For me, this dish has two main advantages: it’s easy and you can make a huge pot and refrigerate it for a week. You can also add more veggies – for instance, you can replace the potatoes (or one of the potato layers) with eggplants.  For the basic version, you’ll need: 400 gr minced meat (I use a mixture of pork and beef, but if you want the healthy option, go for chicken or turkey), 6 large potatoes, 1 onion, 4 garlic cloves, 3-4 tomatoes and 1 small can of tomato sauce, 2 carrots (grated), cooking wine, oil, salt, pepper, basil, parsley (plus any other spices you like with your meat).

Instructions Prepare the meat: saute chopped onion and garlic. You can either put the meat in the frying pan, add spices and cooking wine and sear for 2-3 minutes, or simply mix in a bowl the meat with the onion, garlic, spices and cooking wine. Add grated carrots for extra taste. Set aside. Peel potatoes and slice them (big, round slices). In a big oven proof dish, arrange potatoes into one layer. Spoon one layer of meat over the potatoes.

Slice tomatoes and layer them on top of the meat. Finish with a second layer of potatoes. Add tomato sauce. If needed, use some more water (you want the whole dish to have enough liquid, otherwise it will dry up in the oven). Put in the oven for 45 minutes to one hour (or until potatoes are tender). My advice is to keep the lid on, otherwise the top layer will get really dry. Serve warm with cold sour cream or yogurt on top.

Of course I speak of the craze that is sweeping the facebook nation. Farmville, many a time I have tried to play but I always leave within a few days because of my eggplants that cannot wait just one more minute for me. But it never seems to fail that when I finally surrender to the elements that kill my withering eggplants that I receive another request to join the farm nation.

For those who do not know what this is it is a very simple game. You start off with a little money and you begin to plow fields, you then proceed to plant different produce and perhaps purchase a farm animal of your choice. Your farm slowly expands into a larger farm ever so slowly. But this is the thing that gets me, it is a never ending cycle, over and over you plant the same plants and raise the same farm animals just to get more plants and more farm animals. How many types of cows can there be?!?!? Seriously, and I am sick of the holiday specials! NO ONE WANTS TO EAT MEAT FROM A GLOWING GREEN COW ON HALLOWEEN!!!

There is no end to this game just expansion, it is really a sad way to spend your day.

The music is repetitive and not even that catchy, it just goes on and on, much like the entire game, it is a game of monotony. It is so palpable though that you can reach that next level of chicken, and that is what keeps you playing. This game disturbs me but it is a great way someone is making money. Maybe I will create a game as catchy as farmville? Who knows? As long as I don’t have have to keep checking on those friggin’ eggplants!

Turnips by Charles Jones from PLANT KINGDOMS, copyright Sean Sexton, 1998.

I have long wanted to write a blog post about Charles Jones, a humble Victorian gardener whose black-and-white photographs capture the essential beauty of vegetables more than any others I know.

I tried to photograph vegetables in the unadorned way that Jones did, but I couldn’t come close to the perfection of his composition.

If you are curious, you can find some of his photographs on the web, or look for a copy of the book PLANT KINGDOMS and witness one man’s appreciation of the magnificence of vegetables as you turn the pages.

Here’s to you, Charles Jones!

How fun.  Do you need Apple themed soap?  Click here to find out how to get some.

I saw glass pumpkins everywhere this year. If you don’t like to eat veggies at least you can display shiny ones.

   If you’re a first time vegetable grower, it’s good to know that no garden is complete without a row or two of eggplants. Not only are they delicious to eat and easy to grow but the plants themselves produce pretty purple flowers that brighten up any garden.

Eggplants have always been a staple in my garden. I prefer the oblong purple ones, but also like to add some variety with white, round, oriental and the Italian variety eggplant that are absolutely delicious in pasta or grilled. Because eggplants are so hardy, I usually have a never-ending supply to share with neighbors and family. Believe it or not there are dozens of internet sites regarding eggplants that can help the novice gardener prepare beds, pick the right variety, plant and protect against pest.

One such site I find useful, Gardening Know How, by Kathee Mieraewski takes you step by step through the process of planting eggplants, what to look for, how to care for, what pest and diseases to watch for and finally how and when to pick your vegetables. This site makes gardening almost foolproof.

