Tempura Veggies!

Tempura is a Japanese dish of seafood or vegetables that are battered, and deep fried. Traditionally, people mix the ingredients with chopsticks to help create a light, and fluffy texture. These are simple, delicious, and who doesn't love a little fried snack? Choose your favorite fresh vegetable(s) and enjoy!

Ingredients

1 cup flour (can use all purpose, or fine cake flour for a lighter texture)
2 egg yolks
1 tsp baking soda
~ 1 cup of icewater or until desired consistency (very important that it is ice cold)
Canola oil, or other cooking oil for frying 
Salt to taste, or any other seasonings you like

You can also make dipping sauces for your tempura. Look at a cookbook, find a recipe online, or get creative and make your own!

~Mix the flour, egg yolks, and baking soda together, then add in the icewater until the consistency is a bit liquidy and easy to pour, or dip veggies into. 

~Heat up your oil in a deep sauce pan, or dutch oven to about 375 degrees (you can test this by dripping some batter in, and seeing if it begins to fry). Keep a very close eye on your oil! You don't want it to get too hot, so be sure there is an adult present when making tempura.

~Lay out your veggies on a large pan and pour batter over them, or dip them in the batter with some tongs. Let them drain a little, then put them in your oil. Fry them until golden, and place them on a towel for a couple minutes to remove excess oil.

~Eat, and enjoy!

Catharine Blaine!

January 30, 2013

Go Broccoli Seeds!

We had a visit from Catharine Blaine K-8 School students in the garden today, and they were so kind to help us plant some broccoli from seed in our greenhouse! These seeds will grow to become small start plants, which we will transplant into our outdoor garden in the spring. We will update this link so you can watch the progress of your broccoli plants, and thank you for your help students!

Common Name: Broccoli
Scientific Name: Brassica oleracea
As a late summer, fall, and early winter crop there are many different varieties of broccoli, and differences in flavors and color (can be purple too!). It is very good for you providing many vitamins and nutrients such as Vitamin C. 
 

Kale Biscuits

With leeks on top!

Kale Biscuits!

See the recipe below for beet biscuits and substitute in kale for the beets. The kale puree is prepared by first removing the spines of the kale leaves and boiling the greens in some water (just enough to cover the kale), then pureeing in a blender or food processor to a smooth and creamy consistently. You probably need about 8-12 kale leaves or a good handful, depending on their size. Enjoy!

Beet Biscuits!
These biscuits add some color, variety, and personality to your biscuits!

Start by pre-heating the oven to 400 degrees, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper ( a special paper used in baking to replace greasing). If you don't have parchment paper, just grease your pan with butter or a non-dairy alternative.

Ingredients

3 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp sugar
4 oz cold butter
1 1/2 cup total liquid, buttermilk and beet puree together. Roughly around 3/4 C of puree, and 3/4 C of buttermilk. 
Red beets, about 1 medium/large size
~2 cups Apple juice, or enough to cover beets

~First, make your beet puree. Cook the beets in some apple juice until soft, peel the skin off, and puree in a blender or food processor. Set aside for later.

~Next, start on your dough. You can shake up your butter first in a jar or can to break it up into smaller pieces. Then, add all of your dry ingredients and the butter in your mixing bowl, and mix until the dough is the consistency of cornmeal (a little coarse and lumpy). Don't over mix your biscuits! The dough should not be smooth, or creamy.

~Add the buttermilk and mix until just it is just incorporated into the mixture. Then pour in your puree into the dough until you reach desired color, or consistency (about 3/4 cup). If you add less puree, be sure to substitute with more buttermilk. Overall, you need about 1 1/3 cup of total liquid.

~ Roll out your dough on a floured surface, to about 1 inch thickness, cut into rounds and place on baking sheet.

~Bake at 400 degrees until the peaks of the dough turn golden brown.

 Making your own buttermilk: 

Who knew you can do this? And it is so easy! Just place 4oz of whipping cream in a jar, and shake vigorously until it has a creamy, thick consistency. This is butter! There is a liquid around this butter which is the buttermilk. Voila!


 

West Seattle and Catharine Blaine!

 January 30th, 2013!

Sunchoke, out of the ground!!

Sunchokes, in the ground

We welcomed West Seattle and Catharine Blaine Elementary Schools this week to IslandWood, and had some of their fantastic students join us for STS. We made kale biscuits with leek on top, kale chips, fresh raw snacks, and ginger/lemongrass/lemon balm tea...YUM.  First, we harvested our ingredients from the garden which included:

Parsnips

• Leeks
• Lacinato or Dinosaur Kale
• Sunchokes (for tasting)
• Parsnips (for tasting)
• Turnips (for tasting)
• Celery (for tasting)
• Carrot (for tasting)
• Lemongrass (tea)
• Rosemary and Parsley (herbs)

Shake it up!

 In the kitchen, we prepped all the ingredients to make our biscuits, and kale chips (see our STS recipe link!). Students helped us out in many ways. For one, we needed to shake the whipping cream vigorously in a jar to make our buttermilk, and butter for our biscuits. 

Kale Biscuit Time

OMG, Giant Parsnip!

