Category: Slider

  • The Final Harvest: Green Tomato Salsa

    The Final Harvest: Green Tomato Salsa

    Green Tomato Salsa

    Sadly, tomato season is now over. And for most of us, that means we end up with a bunch of tomatoes that are in various states of ripeness. Ordinarily, I bring them all in and let them ripen (I just put them on a piece of cardboard in the basement and lay a sheet of newspaper over the top) to get one last batch of sauce.

    But rather than the usual sauce, this year I wanted to try something a little different and make a green tomato salsa (or relish). I’ve had fried green tomatoes, but green tomatoes aren’t really something that’s on the menu around here (I prefer mine to be vine-ripened and juicy, but come October, it’s not really an option anymore). So in the spirit of experimentation, I gathered up what green orbs were left in the garden and got to work.

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  • Be the Star of Your Thanksgiving Dinner: How to Brine a Turkey

    Be the Star of Your Thanksgiving Dinner: How to Brine a Turkey

    How To Brine a Turkey - lifefromthegroundup.us

    The calendar says November, which means it’s time to start thinking about that turkey dinner! And also time to start bad-mouthing the neighbors who already have the Christmas lights up… ’tis the season!

    I’ve taken a liking to brining the bird for a couple days beforehand, which has turned out quite nicely. Brining results in an end product that’s extra moist due to osmosis and denaturing – the salt in the brining solution is absorbed into individual cells and retain extra liquid, and while it’s there, the salt essentially reshapes some of the proteins in the muscle fibers, which allows each cell to hold onto more liquid. I love when food and science collide.

    Put simply, to brine a turkey, you’re just going to stick it into a salt water bath for a day or so. Of course, you’ll need the right ratios and all that, but it really is that easy. And make sure you have a good bird – most store turkeys are pre-“brined” in a yummy chemical solution, so find a good local source if you can. Remember, happy turkeys make the best dinners!

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  • The Backyard Medicine Cabinet: Calendula

    The Backyard Medicine Cabinet: Calendula

    The Backyard Medicine Cabinet - Calendula

    Our next potent backyard herb is probably not growing in your yard as a weed, but you still may very well have grown it without realizing what you had.

    Calendula, or pot marigold, is a fairly common annual, easy to grow and providing a pop of orange and yellow in your landscape (so even if you don’t have a dedicated space for your healing plants, you can still squeeze this in with no qualms). But what sets calendula apart from most of your other flowers is its healing and culinary versatility.

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  • Baked Avocado Egg Cups – An Easy, Filling Breakfast

    Baked Avocado Egg Cups – An Easy, Filling Breakfast

    Eggs are a very common breakfast around here (have I mentioned that everyone should raise chickens?). Generally scrambled, but occasionally we’ll mix it up a bit, which is where this recipe comes from.

    I saw an idea for these eggs-baked-in-an-avocado and decided it sounded pretty good. If you think it sounds good too, keep reading.

    Baked Avocado Egg Breakfast Cups - lifefromthegroundup.us

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  • Gluten-free Cauliflower Pizza Crust

    Gluten-free Cauliflower Pizza Crust

    Cauliflower Gluten-free Pizza Crust - lifefromthegroundup.us

    Gluten gets a lot of publicity these days, a lot of it not good. Today is not the day that I get into all that mess; there’s plenty of information out there if you’re really interested. But suffice it to say, we’ve decided to try and cut back a little bit.

    We’re certainly not gluten-free, but we’ve been making more of an effort to make substitutions with some things, whether it’s a gluten-free flour, sourdough, or other alternatives.

    Since we make pizza on a semi-regular basis, crust was an obvious place to experiment. Though I have to hand it to whoever first came up with the idea for making a gluten-free pizza crust out of cauliflower. Probably wouldn’t have been my first choice, but it works. So if you’re looking for a good gluten-free pizza crust recipe, or just looking to change things up on occasion, here you go.

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