For the love of Produce...

acpgee · May 2022

While visiting my mom last week, a girlfriend of hers brought over a stunning violet coloured Chinese aubergine salad. I can't wait to try it tonight. The girlfriend's version was deep fried but I will try the furious steam technique.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0D2g5bwuSs

o0Firekeeper0o · May 2022

I found fiddleheads at Wegmans! Tis the season! Happy dance!

lemurcat2 · May 2022

I've been craving beets since Ann mentioned them, so last night made (as a mid-week birthday dinner for my sister, who is staying with me while work is being done at her place): salmon with sides of spaghetti squash and a warm salad made up of a mix of red and orange beets plus cauliflower with a little blue cheese mixed in. So delicious.

Today I am having leftovers for lunch, and I mixed the leftover beets, etc., with the leftover spaghetti squash when I put them away, and now the red beet color has colored everything a bright pinkish-red, including the spaghetti squash. My meal looks bizarre, but tastes good.

o0Firekeeper0o · May 2022

I had my fiddleheads the other night and shared with my husband; he still doesn’t fully get “the hype” but agrees they are good. He said I can plant the fern species if I want in our backyard swale… I think me paying $9 for 1/2 pound for these each year is just too much for him to bear

AnnPT77 · May 2022

o0Firekeeper0o wrote: »

I had my fiddleheads the other night and shared with my husband; he still doesn’t fully get “the hype” but agrees they are good. He said I can plant the fern species if I want in our backyard swale… I think me paying $9 for 1/2 pound for these each year is just too much for him to bear

IME, they take a few years to get well established, but if you have a spot where they're happy, they then spread enthusiastically. Ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris) is the most commonly grown edible one.

Truth in advertising: I don't love them as an edible (they're OK), but I do grow them as an ornamental.

acpgee · May 2022

AnnPT77 wrote: »

o0Firekeeper0o wrote: »

I had my fiddleheads the other night and shared with my husband; he still doesn’t fully get “the hype” but agrees they are good. He said I can plant the fern species if I want in our backyard swale… I think me paying $9 for 1/2 pound for these each year is just too much for him to bear

IME, they take a few years to get well established, but if you have a spot where they're happy, they then spread enthusiastically. Ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris) is the most commonly grown edible one.

Truth in advertising: I don't love them as an edible (they're OK), but I do grow them as an ornamental.

If you forage or grow them yourself, you will have to google how to pick them and when. I remember hearing as a kid that once they unfurl they become toxic.

AnnPT77 · May 2022

acpgee wrote: »

AnnPT77 wrote: »

o0Firekeeper0o wrote: »

I had my fiddleheads the other night and shared with my husband; he still doesn’t fully get “the hype” but agrees they are good. He said I can plant the fern species if I want in our backyard swale… I think me paying $9 for 1/2 pound for these each year is just too much for him to bear

IME, they take a few years to get well established, but if you have a spot where they're happy, they then spread enthusiastically. Ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris) is the most commonly grown edible one.

Truth in advertising: I don't love them as an edible (they're OK), but I do grow them as an ornamental.

If you forage or grow them yourself, you will have to google how to pick them and when. I remember hearing as a kid that once they unfurl they become toxic.

There are some reports of toxicity for ostrich ferns. Current recommendation (from Canada's authorities, because I found theirs first) recommends through cooking (boil 15 minutes, steam 10-12) rather than light:

https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/food-safety-fruits-vegetables/fiddlehead-safety-tips.html

I believe that's based on case reports such as this, published by US CDC:

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00032588.htm

Many other types of ferns are toxic, though there are a few other edibles.

AnnPT77 · May 2022

My nice neighbor Bob just dropped off a nice mess of beautiful asparagus, just picked this morning at his brother-in-law's farm, all washed and trimmed, even. 😋 Definitely on the menu for dinner tonight.

lemurcat2 · May 2022

Lucky you!

acpgee · May 2022

So tonight was the third time I tried the Chinese aubergine salad that was so astonishingly violet when my mom's girlfriend brought a batch over. Have not been able to duplicate that colour with steaming as opposed to deep frying the eggplant. Tried a new recipe because the first one which dictated a 5 minute steam was not long enough.
https://www.chinasichuanfood.com/chinese-eggplant-salad-recipe/

First time I used western aubergines which remained very dark purple. Second time with Chinese aubergines the colour was closer but paler, especially because I did the steaming step a day in advance. Tonight I used one western and one eastern aubergine. The western one remained dark purple and the Chinese got closer to the striking violet colour. The Chinese eggplant absorbed less water during the steaming process.

Despite failing to get that stunning violet colour I will make this regularly. Steaming instead of frying aubergine gives a nice texture that doesn't taste greasy.

o0Firekeeper0o · May 2022

Went to the farmer’s market on Thursday and have been reveling in the produce.

Baked beets and sauteed beet greens in some butter and garlic. Been eating the beet greens here and there and going to slice and refrigerator-pickle the beets today.

Got an enormous batch of kale and used that in last night’s zuppa toscana. It was the best kale I’ve ever had, and I love kale anyway. Nice mild flavor and great texture.

I have some spinach that I think I’ll prep the same way as the beet greens; the beet greens are almost gone now so I’d like another sauteed green on hand.

And then on Sunday my husband took our daughter to a u-pick berry farm. There’s a few left in the fridge but I’ve also freeze-dried a bunch and used some of the others to make quick chia-seed jam!

AnnPT77 · May 2022

Farmers market produce variety is ramping up here, too, with the early Spring things coming on. Today, I got collard greens, radishes, and asparagus. (Plus some rustic goat milk tomme cheese, and a half dozen soft pretzel sticks, but those aren't produce.)

acpgee · May 2022

Ooh. I want asparagus. At least artichokes seem to be back in season.

