Veggie Obsession

Lemony Parsnip Soup with Rosemary and Crispy Leeks

2012-02-18T06:20:00.000-07:00

Parsnips seem to have something of abad reputation and I can't imagine why. They are sweet and delicious,like a white carrot. I picked up a few pounds of them, along with afew rutabagas, from Root Cellar Farm at the Los Ranchos wintergrowers' market.

Not many farmers grow them, because they take allseason to mature, but the great thing is that they can be stored inthe ground all winter. They become sweeter after the frost, so youjust leave them where they grew until you're ready to dig some up andeat them.

This delicate soup is dairy-free andtakes only 20 minutes to prepare. Lately I've come to believe thatgarnishes are the key to a really great soup experience. The soup isvery tasty on its own, but with the garnish it's truly delightful –don't skip the leeks.

2 T. olive oil

1/2 C. diced onion

3 C. diced parsnips

1 sprig rosemary

1/4 t. black pepper

4 C. chicken or vegetable stock

Salt

1 leek, thinly sliced white and greenparts only

Juice and zest of 1/2 lemon

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over mediumflame. Add onion and cook until just softened. Add parsnips,rosemary, pepper and stock. Bring to a boil, then simmer about 15minutes, until parsnips are tender. Meanwhile, heat remaining oil onmedium flame. Add sliced leeks, season with salt and fry, stirringoften, until bits begin to brown. Remove from heat and reserve.Remove the rosemary and puree the soup. Add the lemon zest, then addlemon juice and salt to taste. Garnish with leeks. Serves 2 to 4.

Beet Salad with Fennel and Lemon Relish

2012-02-11T07:00:00.000-07:00

I just recently realized that beets and fennel are a great combination, and beets also go well with lots of the other anise-flavored herbs like tarragon and caraway. The lemon-fennel relish is especially nice with Meyer lemons, which taste like a cross between orange and lemon. The recipe makes more relish than you need for the salad, so save it to serve with fish or chicken for another meal.

1 lb. beets
2 T. olive oil

1 fennel bulb
1 lemon, preferably Meyer variety
1 onion
1/2 t. fennel seeds

1 T. honey
1/2 C. water

1/2 t. salt
1/4 cup chopped parsley

Preheat oven to 400F. Scrub beets well, and trim off tops and tails. Cut small beets into quarters or halves, or larger beets into 1-inch chunks. Toss with 1 tablespoon oil and a little salt on a baking sheet. Roast about 45 minutes, until the beets are tender.

Meanwhile, chop lemon and onion into about 1/4 inch dice. Trim the bottom and the stems from the fennel bulb, slice it in half lengthwise, then slice crosswise into thin strips. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet on medium flame. Cook onions, lemon and fennel slices with fennel seeds until soft, about 5 minutes. Add honey, water and salt, and simmer until most of the liquid is absorbed, another 5 minutes or so. Adjust the amount of salt and honey as desired.

Set a handful of beets on each plate, top with some of the fennel mixture, and sprinkle with parsley. Serves 2 to 4 as a side.

Carrot, Spinach and Chickpea Saute

2012-02-03T07:00:00.000-07:00

This is a deceptively fabulous winter dish. Chickpeas and spinach just don't sound that exciting, even with a few carrots thrown in, but somehow it turns out to be incredibly tasty! I love it when I find a recipe that is more than the sum of its parts - this one is adapted from Yotam Ottolenghi's wildly popular vegetarian cookbook, Plenty. It's super quick, and makes great use of some of the most common winter vegetables.

1/4 cup olive oil

4 medium carrots, diced

1 t. caraway seeds

1 can (14 oz.) chickpeas

1 garlic clove, minced

1 t. dried mint

1/2 t. ground coriander

1 T. lemon juice

Salt and black pepper

1/2 C. Greek yogurt

1 T. olive oil

Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add carrots and caraway seeds, and cook 5 minutes or so. Add chickpeas and spinach and cook about 5 minutes more, until carrots are tender. Stir in garlic, mint, coriander, and lemon juice. Cook for a few more seconds, then season with salt and pepper. Mix yogurt and olive oil with a little salt and pepper. Pile vegetables on plates, and top with yogurt. Serves 2 as a main dish, or 4 as a side dish.

Buddha's Hand Citron

2012-01-28T14:16:00.000-07:00

The first time I ever saw one of these, on a tree outside a hotel in New Zealand, I thought - what the heck is that, a mutated lemon?? Basically, yes... but it wasn't just that one tree. It turns out this is a very old type of citron called Buddha's Hand, native to China or northeastern India.

We picked these up at a citrus farm stand outside of Bakersfield on our way home from California last month, for super cheap. They are huge, compared to the ones I'd seen before - more than a pound each. They have almost no pulp or seeds, they're just all pith and rind. The taste and smell of the rind is just incredible, more fragrant and floral than regular lemon. They're just so wacky - like a squid crossed with a lemon - I had to have them!

After admiring them for a couple of weeks, I made them into citron vodka and candied citron. I know, I've been making a lot of candied citrus lately, but they're all different!

Buddha's Hand Vodka or Limoncello
1/2 lb citron
750 ml of decent vodka
2 cups sugar (if making limoncello)
2.5 cups water

Chop citron coarsely, or slice fingers in half lengthwise for a prettier presentation. Combine citron and vodka in a quart jar and leave to infuse in a dark place for 2 weeks. If you just want infused vodka, you're done! For limoncello, combine sugar and water, stirring to dissolve. Remove citron and add syrup until it's sweet enough for you. Age for 2 more weeks, until silky-smooth.

Candied Buddha's Hand
This is like the candied citron you'd use for fruitcake, but better! The corn syrup is important because it keeps the sugar from crystallizing, so the pieces come out soft and chewy.

2 lbs citron
Water
3 cups sugar
1 tablespoon light corn syrup

Cut the citron into 1/2-inch cubes and put them in a large pot. (A 2-quart saucepan is not big enough, because when you boil them with the syrup it bubbles up a lot.) Add water to cover, and bring to a boil. Simmer 30 minutes or so, until the pith is translucent, to remove bitterness. Some say the pith of citrons is not bitter like orange pith, and maybe sometimes it's not, but... when I tasted it uncooked, it was not bitter; after I boiled it a bit, it was definitely bitter. When I boiled it longer, the bitterness went out of the pith and into the water.

Drain the citrons, then put them back in the pan with 2 cups water, sugar and corn syrup. Cook on medium-low heat, stirring frequently especially toward the end, until the temperature of the syrup reaches 230ºF. The syrup should be very thick; almost all the liquid must evaporate for it to reach this temperature. (It can take a really long time if you have the heat too low, and I think this is why mine have a slightly caramelly-burnt taste, so next time I'd let it bubble a lot so that it reduces quicker. I think for fruitcake or similar purposes, it wouldn't be a disaster if it wasn't quite up to 230ºF, the finished pieces would just be softer and stickier.) Don't worry if they still have some white color to them at this point. Turn off the heat and let the pieces sit in the syrup for another hour. Drain the citron pieces thoroughly in a colander, then spread on a cookie sheet to cool.

Lamb Stew with Winter Squash and Preserved Lemons

2012-01-28T07:00:00.000-07:00

This sweet, tangy,spicy stew is great winter comfort food, made with lots of preservedand long-keeping ingredients. Our ancestors probably ate more meat inthe winter, when it could be preserved by the cold, and freshvegetables were limited. Local lamb is often available at winterfarmers' markets; lamb neck bones are one of the cheapest and mostflavorful cuts, perfect for stew.

Thesecret ingredient in the rich, fruity sauce is... prunes! Preservedlemons and harissa (a North African chile paste) add kick at the end.If you can't find preserved lemons, you can just use fresh lemonjuice and zest, but they are worth seeking out at Spanish or MiddleEastern specialty stores. Or, you can easily make them at home...recipes for both harissa and preserved lemons are on my blog,www.veggieobsession.com.Parsley is such an underrated herb; a big handful of parsley adds areally nice flavor and a fresh note to rich stews like this.

2 T. oil

2 lbs lamb neck bones

1 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 T. freshly grated ginger

2 t. cinnamon

Pinch of saffron

1 C. dried plums (prunes)

Water

4 C. winter squash (either raw orcooked), peeled and cubed

1 preserved lemon (or juice and zest ofone fresh lemon)

2 T. harissa

1 T. honey

Salt and black pepper

1 C. minced parsley

A few green onions, sliced (optional)

Heat the oil in a Dutch oven overmedium flame. Add the neck bones and brown on all sides. Wait to addsalt until the very end, because both harissa and preserved lemonsare fairly salty. Add onion and cook a few minutes more, untiltranslucent. Add the garlic, ginger, cinnamon, saffron, prunes. Stir and cook for a few seconds, then add water to just cover everything. Simmer for 2 hours, until the meat is tender and falling offthe bone.

If using raw squash, add it to the potand cook uncovered for 15 to 20 minutes, until tender. If usingleftover cooked squash, first reduce the sauce until it is as thickas you like it, then add the squash at the end. Stir in harissa untilthe stew is spicy enough for your taste. Stir in honey until the stewis as sweet as you like it. Chop preserved lemon finely and stirin. If using fresh lemon instead, turn off heat before stirringin juice and zest. Add salt and pepper as needed. Serve with crustybread, and lots of parsley. Serves 6.

Candied Limequats

2012-01-25T16:44:00.000-07:00

When we were out in California for the holidays, we couldn't resist buying all kinds of wonderful produce at the farmers' markets there (since we were driving and could take stuff home.) We got persimmons, Meyer lemons, berries, Brussels sprouts, chanterelles, and a few odder items... Buddha's Hand citron, and limequats!

The limequats looked basically like tiny greenish lemons, and the tart juice had a lovely lemon-lime flavor. The rind was a bit sweet, but not as sweet as a kumquat's. They were kind of enjoyable raw, but pretty puckery.

I read a few recipes for candying whole kumquats, and decided to try this method. It's taken me a while to get around to posting it, but they turned out fantastic!

1 cup water
1 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
2 cups whole limequats
4 half-pint canning jars

Make 4 small slashes, lengthwise, in each limequat. Use a toothpick or the tip of a small knife to pop the seeds out through these slits. Don't worry if you don't get them all - the rest will slip out during cooking.

Bring the water, sugar and salt to a boil in a large pot (a 2-quart saucepan will not do) because the syrup bubbles a lot during cooking. Cover with a lid left slightly ajar. Simmer on medium-low heat until the rinds of the limequats are mostly translucent, 20 minutes or so.

Use a slotted spoon to remove the fruits from the syrup and pack them gently into 4 sterilized half-pint canning jars. Pour syrup over, leaving 1/2 inch of headspace at the top of the jar. Save any remaining syrup for drinks or something else. Put on hot lids, and process the jars in boiling water for 20 minutes (this is for 5000ft - if you're at sea level it's 5 minutes less, at 7000ft it's 5 minutes more).

Now I just have to think of a use for these little beauties!

Poached Egg with Roasted Tomatoes and Tarragon Butter

2012-01-24T13:21:00.001-07:00

Roasted tomatoes are a bright spot in winter - if you grow tomatoes,this is one of the nicest ways to put them up. Their intense umamiflavor adds richness to any dish, but this is a great way to enjoythem, and it's become one of my favorite breakfasts. I've recently rekindled mylove for tarragon, which is easy to grow, perennial, and evensomewhat frost hardy so that I sometimes have fresh tarragon even inJanuary. I dried the leaves on my kitchen counter, and I've beenusing this compound butter on everything. Local eggs may be hard tofind this time of year, but with a little extra light early in themorning, hens can lay throughout the winter, although not as much asin the summer.

2 eggs

1 English muffin or 2 slices of any good bread

1/4 t. dried tarragon

1/2 T. butter, softened

1 T. roasted tomatoes

Place two small ramekins or round cookie cutters in the bottom of amedium sized saucepan. Fill the pan halfway with water, cover andbring to a boil. Crack eggs carefully into the ramekins and turn heatto medium-low. Cover and cook 4 to 5 minutes, until the whites areset.

Meanwhile, put your bread in the toaster. Mix tarragon and butter.When toast is ready, spread with tarragon butter, then with tomatoes.Set poached eggs on toast, and top with a dab of tarragon butter.Serves 1 or 2.

Roasted Sunchokes with Orange-Pecan Gremolata

2012-01-21T07:00:00.000-07:00

Sunchokes are abundant at winter growers' markets, and they're so funny looking, I always have to get some. They are the root of a sunflower, often called Jerusalem artichokes, but it's thought that this name is a corruption of the Italian word girasole, for sunflower. But I never really figured out what to do with them - a creamy soup seems like cheating somehow, because anything tastes great when slathered in cream.

Roasting is a reliable technique for bringing out great flavor in any vegetable, and sunchokes are no exception. They take on a really sweet, caramelized flavor much like sweet potatoes. Don't eat too many, though, if you've never tried them before - they contain a starch called inulin, which doesn't agree with some people. For a touch of freshness, I added a little gremolata made with fresh parsley, pecans and orange zest. Parsley is a very hardy herb, but also pretty easy to grow indoors, so it's a wonderful winter flavor.

1/2 pound sunchokes
2 T. olive oil
4 T. minced parsley
2 T. finely chopped pecans
1 clove garlic, minced
Zest of 1 orange
Pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 450F. Scrub sunchokes thoroughly, and slice about 1/4 inch thick. Toss with 1 tablespoon olive oil, and spread in a single layer on a sheet pan. Roast about 20 minutes, until lightly browned. Mix remaining ingredients thoroughly in a small bowl. Arrange sunchokes atop a pile of gremolata and sprinkle more over the top. Serves 2 to 4 as an appetizer or side.

Hopi Squash with Green Chile and Pine Nut Stuffing

2012-01-13T08:35:00.000-07:00

We grew a gigantic Hopi squash plant this summer, and it ended up producing about a dozen lovely round, pinkish-orange pumpkins. They each have a cute little turban at the blossom end, and weigh 2 to 7 pounds. I don't usually bother growing squash because of the squash bugs, but this plant was incredibly vigorous! So I've been looking for ways to eat more winter squash (or give it away). Stuffed squash is great because you can easily make it so many different ways, you might not even get tired of it before spring! This stuffing, with green chile, pine nuts, apples and cloves, is tasty with either corn bread or regular bread. It's a perfect vegetarian main dish, but you could add meat, such as browned sausage or shredded chicken as well.

2 small winter squashes (about 2 pounds each)
3 T. olive oil
1 large onion, finely diced
1 carrot, finely diced
1 celery rib, finely diced
1 large apple, coarsely chopped
1/2 C. chopped green chile
4 cups dried bread (or cornbread) cubes

1/4 C. pine nuts
1/4 to 1 C. vegetable or chicken stock
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375F. Cut squash in half through the stem end, and scoop out the seeds. Rub the insides with a little olive oil, and sprinkle with salt. Place the halves cut side down, in a baking pan. Bake until tender, about 45 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the stuffing.

Heat olive oil on medium flame in a large skillet or saucepan. Cook onion, carrot, and celery until very soft and lightly browned, about 15 minutes. Add apple, green chile and cloves. Cook, stirring often, for a few minutes longer, until apple is soft. Toss this mixture with the bread cubes and pine nuts. Add stock, a little at a time, until the bread is moist but not soggy. Season with salt and pepper as desired.

Turn over the squash halves, and drain any liquid from the pan. Fill each half with stuffing, and bake about 15 minutes more, until the top of the stuffing is lightly browned. Serves 4.

Pistachio Orange Biscotti

2011-12-16T07:14:00.001-07:00

Homemade biscotti make a wonderfulChristmas gift. They are a bit of project, but worth the effort, andit's easy to create your own unique flavor combinations. The cookiesare baked twice so that they stand up to repeated dunking in yourfavorite hot beverage. I used whole wheat pastry flour in thisrecipe, which gives the cookies a bit heartier flavor. Really you canadd any kind of goodies you want to the basic biscotti recipe, butNew Mexico pistachios and candied orange peel are a great combo. Imade my own candied orange peels, but youcan find them in many grocery stores this time of year (or just use some orange zest in the cookies instead).

3 large eggs

2/3 C. granulated sugar

2 t. vanilla extract

1/2 C. butter, melted and cooled

2 1/2 C. flour (whole wheat pastryflour or white all-purpose flour)

1 t. baking powder

1/4 t. ground cinnamon

1 C. chopped pistachios

1 C. chopped candied orange peel

1 C. chocolate chips (white, milk ordark)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Separate oneegg, reserving the white. Beat the egg yolk with the other two eggsand the sugar, with an electric mixer on high speed, for 2 fullminutes. Add vanilla and melted butter and beat for another fullminute. In a separate bowl, whisk dry ingredients together. Addgradually to the wet ingredients, mixing only enough to combine. Foldin the pistachios and orange peel.

Divide dough into two equal portions.On a floured surface, roll each into a log about two inches indiameter. Place the logs about 3 inches apart on a baking sheetcovered with parchment paper (or lightly oiled) to prevent sticking.Press down gently to flatten them a bit. Brush each log with beatenegg white, then sprinkle with granulated sugar – this helps holdthem together when you slice them.

Bake 25-35 minutes, or until lightlybrowned and firm to the touch. Cool for at least an hour orovernight. Cut each log into 3/4-inch slices, like a loaf of bread.To avoid crumbling them, use a sharp, non-serrated knife and pressstraight down (no sawing).

Turn the slices on their sides and bakeagain at 350°F for about 8 minutes, then flip them and bake another7 minutes on the other side. They should be pretty hard and a littlebit toasted on each side. Cool to room temperature.

To melt the chocolate, put the chips ina dry, shallow bowl (all utensils must be completely dry –a few drops of water can cause the chocolate to seize up.) Microwavefor 30 seconds, then stir. Continue heating, stirring after every 30seconds. When the chocolate gets closer to melting completely, reducethe interval to 15 seconds, and continue until the chocolate is justmelted. This is especially important for white and milk chocolate,because they scorch more easily than dark. Dip the top of each cookiein chocolate and set them back on the baking sheet. Cool until thechocolate is completely hardened (to speed this up, put them into therefrigerator or the freezer for a few minutes). Makes about 20biscotti.

Candied Orange Peels

2011-12-16T07:11:00.000-07:00

6 large navel oranges (thick skins work best)
6 cups granulated sugar
Optional: 1 cinnamon stick, 1 vanilla bean or 2 cloves

Wash and dry oranges, and cut into wedges (quarters or eighths). Remove the fruit and set aside for another use. The sections of peel should still have the white pith attached. Place peels in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil, then turn heat down and simmer 20 minutes. Drain off the water, refill with fresh water, and boil 20 more minutes to remove the bitterness. Drain again.

Add 4 1/2 cups sugar and 3 cups of water to the pan with spice(s) if desired. Boil the peels, uncovered, in this simple syrup on medium heat for 1 hour. Gently remove peels from the syrup and drain on a rack, white side down, for a few minutes. Save the syrup for mixing cocktails!

When peels are cool, slice them lengthwise into 1/4 inch strips, using a sharp knife or kitchen scissors. Roll the strips in the remaining sugar. Turn on the oven to 180°F, and spread the strips in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake 60-90 minutes - don't use higher temperature or leave them in longer than 90 minutes, or the sugar will begin to melt. Cool to room temperature, at least another hour, or overnight.

Potato Pancakes with Ginger-Apple Chutney

2011-12-09T17:05:00.001-07:00

This sweet-sour chutney is wonderfulwith potato pancakes, but also great on pork chops, or you could evenput it in little meat pies or dumplings with ground pork. Next time Imight experiment with adding spices like coriander or cinnamon. Therecipe is adapted from Ming Tsai's Simply Mingcookbook.

Ginger-AppleChutney

4 C. apples, diced

Juice and zest of 1lemon

1 T. grapeseed oil

2 medium onions,diced

4 T. peeled anddiced fresh ginger

1 C. rice vinegar

1 C. apple juice.

Salt and pepper

Toss apples withlemon juice and zest as you dice them, to prevent browning. Heat oil in alarge saucepan over medium flame, add onions and ginger, and cookuntil onions are soft, about 5 minutes. Add apples and cook, about 5minutes more. Season with salt and pepper. Add the liquids and cook,stirring gently, until most of the liquid is evaporated, about 30minutes. Adjust seasoning as needed.

Potato Pancakes

2 large potatoes

1/2 t. salt

Pepper

1 egg

2 green onions

Coarsely shredpotatoes, sprinkle with salt, and place in a colander to drain forabout 10 minutes, pressing firmly to remove as much liquid aspossible. Add egg and onions, season with pepper as needed, and mixthoroughly. Heat oil on medium flame, then add potato mixture byquarter-cupfuls, flattening them to make pancakes about 4 inches indiameter. Cook until the bottoms are brown, then flip, adding moreoil if necessary, and brown the other side. Drain on paper towels.Garnish with Ginger Apple Chutney and sour cream, or mix equal partschutney and sour cream with one chopped scallion. Serves 2-3.

