For the love of Produce...

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  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,944 Member
    Deep fried sage is one of of my favourite condiments to crumble onto bland foods such as boiled potatoes. You only need a half inch of oil in a small sauce pan to deep fry sage leaves..
  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,944 Member
    @o0Firekeeper0o
    Pesto freezes well if you have excess basil. Some cookbooks recommend freezing without the cheese and pine nuts and adding them in later but I just freeze the whole lot and don't notice any deterioration of the cheese and nuts after freezing. Freeze in silicon ice cube trays or muffin tins and transfer to a ziplock bag once frozen. An easy way to prepare a pasta with pesto meal all winter long.
  • purplefizzy
    purplefizzy Posts: 594 Member
    purplefizzy wrote: »

    Rambutan for the win. Someone here told me to look out for those. Brilliant suggestion.


    That would be me. I'm glad you found them and love them. I see them around here (PNW USA) every now and then, but they look old and shriveled, and they aren't as tasty. They are pretty magic little fruits. So many delicious things there. All kinds of bananas. Fresh papaya. Pineapple that is actually ripe. Yeah. I'm jealous.[/quote]

    I should known. You know yer kittens 🐱;)

    This island is silly with pineapple, but it’s kinda pricey as it’s imported from other islands. Dang good, but I think it was cheaper in CA :)
  • Jelaan
    Jelaan Posts: 815 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    Yay: Khoua's Veggies was back at the farmers market today, so I scored a nice biiiigg bag of red amaranth
    I've used amaranth seed and flour, but I've never come across the leaves. How do you prepare it?
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,162 Member
    Jelaan wrote: »
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    Yay: Khoua's Veggies was back at the farmers market today, so I scored a nice biiiigg bag of red amaranth
    I've used amaranth seed and flour, but I've never come across the leaves. How do you prepare it?

    It has a mild but distinct flavor, sort of richer or more complex than some other greens. For me, it's a cooking green, and I'd use it pretty much like I'd use any other cooked green.

    It's a little firmer than many greens we commonly use raw, and it has a very slight texture to the under-leaf that doesn't appeal to me as a salad green. I don't know whether others use it that way (probably Google knows). Maybe it could be massaged like kale, change the texture for raw consumption? I'm too lazy. 😉

    Since it has a distinct flavor (though not super strong), I'd suggest, if you find some, that you start with a light saute or stir-steam of a serving, taste, then think about what flavors you'd like with it. For me, normal things like miso, mild vinegar, lemon, soy sauce, onion, garlic, etc., go fine. I'm not sure what herbs I'd use - I like the flavor of the red "greens", so I tend to keep the other flavors light.

    If you've ever eaten beet greens (my favorite greens!), the amaranth has a flavor over in that same general slightly richer direction (I don't think beet greens taste "beet-y", really), though I admit I may be deceived a bit by the similar color, since I haven't compared side by side.
  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,944 Member
    I happen upon an improved method of sprouting mung beans. I use to sprout in a bamboo steamer basket lined with silicon mesh and the lid on. They always came out a bit scraggly and did not resemble the long plump ones you buy at the supermarket. Also mine always tasted more like beans than greens.

    In the video below I think the trick is more frequent watering (every 3 hours instead of 3 times a day) as well as the paper towel at the bottom of the vessel which slows down the water drainage.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-m74YYPVbWU

    Currently on day 5 and my sprouts are much plumper than any previous attempts. Hope to get a generous harvest on day 6.

    Here is my new improved sprouting set up. I used bamboo steamer parts for lifting the plant pot out of the water and keeping the sprouts in the dark. Inside the planter I used some fine silicon mesh (sold for lining dim sum steamer baskets to prevent food from sticking) and the paper towel.

    4tl8a4fpnved.jpg


  • Jelaan
    Jelaan Posts: 815 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    It has a mild but distinct flavor, sort of richer or more complex than some other greens. For me, it's a cooking green, and I'd use it pretty much like I'd use any other cooked green.

    It's a little firmer than many greens we commonly use raw, and it has a very slight texture to the under-leaf that doesn't appeal to me as a salad green. I don't know whether others use it that way (probably Google knows). Maybe it could be massaged like kale, change the texture for raw consumption? I'm too lazy. 😉

    Since it has a distinct flavor (though not super strong), I'd suggest, if you find some, that you start with a light saute or stir-steam of a serving, taste, then think about what flavors you'd like with it. For me, normal things like miso, mild vinegar, lemon, soy sauce, onion, garlic, etc., go fine. I'm not sure what herbs I'd use - I like the flavor of the red "greens", so I tend to keep the other flavors light.

    If you've ever eaten beet greens (my favorite greens!), the amaranth has a flavor over in that same general slightly richer direction (I don't think beet greens taste "beet-y", really), though I admit I may be deceived a bit by the similar color, since I haven't compared side by side.

    Thanks, I will be on the look out for it now :)
  • mtaratoot
    mtaratoot Posts: 14,218 Member
    @acpgee

    I would be reticent to use a planter unless it's labeled as food grade. I have had good luck with quart and with half-gallon jars. I can grow enough for myself and have another batch ready before I'm done with them. I have sprouting-specific lids of different sizes for different kinds of sprouts. You can also just use cheesecloth and a rubber band or nylon. For small seeds like alfalfa or broccoli, I like to leave the jar with the open side down in a bowl so they drain. With bean sprouts, it's not such a big deal. I even sprout beans for a couple days before I cook them, but only until the acrospire just barely emerges. Sometimes that means I cook beans a day sooner than I planned.

    I just leave them in a dark place on the counter. The amount of light they get doesn't trigger photosynthesis. This is from a batch of mung bean sprouts I made last winter:

    nlr9zanriexp.jpg


    I always harvest before the cotyledons open. Once the leaves emerge, I think of them more as microgreens more than sprouts. At that point, I'd give them a day of sunlight, but holy cats that's a lot of sprouts she made!
  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,944 Member
    @mtaratoot
    Good point about the food grade planter. Thanks.
  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,944 Member
    A selection of little Korean namul is a good way to use up vegetable oddmens lingering at the bottom of the fridge. I used up a little cucumber, bean sprouts and watercress. All of the classic recipes are similar. Blanch the veg separately by tossing a kettleful of boiling water over them in a salad strainer. When cool squeeze out excess water. Dress in some combination of sesame oil, salt, sugar, vinegar, chilli flakes, pressed or grated garlic, finely chopped spring onion, toasted sesame seeds. Vary the dressings for the different veg, say by choosing a combination of 3 dressing ingredients per vegetable..
    r818veb6kqva.jpeg
  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,944 Member
    Bengali lemon. My Bengali colleague says the pith and skin of the large wrinkly one is edible. Not sure if I agree as though soft the pith is still quite bitter. Fragrance is very heady.
    rwoh2td6vglm.jpg
  • widerchange
    widerchange Posts: 3 Member
    I have a big garden too and right now I love all the summer cucumbers, tomatoes, beets, greens, beans. But I have to say Fall is my favorite produce season. I am all about the apples, kiwi, squashes and mushrooms.
  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,944 Member
    The last kilo haul of strawberries were variety Driscoll's Katrina which were fragrant but a bit tart. Strangely, when served cold they taste sweeter.
  • Safari_Gal_
    Safari_Gal_ Posts: 1,461 Member
    acpgee wrote: »
    Another kilo box of Driscoll's Katrina. I am hoping that the new variety called Ace arrives soon in supermarkets. It launched at Wimbledon and friends who were there say they are amazingly sweet.
    nl493en4y6o5.jpeg

    Yum!!!! I can smell them From here 😉

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