Watching the Garden Grow

Yes, outside of working a lot, all I've been up to these days is obsessing over my plants.  It's hypnotic, relaxing and exciting all at the same time.  Every morning before work I tend to my little urban garden - watering if necessary, and cleaning up any dried leaves and flowers.  Afterward, I leave the balcony door open, sit down at the dining room table with my coffee and my laptop and just watch.  I love seeing honey bees come and go.  If they're doing a good job of pollinating, maybe we'll actually get some zucchini or cucumbers soon.

       

Lemon Cucumber Plant

On my day off, I take care of messier and more time consuming tasks like going to the garden center to pick up supplies, re-potting plants as they get bigger, and sowing new seeds to ensure a continual supply of fresh herbs.  That's also the day I wage war on pests.  There is a lot of great information on-line about natural and organic methods for warding off all manner of pests and disease that threaten plants.  Golden Harvest Organics not only sells seeds and gardening products, but they also post extensive information about organic gardening and natural pest control.  I purchased Neem Oil and Castille Soap to combat aphids, but apparently there are a number of other methods that can be employed.  They range from placing tin foil on the soil surface to reflect light to the underside of the plant leaves, where they usually hang out, to spraying them with a tea made from tomato leaves.  I'd love to get my hands on some ladybugs to do the job for me.

Squash Blossoms

Another pest which has been a big problem is the fungus gnat, which breeds in damp conditions conducive to mold and fungus.  It has rained almost every day this June, and while everything is lush and green, my balcony is now the perfect home for fungus gnats.  It's been nearly impossible to keep my plants dry. I removed the saucers from under all the pots since they only provided a breeding ground, and I covered the soil with cedar mulch to keep the surface dry.  Despite my best efforts, some pots got really heavily infested, and I had to resort to an organic insecticide to keep them under control.   Gnatrol, which I also purchased from Golden Harvest Organics, is a brand of Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis a bacteria that targets the larvae living in the soil.  Apparently it biodegrades quickly, and is widely used for organic agricultural applications.  Although most of the information on the web indicates that it's safe for people and pets, the product safety sheet that came with advises measures taken to avoid direct contact with the product.  So I take the necessary precautions, and won't harvest anything to eat until the stuff has had a chance to degrade.

A server at the restaurant also has an organic garden on her rooftop, so we've traded both plants and ideas.  She has also had a big problem with fungus gnats and is using Nemotodes, a species of roundworm that eat fungus gnat larvae.

The first few plantings

Sadie in our urban oasis

The garden has become a great learning experience.  Through trial and error, and some help along the way, I have learned things like how to replant seedlings with enough of their stems embedded so they form strong root systems (thanks to an info sheet sent to me by Golden Harvest with my FREE mystery tomato seeds).  Sadly, some plants did succumb to my bumbling - to much water, too little water, not hardening off properly etc, but despite all the factors working against it, my little garden is showing lots of promise.  Most of the plants are in their permanent pots now and are growing rapidly. I've even been able to re-plant cuttings from overcrowded pots and get new plants.  The zucchini plants are producing squash blossoms now, and the lemon cucumber vines have already grabbed hold of the balcony railing and are threatening to take over.  There's cat grass for the feline members of our family, and best of all, I get to bond with our 9-month old puppy Sadie, who seems to love the garden as much as I do.

Sadie checking out some cuttings

Zen and the Art of Staff Meal

One of the most difficult tasks in a professional kitchen is the minimization of waste and the effective practice of kitchen economy.  The french term garde manger literally means "keep to eat."  In a kitchen it is the station where a beginning cook usually starts, and is responsible for all the cold preparations, such as terrines, pates and cured fish and meat.  Traditionally these delicacies are made from the scraps and by-products generated by the other stations, such as meat and fish trimmings, organ meats, and vegetable trimmings.  Items that can't be incorporated into a menu offering may be used for staff meal, more commonly referred to as "family meal."

