GMOs

My main reason for being anti-GMO is the lack of diversity.  Heirloom and Open-pollenated seeds have amazing diversity, color, history and flavor. That is something my family enjoys when they come to the table each meal.

We grow only heirloom and open pollinated seeds.  Almost all fruit and vegetables we consume come from our home garden or organic sources.  We avoid proccessed food except as treats.

I found it interesting that the guest lecturer we had in class stated that obesity can be helped with transgenetic foods because food will taste better.  I have no issue with the way my heirlooms tastwey taste. They amazing without lab conditions.  It is also interesting to note that scome scientists are working to make transgenetic tomatoes taste more like heirloom, which nullifies the flavor argument. http://www.science20.com/news_articles/genetic_discovery_could_make_more_tomatoes_taste_heirlooms-91508

I think the obesity issue is one of upbringing, not flavor.  After all, my 14-month old child prefers raw beans and peas to candy.

I also have issues eating crops that are killed off by pretty hard core chemicals, ie Round-up ready crops.  I don't feel enough unbiased research has been done of the long term effects of eating transgenetic foods. Below is one study I did find.
http://research.sustainablefoodtrust.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Final-Paper.pdf

Rice cowpeas, Italian Peppers, Japanese Cucumbers (that taste like watermelon), and Okra

My 14-month old son enjoying a frshly harvested purple carrot.

 

 

I chose to continue to collect seed for and grow only heirloom and open pollenated seed.

Green Tomatoes

The tomato plants are full of HUGE green tomatoes crying out to be eaten!  I can't help but to pick them and make green fried tomatoes, grilled green tomato caprese or green tomato pie.  Since the cold weather is getting closer and I don't think there will be enough time for the tomatoes to ripen I don't feel at all bad about eating them all before they are ripe.

Green Tomato Pie

4  green tomatoes, peeled and sliced thin

10  dried basil leaves, chopped

1/2 c  chopped green onions

1  9 inch prebaked deep dish pie shell

1 c  grated mozzarella chees

1 c  grated sharp cheddar cheese

1 c  mayonnaise (or half mayo/half sour cream)

5-6 slices bacon, fried crisp and chopped

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

 

Place sliced tomatoes in colander in the sink in 1 layer. Sprinkle LIGHTLY with salt/pepper and allow to drain for 10 minutes

 

Layer the tomato slices, basil and onion in the pie shell. Combine the grated cheeses, bacon and mayo then mix together. Spread the mixture on top of the tomato slices and bake for 30-40 minutes or until lightly browned.

My favorite fruit

My favorite fruit varies, alot!  Usually my favorite is based on whatever fruit I happen to be consuming at the moment.  Up until yesterday afternoon my favorite fruit was port, served of course, with a lovely, full bodied maduro. 

So what happened yesterday afternoon that changed my favorite fruit? I found fresh dragon fruit at the local Asian market.  For the next few days dragon fruit will be my favorite.

Cactaceae Hylocereus undatus

 

 

Dragon fruit is produced from the beautiful night blooming cereus cactus.  The fruit is a fleshy berry with red or white flesh, depending on the variety.  The fruit I bought was white fleshed.  The flavor is something like kiwi-light.  Almost a cross between a non-tart kiwi with a hint of strawberry. The fruit has a low sugar contant so it really doesn't need alot of acid to balance the flavor and it is SO juicy!

 



 

Worldwide production seems to be centered in Vietnam but it can be grown in any tropical area with less than 50 inches of rainfall in a year.

I usually post a recipe with new update but the best way to eat this fruit is fresh.

Strawberries

The bare root strawberries in the school field didn't do as well as we all hoped. 

Dr. Zhao emailed a brief article on the transplant conditions for bareroot strrawberries and I was really suprised to see how much water they needed: 8 of overhead irrigation daily for the first 10-14 days. There is overhead irrigation in the field but the water only runs for about 2 hours daily.  The strawberries referenced int he article were also planted on black polyethelene mulch.

That may be the reason the strawberries were watered for such a long period of time. You see, we recently had Dr. Steve Olsen lecture on the use of plastic mulches. One of the things that was very important was proper irrigation.  He often used drip tape, not overhead irrigation. 

