Poll: How are you resourceful in the kitchen?

In case you haven't noticed, I recently posted a poll in the left sidebar of this blog inquiring into the different ways home cooks can be more resourceful in the kitchen. I've tried to offer the answers that most likely reflect the way you achieve resourcefulness as a cook. However, if you have other tips and tricks that I've not included in the poll, I'd love-love-love to hear from you! Send your tips and tricks for making the most out of your groceries and garden to me at tamarasellman@gmail.com; I hope to feature the most popular and most creative answers in an upcoming blog post here at Extra!Extra! this fall!

Note: The poll will close on Sunday, July 31 2011 at 11:56pm (Pacific time).

Farmbox 101: Drying Herbs

I don't dry many of the herbs I grow because I like the brighter flavors they impart when they are used fresh in cooking. However, some herbs dry very well and are worth harvesting and drying over the summer so that you don't have to buy them in the winter months. Before drying herbs using any technique, the herbs should we very lightly rinsed and dried with paper towels. Tip: Harvest your herbs early in the morning when their essential oils are at their peak.

Drying methods

• Bundle stalks of herbs that have been tied into bundles using twine, then place them in paper bags, close the bags, seal them with twist ties and put them in a cool, dark, dry place. Once the leaves are completely dry, strip the leaves from the stems and place them in clean tight-sealing bottles.
• Place herbs in a single layer on a cookie sheet and dry in a very low regular or convection oven (100-150F) for 3-5 minutes. Strip the leaves from the stems and place them in clean tight-sealing bottles.
• Place herbs in a single layer on a paper towel and microwave at MEDIUM for 1 minute; if not completely dry, microwave again in 30 second installments until the herbs are dry. Strip the leaves from the stems and place them in clean tight-sealing bottles.
• Use a dehydrator: If you have one of these already, go ahead and use it. Follow the manufacturer's directions.
• Bonus idea! Fill a small jar halfway with sugar or salt; add dry (but not dried) herbs, then cover completely with more sugar or salt. Sugar and salt are natural preservatives and the herbs you place in these seasonings will flavor them for future use.

Store your dried herbs in small glass jars (I reuse empty glass herb bottles that I purchased from the store previously) or check out the inexpensive but fancy aluminum tins now available for stashing your herbs; some of them even have magnets on their bottoms so you can stow them on your fridge door! Of course, make sure you label your herbs so you know what you are putting by!

Here are some herbs I recommend trimming regularly throughout the summer for drying for later use:

Dill weed: If you have a bushy dill plant, trimming it every so often and drying the fronds means you'll have great dill weed to use year-round. (You can also let some seedheads bolt in late summer and use them in pickling with great effect.) I have dried dill using the microwave and the oven and I have preserved it in salt with success.

Fennel fronds: This is a great herb to preserve in sugar, imparting a nice licorice-y flavor.

Culinary lavender: Here's a different method that's effective: lay these out to dry openly on a baking sheet in a cool, dry, undisturbed place. Also brilliant when cured in sugar.

Lemon balm: Easy to do in the oven and makes for great lemon tea or for scenting homemade soaps.

Lovage leaves: Great dried in the oven and also good for making a peppery, celery-like seasoned salt.

Marjoram: My favorite pizza herb! Dry it in a microwave. It's super fast.

Mint (all varieties): Oven method works for mint you can use for tea; think about scenting some sugar with it as well.

Oregano: Just like marjoram, it dries up neatly in the microwave. I haven't bought oregano in years. One of the best for home-drying.

Parsley: I'm not a big fan of dried parsley, but if you want to go that route, the best way is to microwave-dry it, as this method allows it to keep its pretty green color. Preserving in salt is a good way to go as well.

Rosemary: All methods work well and are worthwhile. Another herb I haven't purchased in who-knows-how-long. Another one for the salt method.

Culinary sage: I think sage actually dries best in a paper bag. I have also had good luck preserving it in salt.

French tarragon: Dries well using any of these methods. Tarragon sugar might make an interesting addition to sugar cookies at the holidays.

Thyme (both English and Lemon): Perhaps the only herb that dries better than oregano! Go for the fast microwave method, or keep it in a jar of salt.

