Thyme for winter

With the herbs nearly all  harvested now its time to make sure our winter medicine cabinet has all it needs. Thyme honey is one of the important parts of our medicine cabinet. It is used for colds, influenza and sore throats. Thyme has strong antiseptic properties including activity against viruses, insects, bacteria and fungus. Traditionally, thyme was used to treat bronchitis but I I find it to be useful in our house for treating winter illnesses such as colds such as the one I am fighting  now. 

One nice way to use thyme is as honey and its very easy to make. You can still pick thyme now, it should withstand a mild frost just fine. Cut stems short and put them in a glass mason jar. Cover the thyme with wildflower honey. Put the jar in a pan of water to slightly heat the honey while pushing the thyme down and adding more thyme. Once the honey is fluid, put the lid on the jar and store the honey with the thyme still in it until needed. You can use this honey to add to tea or use it straight for a sore throat.  Til next thyme!

 

Leeky Onion Soup

                


We're seeing some chillier nights here lately, so I decided to make a pot of my Leeky onion soup. It's a pretty simple concoction, but oh so yummy. Use whatever veggies you have on hand.. the more that's added, the better the pot.
What I like about leeks is that there is very little waste and they are just so tasty from tip to tail. For this soup I use almost the whole leek and save the darker tips to add to another dish.






 
   Leeky Onion Soup

 6-8 mid size leeks, cleaned thoroughly & chopped
2 large onions, sliced
2 shallots, diced fine
3 garlic cloves, smashed
1 zucchini, cubed
1/2 bunch Italian kale, chopped
3 carrots, cleand & cut
4 scallions, diced
1 summer squash, cubed
7-8 potatoes, peeled & cubed ( I used red & white New potatoes and Yukons)
1/4 stick unsalted butter
2 cans low salt chicken or vegetable stock
low fat milk or light cream
sea salt &  ground pepper to taste

Saute cut leeks, onions, shallots, & garlic in butter about 5-6 minutes. Rinse and cut up all your vegetables. Add to the pot with 2 cans chicken stock. Cover, and bring to a low boil and cook until vegetables are just tender. Remove cover and cool for 10 minutes. Pour vegetable mixture into Cuisinart or blender & give it a whirl until just smooth. Return it to your pot & add low fat milk (not much) or if you must.. light cream! Season to taste. Serve with Syrian bread triangles, or nice crusty bread, Serve warm or cold. Enjoy!

Garden tidbits

 Mid October and only a light frost here so far.  Everyone is saying it's been their best garden season in a long time.  Dry, hot summer days with lots of watering this year.  We were rewarded with a glorious harvest.  Today after I finished cleaning out the seasonal beds, I picked the last of my hot peppers for some hot pepper jelly, along with a basket of beets to be pickled, some leeks for a yummy leeky onion soup and planted my garlic for next season.  Mid-October is the best time to sow garlic cloves.  Plant one clove, point side up  two inches deep and six inches apart.  Mulch with salt marsh hay or straw or even leaves.  Roots will be established before hard freeze and the tops will be one of the first things that will push through the mulch in the Spring.

The brussell sprouts are filling out nicely--but they'll remain until Thanksgiving before I'll harvest them.  It's rather fun to pick these little gems even if they are covered in a light blanket of snow.. which we can easily see here in southern Maine by the time the holidays roll around.  We've been eating broccoli since mid-June and never before have we had eggplants, peppers and tomatoes by mid-July since we lived in New Hampshire.  What a year to remember after two very rainy summers here in Maine.


  The herbs have all been harvested and dried for winter meals, and some blended for my morning tea and the rest infused or tinctured to be formulated into herbal soaps and healing balms.  It was a great growing season for herbs here.  Fall is also the time to harvest Echinacea - cone flower- roots.  Plants should be at least three years old.  Dig up the plant roots and scrub it off.  Slice the root thinly and tincture it in 100 proof alcohol.  I typically use vodka for it's milder taste.  Put the slices of root into a dark glass apothocary jar and cover completely with liquid.  Cover, label and date the jar and store in a dark cupboard.  Remember to give the jar a turn every week or so.  Be sure the liquid always covers the roots, adding more if neccessary.  After about six weeks, you can strain out the plant material and bottle up the liquid to use when you feel the verge of winter colds or flu.  Take about 10-20 drops in juice, water or hot tea, four to five times a day. Many folks swear by this infusion during the dreary winter months to assist in alleviating those awful winter bugs that are hard to escape. Til next thyme-happy gardening!

Tomato Garden

 This has been a fabulous year for tomatoes here in the northeast, as opposed to last summers dismal season, where we all battled  the blight of 2009 here. Plenty of hot steamy days this year and little rain from the heavens really filled my baskets with a plethora of heirlooms, romas, San Marzano and beefsteak tomatoes. 

I have canned more jars of tomato sauce than I can remember in years past.  But it will be so great cooking this winter and remembering back on this hot summer and just how luscious these fruits were right off the vine.  In my tomato patch now there only remains the green unripened tomatoes, so next week I see a lot of Nana's piccalilli being made here.


