What's Up Doc? Camping and Carrots

So the title is a little too expected right?  But what else do I think of when I think of carrots.  A smart mouthed rabbit chased by a gun wielding doof, of course.  I'm always amazed how long "60 days to maturity" really is.  Yikes!  So here we are harvesting some carrots.  5 1/2 pounds to be somewhat exact.

I decide to pick them while it is pouring down rain and when I have 2 hours before I'm going to a get together with friends.  We were going to make the lemonade but decided to bring fresh carrots instead.  Eat 'em fresh!  Carrots themselves seem a bit boring so Barry hooked up some of the buttermilk dressing with blue cheese that we usually put over tomatoes.

Now I'm somewhat of blue cheese connoisseur.  My whole family is, really.  So when I say this is the best dressing ever, I'm speaking on some authority.  Barry found this little gem on the Bon Appettit website.  It will become a summer favorite.  We've also done a low cal version with low fat buttermilk and it is also tasty.

Buttermilk Dressing with Blue Cheese

Read More http://www.bonappetit.com

Ingredients

Dressing
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh Italian parsley
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 tablespoons minced shallot
1 small garlic clove, minced
Coarse kosher salt

Salad
6 assorted large heirloom tomatoes, cored, cut into 3/4-inch-thick wedges
1/2 cup thinly sliced shallots
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Coarse kosher salt
3/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
2 green onions, thinly sliced diagonally
2 tablespoons fresh Italian parsley leaves

Preparation

Dressing
Whisk first 6 ingredients in small bowl. Season dressing with coarse salt and freshly ground pepper.

Salad
Place tomatoes and shallots in large bowl. Add oil and lemon juice; sprinkle with coarse salt and freshly ground pepper and toss. Divide among 6 plates. Drizzle with dressing. Sprinkle with blue cheese, green onions, and parsley.





By the way, camping get together was fantastic!  Our friend, Jeff, put together a hilarious video of the annual camping trip the guys in the neighborhood live through.  His Camper's Delight might be paired with some carrots next year :)  At least they aren't chasing each other around with weapons.

In The Meanwhile: Let's Have Some Lemonade

There isn't much happening in the ole garden.  I mean, the basic stuff is going on; like growing.  There seems to be a lot of tomatoes getting ready and the cucumbers are finally looking like they want to vine and the greens on the potato plants are getting brown around the edges...but I haven't done anything worth mentioning.  The garden is doing all the work right now.

I thought I'd back track a little and tell you that we also garden in some containers on our deck to maximize your growing.  


We started our cherry tomato varieties in containers that we placed in raised, rolling stands (great for the back!).  These are wonderful because they don't need to be watered as much but I do make sure we put new soil in these every year or we add a lot of leaf grow to the existing dirt.  The nutrients, it seems, really get sucked up.




This year we felt like brainiacs and we grew lettuce, a spring variety, and spinach around the perimeter of each container.  We then put the tomatoes in the center.  Two plants per container seem to do the trick.  This was fantastic and we got some super tasty lettuce.  We have continued to replant lettuce but a summer variety.  The shade of the tomato plants make for a nice, symbiotic relationship and keeps us in some lovely lettuce.

Having little tomatoes, lettuce and herbs right on hand and an easy walk right out our sliding glass door to our deck is lovely for the lazy gardener.  Currently we have chives in one of those wooden barrels.  I'm not a big fan.  It is ok the first year but they seem to be a magnet for ants and after five years the metal rings holding the barrel together are falling off, leaving my chives in a precarious situation. Chives are wonderful and should be the first thing you attempt growing.  You can't kill them and they will make you feel super successful.  I'm not sure how they are going to like being transplanted once again.  This will be their third transplant and look at them... wild and wonderful.

  We also plant our herbs in these fantastic containers (have I mentioned that Gardener's Supply Company has been the best thing since sliced bread, or in this case beets).  These pictures are of when we first planted this year and what was left over from last year.  We had a mild winter and almost all my herbs made it through the cold.