Winter savory: This one dries well like rosemary because of its needly quality. (Summer savory doesn't dry as well as the winter.)

Locavores: 5 who keep the faith in Bainbridge Island, WA

These are just five out of dozens of individuals, companies and organizations in Bainbridge Island, WA working to support the movement toward locavorism.

1. Greg Atkinson [Chef]

 West Coast Cooking (blog)
greg@westcoastcooking.com  

Comment: I met Greg for the first time at Crescent Dragonwagon's food writing workshop in West Seattle last spring and discovered a kindred spirit. He's well known for his regional culinary finesse and has written several cookbooks, one which comes out this fall. But what I'm most excited about is the fact he's opening a new restaurant on the island this summer: Marche. The Seattle Times has this to say about him: "Atkinson is one of the most underrated chefs in the Northwest; though he was an early adopter of the now-pervasive practice of eating what's seasonally available and locally sourced, he's been out of the restaurant scene so long that many diners think of him as a cookbook author first." Well, that's all about to change and I bet island diners will be lining up at the door the day he opens his new kitchen!

2. Leapfrog Farm [CSA]

Christine Tressel and Andrzej Babij
26079 Tytler Road
Poulsbo, WA
360.779.6812
redvalise@earthlink.net

From Bainbridge Island Farms: "Located north of Poulsbo proper on a restored farm, first founded in 1911, Leapfrog Farm produces a wide variety of vegetables, including produces a wide variety of vegetable including, salad greens, beans, peas, root crops, brassicas, garlic, shallots, corn, tomatoes, and cut flowers. Available in season at the Farmers’ Market of the farm. Please call before visiting."

Comment: My first CSA experience was with Leapfrog Farm, which is situated off-island (in Poulsbo) but which has a regular presence at the Bainbridge Island Farmer's Market. I don't want to take anything away from the island farmers here at all, but I do want to give Leapfrog a big thumbs-up for keeping their prices affordable. I have learned a lot about the treasure of the weekly farmbox thanks to them and will always be a devoted fan.

3. Town & Country [Grocer]

343 Winslow Way E.
Bainbridge Island, WA
206.842.3848
Open 6a-11p
 
From their website: "We are committed to offering products grown or produced in Washington, Oregon and Idaho whenever possible. Look for our NW Grower and NW Producer shelf tags on hundreds of products throughout our stores. You’ll see the NW Grower sign on things like peaches from Eastern Washington or lavender from Sequim, and the NW Producer sign on things like chickens raised and processed in Washington or cheese crafted in Oregon."

Comment: I admit that the prices at T&C (what the store is locally referred to) are too high for me to buy the bulk of my groceries there, but I can always count on them to have the more gourmet or ethnic ingredients I am often looking for, and T&C is great about showcasing hyperlocal and organic food whenever it becomes available. One of my favorite buys every year are the local figs, which are just spectacular!

4. Friends of the Farms [Org]

221 Winslow Way W., Suite 303
Bainbridge Island, WA 98110
206.842.5537
info@friendsofthefarms.org

From their mission statement: "We believe that the history of farming on Bainbridge Island is a legacy worth cherishing and that our efforts to keep farming alive, will create a more resilient local economy, protect the natural beauty of the landscape, and provide healthy food for our community."

Comment: This organization has been doing good for land preservation and agricultural sustainability issues on Bainbridge Island for ten years. They help to manage city-owned agricultural properties and open spaces and have made great efforts to protect local farms with unique local heritage.

5. Local Harvest [Resto]

Pavilion Shopping Center
403 Madison Ave North, Suite #130
Bainbridge Island, WA 98110
206.842.2006
localharvest@me.com
Lunch: Tues-Fri 11:30a-2p (Lunch Served on Sat, May-Oct)
Dinner: Tues-Sat 5-9:30p (year-round)

From the website: "The menu at Local Harvest changes as we seek the freshest ingredients available that are in season. Chef Daniel has a strong partnership with local farmers and fisherman to provide the best meats, fish, fruits, and vegetables for his dishes. Local Harvest’s goal is to deliver delicious cuisine to your table using a small carbon footprint."
 Comment: I have eaten here once and it was absolutely delicious. I have seen people filing out the door in a line waiting to get in. It's restaurants like these that we need to support so that eating locally doesn't end up just being a fad, but a collective lifestyle change.

