This spring I have been 'composting' a lot of the vegetable scraps directly into the raised garden beds to amend the soil. Generally this just involves digging a hole, dropping in some non-meat food waste, enslaving red wrigglers (worms) that I find lurking under my patio pots, and covering it with topsoil. A week or month later, the food is gone and I have nice dark rich earthy-smelly soil. Perfect for...
Despite the very warm start of May, I have not planted anything new in that raised bed. I should probably move all the flowering bulbs out of the vegetable garden bed into its own area at some point. Half of my rosemary bush on the side yard died when some boards from the fence fell on it during winter. Oh, and I picked up a rhubarb plant. That'll get put into the side yard as soon as I dig out the Prima apple tree that didn't seem to have survived our freak spring snow days in April. It's just as well.
The gold potato "seed" starts from sprouted potatoes in my pantry seems to be leafing very well. For months they were in a pot on the backyard side-of-the-house that gets less than four hours of sunlight, also covered by leaf mulch. Just last week I moved the pot to the backyard patio and it seems to be doing well.
The russet potato "seed" starts don't seem to be doing much at all. How long do I have to wait until the sprouts turn into leaves?
As for other plant "cuttings", I have some romaine lettuce that is regrowing its leaves nicely after having eaten the rest in a salad, I wonder if I should plant them down into soil now that they're starting to grow roots in the yogurt cups I have the plants in.
Cornbread with Fresh/Frozen Corn Kernels
Just how many cornbread recipes does one need anyways? Well, here is another and was less sweet than it should because I put in two tablespoons of the half cup that it originally called for. While it is made with corn and cornmeal, it is also made with wheat flour; so, definitely not gluten free. Recipe ratio comes from The Spruce Eats. I typically get my cornmeal in the bulk bins at the grocery store. Not many ways one can screw up cornbread, except maybe cook it for too long. I didn't have any half 'n half on hand, but I did have milk and heavy cream, so I used half of each.
Ingredients
1 c yellow cornmeal
1 c unbleached all purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs, beaten
up to 1/2 c organic granulated sugar
1 c half and half; or 1/2 c heavy cream + 1/2 c whole milk
1 c sweet corn, fresh or previously frozen (thawed/drained)
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 F
Grease (with butter) an 8" x 8" baking dish.
Is there a purpose to the order of operations? Hmm, I wonder. Sift all the dry ingredients together. Then add the eggs, half 'n half, and sweet corn. Mix until just combined.
Pour into prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes.
Ingredients
1 c yellow cornmeal
1 c unbleached all purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs, beaten
up to 1/2 c organic granulated sugar
1 c half and half; or 1/2 c heavy cream + 1/2 c whole milk
1 c sweet corn, fresh or previously frozen (thawed/drained)
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 F
Grease (with butter) an 8" x 8" baking dish.
Is there a purpose to the order of operations? Hmm, I wonder. Sift all the dry ingredients together. Then add the eggs, half 'n half, and sweet corn. Mix until just combined.
Pour into prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes.
Tapioca Pudding
This recipe ratio comes from Bob's Red Mill and the pudding has a really fluffy texture; of course, this is from beating the egg whites. I would post a pic but it's just a vanilla pudding with tapioca in it.
Makes 6 (1 cup) servings
Ingredients
1/3 c small pearl tapioca, soaked in 3/4 c water for 30 minutes
2 1/4 c whole milk
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 c sugar, divided
2 eggs, separated
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Directions
Soak tapioca in water in a saucepan that can hold at least 2 quarts. Don't drain any remaining water.
Add milk, salt, 1/4 c sugar, and stir frequently over medium heat until boilings. Then simmer over very low heat for 10-15 minutes.
In a small dish, beat the egg yolks. Temper the egg yolks by gradually adding some (maybe a tablespoon?) of the tapioca mixture to the yolks and stirring before adding the egg yolks+tapioca to the pot. Whisk together This is what gives the pudding its yellow-ish color.
As it is cooking over very low heat, beat the egg whites in a separate bowl with 1/4 c sugar until soft peaks form.
Once the tapioca has thickened, turn off the heat (momentarily). Stir or whisk in the beaten egg whites, about 1/4 cup at a time until it is well combined.