I always find it funny when people assume that cooks always eat well, or gourmet.  The other day my dinner consisted of cheese fries and a scoop of coffee ice cream.  The reality for me as a beginning cook is that I am up to my neck in student loans, and I have two geriatric cats whose vet bills are through the roof.  For the most part my only meal of the day is probably family meal, so all I care about is that it's simple and delicious.

Some larger restaurants have cooks solely responsible for family meal, but not where I work.  There, the line cooks are also responsible for family meal.  On a busy night, that responsibility can get passed around like a hot potato.  I have a million things to do to be ready for service and on top of that I have to make family meal? But I've actually grown to enjoy making family meal.  You see, there is a lot of pressure to perform when you are cooking for paying customers at a Michelin starred restaurant.  Expectations are high and it is your job to fulfill them with every perfectly executed, perfectly identical plate you send out.  By comparison, making  family meal is actually kind of relaxing, like cooking for friends at home.  I follow a simple mantra:  stick to what you know and like to eat.  In fact, the more familiar the better - and for pete's sake if it's something you've never made before, there is no shame in starting with a recipe.  With all the other things I need to do every day, there's no time to waste trying to be the next Wylie Dufresne.

To make family meal as stress free as possible, I always take note of recipes in books or magazines that make use of the items we always seem to have for family meal, and can be made with inexpensive ingredients we always have in house.  Also as I cook, I make note of any new tricks I can add to my arsenal.  All recipes contain techniques that can be applied to new situations and ingredients, and boy do they come in handy trying to figure out how to make something tasty from randomly discarded food items.  Sure, there are a hundred and one things you can do with chicken wings, drumsticks, and ground beef.  There's Buffalo wings, Southern Fried Chicken, Beef and Black Bean Chili, Beef Gyros, Sloppy Joes, and Lasagne.  But what about fish scraps, beet greens, Swiss chard stems, and just the disgusting yellow hearts of Brussels sprouts?

A few months ago, the restaurant closed for five days for an on-location film shoot.  So a few days before Hollywood arrived, I was handed a crate full of brussels hearts, beet greens, and swiss chard stems and told to make sure they somehow got used for family meal before the movie shoot started. Because we had a couple of vegetarians on our front of house staff, I would usually try to incorporate these trimmings into hearty vegetarian options instead of simply making them into side dishes. I found that a Vegetable Torte was an excellent way to make use of the swiss chard stems, and eggs leftover from brunch.  More recently I used the recipe to get rid of leftover grilled leeks, peas, and potatoes.  To make my life even easier, I just omit the pastry crust and call it fritatta.  This made the vegetarians on staff quite happy.  One of our line cooks also brought a recipe from his last restaurant for Grilled Swiss Chard Stems dressed in a broken sherry vinaigrette with chili pepper flakes, which was also a crowd pleaser.

So what about those darn beet greens and brussels hearts?  Well, I love Indian pakoras, or vegetable fritters.  Made with potato, cauliflower, or spinach and onion (my personal favorite), they are absolutely delicious with fresh mint chutney.  Throw in a little mulligatawny (lentil) soup and nan bread and you've got a meal.  Voila, there was the solution to my beet green and brussels hearts challenge - vegetable fritters.  I simply substituted wilted beet greens for spinach, mixed them with grated onion in a flour and egg batter, and fried those babies up.  I blanched the brussels hearts in boiling water, then coated them in seasoned flour.  They fried up just like cauliflower pakoras.  Both were a hit.  The beet green fritters were crunchy on the outside and kind of custardy on the inside.  The brussels hearts were also nice and tender on the inside with just a little crispy crust.  They were so simple to make, and after all, deep frying makes just about anything taste better right?

Kitchen Tip: Greenest Fava Beans Ever

Fava beans, corn, tomatoes...all foods that remind us (in the northeast at least) that summer is just around the corner.

