Around the Table with the Burkes, December 14, 2018

Photos by Norah Burke

It’s Friday, Beaconites! That means another week of real life Matthews meals. This week the Burke family weathered the storm, the Plague, and general exhaustion. So what did we eat?

THE FARMERS MARKET FRESH INGREDIENTS:

Pork Chops, Pork sausage (saved for a later plan), Green Onions, Mustard Greens, Sweet Potatoes, Garlic, Arugula, Green Peppers

THE PLAN:

Photo by Norah Burke

SATURDAY:

If you were watching closely, you might have noticed I did not use my whole chicken from last week. Never fear, I roasted it on Saturday, paired with sautéed broccoli and spaetzle (any other spaetzle lovers in the house? Tiny German dumplings, we serve ours with butter and black pepper, but they’re delicious with gravy. Publix carries the Maggi brand, my house favorite, though I dream of making it from scratch). My preferred chicken roasting method is to make a paste of olive oil, Italian seasoning, garlic, and onion and rub it over the chicken. Cover with tin foil and cook at 350 for 1.5 hours, then remove the foil and cook for an additional 30 minutes to crisp the skin.

Sunday:

Sunday was cold and wet, and thanks to downed trees we were trapped in our neighborhood. It was a good day for Chicken Chili. I 100% cheated by using a McCormick seasoning packet (refer to the aforementioned plague), however, I have made this incredibly easy recipe in the past. Just right for warming our bellies on a gross weekend. I added some fresh bell peppers from the market to increase the nutritional value and flavor.

Monday:

When I roasted the chicken on Saturday, my intent was to use the leftovers for a big pot of chicken soup… but there were no leftovers (excellent chicken!). Never fear, grocery store rotisserie chicken to the rescue. I used green onions and garlic from the market. As mentioned previously, I’m dealing with some picky eaters, so celery in soup is forbidden. My secret: celery seed. All of the flavor, none of the “eew, it’s slimy.” Here’s my recipe:

Chicken Soup

• 2 tsp Olive Oil

• 1 Small Onion, minced (or a bunch of green onions, which is what I used this time around)

• 4 Carrots, peeled and chopped

• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced (or make it 4? I love garlic.)

• 3-4 cups leftover chicken

• 1 Tbsp Celery seed

• 3 bay leaves

• 2 tsp dried thyme

• ½ tsp salt

• ¼ tsp fresh ground black pepper

• 8 cups chicken broth

• ½ Package egg noodles (6-7 ounces)

Heat the oil in a large dutch oven. Add onions and carrots and cook for a few minutes until onions are clear and carrots have softened. Add garlic and cook a few minutes more. Dump in chicken and dried herbs, stir to combine. Add chicken broth and bring to a boil. Turn down to simmer and let the flavors come together for as long as you have to leave it. 15 minutes before serving return to a boil and add egg noodles. Cook until noodles are soft, then serve hot with crusty bread.

Tuesday:

In the throes of the Plague, I ordered a pizza. Life happens.

Wednesday:

Still barely functional, I realized barbecue is the key to defeating the world’s worst cold, so we took away some sandwiches from Mac’s Speed Shop. Little known miracle cure.

Thursday:

Homemade food again! To celebrate my family’s renewed health, I made sweet potatoes, sautéed mustard greens, and grilled pork chops. A 100% Farmers’ Market supplied meal! And readers. The pork chops! We are not joking when we tell you fresh and local is better, because the taste difference is mind-blowing.

Mashed Sweet Potatoes

• 2-3 Large Sweet Potatoes

• 2-3 Tbsp Butter

• ¼ cup whole milk

• 2-3 Tbsp maple syrup (the best kind is the real maple syrup from the trees in your childhood backyard, just me? #yesthatwasahumblebrag #sorry)

Peel potatoes, chop into 2-inch chunks

Boil until potatoes are soft

Add the butter, whole milk, and maple syrup and mash

I served my sautéed mustard greens on top of the sweet potatoes. The mix of sweet and spicy was delightful.

Friday:

More wet weather calls for something hearty. Looks like a job for beef stew and biscuits! Full disclosure: I love to cook. I would spend all day in the kitchen if I were free to do whatever I wanted. However, with my schedule, it’s virtually impossible on a weekday. So while I have experimented with many a beef stew recipe, most of them delicious, on a weeknight I return to a tried and true seasoning mix or packet that gives my family the benefit of homemade food, without the cost of my limited time. I’ll use a grocery store packet, or if we’re in a regular stew mood (September through March) I’ll keep a container of Rachel Cooks’ Beef Stew Seasoning ready made.

