Toledo Talks - Companion Gardening

Nothing says springtime like gardening. I didn't start any seeds this year, so today I visited our local nursery and bought my winter-hardy vegetable plants -- kale, broccoli, chard, cabbage, and kohlrabi. I love fresh greens, so I tend to plant a lot of them. My plan was to go home and plant them before dinner.

Unfortunately, before I got home, it started to rain. So my planting plans were put on hold. Instead, I sat down and sketched out some rough plans of where I'd plant this year. Choosing the right companion groupings is important, not only for natural pest control, but also because some plants affect the flavor of other plants. For example, planting kohlrabi stunts the growth of tomato plants. Tomatoes stunt the growth of carrots. Basil makes tomatoes taste better -- as if most tomatoes don't taste good enough on their own.

It's a big puzzle and I should have asked Hanover to help me with it. He loves puzzles. But he was busy calming Regan down about some foolish monkey thing he did to her. I'm sure she'll fill you in on all that later. So here is the plan I came up with. It's not perfect and I'm sure I'll modify it some as I start planting. It also doesn't show the herbs and flowers. I like to intermingle them with the vegetables in a more natural way. There is nothing like the smell of fresh basil to perk you up when you're weeding the tomatoes or checking the squash for squash bug eggs.

Are you planting a garden this year? I'd love to hear what you do to help it thrive.

Here's some more information about companion gardening.
Golden Harvest Organics
An In-Depth Companion Planting Guide

Toledo Talks - Working the Soil

Toledo Cats

Maybe the snow still covers the ground in some places, but down here in New Orleans, I can smell the soil. It calls me and makes me want to dig my hands into it and feel the worms squirm out from between my fingers. My family has always worked the soil.

Mama kept a garden, even after we moved to town. Each spring, I helped her plant herbs and flowers. She would tell me their purpose. Mama barely ever planted anything without a purpose. It's how she grew up. Of course, Mama could always find a purpose for just about any plant. Why would the Great Mother have put them here with no purpose?

Yes, I smell Mama in the springtime. But I also smell my Uncle Jesse. While Mama planted small gardens with her hands, Jesse planted fields of sugar cane. He would work all morning and come in for dinner around noon, glistening with sweat and grinning ear to ear. "The ground's good this year," he'd say. "We're gonna get ourselves a good crop of cane sugar." His eyes would glisten and by the time I was older, I knew cane sugar meant rum and rum meant sales...especially to Grumwald. But when I was younger, I was content to sneak into the fields and listen to him sing. Jesse's voice was so deep and wonderful. It transported me to other worlds...worlds I had not been to and neither had he....worlds he had learned of from the stories told by his father...my grandfather...who I never met.

Toledo Talks -- Asparagus, a Taste of Springtime

Toledo Cats

When the asparagus spears start cropping up in the garden, it's a sure sign spring is here. If you're lucky enough to have an established crop, you can enjoy this delicious vegetable almost every day from early spring until the heat sets in. If you're planting a crop this year, you'll need to be patient. Asparagus takes about 2 years from the time you plant it until you can get a good harvest. Sure, you might get a harvest one year after you plant it, but don't get greedy. If you do, you'll likely be starting over.

If you aren't growing it, you can find it at the grocery store or, better yet, at an organic market. Asparagus doesn't have a very long shelf life, in fact it's best if you eat it the same day you pick it, so you need to be careful to choose stalks that are firm. Store them in the fridge with a moist paper towel around them if you can't use them all at once.

Asparagus has so much good stuff in it, you can almost feel its energy when you eat it. The fresher it is, the better.

Some people don't like asparagus because it smells like urine when you boil it. The trick to avoiding that problem is not not boil it. It's tasty raw, lightly sautéed, or grilled. The key is to not overcook it. Asparagus is best still a bit crisp.

I'd like to share a recipe that's quick and easy, yet elegant and tasty. Best of all, you can make it in a single electric frying pan. First lay thin cut raw breakfast steaks along the bottom of the pan. I figure two steaks per person, but depending on the size of the steak and the appetites of the people you are feeding, you might need more or fewer. Spread cream cheese across the breakfast steak. Cut the asparagus spears in sections about the same length as the steak. Lay two asparagus spears on each steak. Add a thin slice of deli turkey on top.

Cook it at medium-low heat (around 325F) for about 10 minutes, or until the steak is just about done the way you want it. Pour in 1 cup to 1 1/2 cup of your favorite  spaghetti sauce. Sprinkle with some crushed pecans, some finely chopped broccoli, and your favorite grated cheese. Cook another 5 minutes and serve.

It's especially good served with a nice red wine, such as a Merlot, and a chunk of crusty sourdough bread. At least that's the way I like to eat it.

Enjoy!

I'd like to thank Paul's Farm Fresh Produce for the wonderful fresh asparagus, broccoli, and pecans used in the photo shoot. I'd also like to thank the butcher at Mike's Market  for cutting the breakfast steaks just the way I like them. The meal was delicious.

If you'd like to learn more about asparagus, here are some links.

