in my kitchen.

This is the time of year that something is happening in the kitchen non-stop. Where I can barely keep up with all of the veggies pouring in - and not only is the fridge full, but so is the cooler on the floor next to it. We are freezing, canning, drying, fermenting, baking. Here are a few things from my kitchen, and some great links to recipes and tips for the season!


Zucchini Pickles - These looked so good I had to make a few pints. I substituted yellow curry powder for the turmeric and the smell and color is amazing. They are crunchy, mustardy, and great on burgers. The recipe is from the Zuni cafe, via Martha Stewart.


I have been cranking out pickles - dill vinegar pickles, refrigerator pickles, lacto-fermented pickles, pickled veggies. I love the POP of the jar lid opening in winter. Sofya at the girls' guide to guns and butter put together a very thorough guide to canning pickles. Every single thing you need to know to make great dill pickles.

And Cheeseslave posted my favorite lacto-fermented pickles recipe this week.


I love dried tomatoes in oil. They are easy to make. You dehydrate cherry tomato halves until fairly dry, but still pliable (not crunchy). Pack them into a jar with dried garlic, onion and basil (I use dried to keep water content low). Cover with olive oil and voila! Use on sandwiches, pizza, salads. Whiz it in the food processor to make a spread. They store a few months in the fridge. I dry a LOT of tomatoes!


This summer squash and potato torte from Bon Appétit is so good I keep making it over and over. I like to add some heavy cream and extra freshly grated Romano cheese to make it more like a gratin. It is great with loads of fresh basil too. So delicious!


This is a yummy zucchini spread from Philly Homegrown. Good on so many things. This version I also added some red pepper and kale from the garden.


What is happening in your kitchen this week?

creamy cucumber salad.

It is cucumber season and in addition to pickles and marinated cucumbers and tadziki and cucumber soup I love cucumbers this way. Creamy and tangy with a nice dressing. This recipe is my tweaked version of a Martha recipe.


::ingredients::
4 or 5 medium sized cucumbers, peeled and sliced
1/2 cup creme fraiche or sour cream
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
2+ tablespoons chopped fresh dill
1 small white onion, halved and finely sliced
1 tsp crushed dill seeds (optional)
1 tsp dehydrated garlic (crushed), or garlic powder
1 tsp dehydrated onion (crushed), or onion powder
Sea salt & freshly ground pepper to taste

::directions::
In a bowl combine the sour cream, lemon juice, herbs and spices and stir to combine. Add the cucumbers and mix well until all cucumbers coated. You can serve immediately, but it tastes even better if you refrigerate for a few hours before serving.

Cucumbers:: Cucumbers are a great source of vitamin A and C as well as potassium, manganese, folate, dietary fiber and magnesium. They also contain the mineral...silica!

slow roasted cherry tomatoes

For most people tomatoes are the epitome of summer. That one flavor that says long hot days and garden fresh. Our tomatoes are just starting to come in and I know we will have a good two months of fresh heirloom tomatoes from our garden and CSA. In the beginning it is hard to do more than to pick them and rinse in the hose before popping them right into my mouth.

My husband LOVES tomatoes too, but the acidity bothers him, so over the years I have expanded how I make tomatoes so that we can enjoy them more ways than only raw or for pasta in the early weeks. Today was the first day I picked enough tomatoes (isis candy cherry) to roast. When I am bringing them in by the bowl full I will start to dehydrate them too, but roasting is a fantastic way to enjoy them in smaller quantities. You can make huge trays of this, but I love making this in my toaster oven and use a ceramic pie dish or brownie pan. Using a toaster oven I don't have to heat the whole kitchen up on a hot day - they roast happily away and turn out perfectly every time. You can of course roast them in your full size oven. Roasting brings out the rich deep flavor of the tomatoes too.

I love roasting cherry tomatoes - but you can use any size of tomato. You will need to slice bigger tomatoes down into smaller pieces.


::slow roasted cherry tomatoes::

Slice cherry tomatoes in half, and place skin side down in your dish. Drizzle with olive oil and a nice splash of good quality balsamic vinegar (more vinegar than oil as it will cook down). Add a pinch of sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Add some whole garlic cloves if you like. Place into your oven at 275ºF for a two or so hours until the balsamic looks sticky and reduced and the tomatoes are slightly smaller and getting curly at the edge. There is no exact time as it will depend on the size and type of your tomatoes - just roast until they get softer, smaller, a bit darker, and curly edged but not all dried out. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly.

Chop some freshly picked basil leaves and scatter over the top, and if you like drop in some soft cheese. I used brie here, but you could use goat cheese, fresh mozzarella, or slivers of good quality Parmesan.

When you serve, be sure to drizzle some of the sticky reduced balsamic over the top. SO good!

kohlrabi slaw.

I have many go-to recipes that I love to make again and again, but don't always post. You see, I am a chronic by the seat of my pants cook. I know the general recipe that I like and rarely make it *exactly* the same twice.

