Garden Update, March 2022

 It's that time of year again when I do a garden update. My garden is still very roughed out. We still have several yards of soil to haul in. We still have trellises to get up and we still have potted stuff to plant out. But here is where we are, as far as gardening.

This is my mystery brassica. I have no idea of exactly what it is, but I do know that it is a member of the brassica family. I'm leaning toward some type of kale. I know that the bugs sure do like it. I'll leave it there for them to eat.

This is one of the 3 honeyberry bushes that were gifted to me by our old neighbor from the RV park. They are a couple of years old, from what I was told, and there are supposed to be 3 different varieties. I'll wait and see what they look like.

I always need to have some flowers. I picked these up today. They please me.

This was the huge raised bed that the previous person left here when they moved out. Of course, I can totally put it to use. I planted it out with cabbage, broccoli and 3 types of beets.I'll finish it off with a row of dwarf peas and some Walla Walla onions.

Egyptian Walking Onions. I'm still thinking on where I can permanently plant these. They need to be in a contained area where they can spread out.

Lavender and oregano from the previous resident here. This in the terraced garden.

This is my rosemary bush that I've been growing for several years (at least 5 or 6). 

This is my asparagus bed and raspberry patch. I have red, gold and black in there so far. I'm supposed to be getting some purple ones, but they haven't shown up yet. We'll see if the person comes through.

The cinder block raised bed is still a work in progress. It will be home to zucchini, bush watermelon, bush beans, amaranth and quinoa. 

Raised bed planted with radishes, turnips and cilantro.

Potato bed. 

Rhubarb

 

 Spearmint

 

 This part of the garden is set up and planted out, for the most part.

This year, I'm doing something new for me. This is my grow light.

I'm starting tomatoes, peppers, tomatillos and eggplant from seed this year. I'm excited! In my area of the country, there's not a huge heirloom tomato variety. Now, the sky is the limit.

These guys were all started on March 24th. Today is the 29th. Some of these have come up quickly!

I plan on growing 30 tomato plants, 4 tomatillos, 16 eggplant and 72 pepper plants. I did plant out multiples of a few varieties.

These are fig cuttings that were just dipped in rooting hormone today and set into the shower. It's the safest and warmest place for them and there's a skylight in there for plenty of light. There are 2 types of figs in there. We're not sure if they will take or not. The person who sent them didn't  know how to take cuttings. No matter. I did buy a fig tree and it's planted and doing well.

I did a bit of horse trading for fruit cuttings this year. I have Pink Lemonade blueberry bushes, so I traded cuttings for several different things. There's Concord grapes, gooseberries and 3 colors of currants: red, white and black. I just need pink, I believe. These are all doing absolutely fantastic!

That's pretty much it for March's garden update here on Kelpie Kapers Farm. I hope you enjoyed virtual tour!

Braised Potatoes & Chicken Thighs With Scallion Butter Sauce

 It appears that we got through that atmospheric river with minimal damage. I think we sustained a knocked over trellising pole that is cemented into a 5 gallon bucket and our arch blew over.

We will rebuild.

I did get potatoes planted and I planted out some of my old wooden raised beds with spring greens, radishes and turnips. I planted various types. I am going to stagger planting and I'll seed more stuff in 2 weeks from now...fill in the blanks, so to speak. I do love to practice the art of cramscaping!

In the meantime, I needed to figure out what to make for dinner tonight. I had originally thought about making Chicken Cacciatore but, over the years, I've had that so many times that I'm, quite frankly, rather bored with that recipe. I knew I wanted a braised dish but I didn't want to use canned tomatoes. I can only eat so much citrus because I have a sensitivity to citrus and I've been eating oranges like crazy.

This recipe evolved from there.

I even dug out my cast iron skillet so that I could properly braise in it. I have a small 8-inch skillet and it works perfectly for portion control for the 2 of us. With this recipe, you'll definitely need portion control. It's that friggin' delicious!

I prepped everything ahead of time. There's bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, diced red onion, sliced lemon, lemon juice, butter, garlic and scallion. You'll also need to peel up a large baking potato, as well. You're going to boil the potato until it's barely fork tender. 

The thighs get browned up in a cast iron skillet (use one that can go into the oven). Brown for 5 minutes on one side, turn them over and cook for 5 minutes on the other side. By this time, your potato should be cooked. Just drain it and set aside to cool just a bit.

Don't rush it. Let them brown. You'll thank me later when you taste them. 

