Cooking – Nine by Eighteen

Preserving – Thai Basil Pesto, Oven-Dried Tomatoes and Pickles

SabineAugust 13, 2021Leave a Reply

I have so many tomatoes, we cannot keep up with eating them raw. So, I slow-roasted two baking sheets of tomatoes for a few hours (at 325F, but that was too hot, so I reduced it to 250F) and then packed them in olive oil and stored them in the fridge for use in pasta sauces and on pizza.

I had a ton of Thai basil on my back porch and turned it into Thai basil peanut pesto. I served it over pan-seared trout last night for dinner. Delicious!

And I made more quick refrigerator pickles with the pickling cucumbers form the plot. Yum! The cucumbers are coming to an end, it seems.

First Pickling Cucumber of the Season

SabineJuly 17, 2021Leave a Reply

I harvested my first pickling cucumber. It was huge, thanks to the recent rain and the heat, and weighed almost 15 ounces. It was well hidden under the leaves, and I kind of discovered it by accident. I did not even know the plant had fruit yet. I pickled it in Grillo Pickles brine, next time I will make my own brine.

Garlic Scape Pesto

SabineJune 22, 2021Leave a Reply

I made a small batch of garlic scape pesto with about half the scapes I harvested (15) and home-grown basil leaves (the basil leaves from the porch are huge!). I just pureed all of it with olive oil and salt. No cheese, no nuts. More versatile this way. I froze the surplus for future use. This pesto is so great on pasta, pizza, roasted veggies, or mixed into a pesto mayo for sandwiches …

*Garlic scape pesto topped off with olive oil for the freezer (the color is kind of strange on the screen; it was bright green)*

Eating from the Garden in January

SabineJanuary 3, 2021Leave a Reply

I used up the last two home-grown butternut squash to make squash soup. As usual, I roasted the squash (with fresh herbs stuck in the cavities) cut-side down to bring out its caramelized flavor before adding it to a pot of sweated onions. I just added water and seasoning and let it simmer for 15 minutes before pureeing it. Served the soup topped with grated Parmesan and chopped (home-grown) parsley.

*Yum! Served with Gruyere toasts on crusty bread.*

Apple Picking

SabineOctober 20, 2020Leave a Reply

We went apple picking yesterday. We always go to Honey Pot Hill Orchard. It was super nice and since it was a Monday afternoon, not crowded at all. We came home with half a bushel of apples (Cortland and Mutsu only, as these are the kids’ favorites). The sandwiches we had at the orchard were delicious (I used the homemade pickled green tomatoes I made yesterday). It was baguette spread with salted butter and grainy mustard, topped with sharp cheddar, apple slices (from just harvested apples), pickled tomatoes and lettuce. So good! Sadly, I forgot to take a picture.

Fall Harvest

SabineOctober 18, 2020Leave a Reply

I went to the garden today to check in and harvested some carrots, an eggplant and some green tomatoes. The tomatoes were quick-pickled to top tomorrow’s sandwiches – I am taking my teenagers apple-picking in the afternoon and we will have cheddar/apple slices/grainy mustard/pickled green tomato sandwiches aka Farmers Lunch Sandwich (No. 9) as served by City Feed and Supply around the corner.

Some Summer Dinners from the Garden – 2020

SabineOctober 7, 2020Leave a Reply

*Harissa-rubbed chicken breast over arugula, heirloom tomatoes, peaches and parsley with tahini dressing – Aug 12*

*Zucchini/parsley frittata with cherry tomatoes – Aug 13*

*Roasted chiogga beets and goat cheese over arugula topped with toasted pepitas – Aug 21*

*Pizza with garlic scape pesto, kale and roasted shallots (all home-grown), cherry tomatoes (not home-grown) and mushroom. Before it was topped with cheese and went into the oven – July 17*

*Not a dinner in itself but a dinner condiment – quick refrigerator pickles – Aug 22*

*Lemony zucchini and pepper stir fry with fresh herbs and Aleppo pepper*
*(served topped with feta over rice) – Aug 25*

*Kale pasta with sausage, peppers, garlic, feta and toasted pine nuts – Aug 27*

*Zucchini potato gratin with tomatoes and fresh herbs (all veggies and herbs except the potatoes were home-grown) – Aug 31*

*Roasted Ping Tung eggplant with goat cheese, pine nuts and parsley* *– Sep 13*

*Heirloom tomato feta sandwich with tahini and parsley – Sep 11*

*Korean bibimbap bowl with sesame Swiss chard from the garden – Sep 18*

*Thai basil chicken with hot Thai peppers, garlic and basil from the garden – Sep 24*

*Lunch: Egg on a bed of sauteed home-grown kale, tomato and garlic – September 28*

*Tomato tart with fresh heirloom tomatoes and roasted heirlooms on a bed of arugula pesto and cheese (all veggies except the arugula are home-grown)* *– October 5*

Not pictured: countless Caprese sandwiches, creamy cucumber salad (with sour cream dressing), Swiss chard frittata.

Roasted Tomatoes

SabineOctober 6, 2020Leave a Reply

I roasted two sheets of tomatoes today. 250F convection oven (on bake) for 30 minutes. They were grape to cocktail size, and that was the right amount of time. I used them to top a tomato tart I made for dinner. So yummy!

Yesterday’s Harvest

SabineSeptember 13, 2020Leave a Reply

The Ping Tung eggplants will be roasted and turned into a salad with goat cheese and pine nuts, and the chard will be turned into sesame chard (a riff on sesame spinach) to accompany Korean steak, served with kimchi, quick-pickled carrots and rice tomorrow. The tomatoes (together with other previously harvested ones) will be used to make a simple sliced tomato salad with basil and parsley to complement Spanish tortilla with chorizo tonight.

Pickles

SabineAugust 22, 2020Leave a Reply

I made quick refrigerator pickles today. Super simple recipe, no dill or other spices as my kids hate dill. Very crisp and yummy! I have also used this recipe in the past. Very good as well.