Leeks - after the harvest. And a great recipe.

In the previous post I mentioned that leeks don't get the culinary respect they deserve, which is unfortunate because they are a great addition to many dishes.  Their subtle sweetness really shines when sauteed in butter or olive oil, without the bite or sharpness typically found in onions.

Leeks need to be thoroughly rinsed to eliminate all of the grit (dirt) that may hide out within the layers. This is easy to do with a couple of simple steps.

Cut off the root end and long tops, then peel away the outer layer.  Leeks will look clean but, as we all know, looks can be deceiving.

Root end and tops trimmed, outer layer removed

Slice the leeks in half lengthwise to expose the many "layers", which are actually leaf sheaths.

Carefully fan the layers apart while holding under gently-running water.  This will rinse out most traces of any dirt that could be hiding within the layers.  There may be a hard center stem which should be discarded.

Put long cut side of leek on cutting board and slice into thin slices.  

Put leek slices in large bowl and cover with plenty of cool water.  Gently swish leek slices in the water, then scoop out slices with large slotted spoon.  Any dirt remaining within the layers will be dislodged and will sink to the bottom of the bowl.

Put leek slices on clean dish towel or several layers of paper toweling to drain.

Roll dish towel or paper towel up loosely and let sit for a few minutes.  The towel will absorb excess moisture from the leeks.

Put leek slices on parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet and put in freezer for several hours or overnight, then quickly transfer frozen leeks (they will begin to thaw within a minute or two) to a zipper freezer bag and store in freezer.  You now have fresh frozen, cleaned leek slices available when needed!

Carrot & Leek Soup

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs. carrots
• 3 large leeks (about 3 cups sliced leeks)
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 4 Tb. butter
• 1 Tb. fresh thyme leaves (1 tsp. dried)
• 1 tsp. lemon zest
• 8 cups low-sodium vegetable stock (or chicken stock)
• 1 cup white wine, like Sauvignon Blanc
• 1/2 cup sour cream or creme fraiche
• Salt and Pepper

Directions:

1. Trim the carrots and chop them into rough 1/2 inch chunks. Trim the root-end off the leeks and cut the white section into quarters. Slice across into small 1/2 inch pieces. (Save the greens for homemade stock.) Place the chopped leeks in a colander and rinse thoroughly--they are often sandy.
2. Place a large pot over medium heat. Add the butter, carrots, leeks and garlic and saute for 10 minutes, stirring regularly.
3. Then add the thyme, lemon zest, stock, wine, 1 tsp. salt, and pepper to taste. Cover and bring to a boil. Stir and cover again. Simmer for 20-25 minutes, until the carrots are soft.
4. Ladle the soup into a high-powered blender. (You might have to do this in two batches.) Place the lid on the blender and open the top vent for steam. Lay a dish towel over the top of the blender and hold firmly as you turn the blender on. Pressure from blending hot liquids can blow the top off and burn you, so be careful--open vent, cover with towel, hold tight! Puree until smooth. Then add the sour cream to the blender and puree again.
5. Pour both batches back into the sauce pot and stir to blend. Serve warm.

Allium Harvest

Alliums - Leeks and Onions  

The last post detailed our recent garlic harvest.  Today I harvested the first batch of leeks and purple onions. Still more in the garden that will be ready over the next couple of weeks.  

It doesn't seem like many people grow leeks.  Not as popular as garlic and onions, they are nonetheless an important part of my spring and fall garden.  I clean them well, slice thinly, freeze on rimmed cookie sheets and pack into zipper freezer bags to store in the freezer until needed.  Yes, a bit of work initially but well worth it.  Sauteed leeks are good in so many dishes.  And potato/leek soup... delicious!  

The next post will show how to thoroughly clean leeks.  It is easy, but there are a couple of key steps necessary to insure there is no dirt/grit remaining in the crevices.   

Leeks - just pulled from the garden

Like garlic, onions require a curing time prior to storage.  The fleshy leaves need to dry out so the neck doesn't grow mold during storage.  Nobody wants to cut into an onion that is moldy in the center.  If properly cured and stored onions will stay good for several months.  

First batch of purple onions... more to come!

The best onion storage facility is a cool basement.  But who is lucky enough to have a cool basement in Texas?   Not me, so I have to improvise as best as possible.  I have converted one of the bedrooms in our house into a large pantry/storage room.  The floor is ceramic tile so it stays (somewhat) cool.  I put large pieces of cardboard down and spread the onions out, spacing a bit so they are not crowded.  Even though we set our air conditioner to the mid-70's the onions stay good for several months.  The optimum temperature for storage is the 50 to 60-degree range, but of course that is not possible in Texas in the summer.  The mid 70's doesn't seem to cause much of a problem though.  

Organic, sustainable, natural.  

