Garden Bounty - Brussel Sprout leaves, pesto, and berries

The garden is in full swing: the zucchini and cucumbers are flowering, the green beans and arugula are carrying on, the blueberries and black raspberries are winding down, and I just ate the last snap peas. Everything else is just getting a LOT bigger and greener. Due to the growth and increasing plant size, I am thinning out a bunch of greens and plants to give more space. This is sometimes hard for me because I seem to get a little hoard-like and want all of the plants to stay and keep growing, but I am learning that more space = bigger and happier plants.

So, thinning it is: kale and beet plants, but had not thought about eating the brussel sprout plants. My Charming Companion sent me this post about the tastiness of brussel sprout leaves though, and we made a big pile of them last weekend. They are a little like super tender collards - you only need to saute them for a minute or two and they are delicious. Here they are all piled up ready to slice.

They got cooked outside on the outdoor rocket stove for a leisurely outdoor breakfast and tea. Here is My Charming Companion adding the tiny kindling sticks to heat the tea.

The sprout leaves were really nice sauteed in a little olive oil with some salt. Super simple.

A couple of other weekend meal highlights included unearthing some frozen pesto from 2011 (time to eat that up before we process more for the freezer!) and putting it on steamed green beans. Omg. I could have eaten this all weekend and still wanted more. Pesto! It's so good. I think this was even a vegan version with no cheese in there. Just steam the green beans until tender (3-5 minutes), remove from heat and stir in the pesto. These were a new pole bean variety that were super long and thin and tasty.

The nasturtiums are also looking really pretty, and I throw them in all my salads. This one included an early cucumber, the last snap peas, tons of fresh basil and parsley (think equal part fresh herbs to arugula), and a mini carrot that was all red on the outside and orange in the middle. You can't see it, but it matched the nasturtiums! This salad got a dressing with some of the aforementioned pesto (mixed with olive oil and a little vinegar) because I really just wanted to keep eating pesto. It turns out the pesto makes a great dressing, and I especially recommend it with lots of fresh basil in the salad too.

Another "omg I am going to die this is so delicious" menu item from the garden was berries with toasted coconut and toasted almonds. Sometimes I take shortcuts and don't toast coconut flakes. No more. Just stick the flakes under the broiler for about 2 minutes (keep an eye on them because it goes really fast) and watch them turn a nice toasty brown and taste how the flavor sky rockets. With the almonds and fresh berries, covered with coconut milk and a little vanilla, this was amazing. Like cereal, like dessert, like a bowl of goodness.

Pork Shanks with Sauerkraut

Well, I still have 5 quarts of sauerkraut to eat before making this year's batch. After this recipe, I am down to 4 - and this was a really tasty way to use some up. I have never cooked pork shanks before, and had a couple of packages from the 1/2 pig purchase this winter. The kraut and shanks paired perfectly for a German style crock pot meal.

I found a recipe from an internet search, and modified it a bit to be in line with my dietary needs and to go in a crock pot. It turned out delicious! Not at all sweet tasting, and super tender.

Pork Shank with Sauerkraut
3-4 lbs pork shanks
salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
4 slices bacon, diced
1 large onion, peeled and sliced
1 quart sauerkraut
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1 bay leaf
1 T stone ground mustard
4 oz apple cider

Season shanks with salt and pepper, set aside. In large Dutch oven or pot sauté bacon to render fat, stir in onion and cook and stir until onion is tender but not brown; push to one side of pan. Add shanks and brown on all sides, about 15 minutes, turning occasionally. Meanwhile, in large bowl stir together drained sauerkraut and remaining ingredients. Remove shanks, place sauerkraut mixture on bottom of pan, return shanks on top of kraut, drizzle beer over all. Cover and place in 350 degrees F. oven for 2-2 1/2 hours, until shanks are very tender. - See more at: http://www.porkbeinspired.com/RecipeDetail/1760/Fresh_Pork_Shank_German-Style.aspx#sthash.TN6t51ug.dpuf

1. In a large dutch oven or heavy pot, saute bacon on medium heat to render the fat, add onions and continue to saute until onions become translucent but not brown. While the bacon cooks, season pork shanks with a good amount of pepper and just a bit of salt (go light because the kraut will provide the salt to the final dish).

