What are you eating from your garden today?

Thank goodness I have a late dinner in front of me or I couldn't stand all of your photos of delicious food!

The leek-potato soup was great. It is an Alton Brown recipe and it came out perfect. Today my next experiment is roasted tomatillos with apple, garlic and serrano peppers with cilantro blended together.

The hot peppers are HOT this year.  A little goes a long way.  I harvested peppers, tomato (finally ripening!), probably the last of my cilantro, carrots, and some cucumbers. The carrots went into the crock pot with a roast, and the cilantro was used in a sauce for chicken drumsticks.  I made a couple jars of refrigerator pickles with the cucumbers and stuck hot pepper slices in the bottom.  This is my first time trying this.  I'm looking forward to tasting them in a few days!  We ate the chicken last night and the roast is what's for lunch today - probably with some swiss chard and tomatoes on the side!  I'm not good at storing the harvest yet, but sure love eating it fresh from the earth!

Our first Carnival squash for dinner tonight



Carnival Squash is a Acorn type squash

*Plant carnival squash in soil ranging from neutral to acidic, after the threat of frost is past.* 

I thought it was interesting that this squash likes neutral to acidic type soil
Read more : http://www.ehow.com/info_8480314_carnival-squash.html

I will let you know how it taste
Rose

Another lunch of a seven ounce beefsteak tomato out the glasshouse , various slices of salami , schinken  some smoked , some not. with a teaspoon of last years red & green tomato chutney and a dash of orange flavoured thick balsamic vinegars over a chunk of strong  local Welsh cheese .

 I've also been making this years red & green tomato chutney in between all manner of other tasks around the garden & home . Using home grown toms  ( too many green ones ) , onions , garlic , capsicum and half  a chilli pepper .. along with shop purchased onions , celery and some not quite sour enough apples that were a bit red ( PINK LADY )

It's turned out a very light colour compared to last years batch but I do have 6 & 3/4 litres of it in pressure canned sealed up jars . Hopefully the taste will mature to a better flavour  after a couple of months of being stored away in a cool dark cupboard .

There are so many different kinds of chutney, and I'm so unfamiliar with nearly all of them, that I would find it hard to judge chutney in general. Why does the apples not being sour enough hurt the taste? And is there a different kind of chutney in which better-ripened apples is a good fit?

Here are the two chutney recipes I sort of combined into one ... it's one of the few chutneys I've ever tasted, too:

http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2011/07/green-tomato-apple-chutney-recipe/

and

http://www.sbcanning.com/search?q=Green+Tomatoes

Everything right out of my garden, tomatillos with apples, onion, serrano peppers, garlic and cilantro salsa. Roasted with olive oil (not the cilantro) and then into a food processer. Salt and pepper, it is outstanding. I have so much cilantro growing, one solid 4x4 box from one plant that went to seed, I am looking for uses.

Marc Iverson wrote:There are so many different kinds of chutney, and I'm so unfamiliar with nearly all of them, that I would find it hard to judge chutney in general.  Why does the apples not being sour enough hurt the taste?  And is there a different kind of chutney in which better-ripened apples is a good fit?

Here are the two chutney recipes I sort of combined into one ... it's one of the few chutneys I've ever tasted, too:

http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2011/07/green-tomato-apple-chutney-recipe/

and

http://www.sbcanning.com/search?q=Green+Tomatoes

Sour apples  ( Bramley cooking apples are the best I know of )  don't give chutney a cider flavour softer sweetener one do .
 I'm also led to understand that there is also a lot more vitamin C in green sour apples
The citric acid in the  sour apples  helps keep the amount of acetic acid used down whilst still providing the levels needed for the preservative effect of a pickled / acidic food ( white or malt vinegar ) so you don't get the vinegar flavour too strong . 

 This rounding of flavours using different acids will also most likely add /develop  other acids like malic acid and all manner of flavours that develop over the couple of months that the chutney is stored before use , over here we call it  maturing the flavour .

 The chutney I made this time last year has a really nice rounded  flavour , has thickend enoughn to stay heaped on a teaspoon  but can be easily spread on meat or bread  and has darkened to that of the colour of the flesh of a dried date .

Both Alison & I reckon it could grace the plates in any top notch restaurant along side cold meats or on the cheese board and be declared a " A new wonder food ".

Eat your heart out Egon Ronay  ... You ain't getting any ...not even for a table for two at one of your establishments .

Mikado turnips and sauteed green tomatoes w/ shallots and garlic. And a pork chop not from the garden.

plantoid wrote:
Sour apples  ( Bramley cooking apples are the best I know of )  don't give chutney a cider flavour softer sweetener one do .
 I'm also led to understand that there is also a lot more vitamin C in green sour apples
The citric acid in the  sour apples  helps keep the amount of acetic acid used down whilst still providing the levels needed for the preservative effect of a pickled / acidic food ( white or malt vinegar ) so you don't get the vinegar flavour too strong . 

