For the love of Produce...

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Replies

  • mtaratoot
    mtaratoot Posts: 12,941 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    @mtaratoot, I ate it all. But for you, I'd make more. I can't recommend biking in my part of the country right now (unless you have one of those fancy snow bikes), and I can't quite imagine the great plains states (or the Rockies!). 😉

    By the time I got there the snow would be gone. First I have to get over the continental divide, or book passage up the Mississippi on a boat that will carry my bike and take a southern route. That sounds kind of interesting actually.

    I am out of carrots, so I'll go raid neighbor's garden again tomorrow. Fermented carrots will be ready , so I will also drop off a jar of goodness.
  • o0Firekeeper0o
    o0Firekeeper0o Posts: 416 Member
    Thanks @acpgee and @mtaratoot for the suggestions! I might get some roasting in there… It is quite delicious roasted.

    @AnnPT77 The smell of fresh basil is one of my favorite on earth. If it were a perfume, I’d wear it!
  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,553 Member
    I am still experimenting with low fat veg kinda/sorta tempura in the air fryer. This time batter was rice flour with a teaspoon of oil stirred in. Hardened the batter on a low dry non stick pan and air fried for 5 minutes. Not bad, but rice flour on its own is too thin a batter. I might continue to experiment with corn starch and wheat starch. Best result so far was half self rising wheat flour and half potato starch.
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  • Safari_Gal_
    Safari_Gal_ Posts: 1,461 Member
    edited January 2022
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    A nice burst of summer flavor tonight: Early Fall, a close friend gave me three nice potted basil plants (different varieties) she started in her new sorta-mini greenhouse (walk-in, but only a couple dozen square feet or so maybe, super cute). I've been growing them on in a window, and tonight snipped a generous 40g of leaves to put in my pasta-topping tomato sauce for dinner. So fragrant and delicious, makes me feel like a wealthy woman in some ways that matter, such as friends and delight.

    Here with paring knife, for scale. If I could share scent over the internet I would: Heady!
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    @AnnPT77 So beautiful! I can smell that basil 🌿 from here!
  • Safari_Gal_
    Safari_Gal_ Posts: 1,461 Member
    edited January 2022
    mtaratoot wrote: »
    @o0Firekeeper0o

    I'm with @acpgee about roasting. The method she describes makes really tasty cauliflower. The last four or five times I've made it though, I've roasted it whole. It looks pretty. It does take longer - an hour on 450, but I leave convection off. I use 425 with convection when I break it up first. I make a "sauce" and rub some on the outside and some on the inside before cooking. Mostly a mix of spices and a little mustard.
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    OoooooooO @mtaratoot ….. that’s awesome. @acpgee always has epic recipes! 👩🏼‍🍳

    @o0Firekeeper0o - I’m slightly addicted to these dried cauliflower bites I found in store… I wish I could recreate them at home..
  • o0Firekeeper0o
    o0Firekeeper0o Posts: 416 Member
    @Safari_Gal_ Dude saaammmeee. Rhythm brand? They’re so crunchy and delicious. I can eat a bag in one go if I’m not careful!
  • Safari_Gal_
    Safari_Gal_ Posts: 1,461 Member
    @Safari_Gal_ Dude saaammmeee. Rhythm brand? They’re so crunchy and delicious. I can eat a bag in one go if I’m not careful!

    @o0Firekeeper0o yesssssss! where have these Rhythm guys been all my life? Lol
  • mtaratoot
    mtaratoot Posts: 12,941 Member
    Two weeks ago I took a windfall of carrots from the neighbor's garden. I was looking after her house while she was out of state. She sent a text when she found out we were going to have an extended deep freeze. One thing she asked me to do was pick all the carrots, beets, and kale. I figured we'd have snow that would insulate the ground, and even if the plants died, the vegetable would be safe underground. I counted on the kale to either be cold-hearty enough to fend for itself or it would croak.

    Well, we did get the cold, but the ground didn't freeze solid under the snow. So the carrots that are still out there are fine. She's back in town and she brought me a bunch of other produce from her summer garden, and it's beautiful. She also said to go back there and pick carrots any time. I will. Meantime, I did hedge bets and pick maybe ten pounds before the frost.

    I took some of them and cut into spears and stuffed into a half-gallon jar with some garlic, ginger, and spices, then topped with salt brine. I let them ferment. I had planned to let them go two weeks. They started slowly, then got really bubbling away for several days. I'd burp the jar lid every day; I didn't do anything to keep them below the liquid since they were in a narrow-mouth jar, and the jar shoulders kept them wet.

    Well, today was the day I planned to end the ferment. And I did.

    I packed them into three jars - small, medium, and large. I gave the small jar to the neighbor who grew them. I don't even know if she likes pickles. The other two are in the refrigerator. They had been fermenting very slowly the last several days, although they were still fermenting. They are mildly sour. Kind of like a half sour pickle. They may be more sour than the taste would suggest since they were so sweet to start with.

    Oh. Yeah. They are delicious.

    Some of the garlic turned blue. I've seen this before. It's not dangerous, and last time it actually subsided. Too bad; once I found out it wasn't dangerous, I thought it looked kind of cool.

