Homemade Kimchi

Kimchi is a tangy, spicy, pickled condiment and is Korea's most loved food. Koreans eat kimchi at almost every meal. Like Laotians and their padek, few Koreans can last more than a few days before their cravings get the better of them.  I adore kimchi too and eat it almost everyday. It's so convenient, we serve it as a vegetable and sometimes in more "exotic" ways, like our favorite grilled cheese sandwiches, that we call Kimcheese .  A few nibbles of kimchi in the middle of the afternoon boost my energy like no cup of coffee can.  It's our salad during the winter months when fresh salad greens look tired and winter weary.  A bowl of ramen noodles with kinchee and leftover meats is our all time favorite fast food at home. 

Save the Fruits of Summer

When school buses roll and a chill is in the air, I'm relieved that the summer heat and humidity are finally gone and I can get out and enjoy the garden once again. At the same time, however, I'm filled with a sense of urgency to get on with harvesting and preserving. Here are some fast and easy ways I use to put up fruits and vegetables for the winter.

Onions and garlic are easy and carefree to grow. Keep them through the cold months by tying them into bundles, hanging them to dry then cleaning and storing them in a cool, dark place.

Garlic ready for the cellar or, in our house, the front hall closet -- it's dark and cool.

To make pickled hot peppers, simply slice, put in jars and fill with vinegar. After a week, they're ready to be sprinkled over nachos or pizzas for extra heat.

This is Emily's German Pickled Zucchini. The secret to this recipe is the unique flavor of Gurken-Meister, a German pickling vinegar. She gave me a bottle (she likes to do this) and a list of ingredients. Even with no instructions, this was easy to make and used a ton of the overgrown zucchinis from the garden.

German Pickled Zucchini
2 lbs zucchinis, cut into bite size pieces
3 red peppers, cut into bite size pieces
3 onions, cut into bite size pieces
1 cup Gurken-Mesiter
2 cups apple juice
1 cup sugar
1 TBS dill
1 TBS mustard seeds
1 TBS peppercorn
2 tsp salt
1 tsp curry powder

Put all ingredients in a large stock pot, bring to a boil. Boil for three minutes. Put into hot sterilized jars and seal. Makes 2 quarts.

When Emily first brought these pickles to knitting night in small, pint jars, they were gone instantly. They disappear just as quickly at our house without the knitters so I now put them in quart size jars or larger. The vegetables become sweet and crunchy, good with grilled meats and sandwiches.

Plum and Cherry Brandy

When fruits are plentiful and ripe to bursting, the fastest way to save them is to put them in a jar and cover with vodka. I add one cup of sugar to 1 quart of vodka, but use more or less according to your taste. After six weeks, decant and serve. Intoxicating with only a slight sweetness.

This Blueberry Bounce is vodka infused with blueberries, sugar, herbs and spices.
Just right over fruit desserts and as an after-dinner nightcap.

Preserving Food Without Freezing or Canning was my inspiration for some of these creations. The book highlights "traditional but little-known French techniques for storing and preserving edibles in ways that maximize flavor and nutrition." It's a good read.

Sweet and Sour Cucumber

Here's a recipe to get you through the hazy, hot days of summer.

Sweet and Sour Cucumber

In my farmers' market days, I served this relish/salad along side my Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce, but this fresh relish really goes with everything. Try it with hot or cold meats, alongside lunch time sandwiches, or all by itself for guilt-free snacking. It is a perfect way to deal with cucumber glut from the garden.

Sweet and Sour Cucumber
4 to 6 small cucumbers, thinly sliced into circles or half moons
1 small onion, cut in half and thinly sliced

Marinade:
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup water
1/2 cup white vinegar
1 tsp salt

Garnish (optional):
little tiny hot chili peppers (as much as you can take)
cilantro

In a sauce pan over low heat, dissolve sugar in the water, remove from heat and stir in vinegar and salt. Makes two cups.

Put cucumber and onion in a serving bowl, add marinade to cover the vegetables. Garnish as desired. Refrigerate until ready to eat but the flavor improves as it sits. It will keep for about five days in the fridge, except at our house, where it doesn't last that long.

Cook's tips:
Double or triple the marinade, it keeps in the fridge almost indefinitely. Easy and convenient.

Pick cucumbers when they're still small, when the seeds are just starting to form. At this stage they're popping crisp and distinctly sweet.

Jalapeno-Onion Relish, Fast and Flexible

Super easy and versatile, this relish, full of heat, is a must for your July Fourth barbecue. When I was a young bride, my brother in-law, Cameron, showed up at a family cook out with a a jar of his jalapeno-onion relish and it has not been absent from our fridge ever since. It is so good with hamburgers, hot dogs, sandwiches, grilled meats and fish, really it goes with everything. Take it to a barbecue and you'll come home with an empty dish.

It is simply sliced onion and pickled jalapeno with curry powder, ground cumin, salt and pepper. That's it. I slice an extra large onion, Vidalia is great in season, saute in a bit of olive oil, for about five minutes then add the pickled jalapeno with a splash of its juice and stir. Add about two teaspoon curry powder, a teaspoon cumin, salt and pepper to taste, sautee and stir until onion and peppers are tender but still firm, about ten minutes. This will make about a pint depending on the size of the onion and the amount of jalapeno.

