My First Harvest:
2 sweet peppers
(bad news? One of those should be a hot pepper! That means either one of the hot pepper plants is a sweet pepper plant. Or, ALL of my hot pepper plants are sweet peppers! And, if that’s true I’ll have 12 sweet pepper plants turning in a bucket load of sweet peppers this week. That’s A LOT of sweet peppers! I predict a week of peppers and onions, peppers & eggs, and peppers & sausage for dinner. The good news… I can tear out all my pepper plants and plant more artichokes!)
2 dozen gorgeous blackberries
(And, 3-4 dozen about to ripen any day)
5 blueberries
(Yes, 5 whole blueberries… they’re all mine… no one else can have them! We had about 3 dozen blueberries, but, either the squirrels or the rabbits or the racoons really like blueberries. Because, they’re vanishing in the middle of the night.)
a mountain of oregano
(I made a surprisingly pretty arrangement with just oregano and oregano blossoms… my new favorite use for these mammoth plants. I wish I’d taken a picture. The little white blossoms are charming.)
Chicken Salad with Cilantro
serves 4
1 large bunch cilantro, well-washed
1 large red pepper, diced
3 skinless chicken breasts, grilled & diced
1-2 handfuls dried cranberries
baby salad greens, well-washed
Dressing:
1 large Tablespoon mayo
1 large Tablespoon sour cream
juice of half a lemon
black pepper, freshly ground
fine sea salt
After washing cilantro, remove the stem. Set cilantro leaves aside. Finely dice the stems and place in a large bowl. Add chicken, red pepper and a couple handfuls of dried cranberries. Set aside.
Dress plates with a bed of baby salad greens and cilantro leaves.
In a small bowl, combine mayo, sour cream, and lemon juice. Add salt & pepper to taste. Pour dressing over chicken salad and combine well. Top mixed greens with chicken salad. Serve with croutons or buttered toast wedges.
Kantola (Momordica Dioica, or Balsam Pear)
Kantola (or, balsam pear) is a type of bitter gourd known by many names. Momordica dioica, balsam apple, spine gourd, konkani, kakrol, kankro, kantroli, aakakarakaya, phagla, phaagil, ban karela, bhat karola, kartola, teasel gourd and boda kakarakaya are just a few. It’s rich in calcium, phosphorus, and iron. I’m a fan of bitter melon. So, I enjoyed this milder cousin. It reminds me of a cross between a bitter zucchini, okra and a cucumber. But, the texture is denser and a bit tougher. When fried, it reminds me of fried okra with none of the slime.
slice into 1/4 inch thick rounds
You don’t need a recipe. Simply add a few tablespoons of corn meal or chickpea flour, a little cayenne, black pepper, and finely ground sea salt into a zip lock bag. Add your thinly sliced rounds of kantola and toss. Shake off the excess. Then, fry each piece on a lightly oiled griddle or skillet… 1-2 minutes per side.
It’s best to fry in small batches. That’s the easiest way to enjoy them while they’re hot & crispy.
This is definitely not cajeta. I’m not surprised. I didn’t have goat’s milk. I didn’t even have whole milk. But, I did have fresh 2% milk and plenty of sugar. So, I decided to give it a try. The result reminds me of caramel pudding. I had to stop my reduction when the mixture attempted to solidify along the edges.
The taste is lighter and creamier than cajeta with more buttery flavor than I expected to achieve. It’s not cajeta. But, I’ve already thought of a number of uses and it’s lovely drizzled over French toast.
Caramel Sauce
8 cups 2% milk
2 cups sugar
Place milk and sugar in a heavy bottomed sauce pan. Bring to a gentle simmer. Pour liquid into a large casserole dish.
Then, in a slow cooker, add 4 inches of boiling water. Set casserole dish in water bath. Place heat setting on high and allow the mixture to cook. When mixture returns to a very gentle simmer, reduce to low. Stir frequently (every 10-15 minutes). And, allow the mixture to cook and reduce for 9-10 hours.
Hibiscus, known as flor de Jamaica in Latin Amarica and red sorrel in the Carribean, makes a gorgeous deep red tea. After steeping the petals in water, all that’s needed to make a lovely tea is a bit of sugar. It also makes a lovely floral jelly. I’ll be looking for a recipe to use the rest of my hibiscus in this way.
Hibiscus Tea
makes over 1 gallon
4 quarts water
2 cups dried hibiscus petals
2 cups sugar
Over low heat, bring water and hibiscus petals to a gentle simmer in heavy stock pot. Simmer for 6 minutes. Turn off the heat, add the sugar and stir gently. Cover the pot and allow your petals to steep in the hot water for at least 30 minutes (or up to 1 hour). Strain and discard the hibiscus petals. Pour hibiscus tea into a large pitcher. Serve over ice for a lovely iced hibiscus tea. Garnish with fresh strawberries, if desired.
To make this an adult beverage:
Add one shot of vodka to each glass before filling with hibiscus tea.
We purchased the hibiscus petals (pictured above) at the Buford Highway Farmers Market.
Buford Highway Farmers Market
5600 Buford Highway NW
Doraville, GA 30340
770 455 0770
Even if you don’t enjoy anise flavored liqueurs, yellow bird is worth trying. The small quantity in this cocktail adds a background complexity that I love. Dominant flavors of Cointreau and lemon juice create a barely sweet freshness with a tropical twist. When I’m feeling a little homesick for Florida, this is the perfect drink.
