week 6

Cooking in Season
Week 6
I just drove to the far corner of Pennsylvania to look at soybeans. Not just any soybeans. Organic soybeans. And tractors. So needless to say the organic field day at Rodale Institute is not what I expected, but I did get a healthy appreciation for the hardship of soybean farmers. I did learn about soil fungi, which are often overlooked and so quickly destroyed. And I got to talk to other people who are into local foods and growing their own fresh vegetables.

Anyway…Zucchini Cookout Sunday July 25th at 2pm

Invite your friends, bring a covered dish, and join us this Sunday for all the different ways to cook up summer squash and enjoy local foods. We’ll be grilling straight out of the gardens and maybe have some lamburgers from here and some delicious beef burgers from my work.
Right now it’s blackberry season and it looks like I’ve been fighting with a pack of wild house cats. Every year I think – this winter I’m going to clean up this patch. And every year I forget when it’s no longer blackberry season. We do have a patch of thornfree blackberries that we’re propagating as much as possible for the love of my skin. When my sister wanted to plant everbearing strawberries this spring and I was not sold on the idea. When I worked in a greenhouse, we had everbearing strawberries that would just produce tiny little berries twice a year, but I figured why not give it a try. We ordered Seascape strawberries from Indiana Berry Co and I’m completely happy with the second crop we’re getting on the new plants from this spring. Wow. I’m sold. More strawberry jam soon!The apples are coming on. Travis has a cute, baby melon. The unique shelling beans at my work garden are blooming along with some edamame and garbanzo beans. I’ve never grown them before so we’ll see what happens. The raccoons found the sweet corn in the back garden. Little brats. So we’re low on the unique red corn this week. Oh, and a note about sweet corn – the sugars start turning to starches as soon as it’s picked. Fresh off the stalk, we like to just eat it as it doesn’t need boiled, salted or buttered at all. So cook your ears as soon as possible. Lightly boiled is fine or I like to take the silks out and shuck it, leaving a few husks left, put a pad of butter inside the remaining husks and fold them back over the ear and grill for a few minutes. So delicious.
Zucchini this year has not been as crazy prolific as past years, but we’ve still got enough for some zucchini bread and fresh grilling. Here’s a zucchini pancake recipe recommended by member Roberta Martin from the Zucchini Cookbook. She says an excellent variation is to put pizza sauce, cheese and toppings on top for a delicious take on pizza. Delicious!
Zucchini Pancakes1 medium zucchini, grated and drained1 egg, beaten1 teaspoon cooking oil1 cup pancake mix¾ cup milk2 tablespoons Parmesan cheeseLightly combine all ingredients and allow to rest for ½ hour. Add more milk for a thinner pancake. Cook on lightly greased hot griddle. Enjoy! - Janee