But for those that still have a counter covered with red tomatoes here's a very simple and  quick recipe that's pretty delicious to prepare. Even better it only requires one pot!

Serve this with homemade bread and a big garden salad and you're good to go.

Tomato Garden Pasta

4 TBLS olive oil
2 TBLS tomato paste 

2 garlic cloves, minced
2 pounds fresh tomatoes about 8 medium tomatoes
1/2 pound angel hair pasta
2 1/2 cups hot water
3 TBLS fresh basil, minced
parmesan cheese, grated
sea salt and pepper to taste

In a large saucepan heat pan add olive oil then add paste and brown for about 3 minutes, stirring. Add garlic, saute for another minute then cut tomatoes in half and take core out, place cut side down on medium heat with lid on for about 5 minutes. Use tongs to remove skins (they should slip right off) and discard them, add salt and pepper. Add uncooked pasta and hot water put lid on and cook 10 minutes or until pasta is just al dente. A good sprinkling of cheese and serve!

Summer Colors

Warm, dry & sunny days.. a must for lovely summer blooms. Fuschia, rusts, yellows, perriwinkle, scarlet, lavender and pinks.  These are the colors of  my garden.

Artichoke experiment

They grow up so quickly-- artichoke plants that is.   This year I wanted to try something new in the garden, so after reading that some northeast gardeners have been very successful growing these globes of goodness, I just had to try it.

An artichoke plant, can spread up to 5 feet across, making a strikingly handsome addition to any garden.

I remember having dinner at my grandmother's home as a child and seeing an artichoke on my plate for the first time. I remember wondering how I was going to eat this intriguing vegetable. My Nonna showed me just how to tackle the task. I plucked the leaves, dipped them in warmed herbal olive oil, and pull the stem end through my teeth to draw off the tender meat. It was a bit of a mess, but  child’s play. 

That was a very long time ago and I remember being very satisfied when all the leaves were gone.  But then she told me about the hidden treasure inside--the tender heart of the choke.  Such a rich, hearty flavor with a texture and taste like no other.  My sister loves  to stuff  artichokes--but I still enjoy them served the same way my Nonna first served them to me. 

As I left the garden tonite I took this shot.  So far, so good. Probably next week I'll begin harvesting.  Though they got off to a slow start in my garden this year and were then hit with three nights of  unexpected killing frost--they survived.  I will definitely plant more artichokes next year--just fewer of them. I mean, potentially I'm told each plant can yield anywhere from 15-30 chokes! I planted 15 plants!  I think I should consider bringing some of these to farmers market.

Ratatouille Crepes

I just love making crepes and with the garden exploding with flavors this time of the year this is a favorite summer dish I make often. 


Ratatouille Crepes
adapted from a recipe in Cooking Light

1 large eggplant chopped
2 medium zucchini chopped
4 roma plum tomatoes chopped
1 red bell pepper chopped
3 shallots chopped
2 garlic cloves minced
1 tsp olive oil
3/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper
2 TBS chopped fresh basil
2 TBS chopped fresh parsley

Preheat oven to 450

To prepare filling:

Combine first 6 ingredients in a large bowl. Drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with sea salt and ground pepper
Toss it around to coat

Spread vegetable mixture in an even layer on cookie pan lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle with sea salt, and just a drizzle of olive oil.

Bake at 450 for 35 minutes stirring half way through.

Transfer vegetable mixture to bowl to cool. Stir in basil & parsley.

Mix in 3 TBS Marinara Sauce



Crepes:

2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/3 cup water
1 cup flour
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 tsp fresh basil, minced
1 tsp fresh rosemary, minced

In a food processor, blend ingredients for 10 seconds. . Cover and refrigerate the batter in the refrigerator for one hour. This allows the bubbles to subside so the crepes will be less likely to tear during cooking. The batter will keep up to 48 hours refrigerated.

Heat a crepe pan or small non-stick pan, lightly coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat until hot. Gently whisk the batter. Lift the pan from the heat and pour in 1/8 cup of batter, tilting and rotating the pan to coat the bottom surface. Cook for 30-40 seconds and lightly browned on edges. Loosen the edges with a spatula and flip the crepe over, then cook the other side another 15 seconds. Turn the crepe onto a tea towel and cover with parchment paper, until cool and ready to fill. Repeat with remaining batter, laying them all out so they can cool. After they have cooled you can stack them and store in sealable plastic bags in the refrigerator or freeze them for up to two months. If freezing, I like to place a piece of parchment paper or waxed paper between each crepe until I'm ready to thaw them out. Once thawed, gently peel apart.

To Assemble:

Spoon 3 TBS of Ratatouille in center of each crepe. Fold sides over to overlap. Place seam side down in a baking dish. Top with marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese if desired. Bake at 450 degrees for 10-15 minutes.

Serve with farro and edamame, garden salad and some leftover meatballs. Enjoy!