The Garlic Chronicles

Garlic is in the air... literally.  Over 200 heads of garlic are hanging/curing in the breezeway of our barn and the fresh garlic aroma wafting through the air is definitely not something typically associated with barns.   But if you're a garlic lover that wonderful aroma is a promise of good things to come!

First batch just pulled, ready to be hung in breezeway

Large, full heads!

Our breezeway is the perfect place for garlic to cure.  The north/south barn openings allow for good air circulation which is essential for the curing process.  Curing garlic is important:  it dries out the "neck" (just above the head) which greatly minimizes the chance for mold during storage, and the leaves dry out, transferring their energy to the head.  

Each garlic plant is tied onto strong baling twine put up in a zig-zag configuration in the hay area of our barn.  This tying process is time consuming, but it is also extremely satisfying - I get to admire each and every beautiful, fat, garlic head.  

About 250 heads of garlic!

The next step after curing is trimming and cleaning each head.  The long tops are cut off just above the head, the bottom roots are trimmed close, and a soft brush is used to gently clean any residual dirt clinging to the head.  Then it is time for good eating or storing in a cool place for planting in the fall (called seed garlic).  

I have been planting my own seed garlic for at least seven years, and the heads are larger and more uniform with each passing year.  

Stay tuned... some of this fresh, organic garlic will be offered for sale later in June.  

In Memory of Shane

Donkey Shane and Simone

If you have been out to Pineywoods Herb Farm within the past couple of years you may have seen little Donkey Shane.  Shane just showed up here one day, running through the gate straight down to the barn like she knew just where she was going.  I likened it to the saying, "I wasn't born in Texas but got here as fast as I could."  Shane wasn't born here but got here as fast as she could!

Shane was a real sweetheart.  A bit standoffish at first, I think because she had not had much human contact before she arrived here.  But as the picture above attests, she loved her little pal Simone and would dutifully stand while Simone held onto her halter or even sat on her. They were just the right size for each other.

Shane was the perfect buddy for our blind horse, Twig.  Being blind, Twig is quite apprehensive and unsure of other horses, and rightly so.  Since he can't see he can't readily judge their behavior towards him and he tends to shy away to protect himself.  But the minute Shane and Twig met Twig felt comfortable with her. Many times Twig would be out in a field grazing or laying down and Shane would be right there by his side.  

Shane suffered from a couple of health problems, the worst being a chronic hoof disease that made it painful for her to walk.  It was manageable for about a year but it gradually worsened.  When it was obvious she was suffering and didn't even want to stand I knew it was time to take her out of her pain.  

Twig misses his buddy.  He will perk up his ears and cock his head, trying to hear her eating grass or standing nearby.  He then nickers, hoping she will answer back and come to his side. I feel badly for Twig.

Life on the farm.  

Cilantro - Love it or leave it

Over the years I have found that people either love the taste of cilantro or hate it.  There rarely seems to be a middle ground.  I have served cilantro pesto several times here at the herb farm and most people love it.  Cilantro pesto contains a few other ingredients that are strongly-flavored... fresh garlic, Parmesan cheese, extra-virgin olive oil... which help temper the pungency of plain cilantro and may make it more palatable to those who don't like it plain. 

I have many customers ask me "why can't I grow cilantro?"  The answer is:  don't try to grow cilantro in the spring, summer, or even early fall.  Cilantro is a cool-weather herb and will bolt and go to seed once temperatures get into the 70's and above.  I only sell cilantro beginning in mid-fall when the temperature is reliably cooler. Cilantro will grow beautifully all winter long, in the ground, and is very cold-hardy.  I never cover mine and it doesn't skip a beat, even when the temperature dips into the teens.  

Sometime around mid-March when the trees bud out and daytime temperatures start to rise cilantro leaves will start to look "lacy" or "ferny", they will grow tall quickly and get small white flowers which will eventually turn to seed; a typical annual plant.  I recently noticed my cilantro plants showing signs of bolting so I needed to get busy, cut them back, and come up with a way to use that wonderful herb.  I cut the leaves and stems from five of my seven plants and got to work making a batch of cilantro pesto.  

Pineywoods Herb Farm Cilantro Pesto

Note:  Ingredient amounts for pesto, whether it be basil, cilantro, or any other herb, is a matter of personal taste.  One "bunch" of cilantro can vary considerably in size so the other ingredients will have to be adjusted depending on the amount of herb material used and on personal taste.  If you love cilantro but are unsure if you like it this much, you may want to substitute some fresh Italian parsley for a portion of the cilantro.  Baby steps.  The ingredient amounts listed below are guidelines and are what I used to make this recipe. Adjust yours accordingly.

