December Tomatoes

If one wants to eat local in New England, November and December are the Brussels sprouts, apple, cranberry and root vegetable months. That is until Chris arrived this December with a box of tomatoes from his loft in Somerville (MA). After putting his outdoor garden to bed this fall, Chris decided to give indoor tomatoes, grown hydroponically a try.

"They just keep coming", he said, as he handed several to me, and frankly I'm getting a little sick of them."  What a treat!

Unfortunately he had harvested all his basil and made pesto a few weeks ago (not offered) so I had to purchase some basil to make pasta with fresh tomatoes.  Yumm! A delicious treat, full of summer, on a cold winter evening.








Reviewed 9/14/2017

Apple Keam

This recipe is for Henry. Apple Pie/Apples and Ice Cream  = (Apple Keam)

Henry's favorite dessert is Apple Pie, which Chris brings for holidays and occasionally just for dinner. I've begged Chris for the recipe, not that I'll ever be ambitious enough to make it, mostly because I could never successfully match Chris's pie, but just because it is so good.

Most of the time Henry has to settle for my simpler Apple Crisp and Apple Cranberry Crisp or when I'm in a hurry this easy version of "Apple Keam" (rhymes with "team").

It's not just that this is easy to make, it is also pretty healthy. Compared to the alternatives, the sugar is minimal. The sugar is mixed with cinnamon (a lot in this recipe because Henry loves cinnamon - adjust accordingly) and flour to give the apples a "pie filling taste" and to help evenly distribute the small amount of sugar.

Peel, quarter and thinly slice

4 small apples or fewer larger ones (about 1 1/4 pounds total)
If using larger apples, cut slices in half to make them "bite-sized".

Put apples in a medium sized bowl* and toss with
1 t lemon juice

In a small bowl combine:

1 t sugar
1 t ground cinnamon (adjust to your/child's tatse)
1T flour

Mix and add to the apple - lemon juice mixture and toss until well mixed.

Put mixture into a pie plate.

Microwave on high for approximately 4 minutes, stirring every minute, until the apples are soft but not mushy.  Cool and serve plain or with with vanilla/ginger ice cream, or yogurt (apples and cream)!

These are also one of Henry's favorite lunch treats.

* Or to save dishes, mix the apples and lemon juice in the pie plate in which they will be cooked.

28 January 2016: Apple Pie is now a family "Birthday Cake".  This was Henry's "cake" of choice for his second birthday  He joins my brother, who instead of cake, chooses to celebrate his birthday with a Strawberry Rhubarb Pie.








Reviewed 5/17/17

Taming Paperwhites

I love the hint of spring paperwhite narcissus bring to a cold January day but have never liked the way the plants collapse and fall over the pot just as they come into bloom.  This year I noticed a sign beside the paperwhites at our local Christmas fair suggesting alcohol would prevent this collapse. When I was given a bunch of bulbs for Christmas, I remembered this suggestion and cruised the web. I found many variations, but the most definitive instructions called for pouring off and replacing water surrounding the bulbs with a water-alcohol mix when the shoots are about 2 inches above the bulb.

The high sugar content of beer and wine makes these liquids less optimum than spirits or rubbing alcohol.  The ratio should be about 1 part spirits (I used vodka) to 7 parts water or 1 part rubbing alcohol to 10-11 parts water.  As the photo at left shows this worked for me.  The fragrance was less than usual. whether this was due to the particular bulbs or the added alcohol, I'm not sure. This was fine with Ed who has never been a fan of the paperwhite's "obnoxious" fragrance. Looking forward to paperwhites again next year!

Reviewed 9/21/2017

Wineberries

Time to check out the  woods!  For a number of years, (2009 berries at left, 2015 berries below), I have picked a sticky red raspeberry-like berry from the brambles on the west side of our house. Today after picking another heaping quart, I finally decided it would be a good idea to positively identify these wild things. Thank you Wikipedia:

Wineberry "is a perennial plant which bears biennial stems ("canes") from the perennial root system. In its first year, a new stem ("primocane") grows vigorously to its full height of 1-3 m, unbranched, and bearing large pinnateleaves with three or five leaflets; normally it does not produce any flowers. In its second year, the stem ("florocane") does not grow taller, but produces several side shoots, which bear smaller leaves always with three leaflets; the leaves are white underneath.

The flowers are produced in late spring on short, very bristly racemes on the tips of these side shoots, each flower 6–10 mm diameter with five purplish red to pink petals and a bristly calyx. The fruit is orange or red, about 1 cm diameter, edible ...it is not a berry at all, but an aggregate fruit of numerous drupelets around a central core. Ripening occurs from early summer.^[3][4] .

The canes have red glandular hairs. These red hairs give the species its scientific name from the Latin phoenicus meaning red .In addition to seed propagation, new plants are formed from the tips of existing canes touching the ground. They enjoy moist soil and grow near and within wooded areas.

