6/9/2020 – This recipe followed the one we made in July 2019 that was very good. That one was inspired by the one at Bell Canning’s site here. These quantities made 3 pints.
Continue readingThis recipe was inspired by WhatsInThePan.com. Make it with fresh zucchini pasta.
Ingredients
- 1 lb. shrimp
- Kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper
- 1 teaspoon Creole seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon dried Oregano
- 2 tablespoons Olive oil
- 6 oz cajun smoked sausage (thinly sliced)
- 10 ounces zucchini pasta
- ½ yellow onion (thinly sliced)
- 1 red bell pepper (thinly sliced)
- 4 teaspoons Creole seasoning
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar
- 2-3 cloves garlic (chopped)
- ½ cup crushed tomatoes
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 cup Half & Half
- 2/3 cup Grated Parmesan
Instructions
- Toss shrimp with salt, pepper, Creole seasoning, and Oregano, and coat well. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and drizzle bottom of the pan with olive oil.
- Add shrimp and cook for 2 minutes. Flip shrimp over and cook another minute or two. Then remove to a plate and set aside.
- Drizzle pan with a little more olive oil, add sausage and brown until nicely caramelized, about 4 – 5 minutes. Remove to plate, set aside.
- Add pasta to salted boiling water
- Lower heat to medium and add a bit more olive oil to the pan, add the onion, red bell pepper, Creole seasoning, brown sugar, and a generous pinch of salt. Sauté until onion and pepper have softened a bit, scraping up any browned bits that you can. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Add crushed tomatoes, chicken broth, and Half & Half. Bring to a simmer, stirring and scraping up any brown bits from the bottom of the pan, simmer a couple minutes.
- Once simmering, add Parmesan and stir into sauce. When Parmesan is blended in, add zucchini and sausage and stir to combine and heat through, 2 – 3 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste
- Add shrimp.
June 2020 – We have a bumper crop of zucchini this year and Mary made great loaves of bread with it. The recipe below was inspired by Ina Garten so we were not surprised that it is great.
INGREDIENTS
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 2 cups of sugar
- 1 cup butter softened
- 3 large Eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 2 cups zucchini, shredded
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
INSTRUCTIONS
- Heat oven to 350°F. Grease bottom only of 2 (8×4-inch) loaf pans; the blue baking pan and the cast iron loaf pan.
- Combine flour, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cloves and nutmeg in bowl; set aside.
- Combine sugar, butter, eggs and vanilla in another bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until smooth. Add flour mixture; beat at low speed until well mixed. Stir in zucchini and pecans.
- Spread batter into prepared pans. Bake 55-65 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans. Cool completely.
This was the fourth preparation of B&B pickles but the first in 2020. This has 33% more crisping agent than No. 3 made last year. Other than that this is the same recipe.
Ingredients – Made 6 pints but one broke in the bath.
- 16 cups of sliced medium to small cucumbers from our garden
- 1 large and 1/2 of a medium white onion, sliced the same as the cukes
- 1/3 cup pickling salt
- 10 cloves garlic, halved
- 2 cups of sugar
- 1-1/2 cups apple cider vinegar and 1-1/2 cups of white vinegar (we did not have enough apple cider vinegar)
- 2 tablespoons mustard seed
- 1-1/2 teaspoons turmeric
- 1-1/2 teaspoons celery seed
- 2 heaping tablespoons of Sambal Oelek
- 2 large jalapenos, seeds removed and diced
- 1 tsp per pint jar – Mrs. Wages Xtra Crunch calcium chloride granules. [Last year we had 3/4 tsp and the pickles were a little limp. So, this batch has 1/4 tsp more; i.e. 33%.
Directions
- Slice the cukes and onion with the mandoline. Combine cucumbers, onions, and pickling salt. Add 1 inch of cracked ice. Refrigerated for 2 hours; drain well in a colander.
- In a large kettle combine sugar, vinegar, mustard seed, turmeric, and celery seed. Heat to boiling and let rest until the cukes had been in the refrigerator with ice for 2 hours. Add cucumber mixture. Return to boiling.
- As soon as soon as it returns to boiling, pack cucumber mixture and liquid into hot, sterilized jars, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Add garlic, diced jalapenos, and half a teaspoon of Mrs. Wages Xtra Crunch calcium chloride granules at 50% and the second half at 90% full to assure even distribution.
- Processed in a boiling-water canner 10 minutes.
6/6/2020 – We made the relish below using many ingredients from the garden. It was inspired by the recipe here. We liked it a lot. It was not very spicy but the flavor was good and the larger chunks were nice. August 2022 we found a bottle, tried it and it was still great.
Continue reading6/3/2020 – This recipe was inspired by Ina Garten’s recipe here.
