Pasta Sauce Prep * Preserve your fresh Tomato harvest #GardenCuizine #HealthyCooking #PomodoroSauce

Pasta Sauce Prep
Whole Peeled Tomatoes

We make Pomodoro (tomato) Sauce from scratch most of the time. We do not always have fresh locally grown or homegrown Jersey tomatoes to use though, so we often use canned San Marzanos. At the end of the summer, when our homegrown tomatoes are plentiful, we make homemade sauce in batches as the tomatoes vine ripen. Once picked, if the tomatoes ripen too fast, we move them to the fridge until we are ready to cook them.

This year was a challenging tomato year for us. We got Tomato Blight really bad in our main garden. But, even so, we are surprised and thankful to be harvesting lots of fresh tomatoes.

Yesterday, Harry started preparing our first batch of sauce. We plan to save it for Christmas lasagna dinner. We all enjoy a taste of our garden in December. 

The first step to making homemade pasta sauce is to prepare the tomatoes. Sort through and pick out tomatoes that would make the best sauce. Meaty tomatoes such as San Marzano Plum and Goldman's heirloom make the best pasta sauce, or "gravy" as some Italians call it. We often add and cook down other heirloom tomatoes too; otherwise, we could never eat them fast enough!

Sauce Prep (can be done day or week ahead of cooking)
Gather all the ripe tomatoes you plan on using for your first batch of sauce. You will need one large pot of boiling water and one large pot of water with ice.  
Note: you do NOT have to score the tomatoes with an X on the bottom before blanching! This is very time consuming and not necessary when you are working with a lot of tomatoes.

1) Boil water in a large pot. In batches, blanch the tomatoes for about one minute in the boiling water
3) Remove with a slotted spoon to ice bath. The water just has to be cold; if your ice melts, don't worry about it. Let tomatoes float in the cold water until the skins wrinkle.
4) Remove and core the tomatoes. Harry likes his new Hullster Tomato Corer from Gardener's Supply Co.
5) Peel tomato skins. For sauce, place whole peeled tomatoes in a bowl; cover and refrigerate until ready to cook your Pomodoro sauce.

Besides high quality tomato sauce, peeled whole tomatoes can be frozen for later use in soup, stewed tomatoes, chili and other recipes.

Blog post and photos Copyright (C) Wind. All rights reserved.

Make Ahead Meatballs #NationalNutritionMonth #familymeals #planahead #cookathome @kidseatright

Make Ahead Meatballs

Make a batch of Italian meatballs when you have the time and freeze for use in budget-friendly family meals later in the week. Happy National Nutrition Month!

Ingredients
1 lb. lean, grass fed, ground beef
1 egg
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup onion, chopped
1/4 cup fresh Parsley (or Cilantro), chopped
1/4 cup water
1 Tablespoon Cracker Meal
1 clove garlic, minced
several twists (~8) fresh ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon salt
Olive oil for cooking

Putting it all together
Combine all ingredients adding water last. Roll into balls and put on plate until ready to cook. Heat oil in skillet. Add meatballs in batches. Cook turning to brown all sides. Do not overcook. Remove and drain on paper towels. When cool, portion into baggies. Label with date and freeze until ready to use.

Enjoy with homemade pasta sauce!

Blog post and recipe Copyright (C)Wind. All rights reserved. National Nutrition Month® is a federally registered service mark of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.Used on GardenCuizine with permission.

Christmas Lasagna #Sicilian #Dinnerisready #GardenCuizine #holidayrecipe

 Christmas Lasagna

Mom didn't cook much, but she always made us lasagna at Christmas. Last year we made lasagna for Christmas and enjoyed it. This year we made it again and declared lasagna our official Christmas dinner entree! 

Here is my version of Mom's Christmas Lasagna recipe. I may adjust this the next time I make it, so do check back. 

Note: if you are vegetarian, you can sub Boca burger crumbles for the ground beef. And, if you are vegan, simply swap the ricotta with firm tofu, omit the eggs and use soy cheeses.

