Things Begin Finally!

The garden is starting to really grow since the weather has been so dry and warm. My salad bed has really come a long way ... actually made a salad from some cuttings the other night .. nice and spicy greens!

I intend to make a sort of time lapse slideshow of the garden throughout the year, but here are some photo collages in the mean time.

Spring time flowers around the yard

Sprouts starting to come up!

Building my potato cage

My First Garden - Soil Prep

Although I was fortunate enough to be able to tend someone else's garden last year, I have never created one of my own.  This year is my first attempt at a garden, start to finish (although it would have been nice if I had done a little more prep before winter ... i.e. planting in GARLIC!).  I intend to use this garden as an extension of my "Practice of Sustainable Agriculture" program at school.  I will endeavor to communicate agricultural (farming) and horticultural (gardening) techniques in tandem with the underlying science.

As a beginning gardener, and someone coming from a non-season eating background, I find I don't have a good feel for what should be going on in the garden at any given time throughout the year. Thankfully my landlord lent me a publication entitled "The Maritime Northwest Garden Guide: Planning Calendar for Year-Round Organic Gardening". It is location specific and provides succinct information on what plants you should be staring indoors, sowing outdoors and other seasonal preparations.

There are two things that I have been trying to keep in mind throughout this process to justify my decisions.
1.) There are about a MILLION and a half ways to garden
2.) Plants WANT to grow


First up? Soil Prep!


Soil preparation is very important for gardens, as intensive techniques and extensive use of annual plants can deplete the soil of vital micro-nutrients. Soil is a actually a very beautifully complicated thing .. not just dirt, but a vast ecosystem of micro and macro biota (e.g. fungus, worms, insects, bacteria).  If you take good care of your soil, it will take good care of your plants.

As most of the beds I have been allotted this year have been out of intensive cultivation for at least a season or two, I have a lot of work to do.  The front yard of my home has been a garden for 8 years, but much of it was just mulched over by previous tenants. Below are some before and after shots of my prep

The initial process involved raking back the mulch layers, loosening the soil with a cultivating fork to a depth of 15-25cm and pulling out the weeds and grasses. I use a garden fork instead of a roto-tiller to avoid subsoil compaction and to spare the precious soil life (there are TONS of worms in this ground!).

To ensure the best possible fertility, a soil test was done via Black Lake Organics, indicating nutrient levels in our loam soil were fairly good, but could use a little adjustment to the Boron, Phosphate and Magnesium. A custom organic soil amendment was made for us, utilizing sulfate compounds of the aforementioned elements to also reduce pH slightly (currently at neutral pH 7.0, should be slightly acidic at pH 6.5 though).  

The soil amendment is sprinkled on at a ratio of about 1 Kg for every 5 m^2.  Then I fork it in, then cover with compost to ensure lots of microbial activity!
    

Romesco Sauce

 Romesco is a traditional Catalan Spanish sauce served with grilled meats and vegetables, especially seafood and calçots (a variety of green onion that is similar in appearance to a leek). The sauce is composed primarily of nuts (almond, hazel or pine), garlic and dried chili peppers (traditionally the small round Romesco chili). Once again I was inspired by an episode of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations, this time in Spain.  Mr. Bourdain participated in an event called a Calçotada, a springtime festival that features grilled calçots, crusty bread and lots of wine! It looked like such a good time, and sounded so delicious I had to try making some Romesco. Here we go....

INGREDIENTS

1	head	Garlic
3	-	Roma Tomatoes
1	-	Red Bell Pepper
3	Tbl	Cider Vinegar
~1/4	cup	Extra Virgin Olive Oil
3	-	Dried Peppers, med-large
1/2	cup	Slivered Almonds
1	Tbl	Smoked Paprika
~1	tsp	Smoked Sea Salt (to taste)

DIRECTIONS

1. Roast the Veggies. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cut bell pepper and tomatoes into quarters, remove seeds from both. Toss with a drizzle of olive oil and salt. Place in a roasting pan with the head of garlic in the middle and roast in oven until garlic is soft.
2. Bring about 2 quarts of water to a boil.  Add the dried chilies, cover, set aside and steep for at least 20 min.  Remove from water, de-stem and de-seed.
3. Toast slivered almonds over medium heat in a dry pan.  Roast and stir fairly constantly (or do that awesome pan tossing move) until nuts start to darken in color slightly and become fragrant.
4. Add all prepared ingredients but olive oil to a food processor.  Blend until smooth and thick, then slowly add the olive oil until the desired consistency is reached.