So the question: Why would you use overhead irrigation when most of the soil and roots are covered by the plastic mulch? There is such a small opening in the plastic that I can't imagine much water actually gets to the roots of the plants. 

None of this explains the failed strawberries in the student gardens, except maybe the soil wan't kept as well insulated as the roots would have liked.  Either way, it will be interesting doing more research to attempt to figure this one out.

This is one of my favorite strawberry recipies and is usually my birthday dessert.

Strawberry Shortcake with Grand Marnier by Emeril Lagasse

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled, plus 2 teaspoons, softened

6 large eggs, at room temperature

2 tablespoons milk, at room temperature

3 1/3 cups granulated sugar

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 pounds strawberries, rinsed, hulled, and sliced

1/2 cup orange-flavored liqueur, plus a little more for drizzling (recommended: Grand Marnier)

1 1/2 teaspoons orange zest

2 1/2 cups heavy cream

5 tablespoons confectioners' sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and grease a 9 by 13-inch glass casserole with the 2 teaspoons of butter and set aside.

Combine the eggs and milk in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer until frothy. Add 1 1/3 cups of the sugar and continue to beat at high speed until the mixture is quite thick and pale yellow, about 7 to 10 minutes.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Fold this mixture gently into the egg mixture. Gently stir in the melted butter and then transfer the batter to the prepared baking pan and bake in the center of the oven until risen and golden brown, about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack before proceeding.

Make the strawberry topping by combining the strawberries, remaining 2 cups sugar, 1/2 cup orange liqueur, and orange zest in a large bowl and tossing to combine. Let sit at room temperature for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until all sugar is dissolved. Refrigerate, covered, until ready to assemble the dessert.

Make the whipped cream by combining the heavy cream with the confectioners' sugar in a large bowl and beating with an electric mixer or whisk until slightly thickened. Add the vanilla and continue to beat until the mixture nearly forms stiff peaks.

When ready to assemble the dessert, poke holes all over the cake using a cake tester or toothpick. Drizzle cake with a little orange liqueur. Cut the cake into 1 1/2-inch cubes and place half of the cake cubes on the bottom of a deep-sided dessert bowl. Add half of the strawberry mixture over the top of the cake cubes, juices and all, spreading strawberries evenly with a spatula and allowing the juices to absorb into the cake. Top with the remaining cake cubes and then the remaining strawberries. Top with the whipped cream and serve immediately or refrigerate for up to 1 hour in advance before serving.

Pak Choi

Last week I planted pak choi in the gardens, both school and home.  I've been growing extra dwarf pak choi in my home garden for about 6 weeks now and it is beyond delicious!  I'm really interested in trying the varieties from the school garden though, the purple in particular.

There were quite a few people asking what to do with pak choi so today I am sharing my chicken soup recipe.  I think the pak choi is a great addition. 

Chicken Noodle Soup
6-8 cups low sodium chicken stock
1 lbs chicken breasts, cut into chunks
5-6 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 sweet onion, chopped
2 red bell peppers, chopped
1/2 jalapeno, finely chopped
1 cup celery chopped
2 cups pak choi, chopped
2 cups extra wide egg noodles
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste

In a large stock pot, add all ingredients except pak choi and egg noodles and simmer for 20 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink and veggies are tender.  Bring to a boil and add pasta.  Boil until noodles are tender.  Add pak choi and cook and additional 2-3 minutes.  Serve with toasted french bread and a side salad if desired.

The Trouble with Brassicas

I planted turnip greens and radishes in the student gardens and was anxiously awaiting their appearance. Well, after a few days something appeared but there were WAY more little brassica sprouts than I had planted seed.  As is turns out there were some cover crops planted over the break and some of the crops were brassicas that has apparently gone to seed. 

I'm not really patient and don't feel like waiting until all the babies get big enough to tell apart so I pulled up all the little guys and replanted.  I did replace them with even more brassicas but this time they were transplants so I can at least tell what should be in my garden plot.

