May 9, 2012 · 8:14 pm

A Post For The Impatient

Twenty-one days.  That’s it my friends.  We’re talking three short weeks between germination and harvest.  And just what is this presto-pronto-producer you ask?  Why the undervalued radish of course!

When I planted my first garden in ’91 the only veggie request I had was from my father; he asked for radishes.  To this day, I remember sitting in the kitchen watching him enjoy a plate full of those crunchy, lightly salted, ruby-red radishes, that I oh-so-proudly grew.  I too share his excitement over that cruciferous vegetable: they’re delicious raw, cooked crisp-tender, fermented, and (I can now say) pickled!

Pickled Radishes

2 large bunches of radishes (I used French breakfast, but any variety will do!)

1 cup cider vinegar

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

4 tsp sea salt or any non-iodized salt such as kosher

1/2 tsp brown mustard seed

1/8 tsp whole coriander

1/4 tsp black peppercorns

3 cloves garlic – sliced

Coin radishes and place into a bowl of ice water.  Set aside.  In a large sauce pot combine water, vinegar, salt, and sugar; stir to dissolve sugar and bring mixture to a slight simmer.

Fill each sterilized pint jar with the above mentioned spices, add one clove of garlic to each jar, then add (drained) radishes; fill jars with hot brine, leaving 1/2″ headspace.  Remove air bubbles; wipe rims and add two-piece adjustable lids to fingertip-tight.  Process in a boiling-water bath for 15 minutes.  Remove jars from canner and allow to cool on a wire rack for 12-24 hours, then store for up to a year.  Yields approximately 3 pints.

This recipe also produces a delicious refrigerator pickle; however, you should wait two weeks before enjoying so the brine can properly develop!

Images and content copyright © 2009-2012 Danielle R Limoge. Recipe adapted from Canning Homemade.

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April 28, 2012 · 11:48 am

Hello, it’s me again.

I’m baaack!!  Well, kind of.  Life has once again gifted me with a crazy twist of fate.  I’ve been traveling for work; so much so that my only free time is now on the weekends.  I’m also relocating.  The when, however, is very much up in the air.  All of this is completely my doing, kind of.  I could have stayed where I am, content, but teetering on “what if”.  I’m someone who craves change, like shake-up-your-snow-globe change.  If I were not standing on the cusp of a brand new growing season, my bags would be packed and a POD would be in-route.  But I blame my gardens and the state of nirvana which they provide.  Dirt therapy grounds me and I enjoy my sanity!

So, with that being said I can finally admit that am sooooo far behind with this year’s gardens.  My tiller remains in the shop, I killed a third of my cold-weather transplants, and my warm-weather seedlings still have their cotyledons!  So yeah, you could say I’m freaking out… in an overly calm, Danielle kinda way.  I think the only thing that has kept me from losing my shit is the fact that I’ve been harvesting carrots, mustard greens, radishes, lettuce, and kale since early March; that, and my kitchen looks like fermentation nation! :)

I haven’t done much “new” weekend cooking, it’s all been quick and dirty.  I’ve been focused on using my stock-pile of frozen veggies for one-pot curry meals, and lots of last winter’s canned bean, veggie, and pea soups.  Although, several weeks ago I managed to whip up a quick preserved lemon couscous.  Unfortunately, it has taken me almost 3 weeks to share!  Looking on the bright side, if any of my readers decided to preserve some of their own citrus fruit, you only have to wait another 10 days or so to give this recipe a whirl! ;)

Salt-Preserved Lemon Couscous

4 salt-preserved lemon wedges, diced (I used my Fancy Schmancy ones.)

1 cup couscous

1-1/4 cups water

1/2 cup toasted nuts, chopped (I used walnuts)

lots of kale, de-ribbed and cut into ribbons

lots of mustard greens, cut into ribbons

1 onion, chopped

2 cups napa cabbage petioles, chopped

2 cups carrots, cut into sticks

1 red pepper, diced

Bring water to a boil, add couscous and stir; remove from heat, add salted lemons and cover.  Heat a small cast-iron pan over medium heat, add nuts and toast until fragrant, about 3 minutes; transfer nuts to a bowl and set aside.  Place a touch of oil in a large wok and sauté carrots and onion over medium heat for approximately 3 minutes.  Add cabbage petioles and red pepper and cook an additional 3 minutes.  Wilt mustard greens and kale over crisp-tender veggies and season with a bit of pepper.

Place a bed of lemon-salted couscous on a plate, add your veggie medley and top with a sprinkling of toasted nuts. Enjoy!

