Growing and Using Nasturtiums

I've been reading gardening books for as long as I can remember (the fact that 2016 was my first actual garden is irrelevant) and whenever I came across  a profile of Nasturtiums and the often stated "Nasturtium seeds can be pickled and used as caper substitute." I would make a mental note... make sure you experience that someday Sarah!

This winter, researching for my second ever garden, whenever I come across a profile of Nasturtiums I think... those sure are tasty. Make sure to do that again this summer!

I enjoy knowing plants in this way - this way that is specific to growing them. I watched those Nasturtiums grow from the very first day. I watched them bloom. I watched how the seed pods formed. I watched how the ones I did not pickle dry into the seeds for next year's garden. That visceral sense of knowing  - that comes with a sense of ownership - is unique to gardening.

Nasturtium Capers

(This recipe works well but I'll be playing with seasonings in the upcoming season!) 

2 tablespoons salt

1 cup water

1/2 cup green Nasturtium seedpods

several cloves of garlic

Boil salt and water. Pour over seedpods and garlic cloves. Let sit at room temperature for three days. Drain. 

3/4 cup white vinegar

2 teaspoons sugar

1 tablespoons coriander seeds

2 cloves garlic

Combine ingredients and bring to a boil. Pour boiling vinegar over the seeds and let cool. Refrigerate. 

These nastium seed faux capers are gunna be awesome! Going down to the plot to pick more right now! #nasturium #seed #capers! #garden #harvest #garden2016 #whatveganseat #communitygardenplot

A post shared by Sarah (@sarahehoffman) on Aug 20, 2016 at 1:19pm PDT

Brewing Ginger Beer

Brewing has been on the to-list for a few years now. We purchased a bunch of equipment when I still lived in Toronto and it's been through a few moves now. I did attempt a few batches of all-grain but they never really worked out - my husband insists that the fact that I winged my own recipe has something to do with this failure. That can't possibly be true as all the books say 'if you can make lasagna, you can make beer!' 

Those failed beer attempts really zapped my enthusiasm for brewing so we decided to start slowly with a non-alcoholic extract ginger beer kit. This was meant to test our sanitation process and to boost brewing related skills.

It was a success! We have 5 gallons of bubbly, clean tasting, ginger beer in our fridge at the moment. 

Now to order in some supplies for an all grain beer recipe! Onwards and Upwards! 

Preserving Citrus

ORANGES: 

Dried Orange Peels

Before eating oranges, I've taken to peeling the rind with a vegetable peeler (taking only the orange part and leaving the bitter pith behind). This is laid out on a cookie sheet to air-dry over the course of few days. After which the curled, hard peels are ground in a food processor. The bright orange powder is then added by the teaspoon to baked goods (like chocolate chip cookies) and coffee drinks which imparts a delicate but powerful orange flavour.      

Candied Orange Peels

Peel three or four oranges, trying to keep the peel in large pieces. Cover with cold water, and bring to a boil. Boil for 20 minutes or until peels are tender. The pith begins to look slightly opaque when the peels have boiled long enough. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking water. Use a paring knife, to cut off the white pith. You should be able to take the majority of the pith off in one piece. Cut the peel into strips. Boil 3/4 cup sugar, with reserved cooking liquid and 1 cup of water until the mixture begins to thicken. Add peel and boil another five minutes. Drain and coat the strips in granulated sugar.

Orange Chocolate Biscotti

2/3 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons ground flax

1/4 cup canola oil

1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup cocoa

1/3 cup diced candied orange peel

Preheat oven to 350 F. Whisk sugar, ground flax, oil, and orange juice until well blended. In a separate bowl, mix baking powder, flour, cocoa and orange peel. Fold dry ingredients into wet until just mixed. Scope unto baking sheet and, using damp hands, form into a log. Bake for 30 minutes. The surface of the biscotti should be cracked. Remove from oven and let cool. Slice. Bake for an additional 15 minutes. Enjoy! 


LEMONS
Preserved Lemons

Lemons
Salt
Lemon juice

Cut lemon into wedges, but do not cut all the way through the lemon. This creates a lemon that has open surface area but is still attached at the bottom. Stuff lemon with salt. Stuff salted lemons into a glass container. Cover with lemon juice. Leave undisturbed for a minimum of two weeks. 

Salty Lemonade: 
1 wedge of preserved lemon
2 teaspoons sugar
squirt of lemon juice
water
ice

Muddle preserved lemon and sugar. Add water, ice, and lemon juice. Be careful with the balance of sugar and salt. It's supposed to be a tiny bit salty but not extremely so. 