Ingredients
- whole kernels from 7 ears of raw sweet corn from the garden
- 1 cup diced red onion
- 4 tablespoons cider vinegar
- 3 tablespoons good olive oil
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt plus more to taste
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper plus more to taste
- ½ cup julienned fresh basil leaves from the garden
- 1 ½ smallish bell peppers from the garden
Preparation
Dump it all together and mix it.
From IFAS Here.
Sun-dried tomatoes can add a deep, tangy flavor to your cooking. You can buy them at the grocery store, but it’s more fun to grow your own. Plant plum or pear-shaped tomatoes since they’re best for drying.
Once they’re ripe, wash and dry the fruits and cut them lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds but leave the pulp. You can dry the tomatoes outdoors on racks in just a few days. Tent them with cheesecloth and be sure to bring them in each night. Another option is to sprinkle them with salt and put them in a 140 degree oven for six hours, leaving the door cracked so air can circulate.
Once fully dry, store your tomatoes in an air-tight bag in a cool, dark place. Putting them in the refrigerator or freezer can help them stay red.
https://www.thespruceeats.com/homemade-sun-dried-tomatoes-1808065
Chicken Banh Mi
To make this Vietnamese-style sandwich, we quickly pickle carrots and cucumber in lime juice and fish sauce and season a rotisserie chicken with the same flavors. Sriracha mayonnaise gives the sandwich a spicy kick.
INGREDIENTS
2 carrots, peeled and shredded on the large holes of a box grater
½ cucumber, peeled, halved lengthwise, seeded, and sliced thin
1 teaspoon grated lime zest plus 5 tablespoons juice (3 limes)
¼ cup fish sauce
3 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar
1 (2 1/2-pound) rotisserie chicken, skin and bones discarded, meat shredded into bite-size pieces (3 cups)
½ cup mayonnaise
5 teaspoons Sriracha sauce
4 (8-inch) sub rolls, split lengthwise and toasted
½ cup fresh cilantro leaves
INSTRUCTIONS
- Combine:
- carrots,
- cucumber,
- 2 tablespoons lime juice, and
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce in bowl and let sit for 15 minutes.
- Combine:
- sugar,
- remaining 3 tablespoons lime juice, and
- remaining 3 tablespoons fish sauce in large bowl and stir until sugar is dissolved.
- Add chicken and toss to coat.
- Whisk mayonnaise, Sriracha, and lime zest together in separate bowl.
Assembly
- Spread mayonnaise mixture on roll bottoms.
- Divide chicken mixture among rolls and top with:
- pickled vegetables (leaving liquid in bowl),
- cilantro
Inspired by The Mediterranean Dish.
INGREDIENTS
- 1.5 to 3 lbs seafood or sausage
- Water
- 3 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 large yellow onion, chopped
- 2 cups medium-grain rice, soaked in water for 15 to 20 minutes and then drained
- 4 garlic cloves, chopped
- 2 large pinches of Spanish saffron threads soaked in ½ cup water
- 1 tsp sweet Spanish paprika
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- ½ tsp aleppo pepper flakes – Substitute is Ancho Pepper or Chipotle Pepper
- Salt
- 2 large Roma tomatoes, finely chopped
- 6 oz. French green beans, trimmed
- 1 lb prawns or large shrimp or your choice, peeled and deveined
- ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
INSTRUCTIONS
- In a large pot, bring 3 cups of water to a rolling boil. Add the shrimp and let boil very briefly (1-2 minutes) until pink. Turn the heat off. Remove them, cool and shell.
- In a large deep pan or cast-iron skillet, heat 3 tbsp olive oil. Turn the heat to medium-high and add the chopped onions. Saute the onions for 2 minutes then add the rice, and cook for 3 more minutes, stirring regularly. Now add the chopped garlic and the shrimp cooking water. Stir in the saffron and it’s soaking liquid, paprika, cayenne pepper, Aleppo pepper, and salt. Stir in the chopped tomatoes and green beans. Bring to a boil and let the liquid slightly reduce, then cover and cook on low heat for 20 minutes.
- Uncover and spread the shrimp over the rice, pushing it into the rice slightly. Add a little water if needed. Cover and cook for another 10 minutes or until the shrimp turns pink.
My Thoughts: The shrimp will be bland with no seasoning and sitting on top of the rice. Need to boil them with salt and cook the rice with salt.
5/28/2020 – The chicken in this great meal was inspired by TheMediterraneanDish.com. Mary made the marinaded chicken breasts and veggies and we grilled them on the Weber Kettle. The chicken was very flavorful and the grilled fresh zucchini, pattypan squash, and corn on the cobb from our garden were fantastic. Served it with our version of Ina’s Tazaki Sauce.
Continue reading