Sunday, February 28, 2010

Greenhouse Up and Running

Over the weekend I spent a bit of time getting the new greenhouse in order and getting ready to plant.  This afternoon, after gathering together all of my seeds left over from last year and making a list of the new things I need to order, I planted a few of flats of seeds.  Thus far I have planted the following:

  • Arugula
  • Chinese Cabbage
  • Lista de Guarda Eggplant
  • Thai Green Eggplant
  • Ming Choi
  • Celery
  • Red and White Marbled Cabbage
  • Brussels Sprouts
  • Swiss Chard
  • Mache
  • Ferry Dutch Cabbage
  • Blue Ridge Kale
  • White Vienna Kohlrabi
  • Broccolini

Saturday, February 27, 2010

Sprouts in the garden!

A couple of weeks ago I decided to plant radishes, spinach and mache.  I had been getting concerned since nothing had sprouted, but this morning when I went out to work on the garden beds I saw little sprouts all over the place!  The weather this weekend (upper 50's to the lower 60's) should be perfect for keeping them growing quickly.  So excited for fresh treats from the garden in the coming weeks.


I have also spent some time going through all of my old seeds from last year and cataloging everything to determine what needs to be picked up this spring.  It looks like I have a pretty good base to work with, but I'll probably mix things up with some new varieties.  


Later today I will likely start planting early season seeds and plotting out the garden.


I'm particularly excited about adding some cool new eggplants from Birch Creek Heirloom Seeds (www.rareseeds.com) as well as some Asian bean varieties.  


What are you planning on growing this year?

Monday, February 22, 2010

A Weekend of Pizza.

Somehow my weekend featured more pizza than I'm sure if healthy for a person, but I have to admit it was a very comforting way to graze.  Friday was a busy day at work and the evening was packed with far too many errands.  By the time I even was able to think about dinner it was nearly 9:00 and I was in no mood to cook so I ordered out.  Apparently sometime in the last few months Dominos has changed it's recipes.  Whatever changes were made have resulted in a pizza far better than before.  I enjoyed a jalepeno-pineapple pizza alongside a 2007 Riesling from Washington Hills, a refreshingly decent pairing.  


Saturday evening I had been invited to a couple of parties, one being a crawfish boil (pizza-free, thankfully) and the other a wine and flatbread thing.  My friend Alex had been trying his hand at various pizza doughs and wanted to have people over to try his creations.  We had a selection of lovely flatbread/pizza-things including a basil, apple, fontina pizza and an arugula, chevre and panchetta pizza.  I enjoyed my bites with the a 2006 Bogle Petit Syrah and the 2008 Waterbrook Sauvignon Blanc.  


As Sunday rolled along I decided to have a small dinner party for some friends and in the process of figuring out what to prepare discovered that there was plenty of starter from a bread project that needed to be used, and so many random veggies, cheeses, sauces I had canned last summer, etc. that needed to be used up that flatbread became the easy choice!  We prepared a wide variety of pizzas last night including the following:


  • Crimini Mushroom, Fresh Mozzarella, Caramelized Onion and Date
  • Red Pepper, Sweet Onion, Sun Dried Tomato, Ham and Chevre
  • Beet, Chevre and Green Onion
  • Potato, Cotija, Mozza and Rosemary
I would strongly encourage you to make an evening of flatbreads soon.  It is easy, varied and enjoyable!  Below is a dough recipe for you, you can top it off with anything you desire.

Simple Pizza Dough:

Makes enough for one small, thin crust pizza. Double it if you like your pizza thick and bready.


1 1/2 cups flour (can replace up to half of this with whole wheat flour)
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
1/2 cup lukewarm water (may need up to 1 or 2 tablespoons more)
1 tablespoon olive oil


Stir dry ingredients, including yeast, in a large bowl. Add water and olive oil, stirring mixture into as close to a ball as you can. Dump all clumps and floury bits onto a lightly floured surface and knead everything into a homogeneous ball.


If you are finding this step difficult, one of the best tricks I picked up from my bread-making class is to simply pause. Leave the dough in a lightly-floured spot, put the empty bowl upside-down on top of it and come back in 2 to 5 minutes, at which point you will find the dough a lot more lovable.


Knead it for just a minute or two. Lightly oil the bowl (a spritz of cooking spray perfectly does the trick) where you had mixed it — one-bowl recipe! — dump the dough in, turn it over so all sides are coated, cover it in plastic wrap and leave it undisturbed for an hour or two, until it has doubled in size.


Dump it back on the floured counter, and gently press the air out of the dough with the palm of your hands. Fold the piece into an approximate ball shape, and let it sit under that plastic wrap for 20 more minutes.


Sprinkle a pizza stone or baking sheet with cornmeal and preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Roll out the pizza, toss on whatever topping and seasonings you like.