Homemade Sauerkraut

2011-12-06T15:43:00.001-07:00

Fall is the best time to grow cabbagein New Mexico – spring gets too hot too fast, but fall lingers abit longer with warmish days and cold nights. Planted in August orSeptember, cabbages and lots of other cole crops (like broccoli,kale, kohlrabi, and bok choy) are maturing right now. Cole crops arevery cold-hardy, and can survive uncovered until November or December,but a cover of garden cloth will help them continue to mature foranother month or so.

Sauerkraut is easy to make, full ofVitamin C and probiotics, and a traditional Christmas food in many Eastern Europeancultures.

The basic recipe has only two ingredients – cabbage andsalt – but traditional embellishments include garlic, onions, bayleaves, caraway, juniper berries and wine. I made a small batch withjust one cabbage, in a tiny crock I found at a vintage store, butglass quart jars are really nice because you can really see what'sgoing on in there. This recipe is adapted from one given in LindaZiedrich's excellent book, The Joy of Pickling.

1 to 1 1/4 lb. cabbage

2 t. pickling or kosher salt

1/4 t. juniper berries, dill seeds, orcaraway seeds, or one bay leaf, crumbled

Additional water and salt for brine

Quarter and core the cabbage. Slicevery thinly (about 1/8 inch), using a sharp knife or the slicingblade of a food processor.

Add the salt and juniper berries and mixthoroughly in a large bowl, with clean hands. Rinse a small crock orquart jar with boiling water – one pound of cabbage fits easilyinto a quart jar. Pack the cabbage in tightly,so the juice comes to the surface. To seal air out, fill a food-grade bagwith brine (1 1/2 tablespoons salt per quart) and push it into thetop of the jar so that all the air bubbles out.

The salt is the keyto getting the right kind of fermentation; use brine in the bag sothat if the bag leaks, it doesn't ruin your sauerkraut. Not enough salt can result in soft texture, or even sliminess - if it is slimy, you've got the wrong kind of fermentation going on, and this is pretty much the only case in which you truly have to throw the whole thing out. So just don't skimp on the salt. Set in a coolspot, or just leave it on your counter to start fermenting. You may want to set the jar in a bowl in case it starts to bubble over.

After about a day, the cabbage shouldbe submerged in its own brine. If not, pour a little of the brinefrom the bag into the jar and replace the bag. After about 2 weeks,little bubbles should be rising along the side of the jar from thefermentation. You can adjust the amount of water to give just enoughpressure that it keeps the cabbage submerged; take some out if it'sbubbling over. If any scum forms, skim off what you can, then washthe bag in hot water and replace it, but it's really not a big deal –the good microorganisms always win.

You can taste it at any point, to seeif it's tart enough, and take it out a bit early if you like it lesssour. Sauerkraut fermented at 65° or below has the best flavor, butit takes longer (five weeks or more). At 70° to 75° it takes about3 weeks. When fermentation is complete, the bubbling will stop. Storein refrigerator, tightly covered.

Pork and Apple Hash with Greens

2011-11-14T12:48:00.001-07:00

This is mykind of breakfast. Hearty, stick-to-your-ribs food, made from leftovers andserved with tasty, nutritious greens.

Locally raised pork is available rightnow from a few farms – MooreFamily Farm is offering half hog shares, and Los Poblanos Organics sells theirown pork on their website.

Pork shoulder, also known as butt, is a fatty,full-flavored cut that becomes deliciously tender when slow-cooked. Localgreens, onions and potatoes are still available at growers’ markets that stayopen through the winter (such as Santa Fe, Corrales, and Los Ranchos).

1 bunchcollard greens, dandelion greens, or kale

3 largepotatoes

1/2 t.salt

2tablespoons butter or cooking oil

1/2 to 1pound leftover roast pork

1 largeapple

1 onion

2 sprigsof fresh thyme, leaves only

Poached orsunny-side-up eggs, for serving

Chop thegreens coarsely and steam for a few minutes, just until tender. Chop potatoesinto 1/2-inch dice. Heat butter or oil in a wide skillet. Add potatoes, saltand enough water to cover. Put a lid on the skillet and simmer about 10minutes, until the potatoes are tender and the liquid is mostly evaporated.

Chop thepork, apples and onions into 1/2-inch dice and add to the skillet with a littlemore water. Cook, uncovered, until the onions are tender and golden around theedges, about 10 minutes. Mix in the thyme leaves and greens, and fry, pressingmixture in the pan until the edges are crisped. Serve with eggs and toast.Serves 4.

Lamb and Turnip Pie

2011-11-14T12:42:00.001-07:00

Turnipsare so beautiful, I can’t resist buying them even though I don’t really knowwhat to do with them. They’re so easy to grow and hardy through the winter andearly spring… they are available almost year-round at growers’ markets. I bought this huge one from Vida Verde Farm - it just charmed me!

Theeasiest way to learn to like turnips is to cook them slowly with a juicy pieceof meat. New Mexico lamb is available almost year-round too, and theinexpensive neck bones make a flavorful stew. If you’re feeling fancy, go allthe way and make a savory pie.

2 poundslamb neck bones

2 T.all-purpose white flour

2 T. oil

2 largeonions, peeled and finely chopped

2 largesprigs of rosemary

Salt andfreshly ground black pepper

1 quartchicken stock

1 poundturnips, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks

2 sheetspuff pastry

Preheatthe oven to 400°F. Season the meat with salt and pepper, and toss to coat withflour. Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed stockpot and brown the meat. Add theonions, and cook on medium heat until translucent, about 3-4 minutes. Add therosemary and stock. Bring to a boil and simmer, partially covered, about 2hours or until the meat is falling off the bone. (You could also do this in acrockpot so that when you come home in the evening all you have to do is bakethe pie.) Add the turnips, cover and simmer for about 15 minutes until the turnipsare cooked and the gravy is thickened. Remove from the heat and leave to cool.

Roll outthe pastry a little larger than the pie dish and lay the bottom crust. Pour inthe stew and cover with top crust. Cut a slit in the center to let the steamout, and bake 40-45 minutes until golden. Serves 4.

Spicy Pumpkin Seeds

2011-10-29T07:00:00.000-06:00

Roasting pumpkin seeds after carving pumpkins is a time-honored tradition. I love carving pumpkins, but I've never really loved eating the seeds... until now. This recipe is adapted from David Leite's wonderful cookbook, The New Portuguese Table. You can use the seeds from any kind of winter squash.

2 cups pumpkin seeds
1 egg white
2 t. red chile or hot paprika
1/8 t. cinnamon
1 t. salt
2 T. sugar

Heat oven to 300F. Lightly grease a baking sheet. Remove the seeds from the pumpkin and rinse them. Whisk the egg white in a bowl until very foamy. Add sugar, salt, spices and pumpkin seeds. Mix thoroughly. Lift the seeds out with a slotted spoon, allowing them to drain a bit. Spread in a single layer on the baking sheet. Roast, tossing occasionally, until crisp and slightly browned, about 25 minutes. Store in an airtight container.

Chimayo Cocktail

2011-10-16T19:30:00.000-06:00

As Eric Felten says, this is one of the few great cocktails that can be made with tequila, besides a margarita. In his fascinating column called "How's Your Drink?" in the Wall Street Journal, he once mentioned this gem, invented at Rancho de Chimayo in northern New Mexico. He raved about it, even going out of his way to visit Chimayo every time he's in NM.

The ingredients are: tequila, lime or lemon juice, unfiltered apple cider, and creme de cassis. But the key here is to use really good apple cider, and really good creme de cassis.

2 ounces tequila
1 ounce unfiltered apple cider
1/2 ounce creme de cassis
1/4 ounce lemon or lime juice

With high hopes, we made this drink the first time a few years ago with the cheap creme de cassis that everybody buys. And we were a little disappointed. The combination of Dixon's apple cider and tequila was pretty great, but the cassis kind of ruined the taste, and gave it a weird purplish hue.

This year we got some great apple cider from Manzano Mountain Retreat, and because we revere Eric Felten, we knew we had to try again with the Chimayo cocktail. We finally bought some fancy French cassis for twice the price of the cheap stuff. And wow! Huge difference.

The good cassis has a wonderful, winey, fruity flavor and gives the drink a gorgeous red color. All of a suddent, I get it. And I'll be looking for all kinds of ways to use cassis now! Wonder if we could make our own... I saw black currants for sale at the growers' market this summer.

The Garden Journal - July, September, October

2011-10-16T12:11:00.003-06:00

Wow, August and September slipped away so fast! My favorite months of the whole year, but I was working too much and barely had time to look at the garden. This wasn't the best year for our garden - less than 3 inches of rain since January, and temperatures consistently over 90 degrees (although we had fewer days over 100). And after our first rain of the year, we were so excited we turned the drip system off, and forgot to turn it back on for a week. I'm amazed everything didn't actually die.

These photos are from July 27, and there's another set below from September 22, but I didn't have time to write about them then. We got just a few strawberries from the plant in a pot on the porch in July, but it hasn't done much since.

One of the coolest bugs I've ever seen! I think the pattern on its back looks like a printed circuit board. I spent an hour searching Google to figure out what it was - a Calligrapha beetle.

It laid these pretty pink eggs, which hatched into amazingly cute fuzzy larvae, then finally became these gorgeous beetles! It really only chewed on the hollyhocks, which can probably handle it - they are tough as nails.

The potatoes bloomed, which means the new potatoes are ready. They will continue to grow bigger until the plant dies in the fall. These are volunteers from last year's sowing of Yellow Finns. Next year we'll have to plant potatoes in a sunnier spot, because the tubers never grew very big. I never thought to grow potatoes before, because they're so cheap in the store, but it turns out there are tons of cool varieties, and the difference in flavor is so amazing that it's really worth it!

The first tomato to ripen after the Sungolds was this cute little Stupice. It has continued to produce pretty well since July, but I can't say the flavor is spectacular.

The mystery squash grows bigger and its stripes get darker. It turned out to be a kabocha (Japanese pumpkin) - hooray!

The sunflowers volunteer year after year, seeds from a red variety we planted years ago. The lavender is blooming, and there's a little brown praying mantis on one stalk in the back in this photo.

Aloysius likes to watch from the window.

A tiny watermelon and a tiny cantaloupe. The canteloupe got ripe, then split and rotted before I noticed it in August. The watermelon grew to about volleyball-size and we ate it in September.

September 22 - The cabbages I planted in April are finally starting to head up, but I don't have much hope for them - too many aphids and cabbage loopers.

The artichokes completely died back in August and September - we thought they were dead, but after the rains cooled the weather down a bit, they suddenly sprouted up again!

I planted some broccoli and cabbage starts at the beginning of September and they are doing pretty well.

The Hopi squash grew absolutely huge - probably 20 feet in either direction. It climbed up the cholla and grew a pumpkin so heavy it took the cholla down! Then it went up the bean trellises and took those down too. We're still waiting for the stems to turn corky, which is how you tell a winter squash is ripe.

We got just one or two apples from the Cort Pendu Plat, none from the Arkansas Black. The deep freeze last winter must have killed the blossoms, just like on the plum tree. Let's hope we don't have another one of those this winter!

And finally, the sad story of the tomatoes. We were so excited to get all that alpaca poop, and we mixed lots of it into the tomato beds... which turned out to be way too much nitrogen for them, so they grew big and green, but didn't set much fruit. What fruit they did set, took forever to ripen. The marigolds sure look great though, don't they? We finally got a few ripe tomatoes off each plant this week, and now that it's mid-October it's too late set any more fruit. Sigh! Live and learn.

Roasted Tomato Sauce

2011-10-14T07:18:00.000-06:00

I love to make this sauce in the fall when we have an overabundance of garden-ripe tomatoes and I want the heat from the oven to warm the house up a bit (we have a really old oven that just radiates heat, inefficient but charming). Unfortunately I don't actually have an overabundance this year - I put too much nitrogen-rich manure on my tomato beds, so they grew huge and leafy but didn't produce much fruit. Live and learn. So I used some Speckled Romans, my favorite paste tomato, from Amyo Farms. They have an intense flavor that is richer than any other Roma type I've tried.

This recipe is from an issue of Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazine several years ago, and it's a winner. Carrots make it extra-healthy and add a soft, mellow flavor. Roasting the vegetables brings out extra sweetness and depth of flavor. Roma-type (paste) tomatoes are usually best for sauce, because they have a drier texture andthere's not so much juice to cook off, but any kind works well herebecause the carrots add body to the sauce.

3 pounds ripe tomatoes
1/2 pound carrots
1 medium-large onion
4 cloves garlic, peeled
1/2 t. dried thyme or several sprigs of fresh herbs
2 T. olive oil
1/2 t. salt
Freshly ground pepper

Preheat oven to 425F. Cut the tomatoes in half (or quarters if you're using really big tomatoes). Slice the carrots and onions about 1/4 inch thick. Toss with the whole garlic cloves and herbs in olive oil on a large baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast about 1 hour - be sure to check several times in the last half hour and move veggies from the outside of the tray to the center as they begin to brown. Remove from oven, let cool a few minutes, and remove tomato skins with tongs or your fingers. Transfer the veggies with their juice to a blender and puree until smooth. Cool completely and refrigerate. Serves 4, with pasta.

Ginger-Lime Pear Marmalade

2011-10-12T08:48:00.001-06:00

Another pear recipe that's perfect for underripe pears. Their crunchy texture, once cooked, gives a nice chewy bite to this marmalade. The natural pectin in the pears and citrus rinds makes it gel beautifully without added pectin.

I've always liked the combination of pear and lime - there's something delicately floral about both of them, and they work perfectly together. And of course ginger is a shoo-in (don't you just love that word?)

The recipe comes from the awesome new Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving, so it is safe for canning (it's easier than you think!) and makes 4 half-pint jars. If you don't want to go to the trouble, you can always just refrigerate the jars. But they start to fill up the fridge and you can only eat so much jam, so I say go for it! You will need a jar lifter, though. I've made do with rubber-grip tongs, but that wasn't exactly safe. I've seen canning kits all over the place this time of year, at Lowe's hardware, at Ace, at K-Mart... and the jars are sold at grocery stores, but they don't always have the tools.

3 limes

8 cups thinly sliced, cored, firm pears

4 cups granulated sugar

3 Tbs chopped crystallized ginger

1 1/4 cups water

Remove peel from limes using a vegetable peeler, then slice into very thin strips. Juice the limes, and add to a stainless steel saucepan with the pears, sugar and ginger. Stir well to combine. Cover and let stand at room temperature for 1 hour.

If you wish to can the marmalade, set a large pot of water on to boil (for a small batch like this, a 6-quart stockpot will do). Wash the jars thoroughly and set them in the pot to warm. Set a skillet of water on low heat to warm the lids (you don't need to warm the rings).

In a small stainless steel saucepan, combine the water and lime peel. Bring to a boil over medium heat and cook about 15 minutes, or until the peel is very tender and most of the liquid has evaporated. Drain liquid into pear mixture.

Bring pear mixture to a full rolling boil over high heat, and boil hard for 15 minutes, stirring frequently. Add peel and boil until mixture gels, about 5 more minutes. Remove from heat and test gel.

This is the part I've always had trouble with - I can never tell if it "sheets" off the spoon and I'm never quite organized enough to chill saucers in the freezer for the other test. This book has a great explanation for testing by temperature!

"Cook the soft spread until it reaches a temperature of... 8ºF (4ºC) above the boiling point of water.... At or below 1,000 feet (305m) above sea level, water boils at 212ºF (100ºC). At higher altitudes, subtract 2ºF (1ºC) for each added 1,000ft (305m) of elevation."

So... at 5,000ft elevation here in Albuquerque, we subtract 10ºF, and water boils at 192ºF. So my spread would be done when the temperature reaches 200ºF.

Once the proper temperature has been reached, skim off any foam. Remove your jars from the pot using your jar lifter, and pour the water out of them. Ladle the marmalade into the jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles by sliding a knife gently down the sides of the jar. Wipe the rim with a clean, damp cloth or paper towel. Use tongs to lift the lids out of the skillet. Center lid on jar, and screw band down over it to fingertip-tight.

Place jars in the boiling water bath, making sure that they are covered by at least an inch of water. Boil for 10 minutes if you're at sea level, 20 minutes in Albuquerque, 25 minutes in Santa Fe, or 30 minutes in Taos. (You must add 5 minutes for 1000-3000 feet of elevation, 10 minutes for 3000-6000ft, 15 minutes for 6000-8000ft and 20 minutes for 8000-10,000ft.) Turn off the heat, let the jars rest in the bath 5 minutes, then pull them out without tilting them - don't worry about water on the tops, it will just evaporate as they cool. Set them on a dishtowel on the counter and let them sit undisturbed for 24 hours. They will be shelf-stable for at least 6 months.

Sweet Potato and Fontina Pizza with Shishito or Padron Peppers

2011-10-01T07:30:00.000-06:00

This pizza combines two great tastes of fall - sweet potatoes and Shishito peppers (or similar Padron peppers). If you haven't tried these incredibly tasty little frying peppers yet this summer, now's the time to get some before they're gone. Both Shishitos and Padrons have an intense flavor and are generally not hot, but every once in a while you get a humdinger! They're generally fried whole in olive oil and sprinkled with a little sea salt as an appetizer. I saw the first sweet potatoes of the fall this month at the growers' market - I bought an absolutely enormous orange one about 5 inches in diameter, and a few slender magenta colored ones. Fontina makes this pizza really special - it's a soft cheese that melts like Mozzarella, but with a funkier flavor. There are many types, from milder Danish varieties to sharper aged French or Italian varieties, so if you can, taste a few to see what you like. For the crust, try a dough ball from Il Vicino or Whole Foods (they even have whole grain.)

1 premade pizza crust
1 medium sweet potato
Big handful of Shishito or Padron peppers
1 T. olive oil
1/4 t. salt
1 large clove garlic, minced
4 oz. Fontina

Preheat oven to 450. Stretch or roll out the pizza dough to fit a 12-inch pan (I like thin crust, so I just use half of one dough ball from Whole Foods.) Slice the sweet potatoes about 1/4 inch thick, then steam or microwave them for a few minutes until they are just barely tender. Slice peppers lengthwise, removing the stems. Toss with olive oil, salt, garlic and sweet potatoes. Distribute vegetables evenly over the crust and dot with slices of fontina. Bake until the cheese is bubbly and the crust is browned at edges, about 20 minutes. Serves 2.

Pickled Pears

2011-09-23T11:39:00.000-06:00

I picked 53 pounds of pears off our backyard tree last week! What now? A whole lot of canning. Pears are strange fruit - most varieties (other than Bartlett) cannot ripen on the tree. If you leave them on the tree until they feel soft on the outside, they will be rotten on the inside. The trick is to pick them green, then ripen them in a cool place, preferably about 55F and 90% humidity. Of course, it's not easy to find any place with that kind of temperature and humidity in New Mexico in September, so we just bought a wine fridge to try to achieve the right conditions. So we'll try to properly ripen some of the haul, and can the rest.

Lackluster or underripe pears are vastly improved by cooking. Mixed pickling spice is the key to the complex flavor of these pickled pears - you can find it in many grocery stores. The recipe is adapted from the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving, the fabulous updated version of the classic Ball Blue Book which has been the bible of home canning for generations. You have to be extremely careful about adapting canning recipes so that you don't mess up the balance of acidity, which could make the recipe unsafe. All I did was skip the peeling of the pears and add a few tips. This recipe takes a bit of time to make, but the pears are shelf-stable for at least 6 months to a year, and they are delicious with a cheese plate!

6 pounds firm, just-ripe or slightly underripe pears
1 T. mixed pickling spice
1 T. whole cloves
1 T. coarsely chopped gingerroot
3 C. granulated sugar
2 1/2 C. water
1 1/2 C. white vinegar
1/2 lemon, cut into 1/4 inch slices

Halve and core the pears, putting them into a bowl with about a quart of water and the juice of half a lemon to keep them from browning. Add the spices, sugar, water and vinegar to a large nonreactive stockpot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer about 5 minutes to let the spices infuse.

Working in batches, put pear halves into the pan in a single layer and poach over medium-low heat until tender, about 7 minutes. If your pears are very underripe, go ahead and poach them all at once, stirring occasionally. When all the pears are done, put them all in the pot, cover, and let stand in a cool place for 12-18 hours.

Prepare a large pot of boiling water, put the jars in it to warm, and warm the lids gently in a skillet of water. Remove pears from pickling liquid and set aside. Bring the pickling liquid to a boil in the stockpot, keeping it covered until you are ready to use it.

