Five easy, bomb-proof vegetables for the spring garden. Learn about three annuals and two perennials that will give you that master gardener glow with minimal work.
Season
Lacto Fermented Spicy Korean Kraut
Think of this as kimchi for wimps. It’s more accessible in flavor than a traditional Korean, long-fermented pungent cabbage or turnip ferment. But it’s not so unlike kimchi that it won’t stand in well as a spicy, pungent addition to rice bowls, soups, and noodle dishes of all kinds. For the best results on this…
Lacto Fermented Curtido Cabbage Salsa
As regular readers know, I love a good taco. In fact, I even have a formula for delicious homemade tacos. One of the essential components of a great taco is something crispy and crunchy. The Central American, lightly fermented cabbage slaw called curtido fits the bill perfectly, and has all the benefits of other fermented cabbage condiments like sauerkraut…
Miso Sesame Kale Salad Kraut
This is one of many similar fermentation experiments I make that I think of as “Salad Kraut.” The idea here is a moderately fermented condiment that you can enjoy as a ready-to-go vegetable side dish. It’s somewhere between a salad and a sauerkraut…so, Salad Kraut. This particular variation was so good I had to share. Miso,…
Oven-Roasted Herb Confit Tomatoes
As a gardener, going away or taking vacation in the summer is always a bit of a deal with the devil. On the one hand, a long weekend spent camping (or whatever) is awesome! On the other hand, when you come back home, you are likely to find your tomato plants have taken over your…
Green Herb & Peanut Pork Meatballs in Lettuce Cups
Great news! My publishers have given me permission to share several recipes, photos and tips from my soon-to-be-released book! The Hands-on Home is now so close to launch that it’s time to start promotion – which means giving you guys a little taste of what’s inside the book. These herby, peanuty pork meatballs are one of my…
Kale Florets with Garlic, Chili and Lemon
In case you missed my earlier description, kale florets are the delicious edible flower bud of a mature, overwintered kale plant. You might think of them as bonus no-work broccoli raab. Or perhaps as “the only thing that’s harvestable in the whole damn garden right now.” However you mentally characterize these tender little brassica buds,…
When and How to Harvest Kale Florets
Ok, here’s the deal. Kale, collards, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, cabbage, turnip, kohlrabi – all these amazing, diverse plants have been bred from the same wild cabbage ancestor. Kohlrabi was bred to make a juicy, swollen stem, and you’ll notice it tastes like broccoli stem because, well, botanically, it pretty much is. Brussels sprouts look like teeny…
Garden Magic
Yesterday, as I chopped, dropped, and tried to cram just a few more blueberry bushes into my garden, it was obvious. The apple blossoms, the eager tips of asparagus, and the carpet of germinating calendula made it undeniable. Spring is here. If you are a gardener and you do not see magic in the ripe swelling of…
How To Make Corned Beef Brisket At Home
Just in time for St. Patrick’s Day, it’s time for another giant cured meat tutorial. Our cured meat of focus? Why, corned beef brisket, or course! As you certainly know, there is no corn in corned beef. Originally corned beef was cured with chunky rock salt. Someone thought those nuggets of salt looked like corn…
Better Homemade Vanilla Extract
With all that holiday baking and homemade gift giving I’ll bet you ran through a fair bit of vanilla extract. Good news! If you start a new batch now it will be absolutely perfect for the 2015 holiday season. Homemade vanilla extract is about as simple a DIY as you could hope for, and the…
Tomato Canning Quick Reference Guide
When I was canning up tomatoes this past weekend, and I was sick, so I kept double checking things and kinda getting hazy about what the hell I was doing. Moral of the story: do not attempt to can 100 pounds of tomatoes while sick. But as I was shuffling back and forth to my…