Bake it for about 10 minutes until it’s lightly blistered and impossible to resist.



Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Raising a Cow

This year I am seriously considering raising a cow.  The more I read about the cattle industry in the United States the more disturbed I become about meat available in most grocery stores.  While I have a number of wonderful local resources for locally grown organic meats, I would really like to know exactly what inputs have gone into everything I consume.

I have got a few friends with ranches in the region that would let me put a cow on their land to roam which is what really gave this idea some serious thought.  Recently I found a person who is selling year old calves for a fairly reasonable rate so I'm very intrigued.  Give the size of the potential ranches, the cow could just roam for the spring, summer and early fall and eat as much grass as it could possibly stand without the need for supplemental food.  The biggest downside would be the fact that a cow produces a crazy amount of meat, probably four or five times more than I could use in a year.

Have any of you raised your own cows in the past?  While it seems pretty fool-proof perhaps there are things that I am overlooking so far as care is concerned.

Pound for Pound

Light on effort and heavy on flavor, pound cake has earned is long-lasting popularity.  The name is derived from the traditional ingredients - one pound each of flour, butter, sugar and eggs - which remain essentially the same to this day.  The recipe isn't difficult, but it tends to be a bit finicky if not made with care.  


Classic Pound Cake

  • 3 1/4 cups flour
  • 1 tablespoon coarse salt
  • 1 pound of butter (4 regularly sized sticks at room temperature)
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 9 large eggs at room temperature
Topping
  • 2 cups of berries
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice
  • Whipping cream
Preheat oven to 315 degrees. Butter two 5'' by 9'' loaf pans.  Combine flour and salt together in a bowl.  Thoroughly cream butter and sugar together in a mixer on high speed until pale and fluffy for about 8 minutes.  Reduce speed to medium and add vanilla.  Lightly beat the eggs by hand and add to butter-sugar mixture in 4 batches, mixing thoroughly and scraping down sides of bowl between each addition of egg.  Reduce speed to low and add flour in 4 batches, mixing until just incorporated.  Divide batter between the two loaf plans and tap down to ensure even distributions, smooth tops with spatula.  Bake loafs for 65 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the center of each loaf comes out clean.  Let loaves cool in pans for about 30 minutes, then remove cakes and allow to cool completely.  

For topping combine berries, sugar and lemon juice in a bowl and let sit for 1 hour.  Meanwhile beat the whipped cream until slightly firm.  Top slices of pound cake with the berries and cream.
  

Brussels Sprouts




Many people may have not-so-fond childhood memories of brussels sprouts, but in my old age I have begun to fall for them.  Brussels sprouts have become a staple vegetable in my winter cooking and there are thousands of ways to prepare them!  My favorite is roasting in the oven, as it really helps to caramelize the sprouts a bit and char the outside.  Last weekend I made the following version for a dinner party and even those who don't care for brussels sprouts were impressed.  I would strongly suggest you check them out!

Bacon-Ginger Roasted Brussels Sprouts:

  • 1 1/2 pounds Brussels Sprouts
  • 1 large sweet onion
  • 6 cloves of garlic
  • 3 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • 1/2 tablespoon sea salt
  • 1/2 tablespoon black pepper
  • 1/2 tablespoon rosemary
  • 2'' chunk of ginger
  • 3 strips of bacon
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Cut any brown ends off the brussels sprouts and pull off any yellow outer leaves.  Roughly chop onion, garlic, ginger, rosemary and uncooked bacon.  Mix these ingredients in a bowl with the olive oil, salt and pepper.  Pour the sprouts on a lined sheet pan and roast them for 40 minutes, until crisp on the outside and tender on the inside.  Shake the pan every 10 minutes or so to brown the sprouts evenly.  Sprinkle with more sea salt when you pull them out of the oven and serve immediately.  

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Dig Indian Food? Make Your Own Garam Masala.

Garam masala is a seasoning blend used in Indian cooking. I have seen many different recipes for it. I have always been able to buy it already premixed but I always prefer to make my own stuff when possible.

Garam Masala
1 tablespoon cardamon seeds
1 inch stick of cinnamon
1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
1 teaspoon whole cloves
1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
1/3 of a whole nutmeg


Roast all the ingredients until slightly browned.  Let cool.


Combine the spices in a blender or coffee/spice grinder and grind to a fine powder.


Save Money in 2010 - Raise Your Own Chickens


I have raised my own poultry for three years now. I have only raised layers but lately have been considering meat birds since a number of my friends have done them.  My friends and I raising our own poultry helped us save money, while providing endless hours of entertainment and providing far higher quality meat and eggs than we could have ever even hoped to buy at the grocery store.

