Peas Coming Out of My Ears

This year I started two 12 foot rows of sugar snap peas.  I planted them at the end of March.  The peas are now coming hard and fast, and I don't know what to do with all of them.  I have put them in salads, whole with the pod, and have mixed them with everything under the sun.  Peas are very versatile little critters and go with many different foods.  Sugar snap peas have edible pods, and if you leave them to mature, you can get very full pods.  The pods are still edible, but the older they get the tougher they may be on digestive systems, so I wouldn't recommend eating the pods when you have left them to fill with peas.  Today's experiment was with fully developed pea pods. 

I started my morning by picking the biggest, fullest pods I had.  It was a delightful morning, feeling more like late August then on the threshold of July.  The cool temperatures are extending the season for spring crops, including peas.  So after picking the peapods, I brought them in and split the pods to get out the tender sweet peas inside.  The pods then went into the compost heap, since I have one of those delicate digestive systems that don't take kindly to mature pea pods.  Here is what I did with my peas.

Tri-Color Rotini Salad with Peas:

Ingredients:
3 cups Tri-Color rotini
1 cup fresh peas (don't have fresh, then use frozen)
one third of a red onion
one half of a red pepper
1/3 to 1/2 cup Hellmann's light mayonnaise
2 -3 tsp dried dill weed, or 2 - 3 Tblsp fresh dill weed
1 six oz can tuna
romano or parmesan cheese

Cook pasta for 8 minutes, then drain and rinse with cold water. 
Cook peas in a small container with a little water in the microwave, on high, for about 3 minutes.  Drain and cover with cold water to make peas cold.
Chop onions and pepper, add to pasta.  Add peas, tuna, dill and shake on your cheese.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Mix in your mayonnaise and enjoy.

 We are big fans of cold pasta salads in the summer, so tonights menu will be the rotini salad, a caesar salad, and steak strips on the grill. 

More pea recipes to come, as well as how to freeze fresh peas and pods for the future. 

Time For Harvesting Mint

The mints have been growing steadily since the snow melted.  It is time to get my first batch of mints, before they begin to bloom.  If they are cut now, I should get at least one more good crop of mint, but I can usually get at least three in a season.   I have mints growing in different parts of the yard so they don't cross, though the combination makes a nice all purpose garden mint if you aren't prone to keeping them separate.  I have spearmint, lemon mint and peppermint, and each has its own unique properties. 

What do you do with mint?  One of my favorite things to do is make mint apple jelly when the apples are ready.  Perhaps this year I will make some.  I dry my mint as well.  Once I gather it up, I tie about 6 or 8 stalks together around the stem,
 then hang them upside down and put in my drying shed, which is adjacent to my summer garden.  It can take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks to dry, depending on humidity and temperature.  Cut your mints after the dew has dried, but before it gets to the heat of the day.  That is a general rule of thumb for just about any herb. 

My drying shed is a very small 6 ft x 14 ft building that I use as a potting shed, a drying shed, and general all purpose storage shed for tools.

                                  Spearmint hangs in a dark corner.  I also
                                  dry marjoram, oregano, sage, basil, just
                                  to name a few of the herbs I grow.
                                         




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Once dried, I ordinarily put the mint into canning jars and then place them in a dark area of my basement.  Any light will degrade the quality of  your herbs, so that is why it is best to keep them in a dark area.  The dried mint offers a nice soothing cup of tea in the                                                 
fall and winter, and can be used to make mint sauces in the cold time of the year.  Just keep them in a loosely woven bag while making the sauce so that when the herbs are stewing with your sauce they won't leave behind any leaves.

Fresh mint offers a very refreshing respite on hot days in the summer.  Here are a few nice recipes for light, cool accompaniments to your summer fare.

