What are you eating from your garden in 2016

[JayPoc]

BLT Pizza and fresh corn. I love the summer!

[JayPoc]

today we did stuffed cabbage (cabbage rolls?). The filling is ground beef and rice, plus onion, chives, three types of peppers, carrots, and yellow squash. All the veg came from the garden. We also did a big pot of spaghetti sauce, with beef, tomatoes from the garden, and pretty much all the veggies listed above.

[Gary350]

[applestar]

First two Mirai350BC corn for my two girls. They loved it.



...I may be growing almost entire Spiral Garden of these next year....

[Taiji]

some of the stuff. Have been getting beets, turnips, potatoes right along. I love these early potatoes I started planting last year. The foto is one plant's worth; I have about 40+ plants. Glad I like potatoes! Have been getting green onions, swiss chard, kale for a long time. The tomatoes are the first ones though. Not always easy to grow tomatoes here. They only set fruit in the perfect conditions, and they always come late.

[rainbowgardener]

Tonight I made a big pot of minestrone. Had some for dinner and froze a bunch for winter. Garden ingredients in it were: tomatoes, bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, (one!) carrot and some of the carrot top, kale, chard, oregano, basil, parsley, onion. Plus some store bought veggies, beans, and pasta and garlic. Used my home made soup stock in the minestrone and am now simmering a new batch for next time.

Between today and yesterday, I made basil jelly, pesto (froze it), dried sage, lavender, rosemary, and anise hyssop. Infused some sage into olive oil. Distilled sage and lavender oils. Kitchen has been smelling wonderful!

[applestar]

Are you using the espresso pot for distilling? Post updates in that thread please? ... Now where was it...?

[HoneyBerry]

San Marzano tomatoes!

[rainbowgardener]

Are you using the espresso pot for distilling? Post updates in that thread please? ... Now where was it...?

ask and you shall receive!

https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/vi ... 56#p393856

[kayjay]

20160724veggies.jpg (33.37 KiB) Viewed 2818 times

This will be turned into dehydrator cucumber chips, zucchini chips, and zucchini lasagna. The tomatoes, I'll save for salad.

[applestar]

Do the zucchini slices take place of noodles? ...or will it be like eggplant lasagna but with zukes?

[digitS']

Between today and yesterday, I made basil jelly, pesto (froze it), dried sage, lavender, rosemary, and anise hyssop. Infused some sage into olive oil. Distilled sage and lavender oils. Kitchen has been smelling wonderful!

Oh I bet!

Distilling to extract flavor: what a new concept to me! Oh, I put together a little stovetop still before. Made the most terrible brandy!

The flavored, store-bought oils I've tried were okay ... I very much like herbal flavors but I don't really want to eat them . Pesto is mostly okay but I want basil in my pasta sauce or soup but want to fish it out, not eat it! Dry flakes are okay but I'd rather use fresh and remove. It's just a preference, I would not want to give up black pepper, for example.

Distilling, distilling ... juniper berries and gin ... basil flavored walnut oil ... sunflower seed oil ... maybe something to explore this winter.

Steve

[kayjay]

The zucchini slices take place of noodles, yes... I don't know the difference between that and eggplant lasagna. I eat gluten-free, hence the zucchini noodles.

zucchini-lasagna3.JPG (37.69 KiB) Viewed 2734 times

[applestar]

Thanks for the idea!

Currently baking pasta subbed with zucchini slices lasagna using largish (9" Butta) zuke and a white comet eggplant -- number of zukes in the fridge is now down to 2 large, 1 med, and 3 small ). Had no ground meat but had leftover pot roast. No ricotta but had cream cheese. Used garden harvested onions and garlic, a green pepper, and herbs.

Don't know yet if it's going to turn out delicious or not... But it sure SMELLS YUM

[Gary350]

DINNER. Fried zucchini with green beans and onions. Boiled potatoes fried. Corn on cob. Tomatoes. Pork chops on grill.

[applestar]

Thanks for the idea!

Currently baking pasta subbed with zucchini slices lasagna using largish (9" Butta) zuke and a white comet eggplant -- number of zukes in the fridge is now down to 2 large, 1 med, and 3 small ). Had no ground meat but had leftover pot roast. No ricotta but had cream cheese. Used garden harvested onions and garlic, a green pepper, and herbs.