2. Move onions and bacon to crock pot, making sure the bottom of the pot still has some fat to brown the pork shanks. Place pork shanks in pot from onions/bacon and brown on all sides - I became a bit impatient and just browned on 2 sides and it seemed fine. I'm perpetually questioning the merits of browning meat when making stew or crock pot dishes - I just can't tell if it makes a big difference. Anyway, brown as you will. While that is happening put kraut plus any juices, and spices and mustard in the crock pot with the onions and bacon.
3. When shanks are browned to your liking, set them atop the kraut pile. There will be little bits of meat and such on the bottom of your dutch oven/pot, so pour in your cider to deglaze. Stir it around a bit to loosen all the good bits, and then pour it all over the meat in the crock pot.  Set your crock pot to cook for 6-8 hours and go about your day. Return to delicious German style kraut and pork.

Pull the pork off the bones (or just nibble them off as you go) and scoop it all in a bowl together: pork, bacon-y onions, and kraut. Serve with a sliced cucumber salad (you know the kind, with mayo and onions and dill).

2 pork shanks, fresh, about 3-4 pounds total
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
4 slices bacon, diced
1 large onion, peeled and sliced
1 32-oz package sauerkraut, refrigerated, rinsed and drained well
1/2 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1 bay leaf
2 teaspoons Dijon-style mustard
2 tablespoons brown sugar
4 ounces beer , room temperature - See more at: http://www.porkbeinspired.com/RecipeDetail/1760/Fresh_Pork_Shank_German-Style.aspx#sthash.TN6t51ug.dpuf

2 pork shanks, fresh, about 3-4 pounds total
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
4 slices bacon, diced
1 large onion, peeled and sliced
1 32-oz package sauerkraut, refrigerated, rinsed and drained well
1/2 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1 bay leaf
2 teaspoons Dijon-style mustard
2 tablespoons brown sugar
4 ounces beer , room temperature - See more at: http://www.porkbeinspired.com/RecipeDetail/1760/Fresh_Pork_Shank_German-Style.aspx#sthash.TN6t51ug.dpuf

2 pork shanks, fresh, about 3-4 pounds total
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
4 slices bacon, diced
1 large onion, peeled and sliced
1 32-oz package sauerkraut, refrigerated, rinsed and drained well
1/2 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1 bay leaf
2 teaspoons Dijon-style mustard
2 tablespoons brown sugar
4 ounces beer , room temperature - See more at: http://www.porkbeinspired.com/RecipeDetail/1760/Fresh_Pork_Shank_German-Style.aspx#sthash.TN6t51ug.dpuf

2 pork shanks, fresh, about 3-4 pounds total
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
4 slices bacon, diced
1 large onion, peeled and sliced
1 32-oz package sauerkraut, refrigerated, rinsed and drained well
1/2 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1 bay leaf
2 teaspoons Dijon-style mustard
2 tablespoons brown sugar
4 ounces beer , room temperature - See more at: http://www.porkbeinspired.com/RecipeDetail/1760/Fresh_Pork_Shank_German-Style.aspx#sthash.TN6t51ug.dpuf

Frozen coconut macadamia bars

I came across this recipe somehow or other - it is a "Mark's Daily Apple" post. I was intrigued because I wanted to find something to eat that is sort of like eating dark chocolate, but without the sugar. This definitely gives the same crunch, and it is really filling. I found that when I made it, I expected it to be sweeter - maybe more hopeful thinking on my part since the only "sweet" ingredients are coconut oil and coconut flakes. (It occurs to me now I could try putting chocolate powder and stevia in the mix too....hmmm.)

The final bars turned out nice, even without any sweet flavor. The chia seeds give a nice crunch, and they are cool and nice in the heat. It seems like a great snack or way to get some extra fat in, which fills me up since sometimes I could eat A LOT of veggies and meat before getting full. It's actually a little like eating a chilled bar of coconut manna. I did do some smearing of honey over the finished bar and it was super delicious, but you know, no longer without sugar! ha.

