Archive for garden

Butterscotch Banana Cake and Garden Update

September 20, 2009 at 5:19 pm · Filed under Cooking, garden

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butterscotch banana cake

My kids — funny monkeys that they are — will only eat green bananas.
Yesterday while cleaning the counter, I found three lovely ripe bananas they had hidden beneath the usual clutter. Thinking I could whip up something weight-watcher friendly, I went googling for ‘lowfat banana bread’.

I may roam far and wide across the internet, but I always end up back at the blogs I know and love. Here is the butterscotch chip-laced banana cake I made, inspired by ISG’s (inspired by Nupur’s) banana bread — thanks ladies!

Butterscotch Banana Cake

Dry ingredients:

1 1/2 c white whole wheat flour
(I used King Arthur’s)
2 TB splenda
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch salt

Wet ingredients:

3 large ripe bananas, mashed
3 TB molasses
1 egg
1/2 c plain yogurt (I used Fage 2%)
2/3-3/4 c butterscotch chips

In a large bowl, stir together the dry ingredients. In another bowl, mash the bananas, then add the remaining wet ingredients and stir in the chips. Pour wet ingredients into the dry and stir to blend — don’t overmix. Spray an 8×8 pan with Pam (Pam for baking works great) and bake in a preheated oven at 350 for about 30 min, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

I used the toaster oven and it worked like a charm. No added fat, other than the egg, and I think this would work with just egg whites.

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Even the kids loved this cake — and only 2 ww points per piece!

The garden is still plugging along. I picked every green tomato before trashing the poor blighted plants. Most are ripening indoors, in paper bags. I am thankful they weren’t a total loss! Eggplants are still blossoming, and the peppers were the amazing hit of the year. Serranos, hungarian wax (mild) and cayennes are still on the plants, in varying degrees of ripening.

Other treats include Chanchal okra — the best okra I have ever grown — three varieties of long beans, and the summer squash, planted late in July to avoid vine-borers, is bearing fruit now. I also got one, countem one ridge gourd!

And yes, the swiss chard I cut back to the root is growing once more :)

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hungarian wax and serrano peppers, long beans, yellow and red tomato, chanchal okra, and never-fail ichiban eggplant, all in my favorite antique Munising bowl

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my one ridge gourd — thanks, ISG!

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tomatoes! left: anna russian, right: marianna’s peace, bottom: carmello, middle: lemon boy

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Chard Challenges

September 3, 2009 at 9:53 pm · Filed under Cooking, garden, indian cuisine

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highlight of the garden ~ beautiful ruby and fordhook swiss chard

Swiss chard is a vegetable from my childhood.
Nana always had a patch in her garden, and it was cooked up simply
with a little salt water, then sprinkled with vinegar and dotted with butter.

Back then we boiled greens within an inch of their life;
no wonder we kids couldn’t appreciate the goodness.

Nonetheless, when I had my first home, I couldn’t wait to try growing chard.
I got myself a nice pot and dutifully planted a few seeds.

O Joy, the green leaves sprouted easily and soon I had a little harvest awaiting me. I will never forget the day, I had my little son, only 2 years old at the time, out there barefoot with me in the yard, and when I came to cut the chard leaves from the plant, out came a million earwigs ready to bite!!

That was the end of chard for me, for a long time ;)

Past few years I have grown it again, thankfully without earwigs. Last weekend
I went out to cut a bunch, and what to my wondering eyes should appear but a GIANT black caterpillar, of the ‘wooly bear’ type. Said caterpillar was happily munching away on a leaf, and I couldn’t bring myself to remove the bug or the plant. I looked him up online; I think it was one of these.

I waited for my son (now 21!) to arrive home before I cut off the whole plant at the base and had him carry it to the woods.

The caterpillar is welcome to the plant, but he can’t live on my deck.
Seems chard is destined to present a little challenge in my garden :)

Last night, I cut leaves from the remaining plants. They should grow anew long before frost comes, and I wanted something for dear ISG’s Chard Challenge! Thanks, ISG, for always inspiring me in garden and kitchen :)

Here, with kind permission from Jigyasa and Pratibha, is Pedatha’s recipe for Thotakoora Koora. I have substituted chard for the amaranth, and made a
lip-smacking “Thotakoora” Koora Rice (with chard).

