Garlic Harvest

Can one ever have too much garlic? I don't think so. 

I have garlic coming out of my ears this season. I'm running out of table space... and I haven't even harvested the "official" garlic bed yet.

Who is complaining.  I'll take all I can get. I burned through my harvest last season before January and was forced to resort to the sad, dried up (and sometimes bleached) garlic at the market. Horrors!

Once you've enjoyed garden fresh garlic, with its sticky, juicy texture and pungent, robust aroma you'll never want anything else.

Remember, it's important to get the dirt off the bulbs as quickly as possible. Once dried, it's impossible to clean off the papery husks.

Basic Broccoli Soup

This broccoli should have been harvested days ago when the florets were tighter, but I've been busy, so now it's going to be soup.  Nothing wrong with that.

I cut the broccoli low on the stem. Sometimes new growth will develop on the sides.

BASIC BROCCOLI SOUP

INGREDIENTS
1 medium onion
4 cloves garlic
1 large head of broccoli including stalk
2 cups chicken stock
2 Tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper
Dollop of sour creme or yoghurt (optional)

For the soup, I'm tossing in some young Spanish onions, picked well before maturity, but why buy an onion when they're already in your garden. I'm also using young garlic from the garden. I encourage everyone to start a garlic patch. You won't be disappointed and they are super easy to grow.

Peel the stalks of the broccoli to remove any woodiness of texture. Chop up onion, garlic and the broccoli and pan fry it in about 2 Tbsp of olive oil (less if you can manage it).

Start with the onion, add the garlic then the broccoli -- stalks, florets and all.

Add in the chicken stock (vegetable stock if you are a vegetarian) cover and cook for about 15 - 20 minutes on a medium heat.  I happen to make my own chicken stock, but you can use store bought.

Uncover and ladle the fixings (not the stock) into a food processor and puree it. Do this in batches. Be careful, it's hot! Return the puree to the pot, stir and season.

It's quite yummy for a basic broccoli soup that is low in cholesterol and fairly quick to make. You can add yoghurt or cream for a milkier texture, but why add calories when the puree step already does that for you. Besides you want to taste the fruits of your garden, don't you? A flourish of chopped chives or parsley can also replace that dollop of sour creme on top. Enjoy.

Cucumbers = Dill Pickles

It's pickling cucumber season.  Hooray!

Sour dill pickles are a favorite and so easy to make that it's a waste to buy them. You can whip these up in no time and use the gifts of the garden to do so. I have dill in my herb garden, and that killer garlic, so away we go.

I thoroughly wash and dry the dill and garlic while the canning jars are sterilizing.

Preparing the brine is a cinch. Water, vinegar and coarse salt. Sometimes I soak pickling spices in the brine, but this step isn't necessary. You can go with just vinegar, water and salt. For 2 jars add, 1 cup vinegar to 3 cups water, 2-3 Tablespoons coarse salt.

Scrub and cut up the pickling cucumbers. 

 

Load the dill and garlic into the sterilized bottles and cram in the cucumbers. That's the hardest part. If you have coriander seeds in your pantry you might want to toss a few in as well. But that's a bonus.

Pour the brine over the cukes and seal. Turn the jars upside down. Done! I made two jars of dill pickles with only four pickling cucumbers. The whole process was about 15 minutes, start to finish.