Roasting Sunflower Seeds by Donna Duffy

All around town the sunflower heads are nodding, heavy with seeds ready to harvest. If you've managed to rescue your seeds from the birds and squirrels, here's a recipe for roasting seeds in the shell from the National Sunflower Association.

Need to Ripen Green Tomatoes? Let's Party! by Carol King

Perhaps, dear gardener, you have a plethora of unripe tomatoes in your garden. I do not. I got perhaps 50 tomatoes from my “Sweet 100s” (thinking of changing its name to “Sweet Tens”), exactly two “roma” tomatoes, and four “early girls”. I have one plant that did not set one single tomato. That is it; failure of great magnitude. If you were more successful than I, here are a few tips on dealing with green tomatoes.

To speed-ripen on the vine try these:

• Stop watering. This encourages ripening.

• Root prune the plant. Dig into the soil 6-8” deep and cut around a circle 12” from the stem. Shake the plant but don’t dig it up. This will stress the plant and the fruit will ripen faster.

• Pinch off any flowers, small fruit, new shoots, and suckers. It’s too late for them to become anything. Do this now and all the plants energy will go toward ripening.

When frost is expected, try these:

• Cover the plant completely and anchor so the wind doesn’t blow it off. Use old blankets, thick plastic, or anything similar and make sure it goes all the way to the ground providing the plant with trapped warmth.

• Harvest the tomatoes by pulling the plant from the ground and hanging it upside down in a garage or other shelter. Check often for ripe ones.

• Pick the pink ones and put them on the counter to ripen

• Pick the green tomatoes and store them in a shallow tray lined with newspaper. They need 60-70 degrees and no light. The warmth ripens them not light.    For more information, try these Fact Sheets:  http://www.ext.colostate.edu/ptlk/1832.html, http://www.colostate.edu/Dept/CoopExt/4dmg/VegFruit/ripening.htm, http://www.ext.colostate.edu/ptlk/1831.html. 

Spice up Your Summer with Homemade Salsas! by Chef Elizabeth Buckingham

Photo closetcooking.com

Fresh homemade salsas are a flavorful, healthy way to use an abundance of summer produce – and of course you can customize these recipes to suit your own tastes. A basic salsa typically includes tomatoes, peppers and onions, but the potential combinations are endless. Make your salsas spicier with a variety of hot peppers; incorporate local fruits for sweeter salsas; add fresh herbs for texture and brightness. Salsas can easily be made raw (such as in a traditional pico de gallo) but throwing the vegetables on the grill adds another flavor dimension that elevates anything you use it with. Beyond the standard corn chips, try dipping fresh raw vegetables or using your salsas as a sauce for flank steak, grilled chicken, shrimp skewers, salmon filets, or burgers. If you want to really save the flavors of summer, you can preserve your salsas by water-bath canning to enjoy throughout the year.

Summer Farmers' Market Recipes By Chef Elizabeth Buckingham

Peach and Prosciutto Salad photo tidymom.net

The heat of summer is here and with it comes an incredible array of fresh fruits and vegetables. Cooking fresh, light and healthy dishes is super-easy in the summer – the amazing produce doesn’t need much to shine! Keep things simple and throw your fruits and vegetables on the grill for extra flavor and sweetness, or leave everything raw for crunch. Truly, it’s summertime and the cooking is easy!

This fresh, light salad combination showcases the best of Colorado’s amazing summer peaches. You can replace the prosciutto with crumbled bacon, or keep it vegetarian and omit the meat altogether. A sharp artisan cheese really brings out the peaches’ sweetness.

Peach & Prosciutto Salad with Balsamic Syrup (serves 4)

2 ripe peaches

4 oz. prosciutto

1 oz. balsamic syrup

6 oz. mixed salad greens

Artisan goat cheese, blue cheese or feta crumbles, if desired

Kosher salt and freshly-ground pepper

Slice peaches into thin wedges, removing pit. Slice prosciutto into one-inch-wide strips and wrap each peach slice with one slice of prosciutto. Arrange salad greens on chilled salad plates and top each plate with a few wrapped peach slices. When ready to serve, drizzle lightly with balsamic syrup and sprinkle with salt and fresh pepper. Sharp cheese crumbles may be added for additional flavor contrast, if desired.