“Thotakoora” Koora Rice with Swiss Chard
adapted with permission from Cooking At Home With Pedatha

choppedchard
chopped chard, sans caterpillars!

swiss chard, 1 bunch, chopped
roasted gram, 2-3 TB powdered
oil, 1 TB
Salt to taste

the paste

ginger, 1 in. piece
garlic, 2 flakes
coriander leaves, 1/2 c
green chillies, 4

the tempering

split black gram, husked, 1 tsp
mustard seeds, 2 tsp
turmeric powder, 1/4 tsp
asafoetida powder, 1 tsp
curry leaves, 6-7, with stem

my addition:
1/2 c sona masuri rice, rinsed well and drained

~~~~~~~~~~~

1. Chop the greens roughly, along with the tender stems.
This should amount to about 6 cups after chopping.
mine amounted to about 3 cups, and I should have halved the seasoning,
but the extra worked out great when cooking rice *in* the koora

2. Grind the ingredients for the paste using a little water.

3. In a wok, heat the oil for tempering. Add the gram; as it turns golden, pop the mustard. Lower the flame and add the turmeric, asafoetida, and curry leaves.

4. Add the greens, and stir. Cover and cook (until well done — original instructions).
I cooked partway, to allow for additional cooking time with rice

5. Now, add the paste and salt and continue to cook for 2-3 minutes.
here I added the rice and about 1 cup of water, covered and cooked about 15 min till the rice was done

6. Finally, switch off the flame and add the powdered gram.

From the book:
“Serve with steamed rice, or as a side dish in a meal.
Pedatha says, you may substitute spinach for the amaranth”.

pedathas thotakoora koora rice
Pedatha’s “Thotakoora Koora” Rice with swiss chard ~ packed up for
lunch at work today :)

What a delicious meal this made! When I warmed it up at noon, the aroma was even more amazing than when I cooked it last night.

This dish is going straight to you, dear ISG, for your yummy swiss chard challenge, with many thanks to you, dear Jigyasa and Pratibha, for your generosity of spirit in allowing me to share another of Pedatha’s delights ~ from the heart and hearth :)

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chard will keep growing until frost ~ cutting the plant to the base brings healthy new growth :)

Comments (7)

Heirloom Tomatoes

September 1, 2009 at 11:23 pm · Filed under About, garden

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heirloom tomatoes in an heirloom munising bowl ~ a happy start to september

Late blight has wreaked havoc on potatoes and tomatoes over much of the US this year, spreading as far west as North Dakota, according to this article.
Fortunately, I am not depending on a potato crop… but of course it would be the year I tried to grow heirloom tomatoes!

Here in my northeastern garden, I’ve been fighting off the blight as best I can,
but I see it creeping in and I am hurrying to save every ripening tomato I can before the plants succumb.

From what I have read, many heirlooms are notoriously finicky, low-yielding, and more susceptible to disease than their hybrid cousins. Considering these factors, and the rampant spread of the fungus among-us, I feel fortunate to have at least a few vine-ripened treats.

Here are the tomatoes I picked last night; given time on the counter, they should finish ripening nicely. As for those left outside — I am hoping, with some TLC, they will see this through. If not, the good news is, late blight can’t survive the cold of a northern winter — and there’s always next year! :)

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anna russian ~ very prolific with beautiful heart-shaped tomatoes ~
grown in the garden

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carmello ~ one of the tallest plants at almost 7′ high ~
grown in a pot on the deck

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goose creek ~ the one with an interesting history ~
grown in a recycling bin on the deck

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lemon boy ~ a sweet yellow tomato ~ grown in a pot on the deck

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sisters ~ this was supposed to be the one that produced when
all others failed, but I got one tomato ~ grown in the garden

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mortgage lifter ~ interesting history to this as well, but I couldn’t pay
