Stove-top Ratatouille

We moved to a small town in Northern Arizona

 about 18 months ago. 

I needed a change of pace and a better housing situation. I'm still close enough to the city that I can take a short day-trip if I need to be in Phoenix for work meetings or TV shoots, but far enough away from the crazy heat and hustle of the city to enjoy a more country life.  I've always been a very simple gal, and I don't really need anything fancy. It's been a perfect fit and we're thriving here. It's a whole new world.  We bought an acre and are really enjoying the cooler weather and totally different growing zone for our garden as well.

Many of you are aware of my avid love of gardening and this new part of the state has been just what this gal needs. We've had a couple of very successful gardening seasons compared to Phoenix where the heat is just relentless and well...evil. This year, around March, my youngest son (now 17 years old and in college) helped build a greenhouse to extend our growing season a lot and also to get experience with a greenhouse ecosystem. He's seriously considering a career in Botany and Horticultural Science...and I couldn't be more thrilled about that! So really the greenhouse is for school right? I mean I learn something everyday and this has been a learning experience for sure. 

So here's the journey. We started with a 16 foot by 20 foot greenhouse kit. Some good soil, 100 cinder blocks and lots of anchors (about 6K pounds worth of cord and screw-in-the-ground things) to keep it from flying away in our very, very windy mountain town. 

Face worked really hard to make this happen. 

Then we installed soak hoses and planted all the seedlings that we had been nurturing inside under the grow-lamps. We planted 3 carrot varieties, beets.  Peas that will climb. There are 25 varieties of heirloom tomatoes.  There are herbs like mad for my shenanigans in the kitchen including basil, cilantro, tarragon, dill, oregano, thyme, lemon balm, chives and 3 varieties of sage. I also wanted to try my hand this year with leeks. 

Things started to grow really well! 

We even put in solar powered lamps so I could just weed in the middle of the night if I wanted to do so. Don't judge me. I really love being in this place. Sometimes I say I'm weeding, but I'm just sitting out here reading a good book or listening to some good Gospel tunes. It's really good for my soul. 

Now everything is pretty huge! We had to take out the zucchini and we're putting in our second crops for Fall. Other things like the broccoli have bolted like mad, but I'm saving the seeds so I'm just using the extra leaves for coleslaw and low-carb enchilada or lasagna bakes. Our cilantro went to seed so I harvested the large branches with seed pods to dry for spices and also to replant seeds in the spring (or indoors during the winter). 

As our adventures in gardening continue I decided that I really needed to be a chef and actually make a version of Ratatouille that didn't require using and oven. I wanted one that also used a lot less oil than most traditional recipes, since they tended to be heavy. So with our Japanese eggplant, zucchini and honkin' huge load of heirloom tomatoes coming into full ripeness...this was a must! 

Pick the eggplants young and tender to avoid lots of thick seeds and to minimize the sponge effect it has on oil in cooking. If you aren't growing your own tomatoes, be sure to pick firm and ripe varieties. I used both large chopped tomatoes as well as the smaller cherry varieties. 

We have a few things outside the greenhouse too...

Face built a few grow-boxes in the yard. There is space for all his side projects. Yes. He built all of these from scratch. I'm so proud. 

Now. For the recipe...

My Stove-top Ratatouille 

1 medium globe eggplant, peeled, coarsely chopped

1 large zucchini, sliced into ¼-inch-thick rounds

2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more

¼ cup olive oil

1 Tbsp fresh thyme

1 large onion, halved, sliced ½ inch thick

1 red bell pepper, ribs and seeds removed, coarsely chopped

2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1 pints cherry tomatoes

2 large tomatoes, chopped 

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1 cup fresh torn basil leaves 

Directions:

Toss eggplant, zucchini, and 2 tsp. salt in a colander. Let sit 30 minutes, then pat dry with paper towels. 

