This coming Friday, is one of my 3-times-a-year (time to coincide with the next sowing time here in the desert garden) Free Seed Share at the Mesa Farmers Market.
Friday, June 24th, 9 a.m. - Noon
20 East Main Street (West of Jimmy John's Parking Lot)
Parking is off of Pepper Place, North of Main Street
Restricted Parking is NOT in force on Fridays, so park where you wish.
I host this event because I want YOU to grow some or more of you own food.
Unemployment [economy or inflation] is capitalism’s way of getting you to plant a garden. ~Orson Scott Card
That may be one of my all-time favorite quotes because it gets to the heart of planning and foresight.
. . .
My month-by-month planting Calendar is a great tool to keep you on track for when to plant your vegetables, herbs, fruits and edible flowers, with maintenance tips and gardening helper tips.
. . .
RECIPES:
With the past two days too hot to be active in the gardens during the day, I took the opportunity to make a healthy dessert I have wanted to try out, and also make up some pasta sauce using the crock pot - outside!
I had some nice tomatoes from the Mesa Farmers Market last week (mine are just getting going) so I added some of my own garden herbs, stuck everything in the crock pot and set out on the patio. 8 hours later I had a lovely sauce.
Modified "Crazy" Tomato Sauce
Famous Italian Chef Marcello Hazan created this simple rustic sauce with just a stick of butter, a whole can of chopped tomatoes and 1 onion cut in half. The sauce cooked down to a luscious and silky consistency. Marcella took the onion out at the end. I did not like to waste it, so after trying it her way I decided to mince the onion and add herbs.
From my garden for yesterday's sauce I had fresh basil, Greek Oregano and onion. In my pantry I had my garlic I dried last year.
3 cups chopped tomatoes (I leave peel on and do not seed)
1/2 stick of sweet butter (sweet butter has salt in it)
1 sprig of basil, leaves slivered and stem reserved
2 sprigs of Greek Oregano
1/2 cup minced onion
1/8 teaspoon of dried garlic
In the crockpot, layer in, butter, tomatoes and all the herbs. Put the lid on and turn the crockpot on low. Do not stir for the first hour, to let the juices release from the tomatoes.
Check periodically to give the sauce a stir.
Allow to cook down to your preferred thickness. (I let mine go about 8 hours.)
Remove the basil and oregano stems.
Use an immersion blender to puree if desired.
Serve or store for use later - can be frozen.
Microwave Yogurt Cheesecake
I am in love with the mini microwave cakes, also called "Cake in A Mug" and have made several types. A chocolate cake and a cornbread.Since it is just the two of us these are perfect to split between us.
I've been searching around for cheesecake in the microwave and most of them use some combination of cream cheese and sour cream. I wanted to use Greek Yogurt because it has the tang of the sour cream/cream cheese mix, but has a high protein content and is just as creamy. Because I had some left over pumpkin puree (Deane made a pumpkin bread pudding the other day - one of his specialty desserts), I decided to make a pumpkin cheesecake with a ginger snap crust.
I recommend a straight sided pyrex type dish. I used a curved bowl because I did not have the right size, so the cheesecake flattened out more. You will need a bowl/dish that holds about 2 cups filled
To make a non-pumpkin cheesecake, omit the pumpkin, increase the yogurt to 1 cup and substitute 1/4 teaspoon vanilla for the pumpkin spice.
3/4 cup Plain Greek Yogurt
1/4 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling) (I had organic)
1 large or jumbo egg
1 1/2 teaspoons of all-purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar (I use organic)
1/8 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
7 ginger snaps - crushed
butter to for greasing bowl/dish.
Butter the bottom and sides of the microwave safe bowl. You can use baking spray if you prefer. Pat crushed ginger snaps in the bottom and just a bit up the sides. Set aside.
In a bowl, mix yogurt and pumpkin puree. Beat egg in a cup. In another bowl mix sugar, flour, and pumpkin pie spice. All at once add beaten egg and sugar mix to the yogurt mix and beat, stir very well. Set aside for 5 minutes to let the sugar completely dissolve.
Pour batter in prepared crust bowl. Microwave on high for 3-5 minutes. Check at the 3 minute level. The center should not 'giggle' much when done.
Remove let cool and chill until firm before cutting.
I was very, very pleased with the way this turned out. The taste was great, with a creamy texture and a bit of crunch from the ginger snaps. And, 1/4 of the cheesecake would have about 7 grms of protein, and about 155 calories. Pretty good ratio for a dessert!
You can serve plain. We tried both plain and with a topping of some of my homemade Santa Rosa plum jam. Yum!
I hope to see you at the Seed Share.
If you like my recipes, you may enjoy my Cook Book "101+ Recipes from The Herb Lady" - there are actually over 150 recipes using herbs and spices to flavor the food FIRST before reaching for the salt shaker.
I even included a "what I have on hand to cook" index. As a cook and lover of cookbooks, I have always thought each cookbook should have a major ingredient index. Have chicken? The index lists what recipes call for chicken Likewise with ingredients like eggs, tofu and vegetables.
Have a best day,
-- Catherine, The Herb Lady
If you enjoyed this post, subscribe in the upper side bar link, to get all my posts!
Disclaimer: Clicking on links on this blog may earn me a small commission if you purchase something. Your price does not change.
No comments:
Post a Comment