2 Recipes for Leftover Rice

My darling hooband recently made rice to go with a stir-fry recipe I was trying out for the first time. Problem is, he made approximately enough rice to feed the country of Japan 3 times over for 2 days. OK, that's an exaggeration, but only slightly.

So, what to do with the leftover rice?

Fortunately, I had one recipe and after a quick internet search I found another. Both are wonderful. So the next time you find yourself with a lot of leftover rice, try one of these on for size.

Creole Rice
(I found this one on Allrecipes.com)

1/4 cup butter
1 tsp Creole seasoning*
1/8 tsp pepper
2 cups cooked white (or whatever) rice

Melt butter in a saucepan, add seasoning and cook for 3 minutes. Stir in rice. Cover pan and heat through. Serve!

*If you don't have any you can use: 1/2 tsp EACH paprika and garlic powder; a pinch EACH cayenne, dried thyme, and ground cumin. I would also add salt to taste.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Leftover Rice Rice Pudding
(I can't remember where I found this recipe)

2 cups leftover cooked white rice
3 cups milk (any kind, even soy) (I used slightly less and it was fine)
1/2 cup sugar
small pinch salt
1/2 cup raisins
1 tsp vanilla extract*
1/2 tsp cinnamon, optional**
pinch of nutmeg, optional***

Combine cooked rice, milk, sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, then lower heat to a simmer and stir in the vanilla (*I actually had part of a vanilla bean, I used that and took it out later) and raisins.

Cook until all the milk is absorbed (30-45min). Stir in cinnamon and nutmeg, if using.

Serve warm or chilled. If you chill it, it will thicken up a bit more.

* ** *** Feel free to mess with this recipe. When I put in the first four ingredients, I also put in some empty cardamom pods I had on hand to infuse. I picked them out later. The first time I ever had rice pudding, Tim put in cardamom and it just isn't the same without it (thanks, Tim!). Also, you could put in a broken up cinnamon stick in the first step instead of putting in ground cinnamon later.

Cabbages! And Brown Sugar!!

Last year, I put in cabbages for the first time, WAY too late.

They overwintered fine, though, even with a snow load like we had.

Most of the plants bolted, including this one, but I harvested 6 baby cabbages last night!

Aren't they adorable? Three of them are already chopped up for sauerkraut, the other three will be sauteed. In butter. This week sometime. Yum!

So, now I want to grow MORE cabbage, but I don't have any in yet. Is it too late?

In other news, I was reading a blog several weeks ago where they were talking about making some staples instead of buying them. One of the things was brown sugar. It's easy cheesy, just mix molasses with white sugar and you have brown sugar. You want dark brown sugar? Add more molasses. Simple.

And it was gorgeous and tasted divine. I'll never buy brown sugar again.

Morel Season 2010

For the past 4 years now we have waited with baited breath for....morel season. Morels. *sigh* How we adore you!
And how hard you are to find! OK, I have more trouble than the average person. I can be standing literally within INCHES of these things and still not see them.Last year was a horrible year for them around here. This year? Fantastic! So far, Matt has gathered at least 2lb.
Yes, Matt has. He can spot them yards away. Yards! Seriously, he's a morel-spotting savant. So impressed. I actually have yet to step into the woods this year to search. Why? I can't find them anyway. And I can be at home, making Rosemary Flower Jelly instead.

Most of our haul we've been dehydrating for later use.

However, the first batch had a special purpose. We'd been waiting on the first batch to make Sauteed Morels with Cream (above). I've had morels with eggs (ick), morels fried in butter and served over steak (just ok). After having this classic French cream sauce with toast, I truly cannot think of any reason to have morels any other way. This recipe can be found on The Great Morel recipe site, and I HIGHLY recommend it.

Sautéed Morels with Cream

15-20 fresh morels or reconstituted dried, cut in half if large
1 large shallot chopped fine
1 large clove garlic chopped fine
2 TBS butter (best with unsalted)
2 TBS olive oil
3/4 cup chicken stock
1 cup heavy cream
salt & fresh ground pepper to taste

Put olive oil in heated pan over medium heat. Add garlic and shallots, stir and sauté until softened but not brown. Add butter until melted then add morels. Stir and cook until mushrooms start to brown, about 4 min. Add chicken stock and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add cream and cook on low until reduced and thickened. Classically served on toast, but the best on grilled New York Strip steaks.