All you need to raise chickens is a little space, a little know how (mostly know to leave them well enough alone) and some desire. If you order day old chicks through the mail or pick them up at your local feed store, you will need to make a brooder for them. The brooder can be as simple as a heat lamp suspended over a cardboard box (it’s best to staple cardboard across the box’s corners to “round” them … this keeps the chicks from piling up in the corners and suffocating those on the bottom of the heap. You should definitely take a look at books and articles on raising chicken if you have never done it, but suffice it to say this isn’t rocket science.

As you might imagine, raising your own chickens requires a commitment to care for and nurture the animals. For best success, you need to protect them from predators … including pets and small children, and you need to provide food, water and access to shelter throughout their lifetime. During the growing season, much of that food can come in the form of grass, clover, alfalfa, bugs, worms, various garden trimmings and excess fruit and vegetables if you allow them to roam.   I always prefer to supplement their diet with layer feed, cracked corn and oyster shells throughout the summer, in the fall and winter this is not a question.  The shelter can be a chicken house, barn, shed, old grain bin, garage, you name it.

Some might argue that it isn’t possible to grow your own broiler chickens for less per pound than the limp, bleached out stuff they sell at the grocery store for below a dollar a pound. That might be true. But you can grow chickens yourself for less than the plump nicely colored organic free range chicken that sells for dollars a pound … likewise with homegrown eggs. But, I find that comparison to be lacking, and somewhat anti-intellectual. With chickens, saving money isn’t just about the obvious products they provide.

The fact is, you can raise your own chickens and eggs for less per pound than premium eggs and chicken cuts sell for at the grocery store. If you grow their feed, production costs go down even further. Chickens will also help you save money by keeping insect pests at bay in the garden and yard. Chickens will also help you save money by weeding and tilling your garden if you let them roam. Chickens will also help save you money because they are so entertaining. Once you discover the joys of sitting and watching the chickens peck, you will spend less money on trips to town for a movie … or movie rental. You will spend less money on exercise because your chickens will require daily care…morning and night. And since you and your family will be eating the best, most local food there is, chickens will save you money with physical and mental healthcare to boot.

Salmon Safe Wines? Are you supporting them?


In the Pacific Northwest, salmon are important to not only the economy, but our ecology as well. 

Say you planted some vines on a sun-soaked slope of your property. That's great -- you'll have some lovely grapes in the years to come. But when you water those vines, what happens? Certainly, the thirsty plants will suck up some of it, but there will be runoff. Down the slope, and, very likely into a stream. During this process, silt and other gunk will be washed into the stream which reduces the ability for the salmon to thrive there, eliminating yet another "safe harbor" for the fish so to speak.

Salmon-Safe is an orginazation that is helping vineyards "protect important salmon watersheds and produce world class wine." (From http://salmonsafe.org/wine/index.cfm)

What can you do to help? If you are a grower, you can plant trees and ground cover on stream banks to control soil erosion and use natural methods to control weeds and pests. Salmon-Safe can help with that. If you are a consumer, you can look for the Salmon Safe label in your supermarket or wine shop. You can help keep our rivers safe for salmon.  Please encourage your local growers to support the mission of this important organization.

For more information about Salmon-Safe and to view a list of Salmon-Safe wines, visit their website at salmonsafe.org.

Winter Gardening

Well I have been getting antsy and I decided to start planting in the garden the other day.  It has been unseasonably warm for several weeks now and all of the extended forecasts I am reading are suggesting that we will not have a freeze for at least the next 30 days.  Risky, but I'm willing to take the risk at this point given the crazy winters we have had the last couple of years.  I ended up working over a few beds with a bit of compost, crushed egg shell and rotting leaves.  Thus far I have planted two varieties of radish (a white columnar variety and a red and white round radish) as well as spinach and kale.  All cold hardy things, unless we get prolonged freezes.  The bed they are in is fairly well protect from the elements so hopefully all will be good!  I'm looking into getting a greenhouse this spring so I can start many of the plants I want from seed with better success than last year.  Anyone have any good suggestions on economical units?

Charred Tomatoes, One of My Favorite Summer Flavors

This weekend, while preparing a salad I was rummaging through my canned and dried tomatoes from last summer and ran across some of my favorites, charred tomatoes!  Charring tomatoes (burning the skins to add depth to the flavor) became one of my preferred methods of preparing the fruit.  The preparation allowed for a beautiful presentation with some cheese and artisan bread and made for a tasty snack.


Charred Tomatoes and Cheese on Bread:


Preheat a cast iron skillet on med-high heat. You’ll want the surface to be hot: judge by being able to hold your hand above the surface of the skillet for no more than 2 seconds.

Slice a small handful of cherry tomatoes in half, or cut 1/4 inch slices off of a large tomato. Sprinkle a pinch of salt over the cut sides.