AnnPT77 · May 2022

@acpgee - location dependent, possibly? It's asparagus season here now . . . and never, ever artichoke season (locally). The artichokes are usually not very good: Rare to find any that look fresh, and are nicely fleshy - ever. So, I have artichoke envy of yours and @mtaratoot's!

As an aside, having grown up in a family where asparagus was a garden perennial, I learned to prefer the thicker stalks as having better flavor - it's about the age/heartiness of the rootstock, not so much that the skinny ones at the store are "baby" ones that will be more tender. And of course the grocery store ones more are often too far open: Even the ones I got at the market yesterday are not as tight as I'd prefer. The ones my neighbor brought over a few days early, photo also in the thread, were more nearly ideal, for my taste. Maybe I'm just weird, though. 🤷‍♀️

mtaratoot · May 2022

When I bought my house, I thought about putting in asparagus. I wasn't sure I'd live here long enough for them to really start producing. Well, that was twenty years ago. Oops. Should have planted them. I had the perfect spot. Alas - that spot is now where the raspberries grow. It's not where I wanted to put them, but they needed to go in the ground, and the spot was second best. They were gifts from a friend who died not too long afterwards. Perhaps I should plant some in this other bed that might actually be a little too wet. Then I'd almost never have to plant anything in the garden again as it would almost be entirely perennial.

My poor artichokes. All the wet weather meant the soil was super moist and soft, the chokes are in a particularly friable part of the garden, and the large flowers must have held rain to get even heavier, and the wind came up.... several of the plants are flat on the ground and among those, some are broken. Others will be OK. I'm going through them while they are small. The other day I made some including some "babies." I parcooked them in the steamer then roasted. Yum. I'm not cooking today. It's a celebration day. I'll probably reheat a couple vegetable dishes for supper. One is a barley mushroom vegetable soup/stew, and the other is a cauliflower chick pea stew. Who knows... maybe an artichoke because.... Mmmm.

acpgee · May 2022

We've been seeing button and chestnut mushrooms on sale a lot recently and roast mushrooms are an easy veggie side that can sit for a few days in fridge after roasting and warmed up in the microwave when you want to eat them.

I rinse off any dirt under running water than bung into a small casserole dish and drizzle with olive oil and season. You can add optional pressed/grated/minced garlic and herbs such as thyme or oregano or rosemary to the oil. Air fry or roast until they have lost enough moisture to your liking, anywhere from 10 to 40 minutes giving a toss occasionally and draining liquid. Before eatinng, heat up in the microwave and finish with a handful of chopped parsley and an optional squeeze of lemon or a little drizzle of truffle oil.

mtaratoot · May 2022

acpgee wrote: »

We've been seeing button and chestnut mushrooms on sale a lot recently and roast mushrooms are an easy veggie side that can sit for a few days in fridge after roasting and warmed up in the microwave when you want to eat them.

I rinse off any dirt under running water than bung into a small casserole dish and drizzle with olive oil and season. You can add optional pressed/grated/minced garlic and herbs such as thyme or oregano or rosemary to the oil. Air fry or roast until they have lost enough moisture to your liking, anywhere from 10 to 40 minutes giving a toss occasionally and draining liquid. Before eatinng, heat up in the microwave and finish with a handful of chopped parsley and an optional squeeze of lemon or a little drizzle of truffle oil.

They won't sit for a few days in the fridge in MY house. They will sit in my belly shortly after they come out of the oven!

My method is to carefully pop out the stipe (stem) then put the caps top side down on parchment paper. I finely chop the stipes and add some finely chopped garlic, possibly something else, and a small amount of panko. And spices. I mix that up with a little oil and stuff the caps then roast at 425 in a convection oven for about 25 minutes.

I do have to wait for them to be cool enough to eat.

Mushrooms are more closely related to animals than plants. I don't have to call it a side dish. I bought some nice mushrooms yesterday. Maybe I'll make some today.

acpgee · May 2022

I am guessing panko absorbs the moixture the mushrooms exude during roasting. Good idea.

Athijade · May 2022

I had lion's mane mushrooms for the first time last night. Really good. Especially sauteed with some teriyaki sauce. The flavor of the mushrooms with the sauce worked amazing together.

nsk1951 · May 2022

Mushrooms and Asparagus ... two of my favorite vegetables! Asparagus isn't on my table very often though, as I am with @AnnPT77 on those we can get at the supermarket. Like her, my mom had a large asparagus bed and would go pick them right before cooking them for us. My sister carried on the tradition after our mom died and the asparagus bed went to weeds. Now her bed is gone to weeds as well and she isn't starting over. I bought a timeshare in a local OCA farm and the pickups begin the last Saturday in June. I guess that means they aren't going to have asparagus in those bags of vegetables as the season for them will be gone by then. Still, if I ever do find those nice thick stems with tight buds, I grab them!. As of Mushrooms, they are part of my permanent shopping list and I enjoy them in multiple ways all year long. Very rarely do I make stuffed mushrooms caps, but @mtaratoot gave is one I am going to copy!.

One of my decadent ways to eat mushrooms is to caramelize thinly sliced onions and add thinly slice mushrooms to cook until they are also done ... I use half olive oil and half butter for the cooking. These are then piled atop a crusty slice of Italian bread or on half a bulky roll. Yum! Seasoning is whatever strikes my fancy or ends up in my hands but always a little sprinkle of salt and pepper.

For the love of Produce...

Replies

Categories