The Harvest

This weekend I dug potatoes and picked beans with Jessica and I loved every dirty, sweaty minute of it. We could only work for a couple of hours because a late summer storm threatened overhead forcing us into the house. I love Jessica's kitchen - sure it is a dreamy "cooks kitchen" that anyone would die for but that is not what I love about it. I love the honesty of it. There are garden vegetables lining every window sill, earthy potatoes piled in shoe boxes, crates and recycled shopping bags, glad containers are stacked high in both refrigerators filled with beautiful fresh picked beans and of course there is the cook in the center of it all; down to earth, honest to the core, generous and kind to all who call her friend.

We piled our riches from the garden among the harvest in her kitchen. It was fun to listen to Jessica as she sorted the different kinds of potatoes and beans. She is passionate about these edible treasures and wants to share that passion with everyone who will listen. I received an education and now I am inspired to make my own garden next year. Every time I look upon my large plot of land I feel somewhat irresponsible that I am not putting it to better use. I am reminded of a comment a Russian girlfriend made when she first came to the USA. She could not believe that Americans have all this land and we use it to grow "grass!"

Once things were sorted out, Jessica made a nice lunch consisting of green beans lightly sprinkled with BR Cohn Olive Oil and sauteed in her favorite non-stick pan by "Swiss Diamond", sliced tomatoes (yellow, red, purple), and cucumber slices lightly seasoned with sea salt. Deeeelish!

It was a perfect day.

Later I mashed some of those potatoes with roasted garlic and melted brie cheese. Yum!

Too Hot or Not - Pepper Your Recipes This Season

When a dear friend of mine first moved here from Russia, she could not get over the amount of land Americans have around their homes. Moreover, she could not get over that we used that precious land to grow...GRASS! Well dear Tanya it is true that we love our grass but this year gardens have cropped up (no pun intended) on many of those pristine lawns.

One of our Culina-ettes (you can just call her Jessica) has been hosting cooking "seminars" on what to do with all of those wonderful veggies, peppers, berries and fruits this year and the classes have been receiving rave reviews. Jess picked 8 pounds of earthen rich potatoes and heirloom Tomatoes from her garden and we sold them in the store during the Annual Sidewalk Sale this weekend. There is nothing like a fresh tomato sandwich with Duke's Mayo on fresh baked bread (baked in the Zojirushi Bread Maker - of course)...mmmmm good! There was a lot of discussion with folks around tomatoes, potatoes and peppers this weekend. One customer said that he has tomatoes and peppers "Out The Wazoo" and asked if it was appropriate to say "Wazoo" - we laughed, but what else can one say when the tomatoes and peppers are taking over. He signed up for the Tomato Bounty class to find out how to give his Wazoo some relief.

Okay so the title of this blog is "Too Hot or Not" ...I'm getting to it.

Those gardens also have a plethora of peppers. We buy the seeds or starter plants, plant them in our gardens or Aerogrow indoor gardens and then what? Which are Hot and which are not and what in the world do we do with them?

This little chart lists peppers from hottest to mildest. I threw this in there for educational purposes but what you really want to know is what to do with them.

Those who took my Tamale Class earlier this year learned how to make two delicious sauces with peppers (Jalapeno and Ancho Chili). Besides salsas and sauces, adding them to your olive oils and vinegars, consider using them in your fall and winter soups.

A website I like for pepper recipes is Pepper Fools . There are thousands of recipes out on the Internet for spicy corn chowder, Thai soups, Mexican Soups and I can't post them all or link to them all but I thought I would share one of my favorites; Tortilla Soup (by the way the Spanish place that closed down on main street had the best tortilla soup I have ever eaten and I have eaten tortilla soup from California to NYC). I WANT THAT RECIPE! This one is pretty darned close.

Ingredients:
8 tablespoons Canola oil
5 10" to 12" corn tortillas
1 spanish yellow onion
6 garlic cloves
1 small bunch of cilantro
5 small carrots
2 large fresh or 14.5 oz. canned diced tomatoes
8 cups chicken stock
14 ounces of fresh corn kernels (if corn is out of season, use frozen)
3/4 - 1 1/2 Tablespoons ground cumin
1/2 - 1 Tablespoon chili powder
4 bay leaves
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
5 small chipotle peppers
2 tbsp Abodo Seasoning
Salt and Pepper to taste
Juice from 1 lime

Garnish:
Cheddar Cheese
Fresh Sliced Avocado
Fried Tortilla Strips
Sour Cream

Cooking Methods:
If using a pressure cooker, cook the chips and saute vegetables in the pot with lid off !
Remove everything and then add water and chicken to cook under pressure. If using regular stock pot, you can fry the chips in the bottom of the stock pot, saute veggies and then add chicken juice from the pan used for poaching chicken.

Preparation:
Pressure Cook chicken breast in 2 cups water (save the juice)
If poaching, do not save the juice
Dice the onion, carrots and mince the garlic.
Wash and towel try the cilantro, remove stems and chop.
Dice tomatoes on plate or other surface to save juice and have them at the ready.
Rinse the chicken under cold water and dry.

Cut up 2 of the tortillas into 1/4 inch strips and fry them in 3 tablespoons of Canola oil. You want them to be a golden brown but be careful not to burn them, they cook quickly.

Depending on the size of your pot, you may have to cook several at time.
Remove the strips from pot and transfer to some paper towels to drain. Season with a little salt.

Using the same oil, saute carrots until lightly brown (around 10 min) add in your peppers and onions and saute all veggies, if using pressure cooker, remove all veggies and oil from pot. Add water and chicken breasts and cook under pressure for 10 minutes.

After chicken has finished cooking (10 minutes in Pressure Cooker, 25 - 30 minutes poaching) remove from pot and shred (Hint: One fork to hold it down, the other to tear away shreds of meat). Return Oil and Veggies to Chicken juice in pressure cooker. If poaching, throw poached chicken water down the drain (DO NOT REUSE POACH WATER).

In large Pot -

• Add chicken broth
• Tear the remaining 3 corn tortillas into bite size pieces and add to the pot
• Add the cilantro and stir
• Add fresh diced tomatoes with their juice, cumin, chili powder, and bay leaves and bring to a boil.
• Reduce heat to a simmer, add the corn, Chipotle peppers (MAKE SURE YOU OPEN AND RINSE THE PEPPERS THOROUGHLY - NO SEEDS - otherwise your soup will be too Darn hot to eat) and Cayenne. Simmer for 15 - 20 minutes and remove from heat.
• Add shredded chicken, lime juice and taste for spiciness.

Garnish with fried tortillas, freshly diced avocado, grated cheddar cheese, and sour cream.
The sour cream really helped mellow out some of the spices and gave the soup a wonderful creamy appearance. This soup is a meal enjoy!