Assemble 1 oz. of cheese (any type will work, but I preferred a fresh mozzarella in the summer.  Pecorino or Asiago would be nice as well, though it wouldn't allow for the gooey factor) in small thumb sized chunks and 2 small slices of bread to be close to your hot skillet.

Place the cut tomatoes, cut side down on the hot skillet.

After 1 minute, place the cheese chunks down on the skillet in the space remaining around the tomato slices. Place the pieces of bread along side to toast lightly.

Leave the cheese and tomatoes on the hot skillet for 2-3 minutes at which time they will be burnt on the cooking surface.

Place the toasted bread slices on a plate, and with a nice sharp edged metal spatula, scrape/lift the charred tomato slices and cheese on to the bread, burnt side up (so it won’t get all steamy soggy).



Allow to cool slightly and dust with another slight sprinkle of salt and enjoy.



One of my Favorite Value Wine Brands - Wines of Substance

Remember the periodic table of the elements from your high school chemistry class?  Winemakers Greg Harrington of Gramercy Cellars and Jamie Brown of Waters Winery have re-imagined it as the Washington State Periodic Table of Wine.  One of my favorite brands in the country, Wines of Substance strives to highlight the unique terroirs of Washington and produce every varietal which grows in the state.  The iconic packaging and innovative website are my favorite!  The periodic table includes elemental-ish symbols for more than two dozen varietals grown in Washington (e.g. Me for Merlot, Ch for Chardonnay), which sharply translates into sleek, cool graphics for the wine labels.  The concept is to provide a bit of a tasting primer for beginning wine drinkers to start to be able to identify unique attributes of wines, by highlighting them in their purest form.  That being said, these wines are surprise hits even for the wine snobs among us.  Substance is the kind of homework that most anyone would be able to get into!


Check them out today at www.winesofsubstance.com.  

Best Blueberry Pancakes

I'm pretty picky when in comes to pancakes, in fact I typically don't care for them at all.  For some reason this past weekend I had a wicked craving for them and began searching for recipes and ran across one that seemed promising on one of my favorite recipe sites www.smittenkitchen.com

The writers has customized a Blueberry Pancake recipe from Martha Stewart that sounded nice.  Buttermilk, farm fresh eggs, clarified butter and fresh berries (I substituted lingonberries for the blueberries).  Sounded nice to me!  The girls recommended making sure not to over mix the batter in order to ensure light fluffy cakes as well as not including the berries in the mix itself, but rather placing them on the pancakes once they begin to cook.  Perhaps the most important thing to remember was to use butter to coat the pan rather than oil (keeps the cakes from burning so quickly) and the keep the temperature on the low side of medium.

For a person who doesn't like pancakes I can assure you I will revisit these many times!

http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/07/blueberry-pancakes-pancake-101/

Raising Chickens in the City


What could be more idyllic than a flock of hens happily clucking in your backyard? A growing movement of people in cities and suburbs, not just farmers, are raising chickens—and I'm right there with them. I first picked up about eight baby chicks in March of 2007 and raised them to provide eggs for my baking and cooking needs as well as share with friends and neighbors. The pictures here are some of the original hens I picked up. One great side benefit of raising chickens: their droppings, which make great fertilizer for the garden. Plus, chickens are unexpectedly entertaining.

Over the past three years my chicken herd has increased to 24 hens, of many different breeds and color patterns. They make for quite the pretty flock as they casually peck and scratch through their yard on lazy days.
The current flock includes the following hens (as well as I can remember...I may miss a couple!):

Chastity - California Speckled
Olivia - White Crested Black Polish
Rose - Buff Orpington
Ellie Mae - Red Cochin Banty
Genevieve - Blue Cochin Banty
Phyllis - Light Whetan Americana
Bernadette - Gold and Black Americana
Tallulah - White Americana
Agnes - Black Australorpe
Hazel - Gold Sex Link
Gretchen - White Silkie
Chickadee - Barred Cochin Banty
Minnie - Gold Laced Seabright
Gina - Gold Laced Seabright
Martha - Buff and Blue Americana
Bianca - Splash Polish
Lola - Light Brahma
Violet - Blue Wyandotte
Bea Arthur - Speckled Sussex
Maude - Cuckoo Maran
Penelope - Red Americana

More of Last Summer's Garden





Pictures from Last Year's Garden Part 2





Pictures from Last Year's Garden





Spring has Sprung

The valley has burst forth with the signs of spring over the past several weeks. This much welcomed change of the seasons has spurred me to once again get active in the yard, scour over seed catalogues, and begin experimenting in the kitchen with renewed fervor.

I hope that you find this blog to be filled with useful tips, recipes, reviews and imagery of my life in the garden, the kitchen and on the road.
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