Sunday is garden feast day

I know Sunday is supposed to be a day of rest but it’s especially hard for me to do that during gardening season. I don’t feel a big Sunday obligation to weed and harvest (that was yesterday; more about that in tomorrow’s post) but I so love to cook that it’s hard for me to stay out of the kitchen, especially when my husband presents me with freshly dug carrots, a beautiful head of cabbage and apples to go with the tomatoes I picked the day before.

I began the day with the apples. I wanted to make chutney to can but still had a few apples left. Those I turned into applesauce, one of the easiest things you can make. Simply chop the apples, almost cover them with water, bring to a boil then turn down to simmer until they are soft. Keep an eye on them in case you need to add more water. When they are soft, I mash them then season with sugar and cinnamon. This simple method yields a chunky applesauce that you know is homemade and if you begin with flavorful apples, it will be much more satisfying than jarred apples sauce from the store. If you prefer it to be smoother, put it into your blender or food processor to finish.

With apple chutney and applesauce complete, I turned to the chicken I purchased from Marksbury Farm Market. Jim and I both took a gardening break on Saturday to watch Lidia’s Italy on public television and saw an easy and appealing preparation for Chicken Catanzaro-Style. I went to work on the stuffing while Jim removed the necessary bones. I do want to point out that when we watched her prepare it, Lidia appeared to use more herbs than the recipe called for. In addition, she used wine for cooking liquid after she had browned the chicken on both sides.

Another of our favorite Saturday cooking shows is America’s Test Kitchen. I had a recipe from them for Roasted Smashed Potatoes so I started on them while Jim made cabbage wedges wrapped in bacon. Next, I began the Maple Roasted Carrots (recipe below). While those three items roasted in the oven and the chicken continued to cook on the stove, I prepared bread, tomatoes and cheese for Baked Caprese Salad.

I love arranging the food on a platter when I have so many pieces to play with! I saved the beautifully green carrot tops for a vegetable bed. (They taste like carrots so make a nice addition to a meal.) With everything on the table I decided I should also put out the Concord grapes I bought at the farmer’s market to round out our meal.

When Jim walked in and saw all the food, he wanted to know who else was coming to dinner. Although I love to have friends and family here, this week it was just the two of us enjoying the Sunday garden feast—an apt reward for the sweat we put into growing most of the food on the table.

Maple Roasted Carrots
(With apologies for my vague instructions—it’s how I often cook!)

Fresh carrots
Olive oil
Maple syrup
Salt

Chop off carrot tops. Remove skin. Cut into whatever shape and size you prefer. I made our carrots into sticks about ¾” wide.

Put into pan with nearly ½” water (don’t cover them completely). Cover pan with foil and roast 15 minutes at 450 degrees. Check carrots for doneness. When they are nearly as soft as you want them, drain any remaining water, drizzle with olive oil and maple syrup. Toss. The carrots should be coated but not swimming in the oil and syrup. Sprinkle with salt. Return to oven 10 – 15 minutes until you can easily pierce them with a fork. Serve on a bed of carrot tops.

A dearth of fruit

This is the season when I begin to long for fresh fruit. That crisp apple, that juicy peach, those firm, sweet strawberries that I can pluck directly from the vine—where are they? At present the apples are dried and in a container in my cabinet, the strawberries are in a bag in the freezer and the peaches are nowhere since we didn’t can any this year.

Finding local fruit all year round only seems to be possible through serious and varied preservation, then it still isn’t enough to satisfy my desires. I love fresh oranges and I just don’t know that it’s possible to grow them anywhere in Kentucky. The same goes for avocados. I have considered trying a lemon tree that I could bring inside during the winter.

Rather than lamenting what I don’t have, however, let me consider what I do have in terms of fruit. Perhaps considering it now in the low, fresh food season will be good motivation for this year’s planting and preservation planning.

In my kitchen, I do have:
Dried apples
Apple and pear chutney
Frozen apple pie filling
Frozen strawberries, blueberries and blackberries
Berry jam

Most of these fruits I’ll eat with breakfast. The dried applies are great in any hot cereal as well as in muffins and coffee cakes. Although I understand chutney is good with meat, my favorite way to eat it is with cream cheese between two pieces of homemade bread on a sandwich I’ve made with my panini press. The frozen berries I warm in the microwave and use in plain yogurt with nuts, to top waffles or to use in a smoothie. The jam isn’t just good for toast; it’s a find topping for a crostata or ingredient in other desserts.

All of those options are good, but I would like to have more choices next winter. It’s time to look at those seed and nursery catalogs and see what I can plan.

