Though The Calm One prefers his raspberries sugared and smothered with whipped cream, these fresh-from-the-garden berries are pretty good on their own. After the first raspberry crop came in about late June which were born on previous season's canes, the patch was weeded, fertilised, mulched, and faithfully watered to encourage a copious second cropping on new canes. There are probably two more bowls to be had before harvesting will be complete. The tops of these canes will be pruned, leaving the rest of them to overwinter so they can produce berries for the first crop come next June.
The carrot crop promises to be abundant though it will be at least a couple of weeks before it will be ready to harvest. Until then, the rows which were thickly sowed will be thinned to provide some lovely baby carrots. These can be be trimmed, scrubbed, and simmered whole with some butter in a covered skillet.
Beefsteak tomatoes and romas continue to be harvested. About 36 kg (80 pounds) so far! Since we have a large freezer, all I have to do to keep on top of this red deluge is to wash and dry them, then to throw them into large ziplock freezer bags. Once frozen, if run under cold water, the skins can be rubbed off with your hands. Most of them will be made into concentrate (for soup) and sauce (See related links below for recipes).
The beet harvest is done and processed. They were scrubbed, tops trimmed, tails left on, boiled till tender, placed under cold running water so their skins, tops & tails could be rubbed off with my hands, and packed into ziplock freezer bags. An easy and simple way to serve both tomatoes and beets is to place slices, thin or thick (we like ours thick!) on a bed of couscous and then top with tuna/shrimp/chicken salad. For tuna salad served with beets, crème fraîche is a much better 'lubricant' than mayonnaise because beets and sour cream is a match made in heaven. Your favourite dressing and spices/herbs could be sprinkled over the salads.
There's enough in the freezer for borscht with scrumptious beef and onion dumplings all year round. Detailed instructions to make this fabulously satisfying meal in a bowl can be found here (some of the photos got corrupted in this ancient post, but the text remains intact). Though it takes two days to make it, there is plenty left over which can be frozen for many a meal. However, to lessen the work involved, canned beef broth can be used along with minced beef instead of homemade broth and simmered stewing beef.
Stir in a bit of crème fraîche for a ravishing raspberry-pink colour punch. Its slight sourness is a nice foil to the natural sweetness of the beets.
A couple of months ago, Daifla variety of potatoes, looked like this:
When their haulms (above ground foliage) are completely spent, they are ready to harvest.
This variety may be a prolific flowerer and a high yielder but the actual taters are not pretty. But what texture, flavour, and colour! These potatoes, made into a simple soup . . .
. . . shimmer with a golden glow as if a certain percentage of their flesh contains cream. They are exceedingly delicious with a smooth, rich texture.
Here are basic instructions to make this soup: A large potato per person should suffice (I usually make enough for eight servings). Saute a minced onion till soft, translucent, and yellow, which takes about 5 minutes. Add cubed potatoes. Barely cover with boiling water (an electric tea kettle is perfect for this) or with water right from the tap and bring to a boil, and then a simmer till potatoes are fork tender, about twenty minutes. Remove half of them and reserve. Using a stick mixer, blend smooth right in the pot. Add milk to get desired consistency. A couple of heaping tablespoons of crème fraîche ups the creamy quotient. Return the reserved potatoes to the pot. Salt to taste. Unabashedly plop some chunks of Bleu d'Auvergne into the serving bowls. Soup will keep in the fridge for several days, but can not be frozen as freezing changes the texture of the potatoes into something unrecognisable.
À la prochaine!
RELATED LINKS
Have lots of tomatoes? Make estratto (tomato paste)! Second paragraph includes links to instructions for making tomato-sausage sauce and stewed tomatoes.
You Grow Food To Process . . . (Harvest 2017), includes instructions to make tomato concentrate to be used in soups
The carrot crop promises to be abundant though it will be at least a couple of weeks before it will be ready to harvest. Until then, the rows which were thickly sowed will be thinned to provide some lovely baby carrots. These can be be trimmed, scrubbed, and simmered whole with some butter in a covered skillet.
Beefsteak tomatoes and romas continue to be harvested. About 36 kg (80 pounds) so far! Since we have a large freezer, all I have to do to keep on top of this red deluge is to wash and dry them, then to throw them into large ziplock freezer bags. Once frozen, if run under cold water, the skins can be rubbed off with your hands. Most of them will be made into concentrate (for soup) and sauce (See related links below for recipes).
The beet harvest is done and processed. They were scrubbed, tops trimmed, tails left on, boiled till tender, placed under cold running water so their skins, tops & tails could be rubbed off with my hands, and packed into ziplock freezer bags. An easy and simple way to serve both tomatoes and beets is to place slices, thin or thick (we like ours thick!) on a bed of couscous and then top with tuna/shrimp/chicken salad. For tuna salad served with beets, crème fraîche is a much better 'lubricant' than mayonnaise because beets and sour cream is a match made in heaven. Your favourite dressing and spices/herbs could be sprinkled over the salads.
There's enough in the freezer for borscht with scrumptious beef and onion dumplings all year round. Detailed instructions to make this fabulously satisfying meal in a bowl can be found here (some of the photos got corrupted in this ancient post, but the text remains intact). Though it takes two days to make it, there is plenty left over which can be frozen for many a meal. However, to lessen the work involved, canned beef broth can be used along with minced beef instead of homemade broth and simmered stewing beef.
Stir in a bit of crème fraîche for a ravishing raspberry-pink colour punch. Its slight sourness is a nice foil to the natural sweetness of the beets.
A couple of months ago, Daifla variety of potatoes, looked like this:
When their haulms (above ground foliage) are completely spent, they are ready to harvest.
This variety may be a prolific flowerer and a high yielder but the actual taters are not pretty. But what texture, flavour, and colour! These potatoes, made into a simple soup . . .
. . . shimmer with a golden glow as if a certain percentage of their flesh contains cream. They are exceedingly delicious with a smooth, rich texture.
Here are basic instructions to make this soup: A large potato per person should suffice (I usually make enough for eight servings). Saute a minced onion till soft, translucent, and yellow, which takes about 5 minutes. Add cubed potatoes. Barely cover with boiling water (an electric tea kettle is perfect for this) or with water right from the tap and bring to a boil, and then a simmer till potatoes are fork tender, about twenty minutes. Remove half of them and reserve. Using a stick mixer, blend smooth right in the pot. Add milk to get desired consistency. A couple of heaping tablespoons of crème fraîche ups the creamy quotient. Return the reserved potatoes to the pot. Salt to taste. Unabashedly plop some chunks of Bleu d'Auvergne into the serving bowls. Soup will keep in the fridge for several days, but can not be frozen as freezing changes the texture of the potatoes into something unrecognisable.
À la prochaine!
RELATED LINKS
Have lots of tomatoes? Make estratto (tomato paste)! Second paragraph includes links to instructions for making tomato-sausage sauce and stewed tomatoes.
You Grow Food To Process . . . (Harvest 2017), includes instructions to make tomato concentrate to be used in soups