Farmbox 101: Edible flowers

Last week, I talked about turning produce into bouquets. Now I'm going to talk about turning flowers into salad greens or ingredients in cooking.

Your farmbox might include small bouquets of flowers like mine have. If so, and you can't identify the flowers, try contacting the farmer so they can share that information with you. Chances are, they have given you flowers you can eat (because they are edible and because they were grown organically, meaning no pesticides).

The home garden or farmer's market or CSA is a good place to find all kinds of delicious petals. Some blossoms are just the products of vegetables or herbs going to flower, while others are simply beautiful flowers you can eat. Wherever they originate, you should use them in small amounts, primarily as a tasty color and texture addition to your cooking.

Important! You can't eat all flowers, so always check with an expert before consuming any of them. And don't eat flowers sold as decorative flowers at the grocer's because they've been treated to toxic pesticides. Also, don't harvest and eat wildflowers growing at the edge of a roadway; there's a lot of toxic runoff from vehicles that you'll not want to consume.

Here are some likely blossoms you can enjoy in your cooking during the summer months:

Allium. Also known as flowering onions, this category includes onion, garlic, chives, ramps, and shallots. You can eat not only the flowers but the entire plants. Anything you are making (raw or cooked) which calls for these aromatic flavors benefits from allium flowers; chive blossoms make a very pretty vinegar as well.

Basil. Latin name: Ocimum basilicum. Don't panic if your garden goes through a hot spell and the basil blooms. Basil flowers are just as spicy-tasty as their leaves. You can use them interchangeably in recipes (though basil flowers probably won't make pesto as pretty as the leaves do).

Borage: Latin name: Borago officinalis. Surprise your guests with the fresh cucumber-y taste of these unusual cornflower blue flowers, which are shaped like little stars. Great to use in drinks, frozen desserts, cold summer fruit soups or mixed into yogurt-based dips.

Calendula (marigold). Latin name: Calendula officinalis. The leaves are zippy and peppery and the color is beautiful. Use in salads or to flavor butter; calendula also adds a nice golden color to broths, cheese spreads and dishes using scrambled eggs.

Carnation. Latin name: Dianthus caryophyllus. Eat only those you have grown organically or you know have been grown organically. Carnation petals (pulled away from the bitter base) are spicy-sweet and can be used to flavor syrup, candy, sugar and wine.

Chrysanthemum. Latin name: Chrysanthemum coronarium. These colorful petals (pulled away from the bitter base) are slightly bitter and resemble the taste of cauliflower. Blanch them before using them on a salad. Better yet, use them to flavor and color a pretty bottle of cooking vinegar.

Dandelion. Latin name: Taraxacum officinalis. Pick these while they are still young buds for sweetest flavor, which resembles honey. Dandelions are popular in England where they use them raw in salads or steam them. Of course, there is also dandelion wine!


Dill weed. Latin name: Anethum. The seedheads of dill produce interesting radial sprays with yellow floral tips. You can use them whole, especially in pickling.

Hibiscus. Latin name: Hibiscus rosa-sinensis. A fabulous flower for using in tea due to its pretty color, tart berry flavor and citrus-y notes.

Johnny-Jump-Up. Latin name: Viola tricolor. Some people find these growing in their yards! They are pretty and minty in flavor and a favorite for putting into mesclun mix or sugaring for cake decoration. An elegant way to serve goat cheese is with a few of these pressed into the top of the cheese round. Throw a few into iced tea, just for fun.

Lavender. Latin name: Lavandula angustifolia. Lavender's sweet blossoms compliment baked desserts, frozen desserts, custards and beverages like chilled champagne and lemonade.

Lilac. Latin name: Syringa vulgaris. These make very fragrant additions to salads due to their floral scent and slight lemony bitterness. Bakers love to crystallize these for cake decorating as well.


Nasturtium. Latin name: Tropaeolum majus. This is the quintessential edible flower and can be used in all kinds of savory applications to great effect. Nasturtiums are the darling ingredient in mesclun. They are equally sweet and spicy in flavor. Whole blossoms can be filled with light whipped cheeses for gorgeous appetizers. The seed pods can be pickled and used like capers.