Pack the pears into jars, leaving a generous 1/2 inch below the top of the jar. Ladle hot pickling liquid into the jars to cover the pears, leaving 1/2 inch of headspace. Slide a clean knife down the side to remove any air bubbles, and add more liquid if necessary. Wipe the rim of each jar with a clean, damp cloth or paper towel. Center lid on jar, and screw bands down to fingertip-tight. Place jars in the boiling water, ensuring that they are covered by at least 1 inch of water.

Cover the pot, bring it to a boil and process 30 minutes (This is the correct time for Albuquerque at 5000 feet. In Santa Fe, at 7000 feet, it's 40 minutes. If you're at sea level, you only need to do 20 minutes.) Turn off the heat, remove the lid, and wait 5 minutes before pulling the jars from the water. Set them on a dishtowel to cool for several hours before moving them. Makes 6 pints.

Chevre Cheesecake with Grape and Rosemary Compote

2011-09-14T10:25:00.000-06:00

I think this may be my favorite cheesecake of all time. I don't eat cheesecake much these days, but I remember when I was maybe 6 years old asking my mom to make her honey lemon cheesecake with cherries for my birthday.

I'm all about slightly savory desserts - this has a delicate but not overwhelming flavor of goat cheese. If you didn't know it was in there, you might not even guess. And now you can buy great logs of chevre (soft goat cheese) so inexpensively at Costco! I love the unusual rosemary and red grape topping with or without walnuts. The flavor and texture of this cheesecake are exceptional - creamy, tangy and firm, not gloppy - and it's actually pretty easy to whip up.

The recipe comes from Cuisine at Home magazine - my mother-in-law gave me a subscription a few years ago, and we've gotten several great recipes from it.

Crust:
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 cup toasted walnuts (if you're allergic, just use all graham cracker crumbs instead)
2 Tbs sugar
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) butter, melted

Filling:
1 lb goat cheese, room temperature
4 oz cream cheese, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
3 eggs, room temperature
2 Tbs heavy cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Grape and Rosemary Compote
3/4 cup dry red wine (or substitute 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar and 1/2 cup water)
1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp cornstarch
Pinch of salt
2 cups red grapes, halved
1/2 cup toasted walnuts, chopped
1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
1 tsp fresh lemon juice (omit if using balsamic vinegar)

Freshly ground pepper

Take the goat cheese, cream cheese, and eggs out of the refrigerator to warm up while you prepare the crust. Preheat oven to 350F. Chop graham crackers and walnuts finely (a food processor comes in handy here, but you can also just put them in a ziploc and bang them gently with a hammer). Mix thoroughly with sugar and butter. Press onto the bottom and about 1 inch up the sides of a 9-inch springform pan. Bake until golden, about 10 minutes, and let cool. Reduce oven temperature to 250F.

Beat the cheeses, sugar and sour cream together with an electric mixer on low speed, scraping the sides down often, until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well and scraping down the sides after each. Beat in the cream and vanilla. Pour into crust and bake at 250F for 60-75 minutes. The center should still be slightly wobbly. Let stand at room temperature until completely cooled, then cover the pan without letting wrap touch the top, and chill overnight.

Whisk together wine (or balsamic vinegar), sugar and cornstarch until smooth. Simmer over medium-high heat, whisking constantly until thickened, about 3 minutes. Pour syrup over remaining ingredients and toss to coat.

Remove ring from springform and cut slices with a long knife, rinsing the knife with hot water and wiping dry after each cut. Top each piece with compote and a small sprig of rosemary.

Roasted Corn Salsa

2011-09-13T20:08:00.000-06:00

For just a few weeks every summer, the Schwebach Farm trailer shows up at farmers' markets with a huge load of sweet corn! I eat as much fresh corn as I can while it lasts, then look forward to next year. Roasting the corn caramelizes its sugars for a wonderful toasty flavor. Super-sweet and mild Red Tropea onions from Nolina's Heavenly Organics are really worth seeking out - they also sell them at La Montanita Co-Op. With deeply flavorful poblano chiles or sweet peppers, and perfectly ripe tomatoes, this salsa celebrates the peak of the harvest season. It can be served warm or cold, with chips, as a taco filling, or as an accompaniment to grilled meats.

2 ears of corn

2 large poblano chiles or sweet peppers

1-2 Tbs olive oil

1/2 medium sweet onion

1 pound tomatoes

1 jalapeno (optional)

2 T. balsamic vinegar

1/8 t. salt

Cut corn kernels off the cobs, and coarsely chop the peppers. Heat olive oil in a wide skillet over medium heat. Fry the corn and peppers until the corn is a warm golden brown. If you like you, can fry the onions too, but if you use sweet onions there's no need. Coarsely chop tomatoes. Finely chop jalapeno. Toss everything together with vinegar and salt in a large bowl. Serves 4.

Tomato Toast

2011-09-07T08:00:00.000-06:00

Our standard summer breakfast - tomatoes with salt and pepper on buttered toast.

Summer Squash Salad

2011-09-06T07:48:00.001-06:00

This is a simple and beautiful way toenjoy summer squash at the height of its season. Thin ribbons ofyellow and green summer squash are salted but not cooked, for a greattexture. It's even better with a few crushed Sungold tomatoes andcrumbled feta.

2 medium zucchini or other green summer squash (1/2 pound)

2 medium yellow summer squashes (1/2 pound)

1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

1 T. balsamic vinegar

2 T. extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 small red or sweet onion, thinly sliced

1 t. chopped fresh basil

Handful of Sungold or other cherry tomatoes (optional)

Freshly ground pepper

2 T. crumbled feta (optional)

Holding a vegetable peeler in one handand squash in the other, shave long, wide strips lengthwise. Whenthis becomes difficult, place the squash cut side down on a cuttingboard to continue peeling. Toss with coarse salt in a colander, andlet it drain about 10 minutes. Whisk together vinegar and olive oilin a large bowl. Add squash ribbons, onion, basil and tomatoes; tossgently. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Top with feta, andserve immediately.

Roasted Eggplant with Za'atar

2011-09-06T07:44:00.004-06:00

Beyond ratatouille and baba ghanoush,it can be tough to think of exciting ways to cook eggplant. Roastingit brings out its sweet, toasty flavors and silky texture, but ifyou're not careful, it can absorb too much oil and be soggy. Za'ataris a fantastically delicious Middle Eastern spice mix made fromthyme, sesame seeds, and ground sumac (a sour-tasting red berry). I picked some up a few weeks ago at my favorite Middle Eastern restaurant, San Pedro Mart, and I've been using it on everything... you can mix it with olive oil and spread it onbread, rub it on meats for grilling, and it is absolutelyaddictive on eggplant!

1 large eggplant (about 1 1/2 pounds)

1 t. coarse salt

1/4 t. freshly ground black pepper

1 T. olive oil

2 t. za'atar

1 T. toasted sesame oil

2 T. lemon juice

1 clove garlic, minced

Heat broiler. Slice eggplant into 3/4-inch-thick rounds, and cuteach into 3/4-inch-wide strips. Toss with coarse salt and groundpepper. Spread in a single layer on lightly oiled baking sheet. Whiskremaining ingredients together, and drizzle over eggplant. Toss tocoat and spread evenly again. Broil until eggplant is browned andtender, about 15 minutes. Serves 2.

Rosemary Peach Galette

2011-08-23T06:42:00.000-06:00

Luscious, juicy peaches are finally in season! It has been a tough year for many stone fruits, with the insane cold snap this winter, late freezes in May, and the extremely dry, hot summer. Very few people had apricots, plums, peaches or cherries, and even some apple trees didn't set fruit this spring. And now, many peaches are splitting from the heat. Montoya's Orchard has a smaller peach crop than usual this year, but they are as sweet as always, so get them while you can. I love combining fruit and herbs – rosemary was great in this rustic tart with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar, but basil or lemon balm would also be wonderful.

1 small sprig fresh rosemary

5 peaches

3/4 C. sugar

1 pre-made pie crust

1 T. balsamic vinegar (optional)

Preheat the oven to 400F. Slice the peaches and toss with sugar. Snip the rosemary into tiny bits with kitchen scissors, and stir it in. Let the mixture sit to macerate about 20 minutes. Lay the pie crust in a pie pan and pour in the peach mixture. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar if desired. Fold the edges of the crust over, and bake 40 minutes, or until crust is golden brown. Serves 6.

Fresh Grape Salsa

2011-08-13T14:32:00.000-06:00

This simple and unusual recipe was given to me by a friend from Chihuahua several years ago. I planted grapevines along my front fence last year, and a few clusters have started to ripen (the only trouble is, they're not seedless). Many growers have grapes as well as all kinds of wonderful sweet onions, and of course fresh jalapenos, at the farmers' markets now. I got these sweet little Thompson seedless grapes from Crack Pot Herbs last weekend.

1 bunch of grapes, preferably seedless

1 jalapeno

2 T. chopped red onion

1 T. olive oil

Salt

Freshly ground pepper

Slice the grapes in half. Seed and finely mince the jalapeno. Toss all ingredients together and serve with chips, or on tacos. Serves 4.

Squash Blossom, Anchovy and Sun-Dried Tomato Pizza

2011-07-22T07:01:00.019-06:00

Squash blossoms are a delicate summer treat. The blossoms of summer squashes like zucchini are the best, because they are tender and mild-tasting. Winter squash blossoms are often bitter, but they may be ok if you remove the pollen-bearing part.

I always wondered - if you pick the blossoms, doesn't that mean you won't have any squash? Once I started growing my own squash, it became clear. It's easy to tell the difference between male and female squash blossoms, because the females have tiny baby squashes already forming. There are more than enough male blossoms and if you leave at least one on the plant, the females will still get fertilized and you'll have squash. Even if you pick some of the female blossoms, I doubt you'll have the problem of not enough zucchini.

Photo by Sergio Salvador www.salvadorphoto.com

You can often buy squash blossoms at the Santa Fe farmers' market, and maybe other markets too, especially if you get there early. Local dairies, South Mountain and Old Windmill, sell wonderful soft goat cheeses. I love anchovies, but if you don't, just go with the sun-dried tomatoes on this delicious pizza. They add a nice, rich umami flavor to complement the earthiness of the goat cheese. Nolina's Organics sells fantastic sun-dried heirloom tomatoes at the downtown Albuquerque farmers' market.

1 package active dry yeast

2/3 cup warm water

1 t. sugar

1 2/3 C. flour

3/4 t. salt

2 t. oil

Oil and cornmeal for the pan

1 T. olive oil

1-2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 t. anchovy paste, or as many anchovies as you like
6-8 squash blossoms

6-8 sun-dried tomatoes

4 ounces soft goat cheese

Combine the yeast, sugar and warm water and let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes. Mix the flour and salt in a food processor or bowl. Add yeast mixture and mix thoroughly (or process for 45 seconds, until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl). Add oil and knead or process for about a minute. If the dough sticks to the sides of the bowl, add more flour. Roll out to about 12 inches on a floured surface. Lightly oil the pizza pan and dust it with cornmeal, then spread the crust over it.

Mix the olive oil and garlic with the anchovy paste (if using, otherwise save the anchovies for sprinkling around with the other toppings). Brush evenly over the crust. Very gently wash the squash blossoms, if desired, and slice them into ribbons. If the sun-dried tomatoes are very dry, soak them in boiling water for a few minutes. Dot the crust with goat cheese, tomatoes and anchovies, then sprinkle evenly with the squash blossom ribbons. Bake about 20 minutes, until the goat cheese is bubbly. Serves 2 to 4.

Cornichons a Cru

2011-07-17T23:15:00.001-06:00

So many different kinds of pickles, and they all taste different. If you've only had the grocery store kind, you're really missing out. You don't have to ferment them in a crock, though it's easier than you might think. You can add so many lovely spice combinations to basic vinegar pickles, and you don't have to can them, just marinate them in a clean jar in the back of the fridge and you'll always have wonderful pickles on hand. These are some of the most unusually crunchy, fresh and delicately-flavored pickles I've ever made. The clear, bright flavors are elegantly simple - just tarragon, bay leaf, black pepper and shallots.

The only tricky part of making your own pickles is finding the right cucumbers. Regular ones from the grocery store just won't do, but the next few weeks are prime time to find them at the farmers' markets. Growing your own is not too hard, and very satisfying. I've been buying the most perfect little gherkins from East Mountain Organics this year, but next year maybe I'll try growing cornichons.

1 1/4 pounds small pickling cucumbers (or cornichons, or gherkins)
3 T. pickling salt or kosher salt
4 shallots, peeled and trimmed
1 bay leaf
2 tarragon sprigs
10 black peppercorns
2 C. white wine vinegar

Wash the cucumbers gently, and cut a tiny slice off each end. In a bowl, mix the cucumbers with the salt and refrigerate 24 hours, then drain and rinse in cold water. (Or if you're in a rush like I was, the night before we were going out of town for a week, you can just pack them in the jar with everything, and only use about half the salt.) Put the shallots in a shallow dish and pour boiling water over them. Let them stand for a few minutes, then drain. This prevents them from developing a funky sulfur flavor when pickled. Pack the cucumbers into a jar, interspersing with the shallots, bay leaf, tarragon and peppercorns. Fill to the brim with vinegar. Cap and refrigerate for at least a week before eating.

The Garden Journal - July 15

2011-07-16T10:52:00.002-06:00

Gosh, I feel so depressed about the garden in July. It seems like half the stuff I planted in spring is dead, or at least half-dead. I told you I wasn't the greatest gardener. But... it's not so bad, as long as the tomatoes are doing ok.

The Sungold has already produced a handful of little orange beauties. These are probably the earliest tomatoes we've ever had! And the Japanese Black Trifele has set its first fruit.

The melons are flowering, and the bees are all over them. This is the Desert King watermelon. I love those deeply lobed leaves.

And here's the Charentais canteloupe. We only have one now - the other just died for some unknown reason. In its place, I planted the seeds we saved from the "mystery melon" that grew from the compost a few years ago (it was something like a Canary melon, oblong with yellow-green skin). Hopefully those will do well - they certainly came from hardy stock, and since our first frost won't come until October, it's not too late for planting melons.

The volunteer squash has produced a fruit! I still can't tell what it is. It looks like some summer squash I've seen, and that would mean this little guy is ready to pick... but it felt so hard when I squeezed it, I decided maybe not. We'll just have to wait a little longer to see how it turns out.

The Hopi squash has a very different growth habit - look how upright it is. No flowers yet, but the stems are incredibly thick! That's a tendril of the other squash cruising on by next to it.

The Tarahumara squash never sprouted, so I planted a few "mystery melon" seeds there instead.

Here are the first chiles (Espanola Improved). And Dave just planted a few black beans (Turtle, which is a bush bean), to fill in the patch. We've never tried growing these before, so it will be neat to see how they do.

So, for the summary:
Things that are doing well include yard-long beans, okra, tomatoes, marigolds, chiles, watermelon, cantaloupe, squash, basil, and pears. The grapes I planted last year (Roberts Red) and this year (Himrod) seem to be doing fine.

Things that are not doing particularly well include artichokes, cabbages, dino kale, beets - these are all in one bed, so maybe it's the soil, or the afternoon sun. These are all moderate to heavy feeders, so next year I'll have to pay more attention to enriching the soil. They're doing much better on the side that gets more shade, so maybe I'll try them all in a shadier spot next year. Except the artichokes are perennials, so I'd like to try to make them work in this spot.

The fava beans, chervil, and green onions I planted in the beds under the Tree of Heaven didn't make it either - maybe it's the soil in these beds, or the shade, or quite likely just the heat. The sorrel is hanging on for dear life in there. But the upland cress was a definite success there in the spring.

Frying peppers and Tarahumara squash never came up - maybe they need a bit more coddling, so I'll try to start them inside next year. And the potatoes in barrels - not a huge success, but they're hanging in there, so we'll see what happens. Next year, I think I'll go back to growing them in the ground, in a sunnier spot than we did last year.

As for the perennials, the hop vine is still tiny, and I'm not sure if it's just because this is its first year, or the soil, or what. The strawberries are doing ok but not great - maybe I should try covering the soil with white plastic to cool it and keep the pillbugs and sowbugs off the berries. And I'm afraid the raspberries and blackberries I planted along the front fence have died. I'm guessing it's the heavy clay soil... I didn't prepare the soil very carefully, and I think they need some coddling in this climate. The Fall Gold raspberry I planted in the back yard, in better soil, is doing ok but not great.

All in all, maybe a 50% success rate. Every year I learn something new. It looks bad now, but come September, I'll be singing a different song. Everything that does survive July goes crazy once the monsoons arrive and the temperatures cool down a bit. If they ever come... this year is just scary dry.

Carrot, Apple and Fennel Slaw

2011-07-15T10:41:00.001-06:00

Photo by Sergio Salvador www.salvadorphoto.com

Wow, I love this photo. And I love this super-crunchy slaw, with a clean, tangy lemon dressing. It goes well with practically anything - the ideal thing to bring to a summer barbecue.

The delicate licorice flavor of tarragon and fennel complements the sweet carrots and apples. Gorgeous multicolored carrots are abundant at the farmers' markets now. If you get there early, you might even find some baby fennel bulbs, which are worth seeking out because they're so tender and flavorful.

2 crisp, tart apples
4 large carrots or several small ones
2 or 3 baby fennel bulbs
2 Tbs chopped fresh tarragon
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Shred or slice the apples and carrots into thin strips. Slice the fennel crosswise as thinly as possible, and chop the fronds coarsely. Toss with remaining ingredients in a large bowl.

Harissa-Rubbed Lamb Chops with Beet, Lentil and Preserved Lemon Salad

2011-07-08T07:15:00.123-06:00

Photo by Sergio Salvador www.salvadorphoto.com

Beets are at their best this month - planted in the cool of spring, they grow to full size in June or July. Roasting them intensifies their sweetness, but it usually takes so long... if you cut them smaller, it's actually pretty quick. Or, if you don't want to heat up the oven, try grilling them! Preserved lemons and harissa can be found at Middle Eastern markets or at The Spanish Table in Santa Fe, but they're super-easy to make (see these earlier posts for harissa and preserved lemon recipes). Local lamb chops are a great pairing with this hearty salad. At the Santa Fe Farmers' Market, Shepherd's Lamb sells organic lamb raised on the range in northern New Mexico. Keller's Farm Store sells lamb raised in Colorado.

4 lamb chops

2 T. harissa

1 C. lentils (preferably French black lentils, but regular green lentils will do)

2 C. water

1 large beet

1/4 C. olive oil

2 Tbs lemon juice

2 green onions, chopped

1 C. chopped cilantro leaves and/or 1 C. purslane

One quarter of a preserved lemon

Salt and pepper

Rub lamb chops with about 1 T. harissa, about half an hour before you are ready to cook them. Bring lentils and water to a boil in a medium saucepan, simmer about 20 minutes or until tender, then drain well.

Chop the beets into cubes, about 1/2 inch, and toss them with a little olive oil and salt. To grill, cook them in a grill pan over medium to high heat until tender. Otherwise, preheat oven to 400°F, spread the beets in a single layer on a baking sheet, and roast about 20 minutes.

Grill the chops (or just fry them in a skillet) over medium heat, turning frequently to keep the spices from burning, until they reach an internal temperature of 145° (medium rare) to 170°F (well done). If the chops are thick enough to stand on edge, cook on each side.

Whisk remaining olive oil with lemon juice, remaining harissa, green onions and cilantro in a medium bowl, reserving a few cilantro leaves for garnish. If you'd like to try the purslane, you can either rub the whole plant with oil and set it on the grill for a few minutes until it wilts, or just leave it raw. Chop it coarsely or snip it into the bowl with kitchen scissors. Chop the preserved lemon coarsely, and toss with beets and lentils in the bowl with the dressing. Season with salt and pepper as needed. Place each chop atop a mound of salad and garnish with cilantro leaves. Serves 4.

Blueberry Basil Soda

2011-07-07T19:10:00.000-06:00

A few leaves of basil
A handful of blueberries
About 2Tbs simple syrup
Sparkling water

Muddle blueberries with basil in a pint glass. Add simple syrup. Fill glass with ice, and top off with sparkling water. Stir gently.

Junebug on Geranium

2011-07-06T00:00:00.004-06:00

Photo by Sergio Salvador www.salvadorphoto.com

The Garden Journal - July 4

2011-07-04T19:51:00.008-06:00

July always seems like a slow time for the garden - not much is ready to eat, and I always see a few things die in the heat. The battery went out in our timer last week, and the fava beans just shriveled up. I always worry about my water consumption, but I feel the need to water every day because it's so hot. This year I mulched everything with straw, now that the wind has finally died down, and I think I'll try switching to 1 hour every other day with the drip system. A few new things have started blooming in the last couple weeks - at the right is bee balm, which I planted last year, and now it's finally getting established.