One thing is that these bars pretty much need to be eaten directly out of the freezer or they will start to melt. You could bring them on a cold weather camping trip I think, but coconut oil has a melting point of 74 degrees, so these bars need to be somewhere below that to ensure a solid bar. I found myself wishing I could bring them for part of my work lunch, but alas.

1 cup unsweetened flaked coconut (60 g)
1 1/2 cups raw, unsalted macadamia nuts (150 to 160 g)
3/4 cup melted coconut oil (180 ml)
1 tablespoon chia seeds (15 ml)
Pinch of sea salt (I used maldon flakes and it was so good!)

Preheat oven to 350 ºF.
Put the coconut flakes in a pan and toast in the oven until lightly browned, about five minutes.
Line an 8×8 pan with parchment paper. (I had a 9" circular glass pie plate that I used and did not line with parchment - it worked out just fine.)
Process the macadamia nuts and coconut oil in a food processor until very smooth. Add the coconut flakes and chia seeds and pulse a few times.
Pour the batter into the 8×8 pan. Sprinkle a pinch of sea salt on top.
Cut into bars and store in the freezer - or if you are like me, just keep that glass pie plate in there and carve out a piece now and again!

Doro Wat and Garden Berries!

It's finally cooling off! The heat of the past week enforced some strict relaxation time for me - I spent many hours laying around in front of a fan, reading. The reading has included some YA sci-fi, but also a non-fiction book called The Man who Quit Money that is really sticking with me. I've been thinking about it ever since I finished, and am feeling affected by the person's story and thoughtful choices to live not just outside a cash economy, but really in total separation from it because he doesn't barter or trade. He's been living this way for over 13 years, and it sounds like somewhat of a spiritual practice for him.

So, while pondering a gift economy, I got to enjoy some bounty from the garden: the rest of the snap peas, the first zucchini and cucumber, and also blueberries and black raspberries! The berries usually don't ripen at the same time, but because of the late and weird weather this summer/spring, they somehow have and so I get to enjoy them together, which is quite delicious. I mostly am eating them with some coconut milk or cream on top, but made some pancakes this morning as a conduit for the berries. The leftover pancakes functioned as crepes to hold more berries for lunch. Yum!


I also tried a recipe from Nom Nom Paleo for Doro Wat, an Ethiopian dish that is primarily chicken, berbere spice, onions, chicken broth, and hardboiled eggs, plus some lime juice and ginger in there. It was really delicious and pretty easy - all on the stove top so did not heat the house up too much. I don't use berbere spice very much, but I bought a really nice blend (that was not as spicy as regular berbere) in Iowa City a couple of years ago. The flavor is really different from the other foods I've been eating lately, so it was a nice change. The Doro Wat reheated nicely for lunch, and was a good dish to eat where I had air conditioning!

This is my extremely un-photogenic version of the dish!

Snap Peas!

Well, the time of peas will soon be over, but I have enjoyed them SO much! My favorite has been the pea puree, and last weekend I had a chilled pea soup that was amazing. I will try making it sometime, but it included English peas, mint, lavender, and vegetable broth. Omg - it was like a smoothie in a bowl, but savory too. Yum. The snap peas have also been delicious - I've been tossing them in salads and eating them straight from the garden. I tried this slaw recipe from Bon Appetit for Snap Pea and Cabbage Slaw this week, and it turned out nice - crisp and sweet.

Snap Pea and Cabbage Slaw

My favorite way to enjoy snap peas though, at least of late, is to eat them for breakfast with eggs. The light saute of the peas brings out extra flavor, and with some soft scrambled eggs it tastes like sweet and savory summer (whatever summer tastes like, I am calling it peas).

Northside Homestead Dakota Fire Pit!

My Charming Companion has been experimenting with some outdoor cooking set-ups to better bridge living in the bwca to living in the city. This one was an underground system called a Dakota Fire Pit - though since he has built a rocket stove that I think is the better design. It is higher up so it's easier to use, and is super efficient because it gets so hot in the brick tower that even the smoke burns, so you use barely any fuel. Fuel in this case was sticks that blew down in the yard, and some kindling that had been in the shed for about 10 years.