Pineapple in Brown Sugar Rum Sauce

Oh, yeah.

This is the second time I've made this recipe. Now, pineapple isn't exactly 'local' in Pennsylvania, I know. But. This is great over vanilla ice cream. This is fantastic when a ham steak soaks in it and is baked. And I'm sure it's great by itself, but honestly it's never made it that far.
The recipe is in the thin Ball Blue Book that Matt's grandmother gave me:

• 2 ripe pineapples
• 2 cups water
• 1.5 cups brown sugar
• 1/2 cups rum

The first time I did the recipe I diced the pineapple in about 1/4 chunks. Very small, this time we did them larger (Matt helped). I also used dark brown sugar this time, hence the nice, dark color:
Take the water and brown sugar, boil it, then reduce it to a simmer for 5 minutes. Add the pineapple until it is heated through, place into 1/2 pint or pint jars and process in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes. Nothing to it!

Adventures with Kohlrabi

We bought some kohlrabi at the grocery store last week.

We've never eaten kohlrabi.

We've never cooked kohlrabi.
.
.
.
Any suggestions????

Oranges, part 2

After canning the clementines, I had a lot of orange peel.

Did I mention I had a lot of orange peel? A lot. I cut it mostly into strips:
I had so much I wound up boiling them in two batches. The first batch I boiled in two water baths and I changed the water once. They boiled for 2o minutes each, and I thought the first batch was really mushy. The second batch I only boiled once for 20 minutes. They were tough. Note to self: two water baths of 10 minutes each are fine for orange peel (3 @ 20min each are good for grapefruit peel, usually).

After everything is boiled to death, you mix an equal amount of sugar to what you have of orange peel (2 cups orange peel=2 cups sugar). Mix in a little (NOT much, like 1/4-1/2 cup) water and add the orange peel. Stir until it spins a thread.

Well, that's what the directions say. I don't know what that means, so I just stir until it seems things have been absorbed well.

Then, dump them out on a parchment/wax paper-lined cookie sheet to dry. Try to separate them out pretty well or else they will take days to dry like mine did. Ahem.

I also didn't use wax paper and, as you can see above, had to chip them off the cookie sheet. A little spray of water helped with this.
Some of them were destined for the chocolate dip. nyum.

Oh Muh Darlin' Clemintine!

I found this recipe for canning clementine oranges recently and as we LOVE them I decided to try to save some so we'd have some decent citrus options over the summer. I bought 15lb of clementines. I know, I know. 5lb was for eating, though, and I knew some would be a little funky, and they were. So, that's about 10lb for canning.
Since I have fingernails and Matt doesn't, I peeled while he took all the segments apart. It actually didn't take too long.

What took the longest was getting the water to boil. I waited on that FOREVER.
Very light syrup, 10min in a boiling water bath (eventually), and tada! Very little siphoning this time, and only one of the quarts didn't seal.
So, ten pounds of clementines got me 3 quarts and 6 pints. And a huge pile of peel....soon to be candied (stay tuned)...

Deerloaf

Our friend, Duane, has gotten (at least) 5 deer this hunting season. He always brings us some meat. Up until marrying Matt, I'd never had deer before. I find that I like it, but don't really know many ways to prepare it. Deer is drier than beef, so you need to take that into account when cooking it.

I recently found a fantastic recipe for a meatloaf using venison and I wanted to share. It is from America's Favorite Wild Game Recipes cookbook, which also happens to be on permanent loan to us from Duane. We've made it twice and love it.

Wayne's Special Venison Meatloaf

• 1/3 cup catsup
• 2 Tbsp barbecue sauce
• 2 Tbsp French dressing (I used fig balsamic dressing as that was all I had)
• 2lbs. lean ground venison or substitute
• 1 cup canned piccalilli or pickled mixed garden vegetables, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup coarsely crushed seasoned croutons (I used panko bread crumbs and added some thyme and garlic powder)
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 tsp seasoned salt
  

Heat oven to 350*. In a small mixing bowl, combine catsup, barbecue sauce, and dressing. Set aside. In large mixing bowl, combine 3 Tbsp catsup mixture and the meatloaf ingredients. Spray 9x5 inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.

