Okra magic

A full time stay at home mom and a homemaker, with a college degree in home science, my mother is perhaps one of those few people who actually got to use her education in her work. All our meals used to be planned very diligently to ensure it was well balanced. Every now and then her old college record books would be seen on the kitchen counter and you'd know she was planning a surprise snack or meal. On other days it would be some activity aimed at skill building or child development. I remember being excited about our visits to craft stores for the summer vacation where I could pick up whatever I wished. A child herself when she was with us, my mom has perhaps worked so hard when we were growing up that I still have very fond memories of my childhood.

One of my all time favorite activities was what my mom called vegetable printing. She would give us paint and cut pieces of onion, beans and okra to print flowers. I remember how excited I was when I saw for the first time the prints. It felt like magic!I was convinced that the vegetables were meant to be used for only printing and not eating.

Although my opinion has changed over time, I still feel the magic when I use vegetables to print. Although I had plenty of beans growing I am yet to use them for printing. However, in the case of okra I got lucky. The stunted plants in my garden bore such small fruits that I kept waiting for it to get bigger and all they did was get older.

Okra is best eaten tender. Once they harden they get too fibrous and are no longer fit for consumption. They have to be picked every two days and the more often you pick the more fruits you get.

I picked the okra in my garden with great disappointment and did not have the heart to throw it and hence took it home. As it sat there on my dining table, my brain was trying desperately to find some way to use it. My mother's printing activity crossed my mind suddenly when my daughter asked for her paint.

I think I had more fun than her doing the okra prints that day! My munchkin's excitement was fun to see as well. She kept saying "Amma flaber (flower)"every time she did a print. When I pick my next batch of okra I'm definitely leaving a couple to get older for some more printing and maybe use the beans too next time! 
 

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Tomato OD

I did not want excess of any vegetable and so made sure I planted only 3 tomato plants as I'd been warned about tomatoes always having to be thrown away because of its abundant fruit production. I carefully chose a plant each of heirloom, cherry and grape tomato varieties confident that I'd ensured no possibility of wastage.

Early Girl: Heirloom Tomatoes

Grape Tomatoes

Sweet Cherry: Cherry Tomatoes

At first everything went smooth. I kept getting consistent and sufficient amounts of tomatoes. Then the erratic rains started and there was havoc! My heirlooms were so heavy that it weighed the plant down and all the added moisture from the rains made the fruits so full that it tore its skin! The heirlooms were the first to crack and then the cherry and grape tomatoes followed suit. I was forced throw away the badly damaged ones and carefully pick ones that were still intact or only slightly split. The rains had also caused all the tomatoes to ripen at the same time and even reduced the sweetness of the cherry tomatoes. Despite my efforts to not produce beyond my needs, I'd manged to do just that. As I buried the rotting tomatoes in my garden to improve the soil fertility, desperate to make sure its put to some use, I was mentally trying to figure out ways and means to save the remaining I was going to take home.

At home I'd begun getting reports of  my dishes beginning to have an overdose of tomato puree.I had to preserve them for later, and ketchup seemed like a great option. I remembered trying out a ketchup recipe from a book that had a collection of recipes used by late Mrs. Rachel Zachariah a close family friend of my grandparents who was known for her cooking skills. The book was compiled by her husband with the help of their children in memory of her and I love the book not only because of the great recipes but also because of the sentiments it holds.

Mrs. Zachariah's Spicy Tomato Ketchup

Ingredients

1 kg tomato

1cup vinegar*

200 grams sugar

1 sliced ginger

1 tablespoon sliced garlic

1 tablespoon raisin

10  dried  red pepper (seeds removed)

7 cloves

2- 1 inch piece cinnamon sticks

1  tablespoon salt

* As I preferred not to use synthetic vinegar I tried white wine vinegar which made the ketchup a little too pungent. My sister-in-law used apple cider vinegar in the same recipe and got great results. 

Preparation 

• Slice tomatoes and add 1/2 cup vinegar, salt, cloves and cinnamon.

• Cook well in pressure cooker for 15 to 20 minutes.

