Today's Pickings

[DirtMechanic]

Well they are growing faster than I pick as usual.

 

[Meadowlark]

Salsa time! We love this stuff.

All key ingredients fresh from the garden peppers, tomatoes, and onions.

 

[Tess]

Salsa time! We love this stuff.

All key ingredients fresh from the garden peppers, tomatoes, and onions.

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That is wonderful that you grew it all yourself! My brother grows salsa makings every year! It's SO fresh and delicious!

 

[skinyea]

Salsa time! We love this stuff.

All key ingredients fresh from the garden peppers, tomatoes, and onions.

View attachment 90856

no cilantro?

 

[Tess]

no cilantro?

Oooo, cilantro would be yummy!

 

[Meadowlark]

Sorry but we prefer it sans cilantro.... must be a Texas thing

 

[headfullofbees]

Corn for the day, bell peppers, and eggplant on the menu. I still haven't found a really good way to use eggplant but lasagna isn't bad

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Papoutsakia (which means "little shoes") is a Greek recipe:
Make a sauce with whatever Mediterranian veg you have, onions garlic oregano & basil a must, bell peppers are great, but zucchini also works if you want a vegetarian dish, otherwise ground beef. Salt & pepper how you like it.
Halve the aubergines long ways & rub with lemon.
Oil a tray & place aubergines, skin up on the tray.
Brush the skins with veg oil & place in middle of pre-heated oven (180C/350f/gas6) for 25-30 mins
When you take them out of the oven, & turn them over, you should be able to create a good hollow in the flesh.
Turn oven up to max.
Generously overfill this with the sauce & grate cheese over it.
Kefalotyri is the original, but any mild hard cheese (Mild Cheddar in UK/Monterrey Jack in US.)
Return to oven until cheese bubbles & starts to brown.

 

[headfullofbees]

Lebanese Baba Ghanoush

This Lebanese inspired Baba Ganoush is made with only 4 ingredients: oven-roasted eggplant, lemon juice, tahini & garlic - a great alternative to hummus!

feelgoodfoodie.net

I prefer sesame seeds to tahini, as it can be somewhat bitter.

 

[Vicy]

Small bounty from my containers!

 

[Logan]

Picked some more blackcurrants and pink currants

Gooseberries

 

[Logan]

Picked more blackcurrants, redcurrants, pink currants, raspberries, loganberries, gooseberries and blueberries. Had a little helper a baby robin.

 

[Meadowlark]

A recent post reminded me to check my melon patch. Good thing because several were ripe.

These are the seedless variety Triple Crown...the best tasting melon I've grown.

 

[Meadowlark]

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked;
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
Where’s the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?

I never really understood how he "picked" already "pickled" "peppers", but he could find many fresh in my garden.

It's time to remove all the old fruit and encourage them to wake up from their summer slumber in order to produce a bountiful harvest in Oct. If a peck is 2 gallons....here is PP's peck

 

[cntrlwagdnr]

I am interested in the rhubarb. It is a plant or vegetable that is alien to us Filipinos and the only time I encountered rhubarb is when my father-in-law had planted one in the garden and had harvested a few stems for cooking. I don't quite remember the taste but I guess it was a jam that he made the rhubarb into.

Is there anyone here who can post some more details about the rhubarb? Thanks to those who would react.

Well, everything everyone else say, especially not to eat the leaves (toxic oxalic acid, like potatoe leaves, etc.) - except:
Don't peel the stems. You lose a lot of flavor and nutrition, it's not necessary and you lose the lovely pink color.
I would agree with headfullofbees about the acid/sourness being similar to tamarind, etc., but not the taste. It actually varies quite bit in acidity depending on a lot of factors, from pucker your mouth up to oh, that's refreshingly and tart.
We do not classify it as a fruit here in the USA. However, like most countries, we tend to think of tomatoes as a vegetable even though we all know it's a fruit, so who's counting.

I don't grow it, just buy it in the store - not enough room and it doesn't do well in high dessert climate. But here is my Rhubarb jam recipe. (Sorry, we don't do metric here either, so you will have to use your converter on your cell phone calculator.) You can't upload Word files, so it's longhand. Corinne makes rhubarb and strawberry pie, I make jam.

Rhubarb and Ginger Jam​

This is my quick and easy recipe for Rhubarb and Ginger jam. It is a beautiful deep rose-pink color and has an excellent sweet/tart flavor that retains the flavor of the Rhubarb with a pleasant Fresh Ginger note. You can increase the amount of Ginger if you want a stronger flavor. It makes 4 standard ½ pint jelly jars full, plus a little extra. You can double the quantities for a larger batch, etc.



Ingredients:

• Approximately 1½ lbs Fresh Rhubarb after cleaning and trimming
• About 1 to 1½ inches Fresh Ginger Root, depending on thickness and how strong you want the flavor. I used about 1½ inches about ¾ inch diameter
• 3 cups Sugar
• ½ cup Water
• 1 package Pectin, I use Sure-Jell MCP

Directions:

• Prepare your sterilized jelly jars and lids.
• Wash and trim any brown bits from the Rhubarb.
• Do Not peel it! Cut it into ¼ to ½ inch pieces.
• Place in large heavy saucepan.
• Scrape the skin off as much of a piece of Ginger Root as you intend to use, leaving the remainder as a handle.
• Grate the Ginger. It is by far best to use a micro plane grater, but watch your fingers – they are sharp! Doing it at an angle like sharpening a pencil and rotating it occasionally, rather than trying to grate across the end, is best and gives and nice smooth pulp without any fibers.
• You should get about a good 2 tsp of grated pulp.
• Add this to the Rhubarb.
• Stir in the sugar and Water.
• Bring to boiling over medium high heat, stirring frequently.
• Once the sugar has melted, turn down the heat and continue to gently boil and stir until the Rhubarb has softened and the chunks are mostly broken down. You can help it along by smooshing with the spoon if you like. This should take no longer than 10 to 20 minutes maximum. Do not overcook or it will turn brownish and stringy, though still taste OK.
• Add the Pectin and boil vigorously for exactly 1 minute as described on the package.
• Remove from the heat and pour into the jars up to about ¼ inch from the top.
• Place the lids on the jars and secure with the screw on rings. Put any extra in a small jar or container and keep in the fridge to use.
• Allow to cool before storing in a cupboard or pantry with your other jams and canned goods.

Great with anything you would use any jam on for a delicious bright refreshing flavor and color. Excellent on Toast, English Muffins or Crumpets.

 

[2guysnagarden]

It's been a great last two months of harvests. Looks like we will have at least a few more weeks of good weather before the cold sets in. Here are some pictures of our harvests over the last month and a half.