Press meatloaf mixture into prepared dish. Spoon remaining catsup mixture evenly over meatloaf. Bake for 1 to 1.5 hours or until meat is firm and no longer pink. Let stand 10 minutes before slicing.

Holiday Tradition, in Chocolate

Three years ago, I watched Nigella Lawson make a Chocolate Cherry Trifle on Food Network. It looked incredible, and I don't really like cherries that much. I decided to make it. I'm not going to post the ingredients here, you can go to the link above and find them. I am going to talk about custard making, though.

I'd made several custard-style ice creams and after watching Nigella discovered that I was doing it wrong. You should never let a custard boil.

Below, I am mixing the *8* egg yolks, sugar, and cocoa:
I didn't know that you shouldn't ever let custard boil. Oops. It will separate and you will get scrambled egg yolk in with whatever you're making. While it won't kill you, it isn't pleasant either visually or texturally.

After you mix the yolks, sugar, and cocoa in a bowl, heat the milk and cream. I heated until it was steaming:
Whisk the warm milk into the yolk mixture. Pour a little in at first, whisking like a fool, and then whisk the rest in. At this point you also mix in the melted bittersweet chocolate:
Put everything back in the dutch oven and heat over medium, stirring constantly. Use a spoon - don't us a whisk, it will just keep it frothy on top and you won't be able to see the Evil Bubbles of Boiling.

Directions always tell you to cook the custard until it is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon. I have never found this helpful, doesn't it always coat the back of a spoon, just more thinly at times? Here the spoon is coated, but the custard just isn't thick enough:

She is right in her directions, too: you want this to be thick. Runny won't do. I think this time I finally found the right method for telling 'doneness.' When it is thick enough that when you push it to one side of the pan AND IT TENDS TO STAY THERE, it is done:
The recipe calls for two chocolate pound cakes, too. I used box mix with 1/3 cup of cocoa mixed into the dry mix. I know, I know, but it is easier. Also, it turns out I only needed one, so the other is currently in the freezer:
The mostly-finished product! Notice the liquid at the bottom of the bowls? Homemade cherry liquor. All it needs is freshly whipped cream *unsweetened* on top:
Even if you don't make the whole trifle, the custard part of this recipe is to die for. Really. And if I don't make this for Christmas every year my husband will kill me in my sleep, so be warned. If you make this dessert, you may be destined to make it forever.

Dinner Issues of Late

While we’re doing this garage project I’ve been struggling to get dinner on the table while still helping out outside. What’s been making it worse is that we have limited daylight now, and that will be even worse after this weekend. I like to cook, I like to cook well when I have time, and I like to use good ingredients.

It requires time, planning, etc, to do elaborate meals. We don’t have the time for planning right now, much less cooking. I have been trying to freeze leftovers so we have them in the future. I’ve also been trying to do more crockpot dinners. I have had good and bad luck with the crockpot, and I’m starting a list of meals we definitely liked and meals we definitely didn’t. I’m hoping to start crockpotting at least twice a week, while freezing the leftovers.

Here is a list of what we’ve been doing:

Beef Stroganoff: it uses stew meat, onion, mushrooms, both cream of mushroom and cream of celery soup, black pepper, a packet of onion soup mix, and sour cream (added right before serving). You serve it over noodles. We love this recipe, and it is easy, I just need to remember to have soup on hand. No browning of meat beforehand, no mixing ingredients in a separate bowl, and minimal chopping. Everything just goes in to the pot and gets stirred up.

Stuffed peppers: we did this last week and it was a success. Again, no pre-cooking of anything. Dump a can of whole tomatoes on the bottom of the pot, then place halved peppers on that. Mix onion, the rice from a box of Spanish rice, ground beef, some bread crumbs together and stuff the peppers. Then mix a can of tomato soup, some water, and the seasoning packet from the Spanish rice together and dump it over the peppers. Easy, tasty.

