Kale Chips?!

And speaking of kale... Just saw this on the smitten kitchen a post for kale chips.  Sounds strange but says they're very tasty even for someone who may not like kale.

Recipe from the smitten kitchen
1 bunch (about 6 ounces) kale
1 tablespoon olive oil
Sea salt, to taste

Preheat oven to 300°F. Rinse and dry the kale, then remove the stems and tough center ribs. Cut into large pieces, toss with olive oil in a bowl then sprinkle with salt. Arrange leaves in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes, or until crisp. Place baking sheet on a rack to cool.

We'll have to pass this recipe along when we deliver the kale to Lewis House and the food shelf.

Planning to Plant

The snow has melted off the garden, and Candy's already gone out to check spring's advance guard. Irises poking out a little, strawberry vines running all over, and the mysterious, indefatigable kale that we keep getting told is not a perennial is already sprouting! Our tilling volunteer with the fabulous John Deere has already spoken up again for mid April - that will save some time and backs. And - we have seeds waiting in the window!

One More Harvest

We were out in the garden yesterday enjoying the sunshine, spreading manure, planting some more bulbs, and amazingly found some more vegetables to harvest.

There was bok choy, cabbage, broccoli, onion, and kohlrabi. So one more delivery of garden produce to Lewis House.

Delivered cabbage, bok choy, kale, green beans and herbs to the food shelf around the corner. The kale is still going to town, so here's the Portuguese Kale Soup in case you need to use your kale up:

2 med. onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 potatoes, diced
2-3 carrots, diced
1/2 head cabbage, chopped
Bunch of kale, chopped
16 oz. can white beans
5 tomatoes
46 oz. can chicken broth
Salt & pepper to taste

Saute onion and garlic in olive oil. Add potatoes, cabbage, carrots and half of the can of chicken broth. Cook until almost tender. Add kale, tomatoes and the rest of the broth. Simmer 10-15 minutes. Season to taste.

Or you can donate your kale and any other excess produce to your local food shelf! For Minnesota food shelves, you can search here.

Recent Harvest

The following photo says it all about our most recent harvest.

Plums!

I mentioned in an earlier posting that I had a neighbor who had plethora of fruits growing in her tiny little Minneapolis yard. Here's an example:

Tonight I finally got to pick some of the plums that have finally ripened. (Have I happened to mention that this is a very slow year?) Anyway, so in about 15 minutes, I managed to clean off about 6 branches -- a tiny dent when you consider the size of the tree. And yet, that dent resulted in 12.5 POUNDS = 235 individual plums!! That's a lot of fruit.

My fiancee and I have already planned to make some Plum Leather (easy and people enjoy it as a healthy snack), and I'll probaby make a cobbler or two using the recipe provided in an earlier blog....likely something on the lines of Plum/Apple. (One of these I will give back to my neighbor for being so kind and sharing.)

We are also considering making plum butter and jam -- both are great as gifts and can easily be stored long-term. I'm currently on the search for good recipes that we can use -- any suggestions/recommendations are appreciated.

The following recipe I have seen referenced on multiple other sites. It's for a plum chutney and sounds tasty enough to give a "go".

Here's the recipe as provided at: withknifeandfork.blogspot.com
This recipe is from Delia Smith.

• 3lb plums
• 1lb apples
• 3 onions
• 3 cloves garlic
• 2 heaped tsp ginger
• 1lb seedless raisins
• 1lb soft dark sugar
• 1lb Demerara sugar
• 1 pint vinegar (recipe says malt I used cider)
• 2 tbsp salt
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 1oz allspice berries
• 1 tsp whole cloves
• large non-reactive pan
• 6 jars

Note: you can adapt the spices to a mix of your favourites but you need roughly the same quantity, for example I had a smoked chilli in mine, and coriander because I like them.

Put the spices in a muslin square and tie it tightly with string. Stone the plums, finely chop the apples (cored but leave on the skins), finely chop the onions and put them all in a large pan. Crush the garlic and add it, the raisins, ginger, sugars and vinegar to the pan. Sprinkle in the salt and stir well.Suspend the whole spices in their ‘bag’ into the pan and tie to the handle for easy removal later. Bring to the boil and then simmer pour about 3 hours until the vinegar has almost disappeared and you have a thick, soft chutney. Remember to stir occasionally to prevent sticking. Sterilise the jars and fill whilst both they and the chutney are still warm.L eave to mature in a cool place for a minimum of 3 months.

Potato, Leek, and Carrot Soup

An extremely easy, delicious late summer meal. This is my favorite soup recipe and perfect for this time of year as all three ingredients are ready to harvest or available at your farmers' market.

4-5 potatoes, cubed

2 large carrots, diced

3 large leeks, sliced

3 T butter or olive oil (I actually use 1 1/2 T of each)

Heat the butter or oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the leeks and cook 2-3 minutes. Add the carrots and potatoes and cook for 5 minutes. Add enough water just to cover the vegetables. Increase heat until water begins to boil, then decrease and simmer for about 20 minutes or until potatoes and carrots are tender.