Tea Jagging

Being a consumer of mass quantities of brew I'm always on the hunt for new and exotic varieties. It was during this quest for nourishing and essential liquids that I came across several references to compost and worm teas. OK, truth be told I was really looking for ideas on how to best apply my worm castings, something I have about a pound of every two to three weeks. Now the worm teas can get quite expensive and I understand why given the amount necessary to make an effective application. That's when I realized that I have compost, and plenty of it. So, since that day I have kept the production line going and the garden is loving it like a hobo at a cigar convention. It couldn't be easier to make and the hardest part is the waiting. The process described below takes about three or four days after which I start it all over again.

The finished tea will have a high content of beneficial organisms and nutrients, will help breakdown toxins, and will increase the growth of the treated plants. The tea can be used a foliar application which wards of pests and diseases. The other application is simply soaking the soil in your garden. And the best part is you can still use the steeped compost as one normally would, essentially doubling the usefulness of your compost. Now, unlike others, I'm not going to say that you'll notice the difference overnight but you will see it within two or three days. For instance, we had a crappy, cold, overcast summer here and our tomato plants didn't produce much, some barely at all. But since the tea has been flowing there has been a marked improvement in the plants, the number and size of fruit, and the flavor. No kidding. Here it is the middle of November and I still have San Marzanos ripening!

Here are two recipes:

Compost Tea from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection

Compost Tea from Fine Gardening

As with any recipe, you will soon experiment with it and make it your own. For instance, I've taken to adding a handful of worm castings to the compost before steeping. Also, I like to let the water sit with the bubblers in it for 24 hours before adding the compost. I do this as an added precaution to make sure all of the chlorine has been blown off, plus it helps add more oxygen to the water. I have also attached a small rock to each of the bubblers to make sure they stay submerged.

Fred

Happy Monday!

Mosley's Farm, Three Rivers....

XOXO
Yvette

Beyond the car

Beyond the obvious benefits of our location in regards to gardening we are also lucky enough to be in a great place for bicycling. Yeah, hopping on the cruiser and going for a slow ride to take in the weather is great but I'm talking about a different and no less enjoyable type of bicycling. Practical bicycling - the bike as a primary mode of transportation.

Having lived in Los Angeles for my pretty much my entire life I would not be living here if I had a daily commute from some impossibly far-flung bedroom community to some rat turd of a job in some rat turd of an office. The stress is the first thing that comes to mind but of more importance is the impact to our environment. I'm not speaking about the carbon footprint or C02 emissions type of environment of which we could have thousands of worthwhile discussions. I'm speaking about the environment that one creates to live, work and play in. A quality of life both physical and mental.

I've always loved riding and have been through many phases with it. From mountain biking in the Santa Monica mountains to commuting to Yvette's house in the valley from my old place in downtown to cruising the bike path at the beach. Then, about 3 years ago I heard or read something, I can't remember what/who/where telling about a self-imposed rule: a three mile rule. The rule being that if at all possible he/she would ride a bike (or walk) if the destination was within three miles of home. "Great idea!" I thought and I started to live by this rule the very next day. At that time my mountain bike was in a sad state of neglect as I had been enjoying the slow ride that my beach cruiser offered. The cruiser served me well for the first year or so but the more adventurous I became the more apparent its limitations as a work bike became. So I have since upgraded to and an 8-speed city/commuter bike perfectly suited for my purposes. Fear not though, the cruiser is still in commission and does get its share of quality Fred-butt-time. The transition from driving to riding was not a difficult one nor did I intend it as a political statement. Purely practical. But you would be amazed at the reactions I would and still get from people. Be they strangers, friends, or family some folks seem to think of biking as a novelty best left for children and the poor and nothing more. "Did you ride your bicycle here?" was something I heard a lot and it was usually accompanied by a wry, sarcastic smile. As if my means of transportation has somehow made me less there. The other thing I hear a lot is "Oh, that's sooooo great, I'd love to ride more but (insert excuse consciously or subconsciously meant to justify not doing it)." Mind you, I'm not proselytizing to anyone or passing judgment. I don't even bring it up anymore. It has simply become part of my everyday life, like breathing or walking.