Moist Drumsticks: 3lb drumsticks with skin removed in the pot, then cover with a mix of tomato sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar, some garlic. Cook, then take sauce and heat it in a saucepan until boiling and add some cornstarch to thicken it up. Very very good.

I’m trying a new recipe today: Flank steak with pineapple bbq sauce. Sliced or shredded sweet potatoes on the bottom, then the flank steak in cubes. Then, mix up onion, pineapple with juice, bbq sauce, ground ginger, some water, chicken broth and dump it over the meat. We’ll see how it is. (*it was great!)

I have a few others but I can’t remember them right now. I also have a few that were terrible. I tried a recipe called Creamy Swiss Steak once, and I don't remember why but it was inedible. I don’t have good luck with chicken in the crockpot usually, too, they always turn out mealy and icky. I tend to stick with beef a lot.

My all-time favorite crockpot recipe is Apple Pie.

What is your favorite crockpot recipe?

Bourbon Pickled Peaches

Oh, yeah, you know you read that title and thought "Ooooohhhhh that sounds REALLY good." And they are...they are....read on....This recipe is much more than just peaches floating in bourbon. Oh, no, this is actually a glorified pickled peach recipe, and glory it is. The brine is truly a gorgeous color, and smells divine.
I don't think I have every done anything so messy or sticky as peeling, cutting, and then pitting peaches. What a mess. I was hoping to get them halved fairly easily while maintaining their form but, no, they were not cooperating so I went from pretty, unblemished whole peaches (above) to messy, dented ratty peach halves (below).

In the long run, though, it doesn't matter, because they will soften up and get poached in the brine anyway:
And the finished product, looking just gorgeous in these Ball Elite pint jars despite their ratty appearance earlier:

And the recipe, which comes from the files of the Melting_Pot, the sister Yahoo! group of the Home_Canning group, to which I belong. I highly recommend joining if only for the recipes.

Bourbon-Preserved Peaches

These sweet-tart fruits are a spiked cousin of Southern pickled peaches. They are traditionally served alongside roast meats, but their slightly sour note and thick syrup means they are heavenly with vanilla ice cream. The same preparation can be applied using apricots and brandy, and Amaretto also works nicely. If you abstain from alcohol, omit it and increase the vinegar to 2 cups.

6 lbs small, firm peaches
2 lbs (4 cups) sugar
1 1/2 cups cider vinegar
1 cup bourbon, divided use
4 cinnamon sticks
1 pinch cloves
1 tablespoon chopped crystallized ginger
4 wide-mouth quart canning jars

1. Before you begin, assess the size of your peaches to see how many you'll want to cut in half to fit snuggly into the jars. Set a very large pot of water to boil.
Sanitize the jars by immersing them and their lids in the boiling water for a minute, remove with tongs and set aside. Leave the water boiling, and prepare a bowl full of ice water.

2. Blanch the peaches. Submerge a few peaches in the boiling water, let boil for 1-2 minutes, then immediately transfer the peaches to the ice water. Let the peaches sit in the ice water for a minute, then remove and immediately peel the skin from the peaches and place in a clean bowl. Repeat until all the peaches are peeled. Working over the bowl to catch any juices, halve and pit as many peaches as necessary (I usually halve about half the peaches).

3. Drain the pot, rinse it, and return it to the stove. Combine sugar, vinegar, 1/2 cup of bourbon, 1 cinnamon stick broken in half, the cloves and ginger. Add any juice from the bowl of peaches. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Turn the heat down and let the syrup simmer for about 15-20 minutes, until the syrup is concentrated and slightly thickened (the syrup will be slightly golden, but it should not darken in color).

4. Add about one third of the peaches to syrup, raise the heat slightly, and poach for about six minutes, turning peaches to coat. (It will seem like you don't have enough syrup, don't worry). Transfer peaches to a jar, packing the whole peaches with the peach halves as closely as possible. Continue poaching the peaches and filling the jars in two more batches. (I usually end up with three full jars plus a half jar, depending on the size of the peaches). Turn the heat off the syrup, let cool slightly, and then stir in the remaining 1/2 cup bourbon. Carefully ladle the syrup into the jars, filling to within 1/2 inch of the rim. Insert a cinnamon stick into each jar. Run a knife or small spatula on the inside of the jars to release any air bubbles, wipe the rims of the jars clean. Place the lids on the jar and screw on caps so that they are finger-tight.