Pea Blossom. Latin name: Pisum species. These pretty pastel flowers of the edible sweetpea plant are sweet and crunchy like the legumes they produce. You can, and should, eat the shoots and vine tendrils in salads. You can also saute or steam them. Do not eat sweetpea plants that are grown as ornamentals.


Scarlet Runner Bean. Latin name: Phaseolus vulgaris. For a bright red accent to soups and salads, try these tasty vegetable flowers.


Squash Blossom. Latin name: Curcubita pepo. The blossoms of squash and pumpkin (male plants only) are not only edible but gorgeous to cook. Prepare them by washing and trimming the stems and removing the stamens. These are popular stuffed with cheese filling and fried, turned into blossom fritters, or used in omelets and summer soups.


Sunflower. Latin name: Helianthus annus. Sunflower buds taste like artichokes; petals from opened flowers can be used like chrysanthemums. And, of course, don't forget the seeds of flowerheads left on the stem to dry!

Sweet Woodruff. Latin name: Galium odoratum. This grassy, nutty, vanilla-scented flower is the signature herb in May Wine.

No-Toss Ideas: Make Your Own Mesclun

This time of year can yield all kinds of buys on various kinds of greens. Spinach, Swiss chard, kale, baby lettuces, arugula, red leaf, mustard greens... The spring is definitely filled with greens of all kinds, which is why we enjoy mesclun (aka "spring greens") chiefly at this time of year.

If you belong to a CSA, or you grow your own kitchen garden, you'll have likely encountered quarts and quarts of leafy greens that need some attention in the kitchen: greens don't have the staying power that other vegetables do and need to be eaten up soon. And even when you eat a nightly salad (which I grew up doing and highly recommend as a kind of pre-dinner ritual anyway), you can still run into leftovers.

Don't throw away those last few leaves of this, that and the other. Don't toss those last few leafy herbs, either. Instead, make your own spring mix.

If you think mesclun mix is defined as baby greens or a certain combination of specific leafy greens, that's more likely due to produce industry marketing strategies than it is to adherence to a specific blend of leafy vegetables. Spring mix isn't really a recipe, it's just the combining of different kinds of leafy vegetables. It's not any more complicated than that.

I've noticed people who, upon seeing me fill a container with greens at the grocer's salad bar—spinach, mixed greens and romaine—are surprised by my unorthodox lunch! I think this is kind of funny and just goes to show how we can all get into cooking ruts. Just because these are separate kinds of greens doesn't mean they need to be eaten separately.

In fact, some of my favorite salads were blends of whatever happened to be fresh in the garden. The intriguing textures and flavors can really layer interest on your dinner plate. And they can inspire you to add other delicious edibles like parsley, edible flower blossoms, chives, pea shoots, green onions, garlic scapes, even the flowers from sprouting broccoli.

Dressing such a salad is really a matter of taste. If your family's like mine, everyone has their favorite dressings but not everyone likes all these dressings. If your family is less adventurous, then stick with their favorites. However, if they're interested in trying new things, keep these points in mind:

• Firmer greens like kale, Swiss chard and baby mustard stand up to bold, fruity, brightly flavored dressings that use balsamic vinegar
• Spinach, arugula and aromatic herbs like basil can take a bit of wilting with a warm dressing (such as a hot bacon dressing;  you can also make warm dressings out of roasted vegetables)
• Crisp, sweet greens with some "tooth" to them take well to creamy, cheesy dressings

And don't forget the salad additions! Dried or fresh fruit tossed in your homemade mesclun can be a great way to use up local seasonal fruit. Toasted nuts and freshly made croutons (while still warm) add lots of crunch and flavor. Shredded carrots, radishes, beets, zucchini and broccoli are also great alternatives to the standard cucumbers and tomatoes and add lovely color and texture.

Market discoveries: Marble potatoes

Marble potatoes (the mixed variety,
pictured here) really are the size of marbles!

