Bringing in the Bounty

Before I get into the title topic, I thought I'd share this picture, taken about 7 o'clock this morning. I love foggy mornings!

So onto the topic at hand....this is what I pulled out of the garden this morning.

Yes....that colander is as wide as my kitchen sink. There actually are also some jalapenos and bell peppers under all those green beans. Oh, and then there was the turnip that's the size of my hand.

Granted, I have small hands, but that's a pretty big turnip!

So, anyone have some good recipes that use lots of green beans? I've actually already frozen about a half gallon of them so far!

LOTS of Basil!

I know my basil plants haven't looked huge and out of hand in pictures, but trust me, they were......were being the operative word here.

I've used basil in tomato sauce and in a few other dishes, but I needed something that would use a lot of basil all at once. So yesterday evening, I got busy looking up pesto recipes. It was pretty straightforward. Every recipe I looked at was pretty similar: lots of basil, olive oil, garlic, parmesan cheese, pine nuts, maybe some salt and pepper or other optional ingredients. Research done, I pulled out my food processor and got to work.

Here is a picture of one of the basil plants. The other was fairly similar in size. Obviously, it was starting to bolt.

I got my kitchen scissors to work and soon had a sink full on basil!

This picture was actually taken after I was about half way through the process (and thought to myself "Hey! You really should be taking pictures of this for your blog!!"...Oops...). There was twice this much when I started.

I decided to forgo the pine nuts in my pesto (the idea of eating something that smells like Pine-sol really just doesn't do it for me), but at the end, I really didn't miss them. I used all the basil leaves, olive oil, garlic, parmesan, and a little bit of salt and pepper. As the world's worst recipe writer, I didn't measure anything. Oh well. It's pretty easy to adjust the flavors so you get exactly what you want. I tasted it a couple times through the process to make sure everything was right. This is what I ended up with. Yes, a sink full of basil really does condense itself down to a small-ish tupperware container!

Swiss Chard by the Bundle

Last weekend, we had a cookout with our neighbors and I cut about half of the four food row of swiss chard that was growing in the garden to make chard chips. They were a huge hit (even with the few kids that were present) and I figured it would take the chard a while to grow back, right?

WRONG

I took this picture yesterday, just one week after cutting half of the chard down, it's all back.

So now, I have a question for you....what on earth do I do with all this chard??? (Besides making more chard chips)

Dinner tonight: sausage casserole with homegrown jalapenos

This is a popular dish around my house: sausage casserole. My hubby loves anything to do with the word "sausage", so it's kind of a winner by default, but that's ok right? Here is my recipe....and please don't get to mad at me.....I don't measure anything when I cook (unless I'm baking), so this is really just a list of ingredients except for the sauce.

Combine in a casserole dish:
Smoked sausage or kielbasa, sliced into bite-sized pieces
Cooked rice (I usually do one serving....whatever that measurement is)
Fresh (or in this case, frozen) diced jalapenos, to taste.
Celery seed
Salt and pepper

For the sauce:
Make a rue using 4 tbsp butter and 4 tbsp flour. Cook on low until the taste of raw flour is gone...just a minute or two once the butter is melted. Add 1 cup milk and 1 cup broth (I generally use chicken broth, but any kind will work). Cook on low, stirring frequently until thickened and then pour over the mixture in the casserole dish. Top with cheese and breadcrumbs and bake at 350 until the cheese is melted and the casserole is bubbling at the edges.

Tip: Assemble the casserole a few hours, or even a full day ahead of baking. This allows the flavors to really mix together and makes for an even tastier casserole!