drought that on the one hand really slowed the growth of my tomatoes but also put off that damned Blight I always get where ever I try to garden.  So toward the end of the summer we got a lot of rain and at the end of the season I had a respectable harvest.  And a lot of green tomatoes I snagged before the first frost.

I remember making this green tomato relish from the Ball Canning Book many years ago.  I really liked it.  I think it's funny their recipe calls bell peppers "hot peppers"  Anyway, this is my version:

•  16 Green Roma Tomatoes
• 1 Red Bell Pepper
• 1 Yellow Bell Pepper
• 1Yellow onion 
• 1 Head Purple Cabbage
• 2 Jalapeno peppers

Chop vegetables fine. Or if you are lucky like me, throw em all in the food processor .  When I made it many years ago I did not have a food processor.  I got this one from my Mom after she died.  I think this is one of the greatest inventions ever.  Two things in the kitchen I do not enjoy, chopping vegetables and grating cheese.

So mix that all up, dump about 1/2 Cup course salt on it and leave it overnight.  The salt will draw the extra liquid out of it.  

The next morning, drain the liquid, rinse with cold water and then drain again and get as much of the liquid out of it as you can.  Squeezing it with your hands works really well.  Yes, use your hands.  I don't understand people that don't want to get their hands in their food.  

 Mix 2 1/2 Cups Cider Vinegar
1 cup loosely packed brown sugar
1 clove garlic, minced
1 t Ginger
1 T Mustard Seeds

1 T Turmeric
2 t Celery seed
1 t Whole Cloves
 

Bring to a boil, then simmer for 5 minutes. Do not let that steam get in your face, it is not pleasant.

Add the vegetables, bring to a boil and cook for 10 minutes. The Ball recipe says cook for an hour. Are you kidding? You don't want to overcook this. I think Ball is just afraid you are going to get botulism and sue them. 10 minutes is fine.

Process in a waterbath for 10 minutes.  Now I need to go buy some brats or Italian sausage or something to eat it with.

Pepper Relish

 

I love pickled banana peppers.  I have a few bushes growing in my garden and they are great producers.  But the one time I tried pickling them they were pretty mushy.  So how about some relish? 

8-10 Bananna peppers

1/2  Red Onion

1 Red Bell Pepper

1 jalapeno pepper

1 Cup cider vinegar

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 Tsp course salt

 1  Tbl Pickling spice ( I made my own with some mustard seed, celery seed, whole cloves, cayenne pepper and turmeric.)

So I chopped half of the peppers and mixed the rest in the food processor to get a mixture of fine and more course vegetables.  I seeded the jalapeno because it came out of my garden and they are usually hotter out of the garden then from the store and banana peppers have a little heat.  I like heat but not so much that you can't taste the relish.

Bring the vinegar, sugar and spices to a boil.  Then add the vegtables and cook, stirring often for about 10 minutes.  This makes about  3 half-pints.  Water bath for 5 minutes.

Corn & Bean Salsa

Every summer the tomato blight is worse and I swear I will never plant tomatoes again.  This time I mean it.  (especially since I won't actually be here next summer).  All I got this summer was enough for some sauce for lasagna, this salsa and one pint of sauce.

I did finally get some jalapenos from the Farmers Market that were actually hot.  I am so tired of people in Iowa telling me peppers are hot and they taste like a red bell pepper.  Really people?   Anyway this is really good. Had to go across the street and buy some chips from Caseys because I was out.

 6 -8  Roma Tomatoes, peeled and chopped (drop them in boiling water until the skins crack and they peel real easily
1/2  Yellow onion, chopped
1/2 Red onion, chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 jalapenos, chopped (leave the seeds if you want it hot)
1 can corn (although I thought it was a bit much and would put a little less than the whole can if I were to make it again)
1/4 cup cooked black beans
1/4 cup bsalmic vinegar
Juice of 1/2 lime
2 Tb  Brown sugar
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp fresh ground pepper
1 handful of fresh cilantro, chopped


Saute the onions, peppers and garlic until transparent, add vinegar, tomatoes, sugar, salt & pepper, cook until tomatoes are soft.  Add the corn, beans, lime juice and cilantro, stir and cook on low another 10 minutes or so.  This is actually pretty good to eat warm.  It's almost like a meal.