Heat oil in a large heavy Dutch oven or other heavy ovenproof pot over medium-high. Add eggplant and zucchini and cook, stirring constantly, until vegetables begin to take on color, about 10 minutes. Add the onion, bell pepper and garlic. Cook another 5 minutes until clear. Add thyme and tomatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, until just beginning to soften, about 5 minutes; season with salt and pepper. Cover and slow cook on very low heat for 10-15 minutes more. 

Transfer to a serving platter and top with basil.

Always My Very Best,
Your Friend Chef Tess

The Power of Indoor Micro-Green Farming

Photo Courtesy of IOGP website

One of the perks of doing what I do, is that sometimes I get to interview some remarkable individuals. This week I had one of those experiences.  I had a very unique opportunity to spend about an hour interviewing one of the pioneers in the indoor organic micro-greens farming industry  from Indoor Organic Gardens of Poughkeepsie named Brud Hodgkins. After over 20 years as a chef who is passionate about childhood education, empowerment and nutrition, it is still awesome to connect with someone who shares that same vision.  As the daughter of a greenhouse manager and Master Gardener, I relish the opportunity to bend the ear of an urban farmer. 

 In full disclosure, Brud's company reached out to me to see if I would be interested in sampling their products for this blog. As a chef who has used micro-greens extensively as an Executive chef in a French bistro as well as catering venue, I already was a huge fan of what they could do for any dish. Add to that, the desire to continue to incorporate micro-greens in my at-home cooking, this seemed like an ideal marriage of product use. They are not paying me to endorse their products. They're just giving me some greens.  So, I will be sharing their stuff here on my blog. Don't let that freak you out. I'm always trying to share good nutrition with y'all. I think this is pretty daggum interesting to hear about.

This is what I found out about this amazing food source and this indoor farm.

Photo Courtesy of IOGP website

Bringing Farming to the Inner City
First of all...Brud explained  that his crop is farmed exclusively indoors using a commercial property that was sitting vacant after the downfall of one of the neighborhood retail marketplaces. In a seventeen thousand square foot facility that originally started out as a K-Mart-type store, they're using this space to produce a powerful nutrition source in the middle of the city. At the first mention of this, my mind actually starting racing, thinking of all the vacant buildings in my own town that could easily be converted to such a use. It was a brilliant use of space, not to mention providing clean food and employment opportunities to the "at risk" segment of society usually found in the parts of the city he is focusing on in Poughkeepsie. In fact, just before our meeting, Brud had been meeting with some local high-functioning autistic teenagers who would be coming to work at his farm. This of course, got us talking about the need for education of children in the school system.

Photo courtesy of IOGP website

Kids Love Them!
Micro-greens are sweet and nutrient dense. They are easy-to-absorb nutrition...and one of the simplest things to get kids to eat. For example, cabbage Micro-greens have 260% more vitamin A than fully grown cabbage, and they don't taste like cabbage. They taste sweet.  That's just one of many examples of the powerful punch of nutrition in micro-greens.  They grow to mature micro-status in just a few days! Why wouldn't we teach kids how to grow these? They want to eat them because there's ownership.  Well...Brud is doing that. They're launching local school STEM programs teaching kids first hand how to grow this crop...and they're giving them the power to be able to grow a crop that is financially sustainable. 

So here's the skinny on Micro-greens. 

*What are microgreens?
 Microgreens are older than sprouts, but younger than baby vegetables. Almost any edible vegetable or herb can be enjoyed as a microgreen, such as lettuce, radish, basil, beets, celery, cabbage and kale. Many microgreens are four-to-six times higher in vitamins and antioxidants than their adult forms and can provide a nutrient boost in just a few calories.

Eating them
Many people enjoy the tiny leaves of microgreens for their fresh taste, crisp crunch and bright colors, including:

• Raw, as an addition to a salad. Drizzle with a little lemon juice or low-fat dressing or eat them on their own.
•  As a garnish to meals. Add them to your breakfast plate. Top fish, chicken or baked potatoes with microgreens.
• Added to a sandwich or wrap.
•  Sprinkled into soups, stir fries and pasta dishes.
• Blended into a fruit drink or cocktail.

