Friday's Featured Foods: Grape Juice

With just a few days left before school starts, we have spent the last week or so trying to get done all those summer projects, those activities that are too time consuming to accomplish in the evening or too dreaded to wrap up earlier in the summer. For me, that means canning.

Today's canning

I love canned vegetables... in the winter. In the summer, canning veggies means a hot kitchen and a day at the stove. But, it is worth it in the long run. Last week, I chopped and froze onions and potatoes. Today, I made Italian tomato sauce, pizza sauce, pickled okra, and sweet and sour pickles. I also processed grapes for jelly, which is the actual feature of tonight's post. No, I'm not going to share our Top Secret Grape Jelly recipe, but I'll show you the steps we go through to make the juice that eventually becomes the jelly.

 The grapes used in our jelly come from my parents' vine near Wichita, Kansas. It's not a fancy fruit farm; they just happen to have a fence of grape vines that my dad planted when I was Maggie's age. For the last few years, we've gone down to visit around the time of grape harvest and came back home with a cooler full of grapes. Grapes and grape vines are as full of metaphors as they are of insects; no wonder the Bible has so many references to them!

So, we came home with about 40 pounds of grapes. Maggie, Lainie and I spent a couple hours separating the grapes from the stems and tossing any bad grapes. Lainie was so proud to get to help and have a task that she could do well.

Next, I rinsed the grapes and removed any floating debris or bad fruit.

I then mashed the grapes with a potato masher, just enough to break some of them.

Next, add 1/2 cup of water for every quart of prepared fruit. I had four saucepans, each with 6-8 quarts of fruit.

Bring to a boil, the reduce to simmer for at least 15 minutes. I think getting the juice out was easier when I let them simmer for 30 minutes or more.

Here's my juice extraction set-up: cheese cloth on a strainer that just fits into my stock pot. I pour the grape mash onto the cheese cloth; the stock pot catches the juice and the strainer catches any grape pulp that makes its way out of the cheese cloth.

The juice then got poured into the measuring cup, then pour into quart jars.

The end result: 10 quarts of grape juice into the freezer. Once these freeze solid, I will move them to the deep freeze, for better storage.

My mom always says that clean-up is part of the recipe. And there were LOTS of little spills like this one. My kitchen had a bit of a purple splash to it tonight.

And last but not least, the cook gets to taste the product first. (Yes, the picture is sideways, but it's 1:14 a.m... it can stay sideways.) The little remaining grape juice tasted delicious! If grape jelly sells are down this winter, we could always thaw this juice and have it for breakfast. It doesn't need any sugar, thanks to the natural sweetness of the grapes.

Next on the list: chop and freeze bell peppers (the ugly ones our customers don't want to buy) and make and freeze some fajita and stir fry kits. Oh, and a Farmers Market in... six hours.

Friday's Featured Foods: Grape Juice

Friday's Featured Food: R is for Radishes

Radishes are the featured food for this Friday, even though it's not radish season right now.

We are between the early spring harvest and late fall crop. Radishes like the cool weather and tend to get a woody texture and an off taste as the temp heats up. But, radishes are a favorite for me, if for no other reason than because they are one of the first harvests in the spring. They give that taste of freshness, of warmer days ahead, and they give hard core gardeners an excuse to get in the dirt when there is still snow on the ground. The short days of maturity -- about a month from planting to harvest -- add to their popularity.

We grow five kinds of radishes: cherry belle, pink beauty, white ping pong, and French breakfast.

Nutritionally, radishes contribute mostly Vitamin C (15 percent, to be exact.) They also provide iron, fiber, and and a touch of calcium. (Who knew? Calcium in radishes!)

I doubt people eat radishes for the nutritional value. Most like them for their crunchy texture or snappy taste. Radishes provide a bite to salads, with their zing and their hardness. The amount of spice or heat is dependent on the variety and when you pick them.

I personally am not a huge fan of radishes. I probably shouldn't post it, but a girl can't like ALL vegetables and this is the one I don't care for -- until this year. I discovered that cooked or grilled radishes are great! I didn't like the burn of the radish, preferring a turnip instead, but by cooking them, I get the taste without the heat. True radish lovers probably think I'm disgracing the vegetable by saying that; sorry!

How to cook them? As I said, our new favorite is grilling them. Simply slice the radishes, put them in a foil packet with a few ice cubes, seal the foil packet, and grill for 10-15 minutes until fork tender. I add a bit of butter, because everything is better with butter in my world.

Another recipe I found but haven't tried calls for shredding a Daikon radish and frying in garlic oil with a touch of salt, almost like a hash brown.