I picked up a mesh bag of these little guys a couple of weeks ago. At $3.98 a pound they aren't cheap, but we enjoyed them so much (and gobbled them up!) that I picked up another bag of them this week. You can buy marble potatoes in one color, but I've only ever found them around here in white, blue and red, which is just fine, because they are so visually interesting that they're hard to resist.

There's nothing special or hybrid about "marble potatoes." They are simply small potatoes harvested early, and yes, they are just as small as they sound. You really don't need to do much with them; just make sure they're clean, then roast them in olive oil, salt and pepper for 30 minutes, turning after 15 minutes, at 375°F. No cutting, no peeling! You can also boil them, just keep an eye on them because they will cook much more quickly due to their diminutive size. And the flavor? Sweet, nutty, creamy on the inside. The skins will reflect your cooking method: for the roasted version, you can expect and toasty exterior. Boiled ones can be dressed in melted butter; maybe throw them into some freshly cooked peas with a handful of parsley or dill?

Okay, now I'm hungry.

Farmbox 101: Edible bouquets

Leapfrog Farm of Poulsbo, WA
offered these lovely edible
bouquets at last weekend's
farmer's market on Bainbridge Island.

While visiting the local farmer's market this weekend, I discovered a clever idea for making use of those more beautiful components in your weekly farmbox: edible bouquets.

It's a simple thing: fresh cut herbs keep well when their stems are kept in cool water. So do greens like kale and Swiss chard. And let's not forget the flowering shoots of other plants like broccoli, sweet pea and chives. Arrange them in a jelly jar or wine carafe with ample water and you have a fresh cutting garden to keep near your stove and cook from for a few days.

Getting a weekly farmbox can sometimes be an embarrassment of riches. My biggest problem was finding space for so many large leafy greens that don't easily fit into the bins in the refrigerator. If I stow them in the fridge in the garage, I might forget they are there. Sticking them into glassware and treating them like decorative greens and is not only a practical solution, but it makes them more available for cooking (for me, out of sight can be out of mind even for the herbs I grow on my deck right outside my kitchen window!) and they really do love fresh, lovely and inviting.

Pantry Basics: Freezing strawberries the lazy way

Shuksan Strawberries

I'm jumping the gun a bit on the berry season here in the Northwest, where moss has taken over the spring thanks to an extended cold, dark, wet season. The berries are going to be a tad late this year (if they come at all). This is still the time of year when I look forward to the local crops, especially the Shuksans they grow up at Suyematsu Farms. There's nothing as sweet and jewel-red as these little regional treasures, hard to find just about anywhere but here on Bainbridge Island.

Last year I bought a couple of flats and then became busy with early summer commitments like the Grand Ol' Fourth, swim meets and writing conferences as well as caring for my mother in law, who relocated at around that time to our community after a serious hospitalization just weeks before. Shuksans, like many treasured local berries, are too delicate to travel and need to be eaten or otherwise "put by" in a short period of time. With so many other things on my plate, all I could think to do at the time was to have my family eat as many as they were able (and they did) and freeze the rest. One very late night, I pulled out all my sheet pans and laid the newly washed (but not stemmed) berries in a single layer, covered them with tea towels, and arranged the sheet pans in my freezer. I must have put away an entire flat in this manner.

The next day, I removed them from the trays and packaged the freezer-hardened fruits in plastic containers, labeled them, and stored them away.

Yes, with the stems on. Is that the epitomy of laziness? Or just more evidence that I had too many commitments to manage at that time? In hindsight, both, I suppose.

This fall, winter and spring we've been helping ourselves to handfuls of these delicious frozen berries mostly for using in smoothies. Right out of the freezer, they are rock hard and the stem is impossible to remove, even with a sharp knife. But here's the trick: place the frozen berries in a bowl of cold water, then remove them immediately. The berries remain firm, but the stems loosen up and can be easily trimmed off in a few seconds before they are tossed into the blender.

We're almost out of Shuksans, but grateful that the season this year is delayed. By the time we crush our last berry into a delicious smoothie, they'll be sweet and red and ready for the picking again. And if I get busy (and I will be, again, between traveling, Fourth of July parade commitments and work obligations), no matter. As long as those awesome little red fruits have been rinsed, I won't feel so bad about throwing them into the freezer with their hats on, if I find myself up late again one night with a couple of flats to preserve.

