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Salted Sunflower Seeds

Monday, October 1st, 2012

Mammoth Sunflowers

I grew a half dozen Grey Stripe Mammoth sunflowers this year and decided to save some seed for snacks. These monster plants are not the tallest sunflowers one can grow, but they are tall enough, and the mature seed heads are well over a foot across. This seed came from Botanical Interests. Mammoth Grey Stripe is an old, open pollinated variety, so I can save a few of these to grow again, next year.

Ripe Sunflower Seed Head

The seeds were just starting to let go from the heads and become food for the birds when I cut them all off with pruning loppers.

Removing the Seeds is Easy

Removing the seeds was easily done by rubbing them out with a gloved hand. I just let them fall into a five gallon bucket to collect them.

Sorting the Seeds

We got over a gallon of seeds from the six large heads. I did a little online research, but I didn’t find any reference as to a quick and easy way to separate the good seeds from the ones not worth saving and the debris from the flower head. I ended up dumping about a pint of seeds at a time onto a cookie sheet and just hand picking out the good seeds while moving all the chaff and bad seeds to the other side of the sheet. It was a little time consuming, but not that hard. Judy and I each took turns sorting a pile of seeds to break up the monotony.

Soaking in a Salt Bath

We salted and oven dried most of the seeds. The method cited online in several sources calls for soaking the seeds in a solution of a cup of salt to a gallon of water. We soaked them overnight, stirring them frequently, and dried them on cookie sheets in the oven at 200o for about four hours.

Dried Sunflower Seeds

Here is the finished product. A gallon of seeds, lightly salted. We’ll have snacks for several months to come and we’ll have plenty to give away, too.

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Garden Tomato Salsa

Sunday, August 26th, 2012

Several years ago I got this salsa recipe from a friend of a friend who worked at the local post office. (Consider this my plug for saving our little post offices – they’re good for more than just mail…) I make it every year, as long as I have tomatoes, onions and peppers all at the same time from the garden.

Salsa and Pear Shaped Italian Beefsteak Pomodoros

Garden Tomato Salsa Recipe

9 cups skinned tomatoes, chopped

3 cups chopped onions

3 cups chopped peppers, mix of mostly sweet peppers with hot peppers to taste

1 ½ cups tomato paste (cooked & sieved cherry tomatoes)

1 bulb (several cloves garlic) chopped

1 cup cider vinegar

2 tsp. salt

Several grinds of fresh black pepper

1 bunch chopped cilantro

Salsa Ingredients

Simmer all of the above ingredients for 30 minutes. Water bath can in pint jars for 15 minutes or freeze. The salsa has a better texture if canned but if you’re not into canning it is still very good frozen.

This time around I used mostly a large meaty Italian heirloom tomato, Red Pear Selezione Franchi, but you can use whatever you have. The original recipe called for a can of tomato paste but I have always used the abundance of small tomatoes from the garden. Just cut in half, cook until most of the liquid disappears then sieve in a food mill. If necessary, simmer the puree a little longer to thicken it to a paste consistency.

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Ratatouille Hot Dish Casserole Bake, with Potatoes

Tuesday, August 14th, 2012

Potato Ratatouille

Can you tell by the title that I grew up in Minnesota? Actually I was given a version of this recipe when I lived in Michigan many years ago so it’s more of a ‘bake’ or ‘casserole’.

The original recipe included a double layer of sliced zucchini, onions, tomatoes, shredded mozzarella cheese and fresh basil (salt & pepper to taste) – baked until done in a 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes. I made it this way for years. With all the water content in these vegetables it was quite juicy and I loved drinking the tasty leftover liquid.

A few years ago I started adding sliced potatoes to the mix to make a more substantial main dish. The potatoes also soak up a lot of the juice. By varying the cheese selection (sharp cheddar, Swiss, Monterey Jack to name a few) or using several kinds of cheese together – how about a little goat or blue in the mix (?) - the dish takes on different flavors each time.

Potato Ratatouille Ready for Oven

There is no hard and fast recipe. Just use what you have on hand and fill up your favorite baking dish. With potatoes added it will probably take at least an hour or maybe more if you have a very large pan. I cover it for the first half hour to give it a good start then remove the cover to let some of the liquid evaporate and to brown the top just a little.

The next time I make this, I’m adding eggplant, hence a ratatouille. Noel got carried away in the garden and we have 16 plants each producing several of the purple-globed fruit!

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Pesto Corn on the Cob

Tuesday, July 31st, 2012

Pesto Corn

I doubt that I would ever say no to a piece of corn on the cob smeared with fresh butter and salt. But I have tried a couple of alternatives that place high on my list of yummies.

One option is extra virgin olive oil with lots of freshly chopped garlic and salt. Just mix all together in a proper size dish and roll the corn cob in it. If you love garlic, you will appreciate the tangy flavor of the garlic matched against the sweetness of the corn.

