9/28/2007

Garden challenges

Filed under: — Aprille @ 4:09 pm

It looks like it’s going to be a beautiful weekend.  I wonder what we’ll get done, exactly.  Maybe I’ll prime Bisquito’s room, if I can find low-fume primer.  I know there exist paints of that sort, so I guess there are probably primers too.  Painting is kind of fun, and the weather will be nice enough that we could keep the windows open.  It’s a small room, so it’s nice to have a manageable project nicely bounded like that.

Last night we had what were probably the last BLTs of the season.  There was only one reasonable candidate tomato left on the plants.  There are a lot rotting on the ground, and some more that will probably never ripen.  I always feel bad about the rotties, but I picked so many tomatoes, and we ate so many of them, and I made tomato sauce out of so many more that it was just all I could deal with.  It happens every year, and every year Denny suggests planting fewer, but that idea makes me sad for some reason.  Why would anybody want FEWER tomatoes?  Would you want fewer baby snuggles or unicorns or pegasus-unicorns (which don’t exist in mythology but should)?

The pineapple sage is also out of freaking control.  It looked like a fun little herb at Earl May, and it is—it smells just like pineapple and I planned to make some kind of infused ice cream with it.  I never got around to the ice cream (actually what happened is that I lost my taste for sweets upon getting pregnant, but I think that’s coming back second trimester here), and the plant got huge.  It looks like a bush and it has some nice flowers on it.  The leaves still smell nice.  Perhaps one day soon I’ll do something cool with it.

What kind of dessert would be good with pineapple-sage infused ice cream?  Maybe something cinnamony and caramelly?

8 responses to “Garden challenges”

  1. map says:

    The only plant I regret leaving behind at the old house is a nice Russian sage. I don’t know that it offered any culinary value, but it was nice to look at.

  2. Karrey says:

    The pegasus-unicorn My Little Ponies were always my favorites.

  3. Collette says:

    You can actually pick all the green tomatoes and just let them ripen in your house. That is, unless you are so sick of tomatoes by now!
    http://www.extension.umn.edu/info-u/nutrition/BJ763.html

  4. Kim says:

    Oh, if you don’t do this yet, you simply MUST try it!!!

    Tomato Water, from http://www.starchefs.com:

    “Tomato water is the unadulterated flavor of summer’s most versatile fruit, transformed. It’s the strained, pale yellow juice of pureed ripe tomatoes, that needs only to be seasoned with a bit of salt before becoming a refreshing, intensely flavored base for summer cocktails and soups.”

    “To reserve the tomato water, puree ripe tomatoes and place the mixture in triple-ply cheesecloth. Hang the bundle or let rest in a chinois, with a bowl underneath to catch the liquid. Leave the puree to drain at room temperature overnight; the next morning, the captured liquid will be deeply flavored and aromatic.

    Chef Ken Oringer of Clio in Boston features tomato water in a twist on the classic dirty martini: a tangy, refreshing Tomato Water Martini, garnished with pickled tomatoes, caper berries and a tomato popsicle. Chef Juan Pablo Felipe of Madrid’s El Chaflan uses tomato water to create a refined gazpacho, with traditional flavors and garnishes, but a smooth, semi-solid texture. ”

    AND, try this:
    Pineapple Sage Salsa
    ~1 cup fresh pineapple chunks
    1/4 cup yellow banana pepper
    1/4 c onion (vidalia or red)
    2 med small cipolina onions
    1/4 cup (or less) fresh pineapple sage leaves
    1 tbs fresh sage leaves
    1 1/2 tbs toasted sesame seeds

    Cut ripe pineapple chunks into 1/4″ pieces
    Chop pepper into small bits-discard seeds
    Chop both types of onions into small bits
    Snip both types of sage into small strips
    Toast sesame seeds in small pan on stove top over med heat – shaking or stirring until all are browned
    Toss all ingredients together in bowl. Let salsa marinate for at least an hour before serving. Pair with lime tortilla chips.
    http://www.opensourcefood.com

  5. Aprille says:

    Oooh, thanks for that recipe. I actually did make tomato water a couple of years ago. It was good but tons of work to clarify. I think I garnished it with very thin jalapeño slices.

  6. Mike says:

    Last year, Louise started roasting and freezing tomatoes in bags to use in sauces, etc. She doesn’t skin them, but admits it would be better if she did. There’s a little garlic invovled as well. The oven has a convection roast function that makes it exceedingly fast. It’s waaay better than the canning my dear old mom used to do and much tastier. Not a solution for the rotten ones on the ground, but a good answer to planting fewer next year.

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  8. Omega Morely says:

    Thanks for that! My mother recently harvested a garden full of tomatoes , and I find myself the proud owner of two or three buckets worth! Of course I couldnt eat them all like that, but I did find a website full of loads more tomato recipes at this site. A whole website dedicated the topic!! Crazy what you can find on the internet nowadays!!

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