The Rose of Sharon in our tiny back courtyard is in full bloom - one of my favorite plants that puts on a great show with very little water.

And the daylilies Dave's mom gave me - the blooms only last a day, but they are so beautiful. Every part of the daylily plant is edible (but make sure you don't confuse them with other, non-edible, types of lilies). I think I'll try using them like squash blossoms! I also have a few great varieties I bought last year from the daylily society, but they don't seem to be doing much yet. I may need to move some of them to a spot where they can get more water, but I'm afraid to transplant them now - I think it's the wrong time of year. I've heard you're supposed to divide spring-blooming plants like irises in the fall, and summer-blooming plants like daylilies in the spring.

The Stupice (left) and Sungold (right) tomatoes have set their first clusters of fruit!! I had heard that Stupice was one of the earliest-fruiting tomatoes, and I didn't have good luck with it last year, but this year I am duly impressed.

We made these fabulous tomato cages out of re-mesh, which you can buy at the hardware store in 5x7-foot sheets (it's made for reinforcing concrete slabs). It's my new favorite garden material - great for bean and pea trellises, too. Those tiny tomato cages you get at nurseries just don't cut it here.

Oh gosh - I have a confession to make. You may have noticed, the varieties I started from seed in March are not the same varieties I ended up planting out. I'm really not so good at starting seedlings! I had such high hopes for the fluorescent light plan, but I guess I didn't put the light close enough to the plants, because they just never grew more than about 3 inches tall.

I ended up buying starts from the Master Gardener plant sale, and got a few of the same varieties, but I also got a few varieties that I'm much more excited about, that I didn't have seeds for - Black Sea Man, Mortgage Lifter, Japanese Black Trifele, and Costoluto Genovese. Oh, and the Stupice came from the Santa Fe farmers' market.

Anyway, the one that I had started in March that I couldn't live without was the Speckled Roman, which I got from Amyo Farms last year and it was so delicious that I had to save the seeds. So I just planted it outside from seed, and it is coming along nicely... it's about 6 inches tall, and our growing season is long enough that I bet we'll still get a decent crop. It's an incredibly sweet and flavorful paste tomato, perfect for making sauce.

The okra and beans have sprouted and are coming along fine.

And the squash I planted a few weeks ago has sprouted! I'm not sure whether this is the Tarahumara or Hopi squash, because I forgot to mark which one I planted in each spot.

The volunteer squash in Dave's chile patch is getting huge. We don't have a clue what it is, but it has delicious blossoms!

The Espanola Improved chiles are flowering... this is a variety of New Mexico chile that was bred for the shorter growing season up north. They can be eaten green - they are supposed to be pretty meaty - but they can also be dried for red chile.

Also, there are a couple of volunteer tomato plants in there - probably Yellow Pear. It's such an incredibly vigorous variety, we just keep getting volunteers all over the place. Which is great, because we never have to buy it or save seeds, just wait, and one will surely pop up somewhere.

Oh yeah, and how could I forget? We harvested our first garlic! It's a hardneck variety, I don't remember what, that we got from Eli at Chispas Farm last fall. This spring, he gave me great advice on when to harvest it - wait until all but about 5 leaves turn brown, because each leaf corresponds to a layer of the husk that encases the whole head, and you want those to protect the garlic for storage. I even braided it to hang on the wall until we're ready to use it.

Now that the garlic is out, I think I'll plant some bush beans in its place. I'd like to try lima beans again - baby lima beans fresh from the garden are sublime. And I picked up some seeds for those wonderful Dragon's Tongue beans at the Urban Store up on Silver, in Nob Hill. They also sell locally produced chicken feed! It's much cheaper than the organic feed (which you can get from Los Poblanos Organics if you call and ask for it), and this place is closer to us than the feed stores in the valley.

Brandied Cherries

2011-07-01T14:31:00.000-06:00

I have really been working out the kinks with this brandied cherry thing. Real brandied cherries are so much better than the day-glo maraschino cherries you can buy at the grocery store, and a Manhattan is my favorite cocktail. Perfect way to preserve summer's glory, right? Not so easy, perhaps.

First I tried just packing the cherries in the jar with a solution of equal parts brandy and sugar. I thought this was a sure thing, because there are lots of recipes like this online, and I figured the brandy would definitely preserve them, so that's the recipe I gave on the Edible Santa Fe website. They were delicious after a few days, but a few weeks later, they are kind of soft and actually fermenting a little. I don't think this is bad, just surprising.

I also tried one with equal parts brandy, water and sugar. There are lots of recipes like this out there too - most just say to pack the raw cherries in this solution and you should be all set. I noticed that these started fermenting within a few days, but according to Leslie Land, that's a good thing. I just discovered her fabulous blog - she has been a New York Times garden columnist and a chef at Chez Panisse, so I'd guess her advice is pretty reliable! Finally I settled on following her recipe pretty closely, to avoid any further mishaps. I made 9 half-pints, some with rum, some with Jack Daniels, because I ran out of brandy.

It's up to you whether to pit the cherries or not. Some say the pits add a deeper almond note to the flavor, but be sure to warn your guests if you do leave them in! I had the most amazing brandied cherry in a whiskey sour with evergreen syrup at the Seattle Art Museum cafe last year, and the bartender had made them herself with black pepper and tarragon, so I wanted to try adding those. Cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and vanilla would also be great additions. I won't bother to post a recipe, just point you to Leslie's - Real-Deal Brandied Cherries. I added the black pepper and tarragon to one of the jars, but for the others I think I'll just wait a few weeks or maybe until they finish fermenting before adding anything.

Cherry Picking and Wildfires

2011-07-01T13:56:00.001-06:00

Ok, I know, it's been way too long since I updated the blog. Yikes, time flies! We were out of town, and then I was a bit overwhelmed with work.... We went cherry-picking down near Tularosa last weekend, and then I was overwhelmed with cherries. Plus, all of a sudden the apricots are ripe too! More on that later.

We had a great time at Nichols Ranch and Orchards - they have 16 different varieties of cherries planted, and you can just wander and pick whatever you like.

We picked 9 pounds of sour pie cherries, and 14 pounds of different kinds of sweet cherries - about half Bing, half Lambert, and a handful (maybe a pound) of Royal Anne. Bing have the firmest texture and sweetest flavor, which is why they are so deservedly popular, and I never knew they could get so black! It's a bit late in the season, so they're incredibly dark and sweet. Lambert are redder, more tart, and heart-shaped. Royal Anne are bright red, blushing with yellow, and fantastically sweet. They go fast, so we could only find a few.

And of course we had to stop at the "world's largest pistachio" at the McGinn's Orchard store - this is pecan and pistachio country. They have about a dozen kinds of flavored pistachios, which are all good, but we just bought a pound of plain ones. And some Carrizozo Cherry Cider, which is pretty tasty... but not nearly as good as actual cherries. Pecans were expensive at the gift shop, but much cheaper at the gas station convenience store! It's amazing what you can get at gas stations in serious agricultural or fishing towns - I once bought a mesh bag of oysters in the shell at a gas station in Willapa Bay, out on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington, and they were incredible.

Back home, it took us about two hours to pit the pie cherries, which were just enough for 3-4 pies, then we froze them. With these, you can poke a small paper clip or bobby pin through the stem end and the seed pops right out. The sweet cherries were much more difficult to pit - the seeds just seem to be attached more firmly to the flesh, so it was easier just to use our fingers to split the cherry and dig out the seed. Still, it didn't take that much longer. I made a Danish Cherry Sauce with about 4 pounds, a pie with about 2 1/2 pounds, and Brandied Cherries with another 4 or 5 pounds, but where did the other 3 pounds go? I guess we must have just eaten them!

The drive was just gorgeous - especially the sunset behind Socorro, but the scary thing was that we saw three different fires on our way back to Albuquerque. Warning: I'm about to go on a bit of a tangent here, because it is breaking my heart. The first was a small grass fire, right on the stretch of road before where this picture was taken.

The second was a bosque fire (along the river) south of Belen, which has now burned 250 acres. And the third was the Las Conchas fire which has now burned over 100,000 acres of the Jemez Mountains, making it the largest in New Mexico's history. From the freeway near Isleta, south of Albuquerque, we could see the flames in the dark... over 60 miles away. It looked like an erupting volcano. My husband's parents live up there. They were supposed to evacuate, but chose to stay. It looks like they will be fine, and the fire crews have done an amazing job of keeping the fire from getting to Los Alamos National Lab. The ironic thing is that they were helped enormously by the fact that the Cerro Grande fire, which destroyed hundreds of homes in Los Alamos 11 years ago, had already burned up most of the fuel load in the area and that's a big part of what actually kept the town safe this time.

Other communities haven't been so lucky - let's just hope the destruction isn't too devastating for Santa Clara Pueblo as the fire moves north. The loss of trees in their watershed alone will cause major erosion problems for them this fall when it finally starts to rain, and again in spring when the snow melts. Dixon's Apple Orchard, where we love to go in the fall for the beautiful scenery and their special Champagne and Sparkling Burgundy apples, is to the south, where the fire first spread on Monday night. They had already lost some of their crop to the extreme freeze we had in February, and now their home and a tenth of the orchard have burned. It makes me want to cry, because this landscape I love will never be the same again in our lifetimes.

We had thought about going camping this weekend, but now I guess not, because half the state is on fire... and anywhere else we might go is at extreme fire risk too. Sandia Crest is closed, and we can't even ride our bikes along the river trail now, because the bosque is closed. Less than one inch of rain in Albuquerque so far this year, and that's what happens. But you can probably still go cherry-picking.

Chicken and Cherry Salad

2011-07-01T10:27:00.004-06:00

Cherries are here!! Danielle from Beet Happening had some gorgeous sweet cherries at the farmers' market last week - you just have to get there early enough to buy some. This salad, adapted from Bon Appetit's recent issue, is absolutely fabulous. The combination of spring radishes and early summer cherries captures the essence of June, this wonderful in-between time. And Vida Verde farm is growing the fantastic Little Gem lettuce this year, which looks like tiny Romaine, but has the texture of butterhead. This is great with leftover roast chicken, but for a vegetarian option I'd try pecans. I love the dressing, and I made a big bottle of it to use on other salads.

The croutons are deliciously decadent - frying them in duck fat makes them ultra-crunchy. I had some left over from when I made duck confit and duck prosciutto with my friend Joey a few months ago. The original recipe called for frying them in chicken fat (did you know that's where the word schmaltz comes from? it means chicken fat, which was often used to add a little extra flavor to a dish.) Of course you could always fry them in olive oil, but however you do it, I guess croutons couldn't exactly be called health food.

1 pound sweet cherries

2 cooked chicken thighs

4 radishes, sliced

1/2 pound lettuce (preferably Little Gem or butterhead)

3 T. duck or chicken fat, butter or olive oil

1 cup cubed dry bread

3 T Sherry vinegar

3 T Dijon mustard

1 T honey

1 garlic clove, minced

1/4 C. olive oil

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Pit cherries by squeezing them over a bowl to catch the juice. Slice meat from chicken thighs, reserving any skin. Wash lettuce, dry thoroughly, and tear into bite-size pieces Arrange cherries, chicken and radishes over the lettuce on four plates. Melt fat in a skillet on medium heat, and toss the bread cubes to coat. Fry until browned on all sides, and season with salt while still hot. Whisk vinegar, mustard, honey, garlic and olive oil together and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle croutons over salad and drizzle with dressing. Serves 4.

The Garden Journal - June 12

2011-06-12T17:53:00.002-06:00

Ok, so I didn't panic and rip out all my tomato plants. After chatting with Danielle of Beet Happening (an awesome local farm - they grew all kinds of beautiful heirloom tomatoes last year) I felt a lot better about the situation. She said sometimes the leaves can curl and it's not the curly top virus, especially if they aren't yellowing. Mine look nice and green still and they have lots of flowers, so I decided to just hope for the best.

After poking around on the internets, I found that transplant shock and too much nitrogen can cause leaf curling. This year I used a whole lot of alpaca manure in my raised beds, and even though it is supposed to be very mild and doesn't burn the plants, that is a lot of nitrogen... maybe I could have gone a little easier on it. Also, I decided to try out a Master Gardener tip and planted the tomato starts about 6 inches deep - they are supposed to grow lots of roots from the buried stem. However, you can go overboard with this technique too. I know that in the Master Gardeners' demo garden, they had some tomato plants die because they were planted too deep and basically got smothered. So the curled leaves certainly could be a sign that this kind of transplanting is a little hard on them at first. But hopefully it will pay off.

June is a bit of a slow time in the garden... the peas are done, though the strawberries are steadily producing a handful or so each week. Not much else is ready yet. The kale is still tiny, as are the cabbages (although I wonder if I'm doing something wrong, since I haven't really tried growing cabbage before). The beans, chiles and okra are just seedlings. It's an ongoing goal of mine to figure out how to fill this "June gap". Which is why I need a cherry tree - they are the earliest of all tree fruits.

The most exciting thing, other than the tomato blossoms, is that the day lilies have developed a few flower buds. Every part of the day lily is edible! Not that I'm going to be chowing down on them yet - this is the first year I've tried growing them and the plants are still small. My mother-in-law has huge clumps of gorgeous day lilies. Hers are not blooming yet, because she lives about 2000 feet higher in the Jemez Mountains, but I saw some blooming in Espanola this weekend, which is closer to our elevation.

I mulched all the beds (except where seedlings are just starting) with straw, about 3 inches deep, to try to keep the soil cooler and more of the moisture in. I've never tried this before, but I keep hearing it's a good idea. I'm always worried that it will harbor more bugs and snails, but hopefully the benefits of keeping more moisture in will outweigh this possibility. It will be interesting to see if we have less trouble with snails and pillbugs eating our strawberries, or more.

And finally, I planted a few seeds of Tarahumara squash and Hopi squash! I'm not really sure whether they are even winter or summer squash, but we'll find out. I usually don't bother planting squash at all, because the squash bugs are the most dastardly creatures - there really is no way to kill them except by hand (or maybe some super-scary industrial pesticide). But my plan this year is to cover the plants completely with Reemay cloth, until the first squash are ready, then uncover them and harvest until the squash bugs or the frost kills them, whichever comes first.

Green Gazpacho

2011-06-12T17:04:00.000-06:00

Gazpacho is an incredibly refreshing, yet filling, cold soup made from bread and vegetables. It's the perfect summer meal when it's so hot you don't feel like eating anything. This one features spring vegetables, which is great because June always seems to be the hottest month here, yet the succulent summer vegetables are still a month or more away. It can be made with practically any combination of green leafy veggies. You can use green onions, garlic scapes, or garlic cloves depending on how pungent you like your gazpacho.

1 C. dry bread cubes

1 1/2 C. chilled water (plus more for soaking the bread)

1 C. almonds

1/2 t. salt

1/4 C. olive oil

2 C. chopped lettuce leaves

2 C. chopped spinach

1 medium cucumber, peeled and chopped (optional)

4 chopped green onions (or 3 garlic scapes, or 1 garlic clove)

2 T. any combination of fresh herbs (such as parsley, tarragon, thyme, dill, rosemary, mint, chervil, lovage, basil or cilantro)

2 T. sherry vinegar

Freshly ground black pepper

Soak the bread in just enough water to cover. After 5 to 10 minutes, when it is soft, drain and squeeze out most of the water. Combine with almonds, garlic, salt, and 1 cup chilled water in a food processor or blender. Puree until a smooth paste is formed, then drizzle in the olive oil until emulsified. Transfer to a bowl, then add the vegetables and herbs to the food processor or blender. Puree with an additional 1/2 cup of chilled water. Whisk this puree, along with the vinegar, into the bread mixture. Add pepper and additional salt and vinegar as needed. If you like your gazpacho silky smooth, puree it once more in a blender at top speed. Chill thoroughly. Serve with garnish of fresh herbs or blanched garlic scapes. Serves 8.

The Garden Journal - June 5

2011-06-05T22:08:00.000-06:00

Tragedy strikes! I'm afraid all our tomato plants may have the curly top virus....

There's nothing to be done - once they have it they won't produce much if any fruit and the only thing to do is to remove them. They get it from the leafhoppers, so there's no worry about spreading it through the soil, but it's good to get the plants out so the leafhoppers don't spread it from them to other plants. I don't feel quite ready to rip them out just yet, but unless they start looking better this week, I guess I'll have to buy all new tomato plants. It's too late to start them from seed - it takes so long for the plants to mature, I'd hardly get any tomatoes. The only way to keep the leafhoppers off is to seal them under a cloth, like the Reemay I used on the cabbages.

On the bright side, the marigold seeds I planted have already sprouted. You can tell they're marigolds by the tiny serrated true leaves coming out between the seed leaves. Last year I completely forgot to plant any marigolds. I wonder if they would repel leafhoppers - maybe I should have planted them sooner!

The yard-long beans have sprouted too! Beans are very gratifying because they are so quick to sprout and easy to grow. The trellis is re-mesh, my new favorite garden material - used for reinforcing concrete slabs, you can buy a 4x7ft section of it for $7 at Lowe's. It's also great for making tomato cages, because it's tall enough to support a great big plant and long enough to make a cage about 2 feet in diameter. And best of all, the holes are big enough to pull a 2-pound tomato through!

The strawberries are starting to go into full production, even though they're still such small plants. The sowbugs keep eating the bottoms off the berries, though! This mulch needs to be much thicker - two or three inches at least, and maybe that will stop the little buggers. This week I need to get out there and really mulch everything. I had been waiting for the spring winds to stop so my straw wouldn't blow away, but they seem to be continuing later than usual this year.

We love volunteers! Not sure what this is, growing next to one of Dave's chiles, but I'm guessing some type of melon or squash. Last year we had a gigantic kabocha squash vine growing out of the compost pile, across the yard and up the plum tree! It produced 6 or 7 healthy squashes and they were delicious. I've often had the yellow pear tomatoes volunteer in different places around the garden, and the arugula was great last year.

And to finish up this week's garden journal, one of my favorite plants, the walking onion. Dave's mom gave me a few of these several years ago, and they just keep hanging out, spreading and coming back every year. Aren't they beautiful? They're tasty too.

Rhubarb Tart

2011-06-05T20:58:00.001-06:00

Photo by Sergio Salvador www.salvadorphoto.com

Oh, I just LOVE this photo! Rhubarb is my absolute favorite spring treat – I look forward to it even more than strawberries or asparagus, maybe even more than peas. Some varieties are a gorgeous deep red, but Victoria, the variety many home gardeners grow, is mostly green. I love its tanginess tempered with plenty of sugar in pie, sorbet, trifle, or just plain sauce. I've been making rhubarb soda with the sauce and a little seltzer water. I'm really excited to try making a rhubarb barbecue sauce this year. But this tart might be the most beautiful way I know to serve rhubarb.

Baking the rhubarb allows it to keep its shape and color. I first had a tart like this at the fabulous P'tit Louis Bistro downtown, made with tiny green rhubarb stalks, and I've been meaning to re-create it ever since. I think the secret is to macerate the rhubarb in sugar and let it sit overnight to absorb some of the sugar, and by this logic it may actually be better to use small stalks.

3-4 large rhubarb stalks (or a big handful of small ones)

A few sprigs of lemon verbena or zest of an orange (optional)

1/2 C. granulated sugar

1 pre-made pie crust or puff pastry

Powdered sugar for dusting (optional)

Trim the ends off the rhubarb stalks and cut them into roughly square pieces. Toss with sugar and chopped lemon verbena or zest, and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Lay the pastry in a pie plate or square baking dish, folding the edges over to fit. Strain the juice from the rhubarb to remove the lemon verbena leaves. If there is a lot of juice, pour it into a saucepan and begin simmering to reduce it. Arrange the chunks of rhubarb in a single layer on the crust. I like to do an alternating pattern, by turning each piece so the ribs face the opposite way from the one next to it, so that it looks like lattice. When the liquid is reduced to a small enough amount of syrup that it won't overflow the crust, drizzle it evenly over the top of the tart. Bake 20 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown. Dust with powdered sugar if desired. Serves 4.

The Garden Journal - May 30

2011-05-30T23:01:00.005-06:00

Each week it seems like there's not much new in the garden, but when I go out there to take a few photos I discover lots of things have changed! So I guess this journal is a good thing, because it makes me notice more.

For one thing, the hollyhocks are blooming. Yeah, I know they're not a veggie, but they are beautiful and they just grow themselves. I never noticed they didn't start blooming until around Memorial Day. The honeysuckle is done already, sadly, and I didn't get around to making honeysuckle syrup.