5. If you are canning the jars, prepare a large batch of boiling water again. Submerge the closed jars in the boiling water for 15 minutes. Remove with tongs or rubber mitts, set aside the jars to cool to room temperature. If you don't want to process the jars, the peaches will keep for four weeks in the refrigerator.

Rosemary Shortbread Cookies

I'm photo editing today, but in order to tide you over in your wait for pictures of CHICKENS and MELONS and PEANUTS and MONSTER RADISHES I am posting this nice, easy recipe for cookies. It is from one of the local papers and was originally published in The Herbal Epicure by Carole Ottesen.

These are incredibly easy and quick to make. I'm sure you could easily substitute thyme, lemon thyme, or just about any other of your favorite herbs in this recipe, but the rosemary is divine. I would let the rosemary sit in some of the softened butter for a half hour or so to let the rosemary oil mix with the butter oil a bit, it would bring out more flavor. Dough is very crumbly, I had to form them up with my fingers.

Rosemary Shortbreads

1/2 cup soft butter
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
1 cup unbleached flour
1 Tbsp rosemary, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 350*.

Cream together the butter and sugar, add flour and rosemary.

On cookie sheets, spoon small teaspoonfuls of dough, about 3 inches apart. Press with the bottom of a glass or a cookie press.

Bake for 10-12 minutes or until brown. Cool and store in air-tight container.

By Popular Demand - Mint Julep Liqueur

Mint Julep Liqueur
-from the book Cordials From Your Kitchen

1 cup fresh spearmint leaves, firmly packed
1 1/2 cup Kentucky bourbon
1 cup sugar
2 cups water

Coarsely chop mint leaves and place in a clean 1-quart container with a tight-fitting lid. Add bourbon. Let stand in a cool, dark place for 1 week.

Use a fine-mesh strainer to strain out leaves. Transfer liquid to a clean container (larger than 1-quart). Make a simple syrup by bringing sugar and water to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly to prevent scorching. When clear, remove from heat and let stand until just warm. Add to bourbon mixture. Cover and age for 1-3 months before serving.

To Serve:

Pour a bottle of Mint Julep Liqueur into a pitcher of crushed ice and let stand for 15-20 minutes to melt the ice. Pour into tall glasses garnished with fresh spearmint sprigs. This will be the smoothest mint julep you’ll ever taste.

Makin' Booze

One of my former coworkers, Danuta, got Matthew and I into making our own fruit cordials. We've kind of been working at it half-assed for a few years now, but I decided to make a few things this year that I know we will use:

The ratafia, above, is a really easy thing to make and now is a good time to start. Get a food-grade sealable jar, the larger the better, and just start layering various cut-up fruit in it, followed by a layer of sugar. Pour in some cheap vodka to cover (don't use Absolut for this). Then when you have some add more fruit, more sugar, and more vodka. Repeat. Repeat.

Once the jar is filled, let it sit for at least a month in a coolish, dryish, darkish spot, then filter it out through some cheese cloth or, if you have a lot of time, a coffee filter. Let the resulting liquid sit for at least another 2 months.

The above jar has (I think) blackberries, an apple, a peach, and a couple plums in it.

A few tips: don't go heavy on the citrus. A little goes a long way. Also, this is a great way to use up fruit that is just that side of being too ripe to eat or something that is getting a bit soft or otherwise funky. Not rotten, mind. Just funky. And you can reuse the fruit after you strain the liquid out, just add another cup of sugar, let it sit for a day, then add vodka again. Oh, and I would stay away from bananas.

I've been keeping my stuff behind the fire log set. I currently have the strained ratafia, another batch of ratafia soaking, two batches of blackberry brandy, and a batch of mint julep liquor (bourbon). Oh, and the sauerkraut.

Larnin' from Grandmother YouTube

This year has seen a number of firsts:

• first pressure canning (beans, and beets now, too!)
• first time planting several things (okra, sweet potatoes, leeks, and soon turnips and cabbage)
• first time making sauerkraut

how does one pressure can? I mean, you can read the manual, but I'm a watch-and-learn kinda gal. I would have gone to visit Matt's Grandmother Mary V, but that isn't an option anymore and I don't know anyone who cans. So, what did I do when I wanted to see it happening?

