[gardeners] Monday in the kitchen
George Shirley (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Mon, 16 Jun 2003 19:22:00 -0500
Have been in the kitchen most of the day putting up moussaka for the
freezer, a few quarts of green beans in the freezer and then 5 quarts of
sweet pickles. All of this just takes time but is not hard to do.
Moussaka was put up without the eggs and the bechamel sauce which will
be added at the time it is thawed and ready to cook. Put up four pans of
the stuff and then vacuum sealed them in bags to make them longer
lasting. Green beans were blanched, dumped in ice water to stop the
cooking process then put into the salad spinner to get most of the water
off. They were then vacuum sealed in bags and into the freezer. Sweet
pickles were canned in a boiling water bath in quart jars and are
cooling on the kitchen counter now.
A moussaka from 2001 is in the oven and should be ready in another 15
minutes.
Looks like this is going to be a very productive year for our small
garden so we're gearing up to preserve a lot of it. The corn is
tasseling so it won't be long to roasting ears and we will probably pick
crowder peas next week. I do like working with and cooking the heirloom
Louisiana Long Green eggplant, they are productive, a very sweet fruit
and have very little seed at the time of prime picking, will leave at
least one to ripen fully to replenish my seed supply.
Life is good but I'm tired.
George