Don't know yet if it's going to turn out delicious or not... But it sure SMELLS YUM

Oooh this zucchini lasagna DID turn out YUM! I had 1 and 1/2 serving. I could go back for more but will wait and see if family will decide to try eating it or not. I often end up eating my "healthy choice" by myself so there might be "more for me" . I had two "reference" recipes but made it up as I went and left it to bake at 375 for 45 min. Then checked the recipes and went back and added 5 minutes according to one of the recipes. Should have trusted my instincts because it finished when I wasn't looking and burned the cheese in a couple of places. But I like that tangy "caramelized too much and will have to be called burned" flavor sometimes, so I don't mind too much.

This is one of those things I won't be able to make exactly the same way again. I used diced Swiss raclette cheese in the middle layer because I didn't have enough mozzarella and had to reserve that for the top. Raclette is -well- kind of "stinky" I guess a bit like Asiago maybe? But, being in the middle of everything, the flavor melded well. I wonder if the others will notice? Using the eggplant in thin long slices same as zucchini was a good addition because the shape and visual texture are similar but the mouthfeel and flavor are different and it's fun to get that extra surprise punch of eggplant flavor. Chopped up pot roast tasted great, and the finely chopped good Parmesan and Locatelli really made the flavors shine.

I really like that Butta and White comet are so pale and both play pretend-pasta really well.

Oh and I forgot that I also added some de-stemmed kale and garlic chives as well as all the little blossoms from a garlic chive flowerhead. I should also mention I used blossoms and immature seeds of parsley rather than the usual oregano, etc. and used Newman's Own Organic Fire Roasted tomato sauce, since my own tomatoes are still green....

[applestar]

Heh, it doesn't look like there will be more for me. DD is calling this "Ratatouille Lasagna," and DH who had declared very LOUDLY this morning "I don't EAT zucchini" was serving himself a hefty 2nd portion. Once I was sure he liked it, I told him this is zucchini while DD called out -- " I told you...!" He said, "But this ISN'T zucchini. It's GOOD."

[Gary350]

zucchini bread

[pepperhead212]

I just made a Thai curry, with eggplant, butternut, okra, onion, and bitter melon from the garden. Those, plus garlic and shallots in the curry paste, plus finishing it off with Thai basil. I probably forgot something!

It's been too long since I made a Thai curry!

[HoneyBerry]

:hehe:
This is a picture of some honey berry wine that I just squeezed from a jar of home grown honey berries that fermented in the fridge. It is soooo good. I just need more of it.

[Paulgarden]

Australia has some very nice veggie gardens,
Is there any Aussie gardeners here?

[HoneyBerry]

Not me, but I did have an Aussie friend. He worked for Microsoft for a while and then moved back to Australia. He gave me 2 postcards: Aussie Sheila and Aussie Bloke. 'Wanna cuppa?" That's all I remember.

[kayjay]

Applestar, glad it turned out! I should have mentioned a few tricks: one is to salt the zucchini slices for 20 min or so, then blot off the water with paper towels. Another is to use a really, really thick sauce. This fights the watery-ness of the zucchini.

My picky SO likewise wolfed it down and said, "I don't even miss the noodles."

[SPierce]

I already picked another batch of potatoes, I have several tomatoes that will be ready tomorrow and I picked some beans this morning!

[rainbowgardener]

Just canned up a couple pints of fresh tomato salsa almost all from the garden.

Garden ingredients: tomatoes, green peppers, jalapeno chili peppers, (one) carrot, onions, parsley*, basil

*I put parsley in it instead of cilantro, because I can't stand the taste of cilantro.

[applestar]

it sounds like everyone's gardens are doing really well
(My tomatoes are WAY late due to the TRM setback, but finally starting to trickle in with the cherry varieties, and I've been getting zucchini and eggplants, cucumbers, etc. and the mostly dependable perennials as in fruits)

Applestar, glad it turned out! I should have mentioned a few tricks: one is to salt the zucchini slices for 20 min or so, then blot off the water with paper towels. Another is to use a really, really thick sauce. This fights the watery-ness of the zucchini.

My picky SO likewise wolfed it down and said, "I don't even miss the noodles."

Thanks so much! I will try again with these instructions and see how it turns out. I think I will need to "enjoy" these zucchini bounty as my zucchini plants have been struck by the SVB's and they are likely to be going down any day now.

