seitan shepherd's pie

a take-off of an old classic.this is how it's done.

boil potatoes with skins. a bunch of 'em. say 3-4 lbs. 

the original recipe calls for slicing zucchini length-wise, frying them until almost cooked, and placing them along the bottom of the baking pan.  i've done that before, and it is delicious (especially for the month of august, b/c it uses up some of the massive amounts of zucchini around the house) but it's also more work.  so i've modified it a tad, and just:

-stir fry all of my favorite vegetables in olive oil: garlic, onions, broccoli, kale, peppers, parsnips, etc.  -then toss in some savory herbs: thyme, sage, rosemary, oregano, parsley...etc. whatever you prefer. add some nutritional yeast, balsamic and sun dried tomatoes if you got 'em (they'll add lots of tang) at the end of the cooking. put the whole mixture at the bottom of the casserole dish.

-cook seitan however you prefer: dry baked, boiled, fried. i usually fry it with pepper and thyme. put that on top of the veggies in a flat layer.

-now, if you have lots of extra veg, place 'em on top of the seitan layer.  if not,

-mash those potatoes in your favorite way.  i usually just do garlic mashed potatoes and add a bit extra butter/margarine and (soy) milk to make the potatoes extra wet (which you need, b/c the whole pot pie will be baked for a good long while, and dry out the potato mash).

bake it all at 350 for 45 minutes.

sprinkle nutritional yeast over the top, and you have yourself a hardy meal.

garden activities 2011

howdy friends!
though we haven't been writing about the garden, we've been busy tending to it.  we made two new cold frames that are storing many plug trays of seedlings. the two front plots have been broadfork'd and treated with manure, as well as four beds in the back 40. we've put spinach, arugula, chard and sugar snap peas in the ground. and we've planned out the garden, in its entirety.  we're doing a CSA this year, and quite excited about it. we love sharing our garden with people!
we've started plug trays of basil, fennel, leeks, tomatoes, lettuces, broccoli and kale, so far. there's more to come, for sure.

new cold frames

here's our crop list (mainly from johnny's):
edamame (toya and butterbeans)
broccoli (windsor, blue wind and gypsy)
cucumbers (diva and little leaf)
kale (winterbore and red russian)
lettuces (mesculn and red romaine)
melons (charentais-edonis)
snap peas (super sugar snap and sugar anne)
scallions (deep purple)
tomatoes (green zebra, velencia, sun golds, marianna, striped germans)

can you tell there are 4 broadfork'd beds?

squash (kabocha-confection, delicata, butternut-waltham)
corn (augusta and vision)
spinach (corvair)
mesclun
potatoes (red norland and kennebec)
summer squash (dundoo)
parsnips (javelin)
carrots (bolero and nelson)
pumpkins (expert)
leeks (king richard)
sunflowers (fire cracker, velvet queen and full sun)
zinnias (prairie)

and from vermont bean company:
green beans (roma II, soleil, cherokee, top crop)

things to do: sow a tray of peppers, direct sow carrots, parsnips, onions, radishes and potatoes

lemon ricotta pancakes w/ blueberry sauce

we made these for our family, visiting. i gotta say, they were a huge hit - the lemon blueberry combo is hard to beat. i got this recipe from two peas and their pod.  it's pretty simple, so here goes. 
for the blueberry sauce:

1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
2-3 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons water

1. in a bowl, combine the lemon juice and cornstarch. set aside.

2. in a saucepan, combine the blueberries, sugar, and water. bring to a boil. reduce to a simmer and stir in lemon juice and cornstarch mixture. stir until the sauce thickens slightly.  cover and set aside.

it's unfortunate the hashbrown mixed with the sauce, i know

the pancakes:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 large egg
2 large egg whites
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1 tablespoon canola oil
1. whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl.
2. in another bowl, whisk together ricotta cheese, egg, egg whites, lemon juice, lemon zest, and canola oil. fold this mixture into the dry ingredients until flour disappears. don’t over mix, you want the batter to be thick.
3. heat a griddle or a nonstick skillet over medium heat with oil. cook the pancakes until browned on the underside and beginning to set, about 2 minutes. flip and cook the other side, about two minutes longer. make 'em until batter is gone. serve with blueberry sauce.