Easy Vegan Eggnog

Vegan Eggnog

This creamy vegan eggnog is so thick that it basically requires booze to thin it to a drinkable consistency. It is fairly easy to put together and does not require much in the way of speciality ingredients. It's an eggnog for true nog lovers! 

5 tablespoons flour

1 cup water

1/3 cup almond milk

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons icing sugar

1/3 cup aquafaba (liquid from unsalted canned chickpeas) 

Ground nutmeg

Booze of choice

Combine flour and water in a pan over medium high heat. Stir constantly to remove lumps. This mixture will smell like toasting flour and then start to clump together in clear-ish blobs. Stir consistently until mixture forms one sticky ball then remove from heat. Remove mixture from hot pan. Combine 2 tablespoons of flour mixture with milk, sugar, and vanilla and blend together in a blender. Once combined set aside. Combine icing sugar and aquafaba in a stand mixer and mix until soft peaks form which will take anywhere from 7-15 minutes. Combine two mixtures in a mug and top with ground nutmeg and booze of choice. This recipe makes one serving but 3 portions of flour mixture which will keep for a few days in the fridge. 

Kombucha: Brewing Basics

Kombucha Overview: 
Kombucha success depends upon three ingredients. 

1. SCOBY: There is no substitute for this symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast (SCOBY) but thankfully SCOBY's are easy to acquire, grow or purchase. 

2. SUGAR: White cane sugar is the most common type of sweetener used in kombucha brewing but many individuals have success brewing with alternatives such as brown sugar, molasses, maple syrup and agave nectar. If you are having difficulty brewing kombucha, revert to white can sugar for the most reliable results. 

3. CAFFEINE: Most sources cite the necessity of real tea (camellia sinesis) but as I have successfully brewed coffee kombucha it seems that the necessary ingredient is caffeine.

The SCOBY feeds on the SUGAR and CAFFEINE during fermentation.  

Kombucha Brewing Basics: 
The process of kombucha brewing is very simple. First you need to brew tea. Bring a pot containing 4 cups water to just below a simmer on the stove. Add 1/4 cup sugar and stir until dissolved. Turn off the heat and add the teabags. Let cool to room temperature. Remove the tea bags. Do NOT add the SCOBY until the tea is at room temperature. 

Now it is time to ferment. Remove the SCOBY from your previous batch and separate the baby from the mother. It should be fairly easy to separate as the top portion should be creamy white and firm while the lower portion should be grey and flabby. Place the white firm SCOBY in a clean container and cover with a portion of fermented kombucha. Bottle your fermented kombucha and clean and dry your fermentation container.

(SCOBY on right is the baby, while SCOBY on left is the mother. Use the baby to brew your next batch)

Transfer the sweetened tea to the fermentation container. With clean hands, transfer the SCOBY to the fermentation container. Pour in the fermented tea which was covering the SCOBY. Now it is time to wait.  Allow to sit undisturbed and lightly covered for 8-14 days or until desired level of fermentation is reached.  

  

Grow a SCOBY: 
1 bottle raw, unpasteurized Kombucha with no fruit juice added
2 bags caffeinated tea
1 T sugar
Large glass jar
Piece of breathable fabric
rubber band

Place your sugar and tea bags in jar. Pour in 2 cups of boiling water. Allow the tea to steep for 10 minutes then remove the tea bags. Stir to dissolve sugar. Allow to cool then pour in the whole bottle of store-bought Kombucha. Cover jar with fabric and secure with rubber band. Place bowl in a warm, dry space free of drafts and sunlight. Let sit for a full two weeks without disturbing it.

Homemade Pasta

I grew up with homemade fresh pasta. Upon first moving out of my parent's house, homemade pasta became the only type of pasta I consumed. I had purchased a 12 dollar hand-cranked pasta machine and spend many university nights rolling out fresh linguine. I made pasta in small quantities and consumed it immediately after making. Then I began to freeze it in batches which is very reminiscent of the way I consumed pasta as a child. My current favourite way to consume pasta is to dry it before eating.

(buckwheat noodles)

Vegan Pasta Dough (from 'How to cook everything Vegetarian' by Mark Bittman

2 cups pasta (semolina is a personal favourite)
pinch of salt
splash of oil
1/2 cup hot water

Mix ingredients by hand and knead until smooth. Let rest for 30 minutes before cutting and shaping pasta.

Drying Pasta
Spread out on cookie sheets and let dry for 24 hours. Cook like regular, purchased pasta.

