There's an App for That...

During a late night rocking-the-baby-to-sleep session, I found myself searching through the iPhone App Store to pass the time. 

The truth is that I don't really play games (besides Tetris) and I generally don't use my smart phone for anything other than making calls and checking Google maps. So, I wanted to search to see if there was an app for something I'd actually use: To see what produce is in-season.

Lo and behold!  There *is* an app for that!  Several, actually.  I ended up going with the one called Seasons. It lets you know what's in-season (both local & imported), what's out of season and what is having it season end.  If you search for produce, it shows you it's harvest period.  Granted, I have a pretty good handle on what is in season right now from my garden and shopping at farmer's market, but it's handy to look up, for example, what will be in season in March. 

What app I really want to see, though, is one where you input your last frost date and the fruit/vegetables you are starting from seed and it outputs the dates you should start each seed as well as putting that info in your iPhone calender with alerts.  That would be awesome.  Anyone want to build that for me?

Recipe: Squash & Corn in Coconut Milk with Thai Basil

Let me preface this by saying this is incredibly delicious.  Like, so good that I'm sad that summer squash season is winding down.  And, so good that I ate it and totally forgot to take a picture!  You'll just have to imagine shockingly yellow summer squash (I don't know the variety!) and pale yellow corn kernels in a pool of white coconut milk and flecked with green bits of cilantro and hot peppers.  Ahhhhhh..

Another plus is that the dish comes together crazy fast if you've got leftover cooked chicken or picked up a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store.

More to the point: This is the perfect recipe to bridge summer and fall. Not only are squash, corn, hot peppers, thai basil and cilantro all available at the farmer's market right now, but this dish is light, yet as comforting as a bowl of a more fall-ish stew. I suppose you could say this is "comfort food," summer style!

The recipe comes from Deborah Madison via The Washington Post.  They took a picture, but my dish was prettier.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
3 medium squash, cut into 1/2-inch dice (about 3 cups)
1 medium onion, cut into small dice
Kernels from 2 ears of fresh corn
2 to 4 jalapeño peppers, stemmed, seeded and minced (I used my kung pao peppers & didn't seed them)
3 medium cloves garlic, minced
1/2-inch piece peeled ginger root, minced (I grated this with a Microplane)
5 scallions, white and light-green parts only, cut crosswise into thin slices
15 ounces (1 can) low-fat coconut milk
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup chopped cilantro, plus more for optional garnish
1/4 cup chopped Thai basil, plus more for optional garnish
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 cup shredded cooked chicken (optional)
3 cups cooked basmati rice, warmed, for serving

Directions:

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the squash and onion; cook for about 6 minutes, until tender. If anything, under cook the squash slightly as it will have a few more minutes cooking in the coconut milk.
2. Add the corn, hot peppers, garlic, ginger and scallions to the pan, stirring to incorporate. Once incorporated (so, these aren't really sauteing), stir in the coconut milk and water, then add the cilantro and basil.
3. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes, until the corn is heated through. Add the chicken, if desired, and stir to incorporate.
5. Serve over rice.

Recipe: Stuffed Eggplant

This summer I've made a better effort to visit the farmer's markets and eat seasonally. Sometimes this means only produce from the farmer's market and sometimes it means buying tomatoes, eggplant, squash, corn, green beans or peppers from the grocery stores if I can't make it to the market this year.

In theory, this is glorious as it's far easier to make in-season fruits and vegetables taste good. Really, it's the lazy way to eat. However, the reality, as I discovered last year with my CSA, is that you run out of tried & true recipes and ultimately get sick of tomatoes, eggplant, squash, corn, green beans and peppers. It's safe to say that I'm currently at the end of my recipe rope at this point.

Staying home with the baby has allowed me to watch more cooking shows. After all, one can only rock a restless cherub for so long in silence. On one such occasion I stumbled upon this recipe by Michael Chiarello: Mom's Stuffed Eggplant. I'm sure his recipe is good as-is, but I made some changes reflected in the recipe below (I also doubled it so we'd have leftovers).

Ingredients (Serves 12 as a side dish; 6 as a main course)
6 small/personal-sized eggplant
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 lb ground beef
2 onions, small diced
3 Italian peppers, small diced (about 2 bell peppers would work too)
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 c basil leaves, chopped
2 tsp crushed red pepper
1 cup Parmigiano Reggiano
1/2 c unseasoned bread crumbs (I used panko)
2 eggs, slightly beaten
3 chopped tomatoes

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350*F.
2. Scoop out insides of eggplant leaving enough flesh so that it will serve as a stable "cup" for the filling. Put the flesh in a pot of boiling water & cook for 10-12 minutes or until soft.
3. Meanwhile, in a skillet heat the oil with the crushed red peppers and saute the peppers, onions and garlic until softened. Add beef and cook until browned. Next, add tomatoes, Parm and basil. Remove from heat.
4. When eggplant is done, drain & add to skillet, breaking up pieces as necessary.
5. Taste filling for seasoning and add salt/pepper as necessary.
6. Add egg and bread crumbs to skillet.
7. Fill eggplant cups with the filling and top with Parm (if desired).
8. Bake for about 50 minutes. Rotate pan halfway through baking if your oven has hot/cold spots.
9. Enjoy as a one-pot meal or a side dish!