the rent on its low yields ~ grown in the garden

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ichiban eggplant never disappoints, along with three varieties of long beans,
sugar crunch cukes, and beautiful chanchal okra

To read about Goose Creek and Mortgage Lifter, check out Laurel’s Favorites.
I bought all my heirloom plants from this company and was thrilled with them. They arrived healthy and happy all the way from California, grown from seed just for my order. I can’t and won’t judge the quality of the plants by how they survive this particularly difficult year. I think they were excellent, and I’ll be ordering again for next summer, come Labor Day weekend.

For the lovely Chanchal okra, long beans, and lots of others, check out a favorite seedmonger — Seeds of India, also the source of the little-curry-leaf-tree-that-could ;)

I hope you got some tomatoes this year!

Comments (6)

We’re Still Standing ~ Tomatoes and Me

August 23, 2009 at 7:17 pm · Filed under About, garden

It’s been a stormy August. I’ve been pushed to the brink of my sanity; out of my mind with the ever-building heat raging round me, totally beyond my control.
This past Wednesday I could take it no more; needs must, when the devil drives.

I took a stand, said “enough, I don’t deserve to melt like
the Wicked Witch of the West”!!

And I wore my casual clothes to work.

Then Friday night was so stormy I feared the garden might be lost. A tornado watch was posted — a rarity for this part of the world. When I left work I could see a wall of dark clouds building to the west; once on the road I felt the wind rocking the car with joyful, reckless abandon.

Upon reaching home, one of the tomatoes on the deck had already toppled over in the gusts.

“Be Prepared”!! my old Girl Scout motto shouted, half in a panic from the depths of my brain, above the rising winds.

So half in a panic, I went to work picking every ripe pepper and brinjal — to save them of course — just in case, mind you.

Half in a panic, I set about making sure every container was full of water — well weighted down — and tightly tied to deck and stakes. After all, the little garden had already survived the New England monsoon of June, and the late-blight tomato scourge! I couldn’t walk away, desert it, and watch it be beaten to the ground just because this storm promised to be a bit rougher.

Once the garden was secured, I took a deep breath. A strange sense of calm came over me then; the calm that arrives once panic has passed. All at once, my heart and mind cleared as if a fog had lifted — and I was reminded of the larger lesson: you can’t be prepared for everything life throws at you. Faced with a problem, there is a choice: ignore it and let it consume you (and your garden) or address and resolve it.

I thought to myself, “I’ve done everything in my power. The rest is not up to me”.

Happily, the battering winds and rain passed (as they usually do), and the
garden survived. Oh, a few tomatoes blew off the vines before they were properly ripened, but with a little time and patience, they will ripen all the same — a testament to their hearty constitution.

It’s easy to think clearly once the panic has passed.
Sometimes I baby the garden a wee bit too much ;)

peppers
banana and serrano peppers in safe harbor

I’ve been thinking — about life, love, and the pursuit of gardening, self-reliance, and happiness — all of which require courage in the face of adversity — courage to stand up and say, I am no longer afraid. Let the hurricane roar!

I will survive.

Here I am setting down, in no particular order, an eclectic mix of some favorite quotes — words of wisdom that bring me peace when my heart and brain are in overdrive.

Anyone else have a favorite?

“When you have no choice, mobilize the spirit of courage”.

– old jewish proverb

“Smooth seas do not make strong sailors”.

– african proverb

“The greater the difficulty the more glory in surmounting it. Skillful pilots gain their reputation from storms and tempests”.

– Epictetus

“True courage consists not in flying from the storms of life, but in braving and steering through them with prudence”.

