It's Not A Fish

Supper, Wednesday June 28: cuttlefish, vegetables and farfale ( cuttlefish, farfale, zucchini, patty pan, red onion, garlic, parm, canned tomatoes, tomato sauce, fresh basil, thyme, oregano ); turnip greens.

We really like cephalopods. Octopus, squid, cuttlefish are always on the menu when we run across them. The Asian store we shop at has frozen, cleaned, cuttlefish in vacuum packs. This is a typical meal I prepare, red sauce, maybe some vegetables, and pasta. I also use them for Thai or other Asian fare. 

When I started this post I thought "Cuttlefish. . . cuttle? What's a cuttle? Is it a thing?" Yes Virginia it is a thing. The precise origin of the cuttle in cuttlefish is uncertain but there are three related linguistic candidates: Middle Low German küdel meaning container or pocket; Old Norse koddi which refers to a cushion or testicle; and my favorite Old English codd or scrotum. 

Improvise, Adapt, Overcome.

Breakfast, Saturday June 24: roasted roots; scramble (onions, spinach, cheddar, eggs); shredded beef gravy; toast.

I'm including this one because it is an example of trying to put something together for a crowd that has odd tastes with limited ingredients. We were visiting family.

The previous evening I needed to whip up something quick. Meat is kind of a requirement but the supply was limited to some home canned beef. I suggested making something like chipped beef and gravy since there was also an abundance of fresh bread. We had some root vegetables from the garden. Throw in some salad greens and it was a reasonable supper. 

In the morning there were just three of us from the previous evening. There was a bit of the roasted roots and the shredded beef gravy. A little bit of scramble and a decent, if not attractive, repast was had. 

The World Is My Oyster

Supper, Sunday June 18: oyster salad.

Only the leftmost two items didn't come from the garden.

Wonder Twin powers ACTIVATE!

Before oysters. Whaaangh whaaa.

After oysters. Queue music: "Tonight we're gonna party like its. . ."

We have to remember that for most of humanity's existence we have been routinely starving enough to eat whatever we could shove in our gobs that didn't kill us. If you want an example think Durian. That stuff is so nasty Andrew "Bizarre Foods" Zimmern couldn't choke it down. So hats off everyone, to the poor bastard who was hungry enough to try a little "rock snot." Thank you sir or madam for going down that road for us. Deeelicous. 

BTW. Why did the boy in the Wonder Twins always get the lame transformation. Seriously, they would be all:

(Both stand arms length apart facing each other.

Both fist bump to touch rings together.)

Both: "Wonder Twin powers, ACTIVATE!"

Girl: "Shape of a Bengal Tiger!"
Boy: "Form of a bucket of crap!"

Sure I understand that we have millennia of marginalizing women to make up for, but did it have to be every time? 

Sup with that?

I Didn't Know That Was A Thing

Supper, Wednesday June 16: rutabaga greens; zuchini parmesan (rotini, marinara, parm, fresh mozzarella, zucchini).

The title applies to both "things" here. I wanted to make an eggplant parm ala your favorite Greek diner, 2 or 3 slabs of fried eggplant over pasta and topped with cheese. I didn't have any eggplant but I had Grey Griller. I thought, "Grey Griller is kinda firm, and sautes well. . ." Worked like a champ! Tasty too, and it doesn't soak up grease like the eggplant can. 

The Rutabaga greens were a surprise also. I prepared them like sauteed kale. They tasted similar to collards. I like to finish sauteed greens with a little marsala (sweet vermouth, or any sweet wine would work depending on your taste). It adds a little vinuous brightness and some sweetness to cover the greens inherent mild bitterness.

Squash? For Breakfast?

Breakfast, Friday June 16: leftover taters; seared squash; scramble.

So I tried a new variety of squash in the garden. It's called Grey Griller. It a zucchini varietal that is a very light green (the grey part) and a bit denser (the griller part, 'cause they aren't so mushy after grilling). They do very well just seared in a pan with a little olive oil and some seasoned salt. Sitting on the plate instead of sausage or bacon they make it a good bit healthier. The scramble was just scrambled eggs with a bit of chopped fresh chives and parsley. (It's always chives is just one, a chive? it's like pants. What is a pant? One leg? (Yup, chive is a single bulb and stalk. Pants is short for pantaloons which originally came in two pieces one for each leg. (Hell yeah! I love recursion!)))

Oh yeah, food. The taters came from a burger joint that we like that gives us a pile of steak cut fries. I think it is because we ask for no salt. The throw a couple of big double handfuls in the fryer and give us all of them regardless of how much they overestimated. So we take home half of them to use for breakfast the next day. I just cut them into chunks and saute like hashed browns.

I Swear There's Greens Under There

Supper, Wednesday June 14: BAS.

Big. Ass. Salad. 

The cheese and the meat obviously did not come from the garden, but most of the rest is from the backyard. I love those little heirloom cucumbers. 

Mmmhhmmm. . . some folk calls it Mexican sour. I calls it mouse melon. Mmmhhmmm. 

Either way they are tasty. It is an heirloom variety that is very suitable for a container. I have four plants in pots with a stake for the vines to climb on. This actually works better than growing them on the ground. It is uncomfortable and tedious searching for tiny green balls smaller than grapes amidst the leaves of the plant. Better that they grow on a stake or even a fence.