The gaura is blooming too. And all around it, the bane of my existence - bermudagrass - is setting seed. Behind it is another of my least favorite plants, a Siberian elm. Eventually we'll get around to covering this area with weed fabric and mulch, but it's suddenly too hot to want to tackle such a big project. Last week it was in the 70s-80s and cool at night, now it's in the 90s during the day and 60s at night.

The gold plate yarrow is blooming! Dave's mom gave these to me a couple years ago, and they are finally looking happy. It's a cutting from her mother-in-law's plant in Denver.

And the most exciting thing - the garlic has sent up its scapes! As soon as they all curl like this one, I'll cut them off and eat them. This allows the plant to put more energy into its bulb. I learned this week from Eli, of Chispas Farm, that the garlic will be ready to harvest once all but 3 to 5 leaves turn brown.

The pomegranate tree has started sending up some strong new shoots. I am afraid it the rest of it really is dead, but we're so lucky its roots survived! I doubt we'll get any pomegranates this year.

Tonight I picked 2 pounds of sugar snaps and one pound of Oregon Trail shelling peas! Shelling them always reminds me of sitting on the back porch of my grandma's house in Illinois.

Now that the peas are pretty much finished, maybe I'll try eating some of the shoots. I tasted these little tips off the sugar snaps and the regular peas, and I think the regular ones actually had sweeter shoots.

Our first strawberry is almost ripe! Unfortunately something got to it before we did - a continual problem. Not sure if this was a bird or a snail. You would think living in such a dry climate we wouldn't have to worry about things like snails, but no! Just add water... and they come out of nowhere, to feast on my strawberries.

The fava beans are blooming (below), but they are looking a bit tired in the heat. I think I planted them way too late. Unlike other beans, they like cool weather and can germinate in barely warmed soil. Next year maybe I'll get serious about fava beans and plant them at the same time as the peas.

The basil seeds I planted a few weeks ago have sprouted (and with them, one of our ubiquitous weeds - I'm never sure if this is knotweed or spurge).

My cabbages are getting eaten alive by cabbage loopers, as I knew they would when I saw that little white butterfly. So I sprayed them with Bt - Bacillus thuringensis, a bacterial strain that infects the caterpillars when they eat it. It's a pretty safe, organic treatment, and it should work pretty quickly. I guess I'll have to keep doing this once a week until I don't see the butterflies anymore. They seem to like the green cabbages better than red, and they love the kale most!

I discovered something even worse on the biggest, healthiest artichoke plant. Ants... which mean aphids, and sure enough there they are on the undersides of the leaves. Ugh. I feel like they are the hardest thing to get rid of. I guess I'll have to try Michele's idea of the Dr. Bronner's peppermint soap spray.

And finally, I planted my Yard-Long Beans in the front yard, along with a few rows of okra. Two crops that are generally problem-free. Hooray!

Bread-and-Butter Pickles

2011-05-27T10:35:00.003-06:00

Last weekend, I was delighted and amazed to find the most perfect little pickling cucumbers I have ever seen at the Los Ranchos Farmers' Market! Cucumbers, this early?? East Mountain Organics has a new greenhouse, and they're trying out these adorable gherkins. They are incredibly crunchy and sweet, small and dense - the smaller the better for pickling.

I've written about fermented pickles before, but here's a nice quick recipe for sweet pickles, adapted from Linda Ziedrich's The Joy of Pickling. The ice technique helps keep the cucumbers extra-crisp. I like my pickles a bit less sweet, so I use the lesser amount of sugar. They taste best after resting about 3 weeks to let the flavors infuse, but they are still quite delicious if you just want to eat them right away. These sweet, spiced slices are great on burgers or roast pork sandwiches.

2 pounds 3- to 5-inch pickling cucumbers
1 medium onion
2 1/2 T. pickling or kosher salt
2 trays of ice cubes
2 T. yellow mustard seeds
1/2 t. celery seeds
1/2 t. red chile flakes
1 1/2 C. cider vinegar
1/2 to 1 C. brown sugar
1/2 t. ground turmeric
1/8 t. ground cloves or ginger

Gently wash the cucumbers and remove the ends. Slice them into rounds about 1/4 inch thick. Quarter the onions and slice them thinly. Toss the cucumbers and onions with salt, then cover them with ice cubes. Let stand 3 to 4 hours, then drain.

Combine the vegetables with all remaining ingredients in a nonreactive saucepan (not aluminum or copper), and bring to a boil. Pack into jars with enough liquid to cover. If you wish, you can seal them with two piece lids and process them in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes (this time is adjusted for Albuquerque's altitude – add 5 more minutes for Santa Fe). This extra cooking tends to make them less crunchy, so I prefer to just refrigerate them. Makes about 3 pints.

Pea Puree with Preserved Lemon Salsa

2011-05-26T08:11:00.001-06:00

Wow! This pea puree is so wonderful, and the preserved lemon goes just perfectly with it. It's adapted from a recipe in this month's Bon Appetit, from Lucques restaurant in L.A. The original dish was more focused on pea shoots, but I can't bring myself to snip off any of my pea shoots, because that would mean fewer peas! I didn't have all the ingredients so I just left stuff out, and I followed the recipe very loosely, mixing up some of the components. I'm always looking for more ways to use preserved lemons, because I love them, and this is a real winner. We enjoyed it with a nice Pacific Halibut fillet, but I think it would be great on lamb, chicken, pasta, or maybe a grilled slice of halloumi (a firm Middle Eastern cheese).

Marinade:
4 6-oz. halibut fillets
3 sprigs fresh thyme (or better yet, lemon thyme)
Juice of 1 lemon (preferably Meyer) or 1 tsp lemon zest

Pea Puree:
2 cups fresh or frozen peas
1 cup packed fresh spinach leaves (I actually left these out but want to try it)
1/3 cup ice water
Juice of 1 lemon (preferably Meyer)
2 Tbs olive oil
Generous pinch of sugar
2 Tbs chopped fresh cilantro or mint
Salt and pepper

Preserved Lemon Salsa:
1 preserved lemon (or zest of 1 fresh lemon, but it will be a whole different thing, more like a shallot salsa with a little lemon flavor)
1 medium shallot
2 tsp Champagne or white wine vinegar
Pinch of salt
1/2 tsp honey
2 Tbs olive oil
1/2 cup fresh or frozen peas
2 Tbs chopped fresh cilantro or mint
Freshly ground black pepper

Put the fish and marinade together in a plastic bag and refrigerate for a few hours or overnight.

Cook the peas in boiling salted water for 1 minute, or in the microwave for a few minutes until just tender. Cook the spinach in the same pot for a few seconds (or in the microwave with just the water that clings to the leaves after washing), until just wilted. Puree the spinach and peas with the ice water. Whisk in lemon juice, oil, sugar and cilantro, then season to taste with salt and pepper.

Slice the preserved lemon and shallots very thinly. Combine the shallots with vinegar and a pinch of salt, and let stand 5 minutes. Stir in honey to dissolve. Toss with preserved lemon (or lemon zest) and remaining ingredients. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.

Cook the fish as desired (we just fried it in olive oil for about 3 minutes on each side). Pour pea puree on each plate, set the fish on it, then top with lemon salsa. Serves 4.

The Garden Journal - May 22

2011-05-22T20:49:00.005-06:00

I finally got the tubs to plant my last few tomato plants - I've been stopping by Lowe's every week or so to see if they have them, but no luck. Last year they had these great 20-gallon tubs displayed prominently for a long time - the perfect size for a keg, or a tomato plant. So I finally asked somebody, and we found them way back in a corner by the storage bins. Each holds about 2.5 cubic feet of potting soil, which costs about $5. I drilled 3 holes in the bottom of each, and now the Stupice, Black Brandywine, and Aunt Ruby's German Green are ready to go. I think this nice blue looks pretty good on the patio.

The chollas are blooming - aren't they just gorgeous? The flowers kind of close up in the evening.

And the hollyhocks (right) are about to burst into bloom. They are so amazing - they come up in all kinds of random places, and survive with no intentional watering. But if I try to plant them somewhere, they never seem to take. They just do their own thing. What a gift!

Not too much else is new since last week, except... the sugar snap peas are fat and sweet, and we ate about a pound of them this weekend! Since I planted them on Presidents' Day, I calculate that it took about 90 days to harvest. This is interesting, because the packet says 60-70 days. I usually don't remember to compare, but I feel like things always take longer for me! Now I wonder if planting them later would be better.

I planted some cilantro in the back yard in the shade, and some marigold and basil seeds around the edges of the tomato beds.

Mulberry Lime Tart

2011-05-22T20:21:00.000-06:00

It's mulberry season! Just for the next few weeks... so if you've never tasted a mulberry, now's the time to take a walk around your neighborhood and see if you can find some. Yes, that mulberry, the one whose pollen you're probably allergic to. The male trees produce tons of pollen, but the female trees produce tasty berries! Look for purple spots on the sidewalk, then look up. They are seriously delicious – kind of like blackberries but with a nice chewy texture.

This tart is very tart! Mulberries are not very acidic, so the tartness of the lime really compliments their flavor. The recipe is adapted from a lemon and fresh raspberry tart in the San Francisco Ferry Plaza Farmers' Market Cookbook, so keep it in mind when raspberry season comes around later in the summer. The crust is so easy, even I was willing to make it.

Crust:

1 cup butter, at room temperature

1 cup all-purpose flour

¼ cup powdered sugar

Filling:

2 large eggs

1 cup granulated sugar

2 T. all-purpose flour

½ t. baking powder

¼ C. lime juice

Zest of 1 lime

2 C. fresh mulberries, thoroughly washed

Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix butter, flour and sugar until the dough starts to come together. It should be somewhat crumbly. Press evenly into a pie plate or 9-inch square pan. Bake until very lightly browned, about 15 minutes. Let cool completely. Combine eggs, sugar, flour, baking powder, lime juice and zest in a bowl, and beat until the mixture is frothy. Pour into crust and bake about 20 minutes, until the filling is set but not browned on top. Cool to room temperature. If your mulberries are very juicy, just press them gently into the top, covering the entire surface. If they are not particularly juicy, sprinkle them with a little sugar and mash them with a fork, then spread over the top. If you like your berries cooked, I think it would probably work fine to put them on top before you bake the filling, but I didn't try it. Serves 8.

The Garden Journal - May 15

2011-05-15T13:52:00.026-06:00

Another installment of the garden journal right away, since I'm just so excited about spring! I finally decided this year to plant edible vines to cover our front fence, and ordered several varieties recommended by Cooperative Extension from Indiana Berry (they are fabulous!)

The new grape vine (Himrod, a white table grape) seems to be doing pretty well. And the blackberry (Navajo) is finally growing a few leaves.

The grape vine I planted last year (Roberts Red, from Plants of the Southwest) is coming back strong, with vines about 5 feet long already.

The new raspberry (Caroline) is about 6 inches tall. The raspberry I planted last year (Fall Gold, from Plants of the Southwest) is about 18 inches tall already. It's on the north side of the house, while the new one is on the west side. We'll see how they do!

Something is eating my blueberry bush - see, holes in the leaves and even in the blossoms (at the bottom)! Anyone know what this could be? I grow it in a container so we can try to keep the soil more acidic. We really can't grow them in the ground here, because our soil is so alkaline.

The apricot and plum trees didn't bloom at all this year - I'm so sad we won't have any fruit... I guess the super-cold temperatures actually killed the buds. But they are putting on tons of leafy growth! Unfortunately, the pomegranate tree may not be so lucky. No leaves yet, and according to my notebook, it had leafed out by April 15 last year. But Lloyd (the Fig Man) said to wait another month, so I haven't given up hope yet.

The apple and pear trees have set fruit (below). We have an Arkansas Black and a Cort Pendu Plat planted in the same hole (to keep them small) in the front yard. And we have a White Doyenne pear in the back yard that used to have a Brandy pear planted with it (for making pear brandy!) But it was too sensitive to the alkaline soil and was always iron-deficient, until it finally died.

The hop rhizome that I planted on the south side of the porch just finally sprouted in the last week or two. It's Cascade, my favorite grapefruity-flavored hop. Not sure if we'll try brewing with it or just enjoy its funky scent.

Ok, so I do grow a few flowers. Larkspurs (right, above) are one of the hardiest flowers I know, although not edible - they reseed themselves all over my friend Margarita's yard, and she transplanted some into a pot for me. I know hummingbirds are supposed to like red flowers, but I have actually seen them visiting these. A black-chinned hummingbird has her nest in our front yard!

The honeysuckle (edible) and Spanish broom (not edible) are both in bloom, and I love their sweet scent. Unfortunately, the Tree of Heaven is also in bloom in the back yard and it's fragrance tends to overpower everything else.

Here are some pansies that I planted last fall, that I hardly watered, and was absolutely stunned when they reappeared in the spring. Soon I'll have to get around to candying some of them - aren't they gorgeous? Totally edible. And the huge leaves next to them are horseradish.

And finally, some of the irises (not edible) Dave's mom gave me two years ago. The light and dark purple ones bloomed first, but now they're gone and the yellow ones have started. Glorious!

The Garden Journal - May 14

2011-05-14T19:10:00.009-06:00

I started this blog as much for myself as for anyone else to read, because it helps me remember the recipes I love and keep track of how I've modified them. And suddenly this week, I had the realization that I could do that for the garden as well! As you might expect, I mostly only like to grow vegetables (and other edible things, like fruits and herbs, and sometimes even edible flowers). I'm always experimenting, and I don't consider myself the greatest gardener in the world, but the best way to get better is to keep a journal. So I've decided to start posting my garden journal here from time to time, because it's fun to take photos of plants.

The front yard vegetable beds have artichokes, which are mighty good-looking perennials! They overwintered under a thick bed of leaves from the mulberry trees, even with our cold snap of -10F! I'm not sure why the one artichoke on the left is doing so much better, but they are supposed to become more productive as they get older, so maybe we'll get more than one this year.

Under the cover, cabbages and kale are about 6 inches tall. I hoped the Reemay cover would keep the cabbage-white butterflies off them, but I didn't make it long enough, and sure thing - I saw that little butterfly just cruising through the other day. But I do think the shade is helping.

In another front-yard bed, I planted Desert King watermelons and Charentais melons (a type of heirloom cantaloupe). I actually direct-seeded these in late April, and not only did they come up, they actually survived the light frost on May 2!

At the other end of this bed is the strawberry patch, with 25 everbearing plants (Seascape, a variety recommended by our Cooperative Extension) from Indiana Berry. They're just little, and one didn't make it, over there on the left. I couldn't resist buying a couple more plants (Tribute, another variety recommended for NM) at the farmers' market this morning, because they already had fruit on them! I think they must have been grown in a hoop house to be so big already.

I planted borage (on the left) next to the strawberry patch, because it is supposed to be a good companion for them, and the gorgeous blue flowers are edible. They taste like cucumbers, and are so pretty in a glass of lemonade! And another weird herb (on the right) - lovage, which tastes like celery. It has lots of tiny flowers in summer that attract pollinators.

The herb bed by the back door is in full bloom - gorgeous! In the left photo, we have chives at the bottom, sage to the left, and behind that, rue and yarrow. At the very back is French tarragon (right photo) - it's pretty fantastic that all these made it through this weird winter.

The oregano (left) is coming back, too - I was a little worried. I'm so excited that the lemon verbena (right) made it through, and I'm always a little nervous because it's so late to leaf out. Like the oregano, it comes back from the roots every year, not from the old stems. The one thing that didn't make it was the pineapple sage. And surprisingly, the rosemary died back a lot, but about half the plant is still ok.

The rhubarb I planted last year is getting really big. Maybe next year I'll actually harvest some. It started leafing out in March, before the lilacs bloomed. I think the key to keeping rhubarb happy is to have it in the middle of the garden, where it gets plenty of water and a little shade from all around.

I'm trying potatoes in a barrel this year, planted in 6 inches of soil at the bottom, with straw piled around them as they grow taller. This should make it easy to harvest the potatoes, but we'll see. There's about 6 inches of straw in there already, and the potatoes are about 6 inches tall above that.

I bought about a dozen starts of different heirloom tomatoes at the Master Gardeners' plant sale - this year was their best ever. They are about 8 inches tall right now. I pinched off the bottom leaves and planted them with as much of the stem covered as seemed reasonable. This helps them grow a more extensive root system.

I gave several away, but the ones I planted in the backyard are Black Krim, Black Sea Man, Sungold, Japanese Black Trifele, Costeluto Genovese, and Mortgage Lifter (ok, that one was from the farmers' market - it's so hard to stop!) I'm hoping to still plant Black Brandywine, Aunt Ruby's German Green, Stupice, Rio Grande, and Speckled Roman - in keg tubs on the patio.

Pea and Pistachio Pasta Salad

2011-05-13T12:59:00.001-06:00

Photo by Sergio Salvador www.salvadorphoto.com

This pasta salad is really a winner, and my peas are just starting to fill out in my front-yard raised bed!

Peas are a symbol of spring because they are so frost-hardy, and they need cool weather to grow well. We're already getting peas from California, but here in Albuquerque they usually won't be ready until the end of May. I planted my peas on Presidents' Day according to tradition, and by late June they will be withering in our summer heat.

For me, a great pasta salad is all about the vegetables. This one is absolutely fabulous with fresh peas and pistachios, but it would also be nice with green beans later in the summer. There are a few other tricks to creating a truly excellent pasta salad. Champagne vinegar is wonderful because it is very mild and not bitter. High-quality pasta makes a difference, because it is denser and doesn't fall apart as easily (I recently fell in love with Garofalo pasta). Fresh herbs make it really special. Lemon thyme has become one of my favorite herbs since I planted it last year, but thyme in general is one of the most versatile herbs - it tastes great in everything.. And my final trick... I don't like raw garlic, so I cook it briefly with the pasta, which makes it sweet and mild. This recipe is adapted from one in a recent issue of Cooking Light.

8 oz. uncooked gemelli or other curly pasta

½ lb. sugar snap peas

3 garlic cloves, peeled

2 T. champagne vinegar or lemon juice

5 T. olive oil

½ t. coarse salt

½ t. freshly ground black pepper

½ cup shelled pistachios, chopped

2 large sprigs thyme or lemon thyme

2 green onions

1 ounce shaved Parmesan cheese

Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water, until almost tender. Add the peas and garlic cloves during the last 2 minutes of cooking. Drain and rinse the pasta and vegetables with cold water. Mince the garlic. Trim tops and tails off the snap peas and cut into bite-size pieces. Whisk the vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Add the pasta, peas and garlic along with all remaining ingredients and toss well. Serves 4 as a light meal.

Chermoula-Rubbed Fish with Zucchini and Pistachio Couscous

2011-05-13T12:49:00.000-06:00

Yikes, Blogger seems to have "disappeared" this one too. Please excuse any weirdness.

Ok, so chermoula is one great way to use the preserved lemons I wrote about earlier. It's another North African spice paste, especially good for grilling fish, but great on vegetables too. I know, preserved lemons have been all over the food blog world lately, and still not many people have recipes to use them. And the zucchini-pistachio couscous - divine. It makes me like zucchini and couscous more than I've ever liked either one before. Must be the pistachios. Have I mentioned that pistachios make everything better? I'll admit, this is adapted from a Rachael Ray Everyday recipe, but she didn't use pistachios in her couscous or preserved lemons in her chermoula.

Chermoula:
2 garlic cloves
1 small bunch fresh cilantro or parsley
1/2 preserved lemon
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp hot paprika or red chile powder
Small pinch of saffron (optional)
4 T olive oil
Salt to taste

Mince the garlic, cilantro and preserved lemon very finely, or puree in a food processor. Mix in remaining ingredients. Rub on fish or chicken pieces and grill, bake or fry as desired. I like to just pan-fry a fillet of Pacific cod about 2 minutes on each side.

Zucchini Couscous:
1 small zucchini
1 tsp olive oil
1 cup couscous
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup water
1/4 cup shelled, chopped pistachios

Dice and saute the zucchini in oil until soft and lightly browned. Add salt, boiling water and couscous. Stir gently, and cover tightly for 5 minutes. Add pistachios and fluff with a fork.

Lemon Thyme Fettuccine with Asparagus and Pancetta

2011-05-13T12:45:00.001-06:00

Whoa, it's Friday the 13th and Blogger "disappeared" my last two posts - let's try this again.

I'm so excited that the Los Ranchos Farmers' Market is open for the season, every Saturday from now until October! As far as I know, the growers' markets are the only place to get all the wonderful varieties of Pasta Divina's organic fresh pasta - they sell a few basic varieties at Whole Foods (congratulations to them!) but the really interesting stuff is at the markets. This week they had fettuccine flavored with lemon thyme, one of my favorite herbs since I started growing it last summer. It was absolutely divine with fresh asparagus, homemade pancetta, and a white wine cream sauce.