Images and content copyright © 2009-2012 Danielle R Limoge.

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April 11, 2012 · 12:33 pm

Plain-Jane Gets A Makeover

Every January the blogosphere is buzzing with citrus inspired recipes and various preservation techniques.  Like any good food-enthusiast, I too shared a post, as well as embarked on a few new adventures.

I’m no stranger to using salt as a method of preservation for herbs, but fruit is something entirely new for me!  When stepping onto new ground I like to explore various recipes; typically, I start off down the plain-Jane path and then detour trying something with a little more zip.  This is exactly what happened when I preserved lemons.

Feel free to try these recipes with your favorite citrus fruit, I just happened to have a bunch of lemons on hand.  Next time I think I’ll give it a go with limes… or maybe a mix!


Plain-Jane Salted Lemons

8-10 lemons, scrubbed clean and dried.  (You can use any variety available, most people tend to use Meyer since they are more mild.)

1/2 cup sea salt

sterilized quart jar  and metal ring

coffee filter or tightly knit cloth, such as muslin

glass fermenting weights (optional)

Cover the bottom of your jar with a layer of salt.  Cut off each end of the lemon and quarter.  I’ve seen a lot of people only cut off the blossom-end and then “almost quarter” the lemon, keeping it whole.  Either way will work, I’ve found that wedges pack into a jar better than a whole lemon.

With each layer of lemon, add another layer of salt; continue with this pattern until you have filled the jar.  Press down on your lemons to extract the juice.  Make sure your lemons are completely submerged; you may need to use the juice of an additional lemon or two to accomplish this.

Place glass weights on top the fruit to keep it submerged in the juice; wipe the rim and cover with a coffee filter and adjust screw-on band to hold it firmly in place.  Allow to lemons to cure for 5 weeks, then transfer to the refrigerator.

If you do not have glass weights, using clean hands, press down on the lemons each day to keep them submerged in juice.

Fancy Schmancy Salted Lemons

2 lbs lemons, scrubbed clean, dried, and quartered

9 Tbsp sea salt

1/2 Tsp brown cardamom seeds

1 Tsp black peppercorns

1/2 Tsp paprika

1 Tsp cayenne

16 cloves

1-1/2 Tsp sugar

Grind cardamom seeds, peppercorns, and cloves in a mortar and pestle, add to remaining spices; mix well.  Cover the bottom of your jar with a layer of spiced salt and add a layer of lemons.  With each layer of lemon, add another layer of spiced salt; continue with this pattern until you have filled the jar.  Press down on your lemons to extract the juice.  Make sure your lemons are completely submerged; you may need to use the juice of an additional lemon or two to accomplish this.

Place glass weights on top the fruit to keep it submerged in the juice; wipe the rim and cover with a coffee filter and adjust screw-on band to hold it firmly in place.  Allow to lemons to cure for 5 weeks, then transfer to the refrigerator.

If you do not have glass weights, using clean hands, press down on the lemons each day to keep them submerged in juice.

I ended up making a delicious lemon couscous over the weekend, so be sure to check back for that post!!

Images and content copyright © 2009-2012 Danielle R Limoge.  Spiced Lemon recipe adapted from Hungry Tigress.

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April 3, 2012 · 6:15 am

Happy Accidents

Had I known the chore of cleaning out the fridge would provide such a delicious meal, I probably would not have put it off all weekend long!  Typically, when I have fresh veggies in need of use, my go-to dish is a curry concoction.  Since my cabinets were lacking coconut milk, I had to come up with something else.

Last winter, while I was canning soups, I had also planned on canning some of my dried beans.  Well, I never got around to it but I did end up freezing some after over estimating and cooking up way too many for another recipe.  After taking inventory of some use-’em-or-lose-’em fridge items, I began creating what I call a happy accident!

Tortilla Lasagna

6 fajita-sized tortillas (I used a mix of multi grain and whole wheat)

1-1/2 pints Tomatillo Salsa

4 cups ready-to-use black beans

3 carrots, chopped

2 cups chopped tomatoes (I used a quart of canned)

1 large red pepper, chopped

1 pkg Daiya Cheddar Cheese shreds

Ground Cumin, Salt, & Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Grease a 9×13″ baking dish with olive oil and place a layer of tomatillo salsa on the bottom.  Place two tortillas on top the salsa; add half the carrots, peppers, tomatoes, and beans and season lightly with cumin, salt, and pepper.