Sweet-Tart Fresh Mint Sauce

Yield: Makes about two-thirds cup and doubles easily.
This sauce, without the mint, holds for 2 days in the fridge, but should be used at room temperature. The mint goes in at the last moment to keep its bright green color and fresh taste.
Use sauce hot or cold for seafood and chicken, and vegetable

Ingredients

• 1/2 medium red onion, minced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes (optional) (I dried cayenne pepper a few years ago and I use that)
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon sugar, or to taste
• 3 tablespoons white wine or red wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup tightly packed fresh spearmint leaves, thin sliced

Instructions

• 1.In a medium bowl stir together the minced onion, garlic, sugar, pepper flakes if using, and vinegar with salt and pepper to taste. Let stand 20 minutes, then whisk in the oil.
• 2.Just before serving, stir in the chopped mint

This sauce is great for mint coleslaw, and also is terrific tossed into cauliflower. Try grilling some chicken and drizzling the sauce on the chicken. I am not much for seafood, but from what I know about seafood, it would most likely be an excellent addition to shrimp and scallops.
 Mint Sun Tea
Another great way to use your mint is to make mint sun tea. If you haven't ever made sun tea, you basically put in about 1 or 2 cups of fresh mint leaves into a gallon of water. I use the large canning jars. Set in the sun for about 3 hours, check to see if it seems strong enough, then remove the mint leaves and chill. You can add sugar if you like, or lemon for a different taste. This is wonderful on a hot, humid day when you are looking for something really refreshing.

Another recipe for mint is creating a nice sweet mint sauce to be used in fruit salad, or as a topping to honeydew melon or cantaloupe.

Fresh Fruit With Lemon-Mint Sauce

Prep: 20 min., Chill: 2 hrs. Oranges, grapefruits, and lemons are packed with vitamin C, the antioxidant that helps boost the immune system, fight infection, and protect the body against influenza. Serve this refreshing dish after a meal for a light dessert, enjoy it as a snack, or try it for breakfast.

Ingredients

• 3 large oranges, peeled and sectioned
• 2 large red grapefruits, peeled and sectioned
• 2 cups seedless red grapes, halved
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
• 1 (6-ounce) container low-fat vanilla yogurt
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon honey
• Garnish: fresh mint sprigs

Preparation

• Place first 4 ingredients in a medium bowl, gently tossing to combine. Cover and chill 2 hours.
• Stir together yogurt and next 3 ingredients just before serving, and serve with fruit mixture. Garnish, if desired

Tonight's Creation - Without a stove

We are currently redoing our kitchen, so I have been without a kitchen since Monday, June 20.  I am sick of going out to McDonald's, or KFC for supper, so I decided to get creative.  What I have to cook with is a grill, an electric frypan, a George Foreman grill, and a microwave oven.  First creation:
   
Incredible Noodle Saute:
 
Ingredients:  fresh sugar snap peas (with pods) that came from my garden
                     No Yolks broad egg noodles
                     fresh grated parmesan cheese
                     Smart Balance original buttery spread - 3 tablespoons
                     salt and pepper to taste
                   
First, fill a 4 quart microwave safe container with water.  Heat on high in a microwave oven for 14 minutes.  Pour in egg noodles.  Cook for an additional 12 minutes.  Drain

Remove ends of sugar snap peas.  Place Smart Balance in electric fry pan.  Set pan at 200 degrees.  Saute peas for about 6 minutes. 

Mix in egg noodles, grate about 3 ozs of parmesan cheese and add to noodle mixture, and heat through until cheese is melted.  If noodles seem dry, add a bit more Smart Balance

Best Boneless Barbequed ribs

Ingredients:   boneless pork ribs
                      2 - 3 tablespoons cider vinegar
                      1 - 2 cups water
                      1/2 red onion
                      Kraft original barbeque sauce (or what you like)
                      salt and pepper to taste

Pour water into a microwave safe baking pan.  (I used an 8 inch square glazed ceramic pan)
Add vinegar.  Dice red onion.  Add 2/3's to water.   Place ribs in water, and top with remaining onion.  Place in microwave and heat at around a 6 (out of 10 settings) for about 9 minutes.  Turn over and cook at a 6 for another 6-8 minutes, so no longer pink.
Take out red onion with slotted spoon and add some to the barbeque sauce.  Place ribs on grill and brush on sauce, then barbecue over hot charcoal for about 15 minutes, turning often and brushing with barbeque sauce.  What I ended up with were extremely moist, very tasty ribs.  They were so tender they just melted in my mouth.

Last item I used for my dinner was a garden salad, made from lettuce from my garden, some peas without pods, full sugar snap pea pods, red pepper, cucumber, vine ripened tomatoes, cheddar cheese, and just a little swiss chard.  So you can cook a very tasty meal without a stove or conventional oven, it just takes a little forethought as to what to microwave first.