How could I not have a "garden dinner" tonight? The first real picking of the Fortex pole beans, the entire row of early planted carrots that were refusing to grow to a respectable size so got pulled out, big fat shallots and sweet onions, fresh red tomatoes, crisp green parsley for the new potatoes that were still fresh with soil clinging to them. No, the potatoes weren't from my garden, but they were grown within a mile of my house. Sounded like a winner to me!
Breaded boneless pork chopParsley buttered new potatoes
Green Beans with Caramelized Onion-tomato Relish
Oven roasted baby carrots
Guess what dessert was. That full pound of freshly picked strawberries was just screaming for some biscuit shortcakes, so I made enough for freezing while I was at it.
Mmmm, that looks good enough to eat. I think I will!
YUM! You always make the best meals from your garden produce!
ReplyDeleteWell, Kitsap girl, so do you!
ReplyDeleteYour dinner is delicious!
ReplyDeleteWe had short ribs with last year's tomato bbq sauce, fried La Ratte fingerling potatoes (fresh dug) with shallots, green beans, sliced heirloom tomatoes with cucumbers, basil, red onions dressed with local olive oil and basalmic. Dessert: sliced fresh peaches with homemade creme fraiche. I need to start taking pictures...I just love yours!
Dang, Lynda, I want to come to your house for dinner! I'm going to be stuck in the strawberry shortcake rut until we get our fill.
ReplyDeleteYou know, I think someone needs to start a garden dinner blog, and all of us can submit our menus to it! Hey, Lynda, why don't you start a garden dinner blog? ;-) LOL!!!
Though I thought I could NEVER look at another strawberry again, a few weeks later and here I am drooling over your strawberries. Yum. And yea--you are the bestest at garden meals. Double YUM!!!!
ReplyDeleteI've been reading about what you have been eating from your garden the last few days-----WOW!
ReplyDeleteYou make it sound so easy, but I know that is a lot of work to produce that food! You inspire me again---do you plant shallots in the fall? Do you recommend a particular type/for my zone 5 will they work?:-) last question, can you use them in recipes as an onion? You are the expert,so I figure you are the one to ask. Roberta( Robbie is my nickname)
Nothing better than a garden dinner! Looks wonderful!
ReplyDeleteThat is my favorite way to make shortcake! Your dinner looks super yummy!
ReplyDeleteThat's a neat idea about a garden dinner blog. I'd sure enjoy seeing/reading it. I was very proud of myself yesterday that I made a big pot of vegetable soup from my small garden. And, here you are with a nicely rounded plate and dessert.
ReplyDeleteAw Heck! I missed dinner..can I come for desert? What kind of biscuit is that? Something special? That place setting looks like it had my name on it..I'm too busy trying to catch up with my S. potato's, that needed planting.
ReplyDeleteSue, that's how I was feeling about raspberries, and here, just a week after they're finished, I'm hungry for them again.
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Robbie, in the fall of 2008 my next door neighbor bought some shallots at the Asian market, and she brought over a half dozen and told me to try planting them. I did, and in the summer of 2009 I harvested over 3 1/2 pounds of shallots. I saved a few and planted them in the fall of 2009, but some of them rotted through the winter. In the summer of 2010 I only harvested a little over a pound. I saved a few of those, but didn't get them planted last fall, so I stuck them in this spring. My goodness, those things grew! I had to dig them early, as I needed that bed for other crops, but I got over three pounds to use and saved about fifty others (not weighed) for the next planting. I will wait and plant them in the spring, but give them their own bed so they don't have to be dug early! I won't plant all fifty though, we'd never use that many. I was just as happy with my spring planted garlic, although it also got dug early.
I saute the chopped shallots and add to green beans, add them to stir frys or use them finely chopped in salads. basically they are somewhere between onion and garlic.
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Thanks David. I wish I had you here to cook what I grow, you do it so much better!
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Shawn Ann, I had to do roasted carrots after reading your blog yesterday. That made me so hungry for them, one of my favorites!
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Dianefaith, I do try to incorporate lots of garden veggies in each dinner, but dessert is definitely optional in this house! The strawberry shortcakes will be on the menu for a while though, it takes us a few to get our fix!
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Ginny, I saved a plate for you, but you didn't show up! Nothing special on the shortcakes, I just use my regular biscuit recipe and add a bit of sugar to it, then sprinkle the tops with sugar before I bake them.