Dakota Fire Pit design

Snap Pea Scramble
Bunch of snap peas, strings removed
Onions
Eggs
Ghee

I used the white onion part from the garden green onions. The green part is too tough now, but the white part is really nice. Chop onions small and saute in ghee for a few minutes on medium heat. As they start to brown, add chopped snap peas and saute another 2 minutes. Add eggs (I like to scramble mine right in the pan) and turn heat down just a hair. Cook just until eggs are done, stirring to push the cooked egg to the side.

I have been eating these eggs all week - here I had them with lamb's quarters, but they are also great with sauteed green beans (they are just coming into full bounty).

Rhubarb Lemonade (sugar-free)

I had meant to post this recipe much earlier in the summer during rhubarb season.  But, as usual, the summer has been flying by and I am just getting to it.  My rhubarb plant, as you can see, was huge this year.  So, I had been on the hunt for a recipe to use all of this wonderful rhubarb, one without sugar.  I stumbled upon a post that mentioned rhubarb lemonade and it sounded like a great idea.  This is the concoction I came up with, which is basically rhubarb and lemon juice.

I love picking things from the garden and immediately using them in a recipe.  It is the joy of my summer.  Here is a bunch of rhubarb I pulled just last week.  I figured that since we got such a late start with the growing season this year it would still be good, even on July 10th.

Rhubarb Puree Ingredients:

4-6 cups Rhubarb- chopped

juice from 3-4 lemons

1/4-1/2 cup water

In a large pot combine rhubarb and water.  Cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally, until it softens.  Add the lemon juice and cook for a few more minutes.  Let it cool before pureeing with a hand blender.  Put in jars to cool in the fridge over night or longer.  Now you have a wonderful rhubarb puree.  I use the puree to make a cool ice drink in the Vitamix, or high powered blender.  Combine a few spoonfuls of the puree with ice, a little water and about 6 drops of Stevia.  Process until smooth.  I like to serve this with fresh strawberries to add an extra sweetness.

Enjoy a cool summer treat!

Best Meat Rub Ever

My Charming Companion was given a hand-me-down smoker sometime recently, and last weekend was its inaugural adventure. The plan was to smoke two deer necks and some pork ribs to have copious quantities of meat to eat, freeze and share. The smoker was a big success - it's like a giant slow cooker that is outside and that imparts delicious smoky flavor not in the form of liquid smoke.  We tried two different rubs, and one of them was the clear winner: lots of paprika! The other rub was a cumin, oregano, chili powder blend that was just not as delicious. The paprika one went on one of the roasts and the ribs, much to my delight because it was so tasty.

Pre-smoked venison - this rub recipe is up front

Pork or Beef Rub
4 T sea salt
4 T paprika
2 T pepper
2 T garlic
2 tsp onion powder
2 tsp ground celery seed (I used celery salt and reduced the salt)
1 tsp oregano
2 tsp ground chipotle pepper

Mix spices together thoroughly. It will make almost a cup's worth of rub, which will cover a lot of meat - you can save any extra in a jar with your other spices. You want the meat to be quite dry, so either press it with a towel, or let it sit out in the fridge uncovered for several hours to dry a bit. Sprinkle/press the rub all over the meat (no need to actually rub). Beef brisket, neck, or pork roast or ribs would all be great. *Be more sparing on ribs so that they aren't over salty.

I have never made ribs before, and there was something so delectable about eating them at home, fresh out of the smoker with some sugar free bbq sauce and homemade slaw. Who needs to go out to eat? The ribs we used were ones from the half hog Pastures a Plenty purchase - these were the one set of full ribs in the whole package. But now I want to get more because they are so incredibly delicious! All we had to do was sprinkle them with the rub, stick them in the smoker for 6 hours, and than eat them. You could do the same in an oven, slow cooking the ribs at a low temp.

Pea Puree

I went to the Midtown Farmer's Market last weekend and bought a lot of English peas. Somehow I've managed to get to now without ever having eaten English peas out of their pod before, and it was really delightful to sit at the market and eat pea after pea right from the shell, a pile of shells and strings collecting at my feet. It's maybe the only vegetable I've eaten more of in a frozen variety than fresh - and oh! How I've been missing out!