Interesting, thanks.

One of those recipes above says specifically to put apple cider vinegar into it, so I guess some people like that and some don't. Honestly I couldn't much tell; even the apples themselves blended into the rest of the flavors like the spices, golden raisins, and candied ginger.

I'd like to explore different recipes at some point. Your using red tomatoes really surprised me, because I didn't know people did that. Does it matter what kind of red tomatoes you use? For my green tomato chutney, I threw in any and all green tomatoes I had, including cherries.

Marc Iverson wrote:

plantoid wrote:
Sour apples  ( Bramley cooking apples are the best I know of )  don't give chutney a cider flavour softer sweetener one do .
 I'm also led to understand that there is also a lot more vitamin C in green sour apples
The citric acid in the  sour apples  helps keep the amount of acetic acid used down whilst still providing the levels needed for the preservative effect of a pickled / acidic food ( white or malt vinegar ) so you don't get the vinegar flavour too strong . 

Interesting, thanks.  

One of those recipes above says specifically to put apple cider vinegar into it, so I guess some people like that and some don't.  Honestly I couldn't much tell; even the apples themselves blended into the rest of the flavors like the spices, golden raisins, and candied ginger.

I'd like to explore different recipes at some point.  Your using red tomatoes really surprised me, because I didn't know people did that.  Does it matter what kind of red tomatoes you use?  For my green tomato chutney, I threw in any and all green tomatoes I had, including cherries.

  No any so long as the toms are firm and their normal full red colour , use as 50 /50 with green ones  .it not only makes for good flavour it also gives depth of colour.
So instead of being a sort of khaki orangish green, it helps turn the chutney a much darker colour as it matures , without the use of colouring additives .

Okay, thanks. I'll put some of mine aside to mix with red tomatoes next time, to see if I like it that way too.

Tonight I'll be enjoying a feast of roasted carrots and a variety of potatoes that I picked this week. My husband tells me I need to add protein to that, but I'm perfectly satisfied with just the veggies.

The peasant Irish used to get by on nothing but potatoes and a little milk. But the milk was important.

Marc Iverson wrote:The peasant Irish used to get by on nothing but potatoes and a little milk.  But the milk was important.

Exactly Marc. I'm making my ancestors proud! I've never grown potatoes before and had no idea what they really should taste like. This year I grew varieties that don't have a long shelf life. Next year I'll be making more practical decisions about what to grow so I can have some for fall/winter. Yummy!

Over 2 quarts of fresh made V8 juice. Store bought in my opinion is junky stuff.   The fresh taste of garden goodness is something I drink slowly and savor.  I swear its that good

llama momma wrote:Over 2 quarts of fresh made V8 juice. Store bought in my opinion is junky stuff.   The fresh taste of garden goodness is something I drink slowly and savor.  I swear its that good

I've got some tomatoes and would love to make V8. llama momma, would you mind sharing your recipe?

Sure Garden Groupie !! 

 I started with this recipe for Tomato Juice.   You can certainly throw in a little swiss chard or broccoli stumps or parsley if you froze any over the summer.  I also throw in 1/3 to 1/2 cup of sliced carrots. This helps to sweeten it up so you may even skip the sugar as recipe indicates.  I try to put 8 veggies into it if possible.  I think you'll love the fresh taste.

Anyway here you go and have fun!
http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/homemade_tomato_juice/

LM, Do you want to post this recipe on the Home Page, Recipes?

Sanderson
The recipe is for plain tomato juice and my post talks about making it into V8 juice.  If you like, maybe its more helpful to move the whole post to Recipes.  Your call.

Carrots, tomatoes, poblanos, aubergine. The last of the green beans. Continuing with chard...YUMMMMMM YUM!

llama momma wrote:Sanderson
The recipe is for plain tomato juice and my post talks about making it into V8 juice.  If you like, maybe its more helpful to move the whole post to Recipes.  Your call.

LM didn't you post it last year?

LM I just tried that post for the tomato juice, I added celery, parsley, carrots and onion. It is still warm but I tried some and it is great. I wish I had this earlier in the season but I have enough for at least 3 more batches. Thanks

Your welcome John. One time I was out of Tabasco and substituted red pepper flakes and it was real nice.  Love how you can play around with the recipe. 

Camp I poked around and can't find  the post. 

Tried a new recipe tonight with brussel sprouts, yams, potimarron squash, all roasted and tossed with bacon and parmesan. MMMMMMM! Really good. The Yams and Squash we grew, we've had no luck with the sprouts. They are a bug favorite every year (same with broccoli, cabbage and any other cruciferous veggies :-( )