Sep
14
I should preface this by saying I am not a fan of canning sauce. Tomato sauce is so easy to make from canned tomatoes I really don’t see the need to make it early. I only ever keep whole canned tomatoes in my kitchen, so I only ever make whole canned tomatoes. This leaves me with endless last minute options (soups, stews, pasta sauce, pizza sauce, spicy sauce, garlic sauce, basil sauce, onion sauce, vodka sauce! etc). Not to mention, I can really only handle eating so many of the same thing. I like variety!
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Sep
14
Assuming you are familiar with canning, here is the condensed version of my photo essay. I’m writing this this way I wish all recipes were written when I already know what I’m doing and just want the basic information. If you find this to be a little too short, you can always check the photo essay for a better explanation of specific processes.
Stewed Tomatoes Packed In Their Own Juice (makes 8 quarts)
- wash and blanch your tomatoes, remove the skin and place the tomatoes in a large stock pot for stewing
- heat on low until juicy, heat on high until covered with juice, stir occasionally
- wash your jars soaking the lids in hot but not boiling water
- in each pint jar add 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt and 1/4 teaspoon of citric acid
- in each quart jar add 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt and 1/2 teaspoon of citric acid
- ladle contents into the jars leaving at least 1″ of head space
- process jars in a water bath canner for 85 minutes
Aug
30
I spent the entire day canning nectarines, and I am beat! So here are some pictures from the brunches:
Aug
29
I did a fried egg sandwich brunch a while back with a soft boiled egg which was incredibly delicious. I’ve yet to post the pictures from any of those brunches, but I will get to it after I catch up on recipes. Or maybe before as a recipe procrastination…. Anyway, the soft boiled egg sandwich wasn’t really meant as a substitute for the classic fried egg sandwich, but what I’ve been making recently is. Every since watching Harvy years ago, I’ve wanted to find a way to enjoy a fried egg sandwich, but I don’t actually like the classic sandwich: fried egg on bread with mayonnaise cheese and onion. They sell them at all the food trucks in the mornings in Philadelphia, and I had tried making them myself and tried ones from numerous food trucks, but they were always just kind of… gross. Even now I can call up the taste of the food truck onions and mayonaise… So, on occasion Patrick and I find ourselves without real breakfast food (only one egg, sick of porridge, no cereal, no baking powder for pancakes, not the right bread for french toast etc.) which is where this new egg sandwich came from. It’s perfect timing that this recipe is next, since I found myself in this exact situation this morning. The one thing that has made all the difference is that I’ve switched from using mayonnaise to using sour cream. After that, it’s a mix of whatever you have in your fridge. For the recipe below, I used mushrooms, asparagus, and pea shoots, but this morning I used sunflower sprouts, and broccolini.
Fried Egg Sandwich
Fried Egg Sandwich Ingredients:
- broccoli, asparagus, mushrooms, zucchini, summer squash, or some other vegetable you can sauté
- 1 egg
- splash of milk
- chives, scallions, or onion, thinly sliced
- garlic, pressed or chopped
- sour cream or butter
- cheese (grated or sliced thin)
- olive oil, fresh black pepper, salt (for seasoning)
- greens that will hold up with heat (pea shoots, sunflower sprouts, spinach, arugula, radicchio)
- tomatoes
- bread
Fried Egg Sandwich Instructions:
- clean and cut your vegetables. Heat the salt, fresh pepper and olive oil in a skillet until hot enough that water splatters when tossed in. Add your vegetables and sauté until they begin to stick. Turn the heat down and add a small amount of water shaking or stirring immediately. Let it simmer until the vegetables are firm but tender, and bright green. Set aside.
- begin toasting or frying your bread. When I first made this sandwich, we had just moved and I didn’t have a toaster yet. I used a rosemary sourdough and toasted it with a small amount of butter in a large iron skillet. Either way, if you are making more than one serving you will want to start this before you start your eggs.
- in a bowl combine the chopped scallions or chives with a splash of milk, salt, pepper, and 1 egg (depending on how much egg you want, 1 egg can serve two people)
- pour into a well oiled hot skillet, turn once the edges start to cook through add cheese to the top and cover with the heat off.
- about this time your bread should be ready, slather one side (or both!) with sour cream and begin layering on your greens, veggies, tomatoes, and onions. Remember, the idea is to make that ONE egg count, so put as much tasty crap on your sandwich as you can muster
- at this point, the cheese should be melted. Slap it onto your bread, top it off with a little more stuff fold it up and you’re done!
Aug
29
So it’s been a while. There is a lot to write about as I sort through a few months worth of pictures. Luckily I know where to start.
After we gorged ourselves on many burritos, enchiladas, tamales, etc, we realized that we were broke, and couldn’t continue the HOORAY WE ARE IN CALIFORNIA Mexican food indulgence any longer, so we had our first home meal. We missed the farmers market for several weeks in a row, but were able to supplement nicely from Shoppers Corner (which we love!) and my aunt’s garden. Her vegetables had only recently been planted, but her lavender was going crazy and her nasturtiums had taken over wildly in her compost heap.
I also found $19 Frantoia Olive Oil which made me so excited I even sent people messages about it.
I was originally thinking of making a pesto, but my aunt didn’t have a blender, and I was too lazy to use a mortar and pestle, so I went for using the lavender to make an infusion in the oil before cooking the vegetables, and then chopped the nasturtiums and added them at the end for color and a peppery taste. I also made some potatoes, my favorite way, just slow cooked with olive oil, pepper, and salt. We found some small fingerlings that were just right. Here are some pictures of the process.
After cooking them on the stove for a little bit, I tossed them in the oven at 375F until the dinner was ready.
Aug
28
sammy sez, “ah got duh yiddeh deh dee do dem bo!”
WE ARE BACK! mykle, the bestest in the whole world made it all better. ive been saving lots and lots and lots of things, hopefully to start tomorrow.
