Time to get out those Irish recipes

From Sally:

Time to get out those Irish recipes.

Blarney Boil comes to my mind = cabbage, potatoes, onions boiled up (add some sage, garlic, savory), then roll them around in a large frying pan with some savory (a wonderful herb - I've just started using it and love it!) and some butter - or bacon fat - or safflower oil. Add sea salt and pepper to taste, throw in a cup or so of chapped parsley, put on a dish, and surenbegorra yu'v go'a meal. The richer Irish will add a ration of corned beef.

Another good one which we had just an hour ago is similar. I love the little potatoes and thank you to all of you who left them for us!! I boil them till tender along with the beets. Everything turns pink. I cut the beets in half and in quarters and rounded off the edges. Then I melted some butter and added some olive oil in a large frying pan. I cut the onions in quarters and cut the last of the scapes (throwing out the hard-to-cut ends and cutting the rest into about 2" sections.) I put these in the butter&oil mix (I may have added a chopped up garlic) for about a minute then I threw in the potatoes and beets, rolled everything around a bit (3 min?) and turned the heat to low. I'd cleaned and chopped the beet greens; I'd boiled some water.

While the potatoes and beets were being rolled around, the greens were boiling. I drained them and added them to the potatoes & beets. Remembering that the Irish use a lot of parsley, I ran out to the herbs and pulled off a large handful which I cleaned, chopped and threw in also. I added sea salt and ground pepper. The colors are BEAUTIFUL all reds, pinks, greens and they taste delicious. We had that with a salad made from the Oak Leaf Lettuce and lots of other things like feta, endive, olives, capers, etc. Yummie Yummie. I hope you're enjoying the "fruits" of our labors as much as we are.

NOTE: Due to the soggy ground, we've been harvesting root veggies earlier than would be called for - otherwise they splits or rot. This means you are getting smaller sized produce, but usually it's quite a bit sweeter. Also for the onions YOU MUST REFRIGERATE as they have not been sun-cured (which makes the outside layers brown & crinkley). Again, they are harvested early & they are wonderfully sweet. Did you know Egyptians used to eat onions the way we eat apples - as a snack, raw and whole?

Things in My Cupboard

Things in My Cupboard

I keep a number of what-nots in our cupboards to alter the consistency and taste of the produce that we get on the farm. You might find them useful to throw into a stir-fry, a soup, a saute, salad or whatever:

• Nuts = walnuts, slivered almonds, pine nuts, peanuts, cashews
  
• Artichoke hearts
• Dried fruits = Raisins, cranberries, apricots, dates, goji berries, etc.
• Peanut butter
• Mandarin oranges
• Sesame curlies things
• Seeds = sesame, pumpkin, etc.
• Chinese noodles
• Beans = black, red, northern, peas, chick peas (garbanzo), etc.
• Boullion (for cooking)
• Dried soups (add a little to cooked greens for taste and thickening)
• Parmesan/Romano cheese
• Mozzarella balls

Go WILD and cook with some wild greens too - like dandelion, plantain, etc.

HAVE FUN!!!

Greens, Reds & Pasta Recipe

Today’s Recipe

BRING A LARGE POT OF WATER TO BOIL

Wash and chop:

Head of endive

Today’s share of Swiss chard

Today’s share of garlic scapes or garlic chives, chives, onion tops or the like

(any other green you care to throw in; i.e. beet tops)

1 to 2 cups of fresh parsley

8 to 10 leaves of fresh basil

¼ to ½ cup fresh oregano (Italian & Greek mixed)

CHOP:

2 to 3 heads garlic

Endive, Swiss chard, other greens, with Tbs (sea) salt; drain set aside

BOIL TO DESIRED TEXTURE in above water:

Whole wheat penne pasta

BRAISE (while the pasta is cooking) in large pan:

1 to 2 Tbs. safflower oil with chopped garlic + chives, onion tops etc. = ½ min.

ADD: in this order

Drained greens – until completely wilted

Add 1 top 2 Tbs olive oil and as needed

Herbs

3 whole fresh chopped tomatoes (I added cherry tomatoes I’d frozen from last year)

Finally, when it’s done = pasta (+ more olive oil if needed)

SERVE:

Main dish = As is, with Romano or Parmesan cheese (optional)

Accompaniment with chicken, fish, red meat, tofu

We GOT Honey!

rain rain go away

Oh No - It's going to rain again!

Jim relates this to me as we're off to the DQ (my favorite summertime hang-out) and I recall that I need to blog about the rain. Most people say to us "Isn't this rain doing wonderful things for the plants?" And we say "NONONO - Not for the food-produce! But weeds love it!" Weeds have found ways to adapt to drought, flooding, pulling, mowing, agent orange (Roundup) and the like over the thousands of years they've had to develop. That's why they can exist as undesirable foliage located in a place (pretty much anywhere) where something else is supposed to grow. Yes, weeds love it as the rain is choking out the roots of the produce and leaving all the soil (or mud) for the weeds. Perhaps we should have planted kelp. Or, my advice, learn to eat weeds. Dandelion is great for the liver and it makes pretty good wine.

real Mediterranean diet!!!

This is from a wonderful Drexel Professor who is from Crete.  I want to sell the farm and move there....someday.

http://www.cookingincrete.com/

Greens recipes

If you would like some recipes for all the wonderful greens from the farm, please see this earlier post for a spring greens tart, pesto and more:

http://imbymistyhollow.blogspot.com/2009/04/early-season-recipes.html



Also, here is a new one I found that is really yummy. If you have other recipes for what's in season that you'd like to share, click on the link immediately below that says "[number] Comments", then enter your recipe in the comments field that comes up.



From Vegetarian Times:

ASIAN GREENS

Serves 4
6-oz. bag Asian greens mix or 6 cups washed mixed greens such as mizuma, tat soi, red mustard or other dark and spicy greens
1/4 cup orange juice
1 Tbs. tamari
1 Tbs. rice vinegar
1 Tbs. honey
2 tsp. sesame oil
2 Tbs. toasted sesame seeds



Directions
Place washed greens in large bowl or on individual plates.
Combine all liquid ingredients; whisk to blend. Pour dressing over salad just before serving; sprinkle with sesame seeds. Note: This dressing also tastes great on any other greens, raw or cooked. Mizuma, a feathery, crisp green, hails from Japan.