For the love of Produce...

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  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,961 Member
    I so want to try Meyer lemons. If anyone knows where to find them in the UK let me in on it, please.

    In the meantime tried a new cultivar of persimmon labelled Perfecto. Somewhat odd. It sat in the fruit bowl with apples and bananas for over 3 weeks but was still rock hard. As the skin was getting a little wrinkly and dry I cut into it today anyway. As firm as a melon, very sweet, yet slightly astringent too.
    acvcv3n81plg.jpg
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,225 Member
    @o0Firekeeper0o , how do you like to eat/use the Meyer lemons? I mostly only see them in the bags, which is a little daunting as a trial size for a household of one. It seems like a thing I'd like, though, so I'm wondering what role they play for you.

    Thanks!
  • mtaratoot
    mtaratoot Posts: 14,260 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    @o0Firekeeper0o , how do you like to eat/use the Meyer lemons? I mostly only see them in the bags, which is a little daunting as a trial size for a household of one. It seems like a thing I'd like, though, so I'm wondering what role they play for you.

    Thanks!

    You can use them almost like you'd use a lemon... or a lime for that matter. They are just a little sweeter and less acidic. In my experience, they often have more juice. They are really nice as a cocktail garnish. I bet they would be great candied or at least the rind if you use the juice for something else. I have been thinking about making some preserved lemons, and I bet Meyer lemons would be a good go-to. I definitely see them for sale by the each. They are almost sweet enough to eat on their own. I bet you could carefully cut out sections and use them in a salad in place of tomatoes; just enough acid to be delicious. Squeeze on fish? You bet. I buy them from time to time, but probably wouldn't if I had to by a four pound bag.

    Sweet limes are also a nice change up every now and then.
  • mtaratoot
    mtaratoot Posts: 14,260 Member
    Well, I was shopping at our co-op today, and they had a pile of Meyer Lemons. Having had them on my mind, I had to buy one.

    Also with winter starting tomorrow, I had to buy a pineapple. Maybe this will be a new tradition? Nah. They were just on sale at a great price and I haven't had one in... in.... I was in Honduras February 2020 as the pandemic started. I think that's the last time I had pina.
  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,961 Member
    Hubby came home with chicory aka Belgian endive. I had forgotten how good that stuff is when halved lengthwise, drizzled with olive oil and roasted for a half hour. We used to eat it a lot when we lived in the Netherlands, but hardly ever see it in the UK.
  • mtaratoot
    mtaratoot Posts: 14,260 Member
    We have a longish spell of unseasonably cold weather. Not only cold enough to kill root vegetables in the ground, but likely enough to freeze the ground so the vegetables won't be usable. If it just kills off the tops and doesn't freeze the ground, we can still dig up the roots through the season. But if they freeze solid....

    So I figured hedge some bets. I picked some of my winter beets. I also picked a lot of my neighbor's carrots. I'm helping make sure her pipes don't freeze while she's out of town, and she encouraged me to please get carrots before they are no good. I ate some, and they are great. I may pick some more tomorrow along with some kale, depending on the forecast. I'm still hoping that maybe a thick blanket of snow will cover everything and insulate it from the cold so we'll still be able to have winter gardens.

    I pulled enough carrots that tomorrow I will clean and cut some up, put them in a half gallon jar, and add some brine. Yeah, you guessed it. I can't stop fermenting things. I'll do the same with some of the beets. I'll store as many as I can in the fridge, but it's already pretty full. We shall see.

    It's almost late enough in the season to think about pruning the fruit trees and vines.... I gave away some of last year's frozen Marionberries.
  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,961 Member
    I have started some mung beans for sprouting, soaking then overnight. I have a foodie friend coming for dinner on Thurday and I ordered a Txuleton beef rib. We will probably have leftover steak so want to make pho with the beef stock we have in the freezer. Hopefully have not left it too late for sprouting mung beans for the weekend.
  • Safari_Gal_
    Safari_Gal_ Posts: 1,461 Member
    edited December 2021
    acpgee wrote: »
    I so want to try Meyer lemons. If anyone knows where to find them in the UK let me in on it, please.

    In the meantime tried a new cultivar of persimmon labelled Perfecto. Somewhat odd. It sat in the fruit bowl with apples and bananas for over 3 weeks but was still rock hard. As the skin was getting a little wrinkly and dry I cut into it today anyway. As firm as a melon, very sweet, yet slightly astringent too.
    acvcv3n81plg.jpg

    @acpgee - I’ll trade you some NY meyer lemons for some of those perfecto persimmons!!
    I actually only started eating persimmons a few years ago. Love em! Still
    I saw really dark colored persimmons awhile back.. I’ll have to go see what the name of them where…

    🍋 🍋 🍋

    Update: my husband reminded me it was black sapote ….
  • mtaratoot
    mtaratoot Posts: 14,260 Member
    Oh yeah.

