Herbs, Spices and Other Tasty Items

             I am having my doubts about my garden this year due to the invasion of squirrels who have voracious appetites. My beets are completely gone, the green beans are decimated, the sorrel was nibbled away to stems, and I’m just waiting to see what they will attack next. Last year they ate every bell pepper plant I put in the ground, but they are much worse this year. I’ve tried cayenne, fake owls (oh yeah, that worked…they ate the plants right under the owl’s tail feathers!!),  pungent garlic/onion/cayenne spray, etc., nothing seems to work. I have, however, just borrowed a pellet rifle fro a friend and hope to rid myself of the vermin this weekend.  Squirrel stew anyone??  J

            The upside is that they don’t seem to be interested in my herbs thank goodness.  I have thyme, oregano, lemon balm, rosemary, dill, fennel, basil, onions and garlic all growing like weeds and no one/thing seems to be interested in eating them.  This is a good thing.  I will harvest bunches on Friday night and sell them at the corner on Saturday morning, plus will be putting bunches on the dehydrators this weekend.  I keep myself well supplied with fresh herbs during the summer and dried herbs all winter long, plus share with friends and family. Son Erik and wife Debbie moved to New Mexico last year, and when we went to visit, I took them every dried herb I had in the cupboard to stock up their new home and Erik, the cook guy, was so pleased. So when I get a new batch done, will be sending some along.

            Herbs are so fabulous for adding zip and zing to dishes and they help boost flavor when you are watching the sodium/salt content in your food making dishes less bland and more palatable.  I love fresh sorrel, basil, thyme, and fennel in salads. I also enjoy going out and picking fresh herbs and bringing them in to use I recipes…fresh oregano and tomatoes put into piping hot cooked pasta and drizzled with a little olive oil, fresh cracked pepper, and parmesan is a fabulous quick, filling, easy, and budget friendly recipe and everyone loves it.

            One of the favorite recipes using herbs in our house is Dilly Bread.  It uses dill seed and cottage cheese for a unique and very pleasing taste.  It’s easy to make, I’ve never had it fail, slices nicely for sandwiches, and can be served in chunks with a stick of soft butter to go with bread and salads to round them out and make a great meal. I have not perfected a gluten free recipe yet, but am working on it and will post as soon as I get it up to standard.

            So enjoy those fresh herbs of summer, and bake up some of this fresh and tasty bread to enjoy with salads and soups of the season….really good with the Chilled Cucumber Avocado Soup recipe posted a couple days ago!

DILLY BREAD

¼ c. warm water                               1 dry yeast package                        1 T. sugar

1 c. cottage cheese                          2 T chopped onion                          2 T. melted butter

1 egg                                                1 t. salt                                            2 ¼ c. flour

¼ c. wheat germ                               1 T  dill seed

1 egg   1 T. water

 Pour water into blender stirring in yeast and sugar. Let stand 5 minutes. Blend 10 seconds. Add cottage cheese, onion, butter, egg & salt. Mix 10 seconds.  Combine flour, wheat germ & dill in large bowl. Pour in liquid from blender. Stir with wooden spoon until pulls from sides. Grease large bowl. Place dough on floured board and knead then put into greased bowl. Let rise until double. Grease 2 loaf pans…punch down dough and divide in half. Shape and place in pans. Let double.  Preheat oven to 350…mix egg and water and brush on loaves. Bake until brown about 35-40 minutes.

PALTRY PURPLE PERUVIAN POTATO PICKINGS

Tonight after work, Roy and I collapsed the container of potatoes to find…..a few small purple Peruvian potatoes. Wasn’t the fabulous crop I’d envisioned as I planted the little seed potatoes into the container and then covered the growth each time it was 2" tall per the instructions, but that’s gardening. It’s a lesson in patience, and in the end with being satisfied what is given at the end.  The gardens this year were basically experiments, so next year we can do better---plant items that do well, do plantings in shade/sun in order to better facilitate the growth of crops, and decide what we do and what we don’t think deserves spending big $$ on water to grow.  These items will NOT be on the replant list--not efficient use of water, too small a crop, plus the taste was bitter and unpleasant.

