Olé

 

It's a fiesta of chiles from my garden and a few from the Burnley Rooftop Garden.  The varieties include Thai, Habañero, Birds Eye, Jalapeño and yes, Fiesta!

Making Escabeche from the chiles, garlic from my garden and purchased carrots and cauliflower.  I posted the recipe here two years ago.

Bottled up and ready to go!

Next on the Mexican veggie harvest train were the Tomatillos...

Tomatilloes are the main ingredient in Salsa Verde and can also be made into soup or a number of other recipes including pasta sauce. I grew two types this year, purple and the regular green. They turn pale yellow if left longer on the plant but I prefer the tangier flavour when they are still green. They can be picked any time after the papery husk starts to break like the ones above on the right.

Tomatilloes are not eaten raw, the papery husk must be removed and the fruit is cooked before eating. Browning them on each side gives them a lovely smoky flavour. I chop them in half, grill them in a pan or under the broiler for a few minutes on each side and then freeze them in individual portion sizes in zip-lock bags.  They can be defrosted as needed and chopped up with some Escabeche to make a delicious salsa!

Beetroot and Ugly Carrots

 I love this time of year when I can go out into the garden and pick my dinner. It makes me feel much more like cooking interesting things. I made the roast veg tonight and the salad a few weeks ago.  I made way too much of the salad - grating really increases the volume of the veggies. I gave some to each of my neighbors, one of whom has a 3-yr old, so I kept the dressing pretty basic. You could also put in spring onions or Tabasco. I discovered that my other neighbor is a magician! The bowl I gave her the beetroot salad in appeared at my doorstep a few days later with Ferrero Rocher chocolates inside! I wish I could turn beets into chocolate (wouln't that be something to blog about)!

Here are two recipes I have made using whatever I had available in the pantry and the garden. Feel free to experiment and create your own flavors! I tend to use cookbooks for ideas and not follow the recipes exactly. I never would have thought of putting citrus in with the beets and carrots and it was delish! I used the herbs I had available in the garden and kitchen which meant some substitutions - like ginger instead of garlic. I planted about 20 cloves of garlic in the late winter and spring and they are GONE! Aaargh! Rotted, birds, who knows....? I have dug down to where they were and they are gone. I'm going to have to buy garlic

These colours are AMAZING! The only way to see carrots this colour is to pick them.  I wash and scrub outside in a bucket or big bowl and put the water right back in the veggie patch. The carrots are Nantes and the beetroot are Bull's Blood and Chiogga.  I thought my soil was super-friable but I still have split uglies. It could also be too much compost - they don't like nutrient-rich soil. The previous crop in this spot was tomatoes, and then the green manure over the winter.  I would have thought that the tomatoes wouldn't have left much in the way of nutrients after harvesting, even with the green manure crop.  I think I may try growing carrots in a big pot with lots of sand in the potting mix next time.

I also cooked the beet greens and stems separately by boiling for about 3 minutes - they're my favourite part of the plant. I find myself strangely not eating enough vegetables when there is nothing in the the garden because supermaket ones have no flavour to me. I put individual portions of the cooked beet greens in ziplock bags and froze them for later consumption.

recipes follow after the jump..

Aunt Judy's Famous Escabeche (Mexican Pickled Peppers)

All the vegetable ingredients except the onions were from my garden for this recipe!  

In Southern California and Mexico, there are lots of small take-away places where you can get little soft tacos with with grilled chicken, beef or pork and other healthy Mexican food.  There is always fresh salsa in a variety of styles and heat levels, cilantro (coriander) and at least one spicy pickle - escabeche (pronounced es-kah-BEE-chay).  My aunt Judy has lived in Mexico for 20 years and this is her famous recipe!  The chicken bouillon (she uses Knorr), her secret ingredient, makes a very rich and delicious brine.  You can make it without the bouillon and it's still very yummy.  Some people add cauliflower, I prefer all carrots.  Try it a few different ways and see what you like!  Try it on sandwiches and as a condiment whenever you feel like something spicy!  It gets better if it sits for a couple of weeks but mine doesn't last that long.