Category Archives: Garden
More Ribs
We currently are running an excess supply of pork ribs. Kroger often sell three racks packaged together in a big sealed bag. Ordinarily I separate them and freeze individual racks but somehow a package went entire into the big freezer. So. We ended up with three racks to use up, thaw one, thaw them all. This is round two.
The patio garden produced a couple of nice red bells, one was roasted to add to the beans, along with a large sweet onion, bbq sauce, ketchup, and brown sugar.
I poked several already cooked ribs into the beans and cooked them at 350 for half an hour.
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Garden Fresh: Jalapeno Relish and Easy Salsa
My garden was hit with both hail and an infestation of earwigs. I managed to get a small crop of tomatoes, jalapenos and potatoes despite the destruction. The ducks have been great at keeping the rest of the pests at bay, but earwigs are nocturnal, so they managed to escape the duck patrol.
My dad and youngest brother sent home cucumbers and jalapenos on my last trip, so I decided it was time to put everything to good use before they went bad on my counter.
First up, Easy Salsa, recipe here.
I love pickled jalapenos, so I wanted to pickle some this summer. I have had plenty, but I thought if I was going to do that, it wouldn’t hurt to have extra from my brother. Add my dad’s huge English cucumbers and I got a fresh, spicy combo that is terrific on everything, especially grilled hot dogs. Yum.
Pickled Jalapeno-Cucumber Relish
- 10 large jalapenos
- 1 large cucumber (or two medium)
- 2 tsp fresh dill (opt)
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled, quartered
- 1 cup water
- 3/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup white vinegar
- 1 tbsp kosher salt
- 3 tbsp sugar
jars, blender, saucepan
You can rough chop all the vegetables, since this will be run through either a food processor or blender. If you want to tone down the spice – remove the seeds and ribs from the jalapenos. I did not peel the cucumber because it was garden fresh.
I added just a touch of dill – because I thought the cucumbers would need it. It’s not overwhelming and it could easily be omitted.
In the saucepan combine water, vinegars, sugar and salt. Bring to a low boil
In the blender or food processor, add jalapenos, cucumbers, herbs and garlic and just enough water to cover. Pulse until all the ingredients are finely chopped. Add to boiling mixture, bring back to a boil, reduced heat and cook for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool before adding to sterilized glass jars.
I did not can this recipe – jars will last about two weeks in the refrigerator. I froze several of the jars and they should last a good six months.
As a side note – those are grapes from my vines. I have one red vine and one concord vine. Last year they were barren, the year before they tasted like concord grapes, this year the vines are overflowing and taste sweet and are almost seedless. This fall I’m going to espalier them to create a screen and hopefully keep the dogs out of them. It’s been a challenge this year. Bixby loves to pick them off the vines and grapes are not good for dogs.
Tidbits
Ginger Boy, thwarted.
Here’s another view of that fritillary at the pond.
Ham and cheese muffin with an egg and that red pepper jelly. It’s a little too runny, more like pepper syrup. Tasty, nonetheless.
Those tabasco peppers are slowly ripening.
It doesn’t get much more comfortable than mashed potatoes and gravy
I brought in enough peppers to make a nice slaw.
Cheeseburger pr0n
I like pie.
Tom Cat Foolery
I noticed Ginger Boy was taking an interest in the hummers visiting the cigar plant. I shooed him off and moved the chives onto that space to preclude mischief.
Peppers Out The Wazoo
We can’t keep up with the peppers even when we lose many to the worms and bugs.
We gave it the ol’ college try, though. I wish we had more of the classic bell shapes because the pointy ended ones are hard to stand up in a pan.
These are filled with the classic hamburger, tomato, and rice mixture with lots of chopped pepper tops and onions. I seasoned these with basil, oregano, thyme, parsley flakes, and marjoram with plenty of onion and garlic powder. I think I’ll go back to the white, stringy cheeses the next time. There is something a little off with the cheddar, seems like.
Tidbits
These are tabasco peppers, of Tabasco Sauce fame. I like how they seem to grow upside down. I’m not sure how to use them, guessing that I’ll pickle them whole for another giardiniera or something.
Made another batch of pepper jelly from all the red ripe peppers we had. Mostly these were Anaheims, but I added several ripe serranos, jalapenos, some red bell peppers, and a habanero for a little extra heat. They haven’t set up quite enough to suit me but they may, in time.
Here’s an Instapot success story: I bought some beef shanks a while back, thinking that they would make a nice au jus. I used them that way but I had one leftover that took up freezer space so I took it out. Chopped some onions, celery, potatoes, and carrots and put them into the pot. Added a can of beef broth, some red wine, thyme, rosemary and sage from the garden, and laid the still frozen shank on top. There’s a soup button on the control panel, I pushed it and walked away. After a while it was done – I pulled the power cord and let it sit until it it unsealed. The shank needed to be chopped and the marrow bone removed, I also pulled the herb bundle and thickened the soup with corn starch. It was delicious! Yay Instapot!
Here are some of those red serranos, with a few banana peppers peeking through.
We grow habaneros because they are so pretty, there is no way we will use them all.
My banana peppers put out a nice crop, the stems were heavy and drooping so I tried to prop them upright. Alas, all I accomplished was to break the branches off. I sliced the peppers and added then to the big jar of peppers rings I have going, on the bottom so they would be the last eaten.
Tired of chili yet? We took the last of the chili and made chili cheeseburger fries.
Yes, there is a cheeseburger in there!
Cigar Plant
Mrs J hung a cigar pant near to the nectar feeders, the hummers hit it pretty often. I finally got a shot after a bunch of missed opportunities.
Patio Garden Peppers
I made a quick pass through the container peppers to collect a nice variety of colors for a slaw. These will be run through a mandoline and the results of that roughly chopped and added to to a head of cabbage that has undergone the same treatment. I like to salt the mixture fairly heavily and toss it in a big bowl to wilt for an hour or two. Rinse the salt, drain , and add a rice vinegar dressing, some celery seeds, and fresh ground black pepper.