Starting your eggplants is simple. Mieraeski points out that you should always plant your eggplants after all chances of frost are over because they tend to be very sensitive to cold. Her article How To Plant Eggplants suggest starting seedlings indoors and planting them when the soil is warm. This protects the roots and assures an abundant crop. Once the seedlings are ready, remove them from their pots and plant them in rows approximately 18 inches apart because they do get big. I usually do this the first week of June. Mierzejeski also suggest fertilizing the seedling once they are in the ground and then again in mid season.

Weeding and watering are important parts of gardening. Although eggplants thrive in summertime heat they still require a lot of watering as dry plants will reduce the number of flowers and cut down on the usual large amount of vegetables. After your eggplants reach six to eight inches, Mieraewski suggest it is time to pick. I have found that if I let my eggplants get to big the have a tendency to get spongy and quite bitter. Remember, young eggplants make the best eating.

Although they are hardy, eggplants are susceptible to pest and disease. I found this out the hard way one year when my eggplants were destroyed by flea beetles that ate the flowers and leaves off all my plants. The crop was ruined. Meieraewski’s article also names such pest as lace bugs, hornworms, mites, aphids and cutworms that would just love to feast on your beautiful eggplants. The author suggest the use of row covers or insecticidal soaps to prevent this.

Well I hope you find my eggplant blog useful. Like I mentioned before there are many sites to help you set up, plant and care for your eggplants. They are fairly easy to grow and produce a large crop usually by midsummer. Give them plenty of water and watch out for pest and you should have basketful after basketful of this pretty, tasty fruit.

Mierzejewski,Kathee(2009)Growing Egg Plants-How to Plant Eggplants, Retrieved October 22, 2009 from http://gardeningknowhow.com/vegtable/growing-eggplant.htm

The Garden - ready for harvesting!

The Harvest…Continues!

And here she is!!  I had a great time picking cucumbers, tomatoes, herbs, eggplants, green peppers, and lettuce all season.  On the left, here, is the photo of the garden taken in late summer.  I only managed to get about a half dozen tomatoes out of my indeterminate plants, but the determinate plants did really well!  In fact, they’re still going away at it – with at least 8 tomatoes ripening as I type this.

Here is the booty from a harvest last month below.  The dark purple sphere on the left side is the LONE eggplant from the massive plant that sprung up in the front row of the garden.  I’m not sure exactly what the issue was, but this eggplant was the only one we got (though I saw at least a dozen blooms), and

A bit of the garden's bounty!

to top it off – I let it stay on the vine too long.  As you can see in the photo,  it has a matte finish and no longer wears its shiny purple skin – a sign that it’s no longer as yummy.  You really want to pick these plants when they’re shiny at a small to medium size.  Unfortunately, I kept waiting for it to get bigger than a few inches – but it never did.  And in the meanwhile, lost the bright shine that means it’s a yumster.

Also on the plate are some of our oddly-shaped but DELICIOUS burpless hybrid cukes, some emerald green parsley, a bit of Romaine lettuce, and a bright red tomato fresh from the vine.

Lettuce & herbs

On the left, here, is a snapshot of our Arugula, Parsley, and one of the types of Thyme we planted in the bed.  Our lettuce LOVED the cooler weather that August and September brought.  It was NOT a fan of the June & July scorch, though.  (Soo…I wish I had read the package a bit better – it is universally known to be a FALL plant.  Whoops.)

The parsley and thyme were late additions.  They came in September to replace the zucchini plant – which did absolutely nothing for us (besides produce a BEAUTIFUL sunset-orange flower), and the boxes we ceded to the guerrilla squirrels.

The last picture here, below on the right, is of my dwarfed green pepper.  For some reason it shot up, looked happy for about a month, then proceeded to produce only two flowers – one of which decided he was done growing after about a week.  Result?  A golf ball sized bell pepper that I couldn’t convince anyone to eat because frankly it looked a little ghastly.  (Sorry, Mother Nature.)

Green bell pepper...would you eat it?

