Berries, Berries...and More Berries

It is berry season in the Northwest and I could not be more thrilled. After a long winter and early spring that felt like it consisted of way too many apples, pears and citrus, it is now time for a little fruit fun. Don't get me wrong, I like apples, pears and citrus. But, after several months of the same thing, one does start to dream of the fruits of spring and summer. And, since Dan and I like to eat seasonally and locally as much as possible, we will be making the most of this summer's fruit bounty. I have already baked a couple of buckle cakes. One was a mix of strawberries, blueberries and blackberries and the other was strawberry rhubarb. So far, I have only baked one berry crisp but I am sure that there will be a few more. One of the things that I am most looking forward to, is trying out some of jam recipes from a new cookbook that I picked up last month called The Blue Chair Jam Cookbook by Rachel Saunders. Before strawberry season is over (which probably just has another couple of weeks), I want to make a batch of the Strawberry Jam with Aged Balsamic & Black Pepper recipe. It will be a lovely way to preserve the flavor of summer so that it can be savored in the depths of a cold and wet Portland winter.

Spring Planting

Portland's spring weather has really warmed up a bit in the last few weeks, so it was finally time to get around to planting our veggie garden for summer and beyond. We were really fortunate this year to not only get our same raised bed over at Project Grow's North Portland Farm, but they also offered us two more beds. So, with a total of three raised beds, we can grow a lot more produce this summer. And, we even have room to grow some winter squashes for fall harvest. Plus, our two additional beds came with a surprise, a whole bunch of Fava bean plants and some garlic...not a bad surprise at all.

With three beds, we could get a little crazy this season about what to plant. Dan and I ended up spending some quality time over at our local nursery, Garden Fever, buying a lot of starter plants to transplant to the beds. And, yes, we buy starters. We have tried growing our own from seeds but we have had zero luck with that method. So, except for those veggies that we can directly sow from seed (greens, radishes, beets and carrots) with some success, we buy starter plants.

We picked the following to plant for summer harvest:

• Black Cherry Tomato (cherry variety)
• Gold Nugget Tomato (cherry variety)
• San Marzano Tomato (paste variety)
• Vorlon Tomato (heirloom variety)
• Black Krim Tomato (heirloom variety)
• Zucchini
• Black Beauty Egglant
• Rosa Bianco Eggplant
• Blue Lake Beans (bush variety)
• New Queen Watermelon

 And, since we planted 3 San Marzano Tomato plants, we are hoping to have enough to can this year. The watermelon is an experiment since we never had any luck growing them in Los Angeles. They would just grow to the size of a golf ball and then die. May be we will have better success here.

And, then for fall harvest:

• Cinderella Pumpkin (AKA Rouge vif D'Etampes)
• Baby Blue Hubbard Squash
• Lunch Lady Gourds
• Sweet Dumpling Squash

I am very excited about the prospect of growing my own pumpkins since I am overly fond of them. We tried growing pumpkins and gourds in Los Angeles but with zero success. So again, hoping for better luck here in Portland. Of course, there are no guarantees what will grow and thrive and what will not. But, that is the fun of gardening.

Gnocchi, Sweet Corn & Arugula in Cream Sauce

I tried this recipe from Better Homes and Gardens magazine on a lark and was pleasantly surprised at how easy and tasty it was. Definitely a great recipe for when you're short on time. The recipe said it would take 20 minutes to prepare and it really did. 


Of course, I had to change a few little things from the original. And, we have declared this a "keeper" recipe so I will definitely be making this again soon. 


Gnocchi, Sweet Corn & Arugula in Cream Sauce

(adapted from the May 2012 issue of Better Homes and Gardens)

Serves 4

Approximate cooking time is 20 minutes

Ingredients:

 2 cups of fresh or frozen whole kernel corn

1 pound shelf-stable potato gnocchi

1/2
 cup half-and-half

1/4 cup 2% milk

4 oz of packaged or whipped cream cheese (I used a reduced-fat version)

1/2 
teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon oregano

1/4 
teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3 
cups torn fresh arugula

Crushed red pepper (optional)

Preparation:

 1) In Dutch oven cook gnocchi according to package directions, adding corn the last 5 minutes of cooking time. Drain gnocchi and corn kernels, reserving 1/2 cup of the pasta water. Do not rinse.

2) Meanwhile, for cream sauce, in medium saucepan combine half-and-half, cream cheese, salt, garlic powder, dried herbs, and pepper. Cook over medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring frequently using a whisk. Stir in reserved pasta water.

3) Return cooked pasta to Dutch oven. Pour cream sauce over pasta; heat through, if necessary. Stir in arugula. Serve in bowls. Sprinkle with additional salt, pepper, dried herbs, and crushed red pepper.

Notes and Variations: If you don’t love the peppery taste of arugula, you could easily substitute fresh spinach. I also think that you could add in a cup of shredded roast chicken for a more robust meal. And, I am sure that shrimp would be tasty as well. In other words, play around this recipe, it is very forgiving.

Kale Chips

Kale chips are my new friends. They are delicious and really easy to make. Sure, there is olive oil involved so they aren't exactly fat-free but they are still more nutritious than potato chips. Even kids and normally kale-adverse adults like them. 

This is just a really basic recipe. But, you can certainly add more than salt to the chips. I have see recipes that include curry powder or chili powder and even those that are tossed with grated parmesan cheese. So please feel free to get creative and let me know what your favorite way to make these is.

