DIY Bees Wax Wrap
I’ve been wanting to do this DIY for a while, but could not, for the life of me, find the bar of beeswax I had used to seal my mason bee house. I wanted to be as close to plastic free as possible, not only …
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“Sundried” Tomatoes, Garlic, and Rosemary in Olive Oil
I had to put “sundried” in quotations because I didn’t actually dry them in the sun, but what would you call dehydrated tomatoes? Dried tomatoes… dehydrated tomatoes… desiccated tomatoes… they don’t sound too appetizing that way and the supermarkets sell them as “sundried” anyway, even …
Originally Oregano
I love having an extensive herb garden because I can just go outside and pinch some off, without having to worry about where to store large quantities of it (and, if I don’t use it up soon enough, the flavors may fade.)
Oregano (Origanum Vulgare) is a perennial staple, doing well in neutral soils and part shade (where I am, in Zone 7, it does need some afternoon shade or else it dries out and becomes spindly.) It, like other herbs, do not enjoy being fertilized. It spreads by runners and seed, becoming bushy and trailing, so it also makes for a great potted utility plant if you’re into the Mori Girl (Forest Girl) interior design style like I am. I have mine planted underneath my currant bushes, where it serves as a groundcover to prevent moisture loss.
Personally, I think it’s something that you can’t really have too much of, because it’s attractive but not overly invasive the way mint sometimes is (even though it’s part of the mint family.) And, of course, harvesting and drying it ensures you have much to last you through winter (if you’re not growing it inside the house) and it’s used extensively in Italian and Greek cooking. One of my favorite ways of using it is just minced with other herbs in my garden, some salt and pepper, and a generous dash of olive oil, as a dip for some delightfully warm, crusty bread.
Recipes With Oregano
Tasty Tuna Sandwich
Antipasto Salad Supreme
Oven Roasted Jerusalem Artichokes
Sophie’s Lady Crab Cakes
Hearty Garden Bean Soup
Herb Butter From Scratch
Panzanella
Battle Of The Clop-Clops: I’ve Brought In The Calvalry
If anyone had been willing to listen the last few years, they know that I had been battling deer in my garden and had been losing. Overnight, my poor fruit trees would be stripped of their leaves, and their odd gastronomic decisions made me think …
Sauteed Clams, Shiso Batayaki Style
For those wanting a less Asian approach to using shiso while using a large quantity of it, this is the recipe for you: Sauteed Clams, Shiso Batayaki style. My husband (who is part Italian) LOVES this sauce as it is wonderful for all kinds of …
Shoyuzuke Egg Yolk
Here’s another recipe from Japan: Shoyuzuke Egg Yolk, which is a raw egg yolk marinated over night in a soy sauce mixture to create a delicious and rich topping for rice (or ramen!) This is one of the things my daughter really liked to eat as a child with rice. She was such a picky kid but for some reason, this was right up her alley. There are actually a few different types of marinade, including miso but a hybrid is my personal favorite. If you have an overabundance of eggs, or you are using the whites for something, this is the perfect thing to use up all those extra yolks. Duck eggs are much firmer than chicken eggs, and much richer too–I used to make this with chicken eggs but now that I have a steady supply of duck eggs, I’m never going back!
Ingredients:
- 1 raw egg yolk (up to 6 in this particular recipe)
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 1 tablespoons miso (white, red, or dashi are all fine)
- 1/4 cup sake or mirin
- 1 teaspoon sugar (if using sake)
Recipe:
1. Mix the soy sauce, miso, and sake/mirin and sugar (if using) together in a container that has a lid, making sure that it covers at least 1 inch from the bottom so most of the egg can be submerged.
2. Separate the egg yolks from the whites and place them gently in the mixture. Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours or more. Can keep up to 4 days in the fridge.
3. Eaten with hot rice.
1. Mix the soy sauce, miso, and sake/mirin and sugar (if using) together in a container that has a lid, making sure that it covers at least 1 inch from the bottom so most of the egg can be submerged.
2. Separate the egg yolks from the whites and place them gently in the mixture. Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours or more. Can keep up to 4 days in the fridge.
3. Eaten with hot rice.
**The longer you keep them, the more moisture gets pulled out of the yolk and it will be firmer. It’s normal for the yolk to shrink in size and take on a darker color.
Love What You Have, Have What You Love
About two years ago, one of my best friends told me about a book she read called “The Art of Tidying Up” by Marie Kondo, and how, in it, there is a method of figuring out what to keep and what to throw away when …
Pan Roasted Figs With Gorgonzola And Honey
I was walking through my garden, taking stock of things, and realized that my Hardy Chicago figs had ripened. I picked them, ones which were soft and drooping, ate a few on my way back into the house, and then set to make a simple …
Fanciful Figs
Figs (ficus carica) is a fruit that we often come across in higher end supermarkets, expensive, but oh so delicious. We all have that grandpa/uncle/old neighbor next door who tell tales of their fig trees producing bountiful fruit, but it gets a little daunting when you want to start planting it yourself. After all, isn’t the reason why it’s so expensive when you see them fresh in store because it’s difficult to grow?
Actually, that’s not the case at all. It might have to do with the fact that they don’t ripen off the tree, so it makes storing and transporting difficult. This isn’t an issue when it’s your own backyard, and all you want is a bunch to make an impressive appetizer for your dinner guests (although, in my house, they never actually make it to any guest, let alone dinner.)
The variety I chose to plant (of which I have 3), are Hardy Chicago Figs–a purple skinned variety with a beautiful, almost blushing magenta flesh that is decently sized and delicately sweet. They get their name from the fact that they are one of the most cold hardy fig varieties, surviving down to zone 5 (with some protection.) While on Long Island, they can definitely survive our winters (without help), and can die down to the roots and still come up the next year.
They are self pollinating, so you can plant one or plant many, and they don’t have to be close to each other (some say 10 feet apart or more is best so they don’t compete too much.) They start to ripen in August (so any recipe posts for them will definitely be this month or later), and prefer not to be watered too much (once a week is fine). Indeed, too much water and the fruits will not be as sweet. Their soil requirements are slightly acidic, rich in organic matter but drains well. Full sun or very light shade.
They can get big (my parents have one that reaches 15 feet tall and just as wide) so some pruning is desirable for larger fruit and keeping it in check.
***A generous tip someone gave me (and showed me!) that if near the end of the growing season, you still have unripened figs (or if you just want them to ripen quickly), dab olive oil on their “butt” ends and they will ripen and swell up within a day or two.
Recipes With Figs:
Roasted Fig With Gorgonzola And Honey
Panzanella
Usually, the herbs and tomatoes I grow in the garden will culminate in panzanella at least once, if not more times during the summer. This is usually after a party of some sort where I have a crusty loaf of bread sitting in the fridge …