Kohlrabi Slaw is one of those things. I love it. I make it every year that we start getting kohlrabi in the garden and CSA box. I am not a big fan of raw tasteless cabbage and shredded carrots in a runny sauce as is common for American picnics and barbeque's. I like the idea of slaw and the crunchy rawness of it, but I want flavor. Kohlrabi Slaw is so flavorful but still has that fresh crunchy summer feel. This recipe is flexible, because I tweak it based on what we are eating it with. But I find that I most often make it this way - I really think the ginger/sesame oil go so well together with the veggies, and yet it never overpowers. So here it is. My favorite Kohlrabi Slaw.



This makes enough for a few servings - side dish for dinner for a small family. If you are having a barbecue or taking it to a pot luck, double or triple. If you don't like hot pink slaw, just use a different kind of beet. ;)

::ingredients::
1 kohlrabi, peeled and grated
1 carrot, grated
1 medium beet, peeled and grated
1 medium fennel head, grated
3 scallions, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
a few sprigs of fresh dill, chopped
chopped fresh parsley (optional)

::dressing::
1 Tbsp créme fraiche, Greek yogurt or sour cream
2 tsp roasted sesame oil
2 tsp rice vinegar
1" knob of fresh ginger, finely minced
salt & pepper to taste



Grate/chop all of your veggies and toss in a bowl. In a small bowl mix the dressing. Pour over the veggies, stirring to coat. Salt & pepper to taste. Let sit for 30 minutes or more to get those juices and flavors going. Tastes like summer!

::food for thought:: This slaw not only tastes better than the more common slaws, but also is packed with more goodness. Kohlrabi is high in vitamin C and B, magnesium, potassium, fiber and many great anti cancer compounds. Beets are high in anti oxidants, folate, manganese, potassium, fiber, vitamin C and even iron! Fennel is another one full of vitamin C, fiber, potassium, manganese, folate and iron. And of course carrots...not to mention sesame oil is very high in linoleic acid, one of the two essential fatty acids (EFAs) our bodies cannot produce. And you know about ginger and garlic. So see? Picnic food doesn't have to be flavorless and empty. It can be raw and fresh and packed full of flavor and goodness.

CSA Box:: Week 9

Another week another great box!

In the box this week:: watermelon, beets, cucumber, banana & jalapeno peppers, summer squash/zucchini, a variety of tomatoes, sweet corn, carrots, lettuce, garlic

extras:: onions, garlic, parsley, mushrooms, and...a case of tomatoes


While I didn't necessarily like our previous CSA farm any less just because the pickup was at a delivery point in town (someones garage), for me there is just something more substantial and more real to picking up right at the farm. I always love walking through the barn, counting or weighing each item, and putting it into my box. The boys help me with the box, weigh things, write on the chalkboard, chat with the farm person, and hunt for bugs in the flowers. And each week we can see what 'extras' are available - garlic, onions, pickling cucumbers, sweet corn, tomatoes - always enough for canning and preserving!


This week we picked up a case of tomatoes - cracked/ripe. As soon as we got home I rinsed them all off, cored them, and popped them into my large canning pot to simmer away.


We have a lot of tomatoes growing in our garden, but with a small yard never enough to make everything we want for the winter, so we always pick up extras. We make pizza sauce, ketchup, pasta sauce, caponata, and more. And as we go through the end of the season we freeze diced tomatoes, make lots of salsa and can whole tomatoes. There is something very satisfying about going from garden or farm to pot to canning jar. I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels that way, and that I am not the only one who had tomato seeds plastered all over the kitchen this week. :) Ahhh, summer!

What is in your CSA box this week? What are you harvesting from your garden?

CSA Box: week 8

With no other clues, I would be able to tell it was August by just the contents of my CSA box. The box, so heavy was practically dragged along, much heavier than I am 'supposed' to carry. Once home, the counters loaded, the dehydrator packed, the fridge full, and pots going to blanch and freeze. CSA day is much more than a pickup, it is also cleaning, sorting, preserving, and planning the week ahead!

In the box this week:: 2 types of onions, cabbage, garlic, beets, summer squash, 2 types of lettuce, banana peppers, green peppers, jalapeno pepper, basil, sweet corn, melon, swiss chard, cucumbers, and many kinds of tomatoes!


We are heading out for a few day 'staycation' so I didn't get much extra this week as I won' t have time for food preservation this weekend. So the only extras are mushrooms, garlic, parsley, and oregano!


What was in your CSA box this week, or what is in season in your garden?

CSA Box This Week.

CSA Box Today:: snow peas, snap peas, purple beans, kohlrabi, spring onions, kale, 2 types of lettuce, chinese cabbage, garlic scapes, oregano, beets.


I also picked up a few extras at the CSA farm - mushrooms, more beets and some broccoli. Planning on making some beet kvass with the extra beets. Can't wait to see how it turns out!