All in all, though, I was THRILLED with the garden’s supplement to my local farmer’s market, as well as the (dreaded) grocery store.  Speaking of which – would you like to hear about the local farmer’s market experience here and see what I’m lucky enough to have just a few blocks from my front door?  Well, stay tuned!  That’s coming this weekend.

As for tomorrow?  I’ll delve into my disdain for the grocery store.  Are you curious what’s up with that?

Bottom line:  I have some beef with big agro.

Thanks for stopping by to read!

Best,

Kate

Do you need some color in your life? Let the Union Square Greenmarket help:

What a great season.

I don’t think flowers get enough love. Who doesn’t love flowers? I mean just LOOK at those beauties! Those are brought in from the Catskills, the man told me. He was very nice and made sure I took a picture of those orange and red bouquets cause they’re the prettiest. I should have bought some.

I went to Curly’s Lunch on Sunday with a couple of my friends after the retreat. I just love this place. They have so many options and it’s all vegetarian! We got nachos with grilled veggies, stuffed eggplant and vegetarian chili. It was all good. This was actually only my second time there, which is odd considering how often I’m in the neighborhood (Union Square).

The place is tiny but we got there early enough to get a table. You can draw on the place mats and they use them for decoration. Some were really cute with ponies and sunshine and others were totally funky. Maybe I’ll draw one one day.

Elizabeth couldn’t stop laughing when I was trying to take a picture of her in front. I asked her why she was laughing and she was like, “Cause I’m not a tourist!”

You know we all are a little bit sometimes.

hmmm.. it may not be the most photogenic dish on earth, but the photo doesn’t do justice..
This dish is my favourite indonesian dish, a comfort food – on fire.. However, the original recipe calls for deep frying the eggplant, which I’m not really keen on doing it, so I just bake it in the oven.
Lebanese eggplant is the best type for this dish, it doesnt have as much water as the large eggplant. But if you couldn’t find lebanese eggplant, salt the sliced eggplant first, and place it in colander, let it stand for 30 min – 1hr, until you can see water drips from it.

So, I did several version of this dish, and this recipe is my 4th or 5th take, and I believe I have perfected it each time… (at least for me..)

ingredients :

4 lebanese eggplants, sliced (any long thin eggplants will do)
1 – 2 tsp olive oil
2 bay leaves (dried is okay if you couldnt find the fresh leaves)
chilli paste :
2 large tomato
2 large red chilli
2 tsp tomato paste
1/2 large onion
1 clove garlic
1 cm ginger / galangal root
salt and pepper to taste

sliced the eggplants in slightly angled-long slices (5 cm)
spray or brush with olive oil on each side, season with salt and pepper
baked in 180 c oven for 30 – 40 min
make a cross with sharp knife on the bottom of the tomato, put the tomatoes in a bowl and pour boilong water from the kettle over the tomatoes, let it stand for 30 sec, and then peel the skin of
process the chilli paste ingredients in the food processor
take the eggplant out of the oven, it shoud be cooked thoroughly
heat oil in the heavy bottom pan with lid, sautee the chilli paste for 10 min, or until it reduced and thicken
add the eggplants and bay leaves, stir until the eggplant chunks are well coated
put the lid on, and cook on low to medium (if you’re in a hurry) heat for 20 – min
take the lid off, mush some of the eggplants (optional)
serve with steamed jasmine rice
enjoy

oh yeah, in this picture, you can see chunks of onion, this is because it’s an old photo, as i said before, I did several trials on this recipe, and found that processing the onion together with the chilli worked better.

I have even more varieties than shown here in my garden. They are gorgeous!

I went out to see what’s happening. The eggplants are sizing up nicely Nothing was frosted…even the basil. I picked a bowl of tomatoes and squash, got Aleka some fresh catnip and admired all the new sunflowers.

It’s going to be touch and go many nights this week. We will be in the 30’s, but how low is always up for debate. The low last night was 54. The high today was 58. After last night’s rain, today’s air feels cool and crispy.

I’m trying to leave the tomatoes, peppers and eggplants out there until the last possible moment to get them as big and mature as they can muster in this weather.

I’m glad the ice on Doug’s car did not creep out back to the garden!

