8/22/2021 – We have a collection of various peppers that include Anaheim G76, Peppercinies, red Serranos, and maybe a Grand Marcino with about half being picked this morning. The pickled peppers and garlic turned out great.
Continue reading8/22/2021 – This ferment is a repeat of Okra Fermented No. 6, and the first okra ferment in 2021, because the one in 2019 turned out great.
Stuffed a half-gallon jar with large and small okra and added about 3 teaspoons of crushed peppers, 2 garlic cloves before the okra, then one with garlic at half full; then the last teaspoon of pepper, and the two last garlic cloves when full.
Filled the jar with a 5% brine made with canning salt and our well water. Topped the okra and garlic with the plastic keeper and continued to top off the brine as the air filtered out of the okra.
This preparation was inspired by the one at The Ranch Kitchen although ours has a lot more spices.
Ingredients
Fresh okra from our garden
3 cups 5% white vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons Morton Canning and Pickling Salt
2 tablespoons sugar
6 average garlic cloves cut into large pieces
1/2 teaspoon Dill Weed per pint
1/2 teaspoon Celery Seed per pint
1 teaspoon of our Red Pepper Flakes per pint
1 teaspoon Yellow Mustard Seeds per pint
1/4 teaspoon Ball Pickle Crisp Granules per pint
Instructions
We had on hand inside a pint and a quart jar so used them and did not go to the grain bin for empty pints.
Packed okra pods tightly in each jar until you can barely squeeze another in.
On your stove bring your white vinegar, sugar, and salt to a boil stirring to dissolve the sugar.
Heat the filled capped jars under the hottest tap water to preheat the jars. Pour the almost boiling brine into the jars with okra pods and spices.
Place in the refrigerator for 2 weeks for optimal flavors to develop.
Note: The original recipe said the brine was enough for 4 packed pints. The amount we had leftover after filling the packed pint and quart was maybe enough to fill a packed pint. It would have been close.
8/3 and 8/10 and 9/9/2021 – This post is for the three water-bath picklings that were done the same and based on what was done in July 2019 that was very good. On 9/6/2021 Kelley opened a pint made on 8/10/2021 (almost a month old) and liked it a lot. Besides being great pickled okra the recipes provide guidance on how much brine to make for jars of raw okra.
Continue reading8/6/2021 – The Tiburon Poblano Peppers from our garden were stuffed with this cheesy spicy ground beef and were great. This recipe was inspired by one at the Certified Angus Beef website.
- 1 pound 80/20 ground chuck
- 1/3 cup jasmine rice
- Kosher salt and cracked black pepper to taste
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons chopped chipotle pepper in adobo
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 cup mild HEB salsa
- 2 cups Mexican blend shredded cheese, divided
- 5 poblano peppers from the garden this morning, cut in half vertically and one large white scalloped squash hollowed out and stuffed.
- Grated white and yellow cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Cook rice according to package directions to yield approximately 1-cup cooked rice. Set aside.
- Brown ground beef and season with salt and pepper. Add onion and garlic, sauté for 2 minutes. Stir in tomato paste, chipotle and oregano; cook 1-2 minutes. Stir in rice, salsa and adjust salt and pepper. Remove from heat and stir in 1-cup of shredded cheese.
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Arrange pepper halves in parchment paper lined large baking sheet so they have about an inch of space between them. Fill each evenly with the beef blend, packing tightly. Cover with foil and bake 30-40 minutes until the peppers are beginning to softed but not too long for the meat.
- Uncover peppers, top each with remaining cheese and return to oven 8-10 minutes until cheese is melted.
8/1/2021 – Another good harvest of Jalasco Jalapenos and a few others were pickled in the same brine used with Peppercinos last week and that was very similar to the jalapenos the week before. The taste test of the peppercinos, just before these pickling, found they have a good flavor and some crispness, although since they are thinner, they were not as crisp as the Jalapenos of 7/11/2021. As of 9/15/2021, this prep has been enjoyed at least three times. The peppers have a good flavor without being too hot and, most importantly, they are crunchy.
Continue reading7/25/2021 – Mary made this great dish and gave it our highest ratings; i.e. To-Die-For (TDF) and Favorites. The flavors of the tomatoes, feta cheese, and olives made the sauce fantastic. Red pepper flakes from the garden gave it a bite that came on slowly but not too much. One of the advantages of this preparation was using ripe fresh homegrown tomatoes from our garden. It also uses fresh mint from the iron pot by the grain bin. This great dish was inspired by the recipe here.
Continue reading7/11/2021 – Washed and stemmed our Pepperoncini Peppers from the garden and sliced in half. Packed them into a ½-gallon jar. We included 8 large whole cloves of garlic that had been lightly crushed to remove the husks. Tried them on 1/10/2022 and they were firm and tasted good.
Continue reading7/18/2021 – This Tartar Sauce was inspired by the recipe by Ina Garten here. Served it with fried catfish and fried okra it was good. Mary added a little cayenne pepper sauce to hers and that made it great…but then it was pink tartar sauce.
Continue reading7/15/2021 – This recipe was inspired by Ina Garten’s recipe here. We liked it as it was rich and the garlic was not too bold. Served it with her Salmon & Melting Cherry Tomatoes which was also very good.
Ingredients:
5 large garlic cloves, peeled and coarsely chopped
~½ cup extra-virgin olive oil; enough so the garlic chunks are almost floating in it.
4 medium red potatoes, partially peeled
Kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper
~¼ cup half-and-half
Directions:
In a No. 3 cast iron skillet, bring the garlic and oil to a boil, then turn the heat to low and cook uncovered for 5 minutes, or until the garlic is lightly browned. Turn off the heat and set it aside. The garlic will continue to cook in the oil.
Boil the potatoes in salted water and cook until the potatoes are very tender. Remove the potatoes from the water and save the water. Remove the garlic from the oil, reserving the oil.
Mash the potatoes and garlic with a potato masher.
Add the reserved olive oil from the garlic; salt; pepper; and half and half.
When ready to serve add more hot cooking water until the potatoes are creamy but still firm. Adjust the salt and serve hot.