1 pound fresh asparagus
Several thin slices of pancetta or bacon
1 Tbs olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup cream
Salt and pepper
8 oz. fresh pasta

Put a large pot of salted water on to boil. Snap the tough ends off the asparagus and break them into 1-2 inch pieces. Heat the oil in a wide skillet on medium flame, and cook the garlic and pancetta until just beginning to brown. Add asparagus and cook until bright green. Add the wine and cook until reduced by half. Turn the heat to low and add the cream. Season with salt and pepper. Cook the pasta in boiling water about 2 minutes. Add 2 Tbs of the pasta water to the sauce, then drain the pasta. Add the pasta to the sauce and toss gently. Serve immediately with chilled glasses of white wine! Serves 2.

Roasted Asparagus with Pistachio Citrus Dressing

2011-05-05T08:07:00.000-06:00

Photo by Sergio Salvador www.salvadorphoto.com

Asparagus is the quintessential spring delicacy – because of the way it grows, we can only enjoy it for a few months. A long-lived perennial, my grandmother's asparagus grew in the same patch for over 30 years. Each spring she would cut the new shoots before they were about eight inches tall, until early June, when she would stop harvesting and let them grow into bushy fernlike plants to feed the roots for another year. By the end of summer, they're about four feet tall, and the female plants develop small red berries, which are poisonous.

Asparagus is easy to grow, but it takes patience – you won't be able to harvest for the first two years, in order to allow strong root development. White asparagus is produced by covering the plants so that they grow with no light, resulting in less bitterness.

At the market, choose crisp, bright green asparagus with tightly closed heads. Fatter stalks come from older plants, but that doesn't mean they'll be any more or less sweet. Freshness is what matters most – once the stalks are cut, the sugars begin to change to starches. Many people don't like asparagus because they've only had it overcooked. The key to perfect asparagus is cooking it only until it is bright green and tender, but still a bit crisp. Roasting or grilling it brings out a little extra sweetness, but steaming is faster. Asparagus and citrus are a classic combination, but the addition of pistachios is genius – this recipe is adapted from Anya Von Bremzen's The New Spanish Table.

1 pound asparagus

2 T. olive oil

1/4 t. coarse salt

Zest and juice of 1 orange (or 1 Meyer lemon, or 2 tangerines)

¼ cup shelled pistachios, coarsely chopped

1/4 t. freshly ground pepper

Preheat oven to 400°F. Snap off the tough ends of the asparagus (just bend them gently and they will naturally snap at the right place!) Toss with olive oil and salt in a baking pan. Roast 20 to 25 minutes, until asparagus is tender but still a bit crisp. Toss all remaining ingredients with asparagus and enjoy hot or cold. Serves 4 as an appetizer or side.

Sorrel and Onion Tart

2011-05-05T07:54:00.003-06:00

Photo by Sergio Salvador www.salvadorphoto.com

Sorrel is one of the earliest spring greens, with a wonderful lemony flavor. It's hard to find in grocery stores, but I saw some at the Santa Fe farmers' market last week. The two sorrel plants I grew last year survived the winter and began to sprout again in March, so now they're getting big enough to harvest. I also bought a gorgeous little start of the red-veined type from Jeffrey and Elaine of Hand to Mouth Foods at the Corrales winter market. They sell all kinds of unusual vegetable and herb starts from their greenhouse, as well as fantastic baked goods and soups. The Corrales market just opened up for the regular season (every Sunday until October), so if you're getting ready to start up your garden, check them out!

This tasty tart, adapted from a Martha Stewart recipe, is even prettier with red-veined sorrel, but if you can't find it just use spinach and maybe add a bit of lemon juice. And it's even easier to make if you cook the onions in a crockpot on low all day beforehand. Just fill the crockpot with onions and add a little olive oil, then when you come home they will be almost done - you can finish them on the stove, or turn the crockpot up to high for a while longer, stirring a few times so they don't scorch.

2 T. butter

2 large onions, thinly sliced

3 T. dry white wine

¾ lb. fresh sorrel or spinach, washed and dried

1/2 t. coarse salt

1/4 t. freshly ground pepper

All-purpose flour, for dusting

1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed

1 egg

2 T. heavy cream (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a wide skillet, melt butter over medium-low heat. Add onions and cook until very soft, about 20 minutes. Add white wine and cook until most of liquid is gone and onions are lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Roughly chop the sorrel leaves, removing the stems if they are tough. Add sorrel to onions, and cook just until the leaves wilt, 1 to 2 minutes. Add salt and pepper, remove from heat, and let cool.

On a lightly floured surface, roll puff pastry into a 9x11-inch rectangle, about 1/8 inch thick. Transfer the dough to a baking sheet. Fold edges over by ½ inch to create a border. Inside the border, prick the dough all over with a fork. In a small bowl, combine the egg and cream. Brush this glaze onto the borders.

Add the remaining egg and cream to the onion mixture and spread over the pastry. Bake until the filling is heated through and the pastry is golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Cut tart into 2-inch squares and serve warm as an appetizer, or cut into larger squares and serve with salad for a light meal. Serves 4.

Pistachio, Orange, Avocado and Beet Salad

2011-04-25T11:47:00.000-06:00

This salad was absolutely fantastic with a simple balsamic dressing to tie it all together. The perfect lunch for a sunny spring day. If you think it sounds like a weird combination, try leaving out the beets (pistachio, orange, and avocado salad) or the avocado (pistachio, orange and beet salad) - see, not so weird after all. Seriously, pistachios make everything better. I just bought a huge bag of shelled pistachios at Costco and I'm using them on everything.

1 beet, sliced
1 tsp vinegar (cider, red wine, or white)
1 large handful lettuce
1/2 avocado, sliced
1 orange, sectioned
1 small handful pistachios, shelled
Store-bought balsamic or creamy balsamic dressing (or homemade, 1 Tbs olive oil + 1 tsp balsamic vinegar + salt)

Steam sliced beets until just tender. Toss with vinegar and chill - this is my absolute favorite way to eat beets. Arrange lettuce, avocado, orange sections, pistachios and beet slices on plate; drizzle with dressing. Serves 1.

Balsamic Chard Pizza with Fig-Infused Goat Cheese

2011-04-22T08:00:00.004-06:00

Photo by Sergio Salvador www.salvadorphoto.com

Chard is one of those veggies that's incredibly good for you, and it's at its best when dressed with balsamic vinegar and lots of black pepper. If you've never liked chard before, it's worth trying this way. A funny thing about chard is that it is naturally a bit salty, so I don't like to add too much salt when cooking it. It's actually the same exact plant species as beets, just bred for tender leaves rather than big roots. Amazingly hardy, chard is one of the best vegetables to grow in New Mexico because it can tolerate the intense heat of our summers as well as the cold nights of early spring and late fall. For these reasons, it is abundant at our farmers' markets three seasons of the year.

For this pizza, I combined Mollie Katzen's Moosewood Cookbook recipe for Swiss chard with the creamy, tangy sweetness of dried figs mixed with goat cheese. It's a perfect spring treat that's absolutely packed with vitamins and minerals. Try a whole wheat crust if you want to go extra-healthy.

Balsamic Chard:

1 large bunch chard

1 T. olive oil

6 cloves garlic, minced

2 T. balsamic vinegar

A pinch of salt and lots of pepper
Roll the whole bunch of chard together tightly (leave the stems on – they're delicious!) and slice into 1/2-inch ribbons. Heat olive oil on medium flame and fry the garlic until fragrant, then add the chard. Cook until completely wilted and dark green, then toss with balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper.

Fig-Infused Goat Cheese:

½ C. dried figs, chopped

½ C. goat cheese
Soak the figs in just enough hot water to cover. Mix thoroughly with goat cheese.

Whole Wheat Pizza Crust:

1 package (2 t.) active dry yeast

1 t. sugar

2/3 C. warm water

1 C. all-purpose flour

2/3 C. whole wheat flour

3/4 t. salt

2 t. oil

Preheat the oven to 450º F. Combine the yeast, sugar and warm water and let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes. Mix the flour and salt in a food processor or bowl. Add yeast mixture and combine thoroughly (or process for 45 seconds, until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl). Add oil and knead or process for another minute. If the dough sticks to the sides of the bowl, add more flour. Roll it out on a floured surface, or just stretch it to the right size with your hands. Place on a lightly oiled pizza pan. Top with chard and dot with goat cheese. Bake 20 minutes, or until crust is golden-brown. Serves 2 as a main dish.

Kale with Tomatoes and Goat Cheese

2011-04-19T13:59:00.000-06:00

I've been meaning to re-create this fantastic dish we had more than a year ago at Joseph's Table in Taos. I don't know why I didn't get around to it sooner, and sadly, now that the restaurant is closed... making it at home is the only way. I didn't think I could possibly like kale more than I already do, but this was amazing.

It's a simple appetizer or side dish, to be served with bread or crackers. I think they made it with red onions and fresh red tomatoes, which gave the sauce a lovely pink color. Today I only had yellow onion and some frozen yellow pear tomatoes that I had roasted in the oven with olive oil and salt last fall, so that's what I used here. I think it turned out pretty close. Yumm.

1 Tbs olive oil
1/2 small onion, finely diced (about 1/4 cup)
1 large bunch kale
1/4 cup finely diced tomatoes (or sundried tomatoes
1/4 tsp. paprika (sweet, hot, or smoked)
2 Tbs creamy goat cheese
2 Tbs water or sherry vinegar

Cook the onion in olive oil on medium heat until soft but not browned. Roll kale leaves together and slice into thin ribbons. Add kale to the pan, turning to coat with oil, and cover. Cook about 10 minutes, until kale is thoroughly wilted. It will steam itself, and may brown slightly on the bottom. Turn heat to low and add tomatoes, paprika, and goat cheese, stirring gently until warm and creamy. Add a little water or sherry vinegar to make it more saucy, if desired. Serves 2 as an appetizer or side.

Eggs with Radish Greens and Homemade Bacon

2011-04-16T20:00:00.001-06:00

Look at that beauty of a radish! Yes, that's a Salad Rose on the side there, my first radish of the year. This variety grows up to 8 inches long and most amazingly, it's not woody at all - they have a wonderful silky texture, kind of like a baby turnip.

I've always wanted to figure out a use for radish greens - they're so prickly I can't bring myself to eat them raw, but I know they're edible and they're so abundant. Well, my newfound love of eggs (fresh from the coop only) has made it ridiculously easy. As I'm sure egg-lovers know, you can mix almost anything up with scrambled eggs and it's wonderful. I almost feel like I'm cheating posting a recipe for scrambled eggs, it's so basic.

The radish greens have a slightly bitter taste, not terribly sharp, which is a perfect complement to my homemade smoked bacon* and onions. This makes sense, because salty counteracts bitterness, according to culinary scientists. And the prickliness disappears when they're cooked for just a few minutes, so I'm sold. Radish greens really are good eats.

3 eggs
1 slice bacon
1 green onion
1 big handful radish greens (I used all the greens from 4 homegrown radishes, but store-bought radishes usually have smaller greens, so maybe all the greens from one bunch)

Mince the bacon and onion. Roll the radish greens tightly and slice into thin ribbons. Brown the bacon bits on medium heat, then add the onion and radish greens and cook until just wilted. Beat the eggs in a small bowl and add them to the pan. Let them cook for 30 seconds, then gently turn them, letting the liquid flow to the edges of the pan, and cook 30 more seconds. Turn off the heat and gently turn the eggs over once more, to let them finish cooking without drying them out. Add salt and pepper if needed (the bacon usually makes it salty enough).

*Yep, that's right... homemade bacon!! Yeah ok, I know this is a veggie blog so I won't go into it, but I just have to crow for a second. Seriously, I've pretty much decided I'll never buy bacon at the store again, it was so easy. I bought the pork belly at Keller's Farm Store in ABQ, and followed the recipe in Brian Polcyn and Mark Ruhlman's wonderful book, Charcuterie. Brine it for a week in a Ziploc bag, then smoke it (or just roast it) - that's it. Awesome, and cheap!

Turnip and Apple Soup

2011-04-15T08:00:00.013-06:00


Photo by Sergio Salvador www.salvadorphoto.com

Turnips are fabulously easy to grow, cold-hardy, and keep forever during the winter, which is why they're available pretty much year round. Too bad so many people dislike them. They're one of the few veggies I've had trouble learning to like.

But spring turnips fresh from the garden taste so much better than the big purple-topped kind from the grocery store, it's whole different story! The tiny ones are almost like radishes, with a creamier texture (though still crunchy) and a milder flavor.

This soup is a lovely, fresh-tasting way to use the last of the winter apples and turnips, or the first of the spring turnips. It's good hot or cold, as a light appetizer or accompaniment to a grilled cheese sandwich made with sharp cheddar. If you don't have stock, you can saute the apples and turnips until they caramelize a bit, then just use water.

2 T. butter
3 leeks
1 tsp dried thyme (or even better, lemon thyme)
½ tsp ground nutmeg

1 ½ pounds turnips, chopped
3 apples, chopped

1 cup chicken or vegetable broth
½ cup cream (optional)
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Chopped fresh chives, to garnish

Slice the leeks thinly, swirl them in a bowl of cold water, then let the dirt sink to the bottom and the leeks float to the top. Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat, and cook the leeks with nutmeg and thyme until just soft, 3 to 4 minutes. Peel the turnips if they are large. Add turnips, apples and broth – don't be tempted to add more liquid, because the apples will release plenty. Cover and simmer until tender but not mushy, about 30-40 minutes. Purée with an immersion blender, or in batches in a food processor. Season with salt and pepper, and stir in cream if desired. Garnish with chives (or perhaps a few bits of bacon, sharp cheddar, a pinch of nutmeg, or croutons). Serves 6 to 8 as a side or appetizer.

Mustard Spaetzle with Spinach and Sweet Onions

2011-04-08T08:00:00.009-06:00

Photo by Sergio Salvador www.salvadorphoto.com

Early spring is the most difficult time to find fresh local produce, because the fruits and veggies that keep well through the winter are starting to run out, and it's still too cold for gardening. But spinach, one of the most cold-hardy vegetables there is, can overwinter even in subzero temperatures if planted in fall and well mulched. Or it can be planted in spring, as soon soil temperatures reach 35°F!

I often have trouble thinking of specific recipes for spinach, simply because it's so versatile – you can add it to just about anything for a touch of earthiness and a blast of vitamins and minerals. But mustard and sweet onions really complement its flavor. Spaetzle are tiny dumplings with a noodle-like texture, in this case flavored with mustard. This makes a lovely side dish, or you can add some leftover roast chicken, sauteed mushrooms, and/or pancetta to make it a filling main dish. This recipe is adapted from one posted to Food 52's “Your Best Spinach” contest, by blogger Christine of www.remakingchristine.com.

2 eggs

1 cup all-purpose flour (not whole wheat)

2 T. milk

2 T. Dijon mustard

¼ t. salt

1 T. olive oil

1 T. butter

1 large sweet or red onion

A handful of chopped bacon or pancetta (optional)

½ pound cooked chicken and/or mushrooms (optional)

½ pound spinach

Boil a large pot of salted water. Whisk the eggs, flour, milk, mustard and salt in a small bowl. To make the spaetzle, push the batter through the holes of a colander (you need one with very large holes, at least ¼ inch) into the boiling water. Or just push small lumps of batter off the edge of a spoon. They're done when they float to the surface. Drain and set aside.

Heat butter and olive oil in a large skillet on medium flame. Add the bacon or pancetta (if using) and brown. Add onions and cook for a few minutes, until translucent and soft but not browned. If using mushrooms, push the onions to the side and brown the mushrooms. Add the chicken, if desired, and just heat it through. Add the spinach and cook until just wilted. Add the spaetzle, toss to coat with oil, and cook until they get a bit crispy in spots.

Serves 4 as a side dish, or 2 as a main dish.

Backyard Paella

2011-04-05T12:37:00.005-06:00

Since my revelation about rice and Spanish cooking in the past year, I have been wanting to try paella, but I've been daunted by all the hype and the special pan. In The New Spanish Table, Anya von Bremzen discusses paella at length and actually makes it sound not so hard. What I love is when she asks a Valencian rice farmer what defines paella, he says it's more an activity than just a dish - the whole family crowds around the pan in the backyard. After seeing an Alton Brown episode where he cooks it on his charcoal grill, I knew we had to do it!

The great thing is that you just fire up the grill as hot as possible, which is where our grill excels - years ago, a friend's dog chewed up the little vents at the bottom that help you control the heat, so now it's just full blast all the time. We like to use mesquite charcoal chunks (from El Mezquite Mexican grocery in ABQ) instead of briquets, because they burn really nicely and don't have a funky smell like some charcoals. I got Dave a paella pan for Christmas, 16 inches in diameter, which makes enough for 4-6 people. It's important that the rice be spread in a thin layer about 1/2 inch deep to cook properly.

The ingredients for an authentic Paella Valenciana include chicken, rabbit, snails, artichokes, lima beans and green beans. I wasn't ready to hunt down rabbit and snails for this little experiment, but we do have frozen lima and green beans, and some lovely little artichokes from Los Poblanos this week. So here goes:

For the stock:
1 whole chicken
8 cups water
1 onion, quartered
1 carrot, cut into large chunks
1 bay leaf
1 tsp salt

Cut the chicken into pieces - thighs, drumsticks, wings, and boneless breasts. Refrigerate until ready to use in the paella. Place the carcass in a large pot with water, onion, carrot and bay leaf. Bring to a boil and simmer for at least an hour. Don't add more than 1 teaspoon salt, because when it cooks in the paella, it will become more concentrated and you don't want it to end up too salty.

For the paella:
Chicken pieces from above
8 cloves garlic
1 tsp smoked sweet paprika
1 tsp salt
2 large tomatoes (yes, I bought these out of season, but next time I'll try canned)
2 artichokes
1 cup green beans, cut in 1-inch lengths
1 cup baby lima beans
20 saffron threads, or a large pinch
Stock from above
2 cups Arborio rice
1 large sprig rosemary, needles stripped off the stem
1 tsp hot paprika (or a little cayenne and more sweet paprika)
Olive oil

Light 2 pounds of charcoal in the newspaper-chimney-thing and wait for it to turn grey on the outside. Rub the chicken pieces with half the garlic, the smoked paprika and salt, and let stand 15 minutes. Halve the tomatoes and grate them on the large holes of a box grater, discarding the skin. Trim the stems and pointy tops off the artichokes and peel away the tough outer leaves. Cut them in quarters or eighths and scrape out the chokes (the hairy part in the center). Add saffron to the stock and keep at a simmer on the stove. Get everything ready in bowls to take outside - the chicken, the remaining garlic, the grated tomatoes, the artichokes and beans mixed together, the rice mixed with the rosemary needles and hot paprika, and half the stock.

Mix the burning charcoal with 2 more pounds of unlit charcoal, and spread evenly in the bottom of the grill. Replace the top grate and set the paella pan on it. Add enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan - it should be really hot. Sear the chicken pieces on both sides. Push the chicken to the sides of the pan, and cook the vegetables for a few minutes, until they start to get tender. Push the vegetables to the sides, add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds, then add the tomatoes and cook for another minute or two.

Add the rice and rearrange so everything is distributed evenly across the pan. Pour 4 cups of stock evenly over the pan, washing the rice to the bottom and making sure all the rice is submerged. After this, do not stir the paella. Cook for about 10 minutes, until most of the stock is absorbed. Add 2 more cups of stock, focusing on areas that look dry. Cook another 10 minutes, until most of the stock is absorbed, then taste to see if the rice is tender (it shouldn't be quite done, it should have a little chewiness still). Add a little more stock to any areas that look dry, or where the rice is not as cooked. Remove the pan from the heat, cover with a clean dishtowel, and let stand 15 minutes. Serves 4 to 6.

Lilac Madness

2011-04-05T12:36:00.001-06:00

Lilacs might be my favorite flower. Their scent is so marvelous. Every spring, they just make me so happy for the two weeks or so they are in bloom. I have three lilac bushes in my yard - one light purple, one white, and the third has the most amazing dark purple blossoms with a white edge around every petal.

I've seen crystallized lilac blossoms, each tiny blossom individually dipped in egg white, then in superfine sugar... they're beautiful, but way too labor-intensive for me. So I thought I'd try out a few other lilac concoctions, like lilac sugar, lilac syrup, and lilac-infused vodka.