I visited Grandmother YouTube. Yes, YouTube is being used now for instruction on just about anything....including, it seems, pressure canning. See this 9-minute video on canning green beans from Wolfcrik, and also see the other canning videos this user has uploaded.

Ah, now, how do we make sauerkraut? Real, fermented sauerkraut? I didn't know, but I wanted to do it (see an upcoming post about my great great grandmother Amelia). Well, now, I sat down at the foot of Grandmother YouTube again and found three wonderful videos:

• This one, from Kitchen Gardeners International, is about 7 1/2 minutes long and does a really good job with details
• This one from a woman in Alaska also has a nice bit with a cute kid who will gladly eat the cabbage cores. It is about 7 minutes.
• And this one from a homesteader in Alaska shows the process via another method (I must get one of those knives for cutting veggies in the garden!)

There are a few other thing I want to try for the first time this year, such as making Greek yogurt and cheese. Grandmother YouTube came through yet again with this wonderfully quick 10-minute video on Greek yogurt. I haven't looked up cheese making (yet) but I'm sure there are some out there.

So many people watch silly videos on YouTube. (I do, too, have you seen the spoof of Total Eclipse of the Heart? Or Sham Wow?) But there are a lot of really good instructional videos on the system, too. Take a look, you may be surprised.

What has Grandmother YouTube taught you recently?

Mango Chutney and Drying Cherries

It looks like I've done something horrible to myself here, but actually I've just been pitting red cherries. My fingernails were stained for days.I don't particularly like Rachael Ray, but I did learn a great way to pit cherries from her show. If you have a percolator coffee pot, use the metal tube thingie from it. It gets the pit out perfectly every time. Do it over a tray, though, it is messy:I have about 4 cups of dried cherries now. I use them in a recipe for Bulgar wheat. Take a cup of water or chicken stock and a pat of butter and bring it all to a boil. Add 1/2 cup of dried bulgar wheat and turn it to a simmer. Let the wheat cook and absorb all the liquid. Put in a handful of dried fruit of your choice and serve. It is really fantastic.I also made the Mango Chutney recipe out of the Ball Jar book of home preserving. It turned out spicy but very good. I have 6 pints in the basement.

Alaskan Blueberry Coffee Cake

Several years ago, I stumbled across a very short, fat cookbook called The Magic Muffin Tin. If you like to bake, I highly recommend this book. There are 1000 pages, one recipe on each page, and it isn't just muffins. It also lists donuts, scones, popovers, biscuits, cobblers, etc, and lots of matching sauces and spreads.
This coffee cake recipe is one of my go-to recipes, because I usually have everything on hand and it is easy to do. I think it is much better served warm from the oven.

Alaskan Blueberry Coffee Cake (via The Magic Muffin Tin, 1998)

Topping:
1/3 Cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup chilled butter or margarine

Batter:
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt (I used about a half)
1 large egg
1/4 cup canola oil (I used grapeseed)
3/4 cup milk
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberried, divided

Preheat oven to 375* and put the rack in the center of the oven. Grease and flour a 9 x 9 baking pan (I used a slightly smaller pan and increased the cooking time until done).
To make the topping: in a small bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Cut in butter until the mixture resembles course crumbs. Set aside.

To make the batter, blend together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. In a medium bowl, beat the egg until foamy befor adding the oil and milk. Fold in 1 cup of blueberries (*I didn't add them here). Combine the two mixtures, blending until the dry ingredients are just moistened (*I added the blueberries here, instead).

Spread the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle on the topping mixture and top with the remaining 1/2 cup blueberries. Bake for 25-30 minutes (or until done in the middle if you use a smaller pan). Cool on wire rack for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Munich Bier Radishes

Today I want to talk about growing vegetables that you may not like. One of the most obvious things when planting an edible garden is growing varieties you like because, hey, you are supposed to be eating them, right? And why waste the space?