Farmbox 101: Easy roasting for roots

Last year was a great year for beets at our CSA, but I'm the only one in my family who will eat them (unless I am sneaky and throw them into soup or pasta sauce). One of the first things I do when I bring my farmbox home is roast the beets and any of the other root vegetables I might get (such as turnips, carrots and parsnips*). 

Roasting root vegetables* is so easy and the thing is, you don't have to eat them right as soon as they're done. In fact, I roast most of my roots at night and just cool them and put them into the fridge before I go to bed. The next day I have roasted root  vegies to use in breakfast hash or omelets, fast soups for lunch and as components in pasta or rice dishes or as side dishes for dinner (they can easily be reheated). You can also puree a lot of roasted roots (parsnips, celeriac, carrots, potatoes) and turn them into a lovely sauce for meat, or use them to thicken more complex soups and stews (especially vegetarian ones where it's a little harder to achieve that depth of flavor without meat as a component). Don't forget to tuck them into tacos or sandwiches or arrange them on pizzas. Some roasted roots (beets, in particular), when left cold, make delicious additions to salads, as well (just toss them in oil and seasonings) (see my easy recipe, below).

The trick to roasting vegetables is to keep them uniform in size so that they will all cook through to the same tenderness at the same time. Usually this is pretty easy to achieve: you just trim down larger root vegies so they are roughly the same size as the smaller roots. If they are all uniform in size, you may just keep them whole, unless they are really large pieces (smaller pieces will roast more quickly). For beets, I usually get a couple of big ones and couple of small ones, but I like to roast them with the skins on (less messy), so I will put two foiled-wrapped packages of beets in the oven, one with the big ones and one with the small ones, and take the smaller package out early so they don't overcook.

Here's a very basic roasting process for most every root vegetable (see below for my recipe for Roasted Beet Salad, which requires a slightly different roasting process):

Preheat oven to 400°. Line a jellyroll pan with foil and drizzle with olive oil or melted clarified butter (you can use other oils, these just happen to be my favorites).

Add your prepared vegetables (at this point, they have been scrubbed clean and trimmed or peeled as necessary, then cut into equally sized pieces, also as necessary) in a single layer and drizzle with more of your preferred fat. Toss them lightly to coat. Then sprinkle on salt and pepper and any herbs you like. (I sometimes like to add the herbs at the halfway point when I'm using them fresh so they don't overcook and lose their bright flavor.) This is also a good time to add your aromatics (garlic, onion, shallot) because they take well to roasting and will add some lovely sweetness to your roots.

Put the roots in the oven, uncovered, and check them after around 25 minutes. They should be tender and browning up nicely. Using a spatula, turn your vegies and cook for another 25 minutes or so.

Remember that I'm talking about root  vegies here. Other vegetables (aside from winter squash, pumpkin and the aromatics) take quite a bit less time to roast. I'll discuss them in separate posts.

ROASTED BEET SALAD: I take a different approach when roasting beets, mostly in self-defense against the way they can bleed and stain your hands, cutting boards, counters, etc. Preheat oven to 400°. Lay out a piece of foil that is large enough to wrap the beets you have on hand. Trim the greens off a half inch from the top of each of the beets. Trim off their larger root hairs as well, but do not peel the beets. Coat them in olive oil and place them on the foil. Wrap the foil tightly around them, place them on a baking sheet and roast them for 1 hour. Remove from the oven and peel open the foil to let them cool slightly (enough so you can handle them). Then, under a stream of cool tap water, carefully slide the skins off the beets and trim off the remaining stubs of greens at their tops (you may use a paring knife, if necessary, but I find the skins slide off pretty well without using any implements). You can either refrigerate the beets as they are or do like I do: cut them into bite-sized pieces, toss them with some olive oil, salad vinegar, minced fresh garlic, salt and pepper and a few chopped fresh herbs, then refrigerate them as a lovely salad to eat the next day. Take the salad out of the fridge for at least 30 minutes before serving to bring it to room temperature, as the olive oil may become slightly solidified while in the fridge.

*Common root vegetables include beets, carrots, celeriac, parsley root, parsnips, rutabaga, salsify, sweet potatoes and turnips.