Once the chicken is nicely browned, add in the other ingredients and pour in the chicken broth. Don't add the lemon juice or butter yet. Reserve those. 

I covered my skillet with foil and popped it into a preheated 400 degree oven. I set a timer for 35 minutes. The timing made perfectly cooked, tender, fall apart chicken.

Melt the butter in the hot skillet once it comes out of the oven and drizzle with lemon juice. Enjoy!

Braised Potatoes & Chicken Thighs With Scallion Butter Sauce

Serves 2

4 chicken thighs
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large russet baking size potato, peeled and cut into 8 pieces
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 small red onion, diced
French grey salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
1/4 cup chicken broth
Juice of half of a lemon and the other half sliced thinly
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 thinly sliced scallions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Boil potato until barely fork tender. Drain and set aside.
Heat olive oil in a cast iron skillet that can also go into the oven. Season chicken on both sides, to taste, with freshly cracked black pepper and French grey salt. Brown chicken, skin side down,  in skillet, for 5 minutes, or until golden brown. Turn over and brown the other side.
Once chicken is golden brown, nestle the potato pieces in with the chicken, sprinkle the onions, garlic and lemon slices over the top. Add 1/4 cup chicken broth. Bring to a simmer, cover skillet and put in preheated oven for 35 minutes or until chicken is 165 degrees on a food thermometer.
Remove skillet from oven. Remove foil cover. Gently lift a piece of chicken up and add the butter and very gently move butter around until it is melted. Drizzle lemon juice over the top and sprinkle with scallions.
Serve.

Cod Mappas & A Bonus Tikka Curry Paste Recipe

 We're getting yet another atmospheric river. We ran into the laundromat to get that weekly chore done and out of the way and I stopped by the store on the way home. It was sunny when we walked in and raining when we walked out. We weren't in there very long, either. Anyhow, it's supposed to be rainy and windy for the next few days, at least. I figured it would be a good day for a lighter fish dinner. I had a nice filet of cod and this recipe just fit the bill nicely.

This dish gets served over Basmati rice. You could do this with halibut, too. It would be delicious!

First, before you do anything, make the Tikka Curry Paste. This is super simple and it blitzes up in a few seconds in a food processor.

Tikka Curry Paste

2 cloves garlic
1 red chili pepper with seeds removed
2 inches fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
2 teaspoons garam masala
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon avocado oil
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 tablespoons roughly chopped cilantro
Pinch of sea salt

Process all in food processor until everything is smooth and no big pieces remain.

You'll want to set this aside until the recipe calls for it.

You'll want to baby the onions along until they get some really great golden color on them. This part, you can't rush it. It takes time.

It really starts to turn into something special once you add in the Tikka Masala Paste.

Then it gets hit with coconut milk. I let it simmer for a bit. 

Once it simmers for a few minutes, I added in the cod chunks. These simmer for about 5 minutes or so, until they are cooked through.

This is what it looks like before you garnish with some chopped fresh cilantro. 

Cod Mappas
Serves 2

1 tablespoon avocado oil
2 small red onions, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 pound (2 large) roma tomatoes, chopped
2 tablespoon Tikka Masala Sauce (see recipe above)
1 (15 ounce) can coconut milk
1 pound cod, cut into bite-sized chunks
Chopped cilantro

In a skillet, over low heat, cook onions in avocado oil, until very soft and golden brown. This will take quite a while. Add garlic and tomatoes. Cook about 5 minutes. Add Tikka Curry Paste and cook for 4-5 more minutes. Add coconut milk, bring to a boil.
Add fish and gently simmer for 5-8 minutes or until  fish is  cooked through. Sprinkle with cilantro. Serve over Basmati rice.

Hawaiian Shoyu Chicken

 Bob has an upcoming medical procedure that I won't go into on a cooking blog. Anyhow, tonight is the last night he can eat a regular diet. After this, for a few days, he goes on a low fiber diet and then a straight liquid diet. Anyhow, he shoveled a yard and a half of soil for me today and filled several raised beds. He deserves a tasty dinner on his last night of normal food for a while.

I ordered the shoyu sauce from Amazon. Here is what I ordered. It's not the cheapest stuff on the planet, but I don't think you could really make Shoyu Chicken without it.

