Brussels sprouts are the number one underrated vegetables, with beets coming in a close second. Of course, I love them both, perhaps because they are perfect vehicles for bacon. Or that they are both nutritional powerhouses. It wouldn’t be beyond me to love them because they are both beautiful: brussel sprout plants are so fun, and beet puree – how can you not love that color??
This year, I planted 4 stalks. All survived the aphid attacks on the brassicas, though one plant’s growth was stunted because it was sowed into what became a rather shady spot. The sprouts grow just above the leaves. You can harvest the sprouts when they are just ¼ inch in diameter or you can wait until they are larger. Since the sprouts don’t uniformly grow at the same rate, its best to harvest just the ones that are the desired size. While the whole stalk makes an impressive presentation at the Farmer’s market, it’s not the most practical.
My favorite preparation is roasted with bacon and horseradish, though the olive oil roasted brussels sprouts at Toro fall into a close second. Blanch the sprouts first in salted boiling water and toss with rendered bacon. Roast the brussel sprouts with the bacon in a 450 oven until the sprouts are tender. Toss with prepared horseradish.
In a nutshell, it was a great summer! My garden yielded more produce than I could have imagined. I had enough to share with friends and neighbors, and plenty for my own meals.
This was the first full season with my new garden… it was in the middle of last summer that I dug up all the crappy Cambridge “soil” (bricks, glass, trash with a sprinkling of dirt) and replaced it, 2 feet deep, with high quality compost. The new garden also gave me twice as much growing room as before.
I’ve resigned myself that the sage will be as much as an ornamental plant as it will be for cooking. I started the summer with 5 plants which quickly took over. I moved one to the front yard and dug up a second entirely, dried the leaves and burned it throughout the house to scare away any evil demons. Even with 3 plants (top picture), they look as lush as when the sage sagas began (bottom).
The aphids had a great time chowing on the brassicas – the kohlrabi, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts. Despite regular spraying (with organic pesticide, of course), I still lost a few plants. Speaking of cauliflower, I only got one head from the three plants. I enjoyed watching the flower grow out of the bouquet of leaves. But in the end, it was bitter and the yield didn’t justify the space.
The kohlrabi on the other hand, did quite well. Roasted with olive oil and garlic, it was the dark horse of the summer vegetables.
I grew three varieties of tomatoes – 1 heirloom and 2 hybrids. The heirloom, on September 22nd looks as if it might give off one ripe fruit before the first frost. The hybrids on the other hand generated a few dozen. I forced myself to space the tomato plants with at least 2 feet between them – It took great self control to not crowd as many plant into the garden as possible, but in the end I was rewarded. The plants grew much larger with more fruit than in past years.
The eggplant rewarded me by giving me lots of fruit. In past years, I’ve tried growing eggplant and have been lucky to get one spiny fruit. The zucchini on the other hand did not give me a single vegetable, though I did get lots of blossoms. The raspberry bush burst red twice – once in early June and a second time in late August.
In past years, I grew cucumbers mainly for my friend Anna who likes them so much. This year, I discovered the joys of pickling so I had very little in the raw form to share. The few that were spared the salty brine were snacks. I was surprised at how sweet they were!
The celery grew slowly throughout the summer. As needed, I would trim off a stalk to add to a recipe. I’m hoping that by mid-October I will have a celery root to harvest.
In the final hours of summer sun, I harvested 3 Italian eggplants, 2 Japanese eggplant, a large fistful of chilies (of unknown variety – my neighbor Craig gave me this plant), 8 cucumbers and 3 tomatoes. I picked a gallon of basil leaves to freeze. The celery and Brussels sprouts continue quietly growing – they will be the showcase of the autumn harvest.
On my last visit to DC I visited Ed Bruske’s garden. I was particularly keen to meet him since we’d shared so many similar experiences at Even’ Star Farm, though not at the same time. You can read about the pig matanza… part 1 and part 2. I participated too, two years prior. One of these days, I’ll post my story too.
In any case, I was fascinated to see another urban garden. His is impressive in its size but also it’s structure. He has tomato cages that are seven feet high. I could have used those too.
And my favorite was how he trained the cucumbers up a trellis. I decided to take this home with me. It worked great to clear up the ground space for my fall plantings, and it also makes it easier to see the cucumbers, and pick them when they’re ready.
Each morning, while savouring my first cup of coffee, I inspect the garden for what’s ready or near ready to harvest.It’s been an exciting week: 3 Chinese eggplants, 2 Italian eggplants, 5 cucumbers, 4 tomatoes, 3 kohlrabi and lots of herbs.I had wanted to take a photo of the bounty, but I’ve been eating everything just as quickly as I harvest.
The cucumbers are surprisingly sweet.Cut in half or sticks, they make a great snack. I’ve sliced tomatoes with the intention of making a sandwich, but with a little sprinkle of salt, I can’t get them from the cutting board to a plate without “tasting” them first.Needless to say, I have yet to make a sandwich or collect enough cucumbers to make pickles.
