Mushrooms and Fennel

After cleaning the fennel I use only the base of the leaves.  The tops can be saved as garnish for salads.

After sauteing the mushrooms in a mixture of olive oil and butter add the chopped fennel.  Next add enough white wine or chicken stock to slightly cover the mixture.  Simmer until liquid is almost gone.

The optional step is adding cream and simmering until it has thickened.

Sometimes I use it as a  side dish.  This time I topped spaghetti with the mixtures and added Parmesan cheese.

When planting the Burpee Orion Hybrid below I was very careful to space them so they wouldn’t crowd.

And another gorgeous view, one of the last this year that will set in my mountain view.

The picture below is a shallot that was too small to pull last fall.  It made it through the winter and is growing big enough to pick this time.  I do plan to plant some this fall for an early summer harvest.

This sunset was just too beautiful not to share.

Since it was the first time, I just stuck them in the ground like they were onion sets.

They grew and multiplied in both places.  My son and his friends used all the shallots in Virginia.  After sharing with friends here I had many to use and save.  I made the mistakes not refrigerating them, so some rotted before I figured that out.  After using them in many recipes, I sadly used the last one in February.  By the time I went to the store that had them last year, they were sold out.  But I found some bigger and less expensive shallots at a grocery store sold by the pound.  Following Jim Crockett’s instructions from an old Time Life book called Vegetables and Fruits, this time I planted them two inches into the ground.

I’m not sure the grocery store variety will grow, and also wonder if they will do as well as last year’s.  Any one have any experience with shallots they could share?

trimmed and sliced okra

one 14.5 oz can tomatoes with the juice

one sliced carrot

two garlic cloves, chopped

one chopped red onion

one 15.5 can black beans with liquid

1/2 cup brown rice

2 cups chicken stock

1/2 cup frozen corn

fresh chopped parsley

1 T olive oil

1/2 loaf of lavash, toasted

After chopping the carrots, onions and garlic I sauteed them, then added to rice until it was translucent.

I added two cups of chicken stock.  After cooking for twenty minutes I added the tomatoes.  Then I cooked it until the rice was tender, 15 more minutes, and added the okra.  When it was just tender, I cooked the corn until it was heated.  (More corn would have been even better, but that was all I had.)  When I put it in the bowl I topped it with a generous sprinkling of parsley.

It was a substantial soup served with toasted lavash that hit the spot on a chilly evening.  The flavors blended overnight.  The soup was even better the next day.

All these blossoms in September turned into peppers by October.

Frost is possible this week, so it will definitely be inside for the winter.  Maybe it will keep producing for another year.  I won’t give up until the plant does!

Flatbread pizzas from Health magazine

Since then I’ve experiment with many variations, all tasty but some better than others.  The one below included zucchini, peppers, onions and parsley from the garden.

Adding mushrooms made it even better.   It is hard to beat fresh tomatoes and basil from the garden.

For one I used left-over stewed okra and tomatoes.  Whatever I’ve had from the garden, and used has been an appetizing meal.  The possibilities seem endless!

The two garden ingredients were washed and ready.  I used the four color pepper corns instead of just black.

The seeds began popping quickly, and the wine vinegar was ready with the sugar, salt and turmeric mixed in.   I used half the sugar and salt to make it a little healthier.

I made half the recipe, and hope to use them in a week or two.

Previously I have picked several for various dishes.  It seemed so overloaded that I thought picking a few would help the rest get bigger.

It is still abundant with little peppers and blooms.

It will keep me supplied all summer and into the fall.  Wonder if I should try for another year?

It had to be painted with two prime coats, and two coats of high gloss so it could be easily washed.

Now I’ve started filling it with pots of seeds, and last year’s parsley.  There’s parsley in the garden now, so the those can be put in the garden.  The other plants coming up on the top shelf are leeks.  Last year I planted them right in the garden, but these should get a head start and grow bigger.

The bottom shelf has parsley, purple basil, coriander, Serrano peppers, Brandy Boy, Fourth of July, and Juliet tomatoes.  This new sunny window should be a great place for seedlings.  The dining room table is no longer covered with pots of dirt!

I used a combination of Waltham and Butterbush squash.

Above are the rest of the ingredients, except for the chicken stock and cream.

This soup has a simply delicious taste and texture.  I thought last year I was growing plenty of Butternut squash, but with all the soup trials, they went quickly.  This is my favorite, but the Spicy Butternut Squash Soup is a very close second.