Thai Breakfast Sausage

This recipe is an adaptation of Thai style Sausage.  I had no idea that such a delicious thing existed out there.  I have never seen Thai sausage on any menu at any Thai restaurant, and I wasn't much of a foodie when I visited Thailand at the age of 17.  I was watching an episode of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations, and my interest was peaked when these delectable treats were mentioned.  So I hit the web to see what I could find about these "Thai Sausages".

The ingredients lists from most recipes I perused were composed of the staple Thai flavors: galangal, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaf, ginger, chilies, palm sugar & fish sauce.  Typically these sausages are stuffed into a casing before cooking, but I figured I could create a similar tasting patty style sausage .... I don't think I've EVER been so taken aback at something I've made. I didn't even have time to take pictures of the finished product because I wolfed it down so fast.  I am a sucker for Thai flavors, but this recipe will blow your mind regardless!  Here we go ....

INGREDIENTS

1	#	Ground Pork (or poultry)
2	Tbl	Galangal, finely minced
2	Tbl	Ginger, finely minced
4	-	Thai Chilies, minced (or to desired spice)
4	cloves	Garlic, minced
2-4	-	Green Onions, finely chopped
3	Tbl	Palm Sugar
1	tsp	Black Pepper
2	tsp	Fennel Seed
1	Tbl	Smoked Sea Salt
1	Tbl	Coriander
2	tsp	Fish Sauce

DIRECTIONS

Basically I just put all the roughly cut ingredients (minus the meat & fish sauce) into a small blender and processed into a semi-fine mince. Mix all thoroughly with ground meat until well blended. Let sit refrigerated for at least 1-2 hours (overnight would be better!). Form, cook and serve however you like.

Brewing a CDA with Adam

Adam and I met at the Evergreen State College in Washington State while taking a program entitled "Food, Health & Sustainability". We soon learned of each others passion for beer and homebrewing.  This particular batch of "Cascadian Dark Ale" (CDA) features Adam's homegrown Cascade and Chinook hops. CDA's are essentially Black IPA's made of ingredients from and brewed within the Cascadian bioregion. I really hope that with the spread of the local food movement, beers, wines, cheeses and other foods will gain regional qualities similar to those that exist(ed) in Europe.

The recipe we used is from NorthernBrewer.com, but ingredients used are either grown locally or purchased locally...

INGREDIENTS

0.25	#	Dehusked Carafa III
0.25	#	Chocolate Malt
0.5	#	Briess Caramel 80
3.15	#	Dark Dry Malt Extract (60 min)
6	#	Dark Dry Malt Extract (15 min)
1	#	Corn Sugar (0 min)
1	oz	Summit Hops (60 min)
1	oz	Chinook Hops (30 min)
1	oz	Cascade Hops (15 min)
1	oz	Chinook Hops (10 min)
1	oz	Cascade Hops (5 min)
1	oz	Cascade Hops (0 min)
1	oz	Summit Hops (dry hop in secondary)

Recipe directions and more can be found here.

Adam and I also concocted a strange mixture of a couple different fermenting beverages I've had lying around for a good while. Sweet Dandelion Wine (too sweet), Sour Gruit Ale (too sour) and a Ginger beer plant (symbiosis of ginger and yeast in an aqueous suspension). We made small mixtures using a 50mm syringe to record each ratio. Finally reaching a nicely balanced mixure, we bottled it so it could carbonate. The end result was a very pleasing sort of fruity, herbal and very booze heavy soda pop.

Below is a slideshow of the days events

Valentines ala Panama

I am not one to celebrate holidays in a "traditional" ways. I like black Xmas ornaments and pickled fish instead of Valentines chocolates (I wonder if Missy feels the same way??).  Either way, this Valentines I decided to make an entirely "hand-forged" Panamanian feast! A ceviche with bay scallops, tilapia and sole, coconut rice, homemade tortillas and pickled cabbage relish. It was a TON of work to do by myself, but the results were WELL worth it!  

I have also been really interested in using acidic ingredients, like lime or lemon juice to "cook" various types of seafood.  The citric acid in the juice denatures the proteins in the seafood in much the same way as applying heat would  The flesh even turns opaque when the acid has run its course. Ceviche is NOT raw sushi salad and is very safe to eat.  Check out these recipes!

