We're heading up to the farm this morning to pick up whatever looks good.  This year we've opted out of the CSA and got a pre-paid "farm card" instead so that we can have more choice in what we get.

I'm betting that today there will be rhubarb.  Which, this year, rather than jamming, I'm going to play with pickles.
Also asparagus, which we'll enjoy fresh.  I'm not going to bother pickling any this year.

Looking ahead, the things I want to repeat from previous years are:

tomato jam
peach jam
plum jam
strawberry balsamic jam
pear vanilla butter
pear ginger jam
salsa (lots!)
dried apples
cherries in spiced wine
clementine marmelade
lemon curd
preserved lemons
pears in earl grey syrup
pickled peaches
Yankee membrillo (earl grey apple jelly)
chowchow
dilly beans
sauerkraut
whole tomatoes
gravlax
chicken stock

And I finally want to get around to:
fermented cucumber pickles
fermented other pickles
giardinera
chutney of the major grey genre
plum ketchup
beer jam
quince anything
pickled cauliflower
tapanade
caponata
caramelized onions
marinated red peppers
one of the "mostardas" from Preservation Kitchen
harvesting my own pectin base
home pressure canned beans
maybe some "simmer sauces" to make bytchearse's weekday dinner fixing easier
Generally get more comfortable with pressure canning to free up space in our freezer

I also want to get back into the swing of yogurt and fresh cheeses (which is all I really have space for currently)
And play with a levin.


Looking at my lists, I'm building up a nice repertoire of successful recipes and techniques.  Makes me happy.

You know I mostly get to play in the kitchen when bytchearse is out of the house.

Today's baking is Irish soda bread.
http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2007/03/blasphemous-bread/
I didn't have buttermilk, so I substituted a mixture of yogurt and whole milk (about half & half).  I also didn't have enough raisins, so the fruit content is 1/2 cup raisins, 1/2 cup sultanas, 1/2 home dried apples.  I see nothing wrong with that.  I also substituted 1 cup of whole wheat flour, which I expect will make the bread a little heavier, but I'm willing to live with that for the extra nuttiness.



Next, dinner.

I went here for inspiration:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Gnocchi-with-Mushrooms-and-Butternut-Squash-231343
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/02/21/magazine/gnocchi-of-a-different-color.html

I used butternut, leeks, mushrooms, some cooked lentils we had left in the fridge lots of butter and olive oil, thyme and sage.  I'd been craving mushrooms.  The end result is pretty good, if I say so myself.  I baked the potato and didn't use egg, and the gnocchi aren't too heavy and the lentils make it a more hearty dish.

First brown the cubed squash.
Then brown the mushrooms (the Blessed Julia says don't crowd the pan!)  And then add leeks and sautee until soft.
Added the cooked lentils and some more butter and mushed it all around.
Then added some strips of Swiss chard for something green, and finished with a squeeze of lemon juice.  Made a well, added a bit more butter and sage and gave the gnocchi a quick sizzle.
Serve with some cheese grated over the top.

Butter disappears when I cook, but it's all good.  I like the browned squash chunks.  It's a nice variation on the usual squash preparations. 

This showed up in the NY Times this week: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/22/health/winter-tomato-quiche-recipes-for-health.html?emc=eta1

I used a jar of the tomatoes we put up and didn't bother with the tomato paste.

This crust took a little time but was super easy to work with: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/22/science/22recipehealth.html?emc=eta1




Just waiting for it to cool before we dig in.  As an added bonus, I got to use the reproduction redwear pie plate and milk pan I got for christmas.

5 Tbls. Lavender
5 Tbls. Rosemary
2 Tbls. whole cloves
2 cinnamon sticks crushed

Divide into small bags and stash with your woolens.  I found little organza bags in the wedding favor aisle at Joann Fabrics.  
It smells pretty good!

Theoretically you're supposed to use as much sugar by weight as you have fruit.  I think that's too sweet so I ended up using 1 pound for 1.5 pounds of fruit.  

Clementines
sugar
vanilla bean

Quarter clementines and weigh them.  Put in a pan and cover with cold water bring to a boil and let simmer for about 10 minutes, drain.  Repeat at least once.  This draws off some of the bitterness from the pith.  Blitz the drained fruit with a wand mixer until well chopped.  Add up to an equal weight of sugar and half a vanilla bean. Bring to a boil and cook until sugar begins to caramelize and/or the spread holds its shape on a chilled saucer.  Remove vanilla bean and pour into clean jars.  Water bath can or store in fridge.  



I got 2 pints out 1.5 pounds, which happily ended the clementine conspiracy for this year.  

Apples sliced and set on the rack to dry.  I've figured out that each tray takes about 2 medium apples sliced.  I plan on another batch of dried when this bunch is done.  I really like them in my oatmeal during the winter.

