Pickled Beans

This summer I grew a few pots of vegetables outside my door. A small garden with green, yellow and purple beans, 3 kinds of tomatoes, peppers, red, yellow and purple potatoes and some swiss chard and a variety of onions. I like container garden mostly because I don't have a lot of time for weeding. The biggest challenge to pot gardening is keeping up with watering especially in very hot weather. We did have a lot of hot weather this summer but fortunately we also had a lot of rain.

So, I decided to do something different with the beans. Other years I have frozen them or made mustard beans. This year I decided to make pickled or dilled beans.

I processed them the same as I would dill pickles:

1. Wash the jars and put them in a 200 degree oven for 20 minutes to sterilize them.

2. Wash and top and tail the beans.

3. Make the brine with 1 quart vinegar to 2 quarts water and 3/4 cup of pickling salt.

 4. For this recipe I added an 1/8 teaspoon celery seed and 1 large teaspoon of pickling spice to each 500 ml (pint) jar. I did not have garlic for the first batch but got some for the second batch.

5. When the jars were sterile I took them one at a time from the oven and put 1 dill head and 1 garlic clove per jar then filled them with an assortment of the colored beans then filled the jars with the hot brine leaving 1/2 inch of head space.
6. Wipe the rims and put the sterile (in a pot of simmering water) lids on the jar and finger tighten the rings.

7. Water bath for 15 minutes if you prefer although I do not usually do this for brined foodstuffs. As the jars begin to cool you should hear each lid pop. This indicates a good seal and if you check the appearance of the lid it should be concave (slightly indented). If they have not sealed you will need to reprocess them.

Note: Most government recommendations in both Canada and USA advise pressure canning everything.

Turkey Drumsticks

While wandering though the aisles of the local grocery store today I noticed, in the meat cooler, turkey drumsticks. Two in a package for around $2.60. I'm thinking it's a pretty good deal but I'm not sure just how I'm going to cook them. When I got home I searched a few recipes online but didn't see anything that caught my fancy. After some thought I decided to baste them with pesto.

I washed the breasts and dried them off a bit. What this really means is that I shook the excess water off. I trimmed the loose skin off then put them onto a pie plate and slathered a heaping tablespoon of bottled (store bought) pesto all over them. I put just enough water in the pan to wet the bottom and covered the whole thing snugly with tin foil. Into the oven for about 2 hours at 325 degrees F. I did not uncover them the whole time and in fact forgot they were in the oven until I could smell them.  I took them out and carefully removed the tin foil and set them to rest for 10 or 15 minutes. I had already eaten dinner so I just sampled them. Gotta say that they are more than good, in fact kind of awesome. They turned out very moist, tender and juicy with a very gentle hint of the pesto. I think if you do not have pesto you could use a salad dressing or BQ sauce and it would be fine. 

It could be eaten torn with some rice or noodles or a traditional style turkey dinner or served cold with  a chunk of dark bread, pickles and potato salad if it's too hot to cook.

Kitchen Tips For People Who Never Wanted To Cook or Thought They Could or Would

I have worked for many years in a variety of kitchens and these are a few simple tips that might help your fingers stay attached to your hands and cause you less stress.

1. Put a damp cloth under your cutting board so it doesn't slide around while you are using it. Learn how to use knives correctly and use the right knife for each task.

2. Keep your knives sharp. A dull knife is far more dangerous than a sharp one. If you don't know how to do it yourself most butchers will do it for you for a nominal charge.

3. Never put sharp knives in a sink full of water. You may forget they are there or someone else might come along and be unaware of them. Nasty and preventable accident.

4. Knives will stay sharp longer if you:

a) don't put them in the dishwasher

b) don't scrape the blade across the cutting board. Turn the knife over and use the back of the blade if you want to use it to scrape/move food off the board.

c) use a cutting board

d) store knives where they do not bang and scrape against each other or other hard objects

5. If you use certain items (diced onions, chopped carrots, celery) prepare enough at one time to last several days and store in plastic containers or bags.  It will save you a lot of time when you are cooking.

6. Be organized. Store tools and food items in their same place. It saves time and frustration not to have to search every time you want something.

7. Label and date food items stored in fridge and freezer. When in doubt throw it out.

8. Good condiments can make a plain meal a lot more interesting.

9. You can always add more...but you generally can't take it out once it's in there. 

10. Use recipes at first but learn to trust your instincts. Be creative.

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Kohlrabi

I should not have complained about the heat. 'Cause it's gone. Tonite the temp is supposed to be 8 degrees (Celsius). Not sure what that is Fahrenheit but I know that it's cold for August. A few days ago we were sweltering and now for the past two days its been windy and cold. Ugh! But enough about the weather or this blog will turn into a weather blog instead of a food blog.

Today, I cooked another of my organic-type purchases, Kohlrabi. I am told there are several types; this one was a pale green  and even lighter green on the inside. It's easy to cook. Peel it with a sharp vegetable peeler and cut it into small chunks or slices. Bring it to a boil in very lightly salted water and simmer as you would a potato. It is done when fork-tender. I just put a little butter and pepper on it. The taste is similar to a very mild turnip although its ancestry is the wild cabbage which is also the origin of the common cabbage, broccoli etc.

It would nicely accompany a pork or roast beef dish. Also a nice vegetarian addition. I would think this could be added to any full-tasting soup such as beef vegetable but maybe a bit too strong in a chicken based soup. Again, a welcome addition to a vegetarian soup.

