San Antonio Foodshed

Longhorns at Bandera Grassland in Tarpley

Vegetables in my garden - May 2010

 

Swiss chard, lettuce, red beets, carrots, green beans, purple hulls, bell peppers and WEEDS all in the lower section of the garden.

                

                

Cantaloupes, banana peppers, serranos, and corn...more weeds.

 

Fredericksburg peaches are showing up on the stalls

HEB Central market in Alamo Heights currently sells Fredericksburg peaches, $1.99/lb and quite tasty

Fredericksburg - strawberries and lavender

Are you looking for a way to enjoy beautiful weather and do something for your taste buds too? Strawberries are ready for picking in Fredericksburg. After a beautiful drive through the Hill Country, a stop at Marburger Orchard for some freshly picked fruit – picked by YOU - is incredibly fun, refreshing, and tasty. Marburger has been my favorite pick-your-own (PYO) peach orchard for years, but I quickly discovered that they grow more than peaches – in the summer their fields offer watermelons, blackberries, cantaloupes, zucchini, and many other flavorful, nutrient-packed treats. Before you head out, take a look at their website, which is updated regularly to keep customers informed about the availability of fruit and vegetables throughout the season. Plan on picking strawberries until early May, then peach season will be right around the corner!

Of course there are many more orchards in Fredericksburg and surrounding towns. A more general website provides information about 22 orchards in the Fredericksburg area – including phone numbers, opening dates, ripening dates for different varieties, recipes and tips. I have visited a few of the orchards and enjoyed them all very much. As summer approaches, stands will appear on the roadsides, selling products made from local crops along with fresh produce. Watch out for the peach ice-cream; it’s addictive!

With 3,000 pounds of strawberries ready for picking at Marburger Orchards, this past weekend was perfect for a trip to Fredericksburg.  Three "fields" of strawberries welcoming pickers, big and small.  Over 7 pounds of delicious strawberries for about 20 bucks!  But hurry, strawberry season is almost over.

Becker Vineyards was a wonderful side excursion during a trip to pick fresh strawberries in Fredericksburg; there I found a wonderfully dry rosé made in the Provençal style, unique soaps and lavender products.

 

The artichokes growing alongside lavender and rosemary were a nice surprise.

Zucchini Soup

All the vegetables are from my garden, except for the garlic which is from some far-away place.

The quantities listed below may certainly be adjusted to your taste. The cooking times aren't set in stone either, and everything is approximated as I don't weigh or count minutes when I make soup.

Zucchini Soup (serves 6 to 8)

2 tbsp of REAL butter
1 onion
2 large cloves of garlic
2 large zucchini (or 4 medium ones)
2 small potatoes
1 tomato
4 cups of hot water
1 tsp of salt (add more if necessary)
A pinch of white pepper
2 sprigs of fresh thyme

Peel the onion and garlic, wash and slice all the vegetables. Melt the butter in a large pot and cook the onion and garlic until they are soft but not brown. Add the potatoes and cook on low-medium heat with the lid on for 3 minutes then add the squash and thyme, and cook for another 7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, heat up 4 cups of water in the microwave, two at a time if necessary then add the water, salt, and pepper to the squash. Cook on low to medium heat for another 10 minutes. When the squash is cooked, remove the sprigs of thyme and set the soup aside until it is cool enough to puree with a hand-held mixer. If the soup is too thick, add hot water at needed.

Beef Stock

Beef Stock (about 2 smallish cups)

1.5 lbs of bones from grass-fed beef (I use Bandera Grassland)
1 onion, quartered
2 carrots, sliced
1 leek, sliced
1 celery stalk, sliced
2 quarts of water
1 tsp of tomato paste
4 peppercorns

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and roast the ingredients (on a cookie sheet) for 30 minutes then add them to a crock pot and cover with the water. Add a bouquet garni, peppercorns, and the tomato paste. Simmer for 3 to 4 hours. Strain, collecting the liquid in a bowl. You’ll have to apply pressure with the back of a spoon to make sure all the liquid comes out. Refrigerate until a solid layer forms over the top; that will be the fat; remove it with the utensil of your choice, trying not to remove the gel-like substance that’s under the layer of fat.