And for those die-hard radish lovers who believe they should stay fresh, try a Spicy Radish Salad. Mix together 2 cups shredded Daikon radish, 1/4 cup rice vinegar, 2 tablespoons soy sauce and  1 tablespoon orange juice. Let the flavors marinate a bit before serving.

Friday's Featured Food: R is for Radishes

Friday's Featured Food: Potatoes

Blame it on my Irish heritage, but I think every meal needs potatoes. I almost feel guilty if we sit down to eat without some kind of potato on the table. Thank goodness Jay is a potato-planting fool! This year, he ordered 200 pounds of seed potatoes... and then got laid up and was unable to plant. So, this is how our potato planting looked this year:

This year, we planted Yukon Gold, Red Norland, Purple Majesty, and Mountain Rose potatoes. The Purple Majesty seed potatoes were tough to find, and we ended up ordering them online, despite the shipping and handling. It was worth it, as these potatoes are double the size and twice the color intensity of the blue potatoes we grew last year. It's been a good potato year, thusfar.

Nutritionally, potatoes get a bad rap. How can a vegetable be bad for you? That, I will never understand. According to potatoes.com, the average potato with skin will provide:

• 5% of the daily value for vitamin C
• 620 mg potassium, comparable to bananas, spinach and broccoli
• trace amounts of thiamin, riboflavin, folate, magnesium, phosphorous, iron and zinc
• have 110 calories and no fat.

As far as cooking them, we make the potatoes in so many different ways: fried, grilled, baked, sauted, stewed, and of course mashed:

I have a fabulous potato soup recipe, but I'll save that for the fall, when it's truly soup season. This time of year, it's too hot to heat up the kitchen, so our favorite right-now potato recipe is grilled potatoes.


Campfire Potatoes
5 potatoes, peeled and sliced thin
1 medium onion, sliced
6 T butter or margarine
1/3 c shredded cheddar cheese
2 T fresh parsley, minced
1 T Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
1/3 c chicken broth

1. Place the potatoes and onion on a large piece of heavy-duty foil (about 20 inches by 20 inches). Dot with butter.
2. In a separate bowl, combine cheese, parsley, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper; sprinkle over potatoes.
3. Fold foil up around potatoes and add broth. Seal the edges of the foil.
4. Grill, covered, over medium heat for 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

Friday's Featured Food: Potatoes

Fri...Tuesday's Featured Food: Okra

Sorry for skipping last Friday. We were so busy preparing for the Clay Center Grill-Off that just about everything that could be postponed, was postponed. (It was worth it, though!)

But now, back to our regularly scheduled programming.

O is for Okra. Okra is definitely a love it or hate it food; either you absolutely adore its unique taste or you can't stand it in any way. Luckily, our family loves it. I have always loved fried okra and pickled okra, but have only just recently tried it in sautes and casseroles.

Okra is a little green veggie that is shaped a bit like a pepper but with a different texture. The skin of the okra is soft, almost velvet-y, and it's filled with small white seeds. Okra is a good source of vitamin C and also provides vitamin A, iron, calcium, and fiber. (This site has lots of good okra info.)

We grow Clemson Spineless okra and, although we haven't picked any yet this year, the plants look very, very promising!

The biggest complaint about okra is that it is slimy. Rumor has it, the less you cut okra while preparing it, the less slimy it will be. That's why pickled okra is so good, because you pickle them whole. I slice the okra before frying it, but still don't notice the infamous slime. Trust me -- it's good stuff!

Fried Okra

• 1 pound fresh okra
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 4 to 6 dashes hot pepper sauce
• 1 cup cornmeal
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
• oil for deep frying

1. Wash okra and drain well; cut off ends and discard. Cut okra crosswise into 1/2-inch slices. 
2. In a bowl, combine beaten eggs and hot sauce; add okra and stir to coat all pieces well. 
3. In a shallow dish, combine cornmeal, salt and cayenne. 
4. Dip okra pieces into cornmeal mixture to coat well. 
5. Heat oil in the deep fryer to 375°. 
6. Fry okra in batches until browned, about 4 to 6 minutes for each batch. 
7. Drain on paper towels and serve immediately.

Oh, this is making me hungry. I think I'll wander out to the garden and double check those okra plants.

Fri...Tuesday's Featured Food: Okra

Friday's Featured Food: Napa Cabbage

N is for Napa Cabbage. This is a new crop for us, this year. I was impressed by the delicacy of the cabbage leaves, especially compared to the "normal" cabbage. The leaves are light enough that they work well as a salad, replacing lettuce, but can also be eaten in the traditional cabbage recipes, like stuffed cabbage rolls or cole slaw.