Later in the summer when the garden provides fresh hot peppers, I'll use these and add vinegar instead of the pickled jalapeno and its juice. The amount of peppers controls the heat of course, I use one part hot peppers to 3 parts onion. Possible additions and substitutions abound. Sometimes I add ground coriander but when the garden has cilantro, I'll use it instead. You can add some chopped garlic and/or some hot pepper flakes when you don't have enough jalapeno or fresh hot peppers. Have fun and enjoy the heat.

Garlic Scapes - Another Seasonal Delight

Garlic scape is the flower stem of the garlic plant that, in my garden, emerges around mid June. It curls upward as it grows, ultimately straightening out and blooming. When the scape curls and forms a full circle, it is time to pick. After that, the stalk starts to get tough.


Farmers used to cut off the scapes and discard them so the plant would put all its energy into producing bigger and better bulbs. But scapes are starting to make an appearance at farmers' markets and CSA shares. The window of availability is brief, only about a week, so when you see them don't think twice. Take them home. They're versatile and delicious and have long been a part of Asian and Eastern European cooking. In most recipes, they can replace garlic, scallions and onions, but also asparagus and green beans because their flavor is so subtle.

The whole stem is edible except for the flower bud. The buds are quite tough and should be removed in certain recipes. For stir fry and pasta dishes, I cut the stems into 2" pieces, composting the flower buds. When I pickle, roast or grill them, I like the way they look with the buds attached. There are hundreds of recipes on the internet, mostly for garlic scape pesto. I haven't made the pesto yet but can't imagine it would be bad.

This week I harvested 3 lbs of scapes and, for a quick supper for two, made this dish with rotini pasta, about 20 garlic scapes, a handful of just picked asparagus, feta cheese and kalamata olives. Quick, easy and satisfying.

Pasta with Garlic Scapes, Feta Cheese and Olives

2 cups dry pasta (any kind)
2 strips of bacon, cut into 1/2" pieces
20+ garlic scapes, cut into 2" pieces, discard the flower buds
1/2 lb asparagus (or any other vegetables), cut into 2" pieces
1/4 cup Feta Cheese
1/4 cup Pitted kalanata olives.
1 TBS olive oil
1 tsp hot pepper flakes, or to taste
salt and pepper

Cook pasta until al dente, drain and save a cup of pasta water. In the same pan that you cooked the pasta in, add a tablespoon olive oil and bacon, cook until bacon is brown and crisp. Remove from pan and set aside. Add garlic scapes to the same pan, cook and stir for two minutes, then add the asparagus with a splash of pasta water, cook until vegetables are tender about 3 more minutes. Add hot pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Add the pasta and mix well, add pasta water if too dry, adjust seasoning, top with bacon and serve. Serves 2.

With the rest of the harvest I made Garlic Scape Pickles. I used my favorite Dilly Bean brine, added a little sugar (to take the edge off the acidity), ten or so chili peppers and cilantro with roots attached. Two weeks in the fridge and they'll be ready to eat.

Pickled Garlic Scapes with Hot Peppers and Cilantro

Here are links to more garlic scape recipes:
The Garlic Scape: Eat It or Wear It
Clagett Farm Notes
Down on the Farm

Colorful fall greens

With just a bit of coddling, beautiful greens still linger in my southern New Hampshire garden.

Chinese cabbage and baby beets

Kale and escarole under row cover

Swiss chard and arugula

Bright Light Swiss chard is as tasty as it is beautiful. In the garden it grows easily and abundantly, and need only to be picked to keep it producing. I harvest it by the armloads from early summer to late fall. Both leaves and stems are edible but I prefer only the leaves and the stems get composted.

Here are two never fail Swiss chard recipes.

Sautéed Swiss Chard with Garlic and Oyster Sauce

3 lbs Swiss chard, leaves coarsely shredded, stems discarded

3 Tbs olive oil

4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

Salt and pepper to taste

1 Tbs oyster sauce

Heat oil and garlic in a large heavy pot over medium heat, add salt and pepper. When garlic turns slightly golden add chard leaves in batches, stirring until wilted before adding next batch and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until tender, 4 to 6 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to a serving bowl, toss with oyster sauce and serve. Makes 8 servings.

This chard ball recipe is adapted from an old spinach ball recipe. Whether you make them with spinach or Swiss chard the accolades will be the same, and will leave your guests begging for more.

Chard Balls with Hot and Sweet Mustard

4 cups cooked Swiss chard, squeezed dry, or 2 10 oz packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry.

2 cups herb stuffing mix, crushed

1 cup grated parmesan cheese (5 oz wedge)

½ cup (1 stick) butter, melted

5 scallions, finely chopped

3 eggs

Dash of freshly grated nutmeg

Combine all ingredients and mix well. Shape into 1 inch balls. Cover and refrigerate or freeze until ready to bake.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Set balls on ungreased baking sheet and bake until golden brown about 10 to 15 minutes. Serve with Hot and Sweet Mustard.

Makes about 50 balls

Hot and Sweet Mustard

½ cup Coleman dry mustard

½ cup white vinegar

¼ cup sugar

1 egg yolk

Combine mustard and vinegar, cover and let stand at room temperature 4 hours.

Mix sugar and egg yolk in small sauce pan. Add mustard and vinegar mixture and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until slightly thickened. Cover and chill. Serve at room temperature.