Bowtie Pasta
Roll out the pasta dough as thinly as possible. Let rest uncovered for 15 minutes. Cut into squares. To shape into 'bowties' simply squeeze the dough in the centre of the square. If it doesn't stick, wet your fingers and try again.

(semolina flour bowtie pasta) 

Bread Baking Day: Tips

Many moons ago I volunteered and then worked for an artisan sourdough bread business in Toronto. I really feel in love with bread - I loved everything about that time. The smell. The feel. The taste. The way I'd smell of fresh baked bread and sweat on the subway ride home after an exhausting 12 hour shift. It was really wonderful.

After I moved on from that job, I grew my own sourdough starter and started baking at a home scale on a regular basis but I soon simply stopped baking bread. We usually did not purchase bread so I wasn't stressing over the lack of freshly baked bread in the house. However, since moving to Yellowknife we've been purchasing three loaves of bread every week or so. We get a nice full grain one for sandwiches, a sweet one for the toaster oven, and usually some bagels because really... bagels!

So I've decided to take the plunge again and start baking bread on a regular basis.

1. Pick a casual day to become the regular bread baking day. It usually takes a few hours to go from yeast and flour to fully baked bread so it's best to plan bread baking for a day usually spent in a casual manner. This is especially important for me as I don't like to leave the house while I have bread rising or proofing - I'm just a bit overprotective of my dough!

2. Start small. Don't worry about replacing all of the family's bread intake immediately. Focus on slowing reducing purchased bread while increasing home made bread.

3. Read. Take bread books out of the library. There are a plethora of bread baking books with various techniques and advice (sometimes contradictory) and combined they offer a great resource.

4. Experiment. Don't just make plain white sandwich bread. Experiment with various traditional and unusual recipes. Experiment with pan shapes and free-form loaves.

5. Pantry Staples. After a few weeks of bread baking you'll know what times of grains, flours, and additives you need to keep in your pantry. Keep your pantry stocked with these items so that you can easily bake family favourites as well as experimenting with recipe variations.

6. Leftovers. On occasion, not all of your glorious home made bread will be consumed before it becomes hard so develop a few recipes that use up bread crumbs and stale bread (stuffing!)

Banana Bread

I have scores of cookbooks that contain beautiful and delicious sounding recipes for desserts but I don't ever make them. Why not? Because I never plan my baking encounters and so never shop with a specific dessert recipe in mind. This means that I need to develop a series of recipes that contain pantry staples to quell that late night desire to bake (and consume) something sweet. And the first instalment is a basic, pantry-friendly, vegan banana bread!

Basic Banana Bread

1/4 cup vegetable shortening
3 medium bananas
1/2 cup sugar

1  1/3 cup flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 375 C and lightly oil a loaf pan.
Mix together shortening, bananas, and sugar until well combined. This is easily done in a stand mixer.
Add in flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Fold together by hand until no dry flour remains. The batter will be quite dry and stiff.
Put batter into loaf pan and arrange in an even layer.
Bake for 40 minutes.

Chocolate Banana Bread: Replace 1/3 of the flour with cocoa powder.

Garden Planning: Selecting Seeds

I just received word that I get to garden in a community garden plot this summer! This is good news because I really need to improve my green thumb before we move to the land. I have picked a few things to grow and put in a few seed orders. Here are the guiding principles I used to plan my garden - which I thought might be helpful to other new gardeners. 

1. Stick to one seed company. Seed catalogues are so fun to receive and look through but actually choosing and ordering seeds from all those companies can get overwhelming and expensive. I chose to order from Heritage Harvest because I like their business practices, they are a Canadian company, and their print catalogue had choices without being overwhelming. 

2. Grow what you want to eat. For some reason gardeners are obsessed with tomatoes but I really don't enjoy eating tomatoes so I avoided that category. I did however choose two types of beets and multiple herbs for my little garden.

3. Food experiments. I choose some plants with the intention of experimenting with the harvest. For example, nasturtiums will be made into capers and I really want to dry chamomile flowers to be used in teas. As a foodie, goals of this type are important as these experiments will help ensure long term interest in the garden. 

  

4. Keep it simple. Once you start browsing seed catalogues and pinterest for gardening ideas there will be more ideas than you can accomplish in any one growing season. This is true of all gardeners but its beneficial for newbies to keep the garden plan simple. 

5. Define success before you start. This year my definition of success is 'if one plant grew in my plot then I had a successful gardening year'. I don't have to harvest anything. I don't have to eat a single meal made of homegrown vegetables. If my raised bed has one green plant that I intentionally planted in it at any point in the season then my gardening year was a success.