The specific variety we grew is called Rubicon. Sounds like an '80s video game to me, but it sure tastes good and grew well in our climate. Jay said he did make one mistake, growing them too close together.

Rubicon Napa cabbage (photo taken mid-May)

Why eat cabbage? It is an excellent source of Vitamin C, which surprised me. I thought its fiber content would be higher, but in fact the fiber is almost nonexistent if you cook it. (For more, go to www.fruitsand veggiesmatter.gov.)

The head of Napa cabbage we picked this week turned into three meals. The first was a delicious salad, courtesy of our Savor the Season grant. Through the grant, we received a series of info cards on specific veggies. The cards include nutritional information, recipes, and how to store the veggies. We have the cards at the Farmers Market, so stop by and pick one up!

The second was a sort of cabbage roll. Once I cut the cabbage for the salad above, the remaining leaves were too small for true cabbage rolls. So, I improvised. I do love improvising in the kitchen, especially when I can walk outside and have my pick of fresh veggies. That recipe is posted here.

The third dish was a Sweet and Sour Cole Slaw. I thought it was too vinegar-y, but I'm a traditionalist and prefer the creamy cole slaw. But, Jay loved it! So, here is the third Napa Cabbage recipe.

• About 4 cups shredded Napa cabbage
• 1 medium onion, finely diced
• 1/2 cup cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoons celery seed
• 1 diced green bell pepper
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 tablespoon dry mustard
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Place the cabbage leaves in a large  bowl.
2. Add the bell pepper and onion.
3. Mix the remaining ingredients. Pour over the cabbage.
4. Cover and refrigerate at least an hour.

Friday's Featured Food: Napa Cabbage

Friday's Featured Food: Maggie's Favorite

It's Maggie's turn! Maggie said her favorite veggie is the pink potatoes, but since we featured those last week, she had to pick again. She chose watermelon.

First off, no, we don't have watermelon right now and won't have it for sale for the July 4th weekend. Watermelon grown in Kansas is usually not ready until late July.

We don't grow too many watermelon, since watermelon grows best in sandy soil, something we don't have. The varieties we do grow, however, are very unusual. This year we are growing:

• Golden Midget: small and yellow, perfect for Miss Mags. I like it because the rind turns yellow when it's ripe, so no more thumping-and-guessing when to pick it.
• Jubilee: oblong-shaped watermelon with a green-striped rind, known for its large size
• Crimson Sweet: tried and true, the old-faithful of watermelons
• Sugar Baby: small, dark-green fruits
• Moon and Stars: dark blue-green rind with yellow spots
• Black Diamond: another old-faithful variety, this one producing dark green fruit with bright red inside

For something new, we are going to try square watermelons this year. How cool would it be to have one of these to enter in the county fair:

Not only do watermelons taste great, they also contain high concentrations of lycopene, an antioxidant that may help reduce the risks of cancer and other diseases. They are also great on hot days, a refreshing snack thanks to all that messy juiciness.

Recipes for watermelon? Sure, why not! I adore, love, crave, need watermelon rind pickles. They are easy to make but time consuming. But, oh my gosh, they are SO worth the effort. Here is a great recipe for these delicious sweet pickles:

1 large watermelon, quartered Pickling salt

2 tablespoons plus

2 teaspoons whole cloves

16 (1 1/2-inch) sticks cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds

8 cups sugar

1 quart vinegar (5% acidity)

1. Remove flesh from melon (reserve for other use); peel watermelon.
2. Cut rind into 1-inch cubes.
3. Place rind in a large crock or plastic container.
4. Add water by the quart until it covers the rind; add 1/4 cup pickling salt for each quart water, stirring until salt dissolves.
5. Cover and let stand in a cool place overnight.
6. Drain well.
7. Place rind in a 10-quart Dutch oven; cover with cold water.
8. Bring to a boil, and cook until rind is almost tender.
9. Drain and set aside.
10. Tie cloves, cinnamon, and mustard seeds in a cheesecloth bag.
11. Combine spice bag, sugar, and vinegar in a Dutch oven.
12. Bring to a boil; remove from heat and let stand 15 minutes.
13. Add rind to syrup
    
    
    .
14. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low and cook until rind is transparent.
15. Remove spice bag.
16. Pack rind into hot sterilized jars, leaving 1/2-inch headspace.
17. Cover at once with metal lids, and screw bands tight.
18. Process in boiling-water bath 5 minutes.