Peaches on the Grill by Elaine Lockey

photo courtesy of chasingdelicious.com

Grilled Balsamic Peaches

Yes, you read it right: grilled peaches. The sweet and tangy combined taste of grilled peaches is like no other.  I was skeptical until I tried this and now it’s my favorite summer side dish.  Use fresh peaches for this. It’s a great way to use up peaches that need to be eaten right away.

Ingredients (makes 4 servings)

4 peaches, halved and pitted (don't need to skin)

1-2 tablespoons olive oil

Salt and ground black pepper to taste   

1/4 teaspoon Cajun seasoning (can decrease this amount)

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar (optional)

2 teaspoon chopped Italian flat leaf parsley

Directions   

1. Preheat grill for high heat for 10 minutes

2. Place olive oil in a bowl. Add peach halves and toss to evenly coat with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.

3. Cook the peaches, flesh side down, on preheated grill until slightly charred, 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from the grill and dust with Cajun seasoning. Cut halves into slices or leave as is. Put peaches into bowl and toss with vinegar and parsley if desired.

4. Serve warm. Great side dish.

(Recipe adapted from allrecipes.com and originally submitted by user Shock)

Fresh Summer Pesto By Chef Elizabeth Buckingham

Basil Photo by Elizabeth Buckingham

The current abundance of basil (even in our painfully dry climate!) makes fresh pesto a quintessential summer staple. Most recipes utilize the basics: basil, pine nuts, garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper, with cheese as an additional option. This delicious combo is classic for a reason, but is more of a loose concept rather than a precise recipe. The idea is simple: pulverize fresh herbs or greens (pesto refers to the pestle traditionally used to prepare it) and using the basic formula of nuts, seasoning and a little oil, adjust the recipe to suit your tastes and whatever might currently be in season in your own garden.

Genovese basil is named for the Italian port town of Genoa, in Italy’s Liguria region, and the fresh, light cuisine found here allows pesto to really shine - especially when combined with handmade pasta and incredible summer tomatoes. You can make vegan pesto by omitting the cheese, but if you do add cheese please avoid the horrifying green can of processed sawdust at all costs. True Parmigiano costs a fortune, but you’ll only use a bit and the flavor will shine through. Pecorino-Romano, an aged sheep’s-milk cheese, may also be used. Your final dish will only be as good as the ingredients you put in, and since pesto is so utterly simple it is absolutely worth your time and money to seek out the best.

What to Harvest Now (or soon!): Spinach - by Barbara LaRowe

This time of year makes everyone yearn for fresh veggies, homegrown goodies from the garden.  Since we live in Colorado we are still getting vestiges of winter, so the idea of having your garden in full growth is still around the corner. 

For those people who are anxious for the taste of fresh vegetables, spinach is a great early crop that can be started in a container, and protected when necessary. 

What to Do With Green Tomatoes by Carol King

Lakewood Gardener, Jose Lara with his bounty of vegetables! Photo by Diana Roca.

This is the time of year when gardeners have a plethora of unripe tomatoes in their gardens.  If your garden is no exception, here are a few tips on dealing with all those green tomatoes.

To speed-ripen on the vine try these:

• Stop watering. This encourages ripening.
• Root prune the plant. Dig into the soil 6-8” deep and cut around a circle 12” from the stem. Shake the plant but don’t dig it up. This will stress the plant and the fruit will ripen faster.
• Pinch off any flowers, small fruit, new shoots, and suckers. It’s too late for them to become anything. Do this now and all the plants energy will go toward ripening.