The other is basil pesto spread on the corn. We first had this at the Irish Rose Saloon, a restaurant in Rockford, IL. They served the pesto on a roasted cob of corn - delicious.

We had this last night as part of our garden meal served with potato ratatouille and walnutty green beans. I didn’t roast the corn but it was still an extremely tasty and colorful dish.

Here’s a simple pesto recipe that just takes a couple minutes to prepare.

1 cup washed & packed fresh basil leaves

¼ cup pine nuts

2 cloves chopped garlic

2-4 T. olive oil

¼ cup shredded parmesan

Blend basil, pine nuts and garlic in food processor. Add in olive oil, then parmesan. Adjust the amount of olive oil to suit your taste.

This can be used on the corn, on pasta or as a soup flavoring. It can also be frozen for future use. What are you waiting for??

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K is for Kohlrabi Pancakes

Tuesday, July 24th, 2012

Kossak Kohlrabi

Kohlrabi is one of our favorite crunchy summertime veggies. We like it best when peeled, sliced and sprinkled lightly with salt. It has a mild cabbage flavor with a turnip-like texture.

Kohlrabi (Brassica oleracea (gongylodes group)) is best picked when less than tennis ball size because it can tend to get woody or fibrous in the middle. We are trying a new larger variety this year, Kossak, a hybrid from Johnny’s Selected Seeds, that is not supposed to get fibrous and is also a storage kohlrabi. Optimal/maximum size for harvesting is 8”. We’ll let you know if it works for us, though I doubt that they will last long enough to get into storage!

Kohlrabi Pancakes

Kohlrabies also make great pancakes similar to potato pancakes but more delicately flavored.

Try this recipe:

2 cups peeled and shredded kohlrabi

¼ cup flour

1 egg

¼ tsp. salt

Olive oil for frying

Sprinkle flour and salt over shredded kohlrabi and stir in so there are no lumps. Add 1 beaten egg and mix well.

Preheat cast iron frying pan until medium hot. Add 2 to 3 Tbl. oil to pan. Form pancakes in pan with 2 Tbl. kohlrabi mixture & flatten. Fry for 2 minutes on each side until browned. Makes about 8 or 9 pancakes. They are delicious with just salt & pepper but feel free to experiment with your favorite herbs.

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Double Amaranth Bolita Bean Soup

Monday, June 25th, 2012

I grew bolita beans a couple of years ago as a dried bean and had yet to cook them. Last week I made this bolita bean soup with amaranth leaves, amaranth grain (hence double amaranth) and purslane.

The finished soup, ready to eat.

  • 1 cup dry bolita beans, soaked overnight
  • 3/4 cup amaranth grain
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 2-3 garlic cloves
  • cumin
  • chopped hot peppers to taste
  • veggie broth
  • amaranth leaves
  • purslane leaves and upper stems

Sauté the onions, garlic and hot peppers in olive oil. Add veggie stock. Add beans, amaranth grain and cumin. Bring to a boil then simmer until beans are fully cooked (about an hour).

Add the amaranth leaves and purslane, cook a few more minutes and serve.

Bolita beans are a New Mexico variety. I got my original seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. For some reason I thought that they were a bush bean, but they turned out to be pole beans and vined over two garden beds. I actually got two crops of these beans as quite a few pods shattered and re-seeded.

Amaranth Leaves

I grew two varieties of amaranth, Amaranthus spp., this year, one from Botanical Interests called Edible Red Leaf and another from Kitazawa Seed Company called All Red Leaf. All Red Leaf was indeed more red than the former.

I did not harvest amaranth seeds, only the leaves. I picked up the grain from my local food co-op. Amaranth seeds are not a true grain and are gluten free. The seeds are like quinoa but smaller. They are also harder than quinoa and take longer to cook. That’s why I put them into the soup at the same time as the beans.

Purlsane, one the the greens still growing as temperatures surpass 100F.

Purlsane, Portulaca oleracea, is known as verdolaga in Mexico. I’m growing a variety from Bountiful Gardens that has a more upright stem than the kind often found as a garden weed.

Purslane may be eaten raw as well and has a slightly tart taste. Amaranth is not as tasty raw and benefits from cooking. Both of these greens made this soup delicious and filling.

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Roasted Asparagus Salsa

Monday, June 11th, 2012

Asparagus Salsa

1 ½ - 2 cups roasted asparagus, chopped (see roasted asparagus recipe here)

2 T. fresh lime juice

¼ tsp. cumin

2 T. minced green onion

2 T. medium salsa verde or salsa of your choice

1 tsp. minced or pressed garlic

Salt & pepper to taste

Puree asparagus, lime juice and cumin in a food processor. Stir in remaining ingredients and serve with tortilla chips or use as a sandwich spread.