Friday's Featured Food: Maggie's Favorite

Friday's Featured Food: Katie's Favorite

This week Katie got to pick our featured food, and she chose the pink and purple potatoes. The purple potatoes are Purple Majesty, and the pink potatoes are Mountain Rose. Both make quite the impression at the dinner table. When the nutrition experts say to feed a rainbow, I don't think they meant a rainbow of potatoes. But, it does encourage our girls to eat their veggies. Check out these beauties:

To make the cool shapes, Jay ran the Purple Majesty, Pink Mountain, Yukon Gold, and Red Norland potatoes through the apple corer. He then cooked them on the grill in a foil packet with a little bit of butter, for about 10 to 15 minutes. And, here's the result:

Updated Recipe:

Michael Anthony’s Fork-Crushed Purple Majesty Potatoes
1 lb. Purple Majesty Potatoes , washed
4 small shallots or onions, minced
2 tablespoons fresh-squeezed lemon juice
6 tablespoons good extra-virgin olive oil
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
2 tablespoons parsley, chopped

In a large pot, cook potatoes with skins on in heavily salted boiling water until tender, approximately 15 minutes. Remove potatoes from pot, and peel them while still warm. (1) Place potatoes in a large bowl and, using a fork, gently smash them, maintaining a fairly chunky consistency. (2) Fold in minced shallots, lemon juice, olive oil, fleur de sel, and white pepper. (3) Finish with parsley. Serves 4.

Source: http://nymag.com/restaurants/recipes/inseason/29408/

Friday's Featured Food: Katie's Favorite

Friday's Featured Food: Jalapenos

I know, I know... this is sort of a duplicate, since "H" stood for "Hot Peppers". What can I say? We like our jalapenos!

We grow four varieties of jalapenos:

• Grande: As you'd expect by the name, this variety is known for its big peppers. These jalapenos average about 3-4 inches, making them great for stuffing.
• Jalaro: This variety was developed by the Texas Agricultural Extension Service and is the first yellow jalapeno variety. If you are patient, they will turn from yellow to orange to red. It is a very prolific variety and what we use in our yellow and red jalapeno jelly.
• Fooled You: These 3-inch peppers look just like jalapenos and carry the good taste without any of the heat. It's what we use for stuffing, so that the girls can eat them too. and, 
• Purple jalapenos: Just like the name says, it goes from green to purple to red. We use it for our purple jalapeno, which is a big seller here in K-State land. (We save the red for our northern friends.)

Since my hot pepper post already explained how to make grilled stuffed jalapenos, I had to call in the reinforcements (Jay) for a recipe. We have shared our Bread-and-Butter jalapenos with friends and family but, unfortunately, can't sell it at market, due to state food safety rules. They are delicious, more sweet than hot but with a little kick. We mix it with cream cheese for a dip, use it as a topping for homemade pizza, put it fajitas, and add it to scrambled eggs. And now, you can make your own!

Bread and Butter Jalapenos

2 pounds jalapeno peppers
1 pound onions
3 cups vinegar
2 cups sugar
2 Tablespoons mustard seed
2 teaspoons tumeric
2 teaspoons celery seed
1 teaspoon ginger

1. Wash and cut jalapenos and onions into thin slices. Cold pack them into jars. 
2. Place remaining ingredients into large saucepot and bring to a boil.
3. Pour hot mixture into jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace.
4. Remove air bubbles. Tighten lids/caps.
5. Process 10 minutes in boiling water.

(FYI these instructions are not written for a novice canner. If you need some canning 101, please check out the KSRE publication on canning and preserving.)

Friday's Featured Food: Jalapenos

Friday's Featured Food: Isis cherry tomatoes

Isis cherry tomatoes are one of eleven varieties of cherry tomatoes we are growing this year. The Isis variety matures to a red-orange-yellow color. Think "Kansas sunset" and you'll be right on.

Our other cherry tomato varieties are:

• Tomato berry: These red cherry tomatoes are shaped like strawberries and just as sweet
• Sweet million: Red cherry tomato known for its great flavor and yield
• Red pearl: A red grape tomato, meaning it grows in clusters
• Red pear: As you would guess, they are pear-shaped and red
• Yellow pear: Pear-shaped and yellow
• Golden sweet: A yellow grape tomato, also grows in clusters 
• Sungold: Very sweet, orange-colored cherry tomato
• Sweet gold: Bright yellow-gold cherry
• Black cherry: A great tasting cherry tomato with a purple-to-black color
• Snow white: Ivory colored tomato

We often get asked what our favorite variety is, and each of us have a different answer. Maggie likes the sweet gold, because yellow is her favorite color. Katie likes the tomato berry, because they are shaped like strawberries. Jay likes the high yield and disease resistance of the sweet million. I like the sweet, fruit-like taste of the sungolds.

