April 26 - Vegetable Garden Week 4

Even though it has been frigid lately, things are growing! The radishes, snap peas, and lettuce have all sprouted.

Sunchoke, Celeriac, and Potato Purée

I bought sunchokes (or Jerusalem artichokes) at the farmer's market thinking I'd make a salad. Over the course of the day, as I mentally thought out my evening's menu (scallops with ramp butter over a sunchoke puree), I realized I would need more sunchokes. By the time I left work, the market was closed so I was out of luck. I still wanted to make a puree that was springy and somewhat lighter than potato. I picked up a celery root and one potato and it turned out wonderfully. It's tasty and like and has the consistency of whipped cream. It has a little bit of an artichoke taste (even though sunchoked/Jerusalem artichokes are not at all related to artichokes). It works very well under scallops, and would work equally well as a base for short ribs. Definitely a keeper!

Serves 2-3

Ingredients:

1/2 a large or 1 small russet potato, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces

1 medium-sized celeriac/celery root, peeled and cut in half and then into 1/2 inch slices

2 large sunchokes, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces

1/2 cup half and half, warm

Ramp Butter

It's that time of year again! Ramps are back. I was googling around for ramp recipes and found ramp butter. One of the most enticing but worst things about ramps is their short season. Pretty much now until the end of May. If you make ramp butter, you can just pop it in the freezer and slice off a slab any time. Can't wait to have corn with ramp butter in the summer!

Ingredients:

1 stick of butter, softened

4 ramps, roots removed, cleaned

1 tsp Maldon sea salt

Chicken Kabobs

We had a big weekend of eating and drinking (see monkey bread), so I wanted something a little lighter for dinner. I found this recipe for kabobs - yum! I had to alter it slightly because I didn't have aleppo pepper, but it worked out great with paprika, chili powder, and red pepper flakes. Yogurt is a great base for chicken marinades because it tenderizes the chicken and keeps is juicy when you're cooking at a high temperature. Usually, grilled chicken breast is pretty dry but this chicken is super moist and flavorful. I serve it with pita, tzatziki, babaganoush, and some Greek salad. 

Ingredients:

3 big chicken breasts, cut into 1.5" pieces

1 tbsp paprika

2 tsp red pepper flakes

1/2 tsp chili powder

2 tbsp warm water

Monkey Bread

This is such a delicious breakfast, and great for a group. It makes a lot, so be sure to invite some friends over for this one. It's definitely not healthy, but it's so gooey and sweet and tasty, and it's fun to grab the pieces off with your hands. I didn't get a picture of it whole because no one could resist it. 

Ingredients:

2 cans Pillsbury Grands biscuits

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup raisins 

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

3/4 cup butter, melted

Dinner for One - Tuna Melts

Jamie was out so I wanted to make a simple dinner for myself. Of course, it turned a little more complicated, but into a delicious special dinner for one. Great for dinner or lunch. If you don't have all the extra ingredients (carrot, radish, etc) that's fine. You want the onion or some scallions or something for crunch and flavor, and the rest adds a nice crunch too but you don't need to go buy a million ingredients if you don't have them. 

April 4 - Vegetable Garden Week One

We got a later start on the garden than usual because of our Asia trip, but may have anyway because of the frigid weather we've been having. (Usually we plant the peas around St. Patrick's Day.) We loaded up the beds with fresh top soil and compost and cleaned out some grass etc that had grown over the winter. We planted the seeds you can plant before the danger of frost has passed - snap peas, lettuce, radishes. 

Back from Asia!

March was a bit of a bust on the blog - sorry about that! Jamie and I took a two-week trip to Southeast Asia to visit friends in Bangkok and Hong Kong and also stopped at the beach in Railay and in Cambodia. It was amazing! We ate so well and had the best time exploring. I promise I'll be better at posting, and I have some garden info coming later this week. For now, below are some of the pictures from our trip.

Cocktails at Sirocco our first night in Bangkok - amazing view!