Apologies to POD’s mother, but early memories of eggplants bring thoughts of bowling to mind, rather than eating. Those gargantuan, spongy, fibrous, gooey, tasteless monstrosities were more suited for tossing at pins (say, the stringy wrist-thick wild asparagus that grew in the field) than sticking in your mouth.

All that changed with the discovery of Thai eggplants at Philly’s Number 1 Oriental Supermarket at 6th and Washington. These little guys actually have flavor of their own, possess a satisfying crunch, and are completely devoid of spongy goo.

Although this is only the second meal produced from the Udmalbet and Bambinos, it’s a keeper.

Adapted from Casa Moro (2004) by Sam and Sam Clark

3  udmalbet and 6 baby bambino eggplants
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
4 tbs olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 tbs pine nuts
1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 tbs balsamic with a pinch of sugar
1-2 tbs fresh oregano, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 450

1) Slice eggplants into cubes the size of sugar cubes, then sprinkle with the fine salt. Leave to sit in a colander for at least 20 minutes, then blot dry with paper towel. Toss with half the olive oil, spread out on a large baking tray and roast for 20-25 minutes until they start to brown and are completely tender.
2) Put the remaining oil in a frying pan over medium to low heat. Add the onion, pine nuts and a pinch of salt to the pan and soften for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3) Add the garlic and dried oregano and cook until the garlic, onions and pine nuts have taken on an amber color — be careful not to burn anything.
4) Add the cooked eggplant to the pan, increase the heat slightly and stir briskly for a minute or two.
5) Stir in the vinegar and most of the fresh oregano and cook for two minutes more, until some of the pungency of the vinegar has gone. Taste for seasoning, and serve with the remaining fresh oregano scattered on top.

Oh, those deep purple beauties ripening, ripening.

A little campfire, a lot of fire-roasted eggplant.

Delectable end product.

Andrew eating the hell out of a baba ganouj sandwich.

When you’re really lucky you plant some plants in just the right spot at just the right time and they say, “Man, I feel so good, I’m going to grow like mad and make lots of whatever it is I make.” We were sooo lucky here at La Casa. The eggplant plants went in the ground considerably past the prime time AND as you all know, summer was unusually cool. Eggplants like time to grow and some heat, you know, so what the hell? Not that I’m complaining. No. I am not. I’m rejoicing and not just about the mysteriously extraordinarily huge and productive plants that are our eggplant plants, but about wonderful new La Casan, Erin, who knew that you can put your eggplants by a fire to give them that extra flavor edge for better baba ganouj. But that’s not all! There’s extra flavor and then there’s someone who really knows how to work it. We at La Casa are fortunate enough to have in Erin, not just someone who can fire-roast an eggplant, but who can push that extra flavor to it’s most excellent extreme. It was so much fun today watching one after another of my fellows take their first bite and say, almost invariably, “Oh, my god!” You know, pure astonished delight.

If you want to fire-roast your eggplants just put them near your fire, almost in it. They will slowly start to shrivel and sag a bit. Keep turning them until the whole things is more or less rather shriveled. They should maintain their skin’s integrity for the most part. If they go up in flames you have gone well beyond fire-roasted.

Thanks to JP for photos and to Erin for the damned good grub. And La Casans in general for just being so great!

I went to the Farmers’ Market this morning and loaded up for the week…I am really enjoying not buying my produce (at least, for the most part) at the grocery. It feels good to know I am supporting Arkansas farmers, and that my family is eating well.

Today, I bought a huge bag of goodies that I’ll have to figure out how to use. One trick of market shopping is not knowing exactly what you’ll find. Maybe as this blog grows, we can learn how to plan meals and cook for a week based on what is available. I bought yellow squash, zucchini, fresh blackeye peas, pepper sauce, roasted Marconi peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, the weirdest yellow-green sweet bell peppers, ground buffalo, a honey-molasses wheat baguette, and more cheese.

Guess I need to visit Recipe Puppy and see what ideas come up. Generally, if I can find the basic idea of a recipe, I can take it from there and make it my own with what is available. I’ll let you know what we make!