When frost is expected, try these:

• Cover the plant completely and anchor so the wind doesn’t blow it off. Use old blankets, thick plastic, or anything similar and make sure it goes all the way to the ground providing the plant with trapped warmth.
• Harvest the tomatoes by pulling the plant from the ground and hanging it upside down in a garage or other shelter. Check often for ripe ones. 
• Pick the pink ones and put them on the counter to ripen
• Pick the green tomatoes and store them in a shallow tray lined with newspaper. They need 60-70 degrees and no light. The warmth ripens them not light.

Appreciating Pyracantha by Elaine Lockey

Firethorn, Pyracantha coccinea, is one of our showiest fall shrubs.  The first time I saw one I did one of those drive-by double takes, turning my car around so I could get a closer look.  Then I said to myself, “I have to have this plant.”

Ask gardeners who have Firethorn in their gardens and you’ll get a wide range of opinions as to its usefulness.  The biggest complaint has to do with it’s ½ - ¾” long thorns, hence the common name Firethorn.  This is a plant that you want to put in a place where it can grow to its full potential without much pruning.  Depending on the cultivar, it can range from 3’-10’+ ft height and spread. It is not advised to shear it and pruning should only be done occasionally to maintain its natural beautiful shape.  Believe me, the less you have to prune this the more your arms will thank you. The one exception to this is that Firethorn makes a beautiful espalier! Due to its thorns you would want to avoid putting it right next to sidewalks or other traffic areas unless you want to keep people and animals out of a certain area. Great to keep those pesky neighbor kids from short-cutting across your garden!

Maria Rodale: Tomato Week: Easy Tomato Recipes & Tomato Plant Harvesting Tips

Here's a lot of information about what to do with an abundance of tomatoes.  I hope that is your problem, dear gardener!  It's been a strange year for tomatoes along the Front Range in Colorado.



Maria Rodale: Tomato Week: Easy Tomato Recipes & Tomato Plant Harvesting Tips

Heirloom Tomato Tart by Janet Shangraw

Finally! It's time to harvest the heirloom tomatoes that I've been patiently waiting for all summer. I am so excited by the harvest of these beautiful varieties that I wanted to make a dish that would be just as interesting as the tomatoes. I have been experimenting for a couple of weeks with this tomato tart!

I planted Cherokee Purple, Green Zebras, and heirloom Roma tomatoes this spring. All three of these varieties are indeterminant tomato plants. Indeterminant plants have vines that keep growing through the growing season, extending fruit production until frost kills the vine. Plant size is typically large.
The Cherokee Purple tomatoes are a deep reddish purple color with a crown of green around the top when ripe. Be prepared for a pleasant surprise when cutting into a Cherokee Purple. When sliced, the flesh of the tomato is a very striking brick red color. This tomato has a very rich tomato flavor and is a little sweet. I am pretty pleased with this one.

Edible flowers Give Meals Zest

I've blogged about eating weeds; why not flowers?  The same caution however:  Know What You Are Eating!  Read here:

Colorado State University Extension - Edible flowers give meals zest

Hot Enough For Ya?? by Gardener Janet

OK, today was one of those July days we know is inevitable; but the first day each season that it really hits near that 100 degree mark – that’s when I make gazpacho.  Gazpacho is a traditional Spanish cold soup combining tomatoes, tomato juice, olive oil, and vinegar as well as finely chopped vegetables; nothing is cooked, only chilled in the refrigerator.  I first tasted gazpacho in Spain about 25 years ago.  Ah…….I ate so much that the acid in the vinegar burned my mouth…(so my advice is: don’t eat it at every meal except breakfast for two weeks). 
Nothing says summer is here better than a cold, healthy bowl of gazpacho on the first scorching day of the summer.  It doesn’t matter if your garden tomatoes are not quite ready yet, or you haven’t yet harvested the first cucumber.  The farmer’s market or grocery store can help out during this heat wave in advance of harvest!
I usually start with the recipe found in “Colorado Cache Cookbook” (look under Mexican food).  Then I adapt with what I have in the garden (or the refrigerator):

Eating Weeds

Tired of weeding? Try eating them instead! Here's a cool old article about growing and eating the weeds in your garden!