So after three years of living with this simple rule my life hasn't changed much. I still have a car and I do drive it, albeit about 85% less. I'm not the movement poster boy that's going to tell you that you'll lose 20 or 30 pounds, transform the urban environment, and end wars for oil. But I will tell you that if you decide to try something like this you will feel a difference immediately. By simply slowing down a little your neighborhood will open up and show you things you never knew were there. You will have a great excuse to get away from your computer and get outside. You will find yourself looking for reasons to go take a ride. You will notice that you can often get to the store/post office/lunch in about the same time as it would take you to drive and park plus you'll feel great once you get there. Try it. Even if you don't think you're up for it, try it. I think you'll find that you are.

- Fred



Yvette joins me for ride to the nursery.

Chris Makes a New Friend

This is the coolest, most hilarious, enchanted creation ever. A perfect gift for someone who can sit still for a long time...

You can buy it HERE for $79.95!!!!
Happy Shopping!!!

XOXO
Yvette

BOO(k)!

The folks at Timber Press, sent me this wonderful little book to read a few weeks ago. Released just in time for Halloween, Black Plants, 75 Striking Choices For The Garden, showed up in the mail at just the right time.

Truth be told, I hate our backyard. I would love to just start tearing it to pieces, but I can't get a grip on what to do with it. This book has given me some great ideas for a color palate. In the plant world, black is not always black. "Black Plants" can be deep red, burgundy, brown, black, and dark purple. Just thumbing through the pages makes me dream of having these rich dark colors bordering our house! A little creepy? perhaps. Cheery? not so much. For me, this is perfection.

Here are a few of my favorites:

"Black Scallop" bugleweed
Black Hollyhock
Devil's Tongue
Chinese Cobra lily (*Extraordinary!)
Chocolate cosmos
"Karma Chocolate" dahlia
"Sooty" Sweet William (the name alone is worth having the plant!)
Persian fritillary
"Black Peony" Breadseed poppy (for your naughty garden!)
Black Bamboo (screen out your nasty neighbor, ahem)

Black Plants is the first book written by Paul Bonine, who is co-owner of the wholesale nursery Xera Plants, in Oregon. I love his descriptions of some of the more devilish plants - its like reading your favorite scary childhood book: up way past your bedtime, head under the covers, flashlight in hand.

Here are a few excerpts:

Devil's Tongue
(Amorphophallus konjac)

This sinister creature has enormous, thick stems clad in black blotches and stripes that can reach 5 feet in height. The dark brown spadix reaches a height of 3 feet and is surrounded by a glossy, chocolate-colored, rubber-textured, vaselike spathe. This fascinating plant requires patience and woodland conditions with average amounts of water during the winter months.

Vampire's Dracula Orchid
(Dracula vampire)

It is altogether fitting that this orchid is native to one tall, remote, and misty mountain in Peru. Dracula orchids are best known for their bizarre flowers. Three large petals or sepals are veined with black and white lines, each terminating in a long, midnight-black tail. The interior of the flowers is no less sinister with yellow stripes that radiate from a central white to light pink pouch, reminiscent of a small coffin.

Large Wild Ginger
(Asarum maximum)

Vigilance and curiosity are required to discover the glory of this small evergreen woodland perennial whose flowers are tucked unobtrusively at the base of its glossy heart-shaped leaves. Ornate tubular cups have a ring of white fur at the base of each petal and beyond the black throat. Each flower is so neat it's as if it was fashioned out of felt to decorate the brim of a hat. It can reach six inches tall and over time will form colonies.

Voodoo Lily
(Dracunculus vulgaris)

Also known as carrion flower, it first appears as a group of palmate leaves with irregular lobes, but it is the very large flower that steals the show. A rippling spathe with an interior the color of raw meat unfurls in a graceful shield that surrounds the jet black spadix, which can be as long as 30 inches. Pollinated by flies, the freshly opened flower casts a vile, powerful fragrance of rotten flesh, which thankfully disappears in several hours. It is best suited to a location where it may be appreciated but not smelled.

Schunke's Maxillaria
(Maxillaria schunkeana)

This small beauty from the coastal rain forests of Brazil is one of the most truly black orchids, and it blooms for an unusually extended period. Small half-inch flowers are waxy and glossy black with four rounded petals. Thriving in the mossy branches of jungle trees, in bloom it may be seen peering out like many small black eyes.