Meanwhile, I’ve been promising a little blurb on Morgan’s Ratatouille. If you’ve never seen the Disney movie, Ratatouille, I can highly recommend it. It’s not the same vibe of movie as other Pixar films, but if you are a foodie, you’ll love it. It’s all about the creation of something great and new from the ingredients you find, whether that be culinary or from life in general.

In the movie, the final dish prepared is an amazing dish of ratatouille, a traditional French tomato-base stew with squash, zucchini, peppers and eggplant. Honestly, in the stew’s original form, I’m not crazy about it. But in the movie’s culinary consultant was the illustrious Thomas Keller of The French Laundry, and his version (technically called Confit Byaldi) was quite different. Instead of chopping all the ingredients into a stew, he spoons a bell pepper and tomato sauce into a flat dish and layers the veggies, cut into thin rounds, on the top. Cover and bake.

But, as most French recipes go, this recipe (although simple for a French cook) is a little bit much for even the Fancy Pants home cook. About a year ago, after a bit of searching, I found this simplified version here on Smitten Kitchen. This is what Morgan and I have made twice now, the second time with wonderful veggies from the farmers’ market.

My only variation from this recipe is that I use my homemade marinara sauce rather than just tomato pureé.

Photos from the first round, made last September:

Our first Ratatouille, before baking

The finished, baked product

This time, we made it a bit bigger (because it was so yummy) and added the last of the fairy tale eggplants. We had left eggplant out of the first because we really don’t care for it, but the small ones are not so bitter.

Veggies on the sauce

The final, baked product before plating

In the large photo above, you can see the final product. Next time I will take Keller’s advice and cook down all the extra liquid before plating. My sauce looks watery, but it sure was good!

Recipes coming from market foodies besides myself soon, as well as more profiles.

I find when talking to people about your garden it’s really a contest. Most things are in life are, but I always find the conversations funny. “Oh, I’ve already got my tomatoes,” or “Really you have three cucumbers so far, well I’ve got nine and they’re huge.” Now I’m sure they’re not trying to be a jack ass, but seriously.

On a side note I should point out that I don’t like talking about my garden, unless it’s someone I know. I find most of the time you’ll lose your man card as soon as you starting talking about pollinating your female pumpkin flower.

Except I realized something today. I got mad street cred when it comes to gardening. Case in point, someone was talking about how they only got one tomato this year, because of the rain and crappy summer weather. I can reply with I got eggplants coming in and I grew them from seed. Oh man, sit down. I’ll try not to be too much of a jack ass and tell the whole world. Except I’m typing in a blog…

On one other side note. The guy in Southeast Asia who ate the first eggplant must have had huge huevos. I mean it looks poisonous and was thought to be. How would that conversation even go down. One Asian to another says I triple dare you to eat that poisonous looking black (green, white, or orange) fruit. He must have been the village idiot, but cheers to him or her.

yes, surprisingly

we had leftover microwave-grilled brinjals (eggplants) from last night and i didn’t want to waste them so i coated them with an egg (beaten) and frying flour – the crispy type, i used garlic seasoning.

after that, i fried them for a few mins before serving hot. apart from brinjals, i boiled 1 carrot and did the same, i.e. coated with egg + frying flour. very nice. unfortunately, i don’t have pics to prove but i plan to do the same dish in a few days so i’ll make sure to take some pics then.

also, i steamed carrots, cauliflower & broccoli sprinkled with oregano & thyme herbs, a dash of salt, minced garlic, and extra virgin olive oil. very nice.  i’ll do the same dish later this week and upload pics. i think i’m going to steam some other veggies this week hehehe..

i had ikan bawal soup + tamarind + serai & ginger… not bad… i didn’t have rice and i’m still full!

thank you for stopping by.

Ingredients:

¼ c. cooking oil                                              1 c. kangkong (swamp cabbage)

1 onion, chopped                                         10 pcs. batao

½ c. shrimps, shelled and cut finely               1 small bundle sotanghon, cooked

2 eggplants cut in serving pcs.                      ¼ c. taingang daga, soaked

2 c. squash, cut in serving pcs.                      1 tbsp soy sauce

1 c. sigadillas, cut in ½” pcs.                           1 ½ c. water

2 c. sitao, cut in ½”  pcs.                                 1 tsp. salt and Ajinomoto

Heat cooking oil in a pan.  Add onion and cook until soft.  Drop the shrimps and cook for a few minutes.  Add the vegetables and cover.  Cook until half done.  Uncover pan, season with soy sauce, salt and Ajinomoto.  Pour water, taingang daga and sotanghon.  Continue coking until done. 