Ingredients
1 lb. Ground beef (or half beef, half Italian sausage; or for Vegetarian use Boca burgers crumbled)
1 med Onion, chopped
Garlic, 2 cloves chopped

pot of boiling water
9 lasagna noodles 
Homemade pasta sauce (make in advance and freeze in quarts for convenience)
 
1, 32 oz container ricotta cheese (lately we've been using whole milk ricotta)
2 large eggs, whisked
1 1/2 cups (plus another cup for topping) shredded mozzarella
1/4-cup (plus another 1/8 cup for topping) Parmesan cheese
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper (about 3 twists)
pinch ground nutmeg (5 swipes fresh on rasp)
1 1/2 Tablespoons dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon oregano

Putting it all together
Preheat oven to 350 deg F.
Set aside a 13 x 9 x 2-inch Pyrex baking dish

• Saute onion and garlic; stir in the ground beef and cook. (*Mom would include ground Italian sausage too) Drain fat and set aside.
• Warm up pasta sauce in a sauce pan; cover and set aside.
• In a bowl, using a rubber spatula, combine the ricotta, mozzarella, salt, pepper, nutmeg, 1 T parsley and eggs 
• Cook lasagna noodles al'dente; rinse under cold water and set aside.
• Spoon a layer of sauce on the bottom of baking dish
• Place 3 noodles, side by side, over the sauce
• Add a layer of blended cheese (I used a small scoop to portion it out and then pressed it down)
• Add a layer of cooked ground beef
• Top with a layer of sauce and repeat with another layer. Note: any leftover ricotta cheese can be saved for other recipes.
• Top the final layer with sauce and sprinkle with additional shredded mozzarella and Parmesan and dried herbs: oregano and remaining parsley.
• Cover with foil and bake for 40-45 minutes. Remove cover and cook another 10-15 minutes or until top layer of cheese is golden. 
• Leftovers can be frozen and reheated.

Serve with a tossed garden salad and/or a generous side of veggies like kale or broccoli rabe. 

Our Christmas desserts this year included pumpkin pie and holiday cookies made with spices, pumpkin seeds and dried fruit. Hope your holiday was just as wonderful!

Buon Natale!  
Blog post and photos Copyright (C)Wind. All rights reserved. Rev 12.25.2021
Merry Christmas! Blessings for a Happy and Healthy 2021

Feed your gut microbiota Marcella Beans #GardenCuizine #2016foodtrend

Sorana Italian Beans

Marcella Beans

Have you ever heard of Marcella Beans? I just read the wonderful story and thought I'd post the information here. Marcella Beans are white cannellini beans grown in California from Sorana Italy seed stock by heirloom bean growers at Rancho Gordo. They were named Marcella after Marcella Hazan, Italian cook, author, and lover of good, wholesome foods. Sadly, Marcella past away in 2013 before tasting these US grown beans that she inspired.

This year we will be enjoying more beans in our cooking repertoire. As a dietitian I'm always seeking out what foods can help people I know; many of whom suffer from inflammatory diseases such as obesity, type 2 diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis. 

I remember learning about the importance of Butyrate at Rutgers. The high fiber in foods like beans feeds gut microbes that in-turn fights inflammation. Gut microbes are attracting more research and studies and sure are a fascinating topic.  

NY Chef Seamus Mullen recently shared with GQ Magazine that he predicts more gut-friendly, high fiber foods will be among the hottest food trends in the New Year. Eating more fiber-rich foods makes sense for better health.

White beans can be incorporated into many recipes. I like the way Marcella Hazan herself said she enjoyed Sorana beans - simply drizzled with olive oil and fresh black pepper on good crusty bread. I can't wait to taste these. Please share how you prepare Marcella beans if you get a chance to try them too.

Buon Appetito!