The eggplant is too bountiful to consume on my own.On Thursday evening, my neighbors (who have since returned from vacation and reclaimed their CSA subscription) and I combined the corn from their farm share with my eggplant for a Japanese-inspired vegetable feast: Miso-Rubbed Grilled Eggplant and Chile Glazed (think Spicy Tuna Roll sauce) Corn on the Cob.
3 Japanese Eggplant, sliced in half lengthwise 3 cloves garlic 3 tablespoons olive or canola oil 1 cup white miso ½ cup sugar ¼ cup mirin (sweet rice wine) ¼ cup sake
1. Finely chop garlic. Toss eggplant with garlic and oil to marinate.
2. Combine remaining ingredients in a sauce pot. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until completely combined and sugar has dissolved.
3. Prepare a charcoal grill. Grill Eggplant, cut side down, for 3 minutes or until lightly charred. Flip over and brush with miso paste. Cook for 2 minutes more. If you’d like, flip again to char the miso paste onto eggplant.
On a regular basis, I browse the supermarket aisles looking for inspiration for dinner. I’m hoping the mix of unrealized cravings and fresh produce will elicit a creative flash. More often than not, my plan fails and I usually fall back on a few standby’s: Clay-pot Chicken with Chinese Sausage and Mushrooms, Fish Tacos with Chipotle Slaw or Chicken Piccata with Spicy, Garlic Broccoli (yes, I cook this way on an idle Tuesday night). If you’re like me, the produce aisle (and the fish and meat counters, too) tends to look the same after a while… and I glaze over the unfamiliar or uninteresting like kohlrabi or jicama.
I only recently tried kohlrabi for the first time… at a Yoga Retreat in Costa Rica.I waxed on about its virtues here, so I won’t repeat myself now. I decided to grow some in my garden this year. Because Kohlrabi is so little known, though, it’s hard to find a recipe for it.And with my kohlrabi finally ready for harvest, my research has reached fever pitch.My two vegetarian cookbooks, The Greens Cookbook
and Vegetarian Planet, have nary a reference. The old standby: Time-Life Cookbooks had a few.
I like to think of myself as a creative chef, but it’s hard to come up with ideas without a frame of reference. For example, I know tomatoes and basil work well, so I can season a ricotta filling for squash blossoms or cannolonis with basil and serve with a tomato ragout, toss pasta with fresh tomatoes and pesto, or serve beef with a tomato sauce dotted with basil. You get the idea: the same two ingredients in various configurations. This summer, I’ve eaten kohlrabi twice in restaurants: at Oleana in a cucumber slaw served with fried oysters and at No. 9 Park, pureed and served with beef and chanterelles.Though the texture is different than zucchini (with no seeds in the middle) the flavor profiles seem to marry well as they are paired together in many recipes, or kohlrabi is used in a recipe where I might expect zucchini:
Zucchini – Kohlrabi Gratin
Kohlrabi Apple Slaw
Kohlrabi and Carrots
Kohlrabi Squash Empanadas
Kohlrabi stuffed with Dill and Sour Cream
Bear with me in this train of thought…. Kohlrabi and zucchini seem to substitute well for each other… my stuffing recipe for stuffed zucchini also works well as moussaka filling… kohlrabi works well in gratin…. So I’ve come up with these ideas:
Kohlrabi Moussaka
Parmesan Breaded Kohlrabi with Tomato Sauce (think: eggplant parmesan, or zucchini fries)
My summer crops have just come into full swing and I’m thinking about the fall plantings. I’ve made the same mistakes in years past – planting the lettuces and cooking greens after Labor Day. I’ve barely made a salad before the first snow comes and ends my growing season. This year will be different!
Gardeners and farmers must think about the next season in the middle of the current. Most plants have at least a 60 day cycle from seed to harvest. While farmers have the luxury of acres of land (and therefore, can appropriately rotate crops through different fields), urban gardeners must carefully plan for the entire year, not just each season, in order to maximize the space. Before the spring crops bolt, the summer crops have gone in the ground. And when the summer crops are in full force, fall seeds are planted.
So my first challenge is to determine where to plant. The spring crops were very tidy. I planted a row of lettuce, and they pretty much confined themselves within a few inches on either side of the row – leaving ample room for the coveted summer vegetables. And let’s be honest, when it comes time to plant the summer tomatoes, eggplants, cucumbers and squashes, I get a bit zealous, planting as much as my yard can manage. I’m always surprised by how much they grow, and the boscage leaves little room for the fall crops.
Gardeners and farmers must think about the
next season in the middle of the current. Most plants have at least a 60 day
cycle from seed to harvest. While farmers have the luxury of acres of land (and
therefore, can appropriately rotate crops through different fields), urban
gardeners must carefully plan for the entire year, not just each season, in
order to maximize the space. Before the spring crops bolt, the summer crops
have gone in the ground. And when the summer crops are in full force, fall
seeds are planted.
So my first challenge is to determine where
to plant. The spring crops were very tidy. I planted a row of lettuce, and they
pretty much confined themselves within a few inches on either side of the row –
leaving ample room for the coveted summer vegetables. And let’s be honest, when
it comes time to plant the summer tomatoes, eggplants, cucumbers and squashes,
I get a bit zealous, planting as much as my yard can manage. I’m always
surprised by how much they grow, and the boscage leaves little room for the
fall crops.
