The Any Wonderful Food You Made From Your Garden Today Thread!

[kathyschix]

I've never tasted kohlrabi, what does it taste like or is similar to?

Always reminded me of turnips!

 

[Greenthumb18]

umm then it must be good, could i still do a fall crop?

 

[karanleaf]

I've never tasted kohlrabi, what does it taste like or is similar to?

We hadn't either till today. Well DH said it was like a sweet radish crossed with cabbage. I thought it was like cauliflower and the center of a young cabbage. It was tasty raw and I wished I would have roasted more but was not bad kinda steamed. I tossed lightly with olive oil then seasoned with garlic powder and fresh ground salt and pepper put in a foil pouch on cooked on the grill. I think I may want to try it with a cheese like Parmesan and roast it under the broiler. I will let ya know how that comes out.

:happy_flower Karan

 

[HiDelight]

HiDelight: I really don't use recipes much. WIth okra I just do it two basic ways. Smother it down in a little olive oil, salt and pepper, any spices you want and some peeled tomatoes until the slime ( I hate to use that word, but you know what I mean) goes away and eat it like that. For gumbo, I cook it in chicken stock with some pre-made roux and salt and pepper and herbs and the Cajun trinity (onion, bell pepper and celery) again until it is not slimey and then add sausage, chicken, shrimp, crabs or a combination of those. Of course, when I am in a hurry and want very simple, I just steam or boil the pods whole and sprinkle with vinegar! I hope you can get hold of some good okra soon! I can imagine that you would have trouble growing it in your wonderful cool climate.

thanks so much Ron...once in a while I find okra on the market and once in a while it is good enough to buy! I find it more in Seattle so maybe next weekend when I go..now I really want to make some gumbo! ! I will send you some cool weather if you send me some heat! we actually turned our heater back on the other day it was freezing! ..ok not really freezing but cold enough to want to take the edge off

there is something so wonderful about a perfect pot of gumbo and we have everything here to make it! except the okra! (well reliably)
I wonder if they grow it in California? I just so rarely see it here!

I can usually find it in an East Indian, Caribbean or African market but just not predictable

frozen or canned ..forget that I have tried both and wondered what the point of that was!

have you made an okra curry?
it is really similar to a gumbo to be honest but the seasonings are a bit different
this style of curry is good for both okra or eggplant

quantities are up to you (and so are the vegetables you can certainly add what you want to this)

Curry Okra
1/2 - 1 cup diced sweet onions
3 or more cloves minced garlic
about an inch of fresh ginger grated
minced hot chile (I use an habanero)
1 sweet red pepper diced
saute all in clarified butter or oil of your choice (use a good 1/4 cup of oil)
add a mix of 1 tsp fresh cracked pepper, 1 tsp cracked cumin seed 1 tsp cracked coriander seed (you could toast them first to improve the flavor)
1 tbl of good Madras curry (I use Beta Pac from Jamaica)
saute together until the flavors are released
then add in order cooking a little with each addition
1 lb of okra sliced
1 lb diced potatoes
1 big cup of fresh sweet peas
1 can (or even better from your garden cooked whole Italian plum tomatoes skined and mashed up with your hands)

bring to a boil and I boil it pretty hard stirring it well to get all the flavors to mixt ...then taste for seasoning and doneness (try not to cook the potatoes to oblivion ..this is the time to add salt as desired

serve with toasted flour tortillas and fresh mango (another thing you get beautiful ripened mangos for this in SE Texas I ate so many tropical fruits last time I was there..the flavors are just to die for!) chutney ..I just dice fresh mangos and add some lime juice a handful of fresh cilantro and the juice of a few Key limes ..chill well and serve with the curried Okra ...

this is a veg meal or you can serve it with grilled spiced chicken

 

[Ron]

Thanks, HiDelight! Sounds great and since I have been experimenting with some curry dishes lately I can't wait to try it! And I will definitely take you up on the offer of trading some cool weather for our hot weather. Supposed to be 101 Wed. and Thurs and with our humidity it will be brutal. Do ya think FedEx will deliver the cool for a reasonable charge????

 

[vfem]

Ok... I didn't make anything wonderful or anything.... But I just had a nice salad with a bunch of stuff out of the garden... though it was mostly white radish and cucumber because I have WAY too many!!!

 

[HiDelight]

Thanks, HiDelight! Sounds great and since I have been experimenting with some curry dishes lately I can't wait to try it! And I will definitely take you up on the offer of trading some cool weather for our hot weather. Supposed to be 101 Wed. and Thurs and with our humidity it will be brutal. Do ya think FedEx will deliver the cool for a reasonable charge????

strange as it sounds while we have a lot of rain most years it is a rare thing to have a high humidity here ..when the rain turns off it is dry as a bone! air soil everything ..

I do not miss the humidty of the east coast but I sure miss the heat of the summers I love being toasty!

let me know how you like the curry you can not go wrong with this recipe it is like the gumbo just toss stuff in until it is right


I have to say I had the most healthy of meals for breakfast today.. I minced my home made bacon (OMG please if you guys do not try to make your own bacon you have not lived ...it is so easy there is just no excuse!!!)

sauted it in a pan ..tossed in a garden onion minced...then some snow peas ..then some broccoli rabe ..the some spinach ...then I tossed in an egg and some sharp cheddar cheese and ate a HUGE mound of bright green goodness

I feel so fortified with wholesome garden goodness today

 

[sparkles2307]

I picked two giant lettuce leaves this morning for my ham/sourdough snadwich. We were running late so thats all I did today.

 

[HiDelight]

I brought this to a gathering last night with garden fresh vegetables for dipping ..

I am SO glad I made big batch ..because we ended up enjoying it so much even the spring rolls and empanadas got dipped in it

this would be an outstanding sauce for crab cakes!!!

it is supposed to be Green Goddess dressing
but I changed it up a a bit to accomodate what I had on hand

ENJOY!!!

3 cups of mixed fresh herbs
(what ever you have on hand ..mint is great in this ...I used Italian parsley, cilantro, chives, basil, oregano and one tiny soft sprig of rosemary)
3 big spring onions (or a small bunch of green onions)
1 head of spring garlic (or a couple of cloves of regular)
juice of 2 lemons (or limes)
1 1/2 cup really good mayo (make your own if you can)
1 1/2 cup sour cream
1 8 oz package of cream cheese
1/2 cup bleu cheese ( I used this instead of the anchovy paste I usually put in my green goddess...and it worked perfectly!)
I ground together until fine
1/2 tsp of coriander
1/2 tsp of cumin
1 tsp black pepper corns

put everything in the food processor (I guess you could use a blender as well) and chop/puree until mixed and a beautiful green! serve after letting it sit for at least an hour in the fridg

 

[Hattie the Hen]

GOSH! that sounds great HiDelight! I like the huge quantities of herbs, especially good with Summer food & very good for you. I was reading an article the other day which said we should all up the quantities of fresh herbs in our food & then we wouldn't need to worry so much about our"5-a day" veg routine!

You are right it does sound like a terrific sauce for crab-cakes -- I'll give it a go next week. Thanks! :happy_flower

:rose Hattie :rose