It's seems a shame to post a recipe for cherry tomatoes, since we rarely (if ever) "prepare" them. Cherry tomatoes are like candy in our house; there is almost always a bowl or basket of them sitting on the counter. As we pass through the kitchen, we'll grab a handful and eat them... all day every day. We literally snack on them all summer and, thanks to the high tunnels, nearly all year.

But for those who want to do something with them, here is a great soup recipe just for you:

Creamy Tomato Basil Soup

• 1 medium onion, chopped
• EVOO
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1 1/2 Tablespoon flour
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1/4 tsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 4 quarts cherry tomatoes, stems removed
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 1 1/2 Tablespoon chopped fresh basil

1. In a large stock pot, saute onion in oil over medium heat until soft and translucent.
2. Add salt, pepper, dried basil, and flour. Cook for a few minutes.
3. Whisk chicken broth into flour mixture until mixed thoroughly. 
4. In a blender, blend the cherry tomatoes in batches, until they are the consistency of salsa.
5. Add tomatoes to the roux (flour mixture) and stir. Cook over medium heat for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
6. Stir in baking soda and sugar. (The baking soda (base) will react with the tomatoes (acid) and foam up like a elementary school science experiment. The kids LOVE watching this part, and it's a great opportunity for an impromptu science lesson.)
7. Reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer for 15 minutes.
8. Add half-and-half and fresh basil.
9. Stir and simmer for at least 5 minutes. Turn heat to low until ready to serve.

Friday's Featured Food: Isis cherry tomatoes

Friday's Featured Food: Hot Peppers

Hot peppers intimidate some, are a sign of bravery for others. They come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, colors, and intensity, and can be used in so many dishes, so many ways. Today, I'll just highlight a few of the hot peppers we produce.

Overall. hot peppers are a great source of Vitamin C. The heat from the pepper comes from the capsaicin, which is actually located in the white internal membrane of the pepper, not just in the seeds. There is even an official scale for pepper heat, called the Scoville scale. The general rule-of-heat is the smaller the pepper, the more powerful the punch.

Jalapeno are probably our most popular and are the ones we use the most. Not only are jalapenos the main pepper when we make salsa, they are also the featured ingredient in our Jalapeno jellies and Bread-and-Butter Jalapenos. They are about 2 inches long and can be green, red, or purple. A couple years ago, we found a Fooled You hybrid jalapeno, which looks like a regular jalapeno but lacks the heat. That's the pepper we use most when making stuffed grilled jalapenos, because the girls can eat them with no problem. (FYI, chipotle peppers are just smoked jalapenos.)

Habanero peppers are smaller than jalapenos, shaped like a lantern, and can be red, orange or yellow. Habanero is a very hot pepper and the one featured in our Chocolate Habanero and Habanero jellies.

Serrano peppers are a red or green pepper that is usually 1 to 4 inches long. It has a strong heat to it, not scalding but definitely distinct.

Closer to scalding is the cayenne pepper. These little peppers are long and skinny and pack a punch. They dry well and can be stored over the winter months. I like to add them whole when I'm making chili, to add flavor with without adding the heat.

Sweet bananas and hot banana look similar but taste quite different. They are both shaped like a banana and most often are green, yellow, or red. Sweet bananas, as you might guess, are a more mild pepper, while hot bananas will add more heat to the dish.

Anaheim peppers look and taste similar to the banana peppers and are actually what you get in a can of "canned green chilis." They are a medium-heat pepper and often used in Mexican food.

Poblana peppers round out our selection. Poblanas look like small bell peppers but have a surprise heat to them. Chili rellenos is usually made by stuffing poblano peppers.

As far as recipes, how you prepare the peppers is as varied as the peppers themselves. One golden rule to remember is that the same capsaicin that makes the peppers taste hot can also cause a burning sensation to your skin... or to your eyes, if you are unfortunate enough to forget and rub your eyes while cutting hot peppers. For that reason, it is best to wear gloves while preparing the peppers.

Grilled jalapenos
8 jalapenos, cored and deseeded
8 slices of bacon
8-oz cream cheese, softened

Put the cream cheese in a sandwich bag and snip the corner.
Use the bag to squeeze cream cheese into the hollowed jalapenos.
Wrap a slice of bacon around each jalapeno and secure with a toothpick.
Place in a pepper grill pan  (available from Clay Gourmet in Clay Center) and grill on medium heat until bacon is just starting to crisp.