    I forgot. Not new-years related per se, unless it becomes an annual tradition, but I had a windfall of fresh carrots. My neighbor was out of state, and I was looking after the house to keep the pipes from freezing IF it got cold. Well it did, and I got a text to pull carrots and beets. I figured if we got snow (we did) it might make an insulating blanket, but to hedge bets, I pulled carrots.

    I left the soil on them and kept them as chilled as I could, bringing them in at night and leaving them in a cool spot in the house, and putting them back out in the carport during the day. Yesterday I cleaned them pretty good. Today I finished cleaning and made an all-carrot ferment. Just a half gallon. I figure the narrow standard-neck jar will help hold them in. I did add a little garlic, some ginger, and some Aleppo chile plus black pepper and dill, but otherwise it's just carrots and salt water.
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    I'll let you know in a few weeks if it was a success.

    Not all the carrots would fit, so I got to eat several. They were SO tender and sweet and really crisp. I have a few more in the fridge. The neighbor said to come pick carrots any time I want. Well, last night we had a snow-free cold snap that probably froze the ground, and that's perhaps the end of her carrots, my beets, and anything else in the winter garden. I hope not. I had some beets today, and they were really tasty.
  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,961 Member
    A Chinese girlfriend came over for Xmas Eve dinner and brought a hostess gift of a meal kit for Sichuan Sauerkraut with fish filets. Despite English directions on the back of the packet, I struggled because the packet contained 4 different sachtes of seasoning mixes and sauce pouches that needed to be added at different times during the cooking process. Being illiterate in Chinese, it was a struggle to figure out which sachet was which.
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  • mtaratoot
    mtaratoot Posts: 14,260 Member
    @acpgee

    I find it somewhat interesting that it specifies DRINKING WATER. In case someone thought scooping out of the pond would be a reasonable option, or just some of the water that the fish came out of....

    How did it turn out?
  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,961 Member
    mtaratoot wrote: »
    @acpgee

    I find it somewhat interesting that it specifies DRINKING WATER. In case someone thought scooping out of the pond would be a reasonable option, or just some of the water that the fish came out of....

    How did it turn out?

    it was good but really spicy. I think you could make this with regular sauerkraut with some instant dashi powder to replace the fish stock, sauerkraut, and Szechuan pickled peppers. I think this recipe shows how to make it from scratch.
    https://www.chinasichuanfood.com/szechuan-fish-suan-cai-yu/
    I believe in China, tapwater is not considered safe for drinking. This was the case when I was vacationing in SE Asia and had to drink bottled water only. My grandmother never trusted tapwater, and would always boil it before drinking, even after she moved in with a son who was living in Texas.
    1zcpjmvj8ubv.jpeg
  • mtaratoot
    mtaratoot Posts: 14,260 Member
    That shows my bias for living in a place that has safe tap water. Ours is actually tasty too.
  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,961 Member
    mtaratoot wrote: »
    That shows my bias for living in a place that has safe tap water. Ours is actually tasty too.

    Back when travel still existed we used to visit Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia regularly. Sometimes my husband would forget that tapwater was not safe and brush his teeth with it, instead of brushing with bottled water. That usually resulted in a half day of diarrhea.

    Besides Flint, Michigan, I seem to remember reading about one other town in the US where the tapwater was unsafe.
  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,961 Member
    Actually, Americans might want to worry about their tapwater.
    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/mar/31/americas-tap-water-samples-forever-chemicals
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,225 Member
    acpgee wrote: »
    Actually, Americans might want to worry about their tapwater.
    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/mar/31/americas-tap-water-samples-forever-chemicals

    Yeah, there are issues. FWIW, Flint is now in better shape (per testing, but the citizens still don't trust the water of course), though not perfect. The publicized hot spot in Michigan is now Benton Harbor (lead in the water, primarily), but there are also some areas where test-wells for spreading PFOS, PFOA, and other PFAS are in place, alongside programs to extend "city water" to the most-threatened individual consumers' water wells. (Individual wells are very common outside cities here. I had one until recently.)

    The regulatory climate around PFAS in particular, in the US, is not what it should be, IMO. Michigan, the state where I live, seems to be a little ahead of the curve on PFAS regulation, but that's not exactly high praise.

    From my perspective as someone closer but not in Flint, the national/international publicity created more heat than light. The underlying condition (lead in supply lines) is pretty common in the US. In Flint, a serious error in water treatment (during a switch from one water source to another) created conditions where the water started leaching lead out of those pipes, and into the water supply.

