Thursday's Kitchen Cupboard & More!.....08/09/2012

Today is not only Thursday's Kitchen Cupboard, it's also our 4th Wedding Anniversary! For those of you who have been following this blog for awhile, you may remember this post. For those of you who haven't, take a look at our big day!

Now on to Thursday's Kitchen Cupboard. As you can imagine, there's been a lot of canning going on around here this past week. Here is some of what's been canned this week.

Tomato Puree

Eggplant Caponata

Tomatoes

I've been canning tomatoes or tomato puree almost every day.

Some canned goods all cleaned up and ready to be stored the cupboard

"The Italian" made the most amazing pizza Tuesday night for dinner. The pizza had a layer of garlic with oil, next a layer of cheese and topped with tomatoes and olives. I think it was the best pizza he ever made.

What's been going in or out of you Kitchen Cupboard lately???

What to do when it's too Hot during the day to Garden

There are a lot of things you could do on a day like today....you could

Relax on a nice beach in the Caribbean

This is where my sister in-law is right now and it's actually 10 degrees cooler then here!

Take a nice dip in the pool with your cat

Play in the water

Not me....I got up at 5AM, hauled water over to the plots, watered the garden as fast as I could and came home. Then I turned up the AC (sorry Jane) went outside and watered the home gardens and had some more coffee. Then I watched these poor guys a bit

Paving the alley behind our house

Then I

made some chicken stock and

a lousey loaf of bread that looks like this

which should look like

this.....even the bread wouldn't form correctly from the humidity with the AC on!

Then I decided to make more of a mess

Blackberry Jam in the making!

So what are you doing today in this oppresive heat??

Great Garden Dinner

I've been so so busy the past couple of days. I just need about 20 more hours in a day and then maybe I could get everything done! I have yet to read some of the Harvest Monday posts! Sorry :(

Yesterday I made the Scape Garlic Jelly that I mentioned in my Harvest Monday post. Boy.....what a surprise!! It is absolutely wonderful! I make a Rosemary Garlic & Wine Jelly that I only use for marinating meats. "The Italian" and I thought that this jelly would probably be best suited for that purpose also. It's not only good for marinating....but great with cheese too!!! Thanks Lynn for yet another great jelly recipe!

I actually got 6 half pints from the batch of jelly. The balance was put in to a small bowl and refrigerated.

I cooked some Magnoila peas with the last of the Spring Blush peas and some snow peas.

Two nice salads from the garden with a few more MWC tomatoes, spring onions and celery

Chicken was roasted and topped with some of the Garlic Scape Jelly about 15 minutes before the chicken was done. I over cooked the peas a bit....but they were still tasty! I think that the Magnoila peas are a bit more starchy then the other peas. The next time that I cook them it will not be with other peas as to get a better idea of their true taste.

"The Italian" is making Bread!

Last week I found a brand new bread maker on Craigslist for $10.!! It's probably not the best bread maker out there....but how can you go wrong for $10.?? That's about the cost of 3 loaves of bread at the store!! We decided to get it and that "The Italian" would be responsible for making the everyday bread with it.

Here it is...the $10 bread maker!

There wasn't a manual with it, so I went on the internet and downloaded one.

TaDa..."The Italian's" first loaf of bread. It looks a little crusty in the picture...but, it is a really good bread for everyday. I'm sure that he will be testing many recipes!

Thanks Granny for giving us some bread making tips!!

Harvest Monday..........3/7/2011

This past week I had a small harvest from the Cold Frames. The pak choi in the left cold frame was starting to bolt. I think it was from a couple of times when the temps got a little too high in there. The left cold frame gets the sun first and the temperature can get very high in just a few minutes. With that being said, I removed the cold frame lids for now. The over night temperatures are not supposed to get too cold. I may decide to put them back on at night for a week or two....we will see what the weather brings.

I harvested the three small bolting pak choi, some collard greens and a few small kale leaves to use for dinner on Saturday.

They weighed in at 8 oz.

I braised some short ribs and cook them in red wine for several hours. Then I added a couple of potatoes, carrots and finally the greens. It was absolutely delicious!!



Stop by Daphne's Dandelions our host of Harvest Monday to see what is going on in gardens around the globe!

