Ready for Soup

A windstorm is blowing in and the fir cones dropping on our new pergola roof sound like bombs going off.  The Assistant, Sadie, is hiding in the bathtub and I’m the idiot sitting out under the pergola listening to the breeze blow through the fir trees and the crows angrily complain.  So far, we’ve only seen a hint of the promised 60 mph wind gusts.  I love a good storm, but we haven’t attached our pergola to the patio yet.  I’m crossing my fingers for no lift off.

This week has been a long succession of rainstorms.  We received almost two inches of rain in 24 hours, which my garden happily soaked up.  I’m seeing very little autumn coloring in my tree leaves before they drop off in apparent relief.  Waiting for a storm is fun.  I’ve gathered up candles and a flashlight just in case we lose power.  And we still have some soup in the fridge. 

We’ve been living off a batch of Melissa Clark’s, Red Lentil Soup with Lemon.  It is a lovely soup perfect for warming your soul and elegantly feeding last minute guests.  

Red Lentil Soup with Lemon

I love reading Melissa Clark’s cookbooks.  She shares a story with each recipe and tells you how to successfully make a dish including all her tricks and techniques.  She doesn’t abandon you mid-step.

Red Lentil Soup with Lemon has sustained me through celebrations and the flu.  Unlike the muddy tasting lentil soups of my childhood, this recipe has layers of flavor based on the umami foundation of the caramelized tomato paste with cumin.  The final squeeze of lemon brightens the warm spicy flavors and I only partially puree my soup with an immersion blender so that I can still find chunks of carrot on my spoon.  To serve it, I pour a quick drizzle of oil across the top of the soup bowl followed by a sprinkle of cayenne pepper and possibly a few pinches of goat cheese.  On the side, I offer grilled cheese, buttered crostini, homemade crackers, or custard filled cornbread.  It’s your call.

The winds are kicking up and I’m back inside.  A branch just fell on top of the pergola roof with a shudder and Barnaby jumped on my lap/laptop.  We’re hunkered down and ready for a bowl of soup.  Please cross your fingers that my pergola roof doesn’t fly away!

Red Lentil Soup with Lemon
 by Melissa Clark

• 4 Tbsp. olive oil, plus additional good oil for drizzling
• 2 large yellow onions, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
• 2 Tbsp. tomato paste
• 2 tsp. ground cumin
• ½ tsp. kosher salt, or more to taste
• A few grinds of freshly ground black pepper
• Pinch of cayenne or Aleppo pepper, or more to taste
• 2 quarts chicken or vegetable broth
• 2 cups water
• 2 cups red lentils, picked through for stones and debris
• 2 large carrots, peeled and diced
• Juice of 1 lemon, or more to taste
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Warm the olive oil in a soup pot over medium-high heat with the garlic cloves until the oil shimmers.  Remove the garlic cloves.  Then add the onions and sauté them until they are golden.  Add the tomato paste, cumin, salt, pepper and cayenne, and cook stirring constantly for 2 minutes or until the mixture deepens in color.  Add the broth, water, lentils, and carrots.  Simmer for 30 minutes or until the lentils and carrots are soft.  Taste and adjust seasoning. Puree the soup with an immersion blender until roughly half the soup has been pureed.  Stir in the lemon juice. Serve in a soup bowl drizzled with good olive oil and a dusting of cayenne.

Take Stock

This morning, I turned on the heaters for the first time this season.  The dust crackled and burned so I opened the windows to let in the air.  Then, I proceeded to assemble three big pots of chicken stock and left them burbling on the stovetop. The windows are steamed up and Barnaby is sighing beside me as he naps.  The rain is pouring and life is good.  No, make that great!