Creating breakfast paninis

First thing this morning I was in the kitchen chopping onions and peppers to put into a frittata. I promised to cook breakfast paninis on Saturday at the Farmer’s Market before the Farm and Garden Tour so I thought I should try out my ideas. I experimented with an apple chutney and cream cheese panini a few weeks ago. (I love the recipe for pear or apple chutney in Simply in Season published by the Mennnonite Central Committee.) That’s a definite must as it’s a wonderful and healthy sweet treat for the person who likes sugar to start the day.

I need a savory version, also. Since I have to make a number of sandwiches, I decided cooking frittatas in advance would be the best approach.

Frittatas are simply oven omelets. You sauté the vegetables on top of the stove in an oven-proof skillet, mix the eggs with some milk, salt and pepper, then pour them into the skillet. You can also add cheese or meat if you like. When the eggs are done on the bottom but still a little runny on top, put the skillet in the oven under the broiler to finish cooking.

I tried it this morning making two versions—one sandwich I dressed with pesto and sun-dried tomatoes to go with the eggs. On the other, I put Dijon mustard and a sliced tomato. Voila, breakfast in a sandwich that I hope surpasses anything you might get at a drive through.

The Farm and Garden Tour begins at 8:30 a.m. at the Garrard County Farmers’ Market, 302 Stanford St. Participants will receive a goodie bag with samples of local products, a breakfast sandwich made with local produce and a guide to the farms and gardens that will be open for visitors. For more information, contact Maria Turner at 859-792-8923 or mria_r_turner@yahoo.com.

Reminders for the change of season

It’s seasonal acupuncture treatment time which means I got a “tune up” yesterday to deal with fall allergies along with a pep talk about diet from Doug McLaren, the acupuncturist. Although I eat a healthy diet I can always use a reminder from a professional about what I should and shouldn’t be putting into my body.

Today’s topic: caffeine and sugar. I’m not a huge consumer of caffeine. I like a cup of black or green tea when the mornings are chilly, as they’ve been recently. Sometimes I go for a second, or a glass of iced tea, in the afternoon for a little boost. Doug reminded me that caffeine can have a negative influence on the body. Allergies go along with inflammation. Caffeine, because it stresses the body, can exacerbate that inflammation.

Then there’s sugar. I learned a number of years ago that refined sugar can suppress the immune system, which also isn’t good if you’re fighting inflammation. Of course, knowing that and acting on it are not the same thing! I don’t have chocolate growing in my garden (if only!) but my chat with Doug reminded me that I do have butternut squash, which is wonderfully sweet, and it’s time to get to the orchard for some good apples.

The other reminder I heard today—it’s time to begin to slow down. Summer is a time of long, light-filled days and lots of energy. When fall begins to re-introduce itself, that’s a signal that we should be shifting our energies along with the season. All I need to do is look at my garden to see a reminder of that. Not much is growing anymore—tomatoes, peppers and greens. There are a few scraggly potato plants and the raspberries will continue until frost if we get some rain. That means I don’t have to spend as much time harvesting or preserving. What will I do instead? I think I’ll cut some herbs from the garden, make them into a nice cup of caffeine-free tea and, if I must have a sweet treat, I’ll try to make an apple my first choice.

Visit your local orchard!

One of my biggest challenges in trying to eat primarily local food is locating fruit. Some fruits do grow here in Kentucky; we have plenty of raspberries right here on our property. I also love pears, apples, peaches, blueberries, strawberries and some fruits, like kiwi, oranges and bananas, that I certainly won’t find locally grown.

When a fruit is in season, I enjoy it to the fullest. Fall, of course, is apple season. So yesterday we drove to Boyd’s Orchard in Versailles and bought nearly 30 pounds of apples. Why so many? Because we love apple pie. When the apples are local and freshly picked, it’s the ideal time to make apple pie filling and freeze it. That turns apple pie baking into a welcome, aromatic activity on even the dreariest of winter days.

My friend Joni gave me this recipe several years ago. The most time consuming part of it, as I was reminded yesterday, is peeling and slicing the apples. However, it’s worth the effort and if you have the right crust to go with it, your pie will get a top rating.

Freezer Apple Pie Filling
6 pounds apples
1 ½ cups to 2 cups sugar
¼ cup flour
1 ½ tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. nutmeg
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
Rinse apples.
Peel and slice into a big pot with lemon juice.
Stir in other ingredients. Let stand 30 minutes until juicy.
Cook over medium heat until it thickens.
Cool 1 – 2 hours. Put 6 cups in each container (freezer bags work well) for one pie.