Yellow Bird
2 1/2 ounces rum
juice of one lemon, strained
1 ounce Cointreau
1/2 ounce Galliano
Garnish:
lemon twist
In a shaker, combine all ingredients. Add ice. Shake. Divide between two small iced martini glasses. (Or, one large, as shown above.) Garnish each glass with one twist of lemon or one frozen lemon wedge.
With a taste similar to S.Pellegrino’s Sanbitter, Aperol makes a lovely summer cocktail. A careful balance of sweet and bitter, this bitter orange aperitivo needs only ice or a splash of sparkling water to make a simple summertime drink.
Aperol Classico
In a rocks glass, place one thin circle of fresh orange with the peel. Top with ice. Then, add:
2 shots of Aperol
sparkling water, to fill
Salute!
For more Aperol cocktails: Aperol.it
Fresh Almonds
Technically, the fruit of the almond tree is a drupe… not a nut. The entire green almond is edible. But, the outer green shell is quite tough to chew. And, it has a sour taste that can become unpleasant quickly. (I’d say the taste is similar to that of a sour green bean.) Though, it is used in salads and chutneys in Indian cooking.
The inner seed is unique. A soft white casing encloses a clear fresh tasting jelly. The taste and texture is reminiscent of a cucumber seed combined with a very light, fresh bean flavor. First, we enjoyed dipping the seeds in salt and chili powder. Then, we tried dipping the seeds in superfine sugar. When we dipped the seeds in sugar, we noticed a flavor reminiscent of sweet avocado. (Have you ever dipped a wedge of avocado in sugar? That was our first impression.) We enjoyed all of the flavor combinations. The fresh green flavor is quite delicate. It’s a lovely way to start a meal.
The best recipe that I’ve found for green almonds is in Grant Achatz’s Alinea cookbook. Simply listed as “Green Almonds, Sweet, Hot, Sour, Salt”, the green almond seed is used as a focal point in the center of vivid green cucumber gelee squares. The square of gelee is garnished with sweet (crushed sugar cubes), hot (cayenne chili powder), sour (citric acid), and salt (Bali or Maldon sea salt) in each of the four corners. I regret not having the cookbook on hand. Sadly, by the time I order my copy, my gorgeous batch of green almonds will be long gone… next time.
For now, I’ll have to settle with my improvisation.
Green Almonds
green almonds, removed from their pods
lemon wedges
lime wedges
chili powder
black salt, or sea salt
smoked salt
sugar, superfine
Place small mounds of sugar, chili powder, and salts on a small flat plate.
Squeeze lemon and lime juice into separate condiment bowl. Dip each almond seed in lemon or lime juice. Then, dip each seed in salt, chili powder or sugar. Or, dip each seed in a combination of sugar and chili powder or salt and chili powder.
Green Almonds from Global Food & Nuts
Global Food And Nuts
11235 Alpharetta Highway
Suite 111
Roswell, GA 30076
770 619 2966
I know many South Floridians have their own version of this barbecue sauce. We like to add a bit of the tropics to our grilling. This sauce is best applied at the end of the grilling process due to the sweetness.
Guava BBQ Sauce
makes approximately 4 cups of sauce
1 cup guava paste
1 small can tomato sauce
1 Tablespoon tomato paste
1 bottle of beer
1/4 cup lime juice
splash of soy sauce
2-3 cloves of garlic, very finely chopped
1 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground
1/2 teaspoon cayenne and/or a generous splash or three of Tabasco
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon salt
Saute garlic in a splash of olive oil until light gold. Add remaining ingredients. Simmer gently for 10-15 minutes. Set aside to cool. Store in the fridge until needed.
Finish grilled chicken, spare ribs or pork chops with a light brush of sauce.
This is the first perfect bloom on my Kentucky Derby rose bush. I’ve always loved the incredibly large blooms of this rose. We enjoy picking both buds and full blooms from this bush. This might be the perfect red rose. And, as an added bonus, the fragrance is lovely, too!
Garden Update:
Added — 3 Mr Stripey (Yaay! I found my favorites!) And, they’re already thriving!
The 4 new fig trees — They’ve all grown about 3 inches! Amazing! (My well-established brown turkey fig has grown about 5-6 inches already this year.)
And, we planted 3 varieties of marigold and one huge planter box of chamomile.
Everything is thriving. (It’s a miracle!) Radishes are growing like weeds. Both sweet and hot peppers plants are huge. Too many peppers to count are growing. Tomato and cherry tomato plants are looking great. The first blueberries are getting big!! The blackberry bush has sent off three or four new GIANT-SIZED sprouts. And, the main bush is COVERED in blackberries. My artichokes look great. My lavender is beautiful (this year). And, everything else is growing as expected. This is shaping up to be a very successful year.
The two rhubarbs are healthy… but, they seem to be missing a few stalks. Rabbits, maybe? I know we have a family of rabbits and a few solitary visitors every day. I guess they’re not happy gorging on the bird seed I see them devouring non-stop. Pesky rabbits! They’re lucky they’re so cute.
Sadly, it wouldn’t be my garden if I didn’t have at least one fatality. One poor rosemary has shuffled off to the great garden in the sky. I have no idea what happened to the poor thing. One day it was fine… the next day… it had shriveled and died. It received the same water and sun that it’s identical twin is still receiving. (The healthy twin is currently thriving.) It’s a mystery!
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