i hope you eat good food, grow beautiful things, and have more love than you know what to do with.
One of my daughter’s favorite things to eat (and mine too) is Tamago Gohan, directly translated from Japanese as Egg Rice, a raw egg mixed with hot rice and soy sauce. It’s a simple but delicious meal, comfort food, and I guess the Asian equivalent …
After the abysmal hatch rate last time, I decided to do dry incubating and dry hatching this time around. It will likely be my last hatch of the season as I had sold my white male, and my blue juvenile male is not of age …
Goosefoot, lambsquarter, and fat-hen all refer to the edible weeds of the genus Chenopodium. This is one weed I don’t pull, as it is an edible and mild flavored dark green, used anywhere you would use spinach (and, like spinach, is high in oxalic acid and therefore should be consumed in moderate amounts since it impacts calcium absorption.)
It is easy to grow, and pops up often on its own without any special help or sowing from the landowner. It’s regarded as a weed here, which is a shame, since it is easily one of the most useful edibles that you can forage on your own, and if left alone in your garden, readily self seeds itself.
Did I mention the plant is a close relative of quinoa? It is also part of the amaranth family that quinoa belongs to, and, as such, the seeds can be harvested and eaten as a grain as well, and tastes just like quinoa.
Although most sources say full sun to partial shade, I have found it also growing in a deep shade area of my garden. It doesn’t get very big there, but seems to be alright as far as living. It seems to do best in partial shade and dappled sunlight, as the leaves get big. It’s tolerant of a wide variety of soils (I have found it in both sandy and rich soils in my yard), and doesn’t seem to have too high of a water requirement. It obviously does enjoy being watered regularly, as I have my sprinklers set for once ever other day. It is an annual so it dies each year and grows from seed the next. I usually don’t like annuals so much, as they never stay in the same place as you plant them, but this is one I’ll make an exception for.
Ever since I let my landscapers go two years ago, I’ve been careful to allow any that I found on my property go to seed. I still don’t have enough this year to harvest to eat, but once they go to seed, I’ll collect and sow in earnest a big patch. There are other varieties that I once grew at the house we lived before, including the magenta one which grows much bigger, but for now I content myself with the white variety.
Weeds need love too, and I think goosefoot deserves it a bit more than the rest.
Recipes with Goosefoot
For those who grow their own onions, shiso, chives, etc., and collect their own eggs (duck or otherwise) this is a great recipe for those days you’re craving something a bit more savory and substantial. Gyudon is a Japanese beef bowl meal–the suffix “-don” (short …
A friend of mine came over the other day and gave me cucumbers and carrots they grew, two things I did not have the chance to plant this year (nor do I have the space, currently, as the annual bed is full.) I can understand …
Celery is something I don’t usually touch, having been traumatized by too much celery dumplings as a kid. However, occasionally recipes call for it, and because I don’t like it, I never have it in my fridge even when I need it.
In comes Lovage, (levisticum officinale), tasting strongly of celery (blech, for me who hates celery, but yum for those who do not) but is a hardy, herbaceous perennial that comes back every year.
It’s very attractive, and makes for a great forefront plant in a permascape setting. As a bonus, it’s hardy to USDA Zone 4 (yowza that’s cold!) I find it hasn’t been too picky about water or soil requirements, sitting in a very sandy spot–but it does require full sun. As such, it’s quite drought tolerant. It supposedly self seeds but I haven’t seen it do so in my garden yet, but this is only the 2nd year I have had it, having planted it last spring.
Oddly, it’s not as popular as it should be in the United States, maybe because regular celery is so readily available. I’ve only had it once in a restaurant, by accident, when I ordered a beef carpaccio dish. It threw me for a loop at the moment, but was quite nice as a garnish, paired with thinly sliced raw beef and a delicious vinaigrette.
I use it when I make gumbo or cajun style dishes like beans and rice, and although I don’t use it often, it’s wonderful to have it when you need it rather than going, “Damn, guess I can’t make that today.”
