Harvest & Stock

This is a weekend where I've been applying skills I've been developing in gardening (most of that I've learned from more experienced gardeners, but Fukuoka's One Straw Revolution is a good one) and cooking (from Escoffier to Sally Fallon's Nourishing Traditions) over many years. 

Robin and I grow a few things in pots around her house, but there's no yard here or at The Lair, so most of our serious gardening takes place in a raised bed in the backyard of some friends of ours here in Vallejo. We usually only go there a couple of times a month, largely because we're so busy. They told us that some of the garlic was ready. Pictured above is half of it. Robin planted these months ago. I've never been involved in growing garlic successfully, so this is quite a thrill. The rest should be ready next time we check the garden.

Yesterday I also pulled out the rest of the Arugula, which had gone to seed, and some of the older Kale.  We planted starts of squash volunteers and beets. We've also put in some peppers, and we've got a tomato volunteer in my pot where I'm growing garlic chives. The main thing next is what kind of beans or other legumes do we want to put in to add nitrogen to the soil.

Some of our friends' Dinosaur Kale. They've got tons of it. I also picked a bunch of their Thyme and some Oregano.

OK, so I started two stocks earlier. Robin had charred some red bell peppers in this pan, then I browned  some goat meat in it (beautiful cuts, too), then here you can see I browned some onion and celery. 1/4 of this went into the crockpot with the Goat, the rest in the pot of boiling water for the Vegetable Stock.

While the onion and celery were caramelizing, I prepped other vegetables for the stock. That brown stick is Burdock which I've never cooked with before. Wash, peel, chop. By the way, I don't as a rule peel carrots and beets--I just wash them very well--those skins are delicious and nutritious.

The Goat Stock is simmering away. To the water and goat I added caramelized onion & celery, thyme, garlic, and freshly ground cumin, pepper and coriander. All of that (sans goat) is in the Vegetable stock too.

Pretty sure I mentioned everything already in here. Robin doesn't want me to add kale, but I probably will add just a little bit later on.

Oh yeah, and then I used that same pan (with all the previous juices), to make a simple shallot & okra dish. Also with garlic, cumin, coriander and black pepper. We'll probably have this with the goat later on. Smells pretty incredible in the kitchen right now.

Soup's not done yet, so we decided to have a little snack, Spanish/Mexican Fusion Style; Mozzarella, Smoked Paprika, Red Bell Peppers Roasted then Marinated in Olive Oil and Garlic, & Achiote on Corn Tortillas. If only we had some Grilled Spanish Mackerel to go with it.