Bat Flower
(Tacca chantrieri)

What strange twist in evolutionary fate could have caused the formation of such a foreign and unlikely flower? The bat flower or cat's whiskers, as it is known, is not an invention of science fiction but a plant native to the jungles of Thailand. A long black chord of a stem suspends this flower, which is actually a group of flowers, in a rubbery black sepal. Protruding from the side of each flower are long, stringlike cords.


XOXO

It's Been Awhile...

I can't believe how the days fly by. Fall is in the air - it's all crisp and different, even here in LA. I have had the most amazing, exhausting season of work - the most intense summer/fall season I have had in several years. I feel horrible that I haven't posted more. When I first became a photographer, it meant spending my time shooting, and printing in the darkroom. We printed with enlargers if something was wrong, it usually just meant that we had to change a lightbulb...not so anymore. Now it's all computers, even though most of my work is still shot on film. Nonetheless, when I am this busy, it means hours and hours and days in front of a screen, and it's taken a toll on the blog. I feel awful, like I've neglected my friend. Things are going to start calming down a bit in the next few weeks though. In the meantime, I have a million posts in my head, waiting to come out.

Garden stuff - we had a disappointing summer. It was really foggy on at the beach this spring. We always have June Gloom, but it lasted until August, which put the kaibosh on our summer harvest. The heat came in late (and the fires came in early, which is a future post!). We are getting a nice bumper crop of tomatoes right now, just as the weather is turning cold. I wonder if they'll lose their sweetness? Hardly any squash, a few peppers - no canning.

We did, however, have a fantastic crop of Concord Grapes. They were AMAZING, and so incredibly easy to grow. Here is a great sorbet recipe I found in the cookbook "The Perfect Scoop". I bought this book over the summer, as I am determined to master ice cream. This sorbet is made with corn syrup. Perhaps I've read too many Michael Pollan books, but I am really against the whole corn syrup thing, but I made it anyway, and it was delicious. A few days after I made the sorbet, I found a recipe in Gourmet for a similar sorbet but using sugar instead, which makes me politically happier. I will post this recipe as well, even though it is untested...

Please note that I am completely devastated about the closing of Gourmet Magazine (they can, for the moment, be found online here, and the November issue will still come out). Doubtless you will hear about this over and over in future posts, as this magazine is of biblical proportions to me. I am so incredibly sad, it is a little ridiculous. Thank you, Ruth Reichl, who is the most wonderful, inspiring editor. Thank you for your grace and courage and especially for the expose on the tomato pickers of Florida. Thank you to all of the writers and the painstaking, worldwide research that changed eating and aspiring to cook into an international adventure. And finally, huge, giant, indescribable thanks to all of the great photographers and art directors who contributed over the years to this magazine - every issue was a piece of heaven to look at, and so visually inspiring to me I cannot begin to describe it. OK Enough. Onto the recipes...

Grape Sorbet, adapted from "The Perfect Scoop"
Makes About 1 Quart

Grapes that are very robust, such as Concord or Muscat, make a fine, flavorful grape sorbet. These grapes are usually at their best in autumn. If you have access to wine grapes, they produce a wonderful sorbet as well. Don't use seedless table grapes, such as Thompson and Red Flame; these make a great snack, but not a very tasty sorbet.

3.5 Pounds Grapes
3 Tablespoons Water
1/4 Cup Light Corn Syrup
1 Tablespoon Vodka

Remove the grapes from the stems and cut them in half if they're large or have thick skins. Place them in a large, nonreactive pot, add the water, and cover. Cook the grapes over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the skins have burst and the grapes are soft and cooked through.

Remove from the heat and pass the warm grapes through a food mill fitted with a fine disk, or press through a strainer with a flexible spatula if you wish to remove the grape solids. Stir the corn syrup and vodka into the grape juice.

Chill the mixture thoroughly, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

*We ate this about 4-5 hours after it was made and it was a bit runny. The following day, the texture was better just right...freeze this for at least a day before you eat it.


The Gourmet Magazine Version:

Concord Grape Sorbet, September 2009 Issue
Sorbetto Di Uva
Makes About 1 Quart
Active Time: 10 minutes; Start to finish: 5 3/4 Hours (Includes chilling)

Although Uva means "grape" in Italian, Concords are native to North America. A velvety sorbet brings out their inky, foxy intensity. It will, in fact, swing you right into autumn.