I called my mom and told her about my pea eating, and she was aghast. It turns out shelling peas at her grandparents farm is one of her sweetest memories - she would get to go stay with them for a week or two in the summer, all by herself, or maybe with just one other sister. In the late afternoons my great grandmother would hand out big mounds of pea pods to shell outside. My mom remembers using her thumb to scrape all the peas out, and then eating them each night for dinner.

I too shelled my peas in the late afternoon, sitting in the shade of a big oak tree looking out over the garden. I love shelling peas! You can't really rush, so you just get to sit there, shelling away. I also was a bit ridiculously excited to use the peas to make pea puree. The pea puree made quite the scene in a top chef episode a season or two ago, and I've sort of wondered about pea puree ever since. And wonder no more! It is as delicious and satisfying as I could have imagined - sweet and creamy and fresh. And shockingly simple so long as you have shelled peas. I ate mine alongside a lovely venison steak with the first green beans from the garden.

Pea Puree (from Tender, an aptly named cookbook stemming from the author's "vegetable patch")
3 cups shelled English peas
4 sprigs fresh mint
4 T butter or ghee, melted
pinch sea salt

Cook peas in lightly salted boiling water until tender. This took about 5-8 minutes for mine - I kept tasting because I didn't want them to get overly done. Immediately put peas, mint, melted butter and salt in food processor and process until smooth. It will be a bright green, creamy texture that is quite thick. Serve right away, or keep warm in covered bowl over boiling water. (I also ate some cold the next day, and that was delicious too!)

Deviled Eggs

This weather is so beautiful! I am loving the 80 degree days and 60 degree nights - I am finding it the perfect temp to manage coolness inside and also be outside whenever possible.

I did lots of gardening at the Northside homestead on Saturday. The pepper plants and the cucumbers seem to be struggling - I think it was just too cold for too long after they went in. So I tried an experiment of fertilizing with urine?! Apparently there is quite a compelling read on the subject, called "Liquid Gold" (isn't that an amazing title?) I have not read it yet (Hennepin county library does not own it), but did do some research and learned that you can use your fresh (as in less than 24 hours old) urine to help your plants: use 1 part urine to 10 parts water. Free and plentiful! So I gave it a try on the peppers and the cucumbers, and will do another dose later this week. We'll see if it helps - the little plants seem to be a bit stunted, so it might already be too late. (You can also pour urine directly on weeds as a weed killer, and it works great as a compost starter. So many uses?!)

I have grand plans to do some weeding and transplanting of brussel sprouts and kale this weekend - we'll see if it comes to fruition. I am continuing to enjoy lots of salads, and also made a really delicious batch of deviled eggs on Saturday. I love deviled eggs in just about any fashion, but I think they are amazing with homemade mayo and smoked paprika (the smoked part is really key to the surprising flavor). You can get smoked paprika in the bulk section at the co-ops.

For the hard-boiled eggs:
Fill a pan with cold water and your eggs. Make sure eggs are covered by about an inch of water. Heat on stove on high heat until boiling. Once it hits a rolling boil, cover the pot, turn off heat, and let sit for 10 minutes. Use a timer for best results! After 10 minutes, remove eggs to a cold water bath (I just get some kind of large bowl or vessel ready with cold water in it, you can put ice cubes in if you want to get real fancy) to cool. You can refrigerate them, or move on with the deviled eggs as soon as they are cool enough to handle.

Deviled Eggs: Peel eggs, than carefully cut them in half, removing egg yolks to a small bowl. I have not measured precise amounts, but add a good amount of mayo, a little bit of mustard, some salt (smoky salt would be great), and a splash of vinegar (white wine or champagne vinegar works nicely) to the yolks. Mix together and than spoon back in the egg white halves and sprinkle smoked paprika on top. Garlic chives are growing like crazy in the garden, so if you have some of those, throw them on top. So good!

If you are not bringing these babies to a potluck, serve with a nice garden salad - mine included a few nasturtiums, some radishes, and some shredded beets (not from the garden) on a bed of lettuce and arugula. So pretty.