5 bunches of cilantro - yielded 7 generous, tightly-packed cups of cleaned leaves & tender stems (since the cilantro will be processed in a food processor tender stems can be included)

Tightly-packed cilantro... a generous 7 cups

I chose to use homemade cotija cheese - 4 ounces.  Cotija is a semi-hard, crumbly, Mexican cheese that I thought would go well.  It did.  Extremely well.   Of course Parmesan cheese can be used, but please... not from a green can.  Use the good stuff.  Cut into small pieces before adding to food processor.

4 small cloves garlic, roughly chopped (or more if you like it extra-garlicky)

About 2/3 cup good, extra-virgin olive oil.  Good olive oil is a must in pesto.

Salt to taste (cheese adds a fair amount of salt so add additional salt sparingly)

Instead of the traditional pine nuts I used about 1/2 cup of toasted pecans, roughly chop before adding to food processor.  Walnuts work well in pesto as well.

Pecans are a great alternative to pine nuts

Add about half of the cilantro and 1/3 cup of the olive oil to the bowl of a food processor and process just a few seconds until cilantro is roughly chopped and the volume is significantly decreased.  Add the remaining cilantro, olive oil, chopped garlic, cotija or Parmesan cheese, nuts, and a small amount of salt.  Process 8-10 seconds or so, then scrape down sides of processor bowl with spatula.  Process a couple of more times for just a few seconds, only until everything is chopped finely.  You don't want to process everything into a puree.  At this point you may want to add a bit more olive oil depending on how "loose" you want your pesto to be.  This is really a matter of personal preference.   A little more salt may be needed as well.

Note the bits of white cheese and pecans in the finished product.  Don't over process!

My finished product yielded almost 4 cups of cilantro pesto.  

Unlike basil pesto which tends to turn dark rather quickly, cilantro pesto stays a vibrant green color.  And it freezes well.  I put about 1/2 cup in small zipper bags, squeeze out the air and put in quart freezer bags.  I can then take out small amounts as needed.  

Cilantro pesto is great over hot pasta and paired with a salad makes for a healthy and satisfying meal.  As an appetizer, spread a bit of goat cheese on a toasted baguette slice then top with a little cilantro pesto.  The marriage of goat cheese and cilantro pesto is marvelous!

Organic? Something to think about.

Growing organically is the only way to go, as far as I'm concerned.  Not using chemical pesticides, herbicides or fungicides is usually the first step for most people but it is only the beginning.  There are other things to think about when you want to keep harmful chemicals out of your food and out of your yard.  

The February/March 2014 issue of Mother Earth News has a very interesting article entitled "Nursery Plants Contain Bee-Killing Chemicals".  This is a good example of thinking organically "outside the box".  Even though you might not use chemicals on your plants or garden/yard area, there are more things to consider.  

If you would like to dig deeper into this subject click here.  

Garden's Bounty in Winter

One would think that with all the sub-freezing temperatures we've been having lately nothing would be growing in an East Texas garden.  Quite the contrary is true.  My broccoli plants are making lots of little broccoli heads, the strawberry plants that went into the ground in October are busy beneath the soil surface putting down a good root structure in preparation for spring fruit.  The garlic plants are also working beneath the soil surface to form nice large heads which will be ready to pull up in mid-late May.  

Carrots!  Carrots are a year 'round crop in my garden.  The carrot seeds I planted in fall are maturing and we've been enjoying fresh carrots for about 6 weeks now, which will continue into the spring (or earlier if I pull them all up before then).  It is such a treat to go out on a cold day and pull up some fresh carrots to roast for dinner.  And there is nothing like the aroma of rich, loamy dirt combined with a freshly-pulled sweet carrot.  

These were pulled on February 1st.  Aren't they beauties?

I hate to waste the carrot tops.  A year or so ago I decided to chop some up and throw in a vegetable soup I was making.  They added a nice texture and subtle taste... kind of like parsley.  Since then I've used them in pasta and potato salads, and green salads as well.  I would think that vibrant green color would provide some good nutrients.

NOW is the time to plant carrots for a spring/summer crop.  And they are so easy, you really don't even have to plant the seeds... just sprinkle them on the soil surface is all that's necessary.  Keep the soil moist until seedlings emerge, then thin a couple of times before you start pulling up small, baby carrots.  They will continue to grow and get larger for a couple of months, just continue to pull up any that are crowded together to give room for growth.  

I like to plant my spring/summer carrot crop in the same beds that tomatoes will go in.  The carrots will get a 6-8 week head start before small tomato plants go in the ground.  Once the tomato plants get larger they do a good job of keeping the carrots cooler and shaded during the hot summer months... a great way to extend your carrot crop into the fall, then it's time to plant again for a winter crop.  

I have a nice selection of heirloom carrot varieties.   Upcoming Seed Saturdays are February 8th and 22nd. More info on Seed Saturdays can be found here.