Gardening Fiascos and A Delicious Gallette

          I’m beginning to think that maybe I do NOT have a green thumb and pursuing my dream and goal of beautiful gardens yielding blooms, abundant veggies, and fabulous fruit are a pipe dream.  Especially after the  "putting up the fence around the rhubarb plot", and the "planting fruit trees and cut the Cable One cable in half" fiascos of yesterday.  I'm thinking gardening may not be my forte!  Yup, the cable, thought to be a root, was pried up and split right in half. I couldn’t believe how quickly Cable One was here and how nice the cable guy (Joe not Larry) was about fixing it so we wouldn’t get charged for putting in a new line.  But the pear tree definitely cannot go where I wanted it to go, so now I have to figure out a new home for it.  And homes for the blueberries and thornless blackberries. 

           The fence around the little plot for the rhubarb is sad.  The chicken wire is not straight, has curves, one of the posts is definitely tipped and not level, and there are tons of wire ties holding the chicken wire to the posts.  I sure hope it keeps out the javelinas, as it may just be a short puzzle for them before they bash it in and get right in there and eat Roy’s beloved rhubarb.  We’ll just have to wait and see.  I found out from Aaron, the sweet young man from VT who was digging the holes for us and felt so horrible when he severed the cable, that the local zoo sells “tiger pooh” that you can scatter around and keep them away. I know too you can buy panther and mountain lion urine on line to spray around the garden and that will keep them at bay too.  Jeez, wouldn’t that be a great job??  What do you do for a living? I follow big mean cats around and catch their peepee in bottles.  Yikes!

           And another glorious day in Northern AZ tody. I’m looking out the windows and there are little birds everywhere, and a big fat squirrel is running all over the big boulders that raise up out of the ground like monolith granite beings.  Anyone know how to set up a web cam outside so I can catch the squirrels and chipmunks on video? They are too funny…well, until they start eating my tomatoes, tomatillos, squash blossoms, etc. The boulders truly are spectacular. Several in the backyard look like whales rising out of the sea…3 of them look just like a pod, and then there’s one little one that I am going to paint dark blue and white so it really looks like a fabulous sea creature in my faux beach house’s garden. I’m going to scatter beach glasses in blues and whites on the ground around him to make him look like he’s poking his nose up out of a little piece of ocean right here in Prescott. 

           The peppers, tomatoes, and basil seeds I planted last week are beginning to sprout!  Now if I can keep them from getting all spindly, and keep them alive, I may actually be able to transplant them in May, and since I planted WAY too many for just us, I’ll share them with friends and family.

           To keep us all fed while busy, I made a Gallette. Gallettes, frittatas, and quiches are all great dishes to make ahead and serve warm or at room temperature.  They are made with eggs, cheap available protein sources throughout the world and especially loved in France in their cooking. When people think French food, they always think of complicated buttery sauced items with wines and sherries that take lots of skill and time. But French food throughout time has been food using what’s available, what is fresh, and what is not only good for you, but usually not expensive. The baked egg recipes are especially good when you need to have something you can serve with pride to company or family but that you need to be able to put in the oven and not be rushing around trying to prepare something at the last minute. 

I chose the Gallette today, as frittatas use bread and with the wheat intolerance I have, not a good choice, nor is the quiche with its flaky brown crust. But I didn’t make quiche, mainly because Roy has this thing about men not liking/eating quiche (I’m rolling my eyes here folks and shaking my head). I used ham and cheese, onions, chives, and chervil for seasonings, along with salt and pepper. 

HAM AND SWISS GALLETTE

Loose recipe instructions would be: 

8 eggs beaten with 1 T milk      ½ small onion diced     
3 green onions diced                 Chives, diced
1 medium potato sliced into thin even slices                                  

3-4 slices swiss cheese          ½ c. diced ham           
fresh chopped parsley            1 t. chopped garlic                
1 t. chervil, fresh or ½ t. dried            

olive oil

Saute the diced onion along with the chopped garlic in a bit of olive oil. I used Blood Orange Olive Oil from Olive U here in Prescott, a fantastic store in the Bashford Court Atrium.  They have so many different flavored olive oils and balsamic vinegars it’s amazing. You can go in and enjoy yourself tasting before you buy.  It’s as good as any candy store in my opinion!

           End of commercial, back to the recipe. Once the onion and garlic are sautéed until translucent, throw in the chopped chives, and remove all to a small dish, leaving as much of the oil in the pan as possible. You may need to add a bit more oil before frying the potatoes.  Line the pan with thin slices of potatoes in a nice even layer….I do this in a circular style, overlapping the slices about half way over each other, tucking the last slice underneath the first slice.  This makes for a very pretty presentation.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper, along with the chervil. Lower the heat and cook slowly until almost done and barely brown. You may add a little water and cover to steam so they don’t get too brown too soon.  You want them done before going to the next step. 

           Once potatoes are done, scatter the cooked onion/garlic mixture over the top, and arrange slices of Swiss Cheese over them in a single layer, scatter pieces of diced ham over the cheese, and scatter some chopped green onion over the ham.  (For my vegetarian friends, scatter little spoonfuls of goat cheese along with thinly sliced pears instead of the ham and swiss…outstanding!!)  Slowly and carefully pour the egg mixture around the edge of the pan and then working into the middle to thoroughly cover the cheese/ham/onion layers.  Dust with a bit of salt and pepper and a dash of cayenne pepper.  Put a lid on the pan, and put into a 350 degree oven until the center is done, but watching that the edges of the eggs do not burn or turn brown. 

           Once completely done, remove from the oven, let stand 3 minutes, then invert onto a pretty plate.  You’ll then see why I wanted the potatoes in a circular design, because they are beautiful and brown and gorgeous.  Sprinkle with a bit of chopped fresh parsley and green onions, and serve in big wedges with thick slices of French bread toasted and spread with butter and jam. For lunch or dinner, a fresh salad of baby greens dressed with a Champagne Vinaigrette, and a bowl of fresh fruit with a little whipped crème and sprinkle of finely diced preserved ginger makes a complete, satisfying and delicious meal.