Monthly Archives: July 2012

Plum Sauce and Pesto

No, not together!  But I prepared two dishes the other day.  I began to harvest these unbelievably sweet, luscious plums from our tree in the back yard.  Well, once I ate 2 or 3 of them,  I realized that this was about all one could eat at one time, but I had about 2 dozen absolutely ripe plums.  The answer…make a spicy, hot plum sauce to use with meats or a side dish.  It was very easy, I pitted the plums, added garlic, onion and several hot peppers just picked from the garden.  I used the food processor to grind them up.  After adding in sugar, vinegar and five spice, I let it cook slowly on low most of the day.  It was delicious!

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Garlic and Basil for Pesto

And with the newly harvested garlic and just picked basil, I made pesto using pignolia nuts.  I have always used walnuts to make pesto because of the cost of pignolia nuts.  But I have to say, the taste was less bitter and somehow smoother than with walnuts.  And with the addition of olive oil and reggio pargmigiana it was the real thing.  Served it over freshly made cavatelli from the Pasta Gallery in Oakville.    Just great!

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Plums, garlic, onions and hot peppers for Hot Plum Sauce

Beets, garlic and India

I read this recipe in the New York times magazine for using beets in making a chicken tikka dish.  Well of course I knew I had beets in the garden and had to get the other ingredients at the store.  This morning I picked the beets and one bulb of garlic right out of the garden…the garlic was moist with a kind of a garlic dew!  The chicken is marinating as I write and I will prepare the dish for supper tonight.Image

And so it begins

Basil, garlic, garlic scapes, hot pepper, oregano from the garden, into the fresh tomatoes (bought from March Farms) and throw in the fresh pasta from my favorite pasta place, Pasta Gallery and the result…the first fresh sauce from my garden (almost) for this season.  I have been waiting all year for that taste and it did not disappoint. 

 

Beginning to write again!

It took me three days to come up with an appropriate title to my attempt to begin writing again.  I had to really think what do I want to write? and what would anyone really want to read that I could write.  And the part of my life that is consistently energizing is gardening and cooking.  Both can be tedious (cutting up veggies for hours or pulling up weeds for many hours) but both are very satisfying and fulfilling.  As my garden begins to produce, I would like to share my food creations in this format.  I hope it will be good for me and those who read this and it connects them to me, the earth and the food.