I grow one vegetable that I don't particularly like, and my hooband will not eat. Radishes. Don't like them, but I find them very useful in the garden. I plant radishes in the same row as carrots and leaf lettuce. Radishes are quick to germinate and grow, so they mark the rows and break up the soil for the slow-growing carrots. By the time the carrots need more room the radishes are ready to pull. Win-win. Also, my FIL loves radishes, so I just give them all to him.

This year, though, I discovered a variety of radish that I cannot grow with carrots (or parsnips, which can use the help too). It is called the Munich Bier radish (Muenchen Bier-radi) , and you cannot grow them with carrots. Why?

They get too big:

WAY too big. Here is a link to a post about someone else who grew one and it was 8 POUNDS.

That's a LOT of radish.

Now, here's the kicker. Cook's Garden recommends slicing them, slathering them with some butter, salting them and eating them with a nice, dark German beer. Apparently you can also dip them in sugar. They are quite the snack in Germany.

I LOVE these with the butter. Haven't tried the beer or the sugar (yet). I'm so tickled to find a radish I like. I just can't get over these things, and so far (knock on wood) they haven't shown any sign of getting woody. And I easily have enough that I can pull one a week through the end of August. And I can plant another whole patch the middle of July for Fall harvest!

So, it really pays to keep trying new varieties of things because you never know when you'll find something you like!

Shy Violet Jelly

I recently joined a Yahoo! Group that is all about canning and preserving food. One of the women was talking about making a beautiful jelly out of the wild violets in her yard and I was so intrigued that I looked up the recipe. It seemed simple, and I have a horde of violets in the yard right now, so I thought...why not?

The recipe calls for two cups of violet flowers and of COURSE I forgot to take a picture of what that looks like, but it was very pretty.



Then, you pour two cups of boiling water over the flowers and let them sit. This extracts the delicate flavor and the beautiful color from the flowers. Here is what that looked like: drowned flowers.


You let that sit all day (or all night), then strain the flowers out and keep the water. You should still have close to 2 cups. Make sure to press as much water as you can out of the flowers. It comes out the most beautiful blue color.


You need to add some acid to make it OK to can it in a hot water bath. Add 1/4 cup of lemon juice which, unfortunately, turns it this purple color. While pretty, I much preferred the blue.


Have ready a boiling water bath with your canning jars in it, sterilizing. I wound up using 3 half-pint jars and 3 4oz jars, and still had a little left over. Be sure to also sterilize the lids (you don't need to sterilize the rings).


Put the extract in a medium saucepan on high. Add four cups of sugar and bring it to a boil. Add one packet of liquid pectin and boil for one minute.


Take it off the heat and (working quickly) pull jars one at a time out of their bath and start filling. Take care not to touch the rims, and leave 1/2 inch of headroom.


Wipe rims and seal. Leave in a comfortable, non-drafty place for 24 hours to properly seal.


I think these are gorgeous. Taste-wise, they are very slightly floral with a very slightly grapey flavor. Very delicate, I have no idea what I might use them for. This was the first time I've used liquid pectin and I'm really happy, though it did start to gel very quickly.

So, what do you do with the.....beets?

This is the first year I grew beets, and I decided on the Golden Burpee yellow variety. I’d picked some up at the grocery store after I ordered the seeds and wound up not really being thrilled about the taste, which seemed watered down when compared to red beets. I was concerned that I’d purchased the wrong variety.

But!!!!! OHHH!!!!! These were wonderful. I will absoposilutely be ordering these seeds again. FANtastic. Really. Can’t rave about them enough.

And I got huge HUGE beets. I did pull some when they were about the size of a golf ball, but most of them I left in until they were easily 4” in diameter and they were not woody at all. The only argument I have is they took a lot longer than the time listed on the package, but then we had a lot of rain and very weird conditions in April and May, so I blame that.

I roast my beets. I scrub them and quarter them and put them in a roasting pan. I keep their skins on, you can’t tell there is even a skin. I drizzle them with olive oil and toss them, then salt and pepper them and roast them at 400 for the rest of my life. They seem to take forever to cook, so be sure to plan for at least 2 hours.

And they will shrivel, so be sure to plan for more than you think you’ll need for a meal. AND, the roasted beets are great cold on a tossed salad with goat cheese and a vinaigrette, so make extra.