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| Produce from The Sonnenhof |
Today
is my dad’s birthday. He would’ve been ninety. From him, I inherited, or maybe
learned, my love of good, whole food. He was a cotton farmer in the Texas
panhandle. We also had a big garden every summer. He reserved about an acre of ground
right in the middle of the cotton patch and behind the house. Every April,
while he still had the cotton seed planter on the tractor, we planted two long
rows of sweet corn, okra, black eyed peas and green beans. The rest we planted
by hand – yellow squash, cantaloupes, watermelons, tomato and pepper plants. By
that time, the spring radishes and onions were ready to pull and the potatoes
had been planted. There wasn’t much fresh produce available back then at supermarkets,
especially in rural areas, and we ate really well from that simple garden. My
dad loved all of it, and I mean LOVED it! We knew he was happy when he smacked
his food loudly, or when sweat was rolling off his bald head while he ate
jalapenos, one right after the other. Hot peppers were some of his favorites.
He
also had a great fondness for Mexican food -- REAL Mexican food, even though
that hadn’t really caught on in restaurants in Texas back then. We had Mexican
hands on the cotton farm that prepared some wonderful dishes (especially
homemade tortillas!) and my dad was always on the lookout for new varieties of
seeds to try. A few years before he passed away, he managed to acquire some
tomatilla seeds and they became his obsession as he had eaten them in Mexico
years earlier. I don’t think he was ever terribly successful at growing them,
but he was determined. Little did he know he probably tried too hard – I’ve
found them to be a weed that’s almost impossible to control once they get loose
on the farm! I always think of him whenever I make Salsa Verde, a treat he
probably never had, but would’ve loved.
Here
are a few recipes in his honor, made with the abundance we’ve been receiving
from our garden this summer. Enjoy!
Chicken Corn Chowder
We
have a few too many chickens right now and far too many eggs. We also have too
little freezer space, so I’ve started butchering some of the older hens and
using them right away. Once a hen has been in egg production for a couple of
years, she’s awfully small and there’s not much meat left on her, but you get
some of the best flavored broth imaginable – very healthful because it’s so
rich in gelatin. I used to believe one needed to pressure cook the older birds
to get them tender, but I’ve found that a big oval crock pot will stew down two
small birds at once. I always add a splash of cider vinegar to the pot to help
extract as much of the wonderful gelatin as possible!
I
bought and put up two bushels of sweet corn a couple months ago and there is an
abundance of pepper and garlic varieties from the garden right now. This hearty
soup makes the best use of everything. If you don’t have pumpkinseeds, you can
substitute pecans or simply add a bit more corn grits for thickening.
*1/4 cup butter
or olive oil
*1 large onion,
chopped
*3-4 cloves
garlic, finely chopped
*1 red bell
pepper, diced
*2-3 poblano
peppers, roasted, skinned, seeded and diced
*1 teaspoon
ground coriander
*1/2 teaspoon
ground cumin
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*2 cups fresh or
frozen corn
*2 cups chicken
broth
*1/2 cup
pumpkinseeds, pureed in the blender or food processor
*1/4 cup
quick-cooking grits
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*2 cups cooked
chicken
*2 cups whole
milk
*1/2 cup feta or
farmer’s cheese, crumbled
*1 cup heavy
cream
*chopped
cilantro to taste
In
a stockpot, sauté the butter/oil and the onion, garlic, peppers and spices
until tender. Stir in the frozen corn and sauté until cooked, 2-3 minutes. Add
the broth, pumpkinseeds and grits, then cook for about 5 minutes, or until the
grits are thickened. Add the chicken, milk and cheese. Heat until the cheese is
melted and the milk is scalded. Add the cream and cilantro and heat gently.
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| Chicken Corn Chowder |
Curried Okra
I
find it sad that more people don’t love okra. It doesn’t have to be slimy and
it doesn’t have to be a deep-fried nightmare. We grow the Louisiana and Emerald
Green Velvet varieties of okra, which we like much better than the Clemson
everyone else seems to grow. After dining at a Vietnamese/Thai restaurant in
Fort Smith, this flavor combination has become one of our favorites. Be warned
if you use Madras-style curry powder – it packs a lot of heat by itself without
the addition of the hot peppers! Oh and, always start with dry okra pods –
water activates the slime while cutting.
*1/4 cup
sunflower or extra-light-tasting olive oil
*chopped garlic
to taste
*fresh chopped or
dried hot peppers to taste
*1 pound-ish of
okra, cut on the diagonal into 1” pieces
*1 teaspoon sea
salt
*2 tablespoons
curry powder (more to taste)
*1 small can
coconut milk (5.6 oz)
*a little sugar
to taste, if needed
*2 hard-boiled,
chopped eggs (optional)
Have everything
ready before starting. Heat a wok or large heavy pan on high heat. Add the
oil and wait for it to be almost to the point of smoking. (It should be VERY
hot!) Quickly toss in the okra, garlic and peppers and stir like mad to coat
the okra with the oil. (This method prevents the slime from forming.) Stir-fry
the okra for about 5 minutes, or until tender. Reduce heat, then stir in the
salt, curry powder and coconut milk. The mixture will thicken almost
immediately. Turn off the heat and taste for sweetness, adding a sprinkle of
sugar if necessary. Stir in the chopped eggs.
Salsa Verde
We
love this stuff. Hans often orders it at Mexican restaurants instead of the
standard salsa they usually bring you with chips. I use it by the pint-sized
jar on chicken enchiladas. This is the simple version. It’s even better with
some fire-roasted poblanos and if you can manage it, cook the tomatillas over
an open fire as well.
In
a deep saucepan or stockpot, cover your clean, whole tomatillas with water and
bring to a boil. Turn off the heat and let them sit, covered, for 20 minutes.
Gently (very gently!) lift them out with a slotted spoon or pour them through a
colander. Transfer them to a blender or food processor and puree.
For
each approximate quart of pureed tomatillas, prepare/add the following:
*1 large onion,
finely chopped and cooked, covered, in the microwave for about 5 minutes
*3-4 cloves of
garlic
*1 chopped Serrano
pepper
*1 teaspoon salt
*1 tablespoon of
lime juice (opt.)
Blend/puree
thoroughly, then pour into a saucepan to heat until just boiling. Add a handful
of chopped cilantro. Ladle into clean, sterilized jars and water bath for 20
minutes. If you don’t make much at a time, just cap the jars and put them in
the fridge to eat fresh.
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| Salsa Verde |
Five-Spice Honey Yogurt
This
is a wonderful light dessert after a heavy or spicy meal. The spice mix is a
digestive and the honey is carminative (soothing to the digestive tract). You
can use most any kind of fruit. We keep gallon bags of blackberries in the
freezer year round and when peaches are in season, those are great too.
*1
cup fresh chopped or frozen thawed fruit
*2
tablespoons sugar
*1
cup yogurt
*1
teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder
*1-2
tablespoons honey
Sprinkle
the sugar over the fruit, mash it up a bit with a fork or pastry cutter and let
the sugar draw out the liquid for at least 10 minutes. Stir in the remaining
ingredients. Delicious at room temp, cold or even slightly frozen.
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| My first watermelon from Dad's garden |
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