Today in our South Jersey garden: beautiful blooms, Milkweed, Monarchs, Figs and ants! #GardenCuizine

Today in Our NJ Garden - zone 7a (was 6b)

September 5, 2021

Labor Day weekend marks the unofficial end of summer. "End of Summer" seemed like the perfect title to my above photograph taken today in our front garden of Black-eyed Susan's with Sweet Autumn Clematis. 

The highlight of my day today was to see both a Monarch caterpillar AND a Monarch butterfly!! The monarch caterpillar was resting on Common Milkweed in Harry's Milkweed Meadow and the Monarch butterfly was visiting a small patch of native hardy Ageratum. Of course, both got reported on Journey North's website as fall Monarch migration is officially underway! 

I snapped a few photos of the Monarch caterpillar and butterfly with my cell phone and when I went back with my good camera to get better pictures later in the day, they were gone.

Today, our veggie garden is bursting with blooming garlic chives, zinnias and cannas. We also have dahlias (not blooming yet), chia and peppers and heirloom tomatoes that will keep producing here and there until the first killing frost.

This is our best year ever for figs! Figs have to be picked as soon as they ripen. Both trees are producing figs. Today I picked two huge figs from our littlest fig tree (variety unknown). One fig had to be sacrificed to the ants; they beat us to it.

One quick note about when to pick figs. I had this question, "Will figs continue to ripen once picked?" I read that figs do not ripen after they are picked. However, we just discovered that they do continue to ripen. Our Chicago figs continue to ripen and get sweeter after they are picked. Now, we just need to improve our timing of picking figs before the ants march in.

Happy Labor Day!

Related Links

Journey North - report your Monarch Sightings!

Photos and blog post Copyright (C)Wind. All rights reserved.

Chocolate Souffles #chocolatebliss @AliceMedrich #chocolate #dessert

Chocolate Souffles

It doesn't have to be Labor Day to whip up a batch of Bittersweet Chocolate Souffles. Go for it when you want to treat yourself and your family to chocolate bliss! The gluten-free recipe can be found in Alice Medrich's cookbook, Bittersweet. 

The recipe requires whipping egg whites so it is easiest to make batter that yields 6-8 ramekins. Chocolate souffles can be covered and refrigerated until ready to bake and serve. Allow 15-20 minutes to bake in preheated 375 deg. F oven.

I used three, 2-ounce bars of Guittard 70% cacao bittersweet chocolate and one 2.7 oz. pack of organic and sustainable, stone ground Taza Mexican style Vanilla. Both chocolate brands were available at Wholefoods.

GardenCuizine Nutrition Data Chocolate Souffles: 1/8 recipe using Guittard and Taza chocolates 
For those of you dying to know the nutrition facts: one souffle serving is comparable to a chocolate donut in both calories and total fat: 273 calories per souffle serving vs 280 calories in a Dunkin chocolate covered donut. And, 14g total fat vs 15g total fat in a chocolate donut. Chocolate is high in saturated fat* and should be considered a treat. 

Since quality ingredients are used in baking a homemade souffle it's higher in protein (from the eggs) than a Dunkin donut: 17g vs 3g respectively. One chocolate souffle is lower in carbohydrates and higher in dietary fiber than a donut: 24g Carbs, 4 g dietary fiber vs 31g carbs and only 1g fiber in a donut. No matter how you look at the nutrition facts consider this as a special treat and enjoy in moderation.
Related Links
*Chocolate: Food of the Gods 
Photos and blog post Copyright (C)Wind. All rights reserved.

@AliceMedrich Baking w/ bittersweet #chocolate for all American #LaborDaydesserts #GardenCuizine

What exactly is Bittersweet?

Many desserts call for Bittersweet chocolate,"What exactly is Bittersweet?" Harry asked me this morning as we discussed experimenting with a Chocolate Souffle recipe from Alice Medrich's Cookbook Bittersweet.

I first learned about the differences in chocolate from working in restaurants, bakeries and of course in culinary school at The Academy of Culinary Arts. Pastry chef Ann Marie Chelius taught me a lot about chocolate and how to work with it. 

Semisweet and bittersweet are types of sweetened dark chocolate. According to Alice Medrich, "The chocolate industry makes no distinction between bittersweet and semisweet chocolate." Bittersweet must contain a minimum of 35% percent of unsweetened chocolate liquor (cocoa butter and nonfat dry cocoa solids). Higher quality bitttersweet chocolate usually contains at least 50-55% more chocolate liquor making it a good choice for baking. 

Bittersweet chocolate is not just for professionals anymore. You can readily find baking chocolates with various percentages and blends of cocoa beans and other ingredients at chocolate shops, supermarkets and online. Most companies clearly label their bittersweet chocolates. Alice notes in her book that by the late 1980's more and more recipes called for bittersweet chocolate. The higher the percentage, the less sugar and the stronger the flavor. 