A 1/2 peck of pears goes halved into 4 quarts for this recipe: http://snowflakekitchen.wordpress.com/2011/11/02/reflections-take-two-pears-in-tea-syrup/.  This year I let the syrup steep only as long as it took to peel the pears, about an hour, and I had to top off the jars with boiling water because there wasn't enough syrup to go around. They might be a little weak, but I bet they're still tasty.
Ultimately I think the formula should be 1 c sugar + 1 c water + 1 tea bag for each quart.

Since the last round of experiments with peels and cores I'm feeling wasteful having tossed this week's trimmings.  But there are only so many hours in a weekend.  And I have the cranberry sauce for T-day yet to make.

Next week: more dried apples and lemon curd palooza.  

Week 12: 1/2 peck Gingergold apples, 6 peaches, 1 lb. of beans, 4 lbs round tomatoes, and 3 green and 3 yellow squash
Week 12, 2011: ½ peck peaches, 2 eggplant, 2 bell peppers, 4 tomatoes, quart nectarines
Week 13: 1/2 peck Bartlett Pears, 1/2 peck Prune Plums, 6 corn, and tomatoes
Week 13, 2011: ½ peck ginger gold apples, ½ dozen corn, ½ peck Bartlett pears, mini watermelon, pint yellow cherry tomatoes

Today I did a big canning:  Pear Port Thyme Conserve from Eugenia Bone's "Well Preserved", low sugar plum jam, from which I took a small amount and made Star Anise Scented Plum Jam, and 5 pints of improvised dilly beans with beans that our host in VT gave us from his farm.  

Improvised Dilly Beans
Brine: 1:1 white vinegar & water + 1 tbl. salt per cup of brine, pinch of dill seed, corriander, cumin, red peper flake, 1 large clove of garlic per pint jar, and several fronds of fresh dill per pint jar.  Trim beans to fit pint jars, slide garlic and dill into jar with beans, fill with  hot brine and divide spices evenly between jars.  Hot water process for 10 minutes.  

Peaches are being eaten out of hand, the apples got put to work in a stuffed pumpkin at Bytcharse's open fire cooking class.  Some of last week's tomatoes were eaten in a caprese, and I wouldn't mind the same again with this week's.  We froze some tomatoes whole for future use, they sound like billiard balls when they knock together.  I don't remember what we did with the squash, I know we ate some and will eat more tonight.  

We have several cabbages also from our host in VT with which I may make a crock of kraut.  But not today.  

CSA Week 10: 2 eggplant, 3 peppers, 3 zucchini, 1/2 peck peaches, 1/2 dozen corn, 1 bunch beet, and 1 cuke

Week 10, 2011: ½ peck peaches, ½ peck Moonglow pears, 2 lbs. Shellbeans, 2 eggplant

I'm thinking beets and cuke will get mixed with feta as a salad, the corn will be taken off the cob and made into corn pudding (I've been threatening it long enough) and the excess frozen.  This batch of peaches will be pickled so my mother can stop fretting about Thanksgiving.  One of the eggplants ended up in our mondo-batch of babaganoosh.  That leaves 1 eggplant, 3 peppers, 3 zucchini ... ratatouille time?

Today we turned this:



Into this: 



Being 17 quarts whole tomatoes, 7 pints salsa, and 9 pints tomato sauce, plus some tomatoes saved out to make tomato jam later in the week when I can stand to peel another tomato.  Thanks for all your help Yasmeanie.  

Week 6 2012:   1 pint bluberries, 1 head bok Choy, 1 bunch beets, 3 Walla Walla Onions, 6 corn, and 2 pounds of beans, and 4 golden zucchini.

Week 6 2011: garlic , green beans, corn, broccoli, blueberries, and maple syrup. 

Week 7 2012: 12 ears of corn, 2 pints Blueberries, Hot peppers, Onions and Squash.

Week 7 2011: dozen corn, 2 small sweet onions, Blueberries, 2 green squash, 2 yellow, and 2 pattypan squash, a 2 quart basket of peaches and 1 lb. of green beans.

Week 6 blueberries were eaten on cereal in the mornings, corn was cut off the cob and frozen, most of the green beans were made into dilly beans and canned, though some went into the home made bibimbap, and the golden zucchini was used in bibimbap and a veggie tart.  Bytchearse is stir frying the bok choy, which I think we'll have today with some salmon.  The onions that are left are hanging on the wall by their stalks.  

Week 7 plans: freeze corn off the cob, make blueberry aigre-doux (http://www.mercurynews.com/recipes/ci_20416956/recipe-blueberry-aigre-doux). Edit: Done.