Another great way to feature hot peppers is to make fajitas. Slice and saute a variety of peppers, keeping them sorted by heat. Then, the eaters can add as much or as little heat as they want. I like to use bell peppers, sweet bananas, and jalapenos in my fajitas. Pair it with grilled, marinated chicken, beef or pork, sliced carmelized onions, and a little shredded cheese and sour cream ... YUM!

Friday's Featured Food: Hot Peppers

Friday's Featured Foods: Green Beans

There are some food traditions that are passed on from generation to generation, traditions that are about much more than the food. These traditions are about making time to do something as a family, working toward a common goal. Some are more complicated and time-intense. Others are as simple as, well, snapping green beans.

It isn't truly summer until I am sitting on the front porch with three bowls: one full of freshly picked green beans, one for the "trash" ends, and one of the good pieces. I enjoy the taste of green beans and they make routine appearances at our dinner table, but my favorite part of green beans is the cleaning. Why? Because I remember cleaning beans with my mom, she remembers cleaning them with her mom, and now my girls and I are continuing the tradition. You see, cleaning beans doesn't take a lot of mental fortitude, which means you can talk about all sorts of things while you are sitting there. And that is what makes food traditions so wonderful.

Enough about the sentimental stuff... on to the facts.


Green beans are an excellent source of of vitamin K, vitamin C, manganese, vitamin A, dietary fiber, potassium, folate, and iron. They are a low calorie, low fat, filling food, and a great pairing with so many dishes. Because they are so easy to can and freeze, I try to preserve enough beans to feed us through the fall and winter, and we usually have them 2-3 times a week.

Like most of our vegetables, the "normal" color isn't enough for our crazy garden. We have yellow, green, and purple green beans, although the purple turn green when you cook them. We have tried pole beans -- meaning the plants grow up a lattice of some sort -- but were disappointed with the production so only planted bush beans this year. Specifically, the green varieties are Contender, Provider, and Jade.

They are also super-easy to prepare. The fruits and veggies matter Web site recommends that you either take green beans out just before they are cooked the way you like, or plunge them into ice water immediately to stop them cooking further.

Our standard treatment for green beans is to boil them in water for 5-6 minutes. Drain. Drizzle a little bit of EVOO or melt a tablespoon of butter. Sprinkle lightly with garlic salt or garlic powder and serve. I also tend to eat them raw, straight from the garden, with the sun's heat making them just the right amount of warm... but I should recommend that you wash them first.

There is of course the famous green bean casserole and three-bean salad, too. What creative recipes or family food traditions do you have?

Friday's Featured Foods: Green Beans

Friday's Featured Food: Fried!

I have a confession to make. I have a weakness for fried foods. Fried cheese, fried chicken, fried ice cream... you fry it, I'll try it and probably love it. My love of fried foods combines with my love of veggies quite often. Jay jokes that I have learned how to make every veggie a little less healthy.

It's true that cooking veggies can decrease their nutritional aspect. Fried foods are less healthy because the foods absorb the oil while they are cooking and because of the added fat from the breading. I try to minimize the negatives of frying food by by using a thin, light batter, such as tempura. I also prefer to fry in canola oil, which has a lower amount of trans and saturated fat compared to other cooking oils. Now, the nutritionists out there will tell you that it is still bad. I know this. But, a girl's got to have some bad habits, right?

Back to the batter. As I mentioned, I like to cook the veggies tempura-style, which is defined as deep fried veggies or seafood often eaten in Japan. Tempura batter is super-easy:

1. Beat one egg in a bowl. 
2. Add 1 cup ice water in the bowl. Be sure to use very cold water. 
3. Add 1 cup sifted flour in the bowl and mix lightly. Be careful not to overmix the batter.

See? Easy! The difficult part is deciding what to fry. We have fried fresh broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, yellow squash, asparagus, onions, carrots, green beans, pickles, radishes, green tomatoes, and just about anything else that pops up in our garden.  Now the rest of the process:

1. Wash and cut the veggies and set them in a bowl of ice water until ready to cook. 
2. Heat oil to 340-350 degrees Fahrenheit.  
3. Dip the prepped veggies in the tempura and set them into the hot oil. Watch out for splashes of the hot oil!
4. Fry for 2-3 minutes, or until batter turns golden.

Fried Squash Blossoms is another delicious fried treat we made last year. It truly has very little nutritious value, but it was such a delicacy and oddity that the entire family had fun eating it.

Squash Blossoms can be stuffed with whatever you wish, then dipped in batter and fried. Our favorite recipe had a mixture of cream cheese, cheddar cheese and spices inside. You can go all out, with Emeril's crab stuffed squash blossoms, or keep it simple, with no stuffing. They are a heavy food, in that you won't need to eat many to be full. We budget 2-4 per person when making them for our family or friends.