PlantersPlace.com | Horticulture Magazine Articles

Tarragon…Pretty to Look at and Tastes Good Too! by Gardener Janet

As I wait for the vegetable garden to begin producing, it is fun to come up with new ways to use the herbs in my garden.  Tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus – or Dragon’s Wort) is a great perennial herb that nestles right into my perennial garden, providing interesting long, slender leaves and great texture.  It reaches about 2 – 3 feet in height and about 1.5 feet wide.  Tarragon is hardy in Colorado and grows in well-drained soils in full sun/part shade.   Leaves can be used fresh or dried and used in the winter in stews and soups.

Tarragon is most commonly used in chicken, fish and egg dishes, but I decided to try to jazz up a Father’s Day pasta salad with Tarragon.  Reviews around the table (including Dad, Morfar (means mother’s father in Swedish) and Uncle) were positive!

Fall Traditions by Gardener Janet

The air turns cooler; the apples on the backyard trees are ready for harvest. In our family, that means it is time to be baking apple pies. A few years back, my husband discovered a tool I had found at a garage sale. This simple tool had a profound impact on our family. The apple peeler-parer-slicer spoke to my husband who became obsessed with harvesting, and using every single apple produced on our two apple trees.
Needless to say, the rest of us needed to become competent at doing something with the buckets of peeled and sliced apples he was producing. Thus, the apple pie assembly line was born. My daughter became the “spice girl”; she would mix sugar, flour and spices to create the perfect pie filling. My job was the crust; I would make dough for a double crust over and over. On a good day we would make seven or eight pies. Neighbors, friends, and family were the recipient of these pies.

Chicken With Sage and Proscuitto by Gardener Janet

There are many varieties of garden sage available. All prefer full sun and pests seem to leave the plants alone. These perennial plants grow quickly; they have beautiful foliage, blue/purple blossoms and the leaves taste and smell great.

It’s Peach Season! by Gardener Janet

One of my favorite times of the year is when the peaches from the western slope of Colorado arrive at local farmer’s markets and grocery stores. They are here now and I’ve already been enjoying them with breakfast, for snacks and, well, all day long!

Last year we harvested hundreds of little sweet peaches from my neighbor’s peach tree. He didn’t know what to do with them all and we were happy to help out. Growing peaches in the high plains area of Colorado is certainly not without challenges. In fact, that bumper crop last year was the exception. Sadly, there are no peaches on the tree this year. Click here for the CSU extension website and a very helpful guide to growing peaches in the home garden.

Whether you get your peaches from the market or your garden, here is a recipe that a friend of mine, who was a pastry chef on Martha’s Vineyard, shared with me years ago.

Peach Cups

Slice 5-6 Peaches (3-4 cups)
Toss w/ 2 TBSP sugar and 3 TBSP flour
Place in 9x13 pan or 6 custard cups

Prepare a dough to place on top of the peaches.

(This is the secret my friend shared and it is true for all types of pastry: Mix the dry ingredients with the shortening (in this case, butter) in a food processor. THEN add the liquid by hand (whisking with a fork in a separate bowl).

Mix the following in a food processor:
1 ½ cups flour
1 ½ TBSP sugar
2 ¼ tsp baking powder
6 TBSP butter

Transfer this mixture for the dough into a bowl and toss w/ ¾ cup whipping cream using a fork until mixed (be sure not to mix liquid and processed ingredients in food processor)

Roll out dough to about ½ thick. Lay over the peaches in the 9 x 13 pan or cut out circles with a glass about the same diameter as the cups and place one circle on each cup of peaches.

Brush the tops with cream. If you are using cups, place them on a cookie sheet.
Bake 15 min at 350 in the lower 1/3 of the oven.