Turn heat back on to a low setting and cook for 3 minutes.
Remove from heat. Whisk in vanilla extract. Let cool before eating.
Makes 6 (1 cup) servings
Ingredients
1/3 c small pearl tapioca, soaked in 3/4 c water for 30 minutes
2 1/4 c whole milk
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 c sugar, divided
2 eggs, separated
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Directions
Soak tapioca in water in a saucepan that can hold at least 2 quarts. Don't drain any remaining water.
Add milk, salt, 1/4 c sugar, and stir frequently over medium heat until boilings. Then simmer over very low heat for 10-15 minutes.
In a small dish, beat the egg yolks. Temper the egg yolks by gradually adding some (maybe a tablespoon?) of the tapioca mixture to the yolks and stirring before adding the egg yolks+tapioca to the pot. Whisk together This is what gives the pudding its yellow-ish color.
As it is cooking over very low heat, beat the egg whites in a separate bowl with 1/4 c sugar until soft peaks form.
Once the tapioca has thickened, turn off the heat (momentarily). Stir or whisk in the beaten egg whites, about 1/4 cup at a time until it is well combined.
Turn heat back on to a low setting and cook for 3 minutes.
Remove from heat. Whisk in vanilla extract. Let cool before eating.
Apple Cider Vinegar & Honey Shrub
This batch made roughly 16 oz of syrup and seems to have the right "sweetness" for a drinking vinegar. What to do with the leftover grated apple? I am composting it in the vegetable garden.
Ingredients
One apple, cored not peeled
1/2 c organic granulated sugar
1/4 c raw honey
1 c raw/organic apple cider vinegar (ACV)
Directions
1. Combine ACV, honey, and sugar into a clean 1-quart mason jar.
2. Grate apple and add to jar.
3. Cap the jar and store in refrigerator for 2-3 days.
4. Strain vinegar syrup into a clean jar.
To Use
Mix 3 tablespoons of vinegar syrup with 8 oz of sparkling water.
Ingredients
One apple, cored not peeled
1/2 c organic granulated sugar
1/4 c raw honey
1 c raw/organic apple cider vinegar (ACV)
Directions
1. Combine ACV, honey, and sugar into a clean 1-quart mason jar.
2. Grate apple and add to jar.
3. Cap the jar and store in refrigerator for 2-3 days.
4. Strain vinegar syrup into a clean jar.
To Use
Mix 3 tablespoons of vinegar syrup with 8 oz of sparkling water.
Vegan Mushroom Jerky / Slow-Roasted Mushroom Strips
As far as snacks go, this was so time consuming with little reward (remember the zucchini chips?) that it makes me almost want to buy a food dehydrator. I doubt I'll ever use fresh mushrooms this way again. It's no wonder all the mushroom jerky recipes call for those large portobello mushrooms. The mushroom slices shrink by more than half, which is why you'd want to use the largest mushrooms as possible. I, however, did not have portobello mushrooms and used fresh shitake mushrooms instead. Recipe ratio comes from Food52.
Ingredients
2 tbsp low sodium tamari soy sauce
3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp ground chili powder
x large or medium portobello mushrooms
Directions
Slice mushrooms to 1/4" thickness. Add to marinade. Refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.
Preheat oven to 250 F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Arrange mushroom slices on the sheets.
Bake for 1.5 to 2 hours, or until the pieces have shrunken and are dried out. You could flip the slices at the midway time mark, but I didn't bother.
Certainly flavorful and I ate half before I stored the rest in the fridge.
As a snack food, this is a waste of time for so few calories.
I added the remainder of the finished batch to a soup and it was delicious.
Ingredients
2 tbsp low sodium tamari soy sauce
3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp ground chili powder
x large or medium portobello mushrooms
Directions
Slice mushrooms to 1/4" thickness. Add to marinade. Refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.
Preheat oven to 250 F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Arrange mushroom slices on the sheets.
Bake for 1.5 to 2 hours, or until the pieces have shrunken and are dried out. You could flip the slices at the midway time mark, but I didn't bother.
Certainly flavorful and I ate half before I stored the rest in the fridge.
As a snack food, this is a waste of time for so few calories.
I added the remainder of the finished batch to a soup and it was delicious.
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