That’s the week! I’ll be back at the winter market tomorrow, hoping for more root vegetables (yeah, root vegetables!) and hopefully more pork chops (all the pork chops!).

Join the Alliuminati

Onions and garlic are easy to grow,

overwinter in our mild climate,

and are powerhouses of nutrition and healing.

This time of year is a really good time to plant lots of perennial plants, everything from trees to shrubs to flowers and vegetable plants. Planting in this cooler season gives your plants weeks of root growing before the warming temperatures bring on the riot of growth that is Spring. So cool-season planting is the start of your 2019 garden!

Let’s start that planting with onions and garlic! These plants are easy to grow, overwinter in our mild climate, and are powerhouses of nutrition and healing. There are several types and varieties to choose from, as well.

Garlic is a member of the Allium family, as are all onions. While there are several types of garlic, most of what is grown in the Southern Piedmont is called soft neck garlic. This refers to the lack of a central flower scape coming from the bulb. That scape makes the neck “hard”. If you cook with garlic, you know it forms a bulb of several individual cloves. These cloves are separated for use in cooking, and you separate them for planting as well. Plant them unpeeled, root end down. Plant them about 1” deep, and about 6-8” apart. Rows should be at least 12” apart, but I usually make my rows 18”-24” to make it easier to cultivate and weed. Needing loamy, well-drained soils, raised beds or raised rows with lots of compost are a great place to plant garlic. Fall planted garlic gets a light mulch to protect it from the wide variations in temperature that we often experience in winter. Normally I use leaves, but wheat straw is OK, too. Before you ask, pine needles will work, but I personally don’t like using them. (That’s another subject I’ll cover some other time.) let them grow on through the winter, with harvest next Spring. Elephant garlic is a different type, with a bigger, milder tasting clove. Plant it a little farther apart (9-10”) and stay with the 18-24” row spacing.

There are a few types of perennial/multiplier onions that are hardy old varieties that your parents and grandparents may have planted. Potato onions, walking onions, bunching onions, and shallots all multiply from a single set, or bulb. You’ll need to separate the individual onion bulbs in order to plant them. Like all the Alliums, they thrive in raised beds/rows with lots of compost. Plant the individual bulbs in mid-late Fall, spacing them 10-12” apart. If you are planting in long rows, give yourself plenty of room to weed and cultivate. Depending on the method of cultivation, I’d stick with 18-24” between rows. Bunching onions are grown from seed, and are great mild onions to use in salads and raw recipes.  

Most of you will be more familiar with onion sets, or small onion plants that have been grown out and harvested for later planting. Usually available in red, white, or yellow varieties, they can be planted in both Fall and Spring. I’d recommend doing both to give yourself a longer harvest. Plant your sets in those compost-rich beds or rows on much tighter spacing, even 3-4” apart. As they grow, you can pull every other one and use it in your cooking. Run your rows 18-24” for ease of cultivation. I usually give these onions a bit of slow-release fertilizer as they are starting to grow again in the Spring. They seem to need a little more water during the growing season, too.

Plants and seeds are available for onions, too. I prefer to plant those in the Spring. They seem to do better if you avoid the cold temps. Growing and Spacing for most of them is the same as the other onions, but seeded onions can be planted closely, and the thinnings used in salads.

I mentioned early on that onions are very nutritious. While some amazing claims are made, some basic facts are onions are high in Vitamin C and antioxidants, low in calories, and high in fiber. That pungent flavor works with lots of other foods, from veggies to red meats. They are used in all kinds of cultures, and can be adapted for almost any dish. For cooks on a budget, a little onion can go a long way.

Even if you don’t want to plant anything else this year, you can still get started on next spring’s plantings with some onions and garlic.  Give some of them a try!

Jeff Rieves reminds you to enjoy your garden, because THAT’S what makes you a Successful Gardener!!

Join the Alliuminati

Onions and garlic are easy to grow,

overwinter in our mild climate,

and are powerhouses of nutrition and healing.

This time of year is a really good time to plant lots of perennial plants, everything from trees to shrubs to flowers and vegetable plants. Planting in this cooler season gives your plants weeks of root growing before the warming temperatures bring on the riot of growth that is Spring. So cool-season planting is the start of your 2019 garden!