To make lilac-scented sugar, I read that you should layer the blossoms with granulated sugar in a jar for three days, then sift out the blossoms (any longer and the blossoms start to turn brown and get yucky). I put the cap on the jar, and when I opened it up, the sugar was moist from the water in the blossoms. Maybe you could avoid this problem by leaving the lid off, but then it seems like the scent might not soak into the sugar. Also, it was not very strongly scented, so maybe I needed a lot more lilac blossoms. So, hmm. Not exactly a success.

To make lilac-infused vodka, I soaked the blossoms in vodka for 24 hours. This did not turn out well at all. When I opened it up, the blossoms had turned brownish, and it smelled and tasted funky. Maybe it just needs a much shorter soaking time.

The final concoction, lilac syrup, turned out fantastic! I combined 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup sugar, and 1/2 cup packed lilac blossoms, and simmered it on the stove until the blossoms were just wilted, 5-10 minutes. After sieving out the blossoms, it came out a pale greenish color, so I added a frozen blueberry and cooked it a little longer to make it a nice lavender color. Interestingly, the syrup doesn't really smell like lilacs, but it tastes like they smell.

We made a wonderful lilac cocktail:

2 oz. gin or vodka
1 oz. lilac syrup
1/2 oz. lemon or lime juice

Shake with ice and garnish with lilac blossoms. The acid turns it a lovely shade of pink. I liked the gin and lemon juice version best. But maybe that's because I used Hendrick's gin, which is delicious on its own.

Tat Soi and Radish Salad with Carrot-Miso-Sesame Dressing

2011-04-01T13:17:00.004-06:00

Photo by Sergio Salvador www.salvadorphoto.com

Tat soi is a tender Asian green with a delicate mustardy flavor, much like bok choy. Los Poblanos Organics is growing lots of tat soi in their greenhouses this spring, and I've been looking for ways to use it. It makes great salad when the spoon-shaped leaves are tiny, but it's better lightly cooked later in the season when it gets bigger. The spicy flavors of radishes and tat soi marry perfectly with this carrot dressing, adapted from a recent Sunset Magazine article.

3 C. carrot juice OR 2 large carrots

1/2 T. finely shredded fresh ginger

1 1/2 T. red or white miso

3 T. rice vinegar

1/4 cup olive oil

½ t. sesame oil (preferably the good stuff, from an Asian grocery)

1 large bunch tat soi

4 radishes, thinly sliced

1 green onion, thinly sliced

Boil the carrot juice in a wide pot over medium-high heat, until reduced to 1/3 cup, about 25 minutes (if you don't have carrot juice and don't want to go out and buy it, see below.*) Let this cool, then whisk in the remaining ingredients. If desired, wilt the tat soi by steaming or microwaving for a minute or two, with just the water that clings to the leaves after washing. Arrange with the radishes and green onion, and drizzle with carrot dressing. Serves 2.

*To make carrot juice, you can chop and boil a few carrots until they are tender, then puree them with enough water to get a smooth texture. If you're ok with a thicker dressing, you can use it like this. If you're feeling really ambitious, you can squeeze the puree through a clean flour sack type dish towel to get the juice out. Lay the towel (just 1 layer) inside a strainer and pour the puree in, then take up the corners of the towel and twist to make a sack with the puree inside. You should be able to squeeze the juice out slowly by twisting it tighter. Or if you have patience, you can leave it in the fridge overnight and see how much drips out. This technique also comes in handy for making cantaloupe juice!

Honey Roasted Radishes

2011-03-25T08:00:00.007-06:00

Photo by Sergio Salvador www.salvadorphoto.com

Radishes will be coming into season this month - I planted mine around Presidents' Day, along with the peas, but radishes only take about a month to mature! This is a lovely little dish for those who don't like the sharp bite of raw radishes. I never thought to cook them until I started getting tons of them in our CSA box, but it's a nice change. I love the combination of honey and black pepper, and you could also add fresh mint just before serving, a little later in the season.

½ pound radishes

1 T. honey
1 t. butter
1/2 t. cinnamon (optional)

1/4 t. black pepper

1 t. red wine vinegar

Salt

Preheat oven to 400° F. Trim, scrub and halve each radish (or leave them whole, just for fun). Steam 5 minutes, or until tender. Melt butter and honey with cinnamon and pepper in a small, shallow baking dish. Toss the radishes in this glaze and arrange them in the dish. Bake until glaze is bubbling and radishes are slightly shriveled, 10 to 20 minutes. Toss with vinegar while still hot, and serve immediately. Alternatively, you could saute the radishes in butter for 5 to 10 minutes, then add the rest of the ingredients just before serving. Serves 4 as an appetizer or side.

Warm Lamb Salad with Orzo and Harissa

2011-03-18T17:45:00.010-06:00

This is a fantastic, hearty salad that I had on vacation in New Zealand last year in August, which is early spring there. They eat lamb there like we eat beef here - it's practically the default meat choice, on every menu, because they produce so much of it.

Several New Mexico farms raise pastured lambs; see www.localharvest.org for a listing. Los Poblanos Organics is now selling Ranch Line all-natural lamb from Felix River Ranch near Roswell - sometimes lamb has a strong flavor, but this didn't.

I like to make this salad with spicy greens like arugula or cress, which are growing in many New Mexico gardens right now. Last year at this time I had more arugula than I knew what to do with, but this year not so much... probably because it's been a dry winter and I didn't water. I guess I'll have to actually plant some now! Upland cress is an annual, but very cold-hardy. It's sprouting like crazy in my garden already, and it grows so fast that it should be ready in a couple weeks.

Harissa is a blend of red chile and spices, which you can buy at Middle Eastern grocers, or make your own.

½ cup orzo

1 T. harissa

1 t. red wine vinegar

Salt

1 lamb chop (OR ¼ pound chopped leg or shoulder meat, or ground lamb)

1 T. olive oil

1 large bunch arugula or cress

Cook orzo in a large pot of boiling water, according to package directions. Drain and mix the orzo with the harissa and vinegar. Add salt as needed. Brown meat in olive oil; toss with the orzo and greens. Or for a fancier presentation, sear lamb chop in olive oil on high heat, about 4 minutes per side depending on the thickness and desired doneness. As a pretty good rule of thumb, if you cook the first side until you start to see the juices coming out on the top, then flip it immediately and cook 4 minutes more, it will be medium-rare. Slice thinly and serve over the orzo and greens. Serves 2.

Candied Red Pepper Pizza

2011-03-17T20:16:00.003-06:00

This is another gem from Anya von Bremzen's The New Spanish Table. This sweet and savory pizza is so bright and sunny it just makes me happy. The flavor is incredible! We enjoyed it last night with a glass or two of champagne.

I love how she has adapted the recipe for speed by using canned roasted red peppers... this also makes it great for wintertime. I cut the recipe in half because I don't have an 11x17-inch baking pan. She used red peppers canned in oil, but the ones I got from Sunflower Market were canned in water, so I adjusted for that by cooking them uncovered, because they release a bit more water.

2 Tbs olive oil
1/2 medium sweet or white onion
1 19-oz jar roasted red peppers (in water)
2 Tbs granulated sugar
1 Tbs sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar
Salt
1 12-inch pizza dough
Confectioners' sugar

Preheat the oven to 450F. Thinly slice the onions and red peppers. Heat 1 Tbs olive oil in a wide skillet on medium-low flame. Add the onion and cook until soft but not browned, 5 to 10 minutes. Add the peppers and cook about 5 minutes more, stirring occasionally. Add the granulated sugar and vinegar, and cook on medium-low about 10 minutes longer, stirring frequently, until the liquid is reduced. Season with salt to taste and let cool.

Roll out the pizza dough, brushing the pan and the top of the dough with remaining olive oil. Spread the filling evenly on top. Bake on center rack until the crust is golden, 18 to 20 minutes. Let the pizza cool, and sprinkle lightly with confectioners' sugar. Serves 6 as an appetizer or 2 as a light main course.

Koresht-i-Ghaimeh (Lamb Stew with Dried Limes)

2011-03-16T10:10:00.001-06:00

Here is another wonderful Iranian recipe from Sharzad Mohit, my friend Lorna's former mother-in-law. The loomi (dried limes) have a wonderful tangy, slightly bitter, fermented sort of flavor - Lorna raved about how delicious they are. I searched Albuquerque for dried limes, and found them at San Pedro Mart, a truly fantastic middle eastern restaurant housed in an old mini-mart. Seriously, this place is worth checking out. Their falafel is extraordinarily delicious, super-crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.

1 ½ lbs lamb or mutton

Oil
2 c water

1 c yellow split peas

1 small onion, diced

4 – 5 loomi (dried limes), or lime juice

2 Tbs tomato paste

1 ½ lbs potatoes

Salt and pepper

Chop the lamb into bite-size pieces and sear it on high heat in a wide skillet (you may have to do two batches to get nice browning). Deglaze the pan with water. Cover and cook the lamb gently with 2 cups water on medium heat for about an hour - just simmer lightly, don't let it boil vigorously.

After cooking the meat about an hour, lightly fry dried yellow peas in oil. Add these to the stew, then fry the onions until golden brown. Pierce the dried limes or cut them in half. Add onions, tomato puree, and dried limes (or lime juice) to the stew. Cook another hour or so, stirring occasionally, until the meat falls apart easily.

Chop the potatoes into pieces about the same size as the meat, fry them in lots of oil, and season with salt. Serve separately, or add to the stew just before serving. Serve with saffron rice. Serves 6.

Blue Corn Pancakes with Red Chile-Honey Glazed Bacon

2011-03-11T07:33:00.000-07:00

Photo by Sergio Salvador
www.salvadorphoto.com

Two of my favorite breakfast treats in Albuquerque are the blue corn pancakes from Sophia's Place, and the red chile-honey glazed bacon from Gold Street Caffe. When you make them at home, you can have both together! Add a few pinon nuts and a dab of local raspberry jam, and this is a spectacular breakfast.

I got some great blue cornmeal from the Corrales Chile Company at the farmers' market a few weeks ago, but you can often find it in local grocery stores. The pancakes are adapted from a Cook's Illustrated recipe for multigrain pancakes made with ground muesli, and I just substituted the blue cornmeal.

Blue Corn Pancakes

4 t. lemon juice

2 C. whole milk

1 cup blue cornmeal

3/4 cup all-purpose white flour

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

2 T. brown sugar

2 t. baking powder

1/2 t. baking soda

1/2 t. sald

2 eggs

3 T. melted butter, cooled

3 T. pine nuts (optional)

Whisk lemon juice and milk together and set aside to thicken. Mix cornmeal, flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk together milk, eggs and melted butter. Gently whisk the milk mixture into the cornmeal mixture, until just combined.

Heat a large cast iron skillet over medium-low flame for 5 minutes, letting the batter rest. Brush the skillet with 1 teaspoon oil or butter. To check whether the skillet is ready, add 1 Tbs batter to the pan and time it for 1 minute - if it is golden brown, the pan is ready. Adjust the heat accordingly. Pour in about 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake. Quickly sprinkle a few pine nuts onto each cake. Cook until the top of each pancake is evenly covered with bubbles and the edges are looking solid, about 2-3 minutes. Flip them over, and cook the other side until golden, about 2 minutes longer. Brush another teaspoon of oil on the pan before each batch.

Red Chile-Honey Glazed Bacon

1 pound bacon

2 t. honey

1 T. warm water

1/2 t. red chile

Preheat oven to 400 F. Line a baking sheet with foil. Place bacon strips on a rack over baking sheet (this lets the fat drip off, so you don't have to drain on paper towels, because the glaze will stick to the paper towels). Mix honey, water and red chile thoroughly in a small dish. Brush with glaze and bake 5 minutes. Brush with more glaze and bake 2-5 minutes longer, watching carefully to make sure it doesn't burn. Thick-cut bacon takes a bit longer.

Serves 4-6.

Saffron Coriander Rice Pudding with Orange Zest

2011-03-09T14:46:00.003-07:00

Ok, so I'll admit I'm on a bit of a saffron kick these last few months. I have a tiny packet of saffron that's been floating around my kitchen drawers for way too long, and I'm on a mission to use it up. What good has it done me to keep it all this time? I guess the better approach would be to buy a small packet and just go crazy with it until you're tired of it, then wait until you get the craving again. If you've got it, flaunt it, is my saffron revelation.

I have oranges coming out my ears from LPO, and I had this leftover saffron rice, so I came up with this lovely orange-flavored rice pudding. I absolutely love the combination of orange and saffron. It's about the easiest thing in the world to make - the recipe is adapted from the Joy of Cooking. See my earlier post for the saffron rice. If you have regular rice cooked already, just add a pinch of saffron to the milk as it's cooking.

2 cups cooked saffron rice
4 cups milk
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp ground coriander
Zest of half an orange, or more to taste

Bring to a boil - be careful! Milk tends to foam up and boil over very suddenly. Add the coriander and orange zest. Cook uncovered on medium heat, stirring frequently, about 30 minutes, until the milk thickens to the consistency of heavy cream. Cool and serve warm or cold.

Sweet Pepper Revueltos with Smoky Bread Hash

2011-03-07T13:05:00.003-07:00

Revueltos are scrambled eggs, in Spanish. We have some gorgeous little multicolored mini peppers from last week's LPO box, grown by the Los Cabos cooperative of family farms in Mexico. This combo was inspired by a recipe from The New Spanish Table, which involved bread fried in olive oil with garlic, chorizo, paprika and grapes! We buy great fresh bread from La Quiche or Golden Crown Panaderia, but it dries out pretty quickly, so we always have lots of dry bread on hand - which is not a bad thing. I love all kinds of stale bread concoctions, from Thanksgiving stuffing to ribollita to bread pudding, so I knew I had to try it.

I have come to love scrambled eggs now that we have our own chickens - I've never really liked eggs before, and I know it's not just my imagination, because egg-lovers tell me they can taste the difference between fresh eggs and store-bought. My standard is to cook a sliced green onion in butter, beat the eggs, then cook them gently with the onion on medium-low heat. I've finally learned the technique of cooking fluffy scrambled eggs, by pulling the cooked parts at the edges into the center and turning the pan to let the runny part flow to the edges. This takes about two minutes.

This morning, I wanted to try out a different way of cooking the eggs, from The New Spanish Table, where you just scramble them in the pan. I fried the peppers with a clove of garlic and plenty of olive oil, on medium-low heat. Then I cracked my egg straight into the pan and immediately scrambled it vigorously with a wooden spatula until it was well mixed and fluffy, and turned off the heat before it started to look dry. This took about one minute, and I didn't even have to dirty a bowl for beating the egg. This may be my new standard method!

For two people:
3 Tbs olive oil, divided
1 large red bell pepper or 6-8 mini sweet peppers
1 clove garlic
2 cups stale or dry bread, broken into very small pieces
1/4 cup water
1/2 tsp smoked sweet paprika (or regular paprika)
3 eggs
Salt and pepper

Heat 1 Tbs olive oil in a skillet on medium-low flame, add red peppers and garlic, and cook until tender without browning, about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat 2 Tbs olive oil in another skillet on medium-low flame, and add the bread bits, stirring to coat with oil. Sprinkle the water evenly over the bread to wet it, and cook until the liquid has evaporated and the bread is crispy and golden. Add paprika and season with salt and pepper.

Crack eggs into the skillet with the peppers, let cook 10 seconds so the whites are just turning opaque, then quickly scramble them up with your spatula, turning to mix with the peppers. Remove from the heat just as they are set but still moist. They will continue to cook with the residual heat in the pan. Season with salt and pepper, and serve over the bread.

Chico Stew

2011-03-04T18:01:00.000-07:00

Photo by Sergio Salvador
www.salvadorphoto.com

This stew is honestly one of the best things I've ever eaten – I cannot recommend this recipe enough!

Chicos are dried kernels of sweet corn, traditionally roasted in an horno. Once rehydrated, they taste just like the sweetest roasted summer corn you've ever had, intensified. This is serious New Mexican food, completely obscure outside of the state, and even many who grew up here have never tried them. I've never seen them in a restaurant, but they are worth seeking out. They're actually listed on the U.S. Ark of Taste, a catalog of outstandingly delicious traditional foods in danger of extinction.

This weekend (the first Sunday of the month) is your chance to buy some chicos at the Corrales winter farmers' market. I got mine from Clarabelle and Salomon, who come all the way from Tijeras, and they were exceptionally good. You can also find them at a few grocery stores, produced by Casados Farms in San Juan Pueblo.

The recipe is based on one from the PNM cookbook, Cocinas de New Mexico, but I modified it so I could just cook the chicos in a crockpot all day. I used a little bit of local, organic pork from Los Poblanos Organics – the sweet flavor of pork really complements the sweet corn. And I used dried whole green chile pods instead of red. I got a big sack of them from Chile Konnection last year, and I've been trying to find more uses for them. You don't see them as often as red, and you almost never see a recipe using them. They're not quite the same as fresh green, but they add a great green chile flavor in stews.

2 cups chicos

10 cups cold water

2 T. oil

1/2 pound pork, cut in ½ inch cubes

1 medium onion, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

2 t. salt

1/2 t. dried oregano

4-5 dried green or red chiles, crumbled

Soak chicos in cold water overnight, then cook (with the water) in a crockpot all day on low. If you prefer, you can just simmer them on the stove for about 3 hours after soaking. Heat the oil on medium flame, and sear the pork. Add the onion and garlic, and cook until translucent. Add the salt, oregano, chiles, and the chicos with all their water. Cook 20 minutes (or longer, as desired) to blend the flavors and rehydrate the chiles. Serves 4-6 as a main dish.

Seedlings

2011-03-03T13:37:00.007-07:00

Aren't they cute? These are Red Acre cabbages I started two or three weeks ago - it's hard to believe they're going to grow into huge things! I've never tried growing cabbage before, so we'll see how it goes. The green ones on the left are Lacinato (Tuscan) kale, which I just can never get enough of, so I started twelve plants for this year.

Here's what else I've got going so far...

Tomatoes, of course:
Brandywine - Very reliable producer of large, great flavor that has won lots of taste tests. They've done really well for us year after year - we even had one volunteer under a fruit tree once.
Black Krim - This is our absolute favorite tomato, but a little difficult to grow, it always seems to succumb to disease more easily than the others
Aunt Ruby's German Green - These been great producers for us, huge tomatoes with wonderful spicy flavor. They stay green, but you can tell when they are ripe because they change from whitish green to a warm golden green.
Speckled Roman - A new one we're trying this year, after tasting the incredible flavor of one we got from Amyo Farms (it's a paste tomato, for making sauces).
Jelly Bean, Red and Yellow - Super-sweet little grape tomatoes, new for us this year too.
Sun Baby - Very productive sweet yellow cherry tomato, another new one for us but highly recommended by Master Gardeners.
Arkansas Traveler - One more new one, just for fun.

Tomatoes grow incredibly well for us here - the plants get about as tall as me! I'm going to try planting some of them in keg tubs on the patio, since we still don't have enough room to grow all the tomatoes and everything else we want to try, even after expanding to the front yard.

Chiles and Sweet Peppers:
Jimmy Nardello - Super sweet frying peppers that develop the most perfect creamy texture when fried. We'll see how these turn out because they're from seeds saved from Amyo Farms last year, and I know they grow a lot of different peppers.
Poblano - I just love the intense flavor of these meaty chiles. They're not generally too hot, but it depends on the temperatures and how much you water. The dried form is called ancho.
Pasilla - Rich, slightly smoky flavor, essential for mole sauce. Now I can finally make some of those recipes from the Diana Kennedy cookbooks! These, as well as the poblanos and some of the tomatoes are from Botanical Interests, a seed company I really like, because they have interesting varieties and great detailed info on the inside of the packets.
Chimayo Red - Hopefully the real deal, a prized New Mexico landrace chile with a sweet hot flavor, from www.sandiaseed.com. They seem to be serious about preserving the integrity of the different landraces of New Mexico chile, so I'm very excited about these!

I don't think I'll be able to save seeds if I grow all these varieties, because capsicums tend to cross-pollinate. They come out fine the first year, but they won't breed true for the next year. Who knows, though - what you get might be good too!

I've also started Desert King watermelons, Charentais melons (heirloom canteloupe), and Picklebush cucumbers (although I haven't had much luck with cukes before). I'm even going to try a Loofah this year - yes, the bath scrubby things - they're a type of squash, and my grandma used to grow them against the side of her garage on the farm in Illinois.

Hopefully my seedlings will do especially well this year with my new seed-starting setup - a $10 shop light that takes two 4-foot fluorescent bulbs ($6 for the pair). I hung it right above the trays, really close so they get as much light as possible (intensity varies inversely with distance squared). This way they don't grow too tall and spindly.