But other things are coming in. Maybe I should salt and blot then freeze the zukes for later cooking? Would that work?

[imafan26]

It all sounds so good. I just have upo squash, calamondin limes, and herbs. Today at the community garden we had our annual pot luck. Lots of good food, it was enough for lunch and dinner. There was pork and pumpkin, kim chee, wakame salad with daikon from the garden, about 4 pans of pancit (Filipino fried noodles), chicken adobo, Filipino sweet spagheti, hot dogs,corn on the cob, mungo beans (it was gone by the time I got there) We had roast pig and a quarter hind of beef. Lots of desserts including watermelon, mango cake, Leche flan, biko (mochi dessert with coconut), and chocolate dobash cake from Zippy's. And of course there was rice. No meal here is complete without it. Someone even brought brown rice.

[applestar]

Did you ever post what you MAKE with Upo? I'm really curious now. I bought a short one at the Hmart -- am looking at it wondering what to do....

Also bought a Korean melon....

[Gary350]

[applestar]

This is a picture of some honey berry wine that I just squeezed from a jar of home grown honey berries that fermented in the fridge. It is soooo good. I just need more of it.

That looks like fun! I imagine you relished every drop

[applestar]

Did you ever post what you MAKE with Upo? I'm really curious now. I bought a short one at the Hmart -- am looking at it wondering what to do....

I looked around and noted that imafan kept mentioning soup. So I grabbed a couple of reference recipes from the Internet and made a Turkey and Upo soup.

Yellow color (aside from the stove hood light) is from my MIL's tomato -- I think it was a Yellow Brandywine -- very yummy front end and middle flavor notes with strong acid finish. I thought it would go better with the left over roast turkey, color wise, than a red tomato. In addition to the standard onion and garlic, I added a small green jalapeño and used about 1/2 cup of kimchee radish broth from a store-bought cold noodle kit in addition to fish sauce to up the flavor. Mung bean cellophane noodles, too. Very yummy.

I cubed and froze the other half. I hope that will be OK for using later.

[KitchenGardener]

Yesterday's dinner was a saute of summer squash, sugar snaps, onion, basil and tomato with a good handful of beet greens thrown in at the end all from the garden (it also had leftover corn cut from the cob but that was from the farmer's market). And grilled steak. Big yum!

Tonight, I was feeling uninspired, so pan fried a frozen Mahi Mahi burger, and picked every padron pepper I could find and then sauteed them in good olive oil with a sprinkle of sea salt. So good - I dream about them all year long! Oh and a handful of cherry tomatoes. I can make a whole meal of appetizers and tapas from the garden!

[jal_ut]

[Taiji]

Will be eating this tonight. Tasty Green hybrid cuke; Stringless green pod bean, radishes, greyzini, a Rutgers. Also, the last 6 Ambrosia corn ears.

[rainbowgardener]

tonight was just picked Silver Queen corn, plus pasta with fresh basil pesto and cherry tomatoes from my garden.

[kayjay]

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My haul from yesterday. I made a big salad out of the chard, pepper, and some leftover 'Red Robin' tomatoes. Tonight, I'll be doing cucumber chips in the dehydrator and maybe zucchini pasta with the spiralizer for dinner.

I'm pretty happy about that head of cabbage, even though it's undersized. I'll probably do cole slaw and probably some cabbage + bacon.

[applestar]

I made cornbread with fresh blueberries in the batter and then drizzled blackberry sauce I made from the rejects, then scattered dollops of strained berries that were used to make the sauce with that were still clinging to the underside of the strainer



I had my THIRD piece topped with more blackberry sauce and a scoop of ice cream on the side.

[applestar]

My children have discovered it only takes 20 minutes in the toaster oven to roast potatoes cut into home fries, coated in oil and sprinkled with sea salt. They are going through the harvested potatoes for imperfect tubers to cook and eat -- I think I just heard the toaster oven beeps for the third batch finishing

[applestar]

Used some of the squash and overgrown cucumber, onions, carrot, garlic, jalapeño, herbs, etc. and made Creamy Yellow Zucchini, Cucumber Boat and Mushroom soup

[HoneyBerry]

Now you really did it Apple. Cornbread with blueberries and blackberry sauce? That sounds sooooo good. What time's dinner?