Author Archives: Pumpkin Ridge Gardens

Gratin of Sorrel and Potatoes

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  • 3 cups sorrel leaves
  • 2 oz. butter
  • 3 lbs yellow Finn potatoes
  • salt and pepper
  • nutmeg
  • 2 cups milk, stock, or combination
  • ¼ cup grated Swiss cheese
  • 2 Tbs. grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 375 and butter a large baking dish.  Remove stems from sorrel, rinse, and spin dry.  Melt half of butter in sauté pan, add sorrel and cook until completely wilted.  Set aside.

Peel and thinly slice potatoes.  Layer half of the potatoes in the baking dish and season with nutmeg salt and pepper.  Spread the sorrel over the potatoes, layer the remaining potatoes on top, and then pour the liquid over it all.  Cut the rest of the butter into pats and distribute over the top of the potatoes and sprinkle with cheeses.  Bake for 1 hour, or until the liquid has been absorbed and the top is brown.

From Shepherd’s Garden Seed catalog.

Grandma Kate’s Wedding Soup

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  • 2 qts veg. or chicken stock
  • ½ – ¾ lb mixed greens
  • meatballs

Wash the greens, blanch in boiling water or steam briefly.  Form small meatballs (use your favorite recipe or vegetarian meat substitute).  Drop meatballs into simmering stock and cook 10 minutes or until done.  Meanwhile, squeeze the excess water out of the greens, slice them into thin strips, and add to the hot stock just before serving.  Garnish with grated hard Italian cheese.

Giant Lima Beans with Parsley and Sorrel

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  • 2 cups large lima beans, soaked
  • 1 bay leaf, 4 parsley sprigs, 2 thyme sprigs
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1 Tbs. butter
  • ½ c. finely diced leek or onion
  • 1 c. chopped parsley
  • 2 c. sorrel, stems removed and leaves chopped
  • ¼ c. cream

Drain the beans, then boil in 1 quart fresh water in a soup pot for 10 minutes.  Add the bay leaf, parsley sprigs, and thyme, lower the heat, and simmer for 30 minutes.  Add 1 tsp. salt and continue cooking until tender, 15 minutes or so.  Drain, but reserve the broth.  Run your fingers through the beans to loosen the skins, then remove them.  This is a fiddly step, but makes the beans easier to digest and gives them a silky texture.  Melt the butter in a skillet, add the leek or onion and ¾ c. of the parsley and cook over medium heat until onion is soft, about 5 minutes.  Add the sorrel and cook until it has wilted.  Stir in 1 cup of the bean broth and simmer until most of it has evaporated.  Add beans, cream and remaining parsley.  Thin with additional broth if necessary.  Taste for seasonings and serve.

From Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison

Gazpacho

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  • 2 slices whole grain bread or ½ garlic bagel
  • 3 cloves garlic, squeezed
  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • 2 cucumbers
  • 1 onion
  • 1 summer squash
  • 2 basil tips
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 2-3 lbs tomatoes
  • ½ lb. green beans
  • 1 sweet pepper

Blend bread, garlic, onion and olive oil in a blender or food processor until smooth.  If needed, add tomatoes for additional liquid.  Trim vegetables of stems and blossom ends, but you do not need to peel them.  Continue adding ingredients until all are included, emptying blender as needed.  Taste and adjust seasonings then chill.  Serve cold with garnish of hard-boiled eggs, chopped onion and croutons.

Serves 4–6.

Garlic Veloute with Croutons and Prosciutto

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  • 1 oz butter
  • 8 oz. leeks, white part only
  • 12 oz. onions, sliced
  • 4 oz. celeriac (celery root), diced small
  • 10 cloves garlic, minced (15 cloves:  mince 5 more and add after you puree)
  • 1 qt. chicken broth
  • Pinch salt and cayenne pepper
  • Pinch nutmeg
  • 1 c. hot cream
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 1/4 c. cream

Heat the butter in 4 quart non – corrosive pot.  Cook the leek whites, onions and celeriac over low heat.  Add the garlic and continue to cook a few more minutes.  Do not brown the onions.  Add the chicken broth and simmer slowly for another 30 minutes.  Add the salt, cayenne and nutmeg.  Puree in a blender until smooth.  Reheat and add the hot cream.  Adjust the seasonings.  Combine the egg yolks and cream in a 2 quart stainless steel mixing bowl.  Add slowly to the cream soup while whisking to achieve a proper emulsion.  Add more broth if needed.  The veloute should be velvety in texture.