Today I planted cauliflower and brussel sprouts.  The cauliflower should mature in the next 50-65 days so it should be ready by the end of the term but I am not so confident about my brussel sprouts.  Either way, I was in the garden, enjoying the cooler weather that fall brings, hands in the dirt, planting new little babies.

My mouth was watering at the prospect of freshly harvest cauliflower that is to come.  I simply adore cauliflower!  In fact, it's the basis of one of my favorite soups of all times.  I love sitting down in front of the fireplace with a big bowl of cauliflower soup and hunk of french bread when the nights are cool.

The soup is very easy to make and the flavor is out of this world.  I hope you give it a try.

Blue Cheese and Cauliflower Soup

• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 2-3 celery ribs, strings and leaves removed, finely chopped
• 1/2 to 1 lbs cauliflower, cut into florettes
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese (Amish blue is good choice)
• 1/2 cup light cream or half-and-half
• 1 bay leaf (optional)
• salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter in large stock pot. Sautee onion, celery and cauliflower until softened. Add broth, milk and bay leaf then simmer until cauliflower is very tender (about 30 minutes). 

Remove bay leaf and puree soup mixture in blender until smooth.  You may need to do this in 2 or 3 batches. Return to pot and add blue cheese, cream, salt and pepper. Reduce heat to low and stir for 2-3 minutes until blue cheese is melted.  Serve with toasted french bread and garnish with blue cheese crumbles if desired.

 

**note: If soup is not as thick as you would like, whisk together 2-3 TBSP flour and 1/4 cup cold milk.  Whisk into soup and cook for about 5 minutes.  If too thick add additional milk or cream.

**note: evaporated milk can be used in place of cream  

 

My favorite season

The summer heat in Florida is finally abating.  Warm days and cooler nights are here and now begins the time of fall planting. 

My summer garden was full of long beans, okra and peppers.  There isn't anything wrong with any of those crops, in fact they were quite delicious, but I longed for fresh lettuce, cucumbers and tomatoes. 

I've spent the last couple weeks planting for fall.  My garden is now full of lettuce, radish, spinach, peas, beans, tomatoes and the list goes on.  I've counted 27 varieties of produce growing in my home garden and I am not finished planting.  I have 420 square feet at home and another 44 square feet at school.  I am very blessed indeed.

Fall is one of my favorite times for planting.  I can have some of my favorite warm weather crops along side of cool weather favorites.  Fall means variety to me.  I love seeing radish seedling peeking out from below my peppers and the cucumber vines shading my turnips.

Interplanting and succession planting are important in my garden.  I have a family of 7 and I don't have alot of space to plant.  Every inch of garden space is precious and I take advantage of crop maturity dates to ensure a continuous harvest for my family.  Planting continues all season long and it's alot more work than conventional farming practices but it is worth every moment I spend with my hands in the dirt.

The garden beds look more like exotic flower gardens than just functional food space.

So, in honor of finally having fresh tomatoes again I am sharing one of my favorite recipes:

Grilled Green Tomato Caprese
 

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar (*white or regular)

1/2 cup olive oil

3-4  garlic cloves, minced (or to taste)

1/8 teaspoon kosher or sea salt

4 medium-size green tomatoes, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices (about 2 lb.)

1 (16-oz.) package sliced fresh mozzarella cheese

1/3 cup thinly sliced fresh basil (I love the flavor of fresh Thai basil in this)

Preparation

1. Combine oil, vinegar, garlic and salt in a large ziptop bag or bowl and mix well.
2. Add the slices tomatoes and coat them well.  Let sit for one hour.
3. Preheat grill to med-high heat. Remove tomatoes from marinade and place on grill.  Reserve marinade. Turn after 3-4 minutes (thicker slices will take longer).  When tomatoes are tender, but not mushy, and have nice grill lines remove from heat.
4. Whisk basil into reserved marinade. Alternate slices of tomato and mozzarella on a platter and drizzle with marinate.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with French bread if desired. 
*White balsamic is more visually appealing in this dish but I love the flavor of a dark Modena balsamic so I prefer to use that.