Saturday, June 25, 2011

Almost Summer Food


Kentucky Wonder has reached the top of the trellis

The abundance of spring is finally winding down. The greens are getting more scarce. Other things are starting to take their place, but the summer crops really haven't started yet. The signs are there. I have flowers on my melons and cukes. One of my butternut squashes has started to run. The zucchini have put out female blossoms that I've had to pick due to lack of males. But today the first males opened. There are small tomatoes covering the vines. The onions are getting bigger. The sunflowers are showing the first signs of buds. The carrots are sizing up.

But there aren't huge harvests (except pounds and pounds of peas). Lots of little harvests of other things, but not huge. Not "oh my god how am I going to eat all this" kinds of harvests. Which in a way is a relief. I've gotten close to using up my stockpile of greens. I've got mizuna, a couple of baby choys, and a few stems of choy sum. Oh and one Chinese cabbage. OK so I still have a lot to eat, but I'm getting there.

I love to use up the odds and ends in one thing or another. I made another lemon scallop stir fry. Above are unfertilized zucchini (think gourmet baby zukes with the blossoms on), tatsoi, choy sum, snowpeas, Japanese turnips. and kohlrabi (and mushrooms from the store).

The finished product.

Then yesterday I made a quiche. Now a quiche can have just about anything in it, but most things are better cooked since what goes in can't be watery. This one had cooked chard and kohlrabi greens (squeeze out the water before adding to the pie shell), a good handful of chopped parsley, and some green onions. Then I sprinkled it with salt, pepper, thyme, and oregano. And no I don't measure anything here I just toss it in to fill up the shell.

Then I grate on some good Vermont cheddar. The custard part I mix it up in a ratio of one egg to 1/4c soy milk (regular milk is of course fine, but I'm lactose intolerant so we don't have real milk in the house). For a small pie pan I'll use three eggs, for a large one I'll use four. Or how many you need to fill it up. I like not having a real recipe because I can make them small, or large. Whatever I want. I don't even have to use a pie pan. My favorite topping is sliced Cherokee Purple tomatoes, but I had to settle for a quick grating of Parmesan cheese.

And the crust? Well it is a full butter crust. I don't even own shortening. I hate the stuff. It tastes bad to me and it is bad for me. If I'm going to eat something bad for me I'm going to do it with butter and indulge.

Now I thought I'd show you this meal. Not for its veggie content. But just for your amusement. I've half eaten it already, but it has my peas grilled with a small bit of melted butter, salt and pepper, home made rosemary and olive oil bread, and terriyaki roadkill. Yes you heard me. Roadkill. I got a couple of pounds of deer from my trusty farmer. She butchered the undamaged parts. I hope I get more. My townhouse mates and I were going to split it, but she has so many mouths to feed this summer that I had her keep most. I do love my venison. I partially grew up on it and miss eating it.

14 comments:

  1. Our garden is in the same state of transition. I am actually encouraged to hear what stage your squash plants are in as mine are at the same point and I was despairing (usually mine are farther along by now - but I guess there is hope yet).

    I like to cook much like you - just winging it based on a basic recipe concept as the guide. Makes it hard to share on the blog the recipes - because my measurements are not precise.

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  2. I have some cute striped beetles with red heads eating my tomatillo plant... googled and found one of your entries from last year! So they're cucumber beetles. Good to know! I have lots of cucumbers planted this year. Maybe my "sacrificial tomatillo" will keep them at bay!

    I live in Lunenburg, MA - so not too far from you. Also having a huge snow pea harvest this year! I've also been harvesting some lettuce (baby lettuce still, as I thin it out) and arugla. Oh, and some strawberries. :)

    I bookmarked you. Can't wait to read more!

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  3. With two tomatoes and nearly a pound of raspberries to eat yesterday, I finally felt summer was actually going to happen.

    I was telling you something else, but it got so long, I decided it was a blog entry rather than a comment! You can read about my sugar snap peas on my blog.

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  4. kitsapFG, At least we will be in the 70s this coming week. The 60s is really hard on the heat loving plants.

    The Heat Miserette, Actually they aren't cucumber beetles. I'm pretty sure they are three striped potato beetles that are look alikes to cucumber beetles. My earlier blog has it wrong. Tomatillos really attract them.

    Grann;y, TOMATOES! Dang you have beat me this year (as you usually do, but I had a shot this year). lol yeah I have comments like that sometimes.

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  5. Love the roadkill. I don't have hardly as much luck hunting. Talk about grass fed... enjoy that truly lean red meat.

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  6. Nice meal you are having everyday. Oh thank you for inspiring me to write a letter to my neighbours about using unused space in the driveway. She agreed so now we have more space to grow and share it with neighbours.

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  7. Your meals look absolutely wonderful Daphne! I hope that you enjoy the rest of your venison!

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  8. Love your cooking style Daphne. I too am harvesting a little of this and a little of that and combine all in a delicious stir-fry. Harvest the last of my garlic scape on Friday. (I e-mailed you sometime ago asking permision to use your garlic scape photos and you graciously granted me permission. Thanks.)

    Lettuce started to bolt. Saved the tender leaves for salad and stir-fried the mature leaves, yum!

    Hoping for warmer night time temp. My angled luffa is not growing well and my bittermelon is only about 2 feet tall.

    Love your blog. Will be visiting often.

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  9. Now I have a craving for quiche. Enjoying your blog.

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  10. The food looks great! I quite often make quiche, but usually the bacon, egg and cheese sort. I've never thought of using greens so will definitely try it.

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  11. Venison! I love it, and rarely get it here as we don't hunt. Once in a while I treat myself at the Farmer's Market to some "cultivated" venison. It is good but not the same...

    Everything looks good as always!

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  12. Great deal on the roadkill! If it's fresh, it's just the same as hunting for it and getting a clean kill. My brother gets it like that in Pennsylvania fairly regularly since he lives in a mountainous area.

    As always, your food looks delicious!

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  13. Jody, it is a very lean meat and so tasty.

    Diana, I'm glad it worked out. Most people are so nice about things.

    Robin, thanks. I will enjoy it a lot. It is always annoying when my dad gets an elk and my brother gets lots of venison, but I don't get any. I live 2000 miles away now. Sigh. I have missed it.

    Wendy, thanks

    Norma, I'd never thought about stirfrying lettuce leaves that have gotten too bitter. That would probably work very well. I've never eaten cooked lettuce though. I've never even had a wilted salad. I guess when I have a large harvest again I'll have to try it.

    pelenaka, thanks

    growinginmygarden, I rarely make it without greens. For me quiche is a treat for when my husband is out of town. I have been known to put ham in my quiche, but I've never been a bacon fan. If I had had some chopped ham in the freezer I would have tossed it in and it would have been a great addition.

    Ali, our market doesn't have the cultivated type. Pork, lamb, beef, goat, and rabbit at times. Heck even lobster one year. But I've never seen venison.

    Veggie PAK, yup just as good as hunting and you get get it out of season. I like the idea of using it as the animal died anyway and it would be such a waste to just toss all that good meat away.

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