Status update + delicious recipe

[luzula]

I'm doing well! I've been home for a few days now, after spending a week at the family summer place with my parents, my sister, and her kids. A good time was had, with no family quarrels! \o/

Before that, I had a visit from exeterlinden and her two kids. We had not met in person for eight years (because kids), and had very little contact during that time, but we just reconnected instantly. It was lovely. <3

Current delicious produce from the garden: potatoes, swedes, young beets and carrots, cabbage, chard, leek, onions, garlic, herbs, broad beans, green beans, green peas, zucchini, aubergine, tomatoes, and chiles. I LOVE just going out and harvesting what I need for cooking! We just took up all the onions, and they are now drying in the sun. I think they will be a substantial portion of our yearly consumption.

Today I got one of the ducks to eat from my hand, by means of lying down prone on the grass and stretching out my hand with food on it. They are such ridiculous little duck-billed dinosaurs. Edvin who was previously one of our favorites has unfortunately turned into a schoolyard bully, perhaps because the males from the first group of ducklings from the spring are now old enough to be seen as a threat to his fragile masculinity. The second group of ducklings are now almost full-sized, and we can see their adult colors, though not yet what sex they are.

I hardly ever buy cook books, but a while ago I bought two by the same author, which fit my current needs perfectly: the first one has chapters on various vegetables, and the second on various fruits and berries, so if you've got a particular vegetable/fruit/berry, you can get recipes and inspiration as to what to do with it. They are in Swedish though. He's big on using fruits and berries in savory cooking, and here's a delicious recipe I made yesterday:

Cut a couple of red beets into wedges (not too thick). Chop and fry a red onion on low heat, adding half a deciliter of cane sugar after a while so it caramelizes. Add a deciliter of red wine, along with a double handful of black currants, some powdered bolete and enough vegetable stock to cover the beets. Cook the beets in the liquid until done. Remove the beets and reduce the sauce until thick. Pour the sauce on the beets, sprinkle crumbled feta cheese and toasted chopped hazelnuts on top and serve. (Actually the recipe said chevre and pistachios, but feta and hazelnuts was what I had and it worked well.) I would not have thought to do such a thing with black currants, but it was so good!

I also improvised a great soup the other day, with cabbage, potatoes, onions, a tin of tomatoes, and carrots. I pureed this and seasoned it with garlic, a chopped chile fruit, mortared fennel seeds, chopped lovage, and orange juice, and added cream at the end. Oh, and there were also green lentils in the soup that I first soaked and then pureed raw and put into the soup (that way you don't have to wait long for them to cook).

Comments

[osprey_archer]

A cookbook organized by vegetable and by fruit sounds like an inspiration! Especially useful when the garden has suddenly gone all zucchini or tomatoes.

[luzula]

We are just staying on top of the summer squash, and occasionally giving some away to neighbors. I made a zucchini spice cake yesterday, to use up one more.

[sanguinity]

Oh, that beet recipe sounds lovely! I'd have to substitute a bunch because no blackcurrants and no powdered bolete, but I imagine I can still get something tasty out of it. (I wonder if adding a dried shitake to the stock would work well?)

About how much wine to stock when you did it? (Roughly one-to-one? Way more wine? Way more stock?) The beets we get vary so much in size over the season that "a couple of beets" doesn't help me guess proportions.

[luzula]

Dried shitake would probably work instead of dried bolete. Black currants would be hard to replace and get the same result, they have a very specific taste. But I'm sure you can still get something tasty!

The actual recipe has 1 dl of wine and 1 liter of stock. Because I did not have the patience to let all that stock boil down, I used much less of it, perhaps half a liter. I don't think the amount of beets is terribly important, as long as there's enough sauce to cover the beets while they cook.

[sanguinity]

Thank you!

[princessofgeeks]

So awesome.

[luzula]

Oops, I left this tab sitting open and now five days have passed...but they have been filled with productive garden work. : )

[mific]

Your garden sounds so lush!

[luzula]

It is! I'm surprised at how well everything is going--but then, we're putting a lot of work into it.

[seascribble]

It's so nice to reconnect with fannish friends! The soup sounds delicious.

[luzula]

It is! exeterlinden and I knew each other from due South, and I met her in person for the first time at a Danish fan meetup.

[brigantine]

Your garden sounds heavenly. So full of delicious things to eat! I quite like beets, and that recipe sounds yummy!

Also: DUCKS!! \o/!!

[luzula]

I am so happy about the garden, it's ridiculous. And the ducks are such a source of joy!

[nnozomi]

Very late comment, but as always I am awed by your garden produce! Sometime I'm going to have to apply to you for advice on how to grow garlic (among other things). and aww, the ducks sound adorable!
That red beet recipe sounds SO GOOD. I would probably want to try it with chevre, just because I'm a sucker for goat cheese in any context, but I can see that feta would also work!

[luzula]

Short version: put garlic cloves in the earth in the fall, harvest in summer the next year, then dry them. But actually housemate was in charge of the garlic-growing this year, so I would have to read up on it to give more advice than that.

Gardening and food-producing takes time, though! I don't resent it because it is my fandom now and I take great pleasure in it, but I can see how everyone might not want to make their own food from scratch.

[exeterlinden]

It was so lovely to see you! Both me and the girls have very happy holiday memories of our days with you at the farm <3

Have you figured out if the little duckling my kids decided to name is actually a female? *edit* I read too quickly I see now /o\ The ducks are still ungendered.

Also, Elina-the-oak is fighting for dear life in my garden /o\ I *think* it's going to make it..!

[luzula]

Well, the post was a month ago, and we now suspect that most of the ducklings are actually female! Which is good news for egg production next year and for having a good balance between males and females. I know the kids called the smallest one Emelie, but so as not to have two Emelies, we will call it Emilia. If our suspicions are right and it is indeed a female… I'll try to remember to send the kids a photo of the “ällingar”! Who are now adult sized.

See e-mail for the rest! : )