Coconut Rice

INGREDIENTS

1 - Coconut (meat grated, juice reserved) 2 c Rice (~2 cups per # of grated coconut) 4 c Water 1/4 c Tomato, diced 1/4 c Bell Pepper, diced ~2 tsp Sea Salt 1/2 tsp Sugar 1/2 Tbl Hot Sauce 3 slices Bacon, streaky 1 can Red Kidney Beans 1 - Onion, small

DIRECTIONS

1. Boil the 4 cups of water with the coconut for 2 minutes, set aside to cool. When it has cooled enough to handle, squeeze dry, reserving the liquid, and combining it with the milk.
2. Chop the bacon and sauté it with the green pepper, onion and the hot pepper in the same pan that you will be using to cook the rice.
3. Toss in the tomato and kidney beans (with its liquid) and simmer for 10 minutes.
4. Remove the hot pepper from the mix.
5. Pour in the coconut milk, sugar and salt. Cover pot and bring to just a boil
6. Rinse and drain the uncooked rice before mix comes to a boil. Add the rice to the boiling milk mixture. Cooked uncovered for 1-2 minutes, cover and reduce flame to low. Simmer for 20 minutes, or until the rice is tender.

Recipe from world-food-and-wine.com

Ceviche

INGREDIENTS

~2	#	Seafood (shrimp, scallops, firm fleshed fish)
1/2	c	Tomato, diced
1/2	c	Cucumber, peeled & diced
1/2	c	Red Onion, diced
1/4	c	Cilantro, leaves & stems, chopped
1	Tbl	Hot Sauce
1	-	Jalapeño, minced
~1	c	Lime or Lemon juice

DIRECTIONS

1. Chop seafood to a rough, large-ish dice (a little bit bigger than your veggies)
2. In a bowl, cover the chopped seafood with lime/lemon juice. Make sure everything is submerged, cover bowl with a lid and refrigerate for 20+ minutes
3. Drain off lime/lemon juice and mix the seafood with the veggies.
4. Salt & Pepper to taste
5. Allow flavors to blend together in the refrigerator for at least 30 min. Then serve with tortilla chips or tortillas!

Tortillas

I am still quite a novice at working with masa and making my own tortillas (getting the dough consistency right, getting the cooking surface the right temperature ... ). According to most recipes I found, you basically take equal parts masa corn flour and water, roll it into a ball, flatten it & cook it. I've got it all down aside from the cooking aspect I think. I made a handy-dandy tortilla press out of my table, a couple layers of wax paper and a flat board (this also works great when making meat or veggie patties).

Pickled Cabbage Relish - "Curtido"

I had made this yummy relish a long while back when I was making Pupusas ... and have been keeping it in the fridge to see if it either improves in flavor, or goes bad. As expected, it has remained a very yummy mix of cabbage, carrot and green onion.

INGREDIENTS

1/2	head	Cabbage, shredded
1	-	Carrot, shredded
1	quart	Water
3	-	Green Onions, diced
3/4	c	vinegar
1/2	c	Water

DIRECTIONS

1. Bring 1 quart water to a boil. Add shredded cabbage and carrot to boiling water, then remove from heat and cover. Steep 5-10 minutes.
2. Strain cabbage and carrot, discard water.
3. Combine with green onion, vinegar, 1/2 cup water and oregano in a large jar.
4. Refrigerate for at least 20 minutes.

Thai Shrimp Stir-fry

INGREDIENTS

1	#	Shrimp, shelled & de-veined
1	-	Green Bell Pepper, sliced
1	-	Jalapeno, sliced
6-8	-	Mushrooms
1	inch	Ginger, peeled and minced
4	cloves	Garlic, minced
4	tsp	Brown Sugar
2	Tbl	Soy Sauce
2	tsp	Fish Sauce
1	-	Tomato
1	-	Lemon, juice & zest
1	med	Yellow Onion
1	Tbl	Mint, chopped
2	tsp	Fennel Seed

DIRECTIONS

1. Clean, shell and de-vein shrimp
2. Heat ~2 Tbl veggie oil in a stainless steel pan on Med-Hi heat. Quickly saute sliced mushrooms until golden.
3. Add onions and cook until they start to soften slightly
4. Add Bell Pepper and Jalapeno. Cook 1-2 min
5. Add Ginger (and additional HEAT ingredients if desired ... fresh & dried Thai chili)
6. Add shrimp and liquid ingredients. Cook until shrimp is done, then serve over rice with mint, sliced cucumber and pineapple.