    I tried to convince friends in other places that they should not just be rallying to get justice for Flint, but also looking into whether their community also had extensive lead supply lines (perhaps uninventoried, as in Flint), that are a problem just waiting to happen if the water treatment regimen got out of whack. (Some cities in Michigan inventoried lead pipes years back, implemented systematic programs to replace them, and to test water quality more frequently downstream of them, until they could be replaced. Some places, such as Flint, didn't even know where they had them until people were poisoned.)

    I won't get into the politics around this lead-line situation, but I guarantee it's more complicated than media reports from a distance may've suggested.
  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,961 Member
    Roast chicory tonight was awesome. I used to only drizzle with olive oil and a sprinkle of salt but a few drops of something sweet like honey, maple syrup, date molasses or ginger syrup is a lovely foil to the bitterness.
    644zq9dha2qt.jpg
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,225 Member
    @acpgee, you make the most delicious sounding things, then you take wonderful photos of them that look sooooo tempting: Very inspirational. That chicory, and then the beautiful mushrooms peeking in from the side . . . ! 😋

    As a more general-group comment, me, I've been hibernating and not eating very interesting things, mostly, lately - at least not interesting produce things.

    I did find a manageably small bag of Meyer lemons, and ate one out of hand like an orange, because . . . well, I don't have a reason better than because that's the kind of thing I'd do out of curiosity. Interesting. This one didn't seem as flavorful as a normal lemon (though I don't eat whole normal lemons plain, I sometimes eat a section or slice), but it was less sour. Maybe a little more astringent. Is that normal?

    I'm not going to try to make preserved lemons, because I tried that once in the past and it was such a full-bore CF disaster that there Will. Be. No. Repeats. Here. 🤣 That, even though I think preserved lemons are really good, from small samples elsewhere.

    I think I'll use the other lemons to make something savory but lemony - maybe with tofu and sweet onions . . . elephant garlic? Mulling it over.
  • purplefizzy
    purplefizzy Posts: 594 Member
    edited January 2022
    mtaratoot wrote: »
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    @o0Firekeeper0o , how do you like to eat/use the Meyer lemons? I mostly only see them in the bags, which is a little daunting as a trial size for a household of one. It seems like a thing I'd like, though, so I'm wondering what role they play for you.

    Thanks!

    You can use them almost like you'd use a lemon... or a lime for that matter. They are just a little sweeter and less acidic. In my experience, they often have more juice. They are really nice as a cocktail garnish. I bet they would be great candied or at least the rind if you use the juice for something else. I have been thinking about making some preserved lemons, and I bet Meyer lemons would be a good go-to. I definitely see them for sale by the each. They are almost sweet enough to eat on their own. I bet you could carefully cut out sections and use them in a salad in place of tomatoes; just enough acid to be delicious. Squeeze on fish? You bet. I buy them from time to time, but probably wouldn't if I had to by a four pound bag.

    Sweet limes are also a nice change up every now and then.

    @AnnPT77 I see that you scored some… and while my FIRST thought is indeed preserved (I prefer the whole lemons, nubs cut off, shallow X cut into each end, pink sea salt dredged and packed in own juice, with peppercorn, bay leaf, and star anise)… sounds like you are not a fan of the process 😂

    The simple thing I do with a surplus (my old neighbors had an excellent tree) is zest them, divide the zest into an ice cube tray, juice the now-naked lemons, pour juice over the zest - freeze - and KILLER cubes for a variety of cold beverages, plunking in hot tea, or defrosting to use the best ever lemon juice slurry.

    I also love to stuff a chicken full of halved lemons and shallots before oven roasting.
    Wildly simple and so good.
  • BarbaraHelen2013
    BarbaraHelen2013 Posts: 1,940 Member
    edited January 2022
    On a trip to Sainsburys yesterday I came across a lone bag of Jerusalem Artichokes. It had been abandoned in the broccoli trays. I’ve never seen them before in real life and it’s a mystery to me where it came from as I couldn’t find more!

    Anyway, I bought them, of course…always up for something new in the vegetable world.

    Does anyone have any favourite ways with them?
  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,961 Member
    We've got quite a lot of celery in the fridge because we needed the leaves for dutch split pea soup made on the weekend. I put some julienned celery in my Sichuan fish fagrant pork stir fry last night, and made a waldorf salad two days ago. Thinking of trying these
    https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/celery_stir_fry/
    https://www.justhungry.com/celery-chili-pepper-pickles-serori-no-pirikara-zuke

    Ideas for using celery welcome.
  • BarbaraHelen2013
    BarbaraHelen2013 Posts: 1,940 Member
    Celery is surprisingly good braised in stock until just tender - I use vegetable stock but I’m sure chicken or even a ham stock would be good too.