Someone Else who likes my Sunflowers

Sunflowers

I just love sunflowers.  I had a whole bunch of them in my other house but when I moved here 5 years ago and planted them none of them came up the first few years.  Last year I had a couple and this year I was gifted with a BUNCH of volunteers. 

 

This is not a sunflower - it's a Rudbeckia but it's a cool picture.  I took all these myself.

Why we won't be having beans from the Garden this Summer

Cilantro Lime Pesto

The problem with cilantro is this - I get a BIG batch of it about now...more than I can possibly consume, as much as  I love cilantro.  Then it bolts.  Then it seeds and I'll get some more in the late summer.  But what about later this summer?

PESTO!  It's not just for basil anymore!

Juice of one lime
Grate peeling of one lime
2 cloves garlic
about two cups fresh cilantro, packed
1/3 cup vegtable oil

I know pesto usually has cheese but that doesn't freeze well --I don't put cheese or nuts in my basil pesto when I make it to freeze - you can add that sort of thing latter

Put all that in the food processor and blend.  Then I spoon it into ice cube trays, freeze and then put the cubes in a plastic bag to store in the freezer.  You have nice little serving sizes to add to salsa, chili, sofrito, tortilla soup, whatever....

I Love Cilantro!

It grows like weeds.  Now it's just perfect, real young and perfect.  I should plant some now though because it will soon bolt and I will be without any fresh cilantro until it reseeds and grows again late in the summer.

I made tacos for dinner.  One of the few things both the kids who are home like.   I made refried (although I actually only fried them once) Black Beans. 

About a cup of cooked black beans (or a can but they are sooo much cheaper dried - cook up a bag and freeze them)

1/2 Cup Chicken broth

1 clove garlic, chopped

1 tbl lime juice

2 small bunches of cilantro chopped

1/2 jalapeno pepper chopped

Throw all that in the food processor and blend it up.  I can't stand the texture of a bean so I always much up my beans.  In the meantime, chop up a small or half an onion and saute it in olive oil and cumin until golden.  Then add the beans, stir it up and cook on medium low for about 10 minutes.

So dinner is just about ready and I realized WE HAVE NO SALSA!  How can we have tacos and no salsa.  Well I had a can of diced tomatoes and peppers but you can do this with diced tomatoes.  Drain the can, dump the tomatoes in a bowl.  Had 1/2 cup diced red onion.  1/2 Cup of balsamic vinegar,  couple of heaping tsp of brown sugar, some salt, chipotle powder, and of course some cilantro - WALLAH! SALSA!

Plant a Garden

Plant a Garden

Edgar A. Guest

 

If your purse no longer bulges
and you've lost your golden treasure,
If times you think you're lonely
and have hungry grown for pleasure,
Don't sit by your hearth and grumble,
don't let mind and spirit harden. 

If it's thrills of joy you wish for
get to work and plant a garden! If it's drama that you sigh for,
plant a garden and you'll get it
You will know the thrill of battle
fighting foes that will beset it 

 

If you long for entertainment and
for pageantry most glowing,
Plant a garden and this summer spend
your time with green things growing. 


If it's comradeship you sight for,
learn the fellowship of daisies.
You will come to know your neighbor
by the blossoms that he raises; 

If you'd get away from boredom
and find new delights to look for,
Learn the joy of budding pansies
which you've kept a special nook for. 

If you ever think of dying
and you fear to wake tomorrow
Plant a garden! It will cure you
of your melancholy sorrow
Once you've learned to know peonies,
petunias, and roses,
You will find every morning
some new happiness discloses

More Things that Make me Smile...

Tommy & Freddy cuddling...

Grape Hyacinth

Spring

First come the daffodils

Then the tulips

Even these radish seedlings look beautiful to me.

The View from my Kitchen Window

The daffodils are from the South Side of the house - They always bloom first but I never go over there so I usually miss them.  I decided I'd enjoy them more in my kitchen.  That view almost makes washing dishes enjoyable.  In Wisconsin I lived in parsonage where you had to look at the wall to wash dishes.  Must have been designed by a man who never washes dishes.

A summer leftover

I was taking pictures of the frost on the grapevine in my backyard and I noticed this nest.   I think it was a pretty good spot because even my cats didn't notice it when they were out last summer.