– Hannah Webster Foster

“If you are patient in one moment of anger, you will avoid one hundred days of sorrow”.

– Chinese proverb

“Boys, there ain’t no free lunches in this country. And don’t go spending your whole life commiserating that you got the raw deals. You’ve got to say, I think that if I keep working at this and want it bad enough I can have it. It’s called perseverance”.

– Lee Iacocca

“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time”.

– Thomas A. Edison

“Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish”.

– John Quincy Adams

“A diamond is a lump of coal that stuck with it”.

– unknown origin

“When you get in a tight place and everything goes against you, till it seems as though you could not hold on a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn”.

– Harriet Beecher Stowe

“Though you cannot go back and start again, you can start from now and have a brand new end”.

– unknown origin

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did so. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover”.

– Mark Twain

“The problem is not that there are problems. The problem is expecting otherwise and thinking that having problems is a problem”.

– Theodore Rubin

“March on. Do not tarry. To go forward is to move toward perfection. March on, and fear not the thorns, or the sharp stones on life’s path”.

“The optimist sees the rose and not its thorns; the pessimist stares at the thorns, oblivious of the rose”.

“Tenderness and kindness are not signs of weakness and despair but
manifestations of strength and resolution”.

–Khalil Gibran

“I have become my own version of an optimist. If I can’t make it through one door, I’ll go through another door – or I’ll make a door. Something terrific will come no matter how dark the present”.

– Rabindranath Tagore

“A friend is one before whom I may think aloud”.

– Ralph Waldo Emerson

“I can forgive, but I cannot forget, is only another way of saying, I will not forgive. Forgiveness ought to be like a cancelled note – torn in two, and burned up, so that it never can be shown against one”.

“Love cannot endure indifference. Like a lamp, it needs to be fed out of the oil of another’s heart, or its flame burns low”.

– Henry Ward Beecher

“Do not be afraid to cry. It will free your mind of sorrowful thoughts”.

– Hopi saying

“When we show our respect for other living things,
they respond with respect for us”.

– Arapaho saying

“Nobody is stronger, nobody is weaker than someone who came back. There is nothing you can do to such a person because whatever you could do is less than what has already been done to him. We have already paid the price”.

– Elie Wiesel

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growing anew, in spite of the storms

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the deck jungle still stands!

So to end this ramble, if you made it this far, thanks for listening!
Tomorrow it’s back to work, back to the kitchen, back to routine.
But tonight the little garden and I are laughing in the face of fear,
rockin’ out to the great Sir Elton John!!

“I’m still standing, better than I ever did…
Looking like a true survivor, feeling like a little kid…
I’m still standing after all this time…
Pickin’ up the pieces of my life… “

goose creek
even down to one goose creek heirloom beginning to blush ripe…
who knows, maybe they will all surprise me!

curryleaftreethatcould
remember the little curry leaf tree?
hope springs eternal…

Comments (3)

Farmer’s Market II, a Click, and a Garden Story

August 15, 2009 at 6:33 pm · Filed under About, Cooking, garden

peatendrildinner5

A few weeks ago I got a lovely bunch of pea shoots at the new (woo-hoo!) farmer’s market. I cooked them very simply in a little olive oil, in which I had first sauteed alot of garlic.

peagreensgarlic
pea shoots and tendrils with garlic

I put some goat cheese on a freshly toasted roll and ran it under the broiler till the cheese was lightly browned.

peatendriltoast
goat cheese toast

Served up with a sprinkling of salt and a splash of lemon ~ that’s it!

dinner in the deck garden
dinner in the deck garden ~ pea shoots with garlic and goat cheese toast
for Click – Allium over at Jugalbandi.