Garnish:

  • 3/4 c. diced stale Italian bread, without crust, small
  • 1 oz. butter
  • 1/2 c. fine julienne of prosciutto

Garlic Snow Peas with Filberts

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  • 1/2 lb. snow peas
  • 2-3 small carrots, chopped
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 2-3 cloves garlic
  • 1/2 cup chopped filberts
  • 2 Tbs olive oil
  • salt to taste

Heat olive oil in a heavy frying pan.  Sauté onions and garlic until the onions are translucent.  Add carrots, chopped nuts (almonds or walnuts can be substituted for filberts) and salt.  I tend not to use much salt when I cook, but this is one recipe where I use more than usual.  The effect you are shooting for is for the nuts to take on a salted, roasted taste.  Cook for 3-5 minutes.  Add the snow peas and cook stirring until they take on a dark green color.  This recipe is also great with green beans instead of snow peas.

Garlic Beans with Filberts

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  • 1/2 lb. beans, cut to 1-2 inch pieces
  • 2-3 small carrots, chopped
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 2-3 cloves garlic
  • 1/2 cup chopped filberts
  • 1 Tbs. olive oil
  • 1 Tbs. butter
  • salt to taste

Heat olive oil and butter in a heavy frying pan.  Sauté onions and garlic until the onions are translucent.  Add carrots, chopped nuts (almonds or walnuts can be substituted for filberts) and salt.  I tend not to use much salt when I cook, but this is one recipe where I use more than usual.  The effect you are shooting for is for the nuts to take on a salted, roasted taste.  Cook for 3-5 minutes.  Add the beans and cook stirring until they take on a dark green color.  This recipe is also great with snow peas instead of green beans.

 

Fusilli Estevi (Summer Pasta)

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This easy dish uses the bounty of summer.  You could add eggplant or sweet peppers to the sauté.  We used fresh fettucine for the pasta and fresh mozzarella balls for the cheese.  It was wonderful!

  • 1 lb. fusilli (corkscrew pasta)
  • 2 medium zucchini
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 1/3 c. pine nuts
  • 2 Tbsp. olive oil
  • 3 large tomatoes, cut into ½-inch cubes
  • ¼ c. chopped fresh parsley
  • ¼ c. chopped fresh basil
  • 1 ½ c. ½-inch cubes mozzarella
  • 2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1-2 Tbsp. lemon juice
  • salt and pepper

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Add pasta, stir, and return to a boil.  Meanwhile, cut zucchini into half or quarter rounds about ¼ inch thick.  In a heavy skillet, sauté zucchini, garlic and pine nuts in olive oil with some salt until pine nuts begin to turn golden. Put zucchini mixture into a large, wide serving bowl and add the tomatoes, parsley, basil, cheese, lemon juice, and extra-virgin olive oil.  When the pasta is al dente, drain and add it to the serving bowl.  Toss everything and serve immediately.  Top with freshly grated parmesan.

Fried Lemon and Zucchini Salad

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  • 1 lb. medium zucchini
  • Olive oil, about 1/3 cup
  • 2 large thin-skinned lemons

Slice the zucchini on a bias, about 1/3-inch thick.  Sprinkle with 1 tsp. salt and place in a colander.  Let stand for 1 hour.  Rinse well and dry thoroughly.  In a medium-sized skillet, fry small batches quickly in hot shallow oil, turning once, until golden brown.  Drain on paper towels and place in a bowl.  Slice the lemons very thin.  Add to the hot oil and fry, turning once.  The lemons will brown and the oil will thicken into a delicious sauce.  Add the cooked lemons to the zucchini and add some of the lemon oil.  Let marinate one hour at room temperature before serving (add 1 tsp. of minced garlic while marinating if desired).  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Delicious served with grilled fish or lamb kebabs.

From Recipes 1-2-3 by Rozanne Gold.