Rump Roast (or Chuck) recipe - requires beef stock recipe

Rump Roast Bordelaise Sauce (serves 4)

For the roast:

2 lb rump roast from grass-fed beef
2 TBSP of butter
½ cup of water


For the sauce:

2 TBSP of butter
1 tsp of flour
2 shallots, finely chopped
1 sprig of thyme
1 bay leaf
3 peppercorns
1 cup of red wine

Preheat the oven to 275 degrees. Melt the butter and sear the meat on all sides in a crock pot on the stove. Add the water, cover the dish with a lid and put it in the oven. Bake for 4 to 4 ½ hours. The meat should be very tender.

About 15 minutes before taking the meat out of the oven, melt the butter in a frying pan, add the shallots, thyme, bay leaf, and peppercorns. Cook until the shallot is tender then stir in the flour and add the red wine. Stir and add about 2 cups of beef stalk.

Take the meat out of the oven, out of the crock pot and set it aside; add the cooking juices from the meat to the sauce and keep warm. If you’re ready to serve, slice the meat.

Garden Discoveries

 You can’t eat more locally than when you eat food grown in your own garden.  This year, I have a rather large vegetable and flower garden – my first real garden and a big experiment.  My backyard is long and narrow, and divided in three sections: one I call the lower garden is closest to the house, the second is reserved for a tool shed to be built over the summer and the third I call the upper garden, where tall hackberry, pecan and hickory trees will shelter fruits and vegetables from the summer sun.  Years of falling leaves from those trees have helped to create deep fertile soil.  From the back of the upper garden, the land slopes gently toward the house and some years ago someone built concrete retaining walls creating the three separate terraces that have become my three sections.

The winter of 2010 wasn’t a pleasant one in San Antonio - characterized by late freezes, many wet grey days with highs in the 40’s, and very little sunshine in-between.  First I planted small cauliflower and spinach plants toward the end of February, which is a little late in the season.  The unpleasant weather continued and on rare days of warm sunshine, I ventured out with seeds (lettuce, radishes, carrots, Swiss chard, and red beets), red onion transplants, and a variety or herbs.  As days went by, several varieties of peppers, squash, pickling cucumbers, cantaloupes, and green beans also went in the ground.  Of course a cold front blew in and stuck around for a while.  I ended up having to cover my young plants which, to my surprise, all survived.

The radishes came up first, followed by cilantro, carrots, beets, chard then lettuce.  The cauliflowers and spinach grew larger every day; the green beans came up through the soil.  It was mid-March, and by the end of the month, we were eating a variety of greens in delicious salads.  It was warm enough to eat outside and in doing so, we joined a variety of birds who visit the feeder I have hanged in a tree in a back corner of the lower garden.  I also noticed many birds on the ground.  They hide in a patch of tall weedy grass I left on the edge of the garden, right under the feeder, and I watch them as they catch insects.  So far I haven’t had any problems with bugs eating my greens, perhaps because the birds keep them in check.  I enjoy listening to my winged friends as they sing, eat, chase bugs and sometimes each other; two birdbaths provide plenty of entertainment and water for bathing or drinking.  What a pleasure it is to work or sit in the garden, with the anaqua and honeysuckle in full fragrant bloom...a feast for the senses.

My garden has offered many surprises, some culinary.  When the time came to cull the radishes, I looked at those gorgeous greens and thought, “what a shame to waste those, even if they’re going in the compost.”  That afternoon, I made the comment to my mother on the phone expecting some sympathetic response; I never thought radish greens were edible.  Instead of hearing “oui c’est domage de les jeter”, my mother exclaimed : “tu peux faire la soupe avec”.  It wasn’t a shame at all to have to throw them on the compost pile, I didn’t have to throw them away – I could make soup.  And I did.  Soon the carrot greens followed.  Here’s the recipe; it works for both:

Radish greens or carrot greens (about 3 cups), washed and chopped

1 potato, small to medium-ish, diced

1 carrot, sliced

1 onion, sliced

Salt and pepper

Butter

-          Melt the butter and slightly brown the onion, then add the greens

-          Cook for 5 minutes and use that time to heat up about 2 cups of water;

-          Add the potato and carrot to the greens and cover with the hot water;

-          Add salt and pepper to taste, cover with a lid, and cook for about 15 minutes (until the carrot and potatoes are cooked);

-          Set aside to cool then use a hand-held mixer to puree the vegetables.  If your soup is too thick you can add water.