Sunday Night in the Kitchen

I have two projects going on in the kitchen. It all began when I looked at my handful of beans in the garden and bell pepper tops I was cutting off and I started thinking about vegetable stock. Every time I roast any meat, I simmer the carcass and make stock. Turkey, Chicken, even ham. Ham stock is WONDERFUL in gumbo (it probably would have been good in the red beans and rice I made last week but I made pickled pork to go with it and that was probably enough).

I was looking around for ideas to put in the vegetable stock and saw the suggestion of squash peelings. Well, it just so happens I made butternut squash soup just before my daughter left to go back to college and it was wonderful. There another squash in the garden and I've been thinking of roasting and pureeing then freezing it for the next time I want soup. Why not do that tonight and use the peelings for veggie stock?
The reason I have been thinking about vegetable stock is that many squash soup recipes call for chicken stock and that seems kind of odd and defeats the purpose if you are trying to make something vegetarian with the squash soup.

So here's what I did for my vegetable stock. But really you can put ANY vegetables in ...this is just what I had.
I have a big cast iron pot. I put a little olive oil and sauteed one small yellow onion and a half a red onion that was in the fridge. I just like the taste of caramelized onions. You could skip this step.

From my garden, I picked a green pepper and cut out the bug eaten parts of a red bell in the garden. I have few red bells in the garden and I'm not wasting them on stock! But I did have some tops I saved thinking I would soup.My green beans are done for the summer but there were about a dozen so I picked them and threw them in there as well.

The herbs are almost done. So I cut a handful of flat leaf Italian parsley, some basil - both purple and green - flowers and all - it was going to seed and a handful of chives. I did not put dill in because that's pretty distinctive flavor and just didn't want that.

I pulled up some carrots that tasted too woody to eat raw - threw them in along with the green tops. From the fridge, chopped up some celery-including the leafy top. The great thing about this is that you don't have to chop everything all nice, just in pieces. Don't forget the squash peelings. You cannot peel a butternut squash with a peeler and do it with a paring knife leaves a bit of flesh on so that works really well for stock. Nothing gets wasted. And don't forget several cloves of garlic. Oh, yea and a jalapeno that had gone red. I like a little heat.
I threw the peppers and celery in first after the onions were transparent and added about 1/4 cup white wine and let that reduce. Then threw everything else in the pot . Added about 6 cups of water. Some peppercorns, some kosher salt. Bring it to a boil, turn it down to low, cover and simmer a couple of hours. Strain all stuff out of it (and put in the compost pile). I pour my stock into quart size zip lock bags, label what it is and the date and freeze it. Next time you make mashed potatoes try boiling your potatoes in that! Oh come on PLEASE tell me you don't eat that crap out of the box.
And here's the recipe for the squash soup. It's a little time consuming because I roast the squash first but it's soo good that way. That's why it's a good idea to do that on a lazy Sunday night and freeze it. I got the basics for this recipe from the Food Network but I thought it had WAY too many herbs and spices. They call that "complex" flavors. I call that too much crap. But I loved the idea of adding balsamic vinegar to the roasting sauce.

The first step - Roasting the squash
Preheat oven to 400 1 cube butter (not margarine - butter) 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar 2 Tbl Molasses 3 Tbl brown sugar (or more if you are like me) 1/2 tsp sage 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1/4 tsp ginger 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper 1/2 cup white wine So first, you peel a butternut squash, remove the seeds and chop into 2-3 pieces. Also, peel and chop an apple as well. An apple really adds to the flavor Toss them in a bowl with a little salt and pepper. Next heat the butter in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. When the butter ceases to foam and has turned a light brown, pull the pan off the heat and immediately add the sage, sugar, vinegar (stand back so as not to get splattered), molasses and spices. Mix well and let simmer over medium-low heat for 1 to 2 minutes to meld the flavors.

Pour the vinegar mixture over the squash and toss well, then transfer to a heavy rimmed baking sheet or baking dish large enough to hold the squash and apples in a single layer. Place in the oven and roast, tossing at least once, until very tender and caramelized, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Set aside until cool enough to handle but still warm, so the liquids are runny. Then puree it in a blender with the white wine

Part two - making the soup

1 yellow onion, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped (not necessary but I always throw in bell peppers. Did you know they have more vitamin c than an orange?)
1/4 cup white wine
2 Cups vegetable or chicken stock
2 cups, more or less water to thin soup to your liking
1/2 cup heavy cream

Saute the onion and bell pepper in olive oil. When the onions are transparent, add the wine and cook a few minutes until it reduces. Add the stock and simmer a few minutes, then add squash and apple puree. Cook for a few minutes, adding water if it needs to be thinned. Then back to the blender and puree again. Then back in the pan, heat it up, add the cream.