 

This recipe is made using skin-on, bone-in chicken pieces. You'll want roughly 2 pounds. What pieces you use is entirely up to you. I chose thighs. I'd make this recipe using wings, too.
You want to brown them in a tablespoon of oil. I use canola as it is a heart healthy neutral flavored oil. Again, in your kitchen, use what you want. I probably wouldn't use olive oil, though. Thoroughly brown the chicken on both sides.

While the chicken is browning, mix up the sauce (see recipe below) and prep the ginger and the garlic. 

Definitely make sure the chicken is browned. It will make a difference later on. Be patient. Don't rush it.

After the chicken is uniformly golden color, add the sauce, ginger and garlic. Bring to a boil, lower the heat to low, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Turn each piece over, cover, simmer another 10 minutes. 

After 20 minutes, the chicken will be a dark brown color. This is when you remove the lid and turn up the heat a bit and start cooking down the sauce. 

As the sauce reduces, it coats the chicken pieces and turns them mahogany. Keep boiling until you have a sauce that is the consistency of syrup.

This is just damn delicious, no matter how you want to look at it.

I served this with some coconut rice and some Hawaiian Mac Salad.

Aloha!

Hawaiian Shoyu Chicken

2 pounds chicken pieces
1 tablespoon canola oil
1/2 cup shoyu soy sauce
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoon rice vinegar
4 cloves garlic, smashed
2 inch piece of ginger, peeled and thinly sliced

Brown chicken in a skillet, over medium heat, in a tablespoon of oil. In the meantime, in a medium bowl, whisk together shoyu sauce, water and sugar. Set aside.
When chicken is golden brown, add the sauce mixture along with the garlic and ginger. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Turn chicken over and repeat.
When chicken has simmered for 20 minutes, remove lid and turn heat to medium-high and reduce sauce until it is the consistency of syrup, continually basting and turning the chicken pieces to coat.
Serve with rice.

Pork Brauhaus Goulash

For dinner, last night, we needed some good ol' fashioned comfort food. I'm not really into the stuff that quite a few Americans think of as being comfort food. To me, comfort embodies European peasant food. It's filling. It's hearty. It utilizes few ingredients while maximizing on flavor. This goulash recipe checks off all of the boxes.

I used a pork tenderloin to make this dish. It was tender. It was succulent. Bob was, easily, able to eat it.

I cut the pork tenderloin into bite sized pieces. It gets browned in a few tablespoons of butter. While that is going on, you'll want to...

grate up a large carrot (or 2 small ones), dice up an onion and mince a clove or two of garlic. Just put it onto a plate and set it aside for a few minutes until you need it. 

Do you see that liquid in the bottom of the pan? You want to cook the pork until that all disappears. 

It will look like this once that happens. This is when you add the vegetables and garlic, mustard, tomato paste,  along with the salt, pepper and smoked paprika. 

Cook that all for around 3-4 minutes. Then add...

a cup of German beer. I used a nice German stout. If you don't have a German beer available to you, try a Black Butte Porter or a Guinness would work really well, too.  Don't use a domestic American beer. That would not taste good at all. It actually wouldn't taste.
Cook until the beer evaporates.

It will go from this to...

this. What you are doing is concentrating the beer flavor. That's why I do not recommend using an domestic American beer. They do not taste good and they wouldn't have enough flavor to hold up to this recipe. You really need to use a stout.

After the beer cooks down, you add in vegetable broth and bring it all to a boil. Cover, put on low heat and simmer for an hour.
Five minutes before it's done, add...

the sour cream. Combine thoroughly. If you need to thicken it up, use a cornstarch slurry. That's simple to make. Mix 1 tablespoon of cornstarch with a few tablespoons of cold water. Pour it in, stir until it's as thick as you'd like it to be. 

Serve over mashed potatoes and enjoy!

Pork Brauhaus Goulash

1 pork tenderloin, between 1.25-1.5 pounds, cut into bite sized cubes
2 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons dijon mustard
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 medium onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 large carrot, grated
1 cup stout beer
3 cups vegetable broth
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
Salt & pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon sour cream

Brown pork in butter, in large skillet, over medium heat. Cook until all the liquid that is released from the pork has evaporated. Add onion, garlic, carrots, mustard, tomato paste, salt, pepper and paprika. Cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring constantly. Add beer. Cook until beer has evaporated from pan. Add broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 1 hour. At the 55 minute mark, stir in the sour cream until combined. At that time, if you feel it's necessary, thicken with a cornstarch slurry (1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons water). Serve over mashed potatoes.