Monday, August 20, 2012

Garden Fresh, part 2

Just a quick post about how we've managed to take our garden-fresh eating to a new level recently. Tonight's dinner was a couscous salad in which all the vegetables—cucumber, green pepper, scallions, and cherry tomatoes—came from our garden. The only ingredients we didn't grow ourselves were the couscous, a can of black beans, and some olive oil, lemon juice, and cumin for the dressing.

Also, the weekend before last we went to a party (an entire day spent playing one game of Advanced Civilization, which we still didn't manage to finish), and we brought two contributions to the snack fare. One was our usual sourdough muffins, which Brian makes from his grandmother's recipe on a weekly basis, so they go with us to almost any event. Those always go over well, but we got even bigger raves for our other contribution: homemade dill pickles. Not only did we make them ourselves, but our garden supplied nearly all the vegetable ingredients—cucumbers, dill, and even whole coriander, which is what you get (in surprising amounts) if you let all your cilantro go to seed. Since they went over so well, and a couple of people even asked for the recipe, I'll share it with you in honor of the occasion:
Refrigerator Dill Pickles

In a quart jar, layer:

2 good-sized cucumbers, sliced
4-5 sprigs of fresh dill
a couple cloves of garlic, minced
2 Tbsp coriander seeds

Pour in:

3 Tbsp kosher salt dissolved in 2 cups water + 6 Tbsp white vinegar

Make sure the veggies are fully immersed, close up the jar, and refrigerate at least 48 hours.
In the words of the Naked Chef, "simple as."

3 comments:

Amy K said...

Yeah, that game really takes two days.

Can we get the sourdough muffins recipe too?

Amy Livingston said...

OK, here it is:

Make a starter of 1 cup flour, 1 cup milk, and 1/2 cup sugar. Add a pinch of yeast to get it started. Store this in the fridge. In a week it will be ready to use, and it can be used up to once a week after that. After each use, "feed" the starter an additional 1 cup flour, 1 cup milk and 1/2 cup sugar. If you are not using the starter in a given week, add smaller amounts (but in the same ratio) to maintain the starter. Do not let the starter go longer than two weeks between uses or "feedings."

To make the muffins, mix 1 cup sourdough starter with 1/4 cup oil, then stir in 1 cup flour, 2 tsp. baking powder, 1/4 tsp. baking soda, 1/2 tsp. salt, and 1/2 cup raisins (optional). Bake in greased muffin pans for 12-15 minutes at 450 degrees F.

Amy Livingston said...

By the way, tonight's dinner was Pasta a la Caprese, a favorite of ours, and the tomatoes, pepper, and basil were all garden-picked. Not the garlic--we haven't managed to grow that yet--but maybe next year.