As a fruit develops, it is surrounded by a protective calyx covered in hairs that exude tiny drops of sticky fluid...^[7]"*

Biennial stems,  tips of the canes rooting in the ground, the protective calayx, the red sticky berries,  this plant, which is now boardering on invasive on our property, meets all the criteria of wineberry.  

Over time many of the canes in our woods have died and turned brown. This spring  I  pruned the thicket and got rid of dead cane. This made the picking easier and, I think, the berries more abundant.  

We will enjoy these wineberries, mixed with a few wild blueberries (more favored by the birds so less abundant) and wild blackberrries also found on the same wooded slope. Wineberries are also good as a topping for local peaches which are now in season too.

* Quoted text Wikipedia; all photos Cook's Cache.


Reviewed 9/14/2017

Pork Tenderloin with Glazed Oranges

This is a Father's Day post in honor of Dan, Henry's Dad, who first made this for me.  The book from which this recipe comes, Vij's at Home, was a gift from Alex and Dan,  written by the owner of one of their favorite Indian restaurants.  When Dan made this I prepped for him and was amazed at the quantity of cayenne peper in the marinade.  The resulting pork (served without oranges) was delicious.  The first time I made this, however, it was a disaster.  I scaled the marinade ingredients to my 1 pound piece of pork tenderloin and made a full recipe of the orange glaze. I'm not sure what happened, maybe my cayenne pepper was much hottter than Dan's. Hot for me and too hot for Chris and Ed. I liked the concept though; the oranges, pimenton and pepper reminded me of one of my favorite recipes, Spicy Orange Shrimp. So I tried again, using chili powder instead of cayenne pepper.  (Vij uses 1 T each of cayenne peper and paprika for a 2 1/2 pound tenderloin, and 1 T salt which I omit).  Also, while Vig cuts the 2 1/2  pounds of pork into 24 pieces, Dan and I roast/grill the tenderloin whole and then slice.

The orange glaze is the full recipe (for 2 1/2 pounds of pork).  I have yet to make the full meal suggested in this cookbook: tenderloin and oranges served over spinach and split pea mash, topped with cumin curry and garnished with pistachios and dates, but it is on my to do list....

Make the marinade for a 1 pound pork tenderloin by mixing together:

3 T olive oil
1 1/2 t paprika or pimenton
1 1/2 t chili powder
1 1/2 t garlic, finely chopped

Put the meat in the marinade and coat all sides. marinate for at least 3 hours, turning several times.

Make the orange glaze: in a medium sauce pan

1T butter (I've substituted olive oil but it's not as good)
5 whole cloves
1/4  t chili powder (Vig uses cayenne pepper)
3 T brown sugar  (Vig also suggests demerara or honey)
1/ 2 c orange juice (Vig uses mango juice)

Over medium heat, bring to a slight boil while stirring.

Add

1 large organic naval orange, unpeeled sliced in 1/4 inch rounds

Bring to a light boil, cover, reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes.  Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Meanwhile grill pork to internal temperature of 150 degrees F.

Slice and top meat with oranges, either whole or, my preference, cut in quarters.











Reviewed 6/13/2017

Mother's Day Spider Plants

While this blog is about food, it's roots are in family recipes and family holiday traditions, mostly food but occasionally plants make it into the mix. Mother's Day is more about plants than food. The earliest Mother's Day plant I can remember is a tiny spider plant that Alexandra brought home from Mrs. (Lee) Brown's nursery school class. Three years later Christopher, then in Mrs. Brown's class, brough me a similar plant in a similar small paper cup. Somewhere in between came the Viburnum Tree (orchestrated by Ed) that we all planted together and still blooms in our yard each spring.

While these plants share the longevity prize, the spider plants are hands down winners of the profileration prize.  After having had many more, I'm down to three large spider plants in Lincoln and Chris has a similar number in Somerville by way of Brooklyn.  We still have one big spider plant in Colorado and there are a couple in New Hampshire.

This year I took  a tiny offshoot to Oregon. Henry, who I think is destined to be a gardner or at least a mulch spreader, had fun planting it as a Mother's Day gift for Alex.  We are now in the real second generation of spider plants!

Reviewed 9/21/2017

Freezing Mint/Mint Gremolata

In July 2012 I wrote about the abundance of Wild Mint I find near our home in Massachusetts.  Last October when we were in Colorado the garden was overflowing with mint which I knew the immenent frosts would kill.  Knowing we enjoy local lamb in the winter and mint would be a great accompaniment, I decided to try to freeze (in a controlled fashion) some of this mint.  I picked a huge bunch, removed the leaves from the stems, chopped the leaves, placed them in a container and then put the covered container in the freezer.  Actually, I froze several batches.

This mint has been delicious on lamb (gremolata recipe follows) and also in Fresh Green Pea Soup.  I'm really suprised how much I used this winter, and I haven't even tried this frozen mint in Wild Mint recipes.

GREMOLATA

Combine:

2 cloves garlic, finely minced
Zest from 1 lemon
2 T frozen chopped mint (or fresh mint in season!)
2 t olive oil (1 t if  using fresh mint)

This is an excellent garnish for lamb.












Reviewed 6/20/2017