How does my garden grow?

I was just out planting a few things in my garden. Yes, it's nine at night. And the sun had dipped below the horizon by the time I watered the new acquisitions. But not only is it the only time I can garden without the eager assistance of a nearly three-year-old, but I enjoy evening gardening. It's cooler, and quiet, and my garden has a lovely view to the west.

I thought it would be appropriate to write about my garden on this blog--the food blog--since this is a veggie garden and most of what grows out there will end up being consumed by my family and (possibly) written up on here.

I have in the ground: romaine lettuce, mesclun lettuce mix, raddichio, broccoli, sugar peas (which have been nibbled by the rabbits, I'm sorry to say), beets, onions, swiss chard, and two bell peppers (red and orange). Within the week I will plant the seeds for cucumber and watermelon, and get a few tomato plants in as well. Next to the house is a little plot that I've dubbed my herb garden. I have basil, oregano, thyme, dill, sage, and rosemary. I hope to plant some cilantro and flat-leaf parsley this week. I've also planted marigolds and nasturtium in both gardens.

I'll occasionally post garden updates and, of course, indicate when a recipe includes garden produce.

Are you gardening? What are you growing this year?

Dutch Oven Pancake--now with photos!

I am digesting this as we speak. And it is good.

I based this recipe off a couple different ones I found online. I've seen them variously referred to as German Pancakes, Dutch Baked Pancakes, and Oven Pancakes. I like my moniker, personally.

The recipe is super easy, which is why I've already baked, photographed, eaten and blogged about them before 8:30 a.m. Although the fact that Sam woke up at 5:30 a.m. might have something to do with it too.

Here's what you need:

4 eggs

1 T. sugar

1/2 t. salt

2/3 cup milk

2/3 cup flour

2 T. butter, softened

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Beat eggs in a bowl until blended. Add all the other ingredients and mix until smooth. (I used a whisk, but you could use a mixer as well. 7 a.m. is just a little too early for an electric mixer in my house). Grease two 9-inch round cake pans. Pour half of the batter into each.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake an additional 8-10 minutes. Slide warm pancakes onto a plate and serve with your choice: syrup, powdered sugar, fresh fruit, etc.

Results:

Jana: These are really delicious, more crepe-like than pancake.

Jeff: Nom nom.

Charlotte: Not a huge fan, but then she'd already had a yogurt this morning.

The verdict: Make it again!

Two months!

For the last two months, we've been subsisting on yogurt, Cinnamon Life cereal, and various canned goods we've scrounged from the pantry. In other words, I have been so busy with school work that I barely had time to grocery shop, let alone cook.

Yesterday, I handed in my final seminar paper of the academic year. Then I stripped naked and ran shrieking through Wescoe Hall. Just kidding. But I wanted to.

Look for the return of TigEats this week. I'm gonna cook my fool head off this summer, and I can't wait!

Green Beans a la Pioneer Woman

I mentioned before how I was always on the lookout for good veggie recipes. I have a hard time being motivated enough to incorporate vegetables into our diets. We eat a lot of salads, and a good amount of fruit, but I'm terrible about getting the green (or orange, or yellow, or red) stuff on our plates.

One veg that I have particular problems with: green beans. I love green bean casserole, but who doesn't? It's not exactly a health-fest, is it? Fresh beans, on the other hand, I'm not a fan of.

I think I finally figured out what's wrong with beans and me: the cooking time. Most veggies I like barely cooked, just faintly tender. Green beans are too tough and weirdly...hairy? Furry? I don't know, but the texture of barely cooked green beans is grody to me. My mom made green beans when she was here early last fall, and she cooked the HECK out of them, and they were delicious.

So other than just cooking them until they lose their will to live, what can I do with green beans? This weekend, I tried The Pioneer Woman's green beans recipe. I adapted the recipe somewhat: I didn't have bacon grease (shame, that) so I used butter and olive oil. I'm not a huge fan of red pepper, so I omitted it. Somehow mine never carmelized the way she said it should, but it was still delicious. Even Charlotte liked it!

The next veggie to tackle: cauliflower.

Lasagna

I love lasagna. It's one of those meals that I make and then think "Why don't I make this more often?" There's something about lasagna that seems inherently complicated, something about the multiple bowls used to make the different layers. Whatever it is, it keeps me from making lasagna more often.

However, last weekend we had family in town for Sam's baptism, and I decided to make lasagna for a couple reasons. One was that it's something many (if not most) people like, so I wouldn't have to worry about grossing someone out with fish or pork or spiciness. The other reason, one that I will write about more sometime over the next couple of weeks, is that I've started making my own cheese. My first two (fortunately successful) attempts were fresh mozzarella and whole-milk ricotta, which, of course, are two key ingredients in lasagna.

This recipe would work just as easily with store-bought mozzarella and ricotta, of course. But I have to say that the fresh mozz was so amazing in this lasagna. It was creamy and light and melty and fabulous. So consider using fresh mozz (the little balls packed in water) in this recipe sometime instead of the bagged shredded kind.