~~~

The garden is growing, in spite of a slow, rainy start to summer. I had no luck last year with bell peppers, so planted only various chiles this year, and they are all bearing heavily.

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cayenne peppers

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banana peppers, mild variety

Ichiban eggplant, which has been such an easy plant in the past, was very slow to blossom this year. Happily, brinjals are taking off just in time to pick up the slack from the cucumbers which are likely on their last legs.

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a welcome sight, beautiful brinjal blossoms

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even more welcome are the brinjals!

Long beans, with their fascinating flowers, are climbing.

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strange and lovely flower of a long bean

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long beans, almost ready to pick!

The ridge gourd vine has a mess of babies, just waiting to blossom and hopefully, grow before frost.

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ridge gourd blossom, three days ago

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baby ridge gourd today!

Chard is an old standby — you can hardly kill it if you try.
Good for those with tenuous green thumbs like me!

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ruby chard and fordhook variety

Even the tomatoes, which here in the Northeast are in imminent danger
it seems, from late blight, spot and speck and every other problem you can think of, are showing their true colors now.

To me, gardening is akin to a way of living; an amazing thing.
It is a constant learning process.
If you cease to seek knowledge, you lose.

To me, gardening is so much more than the physical sowing and reaping…
it’s an investment in the hope and promise which lie therein.

You plant a seed carefully in rich soil.

You water it and keep it warm and wait for it to emerge; a tender young seedling. And then, oh! how you admire it.
You feed it and water it carefully, moving it into the sunshine and protecting it from the elements that might spell its demise.

As it grows stronger, you know its roots run deep.

The little seedling, patiently tended, grows steadily; eventually it blossoms. Breathing in the heady feeling that comes with the first flower,
you know that all of your time and special attention is worthwhile.

But what to do if the first blossoms don’t fruit?

You don’t give up here. You regroup, dig in, and struggle on. Perhaps you research and learn of some new nourishment the young seedling needs;
then you find a way to provide it, so your much-loved seedling may continue to grow and eventually flourish.

When you’re willing to go that extra mile, your seedling gains enough strength to withstand even the most adverse conditions.

Then one day, exhausted from worry and toil, you look up and lo! you are rewarded with a wondrous sight! A beautiful plant, braving the elements, stretching its strong yet graceful arms to the sky. Joy surges through your heart when you finally see that it bears the small yet steadily growing fruits of your labor.

Now standing so tall and confident, leaves fluttering in the wind, perhaps this lovely living, breathing tree somehow knows…

It was carefully chosen and planted.
It was lovingly tended.
It was meant to bend, and not break,
even through the tumultuous storms of this summer.

And it was worth the wait.

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tomato tree ~ nearly 7 ft tall!

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Farmer’s Market

July 25, 2009 at 3:39 pm · Filed under garden

O joy, O happy day!

We have a new farmer’s market, and I finally got to visit it this morning.
Compared with larger communities, I’m sure it’s small; for my neck of the woods, it’s fabulous.

There were only a few stands with veggies. Other offerings included fresh flowers, fresh baked goods, fresh fish and seafood, fresh *pet* food, and artisan cheeses.

I bought a log of Westfield Farm classic blue chevre.

My favorite vendor by far was Hmong Farms.

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beautiful green and purple-red amaranth for “Click ~ Bi-colour” at Jugalbandi

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and beautiful baby green pea tendrils for me!

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produce from Hmong Farms

Closer to home, it begins to look more like summer in the deck-garden…

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tomatoes on the deck

and the beans and ridge gourd are starting to climb.

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long beans and ridge gourd

This is one of my favorite parts of the garden — watching the little climbing vines reach out and take hold!

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miraculous!

And now it’s time to find something to do with the pea tendrils :)

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Not Exactly a Traditional Combo ~ Featuring Kohlrabi

July 19, 2009 at 11:56 pm · Filed under Cooking, garden, indian cuisine

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finally!

Summer has arrived at long last, and the garden is beginning to come along. Eggplants have yet to blossom, but the tomatoes are catching up quickly.

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omar’s lebanese tomato ~ July 12 ~ note the rungs on the cage, and the window…

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omar’s lebanese tomato ~ July 19 ~ what a difference the sun makes!

Cucumbers are growing like crazy…

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burpee’s sugar crunch cucumber ~ masses of yellow blossoms

various chili peppers are setting fruit as well…

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serrano peppers growing in long-awaited sunshine

I actually planted summer squash from seed today — with only 50 days to harvest, what have I got to lose? Dear Mom reminds me often that my Papa liked to say: “best garden he ever had, he planted on the 4th of July”!

Patience is not my strong suit. While waiting for my little garden to produce,
I find myself almost daily in one store or another, searching out fresh veggies. Yesterday I found some tiny kohlrabi with gorgeous greens attached. I went googling for recipes and came to Anita’s monjji haak.

It looked so good. It looked so GREEN! I had to have it :)

I don’t have cold-pressed mustard oil, so I used a smidge of extra-virgin olive oil (from Greece, my *flavorite* — no pun intended — I do believe the best-tasting olive oil comes from Greece. There is a little shop in Cambridge where you can go and have an olive oil tasting — but that’s another story!).

