Commie Plants

Yes, I had to work today. Plants are very unpatriotic and don't seem to care if it's a holiday or not. They are going to grow regardless. Perhaps it's all the That 70's Show I've been watching since I move out here (just watched all of seasons 5 and 6), but I have been referring to the plants as Commies today. (These are the things that happen in the valley, ok?).

Lunch Menu: veggie and ham soup, buttermilk biscuits and salad of mixed greens, spinach and watercress tossed with julienne beet and Spanish black radish and curry vinaigrette

Since it is Memorial Day, so I hear, I decided it was necessary to grill out for dinner.

Dinner Menu: Burgers topped with ramp cheddar, grilled balsamic onions, spinach with homemade (grilled) focaccia buns, sweet potato and parsnip fries, raw beet salad and for dessert strawberry shortcake!

You might be thinking, 'Sweet potatoes? parsnips? beets? strawberries? hey! none of those are in season right now!' Well, not to fear. I assure you they are all grown right here in Harmony Valley. Luckily, root veggies store amazingly well, when stored properly of course. And the strawberries were frozen from last years harvest. I just couldn't wait any longer for strawberry short cake! A friend of the farm happens to be a cheese maker and makes a yogurt-esque cheese (think loose chevre) from sheep's milk called Labneh. We always have some in the fridge so I sweetened it with some honey and thinned it out with cream, topped a left over buttermilk biscuit with the sweetened cheese and macerated strawberries. Summer at it's best.

Since my last raw beet salad went over so well with my family, I tried a new variation.

1 lg beet, matchsticked
1 orange; zested, segmented and juice reserved
mint, chiffonade
shaved coconut

Alright....Here is your culinary sermon/lesson for the week.

1. Buy a Japanese mandolin.

I don't know about all these attachment blades or guard. I only use the flat blade and usually without the guard. However, the guard would probably be nice. You can shave of a good portion of your hand before you know it with one of these things! ...see previous post 'First Blood'.

They are not very expensive and are a very handy kitchen tool. I used a mando to slice the beets super thin and then cut them into matchsticks with a knife.

2. Orange supremes or segments. Very easy to do and it removes all of the pitch which can be sour and the membrane which can have an unpleasant texture. Rather than trying to explain the prosses myself, here is a link that explains it much better than I could.

3. Chiffonade. A french term that means thin like rags or made of rags. In the culinary world, it means to cut something into thin strips. Again, here is a 'how to' link. My tip: make sure your knife is sharp! If it is dull, you will jsut bruise the leaves and discolor them. The chiff in these pictures are fairly wide, I make mine as thin as I can.

4. Use shaved, unsweetened coconut. I grew up on that sweetened coconut flake too...but the more I used the shaved coconut, the more I prefer it. It's not hard to find. Look in the bulk area or with dried fruit.

I'm not sure I would buy Red Mill brand...maybe if I had to. But you can at least see what I'm talking about.

Ok. I'll get off my soap box...for now.

Back to the salad. I mixed the orange zest and juice with the beets, but held the segments and mint and coconut separately. Beets bleed into everything. I don't mix everything together until just before I'm going to serve it. I really liked this salad. So fresh and light. I thought about adding some toasted pecans or walnuts, but I didn't have any. But I bet they'd be good with it too!

After dinner I was determined to do something Memorial Day-ish. I drove into town and bought some plants and a 22 oz. When I got back I remembered I don't have a hand spade nor could I find my bottle opener. I tried several ways to open my beer; a key chain, a lighter, my porch railing...all failed attempts resulting in 3 gouges in my fingers. I finally opened my Lagunitas WTF (Wilco Tango Foxtrot) Ale on the switch plate cover and put on my gloves and started digging. With just my hands. Until I dug up a small rock and used that to dig through the rich, thick, clay soil that is here in the valley. I tried to recruit Jack to help me dig, but I think he knew he'd be in big trouble if he came in for the night with dirty paws. At the end of it, my finger nails are dirty and my fresh cuts are packed with dirt (natures bandaid, right?), but my condo now has reorganized (pre-existing, unidentified) flowers, 2 new sungold cherry tomato plants, 4 scarlet runner bean plants and a beautiful fuchsia dahlia!!

If you are wondering, yes, I am still nursing my room temp beer and have been for 2 hours now. Even though a quarter of it foamed out when I was kamikazed by some sort of huge bug or rodent with wings and forced to defend myself by flailing about. Laugh all you want, but that thing realized I was crazier than it and left me alone!

Also...the last week's newsletter is posted to the website. My contribution to the May 28 newsletter is (most of) the veg feature and the recipes.

Hope you all had a fab Memorial Day!