Let’s start that planting with onions and garlic! These plants are easy to grow, overwinter in our mild climate, and are powerhouses of nutrition and healing. There are several types and varieties to choose from, as well.

Garlic is a member of the Allium family, as are all onions. While there are several types of garlic, most of what is grown in the Southern Piedmont is called soft neck garlic. This refers to the lack of a central flower scape coming from the bulb. That scape makes the neck “hard”. If you cook with garlic, you know it forms a bulb of several individual cloves. These cloves are separated for use in cooking, and you separate them for planting as well. Plant them unpeeled, root end down. Plant them about 1” deep, and about 6-8” apart. Rows should be at least 12” apart, but I usually make my rows 18”-24” to make it easier to cultivate and weed. Needing loamy, well-drained soils, raised beds or raised rows with lots of compost are a great place to plant garlic. Fall planted garlic gets a light mulch to protect it from the wide variations in temperature that we often experience in winter. Normally I use leaves, but wheat straw is OK, too. Before you ask, pine needles will work, but I personally don’t like using them. (That’s another subject I’ll cover some other time.) let them grow on through the winter, with harvest next Spring. Elephant garlic is a different type, with a bigger, milder tasting clove. Plant it a little farther apart (9-10”) and stay with the 18-24” row spacing.

There are a few types of perennial/multiplier onions that are hardy old varieties that your parents and grandparents may have planted. Potato onions, walking onions, bunching onions, and shallots all multiply from a single set, or bulb. You’ll need to separate the individual onion bulbs in order to plant them. Like all the Alliums, they thrive in raised beds/rows with lots of compost. Plant the individual bulbs in mid-late Fall, spacing them 10-12” apart. If you are planting in long rows, give yourself plenty of room to weed and cultivate. Depending on the method of cultivation, I’d stick with 18-24” between rows. Bunching onions are grown from seed, and are great mild onions to use in salads and raw recipes.  

Most of you will be more familiar with onion sets, or small onion plants that have been grown out and harvested for later planting. Usually available in red, white, or yellow varieties, they can be planted in both Fall and Spring. I’d recommend doing both to give yourself a longer harvest. Plant your sets in those compost-rich beds or rows on much tighter spacing, even 3-4” apart. As they grow, you can pull every other one and use it in your cooking. Run your rows 18-24” for ease of cultivation. I usually give these onions a bit of slow-release fertilizer as they are starting to grow again in the Spring. They seem to need a little more water during the growing season, too.

Plants and seeds are available for onions, too. I prefer to plant those in the Spring. They seem to do better if you avoid the cold temps. Growing and Spacing for most of them is the same as the other onions, but seeded onions can be planted closely, and the thinnings used in salads.

I mentioned early on that onions are very nutritious. While some amazing claims are made, some basic facts are onions are high in Vitamin C and antioxidants, low in calories, and high in fiber. That pungent flavor works with lots of other foods, from veggies to red meats. They are used in all kinds of cultures, and can be adapted for almost any dish. For cooks on a budget, a little onion can go a long way.

Even if you don’t want to plant anything else this year, you can still get started on next spring’s plantings with some onions and garlic.  Give some of them a try!

Jeff Rieves reminds you to enjoy your garden, because THAT’S what makes you a Successful Gardener!!

What to plant now

Our regular Friday contributor, Jeff Rieves, is feeling under the weather. He’ll be back next week, but if you’re feeling the urge to plant something there are definitely good options for sowing this weekend.

Our first frost is typically late October, so we’re getting to the planting point where you’ll need to direct sow things with a shorter maturation length. It’s time to direct sow seeds for root veggies such as radishes, and carrots, as well as leafy tender greens such as spinach, and lettuce.

You’ll be safer starting with transplants of veggies that take a little longer to fully mature. Transplant broccoli, collards and hardier leafy greens. Separate bulbs from heads of garlic and plant individual bulbs with several inches of room around each. Onion sets, actually immature bulbs you “set out”, go into the ground now, too. An added bonus of growing collards and kale? With all the mature trees in Matthews, a lot of yards are shady. The broadleaf crops have better ability to absorb the sun in shadier conditions, making them a great crop for this area!

Need a good source for your future food? Our advertiser Renfrow’s (188 North Trade St. Matthews) has a complete selection, and maybe Jeff Rieves will be there to help you pick out what will work best for you.