Sunday 13.6.2010 Lunch- Aioli

I had some great ingredients on my sandwich today but I chose the aioli to feature.  I make aioli by whisking up to 1 cup of olive oil to 1 large egg yolk.  I like it garlicky so i start with two large cloves and add more to taste at the end.  As I whisk I thin the aioli with vinegar or lemon juice. At the end i add to taste salt and more acid if it is needed.
On the sandwich is sunset leaf lettuce from the garden, along with some melted spring onions (also from the garden).  The bacon is home cured and comes from a magnalista breed of pig.  Which is very fat but has the best tasting meat.  A great lunch from one of the first great days of spring/summer.

Shallots and Garlic

This is the start of this years garden.  Actually I planted the cloves of garlic and the bulbs of shallots back in October.  They have been slowly making there way upward all winter.  Compared to the garlic I planted last year, these guys are much further along.  This is the first time I am growing shallots, they are the plants in the rear of the photo.  I use at least a shallot a week at home so these should keep me supplied for a while.  As far the garlic, this year I am growing five times as much as I did last season.  I am growing both a hard neck and soft neck varieties.  The soft neck garlic aren't pictured and are a bit farther behind then the hard necks.  I am getting excited for the garden this year, I have lots of planning still to do, but that's half the fun.  As far as these alliums are looking, I say this should be a productive year.

Fresh Tomato Goodness

Heirloom Tomatoes and Frizzled Peppers
with Sweet Corn–Marjoram Vinegarette
recipe from Chef's on the Farm

This recipe is a great way to use up your abundance
of tomatoes, corn and peppers during this time of year.

The peppers, tomatoes, marjoram and garlic
all came straight from our garden!

we ♥ peppers

Anaheim Peppers & Long Thin Cayenne Peppers are just some of the peppers in our garden that are enjoying this record-breaking Seattle summer heat! We'll be using the Anaheim Peppers for Enchiladas tonight.

That's quite a bunch!

Today was the day to start diggin up our onions. We're still working on finding a place to store our bounty, so only about a third of the onions were dug up.


Walla Walla Onions

Digging for gold, and finding potatoes!

Nick dug up the first potato plant of the season this morning. It was exciting to watch him find the hidden treasures beneath the soil.

There's plenty more potatoes to come...

Our first red Tomato!!

We picked one of our first red tomatoes today! Pretty exciting moment. This variety is a heirloom tomato called 'black'.

Today was also the day we harvested our garlic. We got seven nice sized bulbs, which we hung up to dry in our kitchen.

hops, potatoes, romaine...

Our very own garden is soaking up the summer rays and rains and indeed flourishing!


(above): The hops has almost reached the top of the building it's climbing, always reaching for the sky.


(above): The potato plants have started to flower, which means the plants are starting to produce potatoes!

All in all, our garden is doing great. So far, most of our tomato plants have produced green tomatoes, the rest of which have numerous flowers. Our Romaine lettuce is ready to turned into ceasar salads. And the rest of the beds are still going strong: onions, beans, pumpkins, and peppers of all sorts.

When it comes to food...

When it comes to food, we have high expectations. It's important to us to know where our food comes from, who grew it, and how. We love interacting with the people that help our food grow, while frequenting the farmer's markets in Ballard, Wallingford, and the University District.

Our own garden is beginning to flourish. This season, we're growing onions, tomatoes, potatoes, garlic, spinach, lettuces, cilantro and strawberries. Nasturtiums, which have edible flowers, have recently joined the fruits and vegetables. Soon we'll be adding herbs and others to the garden: basil, thyme, rosemary, dill, hops, chamomile, peppers and pumpkins.

Also, starting next month we'll be supporting Stoney Plains Organic Farm, by participating in a CSA.