Growing them

•  If you grow your own microgreens or purchase them in soil, snip the healthy stems and leaves above the soil when they are seven-to-14 days old. 
• Eat them fresh, or store them in the refrigerator.

Finding them

• Microgreens are available at local health food stores or whole foods markets. Look near the lettuce for packages of greens that are a few inches in length and have tiny stems and leaves. Check the local farmers market as well. Microgreen growing kits can be ordered online or found in some kitchen stores. (May I suggest just getting them from here. )
• Selections may change from time to time so keep an eye out for your favorites.
• Once cut, they can last in the refrigerator for five-to-seven days, sometimes longer depending on the type.

*Source: here

As for me and Brud Hodgkins, we are clearly on the same page regarding organic plant based nutrition, clean food, providing opportunities for the "at risk" segment of society, environmental Awareness, etc, etc.  They at IOGP are working toward the Financial Sustainability end by spreading the word so folk's know there is a Source of Nutrition Dense Vegetables within 24 hours of Harvest to fill their Personal and/or Commercial needs.  

 The website for info and ordering:  indoororganicgardensofpoughkeepsie.com

Photo courtesy of IOGP facebook page

There you go. Awesome Micro-greens. Great Brand. I'm a fan. 

Always My Very Best,

Your Friend Chef Tess

Episode 41. We Grow Ours Radio Show!

This week I visited my friends  Nick and Don over at We Grow Ours (Episode 41)  and had a blast talking with them about the benefits of good food in your food storage. 

We Grow Ours radio show is centered around teaching people how and why to grow their own foods. Rabbits, Quail, Aquaponics, Gardens and many other methods. We talk to those doing this and learn new things everyday. Come learn with us as we look into food safety, NON-GMO foods, fun ideas and more. Preppers, gardeners, conservatives, and everyone. We all come together to rally around our food, and our food freedoms!

Check them out here! Xoxo!

Always My Very Best,

Your Friend Chef Tess

Are My Yams Really Sweet Potatoes? Does Anybody Really Care?

 Recently someone asked me why we called sweet potatoes "yams" and why they were different colors?  I thought they were just different varieties of yams.   I really didn't have a definitive answer. I really don't like not being a smarty-pants.  So I thought I'd look into it.  I, Chef Tess, learned something new! Come to find out...what I had called "sweet potatoes" were just one variety of sweet potato (the white ones)...and there were many in the USA in fact really dopey as I felt, I had been calling  sweet potato varieties "yams" that were well...not real yams. 

Sweet Potatoes VS Yams...What's the Diff'?

general information source

Yams Yams are related to lilies and grasses.They're native to Africa and Asia and yams vary in size from that of a small potato to a record 130 pounds (as of 1999). Remarkably there are over 600 varieties of yams. 95% of these crops are grown in their native Africa. Yams are starchy and dry compared to sweet potatoes. 

A few years ago my whole garden was filled with this gorgeous vine...and under the ground were soon to be released...some "Yams". Well. Most people I knew called them yams. Daddy called them sweet potatoes and since he's the master gardener, I never questioned it.

Sweet Potatoes 

The many varieties of sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) are members of the morning glory family, Convolvulacea.  This explains the vines. 

The skin color can range from white to yellow, red, purple or brown. The flesh also ranges in color from white to yellow, orange, or orange-red. Sweet potato varieties are classified as either ‘firm’ or ‘soft’. 

 When cooked, those in the ‘firm’ category remain firm, while ‘soft’ varieties become soft and moist. It is the ‘soft’ varieties that are often labeled as yams in the United States.  When I got these ones from the market,  the one on the left (white in color) was labeled "sweet potato" while the middle one was labeled "red yam" and the far right was labeled Bouregard yam...and guess what. They're all sweet potatoes. 