For the first time, I used the revered Thomas Keller's method of cooking fava beens - shuck first, then cook. I first read about it in his interviews in Michael Ruhlman's Soul of a Chef, and then in Keller's own French Laundry Cookbook. In theory, leaving the skin on the bean while it cooks traps gases inside which accelerate its oxidation. Shucking the beans before cooking preserves their color and flavor by allowing those gases to escape. I doubted if it really made a big difference, but now am totally convinced! Normally, I shell, then blanch, then shuck - the skins just slide right off this way. Still, no matter how careful I am to shuck the beans right after blanching, use tons of water to blanch, and make sure the favas are perfectly cooked, I can never avoid getting that little gray patch of oxidation that just seems to spread the longer the beans sit - and they're always a little slimy. Well not this time. Have you ever seen cooked favas so green?

I used them to make Succotash. Not only did they stay that green in the fridge as I prepared the rest of my ingredients, they even kept their color after being mixed in and warmed up with the rest of the succotash.

Granted, shucking before cooking is more difficult and a little more time consuming, but I'm converted. In addition to the eye appeal, pre-shucking allows the beans to cook faster, absorb seasoning better, and allows you to better monitor doneness by actually seeing their color brighten as they cook.

How to get the Greenest Fava Beans Ever:

1. Shell the beans. Discard any that seem yellow or discolored.

2. Shuck the beans.

3. Fill a large pot fitted with a blanching basket or metal steamer plate with generously salted, rapidly boiling water.

4. Fill a large bowl or another large pot with ice water.

5. Cook the fava beans in boiling water. Make sure there is enough water so that it comes right back to a boil after adding the beans.

6. Once the beans turn bright green, taste a few to make sure they are cooked. Lift the beans out of the boiling water and immediately plunge them into the ice water. This will stop them from overcooking and will preserve their color.

Try it with this Recipe: Simplest Succotash

June 28th, 2009

Dating back to colonial times, Succotash takes its name from the Narragansett msickquatash, a dish of corn and beans first introduced by Native Americans to English settlers.  Summer Succotash typically refers to the dish made with fresh corn and beans, while Winter Succotash might be made with dried corn and beans stewed with meat.  According to Evan Jones' American Food, Native Americans froze their Winter Succotash, and would use a tomahawk to chip off pieces to melt over a fire as needed.  Jones also describes several regional variations - lima beans were most often used in the South, while in New England, succotash might contain cranberry beans instead.  The Pennsylvania Dutch were even known for adding dumplings.  In the height of summer, when flavors are at their peak, it doesn't take much to bring corn together with fresh beans and tomatoes to make a deliciously Simple Succotash.

Here is a very simple recipe for a buttery succotash with fresh fava beans and plum tomatoes.  It's a great addition to backyard barbecues.

INGREDIENTS  (serves 4-6)

3-4  ears of fresh corn on the cob

4  roma (plum) tomatoes, peeled, seeds removed, and diced

1  cup fresh cooked fava beans, shelled and shucked

1-2  large shallots, peeled finely diced

2 large cloves of garlic, peeled and finely minced

1/2 cup heavy cream

2-3 Tbsp. butter

salt

cayenne pepper

fresh lemon juice (optional)

1-2 Tbsp. chopped fresh chives

PROCEDURE:

1.  Prepare all the ingredients.  Cut the corn kernels from the cob, then use a sturdy spoon to scrape the "milk" from the cob.  Reserve both separately.  See Peeling Fresh Tomatoes, and Greenest Fava Beans Ever! for tips on preparing the tomatoes and fava beans.

2.  In a shallow saucepan, melt a generous tablespoon of butter and cook the diced shallots over low heat until they are soft and transparent.  Add the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds until fragrant.

3.  Add the corn kernels and cook over medium heat just until they begin to turn bright yellow.  Add the corn "milk" and heavy cream.  Season with salt and a pinch of cayenne pepper and simmer over medium heat for 5-10 minutes so that the corn is cooked but still crisp, and the liquid is slightly reduced.

4.  Add the fava beans and tomatoes and just heat them through in the corn mixture.  The mixture should not be soupy, but there should be enough liquid to coat all the ingredients.  Remove from the heat, melt in a tablespoon of butter, and a dash of lemon juice if desired, and fresh chopped chives.

