Category — Recipes
Vacationing Away
We scooted out of town yesterday on a 4-day jaunt to Cincinnati. Although we first planned the trip 9 months ago, we were almost caught unaware by the sudden arrival of our departure date. We hastily made arrangements for a friend to pick up mail, another friend to pick up our daughter when she gets back to town ahead of us, and a car to be repaired whilst we were gone.
We left the garden to its own devices.
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June 20, 2008 No Comments
Lovage and Two Soups
A lovage seedling followed us home from the garden center years ago. We were looking for perennial herbs to fill out the garden bed we’d set aside for herbs and we thought we’d give the tiny lovage plant a try.
Our lovage did not stay little for long. [Read more →]
June 2, 2008 No Comments
2 Solar Soufflées, Granola Bars and More
Today was a gloriously sunny day so decided to “fire up” the ol’ box-style solar cooker while we worked around the garden.
The first round was a batch of “Solar Granola Bars” and a broccoli cheese “Solar Soufflée.” This first round cooked in roughly 3 hours (11:30 - 2:30) Janice has posted the recipe for the Granola Bars elsewhere on the site — and frankly, I think they taste a bit too good to be saddled with such a depressingly healthy name. To me, they’re some kind of brownie. The soufflée contains three eggs whipped with a bit of shredded cheese and some chopped up broccoli leftover from dinner last night. This batch also had a generous addition of fresh garlic. Coat the cooking vessel with something to keep it from sticking (a spray of Pam, a bit of olive oil, butter…) The great thing about solar eggs is that they fluff as they cook so their texture is quite wonderful.
As we were eating our eggs, our daughter tasted them and wanted some for herself so she made another batch. Since the cooker was going to be tended, I quartered a couple potatoes and halved two small onions and drizzled them with oil. These “Solar Roasted” vegetables will be a great start on hash browns for tomorrow. The really nice thing about the box cooker I built is its capacity. We could have easily had another pot in there.
It’s supposed to nice most of the weekend. I wonder what we’ll make tomorrow.
May 24, 2008 No Comments
Today’s Garden Twenty: Planting Peas
We planted the peas today which worked out to a nice 20 minute task. About a week ago, we’d scraped away the mulch from the soil where we intended to plant. The sun was able to warm the soil up to a pea-friendly 50 degrees F (10 degrees C) We were able to check the soil temperature with this fancy soil thermometer we got years ago with our CompostTumbler. [Read more →]
May 15, 2008 No Comments
Indoor Gardening: Bean Sprouts
Growing beans sprouts all year long is easy. The only challenge is remembering how easy it is to grown your own sprouts. We especially like to grow sprouts during the winter time.
The requirements are very simple. You’ll need a wide-mouth quart-size canning jar, a ring that fits, a piece of cheese cloth and a tablespoon of mung beans. Put the mung beans in the jar, cover with the cheese cloth and twist on the ring. (I bought a nifty little round piece of screen that works well in place of the cheese cloth.) Rinse the seeds thoroughly with cool water. Drain them well. And set them aside for 8 to 12 hours. Repeat the rinsing and draining process. That’s pretty much all you need to do. The indirect light of a kitchen window provides enough sunshine for the soon-growing seeds. 
Small sprouts will emerge usually within 24 hours. We usually let ours grow for 6 to 8 days in order to generate enough sprouts for a delicious meal of Egg Foo Yung.
Egg Foo Yung, basic recipe
• 2 cups of bean sprouts, rinsed and chopped a bit
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 6 eggs, well beaten
Combine the bean sprouts, salt and eggs in a bowl. Heat 2 Tablespoons of oil in a skillet. Fry by 1/4 cupfuls. Keep patties in shape by pushing egg back into the patty with pancake turner. When set and brown on one side, turn and brown other side. Serve hot with rice and sauce.
Variations
There are many easy variations on the basic Egg Foo Yung recipe. What we have on hand determines what else goes in. We also enjoy adding one or more of the following:
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onions or scallions
• 1/4 cup finely diced celery
• 1/2 pound of left-over ground beef, pork, chicken or shrimp. If raw, saute first and add to the egg mixture.
Sauce
We don’t care for the gravy traditionally served with Egg Foo Yung at many Chinese restaurants in the US. Instead we mix equal amounts of soy sauce, mirin, and rice wine vinegar to make a thin sauce that’s also good for dipping dumplings.
We sometimes get out of the habit of sprouting seeds. Getting back on track with sprouting beans is very easy however. It’s a great activity to do with children too because the results are very quick and pretty amazing actually. Sprouting seeds is an easy and fun way to eat something fresh and homegrown, even in winter.
January 26, 2008 No Comments