What’s for Dinner? is a Saturday evening get-together where friends share recipes, talk about good food and help others answer culinary questions.
We welcome you to our virtual table every Saturday evening 4:30 PT/7:30 ET. If you would like to write a post for an upcoming date just send a message to ninkasi23, or reply to her calendar comment below.
In the Time of Corona, is there anyone out there still who does not know the concept of the Victory Garden? Wikipedia reminds us:
Victory gardens, also called war gardens or food gardens for defense, were vegetable, fruit, and herb gardens planted at private residences and public parks in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Germany[1][2] during World War I and World War II. In the war time governments encouraged people to plant victory gardens not only to supplement their rations but also to boost morale.[3] George Washington Carver wrote an agricultural tract and promoted the idea of what he called a "Victory Garden".[4] They were used along with Rationing Stamps and Cards to reduce pressure on the public food supply. Besides indirectly aiding the war effort, these gardens were also considered a civil "morale booster" in that gardeners could feel empowered by their contribution of labor and rewarded by the produce grown. This made victory gardens a part of daily life on the home front.
The enemy is unseen right now, but the gardens are popping up. How can I tell, since I can’t actually go visit anybody? The plant nurseries (fortunately considered “essential” here in Berkeley and our county, Alameda), have lines of people waiting to get in, and everybody, but everybody — including the hardware stores — is out of vegetable seeds.
Fortunately, before the first shelter-in-place orders were hinted at, Mr pixxer and I realized that we could get ready for a summer of avoiding the grocery stores (Berkeley Bowl’s entry line has been clocked at up to a tenth of a mile) by planting some of the perishable stuff in the back yard. A trip to East Bay Nursery back on the 12th of March netted us some lovely plant starts, and Mr pixxer also grabbed some seed packs to start carrots and radishes.
Mr pixxer and I are not especially accomplished gardeners or anything — this is mostly intended as an opportunity for all of us at WFD to trade ideas and hints if we’ve got ‘em. Mr pixxer and I also have an unusual situation in that everything is in a container — nothing in the ground. And lastly, we’re in California, so the growing season is unusual; we can garden all year, but it’s too cold here in west Berkeley to grow any real hot-weather crops. Tomatoes are what send us to the farmers’ markets starting in late July or early August.
Here’s what we’ve got growing so far, and the logic behind it, such as it is. We were looking for stuff that we can actually grow, with major nutritional value, and of course, stuff we really like to eat!
Veggies:
- Chard — continuous harvest of leaves all summer and most of the winter, too
- Dino kale — see chard.
- Romaine — the only lettuce with enough vitamins to be considered a vegetable — plus, no fall contamination scares this year!
- Arugula — likely will not stay long before bolting (any help here?) but we really enjoy it while it lasts. It used to volunteer every spring but has dwindled out.
- Zucchini and a small, almost round version of zucchini
- Carrots and radishes — good nutrition and brighten up salads. Easy, no-cook lunch veggies.
- Garlic?? — We had four cloves on one head of garlic putting up little green shoots, so Mr pixxer decided to try planting them, and a couple non-sprouting ones for the heck of it. So far, they look great (see photo below).
Long ago we decided that, with our limited space and ambition, we should settle on an “economic” garden, growing things that are too expensive to buy, or can’t be found in good quality even in our outstanding grocery store, or are sold in quantities too large to use up. This quickly translated to growing...
Herbs:
Already there year-round:
- Rosemary (grown everywhere as an ornamental)
- Thyme
- Marjoram
- Greek Oregano
- Sorrel (sold as an herb, but really it’s a leafy vegetable, which we use in excellent soups)
- Parsley (but we planted more anyway)
Returning on their own, now it’s spring:
- Tarragon (peeking up their little heads)
- Chives (humongous)
Newly planted from plant starts:
- Rue (saw it, it’s beautiful, bought it — any suggestions for use? :)
- Hyssop (“optional” in one favorite recipe, so grabbed it when we saw it)
- Cilantro (always bolts for us — any suggestions?)
- Basil — something destroyed two plants, but we have just bought more.
- Chervil — Mr pixxer loves this in omelettes, so we bought a six-pack when we saw it. Plus, it’s very pretty and delicate.
- Summer savory — b/c it was there.
A hint we learned as young parents: If you want to engage little children in gardening, let them plant radishes.
They come up so fast! And they’re pretty little things. Drawback to not buying bunches: one plant at a time, the greens are not enough to bother boiling up (3 mins, salted water).
Back in the day, we had a couple of raised beds in the back yard that were maybe 5’ x 8’. We have a high water table, so building the dirt up above ground level was helpful. We composted and improved the soil in those beds over the years. Then in 2015, Mr pixxer and pixxer-son started building a studio for themselves in the back yard, and it had to take over the raised bed space. We got that improved soil out and into a mound out of danger, and this summer finally put it to use.
A large part of the back yard near the house is still paved from the previous owners, so Mr pixxer built a nifty trapezoidal bed that sits atop the concrete, giving about 12” depth for planting. The arugula plants are thriving there, and some short carrots and radishes are coming up. The trapezoid shape preserves 1) footpath from the kitchen to the back of the yard, 2) footpath between the bed and the dwarf apple tree, and 3) the bunch of unruly grasses coming up through a crack that our domesticating-feral cat rubs her face into every time she makes a tour of the yard.
If we can find scarlett runner bean seeds, we will plant them and string lines up to the studio roof overhang (on the right, in the photo above). No one has them in Berkeley as far as I can tell, and the only place we’ve found (so far) is shipping in 15 to 25 days. Yikes!
So, here are some of the denizens:
Amazing Sorrel Soup — Patricia Wells At Home in Provence
Because the sorrel is not actually cooked into this soup, it retains its bright green color.
Stem, wash, and spin dry 3 oz sorrel leaves. I chop them slightly, too. Puree by pulsing in a food processor off and on for 30-45 seconds. Add the 3 Tbsp butter that has come to room temperature; set aside, covered. Do not refrigerate b/c the butter will need to melt quickly later.
In a large saucepan, heat 2 Tbsp EV olive oil till it is hot but not smoking. Add ½ a small onion, peeled and sliced into thin rounds, and sweat over low heat until soft, 3-4 minutes. Add 6 oz russet (starchy) potato, peeled and diced (a “large” russet is about 8 oz including peel) and cook over low heat until golden, 10-15 minutes. Don’t cook too high or they will burn instead of coloring “a beautiful golden brown.”
Add 1 qt chicken stock (or veggie, if you prefer) and simmer about 20 minutes or until the potatoes are fully cooked. Stir in 1 cup heavy cream. Using an immersion mixer, puree the soup (or else pass it through the coarse blade of a food mill or use a blender; return to the stockpot). “The potatoes give thickness and body to the soup without detracting from the sorrel.” Taste for seasoning. Just before serving, whisk the sorrel butter into the hot soup, taking care to mix thoroughly and quickly. Serve in heated soup bowls.
OK, 7 minutes till post time, so no more recipes for the moment :) Plus, I have to go make the dough for tonight’s ravioli. We’ll be having our first chard from the garden — a larger plant from a 4” pot that I grabbed when also buying a scrawny six-pack.
What’s for dinner at your house?
Are you able to grow some of your own food? Anything new this year?