Other than that oil-sub, I followed Anita’s instructions exactly. My greens were young and tender, so I omitted the hing and special Kashmiri masala.

I was happy to be reminded of the old trick for preserving color in greens — baking soda. And what a delightful treat these greens are!!

Rather than break out the pressure cooker, I simmered the greens. I plan to take them to work tomorrow, so I drained off all the liquid to prevent further cooking.

Earlier this morning, I had mixed up a batch of ISG’s easy-breezy oats’n grits dosa. This time the batter was so thick that I think I unwittingly made uttapam.

As usual, I wanted sambhar — especially to go with the uttapam/dosai.
I decided to make some with the reserved haak broth.

Hmm….

Subtley-spiced Kashmiri haak and fiery sambhar?? Not exactly a traditional combo — but I eat at my desk and nobody’s watching ;)

It hardly seems necessary to set down a recipe for sambhar, but here’s how I made it tonight.

Kohlrabi-Haak Sambhar

4-5 small kohlrabi, peeled and diced
1 small onion, diced

1 tsp canola oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp urad dal
2 tsp chana dal
2-3 dried red chillies
1 sprig curry leaves

cooking water reserved from Anita’s haak mixed with
1 TB tamarind pulp (or to taste)

1 TB ISG’s magic sambhar podi

1/2 c cooked toor dal

salt to taste
~~~~~

In a medium saucepan, heat oil and add mustard. When it pops, add cumin, urad and chana dals, red chillies and curry leaves. Cook for a few minutes, then add onion and cook until translucent. Add diced kholrabi and saute for a few minutes, then add the reserved haak water and tamarind. Stir well, cover, and cook for about 15 minutes over med-low heat.

Now add sambhar podi and mix well. Cover and cook an additional 10-15 minutes.

By this time the kohlrabi should be tender-crisp. Add the cooked toor dal and mix well. Simmer another 5-10 minutes. Add salt to taste, and turn off the heat.

Let cool slightly before packing for lunch. Did I mention I can’t wait for lunch?? ;)

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lunch tomorrow ~ ISG’s oats ‘n grits dosa, uttapam-style, and Anita’s shaak

kohlrabistew
and kohlrabi sambhar to go with!

A few things I want to make with kohlrabi:

Pavani’s kohlrabi greens curry!

Shivapriya’s noolkol kalan

Shilpa’s navalkola sukke (which I said I was going to make way back in 2006!)

Dear Lera’s kholrabi masala — come on back Lera, I miss you! :)

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Hope Springs Eternal

July 12, 2009 at 10:14 pm · Filed under About, Cooking, Great Lakes, Michigan, garden

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I had big plans to cook and post an actual recipe this weekend, but the sad tomatoes on the deck are depressing me.

Nineteen days of rain in June alone, coupled with cooler than usual temps, has made slow growing and foliage problems for many of my poor little tomatoes — some of them the heirlooms I ordered all the way from California.

sadtomato
couldn’t you just cry!

If you plant a garden in the north, you know. All winter as you snuggle under your blanket, you pour over the catalogues, cosily dreaming of summer’s joy and bounty while the earth lies dormant beneath her blanket of snow. Come spring, you pour all your tender loving care into the little seedlings, planted with such high hopes. To watch them shrivel and darken and die is something akin to losing a dear friend.

Of course that’s somewhat dramatic, but this year I can almost imagine the plight of the pioneers, moving west and breaking their backs to clear wild, virgin land and plant crops, crops upon which they depended for their very sustenance, only to watch Mother Nature dash all hopes in a freak hailstorm or cloud of grasshoppers.

Last year at this time my eggplants and tomatoes were covered with fruit.
Today on over a dozen plants, I have two, count ‘em two tiny tomatoes, and this only after two days of much-needed sun and warm temps.
No eggplants. No peppers. No beautiful beans or gourd vines reaching toward the trellis I carefully placed in anticipation of their climbing to the sky via my deck railing.

Moan, groan, complain… but the tomatoes in the ground seem to be growing…

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marianna’s peace ~ a ‘potato-leaf’ tomato

And then I happened upon a few cucumber babies… that pleased me no end!

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baby sugar crunch cucumber

Now… I wish to welcome dear Nupur back to regular blogging!! I missed you, Nupur! They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery; if that’s so, I am here to flatter you most sincerely! Better than being a copycat, anyway ;)

Over July 4th weekend I was inspired by Nupur’s lovely pasta salad. Rather than pesto I used a low-fat artichoke tapenade I found at the new Market Basket grocery store. Bright flavors and colors made this a huge hit.

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whole-grain pasta salad with fresh veggies and artichoke tapenade dressing — so tasty!

I saw some small eggplants on the breakdown lane and wanted to try my hand at baba ghanouj using real *smoked* eggplant. I collected some maple sticks from the backyard and built a little smouldering fire over which I charred these beauties. I didn’t have aleppo pepper, so used a bit of chipotle instead. No pics of the finished dish because I am taking it all to work tomorrow!

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eggplants roasting on an open fire… la la la…