DIY Edibles: Curry plant is not where curry comes from

Just as the plant tag describes, the soft, silvery needled leaves of this little shrub smell like the spice, curry. Well-meaning nursery keepers sell small pots of Helichrysum italicum as edible herbs, but be warned: they aren't palatable or edible (even if the tag says they are; the tag for my dwarf curry shows icons for cooking and eating this herb, which is misleading and downright unsafe).

So before you throw this into your herb garden, intent upon chopping up little bits of it to throw into salads, soups or to flavor breads or side dishes like pasta and rice, think again.

Curry tree (Murraya koenigii), otherwise known as neem, is the plant you want to grow if you wish to use "real" curry leaves in your cooking. (I put "real" in quotations because curry is actually not one single spice or herb but various different kinds of seeds, spices and herbs blended together). Neem leaves are generally toasted in a small amount of ghee in order to release their curry flavoring. You can find curry tree at some nurseries but it isn't hardy for cooler regions.

Curry plant, however, is still a decidedly pretty plant, with a lovely curry-like fragrance, and if you don't want cats using your flower beds as litterboxes, then planting curry plant there will keep them away. So don't shun this ornamental plant, just don't eat it, okay?

In case you missed it... BuzzFood is back!

Now that I'm getting back into the food blogging swing with Extra! Extra!, I'm ready to renew and improve my beloved first blog, BuzzFood. It has gone through many incarnations over the years and I've recently updated its look and the trajectory of its content to include some old favorites (TV Dinner Dish, Recipes That Work) as well as some new "departments" such as Delicious Discoveries (link love in the food world), Progressive Meal (essays by guest bloggers) and more.

Here's what I've posted in May (that you haven't already seen here):

May 26
TV Dinner Dish: Chopped || duck hearts, fideos, mezcal, aloe vera juice

May 24
Adventures in the Foodieverse || Port Orchard Farmer's Market

May 18
TV Dinner Dish: Chopped || oysters, Chinese okra, passionfruit, French dressing

Remember to follow me in Twitter @CSA_foodie if you are interested in reading both blogs as links to new entries at both Extra! Extra! and BuzzFood appear there automatically (thank you, Hootsuite!).

Season Spotlight: Fresh cherries

For me, cherries are almost as ubiquitously Pacific Northwestern as apples. And while I love apples and eat them year round, cherries are a rare, often spendy, treat that can only be enjoyed during June and July (maybe as far as into September on the east side of the mountains). That is, unless you freeze them or can them as preserves.

Rainier cherries

Most fresh cherries that arrive in the local markets here are of the Bing and Rainier varieties. Both are delicious but I think I favor the Rainiers over the Bings because they look like miniature peaches: golden with red, rosy blushes. And they are such a wonderful treat, eaten out of hand, that they rarely make it into the kitchen beyond the colander under the faucet. After that, it's unlikely they make it longer than a day out on the counter as people pass by, grabbing handfuls to nibble.

Bing cherries

But Bings are good, too; beautifully dark and juicy and sweet. My fondest memories of Bings come from camping trips to eastern Washington where bags of Bings can be had for a fraction of the price they command in grocery stores around the Sound.

Pie cherry on the tree

Perhaps my favorite cherry is the one that can hardly be found in supermarkets at all: the sour pie cherry. We had a fertile sour cherry tree in our backyard when I was a kid, and I remember how my parents would have my big brother climb up there at just the right time in July to pick them before the birds could stripmine its branches of the tasty fruit. Then it would be me and my Mom, sitting on the porch under the deck, pitting cherries that eventually went into pie.

For me, the perfect cherry pie can only be made with sour pie cherries. There's something wild and tangy about their flavor, something sensual about their texture that makes them the perfect foil to a buttery pastry crust and a sweetened filling base. Not that Bings and Rainiers don't make food good pies, but the purist in me sees their role in the summer diet as far more simple. It just seems too ostentatious to do anything with this sweet, plump stonefruits other than pop them in your mouth.

To be fair, I must share that there are other kinds of cherries out there worth savoring, such as montmorency cherries, morello cherries and golden cherries; I just don't have as much experience with them because they aren't local to my region.

