FORAGING THE DECEMBER VEGETABLE GARDEN

31 Tuesday Dec 2013

Posted by backyardnotes in Cooking & Eating, December, EAT!, Fun in the Garden, Winter

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Foraging, lacianto kale, mixed greens, mustard greens, radicchio, Rubine brussels sprouts, salad dressing, treviso, Winter salads, winter vegetable garden

The vegetable garden at partial rest on the last day of 2013

EARLIER THIS MONTH we had some decidedly cold weather for these parts–a week of temperatures in the low-to-mid 20’s overnight and not much above freezing during the daytime. Some of the more winter hardy vegetables are rebounding and shedding leaves that have turned to mush. Often at this time of year there are slim pickings for salads, but who doesn’t love a challenge?

Treviso type radicchio

Late yesterday I went foraging for salad material. I was able to collect some small, barely heading radicchio, lots of parsley, some Mibuna type mustard greens, cilantro, lacinato kale, small leaves from Rosalind broccoli, and some Rubine brussels sprouts; all hardy, hearty and strong greens.

Mixed, washed greens

Small lacinato kale leaves

Shaved Rubine brussels sprouts

Now, to put together the right dressing, equally hearty with flavors to stand up to and compliment the bitterness and ‘greeness’ of some of the greens.

The salad dressing

My favorite salad bowl was probably made for proofing bread dough once-upon-a-time. My grandma Aggie always had it filled with unshelled nuts, especially from Thanksgiving to Christmas and I never saw bread dough in it. I have owned it for 40 plus years and it is well seasoned by now. I mashed 2 cloves of garlic with some coarse salt into a paste; mashed 2 anchovy filets into a paste as well. To the garlic and anchovies, I whisked in 1 1⁄2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice, two teaspoons Dijon mustard and three tablespoons of grassy olive oil. About a tablespoon or so of capers added some extra punch.

The dressed greens

I added the greens, a little sliced celery and sweet slices of pear, the last one from our tree; tossed all together, sprinkled on some pomegranate seeds and a few grinds of pepper.

It was a fantastic salad, with bright and biting flavors. It may be on the menu tonight too!

A BIG THANK YOU to everyone who has stumbled upon this blog and paused to read one of my posts, and to those of you who subscribe. This is my 151st post since I began the blog in 2009. This year posts were kind of sporadic and I took a two month break; I might still have something left to say in 2014.

May you all have a HAPPY NEW YEAR IN 2014!

A LITTLE PEAR TREE YIELDS BIG

25 Friday Oct 2013

Posted by backyardnotes in Canning & Preserving, Growing, Harvest, Jellies & Preserves

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Bartlett pears, canning, comice pears, Dessert, Pear preserves, Pear Semifreddo, pears, preserving, Rescue pears, vanilla bean

Our espaliered pear tree

WE PLANTED THIS PEAR TREE in 1996 or 1997. It has three varieties grafted on dwarf root stock. The tree is supported against a split rail fence, 32 inches tall and 8 feet wide. The varieties are Comice, Rescue and Bartlett. By the fourth year it began producing a reliable crop of pears and this year I harvested a whopping 72 pounds!!!

A cluster of Rescue pears

Some of the branches we so heavy with fruit we had to brace them to keep from breaking under the weight. The groundskeeper thinned the tree twice after fruit was set and the tree still produced a bumper crop.

Bartletts

I started picking the Bartlett’s in early September; a little earlier than usual, but then we had a much warmer than normal summer. Each time I picked pears I weighed the harvest. The last bunch (Comice) were picked last week.

So far, I have processed 6 half-pints of Pear-Thyme Conserve (Well Preserved); 4 half-pints Pear-Ginger Preserves; 6 pints Pears Poached in Wine; 7 pints plain canned pear quarters; 4 half-pints Pear Preserves with dried cherries. I gave pears to friend, neighbors and relatives. Yesterday I put up 5 1/2 half-pints of Pear Preserves with Vanilla and Thyme.

I started with six pounds of pears. I peeled, cored and diced the pears, then layered them in a large saucepan with 17 ounces (2 1/3 cups) sugar, 4 large sprigs of thyme and one six inch vanilla bean cut into four pieces.

Peeled and ready to process

Sugar, thyme sprigs and vanilla bean

Layer one; diced pears, thyme, vanilla, and sugar

Why do I always start with a pan that is too small?

The right sized pot!

I let the pears and sugar macerate for six hours to draw out the juices. I brought the fruit and its juice to a gentle boil over medium high heat for five minutes then reduced to a simmer (barely bubbling) and continued cooking for about 4 hours until the pears were soft, translucent and thickened.

Pears after about 2 hours.

After two hours, remove all of the thyme sprigs. Continue cooking until the pears look like this:

After 4 hours–the once full pot is now a quarter full!

At this point when the pears are thickened, taste for sweetness. I found them too sweet for my liking so added 1 1/2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice. I removed the vanilla bean pieces and used an immersion blender to slightly puree a small portion to add thickness/texture. If all is to your liking at this point, bring to a boil, turn off heat (Optional add: 1 1/2 tablespoons cognac once heat is turned off) and fill prepared jars; seal and process 10 minutes. Additional Note: Once the pears were substantially reduced and thickened, I removed the pears from the heat and let stand overnight and checked the set next day. The big yield for 6 pounds of pears: 5 1/2 half-pints.

The finished preserves, flecked with thyme leaves and vanilla bean seeds, were perfect on my morning toast.