    This means I have absolutely nothing fermenting right now. I certainly don't need to get another batch of sauerkraut going just yet. I need to eat a couple quarts first even though it does take three weeks or more to ferment. I'm about to need to make a batch of kimchi, but it only takes less than a week. Soon. It's so good. I'll also want to make another batch of cauliflower. It sure has a strong odor, but it's super delicious. Maybe I should try a radish kimchi sans cabbage. That's good too.

    What's your favorite vegetable to ferment?
  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,553 Member
    @lemurcat2
    I am trying this tonight. I only have red miso at the moment though.
    https://okonomikitchen.com/miso-butter-daikon-steak/
  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,553 Member
    @mtaratoot
    Mustard greens! I don't ferment them myself but buy them ready made from the Chinese supermarket.
  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,553 Member
    The Japanese daikon recipe. I cut out the sugar but used more mirin to compensate. I only had red miso in the house used less of it to compensate for it having a stronger taste than white. I will make this again.
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  • mtaratoot
    mtaratoot Posts: 12,941 Member
    acpgee wrote: »
    @mtaratoot
    Mustard greens! I don't ferment them myself but buy them ready made from the Chinese supermarket.

    I attempted to ferment some kale this fall - it was the last from the garden. It didn't ferment properly. I'll try again in the spring.
  • o0Firekeeper0o
    o0Firekeeper0o Posts: 416 Member
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    I bought some beets from the grocery store, then my best friend came to visit and I took her to our state farmer’s market. One stall was selling HUGE beets with lush, perfect greens for $1 each. I was very regretful of the sad batch I got at the store, lol.
    I cooked the beet greens in some bacon fat with a little seasoning. I think I’ll have them for breakfast tomorrow. I roasted all the beets and used a large portion of them to make some refrigerator pickles. The rest I’ve been munching on.
  • PAPYRUS3
    PAPYRUS3 Posts: 13,259 Member
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    These look so good! I'm so glad you posted the recipe:)
  • mtaratoot
    mtaratoot Posts: 12,941 Member
    I bought some beets from the grocery store, then my best friend came to visit and I took her to our state farmer’s market. One stall was selling HUGE beets with lush, perfect greens for $1 each. I was very regretful of the sad batch I got at the store, lol.
    I cooked the beet greens in some bacon fat with a little seasoning. I think I’ll have them for breakfast tomorrow. I roasted all the beets and used a large portion of them to make some refrigerator pickles. The rest I’ve been munching on.

    I love beets. So delicious. I still have half a bed in the garden waiting for me to enjoy them. The greens are a little sad, but the actual beets are fine.

    What are you doing with that jar full of peeled and sliced ones?

    I like to either steam, boil, or roast them and then add some balsamic, but I'm thinking about maybe, just maybe, peeling some, slicing, and (because you know my bad habits) pouring some salt brine on top and waiting two or three weeks.....

    For now I am doing an experiment with Dutch Oven potatoes. I think this might use up the rest of the wrinkled potatoes I've got that needed to be cooked so I can buy more produce.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 31,721 Member
    @o0Firekeeper0o . . . ooo, I have beet green envy: Those are my very favorite greens! (As a veg, I wouldn't go with the bacon fat, but I understand why others would.)

    I like beets OK, but I loooove the greens. One of my best farmers market scores was when I got to a stand I frequent, just as one of the owners had cut the beautiful greens off a big bunch of beets at another (foolish!) customer's request, because said customer wanted the beets but not the greens!
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,899 Member
    Yes, the Japanese daikon recipe results look great.

    I also adore beets and beet greens. Need to get some. I have been working through tons of winter squash I got from my farm share at the end of last year, and went from "sigh, so many and I don't love winter squash, what to do" to being newly converted to absolute winter squash love and wishing I had more (almost out).
  • o0Firekeeper0o
    o0Firekeeper0o Posts: 416 Member
    So glad there are so many beet lovers!

    @mtaratoot , the jar is refrigerator pickled beets! I love refrigerator pickles because it’s just 2 of us and a toddler, so I can make a jar of something and not have to worry about canning and storing a bumper crop. I do want to learn to properly can one day, though.
    These beets are super tangy and just a little sweet, which is exactly what I like. I peeled and roasted the beets first. And yes I know you can peel them after but I honestly wanted to just be zippy-quick done with my veggie peeler instead of massaging little peeling bits off after.

    @AnnPT77 Totally respect that; in fact normally I would just do butter but I had some bacon fat left over and was like eh, why not lol.
    I am SHOCKED that happened, I can’t find beet greens anywhere anymore. It used to be people would snap them off and leave them behind but no more; I think people started to realize they were yummy! :)
  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,553 Member
    The simplest of veggie stir fries with leftover rice for lunch. Tenderstem broccoli and a half onion lying around the bottom of the fridge stir fried in commercial chilli oil (bought at the asian supermarket) with oyster sauce.
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  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,553 Member
    My mung bean sprouts are looking cuter than normal. I have never had them stand up up in attention in this way before.
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