 Time to set up plates and enjoy the fruits of our 

labor! Thank you Chef Chris, Gardener Jen, West Seattle and Catharine Blaine Elementary Students.

                                                                    

Bee Business

Hello Friends!

It is a chilly, damp January day and we are all doing our best to stay warm and cozy here in the garden. In fact, we have been a little worried about how our bees are doing since this is their first winter here at IslandWood. We decided to give them a little help staying warm.....check it out!

We added some hay bails (thanks Ben for the idea!) on the sides for insulation, and a plywood roof to drain the rain off far over their door. This should keep them warmer, and dryer which hopefully will help them survive the winter season.

So why do bees need warmth in the winter? How do they stay warm anyways? How do bees usually make it through the winter in the wild, or in even colder environments?

Bees need ways to stay warm during the winter just like us. In fact their hive needs to stay a toasty ~80-90 degrees for last growing babies and the mature adults. However, insects including bees are ectothermic, meaning their body temperature reflects the temperature of their surrounding environment, so keeping their hive warm is very important. This is also termed "cold-blooded", although this is not always correct as their blood is certainly not cold!! Humans are endothermic in contrast, meaning we can create our own heat from within our bodies.

To keep warm in the winter, they rely on a couple of strategies. Firstly, they are a bit furry, and this fur helps to trap warm air and provide some insulation. Secondly, they huddle up inside the center of their hive into a ball called a "winter cluster", squeezed together tightly with the queen in the center. Finally, some of the bees exercise their wings, the biggest muscles in their bodies, to create heat similar to shivering in humans. Imagine how warm you get doing jumping jacks? It is the same idea. The bees take turns flapping their wings, so no one gets too tired or hungry!

Bees need to feed on stored honey through the winter to help give them enough energy and fuel to produce heat, and just to survive like humans and other animals. Sometimes, food can be added to hives to give them an extra boost through the winter, however for an established hive they usually have enough on their own. Hopefully our bees are staying warm, and well fed....they don't have too much longer!

            January 29, 2013

Baby Radish Sprouts

Check out those radishes!

Here is an update for the radishes that were so kindly planted for us by Discovery Community School students. They are doing amazing, and we are so excited to watch them grow and eventually become the true radishes they are! To compare these radish seeds from just two weeks ago, see the pictures below....and thank you again Discovery students~

Brussels Sprouts and Sunchokes...Together!

Tis' the season of kale, sunchokes, Swiss chard, and Brussels sprouts....our tough winter vegetables. Not sure what to do with these seasonal crops? Here are a couple of recipes courtesy of our garden friend and volunteer Carol....thank you Carol!

Brussels Sprouts and Sunchoke Salad 

Prep time: 20 mins Cook time: 30 mins Total time: 50 mins Serves: 4 as a side dish

Ingredients

Any leftover protein (beef, pork, chicken, tofu, or just leave it as a vegetarian/vegan)
2 tablespoons olive oil or butter
1 pint sunchokes, cleaned, trimmed and thinly sliced
1 1/2 cups Brussels sprouts, cleaned, trimmed and thinly sliced (keep any loose leaves to put on the salad later on)
2 sprigs rosemary
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt pinch ground black pepper
2 tablespoons grainy mustard
2 teaspoons maple syrup
Juice of 1/2 a lemon 
Shaved Parmesan, or aged cheddar Cheese (optional)

Instructions
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. Heat your oil or butter in a heavy-bottomed pan over medium-high heat, then add in your protein and cook until browned and caramelized, about 2 minutes (unless you are using bacon, then just cook until crisp). Remove with a slotted spoon, place on a plate lined with paper towel and set aside.

1. Add in another tablespoon or two of oil or butter, then add in your thinly sliced sunchokes over medium-high heat. Cook until blistered and becoming slightly tender, about 6-8 minutes, then add in the thinly sliced Brussels sprouts (but save some raw leaves for a pretty finishing touch). Toss in the rosemary, salt, and pepper, stir to combine, and allow to cook for an additional 6-8 minutes, until almost completely tender. Add in the meat, whisk together the mustard, maple syrup, and lemon juice, and toss to combine. Place in the oven and cook for 8-10 minutes, until everything is tender and warm.

2. Remove the pan from the oven, toss with the raw Brussels sprouts leaves and cheese, adjust seasonings as desired, and serve warm (although this tastes great reheated for lunch the next day or for breakfast with a fried egg on top, too).

3. Recipe by The Crepes of Wrath at http://crepesofwrath.net/2013/01/07/brussels-sprouts-and-sunchoke-salad/

Enjoy!!



Bean and Swiss Chard Soup

Chard!

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup white dry beans cooked, or 1 can white beans, drained and rinsed
3-4 cups vegetable broth, depending on desired thickness
1/2 bunch Swiss chard (or kale), ribs and stems removed and roughly chopped
Freshly grated parmesan for garnish
Salt and pepper to taste

In a large pot, cook onion, carrots, and garlic in olive oil until
veggies soften. Add white beans, vegetable broth, and chard. Cook
until the chard has softened, about 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper to
taste. Serve with parmesan cheese. For those who can't do dairy, add some fresh parsley or non-dairy cheese instead......and voila!