Unless you need smooth chocolate for making something specific like chocolate curls, truffles or ganache - Harry and I are sold on Sicilian chocolates! Sicilian chocolate is similar to Mexican chocolate. The mouth-feel and texture tastes granular from the sugar, but still melts in your mouth. Once you try Sicilian or Mexican chocolates you'll never go back to the waxy taste of smooth chocolate.

Today, we're going to try baking with Mexican chocolate (made in America) for an all American Labor Day dessert. We plan to buy some today if we can find it at Wholefoods. I will let you know and post the recipe if our chocolate souffles turn out.

Allow yourself to enjoy and savor the flavor of quality chocolate. You can still maintain a healthy body and body weight if you occasionally enjoy a food made with chocolate.

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

Today's Labor Day Harvest: Heirloom Veggies Galore! #GardenCuizine

Heirloom Veggies Galore
Today's Labor Day Harvest
9/1/14

Labor Day weekend is a good time to preserve fresh vegetables. Today in our garden we have dahlias almost ready to bloom, basil going to seed (already froze lots of pesto), more potatoes waiting to be dug, and kale and herbs for picking. Today's harvest included a few colanders full of Turkish eggplant, garlic chives, hot peppers, and lots of juicy, Jersey, organically grown, heirloom tomatoes. We have to use the tomatoes up asap since they spoil fairly quickly and fruit flies are hanging out. Any ideas?

So far we've enjoyed tomatoes on sandwiches, salads, in omelets and combined with chopped peaches in salsa that tastes great with grilled chicken, fish or pork. If you're like us, when you grow your own veggies, especially tomatoes, you may find that you can't eat them fast enough! Canning and preserving recipes come in handy.

Rather than pasta sauce, salsa, or preserving tomatoes whole or chopped, I'm thinking of making soup. Homemade cream of tomato soup should be delicious and freeze well. And, it will be nice to have a nutritious taste of the garden during the fall and winter.
 
Happy Labor Day!
Blog post Copyright (C)2014 Wind. All rights reserved.

Jersey Tomato Tasting at Pope's Gardens #GardenCuizine #fb

Jersey Tomato Tasting

Labor Day Weekend! 

Pope's Gardens rolled out the tomato red carpet for their customers today and will again tomorrow for taste testing over 30 varieties of organically grown tomatoes. Owners Joan and Jim Pope plated up free tomato tastes of everything from cherry tomatoes to beefsteak heirlooms. Nothing beats picking Jersey fresh cherry tomatoes straight off the vines! They also had many varieties of peppers on display, including Scotch Bonnet, Pepperoncini and Thai hot. 

Jersey tomato taste test trials included:
Cherry and Grape tomatoes  

Sungold
Sunsugar
Juliet (grape)
Sweet Million

Black Cherry 

Supersweet 100
Riesentraube (grape)

Modern Hybrid tomatoes 
Supersonic
Bush Big Boy
Big Boy
Early Girl
Better Boy
Lemon Boy (yellow)
Golden Jubilee (yellow)
La Roma (plum)
Roma (plum)
Jetstar
Goliath
Celebrity
Supersteak
Beefsteak 

Beefmaster

Heirloom tomatoes
Belgium Giant 

Hillbilly 

Amish Paste (plum)

Black Krim 

Old German 

Rutgers 

Brandywine 

Sausage  (we didn't try sausage, but heard it tastes great!)

White  (sweet and delicious!)

Box Car Willie 

Mortgage Lifter 

Arkansas Traveler 

Ox Heart  

Cherokee Purple

Our favorite top 3 cherry tomatoes were Sunsugar, Black Cherry and Riesentraube ("giant bunch of grapes" German heirloom grown by the Pennsylvania Dutch). We were familiar with the tastes of many of the large tomatoes on display. Among our favorites are Rutgers (of course!) and Brandywine. White tomatoes were a new one for us - they were more yellow than "white". We were impressed with their delicious, sweet taste.

Saturday was a very hot and humid today in South Jersey. Mom took a few tastes, then tried to stay cool, waiting patiently in the shade while we strolled around Pope's Gardens to look at their goat, cat, ducks, bunnies, Scottish Highland cattle, Emu and other animals.

Do you think I would leave a garden center empty handed? Impossible! Pope's Gardens offers a wide variety of annual and perennial plants. We picked out a few new Asters and Mums, along with Salvia uliginosa - bog sage, Fountain Grass Pennisetum alopecuroides 'Red Head', Dallas Blues grass Panicum virgatum and Crepe Myrtle - Lagerstroma Pink Valour.

Happy Gardening and Healthy Cooking with Vitamin C-rich tomatoes. And, best wishes for a safe and Happy Labor Day Weekend!

Related Links

Story behind Mortgage Lifter Tomatoes
Photos and blog post Copyright (C)2012 Wind. All rights reserved.