Why Are We Confused In America?
In the United States, firm varieties of sweet potatoes were produced before soft varieties. When soft varieties were first grown commercially, there was a need to differentiate between the two. African slaves had already been calling the ‘soft’ sweet potatoes ‘yams’ because they resembled the yams in Africa. 
When we pulled our Sweet Potatoes out of the ground...we called them sweet potatoes. Thanks to my dad.

The ‘soft’ sweet potatoes were referred to as ‘yams’ to distinguish them from the ‘firm’ varieties. Today the U.S. Department of Agriculture requires labels with the term ‘yam’ to be accompanied by the term ‘sweet potato.’ Unless you specifically search for yams, which are usually found in an international market, you are probably eating sweet potatoes!  

Last I checked, my neighborhood market didn't carry the international variety. So there you go. Smarty pants.

The real truth is, that though many may say that they are having candied yams for the holidays, I betcha that most of y'all are really only eating sweet potatoes.  Why do I even care to set the record straight? I don't really.  I just thought it was a really cool random fact.  So. Eat that sweet potato caramel sticky bun.

 I'm still eating the sweet potato pie...even if someone calls it a yam pie. It's not really going to change the taste...right?

There you go. 
Random Facts are now in your giant brain too.  

Always My Very Best,
Your Friend Chef Tess

Arizona Farm Bureau's Fill Your Plate

Remember how much excitement filled our hearts here when my boys grew their first carrots? Boy Meets Carrots. I'll never forget the looks on thier faces when they pulled those gorgeous little gardening geek-fest root veggies out of the earth.

 

I will also never tire of seeing things growing on a beautiful Arizona farm.

 

I love dinner from the garden and developing recipes using the bounty.

 

Oh...and dessert.

One of my all-time favorite easy on pot meals is this Sundried tomato blush sauce using Homemade Arizona Sundried Tomatoes

as well as this vegetarian genius meal:  "London-Broil" Portabella Mushrooms with citrus grilled pineapple.

So, I've had the amazing honor this month of being the featured celebrity chef this month on Arizona Farm Bureau's Fill Your Plate. I'm so excited!

There you go! Support local farmers! They really bring home the good stuff!

Always My Very Best,
Your Friend Chef Tess

 

Longing for Home

Sunday is the day I share a little of my soul. Enjoy. 

Marvin J. Ashton said,

" When we have a yearning and don’t know what it is for, perhaps it’s our soul longing for its heartland, longing to be no longer alienated from the Lord and the pursuit of something much higher, better, and more fulfilling than anything this earth has to offer."

I thought of this when I returned home last week to visit my parents. More particularly...the garden of my father. 

Some of you may remember last July when I shared pictures of my dad's garden and yard. He's a master gardener and I've gained much of life's lessons from his hand-work in the greens.  In case you missed how it looked a year ago...

I think the part that actually freaked me out most was seeing that he had completely removed the back yard lawn and put in a full garden. It was amazing! Grapes along the back fence, trees, and some amazing herb growth starting.  It was inspiring!

Now a year later I was able to walk through a wonderland of gorgeous plant growth...all if which was inviting to me and a testimony of his love for his family. There were herbs...planted long before his Chef Tess would arrive for a visit.  I think they were there for my mom...but I'm claiming them for me too!

 I cried a little at my favorite Black Eye'd Susan's...yes...they are Yellow. Yellow is my favorite color on earth. These flowers always remind me of my childhood and my grandmother's home that always had a hearty  growth of them. Awe. It was like stepping back in time.

 I start touching all the plants...especially the herbs. The fennel in full bloom made me want to sing with it's yellow blossoms. Yes. I know...again with the yellow.

 Swiss chard in all shades of the rainbow lined many of the beds.

 Corn taller than me  was in full glory against the azure sky.

 Butterflies joined me on every turn and I marveled at the many different varieties of oregano, basil and mint that grew in lush beds along the sides of the house.

 Luscious grapes now dangled from the vine...evidence that the plants had been well attended to over the last year.

