Winding Down

A big part of ending a gardening season is clearing out those items that are done for this summer. All my cornstalks have been dug up and hauled away. While doing that, I found enough small ears to make another half-batch of frozen corn. (I'll correct my mis-info from last week: the recipe is from Helen Blankers, who was a cousin of my mother-in-law. I discussed this with Aunt Nina this past week, and have made a note on my recipe card.)

Also, while clearing the corn, I found evidence that there had been a raccoon out there. He was too late to really gorge himself, though. There were only three ears that had the husks shredded and the cobs chewed up. I think part of the reason he didn't find the patch was I brought all the ears into the house to husk as I used the ears, so the odor of fresh corn wasn't in the air. I'm not setting the live trap.

I do, however, have voles helping themselves to the remaining beets. I've occasionally seen little dark shapes scurrying away when I've headed out there. Ick. Some of the beets have been hollowed out by those rodents. But the beet greens, even on the hollow ones, are still healthy looking. (I'm not eating raw beet green now.) The live trap won't help with those varmints.

All the spent gladiolus bulbs have been dug. They're lying in a heap, drying. I need to move them into the garage, out of the sun, and where they won't get rained on. After they've dried a bit longer, I'll cut all but about 2" of the tops off. I still need to dig the dahlia tubers. Both glads and dahlias want to avoid frosts and freezing. There are also a few Peruvian lilies interspersed with the dahlias that will require digging. A neighbor reports having already having had the temp drop below freezing, but we haven't seen it drop below 40° - yet. I know it's coming.

All the potato vines have died back, so I could dig those whenever I feel like it. But there's no rush - they're underground and won't care about a frost. The carrots will also need digging, but later. I've been digging as I want those. They're supposed to be sweeter after a frost. The Swiss chard is still going strong. I have no excuse for not making chard salads.

There was a late picking of green beans last week. The grasshoppers are just discovering those leaves, bummer. I used some of the beans in this recipe, most of which went to our daughter. She prefers her beans raw, but I want mine less crunchy. I'll par-boil the remaining beans longer next time.

Green Bean Salad with Basil

1.5 pd trimmed green beans, in 2-3" pieces

Salt

1/2 finely chopped red onion (or shallot)

2 Tbl balsamic vinegar

4 Tbl EVOO

3/4 C fresh basil, chopped

3/4 C freshly grated Parmesan (1.5 oz)

Freshly grated black pepper

Blanch beans in salted water for 2 minutes, then drain and chill. Soak the onion in water while blanching the beans, then drain. Combine beans, onion, and basil in a bowl. Add balsamic and cheese, tossing to coat. Add salt and pepper to taste. Chill.

Could add halved cherry tomatoes, pine nuts, or use feta instead of Parmesan.

The tomatoes are still producing like crazy. I really don't want to can any this year as I went overboard last summer. I may freeze some. I have too many cherry tomato plants. They do make a great snack, but too much of a good thing tends to get old. I found recipes for the southern treat, tomato gravy. Now, I'm not southern enough to use this on biscuits, but I do like it over stewed greens (looking at you, Swiss chard). It also works well as a variation on tomato soup. I used some of it as pizza sauce, just added extra Italian seasoning and oregano. Dennis ate it without complaint!

Tomato Gravy

Melt 2 Tbl bacon grease (or butter, if you really aren't southern enough). Sauté 1 medium diced onion plus 1 clove garlic, minced, in the grease. Whisk in 3 Tbl flour, then 1/2 C each water and milk. Add 1/2 tsp each salt and pepper. You can add 4-5 ripe fresh tomatoes or a (14.5 oz) can of diced tomatoes. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer, uncovered, until thickened. Add 3 sprigs thyme. Serve hot.

This last recipe is for butter to use on steaks, as well as veggies (corn, potatoes, green beans, etc). It would probably be great on toasted hearty breads. I combined two recipes, because I didn't have any chipotle peppers, but I do have adobo seasoning. I crushed two small red cherry peppers, using my garlic press, into the butter. (I froze some of the butter in small containers to enjoy later.)

Chipotle Lime Butter

8 Tbl unsalted butter, room temp

3 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, minced

1 Tbl lime juice

2 tsp grated lime zest

2 tsp chopped fresh mint

1/2 tsp granulated garlic (or 2 cloves, crushed)

1/2 tsp kosher salt (or flaky sea salt)

1/8 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp Italian seasoning

Mix all together. Serve at room temp. Keeps in fridge one week, or freeze for up to two months.

I zapped my butter first in the microwave, until melted, then added the rest, stirring well. I let it cool on the counter before using. I zest limes when I have them (they don't seem to keep long), and freeze the zest in a small cleaned spice jar. You can scrape some off with a spoon as you need it. Works for lemon zest, too. I use bottled lime juice.