Finally, my little curry leaf twig OOPS I mean plant (which looks nothing like this amazing specimen!) decided to sprout new leaves — proving that hope does indeed spring eternal… even in the middle of what should be summer.

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hope springs eternal…

Now Nupur, I am hoping you’ll favor me with some advice for my reborn curry plant… which in its heart of hearts, wishes to become a beautiful tree like yours :)

Also, please do go visit Rakhee in Dubai who has a yummy veg stew recipe I am waiting to try!

Always, and in spite of it all… Lake Superior beckons…

gm808b
calling me home…

Comments (9)

What Happened To…

June 28, 2009 at 10:20 pm · Filed under Cooking, Great Lakes, Michigan, agates, birds, garden, indian cuisine, wildlife

…. the lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer?


have a listen to Nat King Cole’s classic, set to pics courtesy of Snowqueen555.
The last sunset pic reminds me of Michigan,
so thanks, Snowqueen, whomever you may be!

Well it’s certainly crazy, but not hot and hazy — more like a June monsoon in my neck of the woods. If New England has seen five sunny days this month, I’ll eat my hat. Also not much time for lazy! The girl-child is off to drivers’ ed and then summer camp — while the boy-child is on break between classes and a summer internship. It seems once school lets out, life gets more hectic! I was, however, fortunate to enjoy a visit to my beloved upper peninsula over the past couple of months.

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sandhill cranes ~ twenty miles north of nowhere and just south of Lake Superior

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snow buntings playing at whitefish point

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the lighthouse at whitefish point ~ with a laker far off on the horizon

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lake superior agate

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dream boat ~ the Edward L. Ryerson ~ steaming downbound from the Soo

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a sunset in paradise…

And the garden, of course, takes much spare time in a most rewarding way!

As a very late birthday gift, I bought myself some organically grown heirloom tomato plants which arrived late in May, all the way from California (thanks, mom!).

In spite of the heavy rains and lack of sun, these tomatoes are taking off.

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marianna’s peace ~ heirloom ‘potato-leafed’ tomato ~ early June

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… and late June

How does your garden grow?

Oh, and by the way… I’ve been cooking too, albeit mostly simple things of late.
I am hoping for some hot weather in July to get homemade dosa/idly batter going quickly! Tonight, it’s cool and rainy, so it’s this Udupi temple special from Ramya’s Mane Adige ~ a dish so delectable that it’s become a fast favorite. She made hers with brinjal; I also added pumpkin to mine in the form of sweet buttercup squash. So sweet in fact, that I didn’t add much jaggery. The squash was also a good thickener, so I didn’t use coconut. And of course, for seasoning, it was none other than ISG’s magical sambhar podi :) No photos of that, as it’s still on the stove, but check out Ramya’s pic and you’ll be drooling, I promise. Thanks, Ramya!

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Lowfat Ma Po Tofu, Spring, and a Chinese Dosa?

March 15, 2009 at 11:02 pm · Filed under Cooking, cats, garden

I just had to show you this — a Chinese dosa??

It’s spring at last!!

Finally, the days are longer and the thermometer is ever so slowly creeping upward. All the extra sunshine is soaking into my bones to wake me from a long winter nap. Of course waking up from winter naps means taking out spring clothes, and as usual, too much winter makes too much me!

To that end, I picked up a package of Nasoya Light silken tofu, and thought about that melt-in-your-mouth Chinese dish, ma po tofu. I wanted to try it without the oil called for in most recipes. And while it can be made without pork and without too much oil, it can’t be made without Sichuan hot bean sauce (or paste), and for that I ventured out to my favorite Asian market. I’m usually in there buying Indian groceries — today it was a little trip to China.

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chinese groceries, clockwise from top left ~ sichuan peppercorn (tepal), light and dark soy sauces, dried fungus, canned water chestnuts, canned sichuan hot bean paste, sesame oil (Japanese brand)

Next time I will invest in a jar of the hot bean paste rather than the can. I think the jars have more chili heat. Made with fermented soy or broad beans, this paste is *very* salty; between that and the dash of saltier-than-regular light soy sauce, the salt shaker is not necessary. Taste the bean paste before beginning to determine how much chili powder is needed. The dish should be quite spicy.

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wood ears ~ before, top, and after soaking, right

This comes together so quickly it could easily be a weeknight meal. It’s mostly based on the recipe in my favorite Chinese cookbook: The Taste of China by Ken Hom.

Ma Po Tofu

1 tsp canola oil
2 TB each garlic and ginger, minced
1 1/2 TB sichuan hot bean paste
1 tsp chili powder (or to taste)
1/2 tsp Chinese light soy sauce
2-3 dried black fungus (wood ear, tree ear), soaked, drained, and thinly sliced

1 block silken tofu, drained well and cut in cubes
(mine was Nasoya light, 16 oz)

2 TB cornstarch mixed with 2 TB water

1/4 c green onions, sliced
1 tsp toasted sesame oil

1 tsp sichuan peppercorns, toasted and powdered