 This is what the garden looks like now...

 However, the best part of all...This.

The most attractive home that we will ever share will be that abode with our families with appropriate relationship to our Heavenly Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. Those will be the homes our children will want to return to year after year...even when they're old and grown. 
What will the garden be like when we return to our home in Heaven?
 I believe that we all lived in heaven before we came to earth as God's spirit children. It's part of my basic beliefs but something that has given me much direction in my choices on earth. I read this scripture and it made me think of that moment that I left my heavenly home for my earthly sojourn...
 “See that ye fall not out by the way.” (Gen. 45:24.)
I think that there are few motivations that could spur me on more to live a right life than the thought of returning to my heavenly home and living with God forever. I know he is a loving Father...and it's not ever going to be an easy journey here...but that he will always be waiting for me. Anxious to help. Anxious to love...and anxious most of all to have me home.  Like all of His children, I have to choose to return. I think we all have to choose that for ourselves.


There it is.

Smokin' Pots...Some Garden Crafty-stuff from cheap old Pots and Junk

I made a trip down to the local Goodwill store and put myself on a 10$ budget for this upcoming gardening craft blow out. Look what it bought me!  It was blue tag day.  Clay and ceramic pots, plant stands, a watering can, a wood sectional fence, some little tiny garden tools, a few metal tins...

and the find of the day, an old cookie jar (top taken off)...Who throws this stuff away?!

I was excited to see some iron gardening stakes/fence sections.

Lookie lookie! They were so totally...50 cents! Fifty.Cents. Yikes. That's almost FREE.

 So, I went about getting some plants to put in the pots and rounding up some mental capacity to put the crafty touches on the pots. Don't laugh. You know I have to round up "mental capacity" sometimes.

 I matched up some good herbs and pot...and wow...I am not saying anything about *pot* being an herb...Do with that what you will. I never touch the herbaceous variety.

 I started with some bold lime green on a few of the clay pots. Ya know, because lime green is cool. Summer is cool. I'm cool. It's all about being matchie-matchie.

I got really technical on getting the mossy texture on the pot by just sticking moss on the wet paint. Yes, I know. It's mind boggling how smart  annoying I am.

I use outdoor enamel craft paint if the pots will be out doors.

I really love how this cheap tin got renewed with a quick coat of paint. It was so plain without it!

Sometimes it amazes me how easy it can be to change the look of a plain white pot. This is just ribbon and a silk flower sealed on to it with the same E-6000 bond that I used for  

Outdoor Vintage Plant Markers 

with the picture of my dad in it as the seed packet. It's weather proof bonding so it won't fall off.

Doesn't it look like this pot could totally walk down Hollywood Blvd.   in 1942...if we could only find a big Sassy-SAGE hat...Oh wait...

 I used the same sealant for this marker that tells my kids , "Hey these peppers are HOT". I was tired of them asking if they were berries. I'm nice. I could have just let them taste the berries. See...and you thought I was...well, actually, I have no idea what you think I am.

 Ribbon bonded to the top of the lime green pot and some black paint accents totally changed the look of this clay pot.

 Also using the ribbon on the fence section for a cutsie craft quote in the garden seemed right. I think Cassie, the producer of Valley Dish will like this the most.  I love her Gardening Blog. It makes me smile.

What do you think of the cookie Jar now?! It's Italian!

So...here's the plant holder that was kind of plain before...snazzed up. I think I like it better this way, but ya know, I like color. You may prefer a more subtle look in your garden. I'm okay with that. It's your space.

 Some ribbon weaving in the fence sections is simple but super-deeee-duper oootsie-cutsie. It may be too puke cute for a man. I think that Ace will never come in the garden if I put up these stakes.  {insert evil grin}.

There you go. Today's crafty-craft adventure. I'm heading down to the NBC studio to actually film a segment...but will not be posting it until July. In the meantime...I hope this has inspired you to go down and make some smokin' pot...decorations...ya know which kind I mean. Right?