"Gardens are a Sign of Commitment to a Place"

My favorite part of Hidcote Manor Garden from our trip to England a few years ago was this amazing beech "forest". A charming iron gate leads you to perfect rows of beech trees. It was just magical. I remember thinking that many of the grand gardens and grand houses we were seeing had plants that would take a more than lifetime to form a 15 foot tall hedge or a mature mock-forest. I also remember thinking that fast growing trees and shrubs (along with eye-catching annuals) was what I could mostly find in my neighborhood.

Today I attended a lecture by the author of Edible Estates: Attack on the Front Lawn, Fritz Haeg. He was describing his project on turning lawn-filled front yards into productive and beautiful landscapes and how that affected the garden owners and their relationship with the people around them.

He also described his excitement, and trepidation, with doing the project for a more transient apartment complex.

One of the audience members asked if he had ever considered more mobile gardens for these apartment residents to take with them when they move. Mr. Haeg responded that whatever garden that works on this street may not work on one street over. "Gardens," he said, "are a sign of commitment to a place. You're not going to tear up your front yard if you're planning to sell your house in a year."

Is the American dream of moving your way up the real estate ladder the reason why we don't see more daring front yards such as what Mr. Haeg has created? Or why we see vast stretches of lawn from coast-to-coast that historically said/says "I'm so rich, I don't need my land to be productive"? Is it why we see the likes of Bradford Pears and other fast growing, almost disposable trees? After all, why spend time & money on a plant you, your children or your grandchildren won't see to maturity?

Whatever the answer to those questions are, I do believe that he's got a point: Gardens ARE a sign of a commitment to a place. They require care and maintenance and work. You don't do that if you aren't emotionally involved with that place.

Needless to say, I'm not more excited than ever to turn half of my front yard into an herb garden this fall.

ISO The Perfect Pickle Recipe

And by "pickle," I'm referring to cucumber pickles here. I love pickles. Partly because I love all things vinegary, salty and crunchy. Like salt & vinegar chips. (Pickles are healthier, though!) Thus, I am on the quest for the perfect pickle recipe.

Last year I made a recipe from Putting Food By that was good, but wasn't my idea of the "perfect" pickle. Too sweet.

This year I used my Edmonson pickling cukes (they are white variety) and a recipe from Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. They are also quite good and are getting closer to what I am after, but not quite. In fact, I'd probably make the recipe again (maybe adding a dried chili to the jar)

Next year I plan to do multiple recipes early in the season and do a taste test to pick my favorite. The Ball recipe below will probably be my basis for this.

Ingredients (Makes about 3 quarts)
3 Tbsp pickling spice
4 c vinegar (I used white, Ball recommends cider. Both are at least 5% acidity)
4 c water
3/4 c granulated sugar
1/2 c pickling or canning salt (I got this at a local hardware store)
3 bay leaves
3 garlic cloves
2.5 tsp mustard seeds
~3.5 lbs pickling cucumbers, trimmed and cut into spears (try to make sure all the spears are the same size)
Ball Pickle Crisp, optional

Directions
1. Sanitize jars and lids.
2. Put the pickling spice in cheesecloth (or a large tea ball) and place in a sauce pot with the vinegar, water, sugar and salt. Boil for about 15 minutes, stirring to dissolve salt and sugar.
3. In each jar, put 1 bay leaf, 1 garlic clove, and 1 tsp of mustard seed. Pack in cucumber spears, leaving 1/2-in on top of the jar. If using Pickle Crisp, add that according to package instructions.
4. Ladle hot pickling liquid in jars, keeping 1/2-in of headspace in the jar. Remove air bubbles and screw on lids.
5. Process in boiling water bath for 15 minutes. Wait to eat for a least a week for flavors to develop.

Last Summer Harvest

Almost. I kept 2 Sungold plants that still looked OK, a zucchini plant that's nursing a little baby zuke and our kung pao & thai peppers which are producing like crazy. But otherwise? The summer garden is out of production.

This represents 1.5 lb of cherry tomatoes, 10.5 oz of cucumbers and 10 oz of eggplant (my only ones all summer). There were more cucumbers, but they were hidden by the mass of vines and had turned all yellow. Not good eatin'!

Arugula and mustard greens have gone into pots on the south side of the house.

RIP 2010 Garden

I'm leaving the hot peppers and the zucchini, but the rest of this year's garden is headed for the compost pile or the trash bin (I never compost tomatoes or anything that looks like it might have disease/fungus). The tomatoes look terrible, the eggplant have struggled all season and the cucumbers are dying back.

Onward to next year! In the next month or so we're going to redo our garden beds. They are too wide* and, after our construction, they don't fit the shape of yard anymore. We're going to basically have 2 beds: one 2 ft x by 33 ft (it's against a fence) and one 3 ft by 21 ft (I can walk on both sides). We'll have 3 ft walkways which is what we have now & it seems to work out well.

I'll do a thorough recap post to detail what worked & didn't work for me this year. What has been the star (or dud!) of your 2010 garden?

*Note to others: If you're doing a Square Foot Garden, Mel knows what he's talking about when he says making beds only 2 feet wide if you can't walk on both sides. My rebellion to make them 3 ft deep was not a good idea.