And while you have the oil heated up for the squash blossoms, why not throw in a few other veggies... just for fun. Or, do the right thing and balance all that fried stuff with a fresh garden salad. Either way, yum!

Edited to add: I love that, once I posted this, Google changed my ads on the right to "cut down on belly fat" and "Fried Cinnamon Rolls". It cracks me up!

Friday's Featured Food: Fried!

Friday's Featured Food: Eggs

Old Man Sleichter has a farm
E-I-E-I-O
And on that farm he had some chickens
E-I-E-I-O...

Yep, we've got those too. And aren't they pretty? (FYI that hen is eating an apple peel.)

We have had laying hens for 4 or 5 years now, and are up to 41 hens and 1 rooster. That number has fluctuated quite a bit, especially the first couple years when the coyotes were outsmarting us. Did you know a coyote can climb a 5-foot sheep panel? But, since our chicken yard got a "roof", we have lost very few.

Our chickens are what I would call semi-free-range, but industry would qualify as completely free range. They always have access to the outside yard. Since they love to eat seeds and to peck at bright red fruit, they do have to stay confined when we have new seeds planted or ripe tomatoes. Otherwise, they can go as far as their little legs will carry them. I was surprised to learn that hens will always come "home to roost" around sunset. It doesn't matter how much free space they have to roam, they always venture back to the chicken house in time for the sun to go down.

When they are laying, our hens will produce almost 2 dozen eggs a day. However, they aren't laying right now. Half of our chickens are a year old, and we had separated the young hens from the old, just to make sure our old ones are still laying. But, the door that separated them had glass in it, and someone who shall remain guilty shut the door too hard, breaking the glass, intermingling the chickens and scaring the eggs right out of them. (Actually, it was the stress of the change that made them stop laying for a bit.)

What do we do with all those eggs, when they do start coming again? We sell most of them at the local Farmers Market or through direct sales.

How do the eggs differ from store-bought? The most noticeable difference is the yolk. The yolk of our eggs are a deep, bright yellow, making anything you cook with eggs a bit brighter.

And speaking of cooking, we do eat a lot of eggs around here. L and N (daughters 3 and 4) love scrambled eggs, K loves fried egg sandwiches, and M loves boiled eggs. My favorite is Eggs Benedict, but that takes a lot of work and a lot of butter, so we don't make it too often. If we had to vote on one egg recipe that we all love, it'd be Egg Pie, known to the rest of the world as a quiche.

Quiche Sleichter

Pie crust for a 9-inch pie
8 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 cup shredded cheese
1 small onion, chopped
5-6 spinach leaves, shredded
4 large eggs
2 cups heavy whipping cream
salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Steam the spinach in the microwave, following the directions on a Ziploc steam bag.
3. Prepare the pie crust and put it in the pie shell. I use the Betty Crocker pie crust recipe, because it's easy and delicious.
4. Sprinkle bacon, cheese, spinach, and onion onto the pie crust.
5. Beat eggs.
6. Add cream, salt, and pepper to eggs and beat until well blended.
7. Pour egg mixture into pie crust, covering bacon, etc.
8. Bake the quiche in the oven for 15 minutes.
9. Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. The recipe I base this off of says it will take 30 minutes, but it always seems to take 45 minutes or more to get it completely done in the middle.
10. Let it stand 10 minutes before serving. That will let it set up just a little bit more.

Friday's Featured Food: Eggs

Friday's Featured Food: Dragon's Eggs

D is for Dragon's Eggs... cucumbers, that is. Dragon's Eggs Cucumbers are one of the funnest novelty heirloom crops we grow. They taste like a mild cucumber but look like little white eggs.  This vegetable originates in Croatia and has a thin, white rind and a great crisp, fresh flavor, great for salads. But more than anything, they are attention-getters and great for practical jokes. Imagine giving your mom or neighbor a dozen of these in an egg carton and see what happens.

So, recipes...hmm. Much like cauliflower, cucumbers are usually just wash, sliced and eaten raw in our house. We love the flavor so much, there isn't any need to add to it. Cucumber salads are also a standard. For a sour salad, mix sliced cucumbers, sliced onions, and a bit of garlic. Add one part water to 3 parts vinegar. Let set for a few hours before serving. For a mild salad, just pour ranch dressing over sliced cucumbers and sweet onions. Let set for a few hours and enjoy!