The other key to seed starting is to keep them evenly moist - I like these trays that you water from the bottom. This is good if you're using that fine seed-starting mix, because if you flood it with water it will just drain out the bottom! I think I'll also try fertilizing them with fish emulsion once they all have their first set of true leaves (the first two you see are just the seed leaves, or cotyledons). The peppers are slower to germinate than other things, and not all of them have come up quite yet. I plant two seeds in each little pot, for insurance in case some don't germinate, and then just snip off all but the healthiest-looking one.

In another month, I'll take them out to my little hoop houses and let them grow a bit more, then set them out in their permanent homes about May 1!

Koresht–i-Karafs (Iranian celery and beef stew)

2011-02-23T16:44:00.001-07:00

Wow. I had no idea celery could taste this amazing. The recipe comes from my friend Lorna - it's a family recipe from her former mother-in-law, Sharzad Mohit. I think the key here is cooking the celery very, very gently. With the fresh mint and parsley it is absolutely spectacular! It should be served with saffron rice.

Koresht-i-Karafs

Vegetable oil

3-4 medium onions, diced

1 ½ lbs beef stew meat, cut into 1/2” pieces

4 cups water

2 bunches celery, cut into ½” pieces

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp turmeric

2 bunches parsley, finely chopped

1 bunch mint (or 2 Tbs dry, finely chopped)

Garlic (as much as you like, finely chopped)

Juice of 1 lemon

In a large stew pot, fry onions until golden brown. Remove the onions from pan and sear the meat. Add water and onion to the pot and simmer until meat is tender (this depends entirely on the cut of meat you use).

In a large pan, gently fry celery in oil, 20-30 minutes. Do not crowd the celery or let it brown, and do not let it shrivel much. During the last 10 minutes of cooking add paprika and turmeric. It should be soft, as if it had been steamed.

Add celery, herbs, garlic and lemon juice to the pot and cook about 5 minutes more, on moderate heat (light simmer, no boiling). Add salt and pepper to taste.

Saffron rice

A pinch of saffron, crumbled

2 cups boiling water

2 tablespoons butter

1 cup uncooked long-grain white rice, not rinsed

1 teaspoon salt

Steep the saffron the boiling water. In a skillet that can be tightly covered, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the rice and cook, stirring constantly, until the rice begins to absorb the butter and becomes opaque (don't let it brown). Add the saffron water and cover immediately. Reduce heat to low and cook 20 minutes, or until all of the liquid is absorbed.

Evergreen Syrup

2011-02-23T15:41:00.005-07:00

A couple months ago, when I was in Seattle for the holidays, I had the most fantastic cocktail at the art museum cafe... a whiskey sour made with Douglas Fir Syrup and a housemade brandied cherry.

When I asked about the cherry, the bartender said she had made them herself over the summer, using a whole case of Lapin cherries from the Pike Place Market across the street. She had modified a recipe from Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc at Home, with tarragon and black pepper. (Of course, I thought - I have to get that book! And what do you know, Dave gave it to me for our anniversary.)

The Douglas Fir syrup is quite easy to make - it's just a basic simple syrup recipe, and you can actually use any kind of evergreen needles. I used Corkbark Fir needles gathered on a hike near Sandia Crest, and it turned out great. My guess is it's best to use just the very tips (the last inch or so), which are the newest needles.

1 cup sugar
1 cup water
A few sprigs evergreen needles

Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan, bring to a boil, and simmer about 5 minutes. Pour into jars and cool.

Evergreen Whiskey Sour
1 part lemon juice
1 part Evergreen Syrup
2 parts whiskey

Shake vigorously with ice. Pour into martini glasses.

Saffron Carrots with Grand Marnier

2011-02-23T15:21:00.001-07:00

Photo by Sergio Salvador
www.salvadorphoto.com

Carrots are another one of those long-keeping vegetables that lasted our ancestors through the winter. A cool season crop, carrots can be planted in a cold frame in September and are ready to eat in early spring. The cold weather actually makes carrots sweeter! And now is the time to start planting carrots again in your garden.

Saffron crocus is rumored to grow well in New Mexico, because of our dry climate and late summer rains. The bulbs I planted last fall in a container on my porch have had leaves all winter (they even survived the -10°F cold snap) and hopefully I'll be harvesting the flower stigmas this fall. Here's the best link I've found explaining how to grow it: http://growingtaste.com/herbs/saffron.shtml. If you're not ready to try growing your own... although it's expensive, a little goes a long way, and word on the internet is that www.saffron.com has the best prices on high quality saffron.

This charming side dish is a great way of dressing up carrots, and it goes just as well with lamb chops as with fish or chicken.

A pinch of saffron, crumbled

1/2 cup boiling water

2 T. butter

1 1/2 pounds carrots, sliced into thin coins

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 t. freshly grated orange zest

1/2 t. salt

Freshly ground black pepper

2 T. Grand Marnier or Cointreau

2 T. chopped fresh parsley

Soak saffron in boiling water to bring out its flavor. In a large skillet fitted with a lid, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the carrots, garlic and orange zest. Toss to coat with butter, and season with salt and pepper. Add the saffron water, cover and simmer until the carrots are tender, about 5 minutes. Add Grand Marnier and parsley, toss and cook a few minutes longer, until most of the liquid is evaporated. Serves 4.

Potato and Green Bean Salad with Herbes de Provence

2011-02-22T10:33:00.002-07:00


Photo by Sergio Salvador www.salvadorphoto.com

The gorgeous weather these last couple weeks has been tricking me into thinking spring is just around the corner, even though we still have all of March and April to get through... but let's enjoy it while we can! Everyone in the neighborhood was grilling last weekend, and this is the perfect side dish for an early-spring cookout.

Just this week, I dug up the last of the potatoes we grew in the garden last summer. Potatoes are the essential winter food – they keep all the way through until spring in a dark cabinet, or in the ground if well-mulched. And if you grew green beans last summer, chances are you still have a few in the freezer.

Made with horseradish, this salad is a nice break from the usual mayo-and-mustard versions. It's especially beautiful if you use a few purple potatoes. It can be served warm or cold, and it's great even without the green beans. Herbes de Provence is a delightful blend of thyme, tarragon, sage, marjoram, parsley, basil, savory, chervil and lavender blossoms. If you don't want to buy it specially for this recipe, just use as many of the above as you have handy - you could even make your own this summer. The recipe is adapted from one on www.thewednesdaychef.com, which was adapted from Yotam Ottolenghi's recent cookbook.

2 pounds potatoes, cut in 1-inch chunks
A handful of green beans, cut in 1-inch lengths

1 C. plain yogurt
4 T. olive oil
1-2 T. prepared ground horseradish

1 T. dried Herbes de Provence
4 green onions, thinly sliced
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper

Simmer the potatoes in salted water for 20 minutes, until tender. Toss the green beans in with them for just the last minute or so. In a large bowl, mix the the remaining ingredients. Gently fold the hot potatoes and green beans into the dressing. Serves 4 to 6.

Rice with Tomatoes, Chickpeas and Turnips

2011-02-17T13:04:00.004-07:00

Even I go through phases where I don't eat enough vegetables, and recently I realized I haven't been eating enough whole grains. This morning I thought boy, what I need is some brown rice. Which is strange, because brown rice is one of those things I couldn't stand eating as a child (sorry, Mom!) and it also reminds me of all the bad vegetarian cooking I try to steer clear of. But ever since I discovered Spanish cooking, I have a new attitude...

This is sort of a combination of a couple recipes from Teresa Barrenechea's Cuisines of Spain - Soupy Rice with White Beans and Turnips, and Baked Rice with Tomatoes and Chickpeas. Looking at those two recipes, I thought - why not turnips and tomatoes? Turnips are one vegetable I still don't know quite what to do with, but I think this recipe is a winner. Los Poblanos is growing some wonderful, sweet, delicate-flavored Japanese turnips in their unheated greenhouses this time of year - maybe I'll try that next winter. I added chorizo, because I had some - I had a little time to kill in Santa Fe last week, so I spent it browsing at the Spanish Table. But this dish would still be great without it, especially if you use smoked paprika and caramelize the onions a bit.

1 medium onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 turnips, cut in 1/2 inch dice
2 small smoked Spanish chorizo (about 3 oz.)
2 bay leaves
1 bunch chard
1 can chickpeas (14 oz.)
1 can diced tomatoes (14 oz.)
3 cups low-sodium chicken stock
1 tsp hot paprika
Pinch of saffron (optional)
1 1/2 cups brown rice

In a medium-large pot, heat the olive oil on medium flame. Add the onions, garlic, turnips, chorizo and bay leaves. Saute until the onions and turnips are soft and slightly browned. Slice the chard into thin ribbons, including the stems. Add it to the pot, and saute until it is wilted and the stems are tender. Soak the saffron in a little boiling water to bring out the flavor. Add the chickpeas, tomatoes, stock, paprika and saffron water to the pot and bring to a boil. Taste the broth to see if it needs salt (this will depend on what kind of stock you used). Add the rice, cover the pot and simmer for 40 minutes or until the rice is tender.

Oyster Mushrooms Rockefeller

2011-02-11T17:09:00.004-07:00

Photo by Sergio Salvador
www.salvadorphoto.com

Look at these gorgeous photos! Can I just say once again how lucky I am to be working with Sergio Salvador?

Photo by Sergio Salvador
www.salvadorphoto.com

Here's a special Valentine's day recipe that I'm really excited about - it's so delicious, your beloved will swoon. I love oysters, but they're not exactly native to New Mexico, and this is a veggie blog. Mushrooms have long been considered an aphrodisiac, as have oysters, and we are lucky enough to have access to great locally grown oyster mushrooms here in ABQ. They're available year-round in Albuquerque from Exotic Edibles or Los Poblanos Organics. Even without actual oysters, this dish is “rich enough for Rockefeller” just like the original.

Oysters Rockefeller was created at Antoine's restaurant in New Orleans over 100 years ago, and has been a closely guarded secret ever since. This recipe is adapted from one on The Gumbo Pages, a great website devoted to New Orleans culture. Purported to be a close reproduction of the original, it uses fresh herbs, green onions and no spinach. Chervil is difficult to find in stores (but easy to grow), so just use a little extra tarragon if you don't have it. Fresh herbs are the key to great flavor, but as long as you use fresh celery leaves and parsley, you can get away with dried tarragon.

1 green onion

1 sprig flat-leaf Italian parsley

1 sprig tarragon

1 sprig chervil

A few celery leaves

2 T. good French bread crumbs (not from a can)

3 T. butter, softened

Salt

Freshly ground pepper

Tabasco sauce

½ T. Herbsaint or Pernod (optional)

1 T. olive oil

¼ pound whole oyster mushrooms (nice large ones)

Mince the green onion, parsley, tarragon, chervil and celery leaves, as finely as possible (you can do this in a food processor). Mix with the bread crumbs and butter to make a fairly smooth paste. Season with salt, pepper, Tabasco and Herbsaint or Pernod, as desired.

Preheat your oven's broiler. Trim the stem off each mushroom (you can mince these up and mix them into the filling). In a wide skillet, heat the olive oil on medium flame. Lightly salt the gill side of each mushroom and saute them gill side down until nicely browned, 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from skillet and spread the filling onto the top side of each mushroom.

Place the mushrooms on a baking sheet and broil until the filling is bubbling and browned, 5 to 10 minutes, watching carefully to make sure they don't burn. Serves 2.

Roast Chicken with Oyster Mushrooms and Winter Squash

2011-02-04T09:54:00.004-07:00

Photo by Sergio Salvador
www.salvadorphoto.com

Fresh, delicately-flavored oyster mushrooms are a tasty treat available year-round from local producers. Gael and Scott of Exotic Edibles, based in Edgewood, have been selling their mushrooms at the farmers' markets in downtown Albuquerque and Los Ranchos for about ten years now. Los Poblanos Organics has also started producing oyster mushrooms in the last couple years, available through their CSA.

Whenever I'm trying to think of the perfect thing to do with oyster mushrooms, I'm disappointed in the recipes I find online. Either they treat them like any other mushroom, and the other ingredients cover up their delicate flavor, or they simply grill them. So I thought I'd start here, simply roasting them along with some heirloom garlic, and some heirloom pumpkin (the Black Futsu) - both from the farmers' market this summer and bred for keeping well through the winter. Watch for more oyster mushroom recipes to come.

We've also been enjoying delicious local chicken this year from Keller's Farm Store and Pollo Real. Keller's raises their poultry near Moriarty. Pollo Real raises certified organic pastured chickens near Socorro, and sells them at La Montanita Co-Op and Santa Fe Farmers' Market. They also have a CSA, and now is the time to sign up – memberships start in February!

1 free range chicken, about 3 pound

1 head of garlic

Olive oil

1 pound winter squash, sliced ½ inch thick

2 shallots, sliced thinly

¼ pound oyster mushrooms, sliced ½ inch thick

¾ C. white wine

¼ t. fresh rosemary, finely chopped

¼ t. each dried marjoram and thyme

Salt

Freshly ground pepper

Preheat oven to 400°F. Rinse the chicken, pat it dry, and sprinkle salt all over the skin. Set it breast-side up on a rack, either the folding kind set in a 9x13-inch baking pan, or the flat kind set over the pan so there is room underneath. Trim roots off the head of garlic, and slice the top off to expose the cloves. Drizzle about 1 tablespoon olive oil over the top. Set cut side down in the pan under the rack. Roast 30 minutes.

Toss the squash, shallots and mushrooms with wine, herbs, pepper, 2 tablespoons olive oil, and a pinch of salt. Add the vegetables to the baking dish and turn the garlic heads cut side up. Don't be tempted to pile in more squash, as I tend to do, because it may throw off the cooking time. Roast for 30 to 45 minutes more, until the vegetables are tender and the chicken is done (be sure to check the bottom side). Allow the chicken to rest for 5 to 10 minutes.

Transfer the chicken and vegetables from the baking dish to a platter. Deglaze the baking pan with ½ cup of white wine and simmer in a small skillet or saucepan. Cut the chicken into quarters, and serve with vegetables and wine sauce. Serves 4.

Preserved Lemons

2011-02-03T16:27:00.000-07:00

I'm thoroughly enjoying the snow days this week, cozy inside, cooking up all kinds of things. I've been craving some preserved lemons, and I haven't made them in a while. They're a wonderful addition to Moroccan food, such as a chicken tagine with green olives and preserved lemons, or lamb and lentil salad with preserved lemons.

1 pound organic lemons
5 Tbs sea salt or pickling salt
2 bay leaves, crumbled
1 tsp black peppercorns
1 Tbs cardamom pods

Scrub each lemon well, and cut a thin slice off each end. Make two lengthwise cuts almost all the way through the lemon, so that the quarters are still connected at one end. Pack each lemon with about 1 tablespoon salt. Pack the lemons tightly into a quart mason jar, along with the spices, pressing them to squeeze the juice out. If necessary, add more lemon juice to cover. Screw on the lid, and leave at room temperature for about 3 weeks - don't worry, they won't go bad, the acidity and salt prevent any bad stuff from growing (kind of like in pickling). Then you can store them in the refrigerator for 6 months or more.

Meyer Lemon Marmalade

2011-02-03T15:00:00.018-07:00

A super-simple recipe from Farmer Monte in the LPO newsletter. I got a Meyer lemon tree this year, which I'm growing in a container indoors, and it has little baby lemons on it right now! The flowers smell wonderful, and I have high hopes for the fruit, but unfortunately it has a nasty case of scale* that I need to deal with soon.

1 pound Meyer lemons
2 cups water
2 cups sugar

Juice the lemons, discarding the seeds. Slice the lemon rinds very thinly, or chop very finely. The finer you chop them, the shorter the cooking time.

Place the juice, rind, and water in a small saucepan and boil until the rinds are tender, about 20 minutes. Serious marmalade-makers would soak it overnight, but I didn't. Add sugar, then simmer another 30 minutes or until the rinds are soft, it is quite syrupy, and begins to turn a nice amber color.

Note: On the first batch, I thought I would leave out the water and I just cooked the rinds, juice and sugar in the pot all at once. This was a mistake, because then it took about 3 hours for the rinds to soften. It needs a period of cooking in water without the sugar, because the sugar actually draws moisture out of the rinds, keeping them hard.

*Scale is a strange insect, kind of like an aphid or fruit fly in the juvenile stage (they fly around) but as an adult it attaches permanently to the stem of a plant and develops a protective shell over itself. This makes it difficult to kill! And they breed like crazy indoors. The only thing to do is to scrape the adults off with your fingernail or a toothbrush. I scrubbed the entire tree (it's pretty small) with a toothbrush, and a few drops of Dr. Bronner's peppermint soap in about a cup of water. Next I will spray it with neem oil (an organic insecticide derived from the neem tree in India) to kill any juveniles that might have been out and about, thus missing the blitz. It kills on contact, so hopefully this should do it!

Potato Gnocchi with Figs, Hazelnuts and Winter Squash

2011-01-28T13:39:00.006-07:00

Photo by Sergio Salvador
www.salvadorphoto.com

If you've ever had freshly made gnocchi, perhaps you (like me) fell deeply in love with their creamy, delicate texture that melts in your mouth. The good news is, they're actually not that hard to make, with the right proportions and technique – the gnocchi in this recipe are from the authoritative Italian cookbook The Silver Spoon, and it works for me every time.

I'm finally cutting into the last of my heirloom pumpkins - the Black Futsu, which is a great keeper (here's a picture of it). Figs grow well here in Albuquerque, as long they're in a warm, protected spot such as a south-facing wall, and they store well dried so you can enjoy them all winter. They're also a great container plant - I bring mine in for the winter and put it back outside in summer (if you're interested in growing a fig tree, see Lloyd Kreitzer's website, www.landofenfigment.com).

2 ¼ pounds potatoes

2 T. olive oil

3 C. winter squash, cut in 1-inch chunks

½ C. dried figs

½ C. hazelnuts

2 C. cream

1 garlic clove, smashed

Pinch of nutmeg

Freshly ground pepper

1 3/4 C. flour

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/2 t. salt

Peel potatoes, cut in quarters, and steam 25 minutes or until tender. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large skillet, add the squash cubes and toss to coat with oil. Add about a cup of water, sprinkle with salt, cover and simmer until squash is tender and most of the water has evaporated. Fry a few minutes longer to brown the edges.

Soak figs in boiling water about 15 minutes, until soft – if they are really hard, you can simmer them on the stove a bit. Chop them into ½ inch chunks. Toast hazelnuts in a dry skillet for a minute or two, and chop roughly. Simmer cream, garlic nutmeg and pepper in a small saucepan until reduced by one-quarter, then season with a pinch of salt.

Mash the potatoes while hot, then stir in flour, egg and ½ teaspoon salt. Knead for a few minutes, until a soft elastic dough is formed. Shape the dough into ropes about ¾ inch thick. Cut into ¾-inch sections, pulling them off and setting them on a dish towel dusted with flour as you go.

Boil a large pot of generously salted water and drop in gnocchi, no more than a dozen at a time. They are done when they float to the top (just a few minutes). Remove the gnocchi from the water with a slotted spoon and set directly onto serving plate. Top with squash, figs, hazelnuts and sauce. Serves 4.

Green Chile Blue Corn Posole

2011-01-21T11:14:00.004-07:00

Photo by Sergio Salvador
www.salvadorphoto.com

Posole is great winter comfort food and a fascinating part of our cultural heritage. Made from corn dried in the summer sun so it would keep all winter, this is what New Mexicans ate when eating local was the only option!

Last week I made my own blue corn posole by cooking the dried corn in limewater... and it's easier than it sounds! If you're so inclined, you can read about it read about it here. It turned out great - there is something deeply satisfying about the flavor. Making your own may also be the only way to get organic posole, as I've never seen it for sale. Of course, you can buy locally produced dried or frozen posole at most New Mexico grocery stores. Just don't use canned hominy, which is mushy and bland in comparison.

In New Mexico, posole is often served as a simple vegetable side dish. It can be as basic as just corn, onion and salt. Of course it's better with chile – either red or green. Using a really good (preferably homemade) stock gives it a richer flavor. When you have great ingredients, they don't need much embellishment. There are as many posole recipes as there are families that enjoy it. You can add meat if you like. I love how the recipe on the back of the Bueno frozen posole package calls for pigs' feet to make the stock! Many recipes call for oregano, some use cumin. And some like to garnish with fresh cilantro, radish slices and a squeeze of lime juice.

1 pound dried posole OR 2 pounds frozen posole

2 large onions, chopped

4 cloves garlic

½ to 1 pound frozen green chile, chopped

2 quarts good chicken or vegetable stock

1 T. salt, or as needed

If using dried posole, soak in fresh water overnight (omit this step if using frozen or freshly made posole). Combine all ingredients in a large soup pot, and simmer 2 hours,or until the corn is tender and some of the kernels have “blossomed” or popped open. Or just put it in a slow-cooker on low heat all day. Serves 8-10.