If this is way too healthy for you, it tastes really good with crumbled up bacon. Enjoy.

A Simple Pico De Gallo

So it looks like I'm going to actually get some red bell peppers in my garden this year. Usually the growing season here is way to short for them to turn red but I bought an early variety and there is one that is half red. Had to buy a red and yellow one at the store for this recipe. The green bell and jalapeno and tomato was from my garden. All my cilantro has gone to seed so I had to buy that as well. I thought it was terribly hot but my daughter didn't . Hope I'm not getting wimpy in my old age!

I meant to put some red onion in it and just forgot but it was fine without it. Put some in if you like.

This a nice quick snack to go with your chips. We like the whole wheat chips. No measurements are precise. Make it the way you like it.

1 medium size Roma tomato, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 yellow red bell pepper, diced
1 jalapeno pepper, diced
1 small carrot, diced
handful chopped cilantro
1 tsp Kosher salt
1/2 tsp Garlic powder
2 TBl Brown sugar
1/4 Cup Balsamic Vinegar
1 Tbl Chardonnay

Mix this all up and eat it. You will like it. Skip the jalapeno if you are a wimp. No shame in that.

Tomato Blight

See this leaf? This is what started showing up on my tomato plants nearly a month ago. It's Blight. It's spreads. It kills everything green on your tomato.

Ever since I've been growing tomatoes I've dealt with Blight. By cutting off every branch close to the ground, cutting off every leaf with even one spot on it and spraying Daconil I can keep it under control until the frost. But usually it doesn't come until much later so that I've had a good crop of tomatoes and I'm usually just saving the end of the harvest. But when it starts this soon -I think there are just some plants that are going to be done once the tomatoes on there are ripe. I just can't get any new growth.

I'm not the only one. There's an editorial about how bad it is in today's New York Times.
You Say Tomato, I say Agricultural Disaster


Apparently there was a bad batch of plants that went out to some big name stores. And I did buy a few plants from Home Depot and I think those are the ones that are bad. So far the plants I started by seed are under control. That'll teach me to buy plants. Next year - only seeds I start myself.

I don't like to eat raw tomatoes. I grow all paste tomatoes and can the sauce. That takes a lot of tomatoes. I don't think I'm going to have enough this year.

But the wonderful thing about gardening? There's always next year!

Oh my gosh they are STILL Harping on Michelle in the garden

So now the buzz is the fact that she wore that lovely salmon outfit with a sweater in the garden. Some even commenting that she is setting a bad example. For looking nice for a photo op in the garden? Are you people kidding me?

Setting a bad example? Because, what someone might "get ideas" and garden in a cute out fit? And then what? Heck I'm so obsessive about weeding I've been known to get out of my car dressed fairly nicely, see some weeds and start going at it and the next thing you know I'm on my knees getting grass stains on my slacks. That's what washing machines are for, people.

I did mention her nice outfit in my last post on this subject. But my heavens. She's the First Lady. She's not going to wear dirty raggedy clothes in public. Nor should she.

Michelle Obama's Garden Conspiracy

When I read this I thought YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME???? The Drudge report has posted photos of the white house garden in March when it was planted and June when it was harvested...and there's some suggestion the plants could not possibly have grown that much in that time and so Michelle is pulling a fast one on us.

Fortunately Sue Reimer at the Baltimore Sun, has been to the garden and can testify to it's authenticity.

Um...maybe Matt Drudge should get off his ass at the computer and go out and garden a bit himself and find out what plants will grow in a hurry, especially when you use good compost. Geesh. They'll look for anything.

But I do question one thing - WHO looks like that when they are gardening??? Not me!

Guerrilla gardeners plant public soils with controversy

Daily 49er - Guerrilla gardeners plant public soils with controversy

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Article about "Guerrilla Gardening" - folks who plant gardens on unused public lots of soil. I think it's a great idea. I've been known to do "Guerrilla weeding" I cannot walk by a spot without pulling out some weeds. It used to embarrass my kids. Of course that was when just the fact I existed was embarrassing.