Here's what you can do with sweet cherries (and sour ones, if you have your own tree or can find some at a local farm market or fruit stand):

1. Buy her from the local market. For all varieties, look for fruit that's firm, large and glossy. They should still be on their stems. Small or hard fruits are unripe and won't get better with time on the counter (despite the old wive's tale) as they need to ripen on the tree. Avoid wrinkled fruits or those covered with patches of brown sunscald or bruises. You should expect some bruising and a small amount of sunscald, but not a lot. Cherries are almost always cheaper in bulk, so if you want the best buy, buy a lot and either use them up right away or freeze them.

2. Prepare her for cooking. If you're going to cook your cherries, you'll need to pit them first. Rinse them well (to remove any lingering pesticides) and use a manual cherry pitter (often also used for pitting olives). These work better than you can imagine and make the task much less unwieldy than the old-fashioned paring knife method. A cherry pitter can often remove the stem with the pit, so you don't need to stem your cherries first, just pull off the ones that remain after pitting. When cooking cherries for desserts, remember than you will need much less sugar with sweet cherries than you will with sour ones. If you're putting by cherries using a recipe for preserves, jam or jelly, follow the directions for the gelling agent to the letter and make sure you use the sour cherry recipe for sour cherries and the sweet cherry recipe for sweet cherries.

3. Prepare her for freezing. I definitely recommend freezing your cherries, especially if you have an abundance of them. They take well to ice-cold storage and can be used in a number of ways (aside from pies and other baked desserts, they can be made into dessert sauces and jubilees or used for smoothies). Simply lay your rinsed, pitted, stemmed cherries out on paper towels, to make sure they are thoroughly dry, then spread them in a single layer on a cookie sheet and freeze them like you would do with raspberries or blueberries. Place the solid frozen cherries in freezer safe bags (not containers) and squeeze out any excess air, then date the packages and store them in the freezer, where they will hold for about a year without any detriment to their appearance, flavor or texture.

It is at this point that I repeat my unmoving biases that:

a/ sweet cherries really should just be eaten fresh, and
b/ pie is the best way to showcase the sour version (period)

But hey, do what you like, right?

Here's a delicious recipe for Old-Fashioned Cherry Pie with Lavender from the Seattle food blogger and francophile, La Femme Cooks, and another creative and unorthodox recipe for Swiss Chard, Cherry and Pine Nut Pie from my literary pal over at Good Egg, Kate Lebo. Finally, if all you have are frozen dark or sweet cherries to work with, you can try out this recipe for Pie Filling from Frozen Sweet Cherries catalogued at Yummly (which originally appeared at the sorely missed Recipezaar, one of my favorite recipe curation sites). For something elegant and really easy, which can use either sweet or sour cherry varieties (just don't forget to adjust the sugar), try out my Easy Cherries Jubilee Sauce recipe, below.

EASY CHERRIES JUBILEE SAUCE

1 pound fresh ripe cherries (sweet or sour), rinsed, stemmed, and pitted
⅓ cup granulated sugar (if using sweet cherries) -or- ½ cup granulated sugar (if using sour cherries)
1 to 2 tablespoons water
3 tablespoons salted butter
Juice of one lemon
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
¼ cup Kirschwasser (cherry brandy) or Amaretto (almond liqueur)

Combine cherries with sugar and water in a large heatproof saucepan. Over medium heat, stir until the sugar dissolves into the water and the mixture reduces slightly to become a light syrup, about 5 minutes. Cherries will have become soft at this stage. Stir in butter until it melts, then add the lemon juice and zest. Just before serving, pour the liquor of choice into the pan. Using a long match or long-handled lighter, and holding the pan away from nearby objects, people and/or yourself, ignite the alcohol. This is flambeing and the alcohol will eventually burn off, leaving a rich fruited dessert sauce you can pour over ice cream, toasted cinnamon brioche, golden brown pastry, grilled peaches or a sturdy slice of pound or white cake. You can also squirt additional lemon juice over the flambe if it doesn't burn out right away. This sauce can also be enjoyed on its own in a parfait cup with a splash of heavy cream. 
Makes enough sauce to serve 4 to 6 people