Related Links
Changing Your Diet Changes Your Gut Bacteria
Seamus Mullen: the Chef who Cured Himself of Arthritis

Agnolotti by Chef Jack Mavraj owner of @LaVeronaPa #GardenCuizine #mushroomfest

Kennett Square 

28th annual Mushroom Festival

The weather could not have been better for this weekends 28th annual Mushroom Festival held in the Mushroom Capital of the World - Kennett Square, PA. The festival is always the weekend after Labor Day. This year it was September 7th and 8th, 2013. All the years living in South Jersey (which is somewhat nearby), we have never gone to this festival. This was the year we finally made it. The gorgeous weather beaconed quite a crowd. We parked in a nearby lot and took a shuttle bus to and from the festival. 

The mushroom fest had something for all ages, making it a fun way to learn more about mushrooms. My only wish was that there were more mushroom focused foods in the sea of "junk" food vendors that lined the main street. It would also be nice if there were more rules prohibiting vendors such as bathtub sales, which seemed out of place and was annoying to see at a public fair promoting food and agriculture.

Antique and classic cars lined a neighboring street, attracting visitors near the culinary event tent.

The shiitake mushroom farm tour we planned to go on was sold out by the time we got there to get our tickets. We regretted not purchasing our tickets before eating lunch; however, we didn't regret ordering portobello burgers and mushroom soup at the Kennett Square Inn. Harry was amazed at how meaty a vegetarian portobello mushroom burger tastes. 

I'm sure another sell out was on Sunday to see Carla Hall, co-host of The Chew and former Top Chef contestant.

Missing the farm tour allowed us time to stroll through the culinary event tent just in time to see Chef Jack Mavraj, owner/chef of La Verona Italian Cuisine and Bar, who cooked one of his menu items - braised beef short ribs and mushroom hand made agnolotti (stuffed pasta similar to ravioli) with an exotic mushroom beef broth using a demi-glace reduction and truffle butter imported from Italy. 

Chef Mavraj was surrounded by a display of gourmet mushrooms that included Maitake (Grifola frondosa), Shiitake (Lentinula edodes), Portobello and Golden Oyster (Pleurotus citrinopileatus). We made note of his Kennett Square restaurant, LaVerona, located at 114 East State Street and look forward to dining there next time in Kennett Square.

Related Links
Mushroom Festival 
Unusual and Interesting Facts about Mushrooms
Mushroom Council
Types of Mushrooms
Blog post and photos Copyright (C)2013 Wind. All rights reserved.

Propagating FIG trees from cuttings #GardenCuizine FIGS: fabulous for dietary fiber

Propagating Fig Trees

Gardeners propagate fig trees using various methods either from cuttings or air layering. I'm going to try propagating fig trees from cuttings. Our little, lone fig tree (unknown ID) is taking forever to yield figs. Over the past 5 or so years, the growth has been quite slow. It started out as literally a 3-foot stick. Now it is 5 feet with a small amount of branching at the top. The few figs that we thought we saw last year - disappeared! They probably got eaten by squirrels. After years of anticipating fresh figs, we're still waiting... The good news is that there are other varieties of figs to grow that may actually yield us a fig harvest. The same goes for you in your USDA zone. If at first you don't succeed, try another type of fig tree.

At a Dave's Garden Mid-Atlantic region plant swap yesterday, we received a generous handful of fig tree cuttings from a fellow Dave's Gardener who thinks her tree could be a common fig cultivar named 'Celeste'. 

We weren't planning on starting fig trees from cuttings, but since we received them - it's sure worth a try. I'm going to try rooting the fig cuttings as recommended by New England Gardener on his 'How to Grow a Fig Tree from a Cutting' YouTube video:

Propagating Fig tree cuttings 

from a dormant tree

Stage One

1) Get cuttings from a dormant fig tree that grows in or near your USDA zone
2) Wet newspaper; squeeze out excess water
3) Wrap each cutting in newspaper, keep the tips sticking out
4) Place cutting(s) into a plastic bag. New England Gardener uses a baggie. Our cuttings were longer than his and would only fit in a plastic shopping bag
5)  Place in a warm area out of direct sunlight for a few weeks. We put ours on our microwave next to the refrigerator, which generates some warmth
6) Open the bag daily for some air circulation; then close again. 
7) After 2-3 weeks, check for developed roots and proceed with Stage Two 

 I'll update this post regardless of the outcome. Fingers are crossed that this works. And, if it does, we may end up with a Fig Tree forest.