~~~~~

In a wok or large non-stick frying pan, heat oil over medium heat. Add garlic and ginger, saute a minute until fragrant, then add bean paste and chile powder.
Stir-fry 2 minutes, then add about 1/2 c water to prevent burning. Add wood ears and stir well.

Cover and simmer on med-low about 5 minutes, then gently add the tofu.
Use a wooden spoon to gently stir the mixture, then cover and simmer over low heat about 15 minutes.

When ready to serve, uncover and raise the heat to med-high.
When the mixture bubbles, add the cornstarch-water mixture and stir thoroughly.
Fold in the green onions, drizzle with the sesame oil, and give the mixture a final turn.

Remove from the heat to a serving bowl, and garnish with the ground sichuan pepper.

Serve hot over steamed rice. I had mine with plain steamed cauliflower as a substitute.

Tips: soak dried fungus/wood ears in hot water for about 15-20 minutes to reconstitute. Cut out the tough edge, then roll up and slice like a cookie-dough roll. If you’ve never cooked with these before, don’t be put off by the name. It has no real taste of its own, but provides a nice crunchy texture.

You can toast the sichuan peppercorns in the microwave for about 30-45 seconds. Then grind as you would any dry roasted spice. Don’t try to crush in a mortar and pestle as I did — you’ll be picking little sichuan peppercorn coverings out of your teeth!

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spicy low-fat ma po tofu over cauliflower

anther yummy version:

Pel’s Ma Po Doufu (vegan)

~~~

All I can think about is getting back into the garden. I have ordered tomato plants already(!!) to arrive mid-late May. I’ve rounded up all the seeds leftover from last year — many from dear ISG — plus the things I saved over the winter.
I have picked up two types of cucumber and three varieties of long beans to try, okra, and calaloo, not to mention seeds for mint, dill, oregano, and of course catnip! Pinkie loves catnip — perhaps Daisy will take to the fresh variety.

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pinks and daisy being lego-kitties

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daisy in early spring sunshine

What will you plant in your garden this spring?

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