More from the Garden
Although we had a frost scare last weekend, our garden is still hanging on. I'm happy to report that I have finally successfully grown pumpkins. I have tried for years, but the squash bugs always get them before I do. This year I waited until August to plant the pumpkins and winter squash. Granted, I'm not planting Big Max, or any of those monster-sized pumpkins, which require long growing seasons. I planted pie pumpkins. The squash bugs are still trying to do a number on the plants, but enough pumpkins have matured to make me happy.
Another late-season surprise has been the green beans. Our spring green beans were nearly a total flop. I say nearly, because we were able to harvest several dozen beans (yes, I did say "beans") from them. That was fine for tossing into stir-fries, but not much for a big pot of beans with onions and bacon!
In early August, about the same time I planted the pumpkins, I had about a half-pound of Contender green bean seed. It was seed leftover from a previous year, so I didn't have high expectations for it. I hoed open a section of a row, from where we had harvested onions, and tossed in the seeds. Amazingly, the plants turned out quite lovely. They were a lot more thickly planted than I would have done normally, and maybe they liked that. Last night I picked about a 5-gallon bucket of beans from a 5-foot row and we had our first green beans, onions, and bacon of the year. I guess I'll have to plant them more thickly in the future.
Green Beans, Onions, and Bacon
This is so simple to make. The main thing is having a pressure cooker to speed up the process. If you don't have one, you can cook them in a regular pan, or even put them in your crockpot.
- 1 pound fresh green beans, ends trimmed and snapped in 1 1/2 inch pieces
- 1/4 lb bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
- 1/2 medium onion, sliced into strips
Put all items in your pan. In the pressure cooker, I just add enough water to cover the cooking rack. In a regular pan, you'll need enough water to cover the beans. Following your pressure cooker's instructions, bring the cooker up to pressure and cook for about 5 minutes. Run under cold water to reduce pressure. That's all there is to it.
My mom says that in a crockpot, you add enough water to cover the beans, put on the lid and turn the crockpot on low, and leave it for about 5 hours.
Beer Bread
I'm not much for the beer bread that most people make. It is really just a quick-bread made with beer. However, I was really happy with this bread recipe. Like my favorite yeasted breads, it starts with a sponge:
For the sponge:
- 1 1/2 tsp yeast
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1/2 cup warm water
Mix together, cover with a towel dipped in hot water and wrung out, and leave sit in a warm place for about 30 minutes.
Then add:
- 12 ounces beer
- 4 cups flour
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
Not really kneading it, just stirring it well with your hands, mix it all together well. Cover with a dry towel this time, and leave for about 2 hours in a warm place.
After 2 hours, gently divide the dough into two loaves. You don't want to press out any of the air bubbles. Continuing gently, roll each section into a loaf and place on cornmeal-dusted parchment paper. Allow to rise for 20 minutes. At that point, turn your oven on to 425 degrees F. Place a shallow pan in the bottom of your oven and make sure your baking stones are in place. Let the oven heat for 20 minutes, while the bread continues to proof (total proofing time, 40 minutes).
Before placing in the oven, make a 1/2-inch deep cut, lengthwise in the top of each loaf with a sharp knife. Carefully slide the loaves onto the baking stone(s). Pour about a cup of cool water onto the pan in the bottom of the oven. Close the door to keep in the steam, and bake for 30 minutes.
And finally:
Pumpkin Bread
My family likes pumpkin pie, but they like pumpkin bread even better! I think this recipe might have come from Taste of Home, and I've been making it for nearly ten years.
- 1 1/2 c sugar
- 1 c pumpkin pulp
- 1/2 c canola oil
- 1/2 c water
- 2 eggs
- 1 2/3 c flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves
- 3/4 tsp cinnamon
- 3/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
Combine sugar, pumpkin, oil, water and eggs in one bowl. In another bowl, sift all the dry ingredients. Mix the two together. Pour into greased loaf pans, filling pans about 2/3 full. The recipe originally called for one 9x5x3-inch pan. I have smaller pans and usually use three of them. It makes me feel like I'm getting more out of the recipe!
Bake for about an hour at 350 degrees F. Before removing, check for doneness with a toothpick, inserting toothpick in middle of loaf and pulling straight back out. If toothpick is clean, loaf is done. If not, leave in oven for another 5 minutes, then check again.