Happy and Healthy Gardening! 

UPDATES: week one: have been checking and airing out the cuttings daily; noticed some mold starting on the ends that had some leaf buds starting to show, therefore uncovered the ends. Plastic bag still covers the slightly moist newsprint-covered stems. Plan to continue to air out daily by opening the bag just for a moment or so and then covering again.

• 5/26/13 - as expected, the newspaper near the open end started to dry out. Took a look deeper at the covered stems and some cuttings still looked like some mold is growing. This could be because my cuttings were not completely dormant, they had some growth showing. Unwrapped all the cuttings and put in a vase w/water. New plan is to put each cutting in its own recycled water bottle w/moistened peat moss and see what happens... 
• 6/7/13- well, I decided not to put the cuttings in peat moss; instead, they all got dipped in rooting hormone and placed in potting soil. We didn't have enough clear plastic bottles to use, which would have been nice to view root (if any) development. Will have to wait and see. They were on our porch. Today, the pots are in our driveway getting a good rain soaking from tropical storm Andrea that is passing through our region. 
• 7/28/13 - they all appear dead. I'm not going to toss them yet just in case there is a chance that one will show a sign of life in the future. A member of Dave's Gardens who also received cuttings from the same source as me, reported having success wrapping her fig cuttings in moist newspaper and waiting patiently. Perhaps I should have ignored the mold and kept our fig cuttings in the newsprint longer rather than jumping the gun and planting them in soil before having any roots.
  

Related Links:
Uncommon Nutrition from the Common Fig - Ficus carica

Dietitian Savors Sicily #GardenCuizine @FabriziaLanza @FCPDPG

Anna Tasca Lanza Cooking School

S I C I L Y, Italy

Sicilian Culture and Cuisine Case Vecchie - day 4
 
I'm savoring the memories of our 10-day excursion to Sicily with the Food and Culinary Professionals Dietetic Practice Group of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

Our Sicilian journey began in Palermo. We traveled  around the western coast and through central Sicily as we toured our way around the island. Our fourth day was a full day of sightseeing and cooking at the Anna Tasca Lanza School - surrounded by prickly pear cactus, vineyards and rolling hills in north central Sicily. 

The Cooking School, located near the Regaleali Winery, was named after its late Sicilian founder, “Anna Tasca Lanza”. Her daughter, Fabrizia Lanza, has carried on the tradition of teaching Sicilian cooking at the family estate.

We watched Fabrizia prepare classic Sicilian foods - from appetizers to dessert - using local ingredients such as herbs from her garden and fresh-made ricotta that arrived still warm! Her menu featured: Panelle (Chickpea fritters), Stewed Lamb with Mint (Spezzatino di Agnello alla Menta), Saffron Stewed Potatoes, and Cassata - a famous Sicilian dessert.  

Fabrizia demonstrated and showed us how to prepare the select menu, including the preparation of Cassata using layers of sponge cake and ricotta cream, encased with green (must be green!) marzipan (made from almonds and ground pistachios) and finished with white icing and candied fruits.

Her foods were paired with the appropriate award winning wines from her family's Regaleali Winery. Fabrizia took us for a private tour of her absolutely spectacular kitchen gardens, complete with chickens for fresh eggs and a breath taking view of the Sicilian countryside.

At the end of our fantastic day, we all gathered around a large farmhouse table to enjoy the meal that Fabrizia prepared for us. 
    ~ Grazie Fabrizia!

Watch for my Dave's Garden article "Gardens of Sicily" - coming soon!
Related Links
Fabrizia's book: Olive - A Global History of olive trees, olives and olive oil
A Warm Welcome to Case Vecchie
Photos and blogpost Copyright (C) 2012 Wind. All rights reserved.