Fall is when I start cooking up huge batches of stocks and soups to freeze.  Any rain-free moments are spent outside tearing up and maniacally rearranging my garden beds.  My front walkway is still overflowing with new plant acquisitions that visitors get to hopscotch over.  And the cooler weather means that I get to dance around my kitchen in fuzzy socks.

chicken stock

Cooking chicken stock makes a mess.  By the time I’m done filtering the stock and putting it in containers, my kitchen will require a deep clean.  So, I like to make as many batches as I can at once and then freeze it to use all winter long.  I always make sure to freeze some in ice cube trays to add to rice and sautéed dishes. And it usually works, unless My Pirate starts sneaking chicken stock to work in his thermos like he did last winter.  I could barely keep chicken stock in the house.

Over the years, I’ve tried every chicken stock recipe that I encountered until I found the one that was just right.  Alice Waters nails chicken broth in her book, The Art of Simple Food.  I love how she takes the time to go into great detail about broth techniques and ingredients.  Using a whole chicken for the broth feels a bit luxurious, but the results are worth the added expense. Plus, you can cut the chicken breast meat off an hour into cooking.

Chicken Stock

By Alice Waters in The Art of Simple Food

• 1 whole chicken, 3 ½ to 4 pounds
• 1-½ gallons of cold water
• 1 carrot peeled
• 1 onion, peeled and halved--I used leeks from my garden
• 1 head of garlic, cut in half
• 1 celery stock
• Salt
• ½ teaspoon black peppercorns
• 1 bouquet garni of parsley, thyme sprigs, and a large bay leaf   

Place the chicken in a large pot and fill with cold water.  Place the pot over high heat, bring to a boil, and then drop the heat down to medium low.  Skim the foam off the broth with a spoon. 

Then add the remaining ingredients and slowly simmer broth for four to five hours.  I usually cook mine for five hours. Taste and adjust seasonings.  Then serve hot or place it in the fridge to cool. 

A Walk Through The Shire

Come take a walk with me through The Shire. 

Last Sunday, My Pirate and I had the pleasure of tagging along with a group of horticulturists touring the 75 acre preserve, nicknamed The Shire, that renowned architect John Yeon sculpted to feature the views of the Columbia River and Multnomah Falls.  Randy Gragg led the tour filled with gorgeous views and stories.  

I was born and raised 30 minutes away from Multnomah Falls.  I grew up hiking and picnicking along the Columbia Gorge. And yet, I’d never once heard of The Shire directly across the river on the Washington side.  So, I jumped at the chance that garden writer, Kate Bryant, gave us to explore The Shire and see my favorite falls from a new perspective.

The view from the amphitheater of The Shire features Multnomah Falls.

The wind kicked up the thin stream of Multnomah Falls.

Our group gathered on the amphitheater lawn to start the tour.

Kate Bryant introduced Randy Gragg to the group.

As Kate Bryant introduced Randy Gragg to the group, my attention and camera lens kept pulling towards the constantly changing clouds, light, and shadow.  

Clouds enshrouded the hillside behind us.

We walked quietly listening to the sound of leaves blowing through the wind and the occasional roar of a train passing through at full speed.

Looking up

A pier

We climbed up a mossy rock embankment and gazed down at the shimmering view of the pier.  Yeon repaired the stream that moves into The Shire, but beavers regularly build dams on it.

Licorice ferns glow in the October sunshine.  

the cove

pear orchard

We explored a pear orchard planted in the 1880 using Eastern pear stock.  We sampled some of the crunchy artisan pears.

Kate Bryant and Susan Bryant pause to enjoy the pear orchard.

Looking out through The Shire towards Multnomah Falls

The perfect place for a picnic.

We thoroughly enjoyed our tour of The Shire on a moody October afternoon.  Thanks for tagging along on my journey.  

For additional information:

Randy Gragg’s article The Long View in the Portland Monthly Magazine Magazine

http://www.portlandmonthlymag.com/travel-and-outdoors/articles/john-yeon-the-shire-june-2012

To help support The Shire  http://yeoncenter.uoregon.edu/give-now

Feeling Better

A sunflower's final sunset 

Hello readers, you may have noticed my absence around here lately and I want to let you in on what is going on.  I've been living with migraines half of the time since February, but I'm starting to figure out what is triggering them.

