For the Love of Garlic

A friend brought garlic yesterday from his garden. They are very large and already cured well. 

From the cured garlic heads I tore them apart to have 23 large cloves. After giving them a twenty minute freeze on a cookie sheet, I then double bagged them for the deep freeze and their life expectancy is about a year. By freezing them individually, they won’t stick together when I want to use one or two. The deep freezer in the carport doesn’t cycle like the kitchen refrigerator freezer section does so they will always remain completely frozen.

 

He also brought five that need to cure. They hang in the dark, dry “Fibber McGee’s Closet” until thoroughly cured. It is well ventilated to do the job.

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~~~~~ Recipe - Garlic Butter~~~~~~

Use this garlic butter to make garlic bread, melt over steamed vegetables or make a quick pasta side dish.

• 2 sticks (1 cup) butter, softened
• 4 cloves garlic, minced or 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1/4 cup chopped flat leaf parsley or 2 Tbsp. dried parsley
• 2 Tbsp. minced shallot or onion or 1/4 tsp. onion powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper

1. Combine all ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth.
2. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks or in the freezer for up to 6 months.

Fruits of the Soil

Today we took a ride out to our favorite home farm market because it was announced on their web page that fresh batches of corn are now being picked and dumped into the bin daily. We took home green beans and tomatoes and three ears of corn. They expect melons to be ready in about ten days!

We'll have to visit several other times in the upcoming weeks because we sure do like their corn! On to the other colorful and fresh items on display; there were cucumbers, squash, onions, red potatoes, cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage and so much more!

I washed and snapped the beans and then they went in for a couple of minutes in a bowling water bath, then immediately plunged into ice water and bagged. They are in the freezer.

 At the bottom of this post is a link to a short video I made in 2011 from my nephew's images when he was canning dilly beans.

Tomorrow I plan to have my first tomato sandwich of this year. I'm patiently waiting for the Oxheart ones that my daughters grow annually from seeds I save every year. I prefer Oxhearts over any other as they are meaty, have few seeds and are extremely flavorful.

The farm just posted this image of the garlic that was all pulled this morning. It is neatly stacked, don't you think?

Photo by La Rue's Farm Market

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Green Beans Video Link

~~~~~~~MY GREAT Dilly Bean Recipe~~~~~~~

Sweet Dilly Beans   (Makes 4 pts)

INGREDIENTS

2 lbs green beans

4 large carrots

2 cups granulated sugar

2 cups apple cider vinegar

2 tablespoons coarse salt

1 head fresh dill

DIRECTIONS

1. If necessary, trim ends of beans so they will just fit into pint jars when inserted lengthwise.
   
2. Pare carrots and cut into sticks that are about the size of the beans.
   
3. Into a large saucepan, turn the beans and the carrots; add enough boiling water so it comes up about 2 inches; bring to a boil; boil just until vegetables are tender--about 15 minutes; drain.
   
4. Into a medium saucepan, put the sugar, vinegar, 2 cups water, and the dill; bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves; simmer for 5 minutes.
   
5. Pack the beans and carrots lengthwise in 4 pint jars; cover with the hot sugar-vinegar mixture, leaving 1/2-inch head space.
   
6. Place jars on a rack in a large pan, add hot water to cover jars by at least 1 inch.
   
7. Bring water to a boil, then keep at a gentle, steady boil 20 minutes.
   
8. Remove to cool.