And, yes, that really is supposed to be a low temperature setting on the oven. Remember, you are baking a leafy green and not a hearty root vegetable that contains sugars. If the temperature setting is too high, you'll probably end up with kale ash instead of chips.

KALE CHIPS

Serves 4 (snack-sized servings)

Time: 20 minutes prep and approximately 1 hour cook time

Ingredients:

1 bunch of kale, washed and dried

2 tbs. olive oil

¼ tsp. kosher or sea salt

Preparation:

1) Preheat the oven to 200°F.

2) Set out two baking sheets.

3) Remove the ribs from the kale and cut or tear into 1 ½ - inch pieces.

4) Put kale into a bowl and toss with the olive and salt. Make sure that all of the leaves are coated with oil.

5) Arrange the kale on the baking sheets in a single layer. Bake until crisp. Rotating the sheets half-way through the cooking time. Bake for approximately 1 hour till the kale is crispy and the edges are beginning to brown. Remove from oven and let cool for a couple of minutes on the baking sheets. Then place in a bowl and enjoy. Try not to eat them all by your self.

Neighborhood Curiosities

Portland is wonderfully quirky. And, I have found a number of examples of quirk on my walks with Ella, our dog. We live in the Sabin neighborhood and are bordered by Irvington, Alameda, King and Alberta Arts District neighborhoods. The eastside of the city is a bit more quirky than the westside of town. And, you can definitely see that as you walk around and see how your neighbors decorate their homes and gardens. 

Since the one year anniversary of our move to the Pacific Northwest is coming up next month. I thought I would post a collection of some of the photos I have taken over the last year of what I like to refer to as "neighborhood curiosities."

I love the poetry posts. There are a number of them

throughout our neighborhood. And, I love them best when

someone posts a poem by Mary Oliver.

It's a fairy house. I love that it is handmade and not some

prefab thing from garden catalog. 

This is my favorite sign. It says it all...perfectly.

A community chalkboard on the front of a house.

A garage that has been converted to a guesthouse with a great

mural on, what I believe used to be, the garage doors.

I think these are the same Breyer horses of my youth but 

someone has used them as little statues in one 

of their garden beds. So cute.

Another toy horse but this one is attached to an old horse ring. 

This is part of The Horse Project that was started in 2005 by

an artist in The Pearl District but has slowly expanded to

other neighborhoods throughout the city. 

Praying figures in front of a home. Definitely one of the more

unusual things that I have seen on my walks.

This wonderfully disturbing use of mannequin arms probably takes

the top honor of being the most unusual "curiosity" that I have seen.

But, what else are you going to do with an extra set of those things?

Planting them in the garden so they look like their 

crawling out of a grave is so cliche.

KEEP PORTLAND WEIRD!

Goodbye Winter...Hello Spring

Amazingly enough, I have some how made it through my first Portland winter in over 25 years. I did not breakdown in tears and I don't think I bitched too much about the rain and cold. I have a new found appreciation for wool socks and gloves plus the importance of layers that goes beyond the typical fashion approach. 

Spring is slowly starting to make her presence felt though we did have receive a light dusting of snow just a couple of evenings ago. The snow was very pretty but I am happy to see it go. And, there are supposed to be a few dry days ahead of us. If we're lucky, we may even get a few sunbreaks. I am looking forward to the weather getting warmer and being able to shed a layer or two.

Beef Stew with Stout

Not surprisingly, it is a cold and rainy winter day here in Portland. Which means that it will be the perfect evening for something warm and comforting for dinner...beef stew. Instead of making it with red wine, which is also delicious, I decided to use the bottle of stout that was in the fridge. There is an earthiness that comes with using a stout or even a porter in a hearty beef stew.

I really just improvised this stew since I make them fairly frequently this time of year. Therefore, I did not work from an actual recipe. But, since many people, really do love to have some basic instructions to work with, I have tried to write down what I did. Hopefully, it makes some sort of sense and will actually work for you. Let me know.

Beef Stew with Stout

Serves 6

Time: 30 minutes prep and 3 hours cook time

2 lb beef chuck, cut into 1- to 1 1/2-inch cubes

2 tbs. all-purpose flour

1 tsp. salt (preferably kosher)

1 tsp. black pepper

1 tbs. fresh rosemary minced

2 tbs. fresh thyme minced

1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley minced

2 tbs. olive oil

1 medium or large onion diced

8 cloves of garlic minced

3 stalks of celery diced

2 cups of carrots chopped

1 cup of parsnips chopped

2 lbs. baby red or white potatoes quartered

3 bay leaves

1 (22-oz) bottle of stout

2 cups beef broth

1) Preheat the oven to 325°F.

2) Season the meat with salt and pepper, place in a large bowl, and toss with the flour.

3) Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven or wide-bottomed pot with a tight-fitting lid over medium-high heat. Cook the meat, in batches, until well browned on all sides, 6 to 8 minutes, transferring the pieces to a plate as they are browned.

4) Add the onion, celery, garlic, rosemary and thyme and sauté for 5 minutes. Drizzle in a little more olive oil if needed. Return the meat and any juices back to the pot along with the stout, beef broth and bay leaves. Cover the pot and transfer to the oven. Cook for 1 1/2 hours.

5) Then add the potatoes, carrots and parsnips to the pot, cover, and return to the oven. Cook until the meat and vegetables are fork-tender, about 1 1/2 hours more.

6) When done, stir in 2 tbs. of the flat-leaf parsley and use the rest for garnish.