But, if you feel the need to get creative, you could always make some pickles. Pickles means another D ... Dill. We are blest to have dill seed from my Grandma Albers' garden, true heirloom seed brought over from Germany by my great-grandparents and grown every since. Last year we relied on our heritage and made sweet pickles with my grandma's dill and Jay's grandmother Clara's recipe. It's definitely one will be repeating this year, may times over.

SWEET DILL PICKLES

1 gallon sliced cucumbers

3 c. vinegar

3 c. sugar

2 T. mustard seed

2 T. salt

2 tsp. dill

1 tsp. celery seed

Boil the syrup and add the cucumbers. Simmer 15 minutes. Seal in jars.  

Yield:  4 1/2-5 pints

Friday's Featured Food: Dragon's Eggs

Friday's Featured Food: Cauliflower

Sometimes I think we take the "eat a rainbow of fruits and veggies" a little too literal. Cauliflower, for example, should be white. Right? Not at our house. This year, we have:

• White Cassius: This main-season cauliflower produces a uniform, dense, and well-domed head. Vigorous, large plants give good protection from the sun.
• Orange Cheddar: This beautiful, early, orange cauliflower holds well in the field. It becomes an even brighter orange when lightly cooked. We grow the orange for all the Clay Center Tiger fans! And maybe a few Abilene Cowboys, but only because they are family.
• Green Veronica: Spiraled heads. Heads are lime green with pointed, spiraled pinnacles. Best planted in summer for harvest in the fall, or midwinter in mild climates. Plant 18" apart to give the large plants adequate space. Mild, nutty taste. I bet the girls will love this variety, just because it looks like a princess crown. ...and
• Purple Graffiti: Stunning, flashy purple heads. Graffiti's brilliant purple heads attract attention. The colorful florets are attractive served raw with dip or as a cooked vegetable. Unlike Violet Queen, Graffiti produces a true cauliflower head on large plants. Best for fall harvest, but can also be sown in spring. We grow this one just for the K-State fans, looking for something healthy to add to the tailgate. Besides, won't it look lovely with our purple potatoes, tomatoes, and peppers?

My favorite use of cauliflower is not very exciting: I wash it, chunk it, and eat it raw, with or without salad dressing. Like broccoli, the more fresh the cauliflower is, the more vibrant it tastes. If I'm not eating it raw, I steam it and top with a little bit of shredded cheddar. YUM!

But, for those who want a bit more creativity, you could try this recipe for a pickled cauliflower, from Alton Brown. Or how about a cauliflower soup, from the Pioneer Woman. Or how about this cauliflower au gratin from Taste of Home, because everything tastes better with bacon.

Now that I look at that, I'm definitely making that soup, as soon as we have a head ready to pick...which should be in a matter of weeks! Yay!

Friday's Featured Food: Cauliflower

Friday's Featured Food: Broccoli

What do you think of when you hear “broccoli”? If you picture the limp green blobs served in cafeterias or the slouchy slime that makes 1930s horror movies proud, then you don’t know broccoli.


Last year was the first year that Jay or I had homegrown broccoli, and we were astounded. We, er,  I like fresh broccoli with or without the side of ranch dressing and think, er, thought what I had tasted just fine. But, oh my. The difference between fresh broccoli and what I had been eating is equivalent to the difference between ice milk and Freddy’s Frozen Custard. YUM! Not to mention, these were not your typical broccoli heads. They were HUGE, as you can tell by the pic of L modeling her broccoli bouquet from last fall.

Apparently, broccoli – like most fruits and vegetables – begins to lose its natural sugars and crispness the moment it is cut from the ground. Frozen veggie companies work hard to minimize the time from cutting to frozen, in hopes of maintaining those good qualities. That’s also why stores work so hard to get the freshest vegetables on their produce shelves.

I have a challenge for all you anti-broccoli fanatics out there. Just once, stop by the farmers market this summer and buy a fresh head of broccoli. As the old cereal commercial used to say, “Try it. You might like it.”


If flavor isn’t enough of an argument, how about health? CNN called broccoli "the superstar" of vegetable for a reason. Broccoli is a great source of Vitamins C & A, fiber, folic acid and iron. It can help boost your immune system and possible prevent some types of cancer.


My favorite way to eat broccoli is fresh, raw, with a side of dipping sauce. For those times I need to cook it, I use the Ziploc steam bags to steam it, then add just a pat or two of butter and a dash of salt.


As part of a bigger meal, Jay found this Beef and Broccoli meal that is delicious! It’s a great way to use the cheap cut of round steak and is so delicious that everyone around our table loves it, even L-the-picky-eater.

Friday's Featured Food: Broccoli