One of my favorite herbs to grow is our basil.  We did Sweet Basil and Thai Basil (which has a stunning purple flower that attracts the ever helpful bees).  Basil is another herb for the first timer to start with.  I just made some Basil Lemonade for some friends and it seemed to be a big hit.  I thought is was refreshing and that the basil added a wonderful flavor to it that was unique.  I've added the recipe below.

Basil Lemonade

Ingredients:

1 cup white sugar
5 cups of water
4-6 lemons
Basil

1.  First, make a simple syrup.  Pour a cup of water and a cup of sugar into a sauce pan and heat until sugar dissolves and the liquid is clear.  Place to the side.

2.  Juice about 4 lemons to get 1 cup of lemon juice.  Depending on the lemons you might need more.  Our lemons were fairly big.

3.  In a container pour the simple syrup, the cup of lemon juice and four cups of cold water.  Mix or shake.

4.  Right before serving put in basil (chiffonade) and sliced lemons.  This is definitely better served over ice.

*If you'd like a more basil taste, put additional basil in the simple syrup and bring to a boil.

Just Beet It

Showin' How Funky Strong Is Your Fight
It Doesn't Matter Who's Wrong Or Right
Just Beat It, Beat It
Just Beat It, Beat It
Just Beat It, Beat It
Just Beat It, Beat It

- Michael Jackson

 This just in.  Well, kinda.  We harvested the beets a week and a half ago but I've been avoiding my blog.  Beets aren't necessarily exciting or sexy.  And so I will tell you we successfully brought in 6 pounds of beets.  Not bad.  They look impressive, right?  They don't look as bountiful once you cut them down.  The greens can be used for salads and if you are Michelle from Callia's Corner http://www.callias-corner.com/, you'll mix them up in your Vitamix Blender and make a groovy shake.  She better make one for me soon so I can become a believer.  

We are going to try the recipe below from Culinary Art/About.com 

http://culinaryarts.about.com/od/salads/r/beetsalad.htm.  We'll let you know how it goes.  I'll be honest, I'm nervous.  I'm not sure I've ever eaten a beet.  They are always so red and yucky looking.   I hope it is good because I'm feeling all Barbara Kingsolver in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle right now.  But it doesn't maker who's wrong or who's right, just beet it.

Roasted Beet Salad with Crumbled Feta

Ingredients:

• 2 bunch red beets
• ¼ cup crumbled feta cheese
• 1 cup microgreens or baby greens, rinsed and dried
• ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 lemon
• Kosher salt, to taste

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.


2. Tear or cut the beet tops from the beets, leaving about an inch of stalk attached. Wash and thoroughly dry the beets.


3. Place beets in a roasting pan or on a flat baking pan or sheet pan. Drizzle with a bit of extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with Kosher salt. Roast for 30-45 minutes, depending on size and the desired doneness. Test for doneness after about 30 minutes of cooking by piercing the largest beet with a knife. If the knife easily enters the beet with only a small amount of resistance, it's done. And the smaller ones will be, too.


4. Remove from oven and let cool for 20 minutes or so.


5. Slip the skins off the beets by hand. They should slip off easily, but you can use a paring knife on any stubborn spots. Just be careful not to cut away too much beet.


6. Cut the beets into ½-inch dice and toss in a stainless steel mixing bowl with enough olive oil to coat them.


7. Cut the lemon in half and squeeze the juice of about half of it in to the bowl, gently stirring to combine and checking the flavor as you go.


8. Season to taste with Kosher salt.


9. Whisk together 3 Tbsp olive oil and 1 Tbsp lemon juice and toss the greens in this dressing in a separate bowl.


10. Spoon the beet mixture onto the center of a salad plate and top each portion with about 1 Tbsp of crumbled feta cheese and about ¼ cup of the dressed greens. Serve right away.

Makes about 4 appetizer-sized portions.

 

Side Note:

 

Should I be worried about this little guy...