Patio Farming

Pin It As we did the last few years, we planted tomatoes, peppers and herbs for the summer. Due to the lack of space, we planted them in pots on our patio. So, it's like suburban patio farming of sorts. Despite the lack of space, I was pretty pleased with our harvest. For the tomatoes, we started from seeds and grew them into huge tomato plants.

We grew two types of tomatoes this year. This is Big Rainbow.

This is San Marzano.

These were Big Bertha and Yellow Bell. But on our weekend away, someone stole our Big Bertha (it was really big then) and one bell pepper. What has the world come to?

We also have Anaheim and jalapeno peppers.

We also planted a dwarf Meyer lemon tree. Lots of blossoms and lemons already.

Harvested Big Rainbow and San Marzano. The San Marzanos suffered a bit from blossom rut, but the Big Rainbows turned out beautifully.

See what I mean? This is the Big Rainbow after it has been sliced diagonally.

Overall, pretty successful despite our unfortunate pepper theft incident. At least I hope someone got to have some great peppers.

Zucchini Cakes

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Long time no post. Lots of things happening. Busy. Busy. I haven't had time to cook or to go grocery shopping (or updating the blog, for that matter), so we've been subsisting on zucchinis from VB's co-worker's home garden. We've had a lot of zucchinis. A LOT. This happens to be the best zucchini recipe that I made recently. I like the mild Yukon potatoes paired with the fresh, green zucchinis and the crunch of the celery in these zucchini cakes.

For this zucchini cake, you will need:

• 2 medium zucchinis
• 4 medium Yukon gold potatoes
• 1 stalk celery, finely chopped
• 1 cup bread crumbs
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• salt to taste

Start by grating the zucchinis into a large mixing bowl. Season with salt. Allow the zucchinis to stand and release its moisture, about 15 minutes. In the meantime, peel and cube potatoes and microwave on high for 5 minutes. Insert fork into the potatoes. If fork penetrates easily, the potatoes are done. Otherwise repeat on high for 2 minutes each time until potatoes are done. Rice or mash the potatoes in a separate mixing bowl.

Squeeze the zucchini mixture until the mixture is fairly dry. Mix with mashed potatoes, celery, bread crumbs and salt. Make fist size balls and then flatten into patties.

In a medium nonstick pan, heat up one tablespoon of olive oil. Add patties and gently pan fry until browned on each side, about 3-5 minutes per side. Serve immediately.

Five-Spice Roasted Sweet Potato and Farro with Balsamic Reduction

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Right now, the best deal at Milk Pail is the 99 cents for four pounds of sweet potatoes. FOUR POUNDS! It's not really sweet potato season, but who can pass up on this deal? I did something super simple to bring out the natural warmness and sweetness of the sweet potato. The five-spice powder consists of fennel seeds, cloves, cinnamon, star anise, and Szechuan peppercorn. These spices really compliment the warm creaminess of roasted sweet potatoes. The Balsamic reduction brightens and sweetens and the chewy nuttiness of the farro brings out its earthiness. It's got great balance and makes for a simple, nutritious side dish.

For this recipe, you will need:

• 1 medium sweet potato (about 1 pound), peeled and diced to 1/2 inch cubes
• 2 cups cooked farro (if you don't have farro, short grain brown rice would be great here too)
• 1 tablespoon of five-spice powder
• 1 cup Balsamic vinegar
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• salt to taste
• chopped green onion or chives for garnish

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Toss sweet potato and five spice powder with olive oil. Make sure the sweet potato is well coated with spices and olive oil. Spread out in an oven proof dish and roast for 30-45 minutes. Gently stir at the half way point. The edges should be browned and the center should be creamy. Remove and set aside to cool. Mix roasted sweet potato with cooked farro.

In a medium non-stick pan, bring Balsamic vinegar to boil, then turn heat to medium low so that the mixture is just simmer. Slowly reduce until the vinegar becomes thickened and syrupy. It should be about 1/3 of it's original volume and thick like molasses. When ready to serve, drizzle balsamic reduction on top of roasted sweet potato and farro mixture and garnish with chopped green onion or chives. Serve warm or at room temperature.