Yes, the Extra Issue was sent out before the regular issue. We'd been receiving questions about preserving the bounty that is available in gardens now - and wanted to get that information out. And now without further commentary - here is your regular issue!


Free Recipe Collection No. 17

from: Spike's and Jamie's Recipe Collection

Many of these recipes have not yet been added to the recipe web site, so you are getting a "sneak peak" of future additions. We hope you enjoy these recipes. You will need a still for one of them. Spike's comments are in {{Brackets}}.

Shalom, from 

Spike the Grate & Jamie the Webmistress


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TOMATO BISQUE

1/2 cup chopped onions
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 tsp dill seed
1 1/2 tsp dill weed
1 1/2 tsp oregano
5 cups tomatoes {{some think canned are better than fresh for this}}
4 cups chicken stock {{Spike uses bouillon}}
2 tbsp flour
2 tsp salt {{if you used regular butter, reduce this measurement to 1 1/2 tsp}}
1/2 tsp white pepper
1/4 cup chopped parsley
4 tsp honey
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
2/3 cup half and half
sour cream

In a large pot, sauté onions in 6 tbsp butter, along with dill seed, dill weed, and herbs for 5 minutes, or until onions are translucent.  Add tomatoes and chicken stock, and heat. 

Make a roux by blending 2 tbsp butter and 2 tbsp flour, whisking constantly over medium heat for 3 minutes, without browning. Add roux to stock and whisk to blend. Add salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Add chopped parsley, honey, cream and half and half. Remove from heat and puree. Strain. When ready to serve, reheat and serve with a dollop of sour cream.

Café Beaujolais, Mendocino, California, cook book by Margaret Fox, 1984

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MORE INFORMATION ON “DIFFERENT” VEGGIES

{{I know you have been waiting with bated breath for the rest of this information. Here it is}}

Brussels Sprouts

These sprouts are not the result of seeds on a paper towel with a sprinkle of water. They are often referred to as “little cabbages,” which suggests their flavor and method of cooking. Remove any yellow or wilted leaves and trim the core at the bottom of each one. Cook them whole or cut into halves or quarters (length-wise) to be steamed or sautéed. Do not over-cook as they get really nasty…

Brussels Sprouts With Cheese

Brussels Sprouts
orange juice
oil or butter
salt and pepper
grated cheese

Cut the sprouts in halves or quarters lengthwise and sauté them in oil or butter

for 3 to 4 minutes. Add enough orange juice to cover the bottom of the pan and then add a few tablespoons more. Stir in the sprouts, cover, and simmer for 2 or 3 more minutes or until tender. Season and sprinkle with grated cheese.

Green Tomatoes
They can be very acidic, and you can cut and salt them like eggplant, then cook thoroughly. They can be fried (with or without batter) or broiled. They are good also in relishes. 

Sea Veggies
They are becoming more available in supermarkets in the US, although they are most widely used in the Orient. The most common varieties are dulse, hijiki (or hiziki), wakame, kombu, and nori. 


Nori
This lovely veggie comes in thin sheets. They only need to be toasted, singly, by waving them 5 or 6 inches above a medium hot burner until they start to wrinkle.

Then crumble them to use as a garnish on grains or soups. The are also used to wrap rice balls and sushi. {{Cook some rice, add finely diced raw carrots, onions, celery, small, cooked salad shrimp or flaked imitation crab – which is actually Pollock or hagfish – or real crab flakes. This dicing should be REALLY fine, like tiny. Spoon a mound along one side edge of the nori, and roll it up so that the roll is about 1 1/2 or 2 inches in diameter. Cut the rolls into pieces about 1 1/2 inches long. Put them in the fridge for awhile. When serving them, provide dipping bowls with soy sauce. The rolls are eaten out of hand, dipping gently before each bite. [Spike’s recipe.]}}



Wakame and Dulse
These need to be rinsed once before soaking, then soaked for 15 to 30 minutes until they swell. Strain and save the soaking liquid (it is loaded with ocean flavor and nutrition, including trace minerals). Wakame has a tough string attached along its length. Even when raw, this string should be soft enough to chew after soaking. If not, pull it off by hand. Lay out strips of soaked wakame or dulse and section it into one-inch pieces.



Hijiki
This veggie tends to be gritty, so when rinsing it, pick it off the top of the rinsing water carefully so that grit stays at the bottom of the bowl. {{That is one thing Spike hates about fresh spinach – it always seems to have sand in it, and one gets these visions of ground glass in one’s food. That is why I do the cooking!}}

Anyway, soak the hijiki same as wakame or dulse (after rinsing off the grit), and then rinse again. Hijiki comes in small slender pieces and need not be sectioned before using.