Sprinkle on a bit of cheese and cover with two more tortillas.  Add the remaining carrots, peppers, tomatoes, and beans, season again and add another layer of tomatillo salsa.  Place the remaining tortillas on the top of the “lasagna” and bake in the oven for 30 minutes.

Cover dish with tinfoil and continue baking for an additional 20 minutes.  Remove tinfoil, sprinkle on more cheese, and place back in the oven until cheese is melted and begins to brown, approximately 10 minutes.  Allow lasagna to rest for 10 minutes, this will help the layers stay together when serving!

This recipe yielded me about 10 servings, most of which were placed in the freezer for work-week lunches.  I was pleased to find it freezes really well!

Images and content copyright © 2009-2012 Danielle R Limoge.

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March 29, 2012 · 9:06 pm

The Precursor Post

Last weekend I gave myself the daunting task of cleaning out the fridge.  As some of you probably know, this chore can get pretty hairy, literally!  Thankfully it wasn’t as bad as I originally anticipated; turns out I only had one unidentifiable substance lurking in a container hidden in the depths of the fridge!

As I began drafting out that adventure it dawned on me that I had yet to share my tomatillo salsa post, which happens to be the star of my upcoming recipe!

Each year I try to select unique, unusual, or new-to-me vegetables to grow.  The tomatillo just happens to fit all three of these criteria.  Native to Mexico, this nightshade resembles a small, unripe tomato.  Enclosed in their paper-like husk, they develop into a green, yellow, red, or purple fruit.  It is recommended that you grow more than one, since single plants rarely set fruit due to their high rate of self-incompatibility.  I planted three and they ended up producing an obnoxious amount of fruit… all season long!  Note to self: plant only two this year!

Since I ended up with so many tomatillos, I needed to find different ways to preserve them.  One was to make tomatillo salsa!

Tomatillo Salsa

5 1/2 cups chopped, cored, husked tomatillos (Wash them well since underneath the husk lies a sticky film!)

1 cup chopped onion

1 cup chopped and seeded green chili peppers  (I used my Chinese 5 color peppers.  You can substitute a sweet pepper should you not want a hot salsa, you just can’t change the amount!)

1/2 cup white vinegar

4 Tbsp bottled lime juice

4 cloves of garlic, minced

2 Tbsp finely chopped cilantro

2 Tsp ground cumin

1/2 Tsp salt

1/2 Tsp pepper flakes

Combine all ingredients in a large stainless-steel sauce pot and bring to a boil over med-high heat, stirring constantly.  Reduce heat and boil gently, stirring frequently, for 10 minutes.

Ladle hot salsa into hot sterilized jars, leaving 1/2″ headspace.  Wipe rims, adjust two-piece lids to fingertip-tight.  Place jars into a boiling-water bath canner, ensuring they are completely covered with water.  Process both pints and half-pints for 15 minutes.  After the recommended processing time, remove the canner lid, wait an additional 5 minutes.  Remove jars and allow to cool, undisturbed, on a wire rack for 12-24 hours.

Images and content copyright © 2009-2012 Danielle R Limoge. Recipe courtesy of Ball’s Complete Book of Home Preserving

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March 28, 2012 · 8:26 pm

Wordless Wednesday: Spring Growth Edition

Images and content copyright © 2009-2012 Danielle R Limoge.

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March 18, 2012 · 10:07 pm

Weekend Projects

Sun-kissed skin and sore muscles, my definition of the perfect weekend!  The past two days were absolute bliss, especially since I was able to spend most of it outside.  Not only did I organize my garden shed, sow radish seeds, get my indoor seeds started, and weed the flower beds, but I pulled my first harvest of the 2012 growing season!

Some furry little creature made a cozy nest in the shed.  They also ate the sunflower seeds I was saving!

Laundry on the line and seeds in the dirt!

My kale plants are thriving, all 10 of them!  I definitely see some kale chips in the near future!

Overwintered mustard greens.  Had I known they would be surviving the mild winter, I would have put more in the ground!

First harvest of the year: French breakfast radishes, yellow and white carrots, and a black radish!  I put two rows of carrots in the ground late September that received too much shade, so they never got big enough for harvest… ’til now!

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March 13, 2012 · 9:19 pm

And So It Begins

Yes, I know it’s mid-March and technically still winter, but seriously, how could I resist?  The sun was shining, flowers are blooming, and temps are rising (albeit a bit too fast for my liking).  The past 5 weeks have been a whirlwind of activity, none of which have included food-growing activities.  I’ve yet to order this year’s seeds, my growing shelves remain empty, and the lights are still unplugged.  I’m embracing this life change, but still I find it to be a bit unsettling.  Not quite as much as the absence of winter, but unsettling none the less.