The World's Healthiest Foods
Asparagus-Lovers.com
Asparagus Growing Guide

Toledo Talks -- Spaghetti Squash as Comfort Food

Toledo Cats

Winter months call for comfort food. So do the stressful events we often face in life, especially when certain deities decide to get involved. I've found that a good meal helps calm the nerves and puts things in perspective. A nice plate of spaghetti squash with some sausage on the side fits the bill nicely -- *whispers* and for those of us who care about carbs, it's a low-carb option. Now you spiders who might be listening, don't you go creeping into the desert realm telling Mama I'm watching my carbs.

I've been pretty busy these days and there are rumors that someone is stirring up trouble in the realms again, so I tend to prefer dishes I can make in a single pan without a lot of fuss. I'll tell you how it's done.

First, you cut the squash in half from stem to bloom end.



Next, scoop out the seeds and stuff it with your favorite sausage. I like to use spicy Italian sausage.

Cut up some mushrooms and put them alongside the squash in an electric frying pan.

Flip the squash upside-down so that the sausage touches the frying fan surface. The oil from the sausage will provide the necessary grease to keep it all from sticking. The sausage flavor will also rise up into the squash as it cooks. If you're using a vegetarian stuffing instead of sausage, grease the pan with olive oil first.

Now you're ready to cook it. If you like your sausage scorched, the way Hanover likes his, cook it at 400F. Otherwise, cook it at 350F. Cover the pan to keep the moisture and flavor inside. You'll know it's done when you can easily push the squash in with your fingertip.

Flip the squash right-side up and add your favorite spaghetti sauce. Continue cooking until the sauce is warm and bubbly.

Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Now you're ready to serve it up. Remove the sausage from the center. Scrape the squash gently with a form until it looks like cooked spaghetti.

Spoon some of the warm sauce onto the pasta and eat. I like it served with a nice Cabernet and some bread. See Mama, I'm not watching my carbs. I just prefer the rich sweetness of the squash over plain old bleached flour pasta.

Once more, I'd like to give a special thanks to Paul's Farm Fresh Produce Market  for providing the fresh organic spaghetti squash and mushrooms.

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Before I go, I want to remind you that it's Read-an-Ebook week at Smashwords. After dinner, it's nice to settle down with something fun to read. These books in the Dime Store Novel series are included in the promotion. 

Books you can get for FREE (enter RW100 at checkout)

Rips in the Weave

From the Gator's Mouth

Books you can get for 50% off (enter REW50 at checkout)

The Desert Rose

Angels in Hell's Kitchen

Mind of a Mad Man

The promotion only lasts through March 8th. I hope you snatch yours up while the promotion lasts and let me know what you think. 

Toledo Talks -- Celery Root: Ugly but Beautiful

I remember watching Mama cook celery root when I was five or six. I remember being scared of the ugly thing she plopped down on the counter -- all rough and misshapen. I said "I'm not gonna eat that, Mama."

Hanover was there and he said, "Me and Swampy play catch with those things."

Mama said, as I imagine most Mamas do, "You'll eat what I put on the table and you'll like it."

Celery root

I ate it, of course. Mama had a way of making sure I ate my vegetables and it usually involved some fresh-baked pie or cobbler cooking in the oven, filling the room with a fragrant promise for later, after I'd managed to choke down this awful looking monster of a vegetable.

As I grew older, celery root became just part of the meal. Something we ate from time to time, especially when Mama was stressed or if I had an important test in school the next day. I came to enjoy its sweet, spicy flavor and would even sometimes ask Mama to make it.

Sliced celery root

Hanover even likes it, especially when it is cooked up with carrots, onion, beef, and tomato. It turns out he had always liked it and he was just giving Mama trouble. Sure, he and Swampy tossed around the root. Swampy had cultivated some he'd found. Late each autumn, he'd convince Hanover to help him dig it up and toss it in the cellar. Through the winter, Swampy would use the root himself and sell it to the chefs around town. It turns out, some consider it something of a delicacy. They call it celeriac.

Celery root with carrots and onions

I didn't fully appreciate celery root until much later, after Mama had passed on to a life without me. Of course she'd told me of its health benefits -- she knew even before the scientists did -- that it was good for the digestive system and helped calm stressed out teenagers. She knew it helped people to be mentally alert and she'd often take a raw chunk of it along on deliveries if she suspected the labor would be a long and difficult one. But like most kids, I never paid much mind.

Hanover's Favorite

Then one day, I remembered. Hanover was distraught about a case he was working on. He was particularly bothered about how the victims were murdered. I wanted to cook him up something special to help him relax. So I sautéed up some celery root, carrots, and onions. I put a nice small roast on top, along with sliced tomato and let them cook until they were rare -- just the way Hanover likes them. Then I melted a little Parmesan cheese on top. I served it to Hanover along with some red wine.
I'm not saying it worked magic. I've sworn never to work magic on Hanover. But it did help him relax. The next morning, Hanover woke early and reexamined the evidence. He saw something he'd never noticed before -- a pattern he'd never seen. I like to think the celery root had something to do with it.

Do you want to know more about celery root? Here are some links:
Health Benefits of Celery Root
What to Cook Now: Celery Root
What is Celeriac?

I'd like to give a special thanks to Paul's Farm Fresh Produce Market for the organic vegetables and grass-fed beef used in the photo shoot. It was all delicious.