On the Table: Black-Eyed Peas

Black-eyed peas are a part of my annual New Year's Eve tradition. I don't make this recipe the traditional Southern way (there's no bacon or pork product involved!). I make the recipe a little differently every year; this year, it was based loosely on this recipe.

Ingredients:

Counter-clockwise, from center: black-eyed peas, fresh tomatoes, onion, garlic, turmeric, cumin, cayenne pepper, and canned diced tomatoes.

Black-Eyed Peas
Olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
3-6 cloves garlic, minced
2 fresh tomatoes, chopped
1 can of black-eyed peas (15.5 oz)
1 can of diced tomatoes (14.5 oz)
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Cook the onion in oil over heat; add spices and tomatoes and heat/stir for another 2-3 minutes. Add black-eyed peas. Serve over rice or couscous.

* * * * *

Unfortunately, there was one casualty in making this recipe.... my favorite wooden spoon kicked the bucket during one hearty thwack on the side of my wok. Ah well-- I suppose that's a symbolic way to end the year; out with the old, in with the new!


Wishing you all a happy and healthy 2009 from all of us here at the Sleepy Pumpkin HQ!

On the Table: Plum, Gewürztraminer, and Vanilla Bean Jam

Yet another recipe from Mes Confitures: a Plum, Gewürztraminer, and Vanilla Bean Jam. Pictured above are the plums in question, an Italian prune-plum purchased at the farmer's market. Those plums are mixed with sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla beans (split lengthwise to release the innards):


Heated over the stove:


Then the Gewürztraminer is added (I used a 2006 Villa Wolf Gewürztraminer), it's all canned, and then it ends up looking something a little bit like this:



Also on the table: a peach, cinnamon, and pinot noir (specifically, Castle Rock's 2006 Mendocino County Pinot Noir).

On the Table: Gooseberry Jam

One of my favorite things about summer is making jam, and I finally got back in the swing of things last weekend with the gooseberries pictured above, purchased at the local farmer's market. As usual, Christine Ferber's's excellent Mes Confitures provided the recipe, which consisted of about 2 pounds of gooseberries, sugar, and lemon juice.

On the Table: Garlic Scape Pesto

OK, I have a confession: one of my favorite foods in the whole wide world is garlic, and the best part of the garlic are the garlic scapes. The only bad thing about garlic scapes is that they're around for just a few weeks a year.

I'm a shareholder in the Bull Run Farm CSA (what this means, in short, is that I pick up vegetables from a local farmer once a week from June to October-- there's more information about Community Supported Agriculture here), and early in the season, he always brings tons of garlic scapes.

I've traditionally added the scapes to stir-fries or steamed them with veggies (yummy with broccoli) or rice, but this week, I decided to make garlic scape pesto. I mostly followed this recipe, but since I don't eat cheese, the recipe was simplified down to three ingredients: garlic scapes, walnuts, and olive oil.

I started with about 10 scapes and chopped them up:


Took those (it was about 1 cup), added 1/3rd of a cup of walnuts, threw them in the food processor until well-minced, added the olive oil, and ta-da:


Oh, and as a bonus: my entire kitchen now smells like garlic!

Summary: Garlic Scape Pesto
~8-10 garlic scapes, chopped into 1/4" bits (approx. 1 cup)
~1/3 cup walnuts
1/2 - 3/4 cup olive oil

1) chop dry ingredients in food processor
2) add olive oil, give it a few more whizzes
3) eat.