2 Pounds Concord Grapes, stemmed, divided
3/4 cup superfine granulated sugar

Equipment: An Ice Cream Maker

Puree half of grapes in a blender until smooth, then force through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, discarding solids. Repeat with remaining grapes to yield 3 cups puree. Whisk in sugar until dissolved. Chill until very cold, 3-6 hours.
Freeze in ice cream maker, then transfer to an airtight container and put in freezer to firm up, at least 2 hours.


That's it...happy cooking.

XOO
Yvette

Tomato Tart

I feel so badly that I didn't take a photograph of this gorgeous thing, but I do have to share this recipe...it's a mix of several recipes, all modified to incorporate the ghosts of tomato tarts past, a bunch of things I learned after taking a baking class at Sur La Table with my pal, Michael Ritterbrown, and a lot of trial and error...

You can make the crust the day before and keep it in an airtight container in the fridge until you have to roll it out...

Enjoy!!

For The Crust:

1 stick (4oz) cold unsalted better, cut into 1/2" pieces
3-4 T cold water (I use a cup of water with ice in it!)
1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 – 3/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano shavings
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

Place cut pieces of butter in a bowl or plate and freeze for 20 minutes. Refrigerate water in a small measuring cup until needed.

Mix the Dough: Place the flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Process about 10 seconds to blend the ingredients. Add the frozen butter pieces and pulse 6-10 times (in 1 second bursts) until the butter and flour mixture looks like oatmeal flakes.

Immediately transfer the butter-flour mixture into a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle a tablespoon of the cold water over the mixture and “fluff” it in with a fork, then add another, and another, until 3 Tablespoons have been added. Continue to fluff and stir 10 – 12 times. It will not be a cohesive dough at this point, but a bowl of shaggy crumbs and clumps of dough. Before bringing the dough together, you need to test it for the correct moisture content. Take a handful of the mixture and squeeze firmly. Open your hand. If the clump falls apart and looks dry, remove any large, moist clumps from the bowl and add more water, one teaspoon at a time, sprinkling it over the top of the mixture and immediately fluffing it in. Test again before adding anymore water. Repeat, if needed. The dough is done when it holds together (even if a few small pieces fall off). If the butter feels soft and squishy, refrigerate before continuing. If the butter is still cold and firm, continue to the next step.

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and kneed gently 3-6 times. If it won’t come together and looks very dry, return it to the bowl and add another teaspoon or two of ice water (one at a time), mixing it in as above and try again. Flatten the dough into a 6-7” disk, wrap in plastic or parchment paper, and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

When dough is cold again, roll it out into a thin circle (enough to fully cover an 9.5” tart pan (I use the fluted ones with removable bottoms), using a floured rolling pin on a floured board. Carefully lift crust and press into the tart pan.

Line the tart shell with parchment or foil, and fill with pie weights (I use dried beans for this!). Make sure the weights reach up the sides to the rim of the pan!

Bake the shell for about 20-30 minutes, in a preheated 375 degree oven, until it starts to look golden. Take shell out of the oven (be sure to hold the pan by the sides and not the bottom!!), and lift out the parchment / foil and weights. Line the bottom of the tart shell with the parmesan shavings, sprinkle with thyme leaves, and return it to the oven for about 10 minutes.

For The Filling:

About 2 lbs mixed heirloom tomatoes, halved lengthwise. I like to use different colors and sizes...everything from grape to plum to big old brandywines.

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and Fresh Ground Pepper
2 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh thyme
1/2 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano shavings plus additional for garnish

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Toss tomatoes with 2 tablespoons oil, 2 teaspoons thyme, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper in a bowl until well coated. Roast tomatoes, cut sides up and in 1 layer, in foil-lined baking pan in middle of oven, about an 1 hour, or until tomatoes start to brown.

After roasting tomatoes for about 20 minutes, move tomatoes in pan to lower third of oven and put pastry on baking sheet on middle rack. Bake pastry and tomatoes separately (see instructions) until pastry is finished, and edges of tomatoes are slightly browned but still appear juicy.

Top shavings with warm tomatoes, cut sides down and in 1 layer, then sprinkle evenly with remaining 1/2 teaspoon thyme, 1/4 teaspoon salt, pepper to taste, and additional cheese shavings if desired. (Also the olive oil and tomato drippings (yum) left in the roasting pan is great to drizzle on top!)

Let me know how it goes…Happy Cooking!
XXOXOXOOX