Oregano in Our Garden before #Sandy #GardenCuizine

Oregano

Looking for a drought tolerant, aromatic, easy-to-grow perennial herb? Add care-free Oregano (Origanum vulgare) to your kitchen garden. To intensify the flavor, oregano can be air dried and stored in kitchen spice jars. We pick fresh oregano right up until the first hard freeze and always have some dried on hand too.  

Oregano prefers full sun and is hardy to USDA zones 5a to 9b. Ours doesn't get full sun all day and grows fine though. Oregano adds unique flavor to pizza, pasta sauce, chili, beans, breads and whole grain foods. Oregano's flavor when added to herb and spice blends is a welcomed addition for seasoning vegetables, meats, chicken and all sorts of entrees and side dishes.

Plan your Kitchen Garden today! 
Photo Copyright (C)2012 Wind. All rights reserved.

Fiberific FIG butter recipe! #GardenCuizine

 Homemade Fig Butter
 High Fiber * Honey Sweetened

Our young fig tree is still far from yielding fresh figs. Most of our South Jersey summer has been so dry that our little fig tree is happy just to be alive, let alone bear fruit. A recent culinary treat was coming across fresh figs being offered from an Italian woman nearby my office in Vineland, New Jersey. She shares her prolific organically grown fig harvest with the community.

One order, led to another and another. We have so many nutritious, fiber-rich figs, but you can only eat so many! And, unlike apples that have a decent shelf life, fresh figs only last a few days. No wonder you usually just find dried figs at the market. What can you do to preserve figs? Drying them was not an option, since we don't own a dehydrator. Fig jam came to mind. 

After making our first batch of Fig "Jam", Harry decided it was better named - Fig "Butter". Figs are rich and filling and make a spread that tasted rich, like apple butter. Apple butter just doesn't have the little visible seeds. And fyi, you can use store-bought dried figs to make nutritious fig butter - just add enough water to hydrate and soften the figs first. 

Using the recipes provided by Pomona's Universal Pectin, here is how we made our fig jam, aka fig butter, using fresh figs. Enjoy it in your sweet and savory recipes.

Yields: about 5 cups
Ingredients  
4 cups ripe Figs (3 1/2 cups will be okay too)

1/4 cup Lemon Juice (we didn't have any fresh lemons at the time for lemon juice, so we used Key Lime Juice and it worked just fine)

Pomona Universal Pectin (a low methoxyl brand of pectin extracted from citrus peel; it comes with pectin powder and calcium powder): 3 teaspoons pectin powder; 4 teaspoons calcium water (the calcium water recipe comes with the Pomona Pectin).
 
1/2 cup Honey

Putting it all together

• Wash the figs and trim off the stems.
• Let the figs get really ripe. We put them in a plastic baggie in the fridge and in few days they were juicy and breaking open. If your figs are not really ripe and soft, you can cook them with a little water to soften them before smashing. 
• Directly in a medium size sauce pot, smash the figs using a potato masher.
• Add the citrus juice and calcium water. Mix well. Bring mixture to a boil.
•  In a separate small bowl combine the pectin with the honey. I noticed if you don't combine the pectin with the sweetener first and add it directly to the fruit, it will clump up and not dissolve well.
• Bring back to a boil. Stir in the pectin-honey blend. Remove from heat.
• Puree the honey sweetened fig mixture in a blender or using a hand held mixer.
• The fig mixture is ready for canning. Follow water process canning guidelines. 

Buon Appetito!