Local Montpellier resident and world famous author Ed Ward just posted a great item about cooking in Languedoc.

The stuff he does with eggplants is amazing! And I hear he personally knows Miss Expatria! I’m so jealous!

Jesse Willms

2 large Onions, peeled and thinly sliced
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves Garlic, peeled and crushed
2 pounds Lamb Shanks, or 2 pounds Chicken Legs with skin removed, cut up
½ cup Oil
1 teaspoon Salt
¼ teaspoon Black Pepper
1 teaspoon Turmeric
½ teaspoon Ground Saffron dissolved in 4 tablespoons Hot Water
2 cups Tomato Juice
1 cups Unripe Grapes (Ghureh) (optional)
4 tablespoons Lime Juice
3 medium or 9 slim Eggplants
1 Egg White
1 teaspoon Advieh (Persian spice mix)
1/3 cup Yellow Split Peas
1 ½ cup Water

Brown the onions and garlic with meat or chicken in 3 tablespoons oil over medium heat. Add salt, pepper, turmeric, and saffron water.

Add 2 cups water for meat and no water for chicken, tomato juice, unripe grapes, and lime juice. Cover and simmer over low heat for 2 ½ hours for meat and 30 minutes for chicken.

Add 1/3 cup yellow split peas in 1 ½ cups water for 20 minutes, drain, and add them for the last 10 minutes of cooking.

Peel eggplants and cut lengthwise in quarters if they are large. Place in a colander, sprinkle both sides with water and 2 tablespoons salt, and set aside for 20 minutes to remove the bitter taste. Rinse and pat dry.
Brush each eggplant on all sides with egg white and brown the eggplant in a non-stick skillet in 3 tablespoons oil; set aside.

Add advieh to the meat or chicken; mix well and adjust seasoning to your taste.

Preheat the oven to 350F. Transfser the chicken or meat and sauce into a deep ovenproof casserole; arrange the eggplant on top. Cover and bake for 30 minutes, then remove cover and bake another 15 minutes uncovered or until the eggplant is tender.

Serve immediately from the same dish or keep warm in the oven until ready to serve. Serve with chelow (saffron-steamed rice).

Note:
You may also substitute summer squash for the eggplant.

In a year without tomatoes, we’ve been blessed with a sheer glut of every other member of the family Solanacea.

The eggplants–who I always understood to be the prima donnas of the garden–have lived up to at least one attribute of that appellation.  They’ve been utter stars.  They’re beautiful, glossy, richly hued and delicious.

But it has been the peppers that have been the true outperformers.  First came the Czech Blacks with their purple-hued leaves and midnight-colored fruit.  Then, the Cyklons with their big shoulders and long twirled tips that just screamed of hotness.

Then, simultaneously my two favorites began producing at an epic clip, the Leutschaeuer paprika peppers which are simultaneously spicy and deliciously, juicily sweet, and the Hinkelhatz, tiny Pennsylvania Dutch peppers named for their resemblance to a chicken heart that encapsulate everything that is fragrant and floral and delightful about a Habanero, without the tongue-searing heat.  Don’t get me wrong, Hinkelhatz is a hot pepper, but just not that hot.

And now, finally Jawala, a long skinny, wrinkly Indian pepper has given us two ripe peppers (we haven’t tried them yet), and the Fish Pepper, has started acting like a pepper and is producing like there is no tomorrow.

The Fish Pepper is an ARK protected, African-American heirloom pepper from the Chesapeake Bay area.  We still haven’t tasted these peppers yet, but if all you’re doing is planting a garden for how pretty it can possibly be, you cannot go wrong with this plant.  The leaves are striped and mottled in hues of mint, cream and glossy English racing green, and the peppers share this color scheme.

I just hope the peppers, which were traditionally used in fish and crab houses in Maryland and the Philadelphia-area, stand up to the beauty of the plant.  It’s a tough act to follow.