For a girl that grew up in Cornville, gardening is new to me—not completely new, but mostly new. Not knowing about gardening, but doing it. It was my Mom that was the gardener. Roses, corn, watermelon, cantaloupes, squash, even peanuts…she had a garden most of the time I was growing up. And it always worked.  I never understood why she would work so hard and put in so many hours on such a boring past time. But now I understand…not boring, relaxing; not boring, fulfilling; not boring…well, you understand. I get such satisfaction learning things I need to learn, watching things come to fruition and produce, smelling the aroma of basil when watering the plants, realizing patience is a great virtue and I need to take it to heart, taking items grown by my own two hands and preserving them or making them into organic delicious meals for me and my husband and family and friends…it is inspiring and brings such a smile to my face just standing around wetting their little limbs and roots.

So the harvest tonight consisted of 8 turnips (more in the garden but too small yet so hope they keep growing), 6 tomatoes, a handful of green beans that were missed last night, onions and garlic, and the purple Peruvian potatoes. Maybe it’s the purple thing that’s hanging me up in the garden---purple top turnips and purple Peruvian potatoes were not winners this year.  

Although the tomato crop has been less than stellar, I was able to use up a small bunch of them in an impromptu Cream of Tomato Basil Soup.  Although there is no formal recipe, I have shared the basics with you below.

This season has yielded lots of herbs that I’ve been drying, sharing, and saving. Tomorrow I’ll harvest more oregano, thyme, basil and pineapple sage to put on the dehydrator, along with lemon balm, rosemary, sorrel, boxwood basil, and thai basil. It will be wonderful using my own herbs all winter, knowing I grew them, they are clean, organic, and not irradiated and are going to be used in fabulous dishes for the delight of my family and friends, showing them how much I care about them. Then on to the greens—spinach, Rouge d’Hivre lettuce, Asian greens, Swiss and rainbow chards. They’ll be used in salads, and processed…frozen or canned…and also enjoyed during the long cold winter months.  I love gardening!

Cream of Tomato Basil Soup.  I filled a 4 qt saucepan with whole tomatoes (no need to peel or seed), 3 cloves of garlic, and 1/2 c of water. Covered, they broke down and I let them cook until very well done. They were then put through a sieve, removing all he peels and seeds making sure to push all the pulp through the sieve to keep as much as possible for the soup.  Added a sprig of fresh basil (be careful, too much can be overwhelming), and let simmer until thickened. Add white pepper and sea salt to taste. Remove the basil, and add 1 c of cream and re-taste, seasoning as needed. Serve hot or refrigerate and reheat when time to enjoy,

Basil & Pesto--Hints, Tips, and Not Just For Basil Any More

Today my sister in law sent me the link to an Organic Gardening site on the internet. This link was basically to a page on basil and how to make pesto instead of drying excess basil, as in the drying process so much flavor was lost.

YES!! It was a great little article on basil and pesto in particular.  I love pesto, and I make and freeze it every summer. I have recently found out  that if you quickly blanch the basil leaves, then they don't turn brown. I've been less than enthused in past years when the bright green basil turns a muddy brown within a short time of processing it. Tastes fine, but doesn't look so great. So a quick blanch in boiling water, then remove the leaves to paper towels and let dry a bit before making pesto, and it stays bright and green and beautiful in the refrigerator or frozen, and the taste is just as fresh and has no degradation at all.  So try that too. I'm going to try like they said on this web site to just process it with the basil and olive oil making a paste and freeze it in ice cube trays. Then I can drop one into roasts, sauces, soups, etc. and flavor it the way I want without the garlic and parmesan  getting in the way if I want to do something less traditional.

 I noticed their recipe called for basil, garlic, cheese, and olive oil...no pine nuts.  While pine nuts, or pignoli, are traditional, I don't use pine nuts in my pesto...they are just too expensive...but instead, I use basil, garlic, olive oil, Parmesean Romano, and walnuts. It tastes great!  My friend Priscilla (a frugal woman who loves organic and quick foods that taste good), turned me on to using walnuts a few years ago, and I've been doing it ever since.

 I've also done a wonderful pesto using pumpkin seeds, cilantro, garlic, cotija cheese and olive oil.  Really really good--especially on fish. Or mixed with sour cream or cream cheese (softened with a T. of milk to make it more easily dipped or spread) as a dip or spread on toasted baguette. Or spread it on flour tortillas, then put on some shredded chicken, a little more cheese, fold in half and grill for a great quesadilla. Or make a tostada and put refries on the shell, then spread the cream cheese and cilantro pesto mix on it, then shredded lettuce, chopped fresh tomatoes, and some green chili salsa. Oh sooooo good.

 So those are my tips for basil and pestofor the day! Okay making myself hungry now, so think I’ll head to the freezer to pull out some pesto.