Really? Blueberries Again?

Breakfast, Wednesday June 14: blueberry whole wheat pancakes, fruit and yogurt, veggie scramble.

Early on Alexis wasn't excited about blueberries. Then we went on a vacation in the north east. It ended in Bar Harbor Maine. Beautiful little town and Acadia National Park is a genuine treasure. They put blueberries on everything there. Pizza. (Wait, maybe that was lobsta. I'm not sure.) Anyhoo, we ate a lot of blueberry stuff and things. Something just clicked with her. Since then she cannot get too many blueberries. Many years ago I toyed with the notion of putting a couple of blueberry bushes in the back yard. Shoulda done that. I might try one of the container varieties available now. 

OMG, It's Covered In Mold

Lunch, Monday June 12,  bagel sammich (Everything bagel, shredded kohlrabi, artisan mustard, brie, bacon, heirloom radish, salad greens).

Who was the guy (or gal more likely) who first thought "Hey I'm gonna store my nice new wheel of fresh cheese in that dank cave over yonder." Whatever their motivations, and inadvertently or not, pure fracking genius. 

Fritter Away The Hours In An Offhand Way. . .

Supper, Monday June 19: mexi-rice (arborio rice, veggie bullion, peas, tomato sauce); kinda verde pork (onion, squash, shredded pork, verde sauce, chili powder to taste); kohlrabi fritter; sour cream; lime.

Kohlrabi was still in season. The garden gave up the last few bulbs. Alexis likes these little pancakes. It's like eating a potato pancake but with less starch and more fiber. In fact you get pretty good results from just substituting in a potato pancake recipe.

I home can meats. With pork I like to get a Boston but or two when there is a sale. I trim and cube the meat then pack it in jars. Follow the recommendations in the "Blue Book" (the Ball company canning bible). When it is done I also have enough trimmings to make a little sausage with the stand mixer grinder attachment.

The larger point is. . . I have home canned meat on hand that allows me to whip up something tasty like the above verde pork quickly. I didnt have to braise the meat in tomatillo sauce for 6 hours. Now is it as good as a traditional verde? No. was it close and easy to prepare? You betcha. Saute the veggies til just starting to get tender. Add the rest. Simmer a little. Yum.

Next time I make up some jars I'm gonna post it.

But It Looks Like A Sausage

Breakfast, Saturday June 10: blueberry whole wheat pancakes; fausage; peaches.

I've written about fausage before. Though I am an avowed omnivore I like it occasionally. I will even admit that it is likely better for me than the real thing.

Bacon is good. Sausage is good.

Roasted Roots, Isn't That A Band?

Supper, Friday June 9: roasted roots; broccoli with cheddar; beet greens with feta.

Actually it's Rusted Root. 

All the vegetables pictured except for the carrots came from the garden. I never get tired of eating from my yard.

So Whatcha Got In There?

Breakfast, Wednesday June 7: breakfast burrito

(recipe follows).

So we do "breakfast burrito" different than most. I've seen a few burritos some co-workers have picked up on their way to work. They are usually some scrambled eggs with a few diced mild chilis, maybe some scallion, then rolled up in a tortilla with some mild cheddar or cojack.

When I make one I think of it as breakfast in a burrito. So imagine a breakfast consisting of hashed browns, veggie omelette (or meat of some sort and veggies), and bread/toast. Now the bread is the tortilla and the hashed browns and the omelette are in the rolled tortilla. Capise? 

So when I make this I usually start with the potatoes. This time, since the garden is producing beautiful kohlrabi I used that instead of potato. Less starch, more fiber. The process is the same otherwise.

Here is the kohlrabi. I've seen these used, with the leafy parts trimmed, as alien food props in sci-fi productions. They are easy to grow, and fast. Less than 50 days to maturity for most varieties. They are cold hardy also. They can be started indoors. Transplanted outside in early spring.  After harvest the space can be used for a summer crop. I usually plant beans there. This year it's cannellinis.

Trim the leaves off. They are edible. cook them as you would collards. they taste like broccoli-ish collards.

If you use the greens trim out the stems. They are quite tough.

Peel the bulb. Peel it well, the skin is really tough.

A little cilantro and a couple of chilis from the greenhouse.

All of the ingredients sans the tortilla. I used shallot, but onion works fine. Spinach instead of the Kohlrabi greens is also a good substitution. Finally, the spices are chili powder, jalapeno powder and black pepper. Use whatever you want to spice it up. I dry some of the chilis from the end of the season. I've got ground: jalapeno; hot banana; cayenne; habanero.

A little oil in a hot pan then toss in the kohlrabi (or potatoes).

While the starch is browning on one side toss in all the ingredients except the cilantro, eggs and cheese. The flavor components of the cilantro are fragile. Heating them causes their breakdown and lessens the brightness of the scent

Here's a trick I like a lot. I have a spatter screen that works very well for steaming large tortillas. Just use the heat and steam already being generated.

Once the tortilla has steamed toss on the cilantro and cheese

Toss and mix the ingredients in the pan, Cook all til browned and or tender. This step is a kinda "to taste" step. Alexis likes browned flavors so I brown the filling well.

Once that is done, add the eggs. move them around enough to get the other ingredients coated.

Once the eggs are done place on the tortilla and roll up.

Tada!