Basic Lasagna

Meat Sauce:
1 T. olive oil
1/2 - 1 onion, chopped (I used half, not wanting to overwhelm anyone, but I think a whole onion would be good, too).
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 pound pork sausage
1/2 pound ground beef
1 t. salt
pepper to taste
1-2 jars basic spaghetti sauce (seriously, the cheap stuff is fine here, and any flavor/style is good, too).

Saute the onion in olive oil on medium-high heat for a few minutes. Turn the flame down to medium and add the garlic. Saute a few minutes more. Add the meat and break up with a potato masher or spoon, stirring. Cook until the meat is no longer pink. Add salt and pepper, then spaghetti sauce, and stir. Turn heat to low and simmer while you mix the cheese layer.

Cheese mixture:
16 ounces ricotta cheese
1 egg
Chopped fresh basil and parsley OR dried basil and parsley (I find fresh herbs make all the difference)
Salt and pepper to taste

Mix ingredients together in a bowl and set aside.

Now, people differ on what to do with your lasagna noodles. Do you cook them thoroughly in a pot of boiling water? Do you not cook them at all, and add moisture to your sauce? I think I struck on the perfect compromise. Lay 12 lasagna noodles in your casserole dish. Boil a kettle of water and dump on top of the noodles. Let them sit for about 5-10 minutes. The noodles will be softened but not completely cooked. They'll finish cooking in the oven.

After you've softened your noodles (heh), begin layering your lasagna. You'll also need your sliced or shredded mozzarella cheese (12-16 ounces) and shredded parmesan (8 ounces) at this time.

First, ladle some of your meat sauce into the bottom of your dish. Layer lasagna noodles on top, slightly overlapping the noodles (like shingles). Then spread on a layer of the ricotta mixture, topped with sliced/shredded mozz. Ladle half the remaining meat sauce on top. Then repeat: noodles, ricotta, mozz, meat sauce. Sprinkle the parm on the very top.

At this point, you can bake the lasagna at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, or you can refrigerate until you are ready to bake. If you bake the lasagna right out of the fridge, you might need to add some extra time.

Enjoy!

Orange Broccoli

I have a hard time knowing what to do with vegetables. As in, how to prepare them. Beyond the basics (steaming, roasting) I have no idea. I've spent a lot of time over the years searching for good veggie recipes that don't involve slathering the veggies in cream or cheese or mushroom soup and thus dislodging any health benefits of said veg. And I've collected maybe two recipes. Total, that is...not two per vegetable. That's pathetic.

Last night, in despair, I made up my own recipe for broccoli. I had a bag of prewashed florets in the fridge and I wasn't about to let them go bad (that happens more often than I'd like to admit). It ended up being very easy and quick and most importantly, delicious. I could tell I was eating broccoli, but the flavors of the recipe augmented the veg nicely.

Essentially, I dumped half the bag into a bowl and microwave-steamed the broccoli for a minute. Then I melted a tablespoon of butter in a skillet, added some orange zest, dumped the broccoli in the pan, and squeezed half the orange over top. Another minute or two in the pan (not too much, nothing worse than soggy broccoli) and it was ready.

The results:
Jana: This is the easiest recipe ever and it tastes good. Hallelujah.
Jeff: He actually ATE BROCCOLI THAT WAS COOKED. This is a miracle.
Charlotte: Ate about half of what I gave her, which seems pretty good to me.

The verdict: Make it again!

Salmon Chowder

This chowder is one of those happy accidents that came together entirely without planning or even a recipe. It was cold, I felt like soup, I looked in the freezer and found this package of frozen salmon fillets that I'd been meaning to use...et voila!

When I cook like this, I'm terrible about measuring (meaning I don't measure). I just throw stuff together. But here's my best approximation of what went into this dish:

1 T each olive oil and butter
1/2 large onion, chopped
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
2-3 celery stalks, chopped
2 large carrots, chopped
1/2 t. salt (possibly more)
1/4 t. black pepper
1 t. dill weed
1 bay leaf
1/4 c. flour
1 1/2 - 2 cups chicken broth
A couple good-sized salmon fillets
1 cup corn
1-2 cups whole milk or half-and-half

Put the olive oil and butter in a pan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook until translucent. Add celery and carrots and cook for a few minutes. Add salt, pepper, bay leaf and dill and cook, stirring, for about a minute. Sprinkle flour over everything and stir for a minute. Then add broth and stir to mix. Bring to boil, then reduce heat to simmer for about ten minutes.

At this point, I dumped everything from the pan into the crock pot, added the salmon fillets(uncooked, but defrosted) and the corn, and turned it on high for a couple hours. When that time was up, I broke up the salmon with a spoon into chunks, added the milk, and turned the heat off. And that's it!

This was really yummy, very easy, and didn't taste as "fishy" as I was worried it would. I didn't have potatoes, but I think a couple potatoes diced would be good in this, too.

The results:
Jana: Delish!
Jeff: Ditto!
Charlotte: Took a bite of Jeff's, then asked for her own bowl.

Verdict:
Make it again!