Tonight I was reunited with the feeling of freshly worked earth moving between my fingers.  The sensation was intoxicating.  As I sit here typing I’m drunk off of dirt.  It’s a glorious feeling.

Typically, peas are sown on Paddy’s day, at least where I come from.  This year I jumped the gun.  Planting anything right now is a gamble; in Pennsylvania, it’s not unheard of to experience a severe snow storm late March through mid-April.  Despite this year’s unseasonably warm winter, I’m banking on it being over… said the optimistic food-grower.

So, tonight I threw caution to the wind and planted two rows of peas and half a row of spinach.  Should I lose them it’s okay, kind of.  I will only be set back in time, which is now more precious than currency.  My (most likely cross-pollinated) golden peas were saved from last year’s harvest, and the spinach seeds are from 2010.

This week’s goal is to get my brassicas and leeks under lights and order my remaining seeds.  We’ll see how that goes! :)

Images and content copyright © 2009-2012 Danielle R Limoge.

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March 5, 2012 · 9:10 pm

The Numbers Are In

294.  That is my “unofficial” jar count for the 2011 growing season.  I say unofficial because sometimes I gift a jar (or two) before I remember to write down how much a recipe yielded; other times, I just forget all together.

This year’s number is slightly less than what I had anticipated, but then I remembered I did not put up beans (thank you cucumber beetles) or whole tomatoes (due to having quite a bit left over from 2010).  Had I not cooked-down most of my tomatoes into sauce, and had not fought the worst bug battle to date, I’m sure my jar count would have surpassed 2010′s unofficial count of 342!

Here is a glimpse into my just-off-the-kitchen, perfectly polished, meticulously arranged, and precisely labeled dry storage/canning pantry.  In my dream home it would be an entire room!!!

What you don’t see is my upstairs closet packed pull of the remaining jars!  I couldn’t get a decent picture, so just imagine 19 dozen more jars neatly packed into ball half boxes, all labeled and dated!  Yeah, you could say I’m a little neurotic.

And encase you were wondering what delectable goodies fill those jars in waiting, I’ve got the rundown of what went into last year’s canner.

SAUCES & CONDIMENTS: vanilla maple & plain applesauce, spicy & plain pasta sauce, ketchup, and bbq sauce.

SOUPS & STOCKS: tomato-garlic, 10 bean, split pea, vegetable stock

JAMS, JELLIES & MARMALADES: strawberry-rhubarb jam, clementine marmalade, grape jelly, quince jam, love apple jelly, tropical peach jam, tomato jam, malibu peach jam, corncob jelly, vanilla-pear jam, raspberry-apricot jam, raspberry jam, cherry-vanilla jam, yellow tomato jam, apricot jam, white grape peach tea jam, and strawberry-blueberry-rhubarb jam.

CHUTNEYS & FRUIT BUTTERS: vanilla bean peach butter, quince-apple chutney, peach-apple butter, rhubarb chutney, and spring conserves.

PICKLED: chard stems, radishes, and dilly scapes.

SALSAS & TOMATOES: tomato salsa, peach salsa, summer salsa, stewed tomatoes, roasted tomatoes, and tomatillo salsa.

FRUITS & VEGETABLES: carrots, roasted eggplant (it’s almost pickled), beets, and peaches.

Yep, I think that covers just about everything!  I may revisit this post (at another time) to link the recipes.

After skimming over all of those tasty titles, you may have noticed that a large number of them have yet to make it onto the blog.  Lets just say I’ve got plenty of future posts at the ready!  Who knows, maybe this will be the year I finally catch up… but I wouldn’t bet the farm! :P

Images and content copyright © 2009-2012 Danielle R Limoge.

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February 21, 2012 · 8:37 pm

Call off the search party!

I’m still alive.  My sincere apologies for the lack of activity on the blog and facebook page.  I made a career change several weeks ago, which has taken up much of my, well, life.  My days now begin at quarter to 5 and don’t slow down for the next 14 hours.  When I finally arrive home, the last thing I want to do is stare at a computer trying to focus my exhausted brain.

I have quite a few posts in the works, including more bread, some canning, and a mesh produce bag giveaway once I hit 200 blog subscribers… and that is only 2 readers away!  So don’t go anywhere!

So, until we meet again, my dear readers (which will be soon, I promise) I leave you with the best video in the “Shit –>insert group here<– Say” collection!  I’m still laughing about it!!

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