Purple Potatoes

We harvested our first crop of purple potatoes this week. Our seed was unused store bought potatoes that had sprouted, so I don't know what kind they are.
They were a small potato and appear to be a mid-late potato from planting to the tops dying. We planted them above ground in barn bedding and uneaten hay. I am fairly happy with the results, getting 8-10 potatoes per seed planted.
We planted whole potatoes and dipped in sulfur to avoid rotting in wet weather. In hindsight, I would have liked to have done some with dipping and some without for comparison.

Makin' Mayo

I made mayo for the second time today. It was SOOOOOO easy, everyone should be making their own! I modified the recipe found on another blog, http://spaininiowa.blogspot.com/2009/04/mayonaise-bacalao-y-papas-fritas-con.html

As it turned out, my lemon was frozen in the fridge, so I couldn't get the juice out of in in the time frame I needed and I substituted ACV. I added a little sugar and cream of tartar which I think added to it's fluffiness. I looked just like store bought with the exception of it's dayglo yellow color due to using my own forage fed eggs.


Fresh Mayonnaise
1 whole egg
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar
1 TBS OG sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1 cup olive oil

Add everything but the oil to the blender and mix. Slowly pour the oil in while the machine is running and whip.

Cute Heifer Pics!

Anna was born to Miss Swiss (Braunvieh) on April 6th, 2010. Anna's sire was a PB Jersey bull named Abner. Abner was the son of Clover. She is as cute as a button! We named her Anna as a tribute to a special girl born only hours earlier on the same day....

Quesadilla with Peach Salsa and Sour Cream

I have been disappointed in the past with commercial peach salsas. I believe if it's in the title, it should be one of the FIRST ingredients, not one of the last.

Peach Salsa
Fresh sliced or diced peaches
Diced tomatoes
Diced green chillies (Optional-I like a little kick)
Lime or lemon juice
Cilantro (optional)
Salt


To make quesadillas:

Heat coconut oil to medium low heat
Add corn tortilla when hot (use white corn or OG to minimize GMO)
Add sliced or hand grated white cheese-I've used Mozzarella, Jack, Farmers and Fontina with success-Havarti and Swiss aren't good for this purpose IMO.

When cheese is melted and the tortilla is crisp, remove from heat and add salsa and a dollop of REAL sour cream if available.

Ingredient Spotlight: Tomatoes

Fight Back Friday

Ahhh fresh peaches....

Here they are...our first peach crop!
After 2 years in a row of late freezes, we finally had a decent crop of peaches on our trees. The chickens agreed, as these are all we had left. Apparently, the chickens like our peaches even more than Japanese beetles and June bugs. They stayed on the ground for the bugs, but flew into the branches of the trees to eat the peaches!

They ARE yummy, even if we had to pick when still a little hard.
Brix reading on 1 peach was a fuzzy 15.

Cherry Chocolate Soup?

I don't know what else to call it...
It was 97 degrees in the shade on the thermometer today and I needed something light, nutritious and refreshing for lunch.

Last night, I made a quart of chocolate syrup with cream of tartar (1/4 tsp per TBS of sugar) already mixed in....for convenience. We are out of the strawberries we picked ourselves, so I decided to try frozen cherries. I coated about a cup of frozen dark cherries with 3 spoonfuls or so of the syrup and added FRESH milk until the cherries started floating. It was PERFECT!

Something to cool you off in this sweltering heat......

I found these on the computer and caught myself reminiscing about the ICE STORM...conveniently forgetting our misery being without power for 9 days.






Ahhhhhh....doesn't it feel refreshing.......

Homemade Chocolate Syrup

Ingredients
1 cup water
2 cups Sucanat-whole cane sugar

1 cup cocoa powder
3-6 TBS butter
1 large pinch of salt

2 tsp vanilla




Boil water and sugar together 1-2 minutes and turn stove off.
Add cocoa, butter, and salt stirring continuously until smooth, preferably with a whisk.
Add vanilla and store in a glass jar in the fridge. It should make 1 full pint...or a little more if the water didn't evaporate as much.

It is important to use butter for it's emulsifying properties. Use less butter if you just want to keep the syrup blended (or you're running low) and use more if you want to make the sauce more fudge like. It's better to leave it out and stir before using, than to substitute coconut oil. Coconut oil will just leave "chunkies" at the top. Ask me how I know......

Potato & Zucchini "pancakes"

I'd like to introduce you to the current "favorite" food coming out of the kitchen. The Potato & Zucchini pancake has evolved from a gluten free pancake using OG corn masa to really more of a crispy hash brown with egg. These make excellent leftovers...so cook as many as you have ingredients for.



Ingredients:
Potatoes
Zucchini from the garden (optional)
Egg
Unrefined salt
OG Sugar/Cream of tartar (optional)
Herbs or Spices (optional)
Onion (optional)
Coconut oil

Add oil to a wide, shallow pan for frying to about 1/8"-1/4" in depth and heat at medium.
Shred potatoes and zucchini (up to half), drain any excess liquid and move to a large mixing bowl. Long shreds will stick together better than short ones because there's no flour. Rinse your shredding equipment. (If you wait, the potatoes will harden and be more difficult to clean.) Add a beaten egg or 2 depending on volume of shreds and salt to taste. Keep in mind it is very hard to over salt potatoes...I probably do a 3 finger pinch per potato. Add customized ingredients...I've used sage, basil or onion from the garden, cinnamon with sugar and cream of tartar, and chili powder. Mix together so egg and herbs are distributed fairly evenly.

Drop forkfuls of the mix into hot pan, leaving enough room in between patties to get a spatula in for flipping. Cook for approximately 4-6 minutes per side depending on the size of the patties and how crisp you like them. Serve with apple sauce, ketchup, mustard etc for dipping. Enjoy!

Leftovers can be eaten cold, reheated in the oven, refried or I like them served with hot, gelatin rich broth with a little green onion and basil for a light supper.

This post part of  
Real Food Wednesday 
Pennywise Platter Thursday
Simple Lives Thursday