by Alyse on Tuesday, October 26, 2010
As our home fills with the smell of a chicken roasting in the oven with potatoes, onions and carrots from the summer’s harvest and fresh herbs, I’m finally drawn back to writing about food. I’ve taken a long break from blogging to recover from foot surgery. I thought my recovery would provide me with plenty of time to blog but I discovered it’s quite difficult to write, think, or even remember where I just set my sandwich down while I’m taking pain medication.
Today I actually made it into the kitchen where my sweetie helped me put together a lovely dinner in the dutch oven, and after days of losing track of my thoughts, it really brought me back to Earth. By “helped”, I mean he did everything while I sat and watched and gave my two cents worth (maybe more).
I hurriedly spent the days leading up to surgery getting all the garden chores done while I still could. I still have garlic to plant, and hopefully I can talk ‘the Mr.’ into “helping” me with that too, but otherwise the garden is pretty much ready for winter. I filled the yard waste bin with the old dying tomato vines. I didn’t save any of the green tomatoes as I have in the past - green tomatoes will ripen beautifully in a paper bag in the kitchen. I thinned and weeded the fall crops of collards and chard, then pondered whether these tiny onions I’m attempting to over-winter will ever make it through the cold.
What’s left to harvest is the last of the tomatillos and the kale (which will live on into winter)
as well as some fall lettuce, green onions, and as always, herbs.
This is the time of year when I really enjoy the herbs and I’m often sharing them with friends as everybody seems to be cooking fall feasts right now. The herbs I get the most use out of are the ones you only have to plant once and get to enjoy year after year: thyme, sage, rosemary, sweet bay, and chives. Here’s a shot of a podgy little herb bouquet I took as a hostess gift to a dinner party not long ago.
Without much thought, I knew right away that I would schedule my surgery in the fall particularly to avoid letting my recovery time interfere with the garden work. I don’t think I realized until then just how important the garden is to me.
by Alyse on Monday, July 12, 2010
Today’s harvest included a hand full of blueberries, 1lb snap peas and 1 bundle of fresh sage. The blueberries were enjoyed immediately, the peas were lunch paired with a salad of greens harvested the day before and the sage was used in an exciting experiment in making mustard. As I’ve shared in a previous post, sage is said to be at its peak in flavor for culinary use just after it blooms.
In search of a new way to showcase that wonderful flavor, I came across this great recipe courtesy of FreshPreserving.com:
Lemon-Sage Wine Mustard
Makes about 5 (4 oz) jars
You will need:
1 bunch fresh sage
3/4 cup dry white wine
3/4 cup yellow mustard seeds
1 cup white wine vinegar
Grated zest and juice of 2 large lemons
1/2 cup liquid honey
1/4 tsp salt
5 (4 oz) glass preserving jars with lids and bands
Directions:
1.) FINELY CHOP enough sage leaves to measure 1/3 cup and set aside.
2.) COARSELY CHOP remaining sage leaves and stems to measure 1/2 cup and place in a small stainless steel saucepan with white wine. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring and pressing sage to release flavor. Remove from heat. Cover tightly and let steep for 5 minutes.
3.) TRANSFER sage infusion to a sieve placed over a glass or stainless steel bowl and press leaves with the back of a spoon to extract all the liquid. Discard solids and return liquid to saucepan. Add mustard seeds. Cover and let stand at room temperature until seeds have absorbed most of the moisture, about 2 hours.
4.) PREPARE boiling water canner. Heat jars and lids in simmering water until ready for use. Do not boil. Set bands aside.
5.) COMBINE marinated mustard seeds (with liquid) and vinegar in a blender or food processor fitted with a metal blade. Process until blended and most seeds are well chopped, but retaining a slightly grainy texture.
6.) TRANSFER mixture to a stainless steel saucepan and add lemon zest, lemon juice, honey, salt and reserved finely chopped sage. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low and boil gently, stirring frequently, until volume is reduced by a third, about 20 minutes.
7.) LADLE hot mustard into hot jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Apply band until fit is fingertip tight.
8.) PROCESS jars in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes, adjusting for altitude. Remove jars and cool. Check lids for seal after 24 hours. Lid should not flex up and down when center is pressed.
The directions may seem a bit daunting and there are alot of steps involved but I think it’s worth the effort. The first taste test from the left overs in the bottom of the pot revealed a slightly sweet Dijon style mustard with an amazing lemony-sage flavor and I think it’s only going to improve as it sits for the next couple of weeks.
by Alyse on Friday, June 11, 2010
I think of sage as an herb we more commonly cook with in the fall but I just read that for culinary use, sage is at its best just after it blooms which mi
ne is doing now. I was chopping back my sage plant which I do several time a year because it gets so big and instead of tossing half of the plant in the yard waste bin, I decided to hang some leaves to dry for the fall. I should try to dig up some summer time recipes that call for sage but for now, if anything, it’s making my kitchen smell wonderful!
by Alyse on Sunday, March 14, 2010
In adventures to our local nurseries in the last couple of weeks, there was one hardy herb that was missing from the selections until today. Not many people jump with joy when they happen upon a little pot of dill hiding among a jungle of baby parsley plants and fennel but I did and my search was over. 
I’ve never grown dill in a garden of my own and I don’t know why because I love it! It smelled so good I was nearly nibbling on it on the way home. Dill will grow to be 4 feet tall and hardy in all zones so one plant is all I will need to season my salads, sauces, seafood and pickled experiments all summer long. If you haven’t noticed or haven’t looked, all of the nursery and grocery store patios are full of baby herbs, greens, and other treasures right now waiting for good homes, maybe yours.
by Alyse on Saturday, March 13, 2010
Because no one really needs 6 square feet of Thyme, I cut mine way back this year to make better use of the space. I carefully dug up a big chunk of it with the roots intact and placed it on the curb with a note that read “free thyme plant”. I watched a happy passerby stop and scoop it up like a pot of gold.
I’ve cut the rosemary and sage way back as well and after amending the soil with compost, in the new found space, I’ve sown butter lettuce, leaf lettuce, and chard in and amongst the herbs. What’s left of the thyme? Still plenty to share with the neighbors.