GardenCuizine Nutrient Analysis Fresh Figs: calculated from USDA nutrient values
Good Source of dietary Fiber and Potassium
3 medium Figs (150g): dietary Fiber 4g (18%DV); Potassium 348mg (10%DV); Vitamin B6 0.12mg (8%DV); Magnesium 26mg (7%DV); Calcium 52mg (5%DV); Vitamin C 3mg (5%DV); Vitamin A 213IU (4%DV); Iron .56mg (3%DV)

Percent Daily Values (%DV) are based on a caloric intake of 2,000 calories for adults and children age 4 or older
Related Links

Uncommon Nutrition from the Common Fig - Ficus carica

Figs Fruits and Veggies More Matters
Pomona's Universal Pectin
Fig Butter, Goat Cheese and Carmelized Onion Crostini recipe

Photo collage and blog post Copyright (C)2012 Wind. All rights reserved.

Day by day tour of Sicily #FCPDPG : Capo Market, Palermo #GardenCuizine

S I C I L Y

Sicilian Culture and Cuisine
Palermo, Sicily - day 2
 
Our excursion to Sicily with the Food and Culinary Professionals' Dietetic Practice Group of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics gave us an even greater appreciation of the richness of Italian culture and cuisine.  

Our 10-day, fully packed trip was especially designed to provide us with opportunities to learn and see as much as possible in our brief time there. Day 2 for us was actually the first day for others in the group, since we arrived a day early to get acclimated to the time zone change. 

This day, our group was lead by the Duchess of Palma, Nicoletta Polo, who showed us what she looks for when selecting fresh fish and vegetables. In the morning we shopped for greens, fennel, strawberries and swordfish to cook in our Italian, hands-on cooking class held later that day at her historic seaside palazzo.

Palermo boasts several markets. We visited the famous Capo Food Market, the oldest market in Palermo, which reminded us of Philadelphia's Italian Market in some ways. As we walked around Capo Market, we heard the traditional cries of food vendors trying to attract us to their displays.

Vendors had stands full of fresh, locally grown vegetables, fruits, olives, herbs, nuts, meats and fish typical of the Mediterranean region. Even cucuzza Italian squash was displayed - the garden beast that my family banned from our garden last year after its vigorous growing vines nearly covered everything in sight!

In Sicily, early spring is the peak of artichoke season; artichokes could be found everywhere. 

On the side streets at Capo Market dogs could be seen lying around. Did they have owners? They appeared to be homeless.

The home of the Duke and Duchess of Palma was simply gorgeous - complete with a garden balcony featuring a goldfish pond and breathtaking tropical plants surrounded by Italian artisan tile-work. I'll be sharing more details of their luxurious garden in an article coming soon on Dave's Garden. The terrace view overlooked the Palermo coastline and the bay on the Tyrrhenian Sea. Lavender wisteria was in full bloom, cascading beneath the windows.

The beautifully restored 18th century palazzo by the sea was the last home of Prince Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, who wrote the famous novel “The Leopard”. We gathered in one of the kitchens used for cooking classes. The walls were lined in blue and white tile with a central window that looked out upon a garden courtyard. Under Nicoletta's direction we all shared tasks in preparing dinner.

Green Olive, Almond, Caper and Basil Tapenade

Sun-dried Cherry Tomato, Pistachio and Almond croutons

 Fusilli with Pistachio Pesto sauce 

Swordfish rolls

Orange and Fennel Salad, Sicilian Style

Mixed Baby Greens with Citron, Nasturtium Blossoms and Orange, Honey Vinaigrette

Tangerine and Orange Jelly with Spiced Strawberry

~

served with Sicilian wines: Leone Tasca d'Amerita 2010 - Reagaleali Rosso d'Amerita 2009 and Veechio Florio Marsala Superiore 2007

We were divided into two groups: some dined with the Duchess; our group dined with her husband - the Duke of Palma. The gala Sicilian dinner was served in a magnificent dining room with book-lined walls. Many of the books he recalled reading as a child. 

 
Our day ended with a gaze out the window and a toast to a wonderful evening with new food and culinary professional friends. It was truly a memorable day!

grazie a tutti

watch for Sicily day 3 post coming soon...
Related Links: Cooking with the Duchess
Duchess for a Day
Blog post and photos copyright (C)2012 Wind. All rights reserved.