Kombu
This comes in thick sheets, which make an excellent soup stock. No rinsing or soaking is necessary. a 3 x 3 piece of kombu will flavor about a quart of stock.

After cooking for stick it can be cut into strips for addition to the soup.


All of the above sea veggies can be used in veggie, bean, and grain dishes, as well as soups. Cooked hijiki is also good in salads.



Sea Veggies With Earth Veggies

seaweed (any of the preceding, prepared as indicated - about 2 oz for 4 people)
onion, diced
carrot, diced

seaweed soaking water {{no grit, unless you are a John Wayne fan – True Grit}}

soy sauce
salt
ginger, freshly grated
garlic

Wash the seaweed and start it soaking while dicing the onion and carrot. Finish preparing the seaweed for cooking. Saute the onion for a minute, then continue sautéing with the carrot for a couple minutes. Add seaweed and sauté for ten minutes. Add a cup of the soaking water, cover, and simmer for 15 t0 20 minutes. Season with soy sauce, salt, and the freshly grated ginger. Keep the season mild if you want to enjoy the ocean flavor. Cook a few more minutes.

[[Spike would serve this as a side dish with any type of filleted fish, preferably baked – flour, egg white beaten stiff, then crumbs or corn flake crumbs, lemon pepper, parsley flakes, lemon juice, and melted butter drizzled over, baked at 320 deg. F. for maybe 10 or 15 minutes – and served with tartar sauce.]]

These seaweed items were paraphrased from the Tassajara Cooking book published in 1973 by the Zen Center.

[[Speaking of John Wayne, I observed, during a hospital stay, that they provide the patients with John Wayne bathroom tissue. It did have True Grit, and it must have been cost-effective, since nobody would use too much!]]



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ROCKY MOUNTAIN OYSTERS
(aka Prairie Oysters)

calves’ testicles
salted water
fine cracker crumbs
salt and freshly ground black pepper
bacon drippings

Soak the testicles in salted water for one hour. Drain. Roll in cracker crumbs

seasoned with salt and pepper. Heat bacon drippings in a heavy skillet and fry the testicles in it until brown and cooked through.


Note: Calves testicles are available at roundup time from castrated calves and at some markets. People who raise cattle for beef would be able to tell you where they can be obtained close to your local area.

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VINARTERTA


Layers:
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
4 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup milk


Filling:

2 pounds prunes
1 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla

To prepare layers, cream butter and sugar together until very light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Beat in the vanilla. 

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt and add alternately with the milk to the butter, mixing at low speed on an electric mixer or stirring with a wooden spoon. The dough will be soft.

Turn dough out onto a piece of waxed paper, wrap, and chill several hours until firm enough to roll. This step may be hastened if the package is put into the freezer, but be sure it doesn’t freeze. 

While dough is chilling, prepare filling. Cook the prunes in water to cover about 20 minutes, or until tender. Drain prunes, reserving 1/4 cup of the liquid. Cool.

Pit the prunes and place fruit and reserved juice in the container of an electric blender (or pass through a good chopper). Add the sugar and salt to prunes in blender and blend until smooth – or stir into ground fruit.

Transfer the prune mixture to a saucepan and heat, stirring, until hot. Cool and add the vanilla. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Divide the chilled dough into eight equal portions. Leave the remainder of dough in the fridge and roll out one portion at a time on a lightly floured pastry cloth into a circle about 1/8 inch thick and 89 to 9 inches in diameter. A flan ring makes a good cutter. Place round on a baking sheet and bake ten minutes, or until lightly browned at the edges. Cool on a rack. 

Repeat with the remaining dough portions. Scraps collected and chilled will produce two more rounds, giving a total of ten layers. When layers and filling are cool, put filling between the layers, pressing down on each layer lightly with palm of hand. Wrap cake in waxed paper or cloth and allow to mellow several hours.



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EGG DROP SOUP

3 cups chicken broth
2 tsp cornstarch
2 tbsp cold water
1 scallion, including some green, cut into 1/4 inch pieces
1 egg, well beaten
freshly ground pepper (preferably white) to taste

Bring the broth to a boil. Blend the cornstarch and water, and add to the broth slowly, stirring. When thickened, add the scallion. Stirring the soup rapidly, gradually add the beaten egg. Remove from the heat immediately and season with pepper.

[[This looks fairly simple. When people speak of egg drop soup, they inject this air of mystery, probably in an attempt to enhance their images with us lesser beings. If you don’t use this recipe, the least you can do is publicize the fact that you know how to make it and it is easy. Spike will make it once, to see if we like it. If “the guy” likes something, I tend to make it frequently for awhile, sometimes receiving a complaint about “too much fun” or worse. I’ll inform you later.]]



See ya next time.

SHALOM FROM SPIKE & JAMIE

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