• Grind raisin, garlic, ginger, red pepper with vinegar and sugar. 

• Blend (in a mixer or blender) and strain cooked tomatoes and add to sugar and vinegar mixture.

•  Cook on medium fire. 

• When it reaches sauce consistency cool and bottle.

I happened to mention my struggles with tomatoes to very resourceful relatives and friends and got great ideas, from making soup and juice to salsa and marinara sauce.

The idea of tomato juice made me very nostalgic. It reminded me of the mint garnished tomato juice my mother made and I relished. It probably tasted so great because tomatoes did not fall within the cheap locally grown vegetable category and with a very cost conscious father who reminded us of how much a kilo of tomato cost and why making tomato juice ought to be avoided because of the same, every glass of tomato juice that my mom managed to make dodging the ever watchful eyes of my dad always felt like a sinful indulgence.  Making the same at a time when I was struggling to save the tomatoes from going rotten, still tasted great, but not as great as it did back then!

When my mom made it, she used to add sugar and strain the juice. I tried not doing both to make it more healthier and then decided to compromise health for taste. The mint to garnish really changes the whole character of the juice giving it a quality that leaves a mark on your taste buds.  

The salsa idea was given by a cousin who herself grows vegetables and has explored extensively healthy eating options. I came across some wonderful recipes, and got down to making it only once, with no time for pictures, because it was made in a hurry and got eaten up even faster! Same was the case with the marinara and pizza sauce that I made.

Oven roasted tomatoes and garlic, seeded jalapeno peppers, coriander leaves, lemon juice and salt, pulsed in a blender to desired consistency you have a quick salsa that is so much more better than the store bought ones. Add a little vinegar to it and it can be refrigerated for a week or more. I came across elaborate salsa preparation and bottling methods that I have saved to try on an uneventful weekend.

It was after trying out all this that my garden neighbor whose plot I was watching while she was out of town suggested looking into the possibility of freezing the tomatoes for later. Her garden was producing several pounds of tomatoes every week and with them out of town the situation had gone out of my hands and several pounds of tomatoes went rotten. I was relieved to hear that they could be frozen and happy that I would be able to save them for my neighbor.

I froze the tomatoes using directions I found on http://food.unl.edu/web/preservation/freezing-tomatoes

This season's tomato OD has taught me so much. Can't wait for next summer to learn more!

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The Eligible Broccoli

Within days of planting the broccoli plants, tiny heads started to emerge in the center of the whirl of green leaves that looked like they were liberally coated with talcum powder, same as my face looked for my first stage performance in kindergarten. I patiently waited for the buds to grow, hoping to see it become the size of the standard store bought broccoli heads. The tiny buds on the head that were very close together started slowly separating as they grew bigger, but the size of the head seemed to not increase to my expectation.The month of May saw some exceptionally hot days and on my weekly visit to the garden, I saw yellow blooms on the broccoli head that had been green on my last visit, something I had not seen or expected. They were very pretty blooms, and I was quite sure they were not fit for consumption any more, but decided to google check anyway to confirm. To my surprise, I found that the flowers were edible too!

Pick broccoli........as you like it

Small yellow flowers have a mild spiciness (mild broccoli flavor), and are delicious in salads or in a stir-fry or steamer. http://whatscookingamerica.net/EdibleFlowers/EdibleFlowersMain.htm

I would have loved to make a pretty looking salad with the blooms, some greens and cherry tomatoes, like I saw in http://foodblogga.blogspot.com/2008/04/mizuna-and-broccoli-flower-salad-plasma.html,  but

since the taste of the florets did not particularly appeal to my palate, I chose not to use it in a salad and kept it in a vase instead and decided to make sure I pick the broccoli heads while the buds are still tight together if I wanted to eat it. 

The verdict: Eligible young or old, depending on what you're in the mood for!

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After 3 months....

Green Peas...................................Anne's favorite veggie!

Thai Dragon Chillies

Big fat heirloom and tiny sweet cherry tomatoes

                                                        

Bush beans, blooming coriander and snap dragons

Loads of cherry tomatoes and some bell pepper

Broccoli

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