Zucchinis Take Over The World by Gardener Janet

(Note: I wrote this article just before the terrible storm that so devastated gardens in central Jeffco. I’m so sorry for those who have lost their gardens for the year. For those of you who missed the devastation, read on. For those who lost your veggies, like all gardeners everywhere, I am happy to share.)

Every year we plant them….every year we give them away by the shopping bag….What to do with all those zucchinis. Belonging to the species Cucurbita pepo, the prolific zucchini is wonderful sautéed in olive oil with onions, tomatoes, oregano and a little parmesan cheese.

While we were away on vacation, my very thoughtful neighbors have been harvesting in our absence and now, magically, there are loaves of zucchini bread in the freezer and still plenty of zucchinis left to enjoy.

So when you are tired of a side of sautéed zucchini on your plate every night, and the freezer is packed with enough zucchini bread (chocolate or otherwise) to last through the winter (and beyond) and the zucchinis are still producing, try zucchini pancakes. Pancakes easily use a large quantity of zucchini in a single recipe and are a great idea for when those zuchs get just a bit on the large size while hiding under a giant leaf.



Zucchini Pancakes

(this is a very adaptable recipe…double it, triple it, halve it depending on how much zucchini you have)

3 cups of grated zucchini (one large…but not gigantic zucchini)
1/2 onion, chopped
2-3 TBSP minced fresh rosemary leaves (adjust depending on your preference)
1 cup flour
½ cup parmesan cheese
1 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
Salt and pepper to taste

I use a food processor to first chop the onion, then change to a grating blade and grate the zucchini.

Mix the flour and baking powder in a separate bowl. Whisk the eggs. Add beaten eggs to the zucchini and onions and rosemary. Then add the flour and baking powder mixture. Stir until well blended. Let stand while heating a pancake griddle (or frying pan). Grease griddle or pan with several teaspoons of olive oil.

Mixture will initially seem quite stiff, but the moisture in the zucchini will then increase while you are waiting for the griddle/pan to heat and the mixture will become more pancake batter like.

Stir again, then spoon out mixture and cook until browned and crisp on both sides.

These are always a big hit at our house, and we typically have extra mouths at the table when they are served!

Press the Comment link at the bottom of this article to leave YOUR favorite zucchini recipe for other bloggers to enjoy!

Lavender Tea Bread by Gardener Janet

I have heard about cooking with lavender, but I’ve never tried it. Years ago I saw a photo in a book called, “Herbs, Gardens, Decorations, and Recipes” by Emelie Tolley and Chris Mead, showing a delectable looking lemon tea bread. I had always wondered what would happen if I added lavender to that beautiful quick bread.


So this afternoon when the temperature dropped as an afternoon storm approached, I decided that it would be a good time to turn on the oven. I picked some fresh lavender flowers and started my culinary experiment.

Adapted from “Herbs”:

Lavender Tea Bread
Ingredients:
3/4 cup milk
2 Tbsp fresh chopped lavender flowers
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
6 Tbsp. butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 Tbsp lemon zest
Juice from 1 lemon
Powdered sugar

Grease a 9x5x3 inch loaf pan. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Heat the milk with lavender almost to a boil, then steep until cool.

Mix flour, baking powder and salt together in bowl.

In another bowl cream butter and gradually add sugar, then lemon zest and eggs, one at a time, beating until light and fluffy. Add flour mixture alternately with lavender milk, in three parts. Mix until batter is just blended. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 50 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool in pan 5 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool.

Make a simple sugar glaze with fresh lemon juice and powdered sugar. Add lemon juice to ¼ to ½ cup powdered sugar stirring until a thick but pourable paste forms. When completely cool, drizzle bread with sugar glaze. Garnish with sprigs of fresh lavender.

Looks beautiful….the taste is quite unique, and the aroma of lavender is very subtle. Fresh, and not too sweet. I think that it will be perfect with a tall, frosty glass of iced tea.