Suffice it to say, I need to clear away something
to make room for the lettuces. First out: the zucchini. I sowed about 20 seeds,
hoping to get a few zucchini. So far, I’ve had nothing… though plenty of squash
blossoms. And I’ve had my fill out squash blossoms. Next out: kohlrabi. I had
planted 20 of those, too. As hard as I tried, spraying organic pesticide once a
week, the aphids decimated at least half the plants. Of the remaining, only two
plants showed promise of reaching maturity. The “mid-season” peas came out,
too… the first batch were stringy, so it seems silly to take up precious space
for a vegetable that will likely end up in the compost bin.
What's been spared: The tomatoes and eggplant
continue to proliferate. And the Brussels sprouts, happily growing in the back
corner, won’t be ready until Thanksgiving. The cucumber sprawl produced its
first 3 this week, and I expect many more in the coming weeks. I will likely
have enough to make pickles – an exciting prospect! And the chilies
inconspicuously grow in the front.
On the docket for fall: arugula, mizuna,
tatsoi and broccoli raab.
On the docket for fall: arugula, mizuna, tatsoi and broccoli raab.
I know that the zucchini plants yield about 1 fruit for every 8 flowers, or so. Given those odds, I planted about 20 plants hoping to optimize my potential for zucchini. So far, no luck, but I have plenty of blossoms.
The blooms need to be picked at about 5pm the day before they bloom. This will yield the largest flower – the better for stuffing. The flowers open up first thing in the morning, and close after about 2 hours. Once they’ve opened, they rot pretty quickly. But if you catch them before they open, they will last about 3 days in the refrigerator.
Given that, I started harvesting 3 days out for a dinner party on Tuesday. I yielded about 18 blooms, enough for a generous appetizer.
Stuffed-Fried Squash Blossoms with Roasted Tomatoes
18 squash blossoms, stamen removed ¾ cup fresh ricotta cheese ¼ cup fresh grated parmesan cheese 1 tbs. fresh basil 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste ½ carrot, peeled and diced ½ celery stalk, diced ½ onion, diced 1 tbs. butter
2 cups chopped tomatoes ½ cup white wine ½ cup parmesan cheese Salt and pepper to taste
½ cup flour ½ cup corn starch 1 tsp. salt 1 egg ½ cup ice cold soda water 1 cup plain oil
Mix ricotta, parmesan and basil together. Season with salt, pepper and lemon juice. Gently stuff each squash blossom with about 1 tbs. of filling.
Meanwhile, sauté carrots, onions and celery in butter. After 5 minutes, add wine and tomatoes. Simmer until carrots are tender, about 20 minutes. Puree with parmesan. Season with salt and pepper.
Make the tempura batter: Mix together the flour, corn starch and salt. Add the egg and soda water. Whisk just to combine.
Heat a large skillet with oil over medium heat. Dip each squash blossom in the batter and add to the pan. Cook until lightly golden on both sides, about 4 minutes. Drain on a paper towel and serve immediately with sauce.
A few weeks ago, I wrote about how to store ginger: in the garden where it keeps growing.When you need it for a recipe, you can dig it up, break off a piece and then rebury it.I don’t remember where I learned this, though probably from my friend Brett.I’ve never been methodical about the process and it’s always worked.Another blogger has written out more specific instructions, as well as tips for growing it in pots. Thanks, Lydia, for pointing this out!
The raspberries are starting to kick into high gear. I’m yet not harvesting enough in any given two day period – which is as long as I can keep them before I start snacking on them — to make a pie or other berry-laden dessert.
I do have enough to significantly embellish muffins or pancakes, which is what I did this morning.
Raspberries grow on thorny sprays of branches. Ripe ones hide under the foliage. To make sure I find all the ripe ones before they mold or rot, I have to inspect the plant from many angles: pushing away branches, lifting leaves and getting behind the plant. With careful inspection, I filled a 6 ounce ramekin with berries in 5 minutes.
I only wash the berries just before using them; otherwise the rotting process is hastened.
My favorite pancake recipe comes from The Joy of Cooking
.
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
3 tbs. sugar
1 tbs. baking powder
1½ cup milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3 tbs. melted butter
Butter for cooking as needed.
1. Sift dry ingredients together into a bowl and make a well in the center.
2. Mix wet ingredients. Pour into well of dry ingredients. Mix until just incorporated.
3. Heat pan over medium heat. Add butter. Ladle in about 2 oz. of batter per pancake. Cook for about 3 minutes. Flip, continue cooking. Serve immediately, or keep warm in a 200 oven until ready to serve.
For the raspberry pancakes, I dot each spoon of batter with berries.
When I’ve finished making all the pancakes, I add the remaining berries to the pan along with some maple syrup.
I pour the berry-syrup over the pancakes just before serving.
, have nary a reference. The old standby: Time-Life Cookbooks had a few.