A Good Day in the Kitchen

We had two warm days in a row and now the weather has turned cold again until the weekend. I have just been dying for a good pot roast with carrots and potatoes. Something else that I have been craving is Peanut Butter Cookies and another loaf of that wonderful bread I made last week. I know, all of these goodies are not going to help with the winter fat issue at hand.

Well, I found myself a good local chuck roast. Salt & peppered both sides, seared it on all sides and browned some onions and garlic, de-glazed the pot with some red wine and then let it cook for hours until it fell apart. Then I added some potatoes, carrots & celery, let them cook and made a wonderful gravy.

While the roast was cooking, I thought I would try to find a new Peanut Butter Cookie recipe. I found the most outrageous recipe here at Smitten Kitchen. I have to admit that although I have her site in my reader, this is the first recipe of hers that I have made. The only change that I made to the recipe is that I used organic peanut butter.

They are absolutely to die for!!! After they are gone....NO more baking for a while...since I can barely fit in to my jeans!!!

Fresh Baked Bread & Winter Tarragon Tomato Soup

With all of the cooking, canning and baking that I do. There is one thing that I have never made.....BREAD!! It's true,  I have never ever made a loaf of bread! I have been promising "The Italian" for a couple of years now that I would start baking it. Although I really love good bread, I try not to eat a lot of it since it is one food that makes me gain weight. So, maybe psychologically I have been putting it off afraid that I would eat loaf after loaf once I mastered it or trying to do so...sounds like a good excuse to me!!  Well, Sunday after reading "Da Garden O Eatin's" post, I remembered that he had made a wonderful easy "No Knead" bread a while back and I thought that I would give it a try.

TaDa!! My first load of Bread!!

The bread was Wonderful!! We like a crusty rustic type bread and you can't make anything easier then this! It had a nice crispy crust and was not heavy. Guess what I did before I went to bed???? Yep, started another loaf. Since "The Italian" has been eating sandwiches everyday for lunch, I guess I will be making several loaves a week.

I haven't made this soup so far this winter and it seemed like the perfect combination. I found this recipe several years ago in a cook book that I purchased in the late 70's or early 80's, "The American Gable" by Ronald Johnson. It is a book containing over 400 classic American regional cooking recipes. This is the perfect easy recipe for those who preserve their harvest....two main ingredients Tomatoes & Onions!

Winter Tarragon Tomato Soup

• 1 1/2 Cups Chopped Onion
• 1/2 Cup Butter
• 1 Quart Canned Tomatoes
• 1/2 Cup Dry White Wine or Vermouth
• 1 Tbsp Sugar (I use less)
• 1 tsp. Dried Tarragon
• Salt if desired
• Sour Cream to top

1. In large saucepan melt butter and saute onions for about 15 minutes
2. Add Tomatoes juice and all and mash with potato masher
3. Add Wine, Sugar and Tarragon, turn heat down and simmer for 45 minutes
4. Puree with immersion blender and add salt if desired
5. Serve with a dollop of Sour Cream

Enjoy!!

The Feast of the Seven Fishes

The Feast of the Seven Fishes also known as La Vigilia, is the traditional Italian meal on Christmas Eve. The tradition began in southern Italy and is now celebrated by Italians all over the world. There are many hypotheses of the significance of the number "7". Some people believe that seven fishes are served because it took God seven days to create the world, while others mention the Seven Hills of Rome. There is also the possibility that the seven fishes symbolize the seven scraments in the Catholic Chruch, along with the seven sins. Another theory is that seven is a number representing perfection: the traditional Biblical number for divinity is three, and for Earth is four, and the combination of these numbers, seven, represents God on Earth, or Jesus Christ.

Last night we celebrated The Feast of the Seven Fishes at "The Italian's" parents home. The meal began with an antipasto.

The table is set with traditional antipasto: cheeses, sopressata, roasted red peppers, fava beans, eggplant caponata, wine & bread

Deep fried smelts, shrimp, calamari, catfish & codfish cakes

Clams in red sauce over spaghetti

and...Lobster tail

The evening ended with lots of homemade goodies..........my cookies and my father in-law's wonderful canollis!

Thanksgiving Day

The pies are baked

The Table is Set

And it's

Snowing!!

Have a Safe & Happy Thanksgiving

More Gifts from Italy!

My In-laws just gave us some more wonderful gifts from Italy! They had some of their purchases from the trip shipped home. There is some nice Balsamic Vinegar, Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Chestnut Honey! I will post some recipes when we use them.