Those strawberries looks scrumptious. How I miss ours. They come and go so quickly. The only thing we have now is a bed that needs to be weeded.
ReplyDeleteYummy Looking meal. I am going to have to give those Green Beans with Caramelized Onion-tomato Relish a try for sure!
ReplyDeleteJody, that's what I like about this day neutral variety. Just as our raspberries are finished, our strawberries are beginning. They'll give me some good pickings for quite a while, then slow down a bit, but I'll still be picking a few when we get our first freeze.
ReplyDeleteMrs. Pickles, we like those beans as an occasional change from just the usual butter, salt and pepper. It's also good for using up just a few tomatoes, when there aren't enough to can.
ReplyDelete*drool*
ReplyDeleteKelli, it's not nice to drool in my shortcake! :-D
ReplyDeleteI agree with everyone. Your garden dinner looks very appetizing! We got our garden in a little later this year because of all of the rain. So our beans are about one inch long. I can't wait until they get a little bigger to eat them. We went out in the garden today and sampled one fresh from off of the plant. It was really good that way too.
ReplyDeleteOh granny I want your strawberries. I only have enough for four everyday with breakfast. I never have enough for a real treat. I dream of jam and pie. Though that shortcake looks awfully good.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful dinner Granny! I'm going to drool on your shortcake...just is spite :)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Brenda. My beans are giving me a little bit of rest for a bit. t least I don't have to go out and pick them every day. I'm happy the pole beans are coming on now, they're a lot easier on my back!
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Daphne, I still have jam left from last year, as I'm the only one who eats it. I do want to make some freezer jam though, but I should get enough for a batch at least.
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Robin, do I have to send you and Kelli some bibs? You'd better watch it girl, I'll come over there and drool on your tomatoes!
Your garden looks great! I just started some fall planting of beans, squash, cucumbers this morning. I think a garden supper link party would be a fun idea.
ReplyDeleteThat looks super delicious!! I think you should post your biscuit recipe. hint hint nudge nudge :P
ReplyDeleteEvery time I try to make biscuits they don't rise and resemble chalky hockey pucks... just about as hard too! ONE DAY.. I'm gonna get it right! And there will be a celebration of biscuits galore to gorge on.. but until then.. it's frozen Grand's biscuits in this house..lol
Hugs!
~Wendy
*your word verification for me to leave my comment is 'faticat'... hmmm..lol
Dear Faticat.....er, Wendy. Biscuits Supreme. I just add a bit more sugar to, and on top of the biscuits before baking when making shortcakes.
ReplyDeleteIf I'm in a hurry, I just use Bisquick ;-)
LOL! Glad I could entice you!
ReplyDeleteShawn Ann, it doesn't take much to entice me to eat roasted carrots! I often mix them with potatoes, put them in foil packets with lots of real butter, then roast them out on the barbecue grill. We love them cooked like that.
ReplyDeleteMaybe I should go plant more carrots ;-)
You've got me craving carrots now .. AND biscuits! :P I'll try out your recipe for sure..
ReplyDeleteThank you for your kind words on my blog post... made me tear right up, but because it was so sweet.
Hugs!
~Wendy
Yummy! Nutin beats homemade food with freshly picked ingredients from ur garden,aite....:)
ReplyDeleteThat's for sure, HangKebon! Especially when its only minutes from garden to table.
ReplyDeleteGran, did I ever tell you how much I loved strawberry short cake? (The dessert not the toy.) Your biscuits look soo good.
ReplyDeleteAnd that fried breaded deliciousness you there - I'm having that for dinner tonight. If I could grow a fried pork chop, I would.
LOL, Thomas, if you ever learn to grow that breaded pork chop, I want some seeds! That chop was sliced, diced and beat to death before it was cooked. I had a huge package of really thick boneless chops from Costco, and it was the toughest pork I'd ever eaten. I have to butterfly the chops and pound them with a meat mallet to tenderize them, then bread them to hide the carnage.
ReplyDeleteOh wow. That looks delicious. Time to get my strawberries out! And mix them in with some peach yogurt ice cream.
ReplyDeleteBen, I had a bowl full last night, and we forgot to eat them! I'll make up for it tonight.
ReplyDeleteThat meal looks so scrumptious. Yummy~
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