And theyeven stayed that green in the fridge as I prepared the rest of my ingredients, and after being mixed in and warmed up with the rest of the succotash.

April Showers

I had two days off this week - two rainy days.  Since I've started a little vegetable garden, I am actually appreciating the rainy days.  Why?  Well, the sunny windowsill in my apartment is getting a little overcrowded with seedlings now and the bigger ones just need to get outdoors.  Overcast, slightly rainy days are actually the perfect condition (or so I've read) to start hardening off, or getting seedlings accustomed to being outside.  A dry, sunny day can fry tender little seedlings, and temperatures too close to freezing are obviously no good either.  I've never really had a very green thumb so I've been taking lessons from Rose Marie Nichols-McGee and Maggie Stuckey in the form of their book, The Bountiful Container.

Jiffy pellets & mini greenhouse

I do however, have a singular childhood memory of picking cherry tomatoes in the summer, from the small garden that my mother used to have.  Even though I didn't like eating tomatoes as a child, I loved picking them - the smell of the vines, the light dusting of pollen on the fruit, and just being outside in the sun with my hands in the dirt.  Like I said, I wasn't crazy about tomatoes, but the homegrown variety were certainly far less offensive than the disgusting, mealy beefsteak tomatoes that were the grocery store standard at the time.  Now, with the presence of supermarkets like Whole Foods in the suburbs, and a wider choice of ethnic markets, and farmer's markets around the city we no longer have to settle for one mealy type of tomatoes.  Almost any kind of produce is available to the average consumer.  So why bother growing my own?  Freshness for one.  Sure, tomatoes, avacados and citrus fruits might be available year round at any local grocery, but they are being shipped thousands of miles from Mexico, Peru, and sunnier parts of the country like Florida and California.  How fresh can they possibly be?

So, every Spring I fall prey to a longing to move to someplace like California.  Anyone who had been to the farmer's market at San Francisco's Ferry Building can attest to the gorgeous and delicious array of fresh edibles available year round.  Still, I've known people who have grown up in the Northeast and moved to milder climates, only to return.  One of the most surprising reasons is that they miss the change of the seasons.   Deep down, I think I would miss the cycle of toughing out snowy blustery Winters that clear the way for the hopeful new blossoms of Spring; and the lushness of lazy Summers that always seem to be cut too short by the onset of Autumn.  The seasons change the way that we live, the way that we feel - both emotionally as well as physically - and the way that we eat.  So reason number two for growing my own vegetables is to find out first hand what eating seasonally and locally means by actually bringing my food from seed to table.

(Oh, and do I need to mention all the food scares in the media? Salmonella in pistachios and peanut butter? Melamine in baby formula?  At least I'll know where my vegetables came from.)

Well, you can't get more local, fresh, and seasonal than your own backyard.  For my first vegetable garden, I figured I'd keep it small and grow a few things from containers on the small balcony of my apartment.  The Bountiful Container does warn small space gardeners like me against going seed crazy - and wisely so.  Catalogs and online suppliers offer seeds for a dizzying array of vegetables and I could see how it might be easy to get over-ambitious.  As advised I made a plan, first limiting my purchases to heritage and organic seeds, then choosing produce we consume regularly, such as tomatoes, peppers, and zucchini, and herbs such as cilantro, oregano, and dill.  I also chose a few items that we were unlikely to find at the grocery, such as lemon chiles, lemon cucumbers, greek basil, and edible flowers.  Even with my plan, I think I may have gotten a little over-zealous myself.

Still, not a bad start.  I planted my first set of seedlings at the end of March using Jiffy peat pellets and a little plastic greenhouse tray.  I've had to re-pot the tomato plants once already and they are also outgrowing the deli-containers that I've been using as makeshift cloches to protect them from our cats.  This first set of seedlings are going outside this week to make room on the windowsill for the second set that I planted yesterday.

So with Spring comes hope - hope that my thumb gets a little greener, hope that my little seedlings will thrive outdoors, and hope that with some organization and a little help from mother nature, we will be able to enjoy the fruits of my labor from late May through September.