I still have about twelve+ pounds left in the refrigerator. At this point they are mostly Rescue and Comice. Still to come is a standout dessert from an October 1998 issue of Gourmet magazine: Pear, Muscat, and Almond Semifreddo; a recipe by Paul Bertolli. Layers of sliced, poached pears, vanilla pastry cream, crushed amaretti cookies and spongecake moistened with the syrup used to poach the pears. Unbelievably delicious. Unfortunately, I cannot locate the recipe online for a link and it is too long to copy here.

Pear, Muscat, and Almond Semifreddo (photo scanned from Gourmet mag)

What will next year bring? I have a feeling the tree may have to rest next year and the harvest will be smaller.

REVISITING AN UNFINISHED WORK OF ART

23 Monday Sep 2013

Posted by backyardnotes in Art, Inspriation

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Art, color pencil, complimentary colors, Drawing, french curves, style, Unfinished art

Part way; August 2013

I HAVE UNFINISHED ART PROJECTS. Sometimes the initial enthusiasm wears off quickly for any number of reasons. But some are worth revisiting, like this one. I originally laid out this tracing of overlapping french curves on a 2 inch square grid in 2009. It is 18″ x 24″, Canson Classic Cream Drawing paper. I liked the geometric and abstract idea and decided to use color pencils, a complimentary color scheme limited to just a few blues/oranges; reds/greens; and yellows/violet. I placed color in a few spots, closed the cover on the drawing tablet, put in a drawer and there it sat until July of this year when I “rediscovered” it. Renewed interest!

I am glad I came back to it now. I needed a summer project that I could spend a few hours with, walk away and then return to again, and again, and again…

The botanical drawing class I took last year taught me a new way of laying down color with a pencil, layer by layer (Katie Lee method) and it seemed the right technique for this color pencil project.

Current state.

At this stage placing color has become more challenging. It is now a labor of either love or obsession.

Section view

DRIFTING INTO FALL, THE GARDEN SHINES

09 Monday Sep 2013

Posted by backyardnotes in Fall, Fall Flowers, Flowers, Growing, Harvest, Photography, Vegetable garden

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beans, cabbage, comice pears, dahlias, fall, garden spiders, harvest, honeybees, matricaria, savoy cabbage, squash, tomatoes, verbena bonariensis

Mystery dahlia, but quite lovely

AS SEPTEMBER GENTLY NUDGES US INTO A FALL state of mind, there are lovely moments nearly everyday. The colors of late summer and early fall flowers are rich and vibrant. Tomato harvest is peaking. Cabbages are just this side of splitting. Pears need picking almost daily. Cactus are blooming! Winter squash are ripening and bees and spiders are busy, busy, busy.

I’ll let the garden speak for itself.

BIG mystery squash. Came from the zucchini packet!

I think this is a banana squash. The seed came from the zucchini packet!

Bartlett and Comice pears

30 year old (maybe older) mammillaria pringlei.

Berkely Tie-dye

Is this a beautiful blossom? Bean blossoms are often hidden by the leaves

Is this a beautiful blossom? Bean blossoms are seldom seen as they are often hidden by the leaves.

These are EVERYWHERE.

As are these (on the tiny flowers of sedum ‘Autumn Joy’)…

and partaking of nectar from caryopteris ‘Dark Knight’

Bees drinking at the birdbath. We have a beekeeper in our neighborhood–hooray!

and drinking at the birdbath. We have a beekeeper in our neighborhood–hooray!

Savoy cabbage

Matricaria. They look so cheerful and like sunny side-up eggs. They self-sow.

Matricaria (also known as feverfew); they look so cheerful and like sunnyside-up eggs. They self-sow freely.

Many plants in my ornamental and vegetable gardens are volunteers, like this verbena bonariensis whose seeds came from compost. Volunteer flowers in the vegetable garden enliven the scenery and invite lots of pollinators and predators alike.

Many plants in my ornamental and vegetable gardens are volunteers, like this verbena bonariensis whose seeds likely came from compost added to the garden. I like to leave volunteer flowers in the vegetable garden to enliven the scenery and invite lots of pollinators and predators alike.

SEATTLE REVERTS TO TYPICAL WEATHER

06 Friday Sep 2013

Posted by backyardnotes in Canning & Preserving, Cooking & Eating, Food, Harvest, Pickling, Vegetable garden, Weather

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brandied peaches, fruit vinegars, infusing vinegar, peach preserves, pickling, plum butter, seattle rain, shiro plum, tomaotes

Today’s weather

AFTER A FANTASTIC SUMMER THAT BEGAN IN MAY we are easing back into typical northwest weather. Last night we had quite a light show with 5,600+ lightning strikes! Very unusual for this part of the country. No complaints really. Day after day of sunshine and temperatures of 80°+ has produced some wonderful results in the vegetable garden and loads of pears, beans, tomatoes and more.

A few rainy day photos:

Jaune Flamée tomatoes in the rain

Fucschia “Dark Eyes”

AUGUST WAS REPLETE WITH CANNING AND PRESERVING PROJECTS. I accepted 22 pounds of Shiro plums from my mom’s neighbor.

Shiro plums

Those 22 pounds yielded plum butter, 12 cups of plum juice; half of that became plum jelly, and

Plum infused white wine vinegar; one of two versions

We took a trip to north east Washington to our favorite little lake and on the return home stopped in Okonogan at Smallwood Farms where I bought a box of beautiful, just ripe and sweet Diamond Princess peaches.

Peach infused vinegar

Peach Basil preserves & brandied peaches

I have had exceptional pole and bush bean crops this year; lots to put in the freezer and plenty to make pickled beans too. Nice heads of cabbage. My late spring planting of carrots came up nicely and then quickly eaten by little critters. My second planting last month is looking promising The cucumbers were doing well until we left them on their own for a week when they succumbed to the heat. But I did manage to get a big jar of my favorite refrigerator pickles. Now it’s time to tackle the pears coming on.