If you would like a lot more info try this link
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kohlrabi

Today I Ate An Apple

I ate an apple today. That's not to say that I have never eaten an apple before in my life. But this was a real apple. I went to a farmer's market in a nearby town. It was rainy with a chilly wind blowing in off the river. I talked to a farmer about organic meat  and looked at crafts and honey, cookies and freshly baked bread. Finally I came to one of the produce vendors. I bought some corn on the cob, tomatoes and noticed some green apples in a bin. I asked the seller if her produce was organic and she replied that she could not strictly call it organic because she wore bug spray when she worked in the garden. I bought some apples too.

While I was working on cooking and freezing some of the corn on the cob (which by the way was delicious) I thought I might try one of the apples. The first thing I noticed when I bit into it was that the skin wasn't waxy. I chewed the first bite and OMG it actually tasted like an apple. It smelled like an apple too. I realized that I have probably not eaten an apple like that since I was a kid and we used to ride our horses under the apple trees and reach up to pluck a piece of fruit and eat it right there.

I hope I am not too preachy about this. I have to admit that it is only recently that I have come to the realization that I am fed-up with food that doesn't taste like what it is supposed to be and is also laced with pesticides, fertilizers and who knows what. So for me, it is my intention to be more mindful of what I eat. I want to know where it has come from, how the animals were treated and what has been put on it or into it. Don't we deserve the real thing? 

Bare Fruit 100% Organic Bake-Dried Apples, Fuji, 1 Pound Bags (Pack of 2) 

A few pics from a Potluck Dinner

Last summer we had a couple of really good dinners with a group of seniors I work with. One of the dinners was a "Bring Your Own Steak or Whatever" and the other one was a good old country pot-luck supper.

Both presented  great evenings filled with good food, conversation and company. One guest brought an amazing array of fresh vegetables from their garden, yellow and green beans, freshly dug new potatoes and tomatoes that actually tasted like tomatoes. A couple of the ladies had a practiced hand at baking turning out fresh pies and blueberry cake.

Scones/Tea Biscuits

This is one of the simplest recipes for biscuits or scones

Combine:

 3 cups flour

2T Baking Powder

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 t salt

Blend in (with pastry cutter, 2 knives or your hands)

1/2 cup margarine, butter or some kind of fat (i've even used bacon grease)

If you want to add some kind of cheese, cooked crumbled bacon, cooked chopped onions or whatever, this is the time to do it. About 1/2 to 1 cup should do it.

Add milk to moisten.  Remember, you can add more but you can't take it out once it's in there.  If you want drop biscuits add more milk. If you are going to lightly knead the dough, a little less. Don't over mix, it will make the biscuits tough. Just make the dry stuff wet.

Either drop large tablespoon fulls onto pan or roll out and cut with a glass or cutter and place on ungreased baking sheet.

Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit, i think that's about 180 Celsius for about 15 minutes until lightly browned on top and bottom. Remove from pan onto paper towel or cooling rack. Good served with butter or margarine.

Note: T is tablespoon, t is teaspoon
You can use half wholewheat or multi-grain flour. Biscuits will likely be a bit heavier 

Too Hot To Cook Today

August in Manitoba usually has the feel of fall beginning to arrive. And yes, the geese have begun to gather for their annual flight south. But...it's hot, really hot. It's so hot that the tomato plants in my potted garden are hanging over the sides of the pots gasping for water even though it rained  last night and they were hand-watered this morning.

When you step out of the apartment building the heat smacks you in the face like a hot, wet dish-rag that somebody left sitting on the top of the stove. I'd like to complain about it but when you live in a place where the north winter wind often brings temperatures in the minus thirties and forties, you don't. I just think of what it is like when the vehicles won't start because it's so cold and the oil is so thick that the engines won't turn over.

Hopefully we won't have to deal with that for a while.

We really can't complain too much here in Manitoba, Canada. It seems the weather is strange all over the world.

Reindeer Round-up, Tuk, N.W.T

One of the first places I cooked for a bunch of people was at the annual reindeer round-up near Tuktoyaktuk, North West Territories. Every June the Nasogaluak family who owned the reindeer herd at that time, would bring in a crew to an old abandoned dew line station on the Beaufort Sea east of Tuktoyaktyuk. The area is Arctic tundra at its finest, no trees but hills and hummocks that could turn an ankle with ease. Later, in June this same barren, muddy tundra would be covered with paintbox coloured flowers with names I did not know.

 For the  2 weeks the crew with the important assistance of helicopter and 3 wheelers would round up about 10,000 reindeer and bring them into a series of corrals to cut off their horns. The horns would be shipped fresh to primarily Asian countries where they were used medicinally.

 My job was to cook for a crew of about 25 to 40 people who pretty much worked around the clock when the reindeer were in the pens. The old dew line base was a primitive facility with  no running water or electricity. I had only a small stove whose oven door would not close properly and a coleman camp cooker.

It was here that I learned to make dried meat, reindeer stew and perfected my bannock making. The crew did not want or expect fancy food, just large quantities of hot, filling fare and endless pots of coffee and tea. What a blast it was!!

There is nothing like the site of several thousand reindeer coming toward you over the tundra.

Brandied Cherries

A couple of weeks ago I made for the first time, Brandied Cherries. Pretty simple really. Cherries, sugar and brandy. The brandy was acquired at duty-free during a hockey trip to the USA and the cherries purchased at a good price at the local town grocery store. I washed the cherries well. Who knows whats on them these days? Then, did the usual things for sterilizing canning jars. Next, put the cherries, sugar and brandy into the jars, wiped and sealed them. Then into the  water bath. I did this even though recipes said that process was unnecessary due to the brandy but I wanted to be certain.
I am very much looking forward to trying them sometime around Christmas although they should be ready before that. I will take some pics of them in the next couple of days and post them here.