This is my version of an Asparagus Guacamole recipe put out by the Fairshare CSA Coalition as a teaser to buy their cookbook, From Asparagus to Zucchini. We picked up the recipe at a CSA information table at Whole Foods Madison a few weeks ago. I have their original cookbook from 1996 but it doesn’t have this recipe.

I tried the recipe a couple of times. The first time I followed the recipe exactly. I thought it was good but a little too soupy. I had used regular cooked and drained asparagus. After working on some adjustments to the recipe I decided that roasting the asparagus removed more of the water and concentrated the flavor. I also eliminated the yogurt that was in the original recipe and cut back on the cumin.

Guacamole implies avocado but this green salsa recipe can fool you.

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Asparagus Spring Onion Cheddar Cheese Scones

Tuesday, May 8th, 2012

Asparagus Cheese Scones

My favorite scone recipe is from the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board – “Wisconsin Colby Cheese Scones”.

I think sharply flavored cheeses stand out more in this recipe so I usually use an aged cheddar or an aged Swiss cheese. A little feta is good too, as is pictured above. Sometimes I add herbs such as sage or rosemary. Now during asparagus season cooked chopped asparagus and minced spring onions add a little extra ‘spring’ to the mix.

Substituting half of the flour with soft whole wheat flour also changes the flavor a bit. You can use all whole wheat pastry flour but the scones tend to be on the heavy side although still very tasty.

Ingredients:

2 cups unbleached or soft whole wheat pastry flour or a mixture of the two

2 tbl. sugar

1 tbl. baking powder

¼ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

1 ¼ cups (5 ounces) sharp cheddar cheese, aged Swiss or feta cheese

½ cup sour cream or yogurt

3 tbl. milk

1 egg, beaten

¼ cup olive oil

1 to 1 ½ cups cooked asparagus, chopped (any leftovers?)

2 tbl. minced spring or green onion

Additional milk, for brushing scones

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in large bowl. Add the cheese to the dry ingredients and mix lightly. Stir in asparagus & onion.

In a small bowl, combine the sour cream with 3 tbl. milk, blend in the egg and oil. Add to flour mixture stirring until the mixture forms a ball. Scrape dough onto a floured surface.

Knead the dough 15 times, and divide the dough in half. Pat each half into a 7-inch circle. Cut each piece of dough into 8 wedges. Place 2 inches apart on a greased baking sheet. Brush tops with milk. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until the bottoms are golden brown. Enjoy with butter and/or jam. Who needs bread in the house when these yummy scones take only a few minutes to prepare?

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Quick and Easy Spring Meal

Tuesday, May 1st, 2012

Salad and Oven Roasted Asparagus

Judy and I enjoyed a great light meal last night that was mostly from the garden - a salad with a side of roasted asparagus.

The roasted asparagus recipe:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Wash & dry asparagus spears after removing woody ends. In a large bowl pour in 1-2 T. olive oil, mash in 1-2 crushed cloves garlic, 1/2 tsp. seasoned salt & freshly ground pepper. Toss in asparagus spears & gently mix until well coated. Place on a greased baking pan and roast for about 20 minutes, turning the pan halfway through. We used about 1/2 lb. of asparagus, which was a good amount for the two of us.

The salad was mostly greens from the cold frame, some volunteer mustard and cilantro, and some spring onion. Not from the garden are the walnuts, apples, and feta cheese, but it was mostly a homegrown meal. The salad, topped with a shiitake vinaigrette, was just too good.

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Loquat

Tuesday, April 24th, 2012

Driving around Austin during the past couple of weeks I have seen hundreds of loquat trees, Eriobotrya japonica, loaded with ripe fruit. Here the trees are mostly planted as an ornamental, in part due to their tropical looking foliage. The fruit, however, is delicious.

The tropical looking evergreen leaves make loquat a popular ornamental

Loquats are originally from China and are distantly related to apples. My friend Bianca says that growing up in San Antonio, they referred to loquats as ‘Chinese plums’. I find the flesh similar in texture to a plum but both tarter and sweeter at the same time.

My own loquat tree is only a couple of years old and is not producing fruit yet. A friend was more than happy to let me pick a shopping bag full from his backyard tree. The fruit is tasty raw, but does not keep long, so I decided to cook most of it down.

Loquat Fruit

I blanched the fruit for thirty seconds to make the skin easier to peel. Using a paring knife, I cut off the end of the fruit as well as any bad spots. After peeling all of the fruit I then picked out the large seeds. They are easy to remove, but make up almost half of the fruit. I cooked the fruit down with enough sugar to make a thick sauce. For the amount of fruit that I had, I used a half a cup, which made the batch a little too sweet. By the end of the process my bag of fruit had shrunk to a cup and a half of preserves.

Making loquat sauce

Use the preserves as a sweet topping or to flavor your own homemade ice cream.

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