    I also make a bean salad that uses a lot of fairly finely sliced celery. Kidney Beans, Broad Beans, lightly steamed green/fine/dwarf/Kenyan beans and a classic French dressing. There’s a bit of finely sliced Red Onion in there too.

    I often add celery to a tray of Mediterranean style roast veg too, or throw some into the pasta water for the last two minutes, helps bulk up the pasta and adds flavour. It also goes well in coleslaw, and I often add it to soups. Oh and it always goes into Kimchi in my house!
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    I love jerusalem artichokes (sunchokes)--mostly just slice them up, add a little olive oil and salt and pepper and roast.

    I have tried something similar to this soup, which was also good: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1015365-jerusalem-artichoke-soup-with-crispy-sage-leaves
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    edited January 2022
    I'm still working through all the winter squash I have on hand -- made a variety of different kinds of soups/stews with them (and lots of kale too), but am currently mostly just chopping them up, roasting, and using the roasted squash for all kinds of things -- add to a soup, add to my black eyed peas and collard dish (also has carrot, celery, onion, pepper, since there's discussion about celery), add to a smoothie or big salad, just eat as a side.

    Any ideas for daikon radishes? I've done a simple boiled daikon with some ginger and green onion recently and done a quick pickle with them in the past.
  • mtaratoot
    mtaratoot Posts: 14,260 Member
    acpgee wrote: »
    Roast chicory tonight was awesome. I used to only drizzle with olive oil and a sprinkle of salt but a few drops of something sweet like honey, maple syrup, date molasses or ginger syrup is a lovely foil to the bitterness.
    644zq9dha2qt.jpg

    I had to look up chicory because the pictures you've been showing of them don't look like what I call chicory. I think of chicory as a dandelion-like plant. The root has historically been dried and ground as a coffee substitute or an addition to coffee. A brand famous for it is "Chock Full 'o Nuts." A brand of coffee substitute that uses chicory is Pero.

    Apparently what I'd call Endive is also called chicory in some places. How interesting. Thanks for helping me learn something new!
  • mtaratoot
    mtaratoot Posts: 14,260 Member
    BarbaraHelen2013 wrote: »
    On a trip to Sainsburys yesterday I came across a lone bag of Jerusalem Artichokes. It had been abandoned in the broccoli trays. I’ve never seen them before in real life and it’s a mystery to me where it came from as I couldn’t find more!

    Anyway, I bought them, of course…always up for something new in the vegetable world.

    Does anyone have any favourite ways with them?

    Raw, sliced thin. As snacks or in salad. Crunchy and with a sunflower flavor.
  • mtaratoot
    mtaratoot Posts: 14,260 Member
    lemurcat2 wrote: »
    I'm still working through all the winter squash I have on hand -- made a variety of different kinds of soups/stews with them (and lots of kale too), but am currently mostly just chopping them up, roasting, and using the roasted squash for all kinds of things -- add to a soup, add to my black eyed peas and collard dish (also has carrot, celery, onion, pepper, since there's discussion about celery), add to a smoothie or big salad, just eat as a side.

    Any ideas for daikon radishes? I've done a simple boiled daikon with some ginger and green onion recently and done a quick pickle with them in the past.

    Kimchi
  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,961 Member
    lemurcat2 wrote: »
    I'm still working through all the winter squash I have on hand -- made a variety of different kinds of soups/stews with them (and lots of kale too), but am currently mostly just chopping them up, roasting, and using the roasted squash for all kinds of things -- add to a soup, add to my black eyed peas and collard dish (also has carrot, celery, onion, pepper, since there's discussion about celery), add to a smoothie or big salad, just eat as a side.

    Any ideas for daikon radishes? I've done a simple boiled daikon with some ginger and green onion recently and done a quick pickle with them in the past.

    This is a favourite thing to do with a small squash. After scraping out the seeds, fill with water and measure to figure out how much custard you need, keeping in mind an egg white is 30ml and an egg yolk is 15 ml approximately. I cook mine in the microwave at 300 watts instead of the traditional steamer.
    https://www.cambodiarecipe.com/recipe/cambodian-pumpkin-coconut-custard/

    I love roast radishes, and would do that with cubed daikon too.
    https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/simple-roast-radishes

    I also like a quick pickle of spiralized or grated carrot and daikon.
    https://mykoreankitchen.com/pickled-carrots-and-daikon-radish/

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