A word of warning, if you hate celery or only like it in certain applications like I do, use gloves to pick and handle lovage or else the smell stays with you like a celery ghost is haunting you, and that’s a horror I don’t wish to repeat.
We’re getting into the swing of tomato season and these plump, juicy fruits (which are actually classified as berries) are great during the summer months when the heat has robbed us of our appetite. Coupled with that, basil plants should be full and bushy right …
Whenever anyone asks me what to do with shiso, my first instinctive reaction is tataki. Or any form of carpaccio or chilled dish because of the refreshingly minty, citrus-y bite it gives, but a lot of people turn to the wall and despair when it …
Hamburger steak is a western inspired Japanese meal in which a hamburger patty is cooked, swimming in gravy, with a side of rice and sometimes salad… and it is delicious. I suppose people might think it’s weird–like a poor man’s version of a steak dinner, but it has developed its own cult following both inside and outside of Japan. If you go to Mitsuwa, the Japanese outlet that myself and my parents often go to (which has both east and west coast locations), an entire display of different hamburger steak sets can be seen outside of one of the restaurants (Tokyo Hanten) in the food court.
Most families have their own recipe (mine included), but the idea is the same. Sometimes I like to get fancy, and add all sorts of crazy things on it (like a fried egg), but here I’m just going to include the very basics. My husband occasionally requests it, even though it’s traditionally a “kid’s” meal. I don’t mind, because it’s a fast meal rather than me slaving away in the kitchen with multiple dishes.
Rice
The rice should be made ahead of time (or if you have a pressure cooker, started first.)
Cook sushi rice or brown rice (I use Nishiki or Kokuho brand) according to directions in your rice cooker/pressure cooker.
Salad
This can be made ahead of time with many different types of greens. Here, I used iceberg lettuce but a spring mix, or even finely shredded cabbage, works great too. The creaminess of the dressing pairs nicely with the savory patty.
1. Arrange greens on plate and top with tomato wedges.
2. Mix equal parts ketchup and mayonnaise and drizzle on top (or use Thousand Island dressing.)
Hamurger Steak Patty – Makes 4 patties
If you don’t have fresh ground beef, frozen patties are fine too. The shiso cuts through the grease with a refreshing bite.
1. Mix the beef, diced onion, salt, and pepper together.
2. Break in half, and then break those halves into another half into four equal portions.
3. Shape into a patty and set to the side.
4. Oil a pan on medium high heat and arrange the patties in the pan.
5. Cook until bottom is brown and somewhat charred, and then flip the patties until done to the point you like (I like mine still mooing, my husband prefers his medium).
6. (Optional) If adding cheese, place a slice of meunster or cheddar on the patties after the other side is done, turn off the heat, and cover for 1 minute for cheese to melt. Keep drippings in the pan for the gravy.
7. Place patties on plate and add shredded shiso for garnish.
Gravy
This is an Asian style gravy that fills your house with pepper garlic heaven–my husband would drink this if I let him.
1 tbspn butter
5 cloves finely minced garlic (more or less, it’s up to you. We use a lot of garlic in this house. You can also use a tablespoon of garlic powder)
5 tbspn soy sauce
1/4 cup sake (or mirin)
1/4 tspn cracked black pepper
1/2 tbspn sweet potato starch (cornstarch or flour are fine for thickening too)
Optional 1 teaspoon lemon juice
5 tablespoons water
1. Mix soy sauce, sake (or mirin), cracked black pepper, lemon juice(if using), and sweet potato starch (or cornstarch or flour) in a bowl, set aside.
2. Saute the minced garlic in butter over medium high heat in the pan used to cook the patties until very fragrant.
3. Add the soy sauce mixture (be careful of splatter) and mix quickly until thickened. Depending on how salty you like it, you may want to adjust it with water. Pour over hamburger patties.
One of the plants I grow every year is the tomato (solanum lycopersicum). My husband is part Italian, and although when I was younger, I didn’t like tomatoes at all, it has grown on me, especially when sliced thick and paired with a nice wedge …