My life has been punctuated with migraines since I turned 18.  Relaxing after a busy stressful week led to a shimmering aura followed by a migraine that I would sleep off.  I always counted myself lucky because I grew up watching my Mom suffer through debilitating migraines.  She would quietly weep into a hot pack. My Grandfather treated his migraines by crunching codeine tablets between his teeth and chased them down with orange juice with a splash of whiskey.  I considered myself lucky until this last February.

In February, I started getting migraines that scared me.  Real head bangers with nausea. When I realized that I was living with a migraine at least four days a week, I went to a neurologist and went through the tests only for them to figure out that my migraines are genetic.  Duh.  But, I also needed a pair of reading glasses to prevent eyestrain.  Treatment has helped shorten the duration but not the frequency of the migraines. 

A fellow gardener guided me towards a book, Heal Your Headache by David Buchholz, and it’s the first true relief that I’ve found.  I managed two weeks without a migraine and I’m feeling hopeful.  I’m figuring this out, step by step.

I’ve dialed back my volunteer work and I’m spending more time in my garden.  Sadly, my garden has taken the real brunt of my migraines.  It’s crispy and untended.  But, as I've laid in my bed with a ice pack clutched to my head, I've been planning new garden projects.  I’ve torn the backyard apart, started a project, and it's just starting to take shape.  I’m grateful that the autumn leaf drop is around the corner.  I’m ready for a fresh start.

I have so many pictures, stories, and recipes to share with you!  I’ll keep you in the loop from here on out.  This week, My Pirate is home on stay-cation and we’re finishing up our big backyard patio project.  I’ll share photos as the project progresses.

Here is our backyard project.  We're putting a roof on the pergola tomorrow!

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day: August 2014

Gobbo Di Nizzia cardoon bloom

Did you know that out of the 743 million known insects over 99% of them are beneficial?  Less than 1% of known insects are pests.  And I only watch out for 12 pest insects in my vegetable garden.  That is why I'm very careful about what chemicals I use in my garden.  And I lay out a smorgasbord for my favorite insects complete with a watering station. 

Bees adore Gobbo Di Nizzia cardoon blooms

The bees and other pollinators are partying in the cardoon and artichoke blooms.  They keep tumbling over and over.  I've even noticed some pollen theft going on between them.  I can find upwards of 15 bees at a time on a small cardoon blossom.

Ladybug on bronze fennel blossom

The ladybugs have been feasting on bronze fennel pollen before they mate and lay their eggs on my aphid covered Russian kale.  Ladybugs lay their eggs in aphid colonies so that their offspring can a feast when they hatch.  So, I pull back on watering a few plants to attract aphids.  And nasturtiums work great too.

golden hyssop, Agastache anisata ‘Golden Jubilee’ 

I haven't used my golden hyssop in a simple syrup for a cocktail yet, but the bees love it. Every herb garden needs a golden hyssop.

herb bed

My herb beds are overflowing with happy blooms.

And my front perennial beds are overflowing too.  

celery blooms mixed with Lacinato kale 

The celery bolted and I've been enjoying the blooms mixed in with the kale.

Violetto artichoke bloom

Does this artichoke bloom look like a ravenous monster?  

Violetto artichoke bloom

As I was taking more pictures of my artichokes, a car pulled over and a couple hopped out to ask me about the blooms.  I foresee artichokes in their garden next year.  

Blackberry Lily

As I took pictures of the lovely blackberry lily blooms, a pedestrian called out to make sure that it was my garden that I was photographing.  Good security!  Then, she told me that I should write a book about my inspiring garden.  Such sweet words.  

Pineapple Lily bloom

My pineapple lily survived the cold winter and is blooming.  I applauded it when it emerged late this spring.  

Japanese Anemone bloom

Oh my goodness!  I just discovered a ladybug larvae on my arm and took it back outside and placed it on a kale leaf.  It's already noshing on aphids.  I just love how ladybug larvae look like mutant miniature alligators with an orange stripe the color of a ligularia bloom.  

Othello Ligularia Bloom

Don't forget to stop by our hostess, Carol.  Happy Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day to you!