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Across the Kitchen Table:
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Ten Top Candidates for a Kitchen Garden
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| Our "big" garden is out behind the woodshed, 100 feet from the house. Right outside the kitchen door, on the sunny side of the house, is a deck and a small garden plot that I think of as my "kitchen garden." When we’re making supper on a summer evening, I can snip a few sprigs of parsley or rosemary, a handful of cherry tomatoes, or some nasturtium blossoms in seconds and add them to a salad or stir-fry. Some plants are in the ground, others are in pots and planters, and every year the mix is a little different.
Most herbs love sun and well-drained soil, and if you provide those essentials, you can grow many different herbs in a small space. One or two plants of each type will supply most people’s immediate culinary needs; your main flower or vegetable garden can house larger supplies of basil (for pesto), dill (for pickles), salad greens, and so on. A large clay strawberry pot (about 2 feet tall, with openings on the sides) takes up just a small amount of space and can hold six or eight different trailing flowers and herbs, such as thyme, oregano, nasturtiums, alyssum, and others.
My Ten Top Kitchen Garden Plants:
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| Annuals: |
Perennials: |
Other Contenders: |
Herbs Suitable for Containers:
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Cherry tomato (‘Sun Gold’ or ‘Supersweet’ are favorites of ours), one plant, placed in a large pot and staked
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Thyme, 2 or 3 varieties (I like to plant them so they spill over rocks at the front of the bed)
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Cilantro (annual)
Oregano or marjoram (perennial)
Summer savory (annual)
Borage (annual)
Sage (perennial)
Lemon balm (annual)
Anise hyssop (annual) or hyssop (perennial)
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Basil
Bay (in large tub)
Catmint
Chamomile
Chervil
Chives
Curry plant
Lavender
Lemon verbena
Marjoram
Mint
Parsley
Rocket (arugula)
Summer and winter savory
Thyme
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Basil, 3 plants (green or purple)
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Rosemary, 1 plant in a pot (rosemary is hardy in warm locations; must be brought inside where temperatures fall below 25°F)
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Parsley, 2 plants, one curly and one flat-leaved (prefers cool, rich soil)
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French tarragon, 1 plant (in the ground in a permanent spot)
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Nasturtiums, planted from seed, as many as you have room for (also work well in hanging baskets)
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Chives, 1 plant (they will spread, don’t worry)
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Dill, 1 or 2 plants, planted in the back of the bed
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Mint, 1 plant, preferably spearmint (will be very invasive, so plant in an isolated corner, if you dare)
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Bread Puddings to Savor
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Bread pudding is comfort food, a simple, rustic dessert that is sweet, warm, and chewy, with pockets of smooth custard. It’s a frugal dessert, too, and probably came into being as a way to use up stale bread. Easier to make than steamed pudding, gelatin-based pudding, or stovetop pudding, bread pudding has as many variations as there are cooks.
Basically, what you do is tear up chunks of stale bread (buttered first, for extra richness), soak them in a mixture of eggs, milk/cream, and sugar, add fruit or raisins or other extras if desired, and bake until firm. The oldest recipes I found for bread pudding, dating back to the 17th century, were among the most complicated, calling for rosewater, ground blanched nuts, and bone marrow. Another old recipe, called Queen of Puddings, uses bread crumbs rather than chunks, but this is somehow less satisfying to eat, being too uniform in texture. Some contemporary chefs have also played elaborate riffs on bread pudding, ending up with a dish barely recognizable as a homely (and homey) dessert.
In the spirit of keeping things somewhat simple at this busy time of year, here are several easy variations on bread pudding, sure to please you and your family or friends. Most bread puddings taste best served warm, perhaps with a cool dollop of whipped cream or scoop of ice cream for contrast.
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Classic Bread Pudding
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| This recipe is adapted from the one in Stephen Schmidt’s Master Recipes, perhaps the most reliable basic cookbook you can own.
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2/3 cup golden or dark raisins
2 cups milk
1 cup light cream or half-and-half
4 to 5 cups (12 to 14 ounces) lightly packed 1/2" cubes of bread (with crusts or not, as you prefer)
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter
Steep raisins in warm water while you mix the pudding. Warm the milk and cream (do not boil) and pour over the bread cubes in a mixing bowl. Let stand for about 15 minutes while the bread soaks up the milk. Whisk the eggs, vanilla, sugar, nutmeg, and salt together. Drain the raisins and add to the egg mixture. Fold the egg mixture into the bread. Use 1 tablespoon of the butter to grease an 8-cup baking dish. Pour the pudding into the dish; dot with remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Bake at 325°F for about 50 minutes, or until the pudding has puffed up about an inch and feels firm in the center. Serve warm. Leftover pudding can be refrigerated for several days, covered. Place in a 250°F oven for about 15 minutes to reheat, if desired. Makes 4 to 6 servings.
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Maple Bread Pudding
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| Serve this for dessert or even for Sunday breakfast — it’s like baked French toast! |
3 tablespoons soft butter
eight 1/2"-thick slices Italian or French bread, day old
4 eggs
2/3 cup maple syrup
pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
2 cups half-and-half
Heat oven to 350°F. Use about 1 tablespoon of the butter to grease a 7"x11" baking dish. Lightly toast bread, fit into buttered dish, and spread remaining butter on the side that faces up. In a bowl, beat the egg; add syrup, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Gradually stir in half-and-half. Pour mixture over bread and let stand for about 15 minutes. Place baking dish inside a 9"x13" baking pan. Fill pan with hot water about halfway up the sides of the smaller dish. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until pudding is set. Serve warm. Makes about 6 servings.
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Chocolate Bread Pudding
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| This recipe from the 1930s tastes sweet and rich, although it contains little fat. |
2 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate
3 cups milk
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups cubed day-old bread
Heat oven to 350°F. Heat chocolate and milk together over low heat until chocolate melts. Whisk until blended. In a mixing bowl, combine sugar, salt, and eggs; slowly add chocolate mixture, beating well. Stir in vanilla. Butter a 2-quart baking dish. Put bread cubes in dish and pour chocolate mixture over the bread. Let stand for about 15 minutes.
Place baking dish in a larger pan of hot water and bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until set. Serve warm or cool, with sweetened whipped cream or coffee ice cream. Makes about 6 servings.
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Cran-Apple Bread Pudding
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2 large apples, peeled and sliced
2 tablespoons butter
3 eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup light cream
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup dried cranberries (plumped in hot water if needed, then drained)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
8 ounces (about 3 cups) slightly stale French bread, sliced 3/4" thick
Heat oven to 350°F. Sauté apple slices in 2 tablespoons butter until softened. In a bowl, stir together eggs, sugar, cream, melted butter, vanilla, cranberries, apples, and cinnamon. Place bread slices in a buttered 2-quart baking dish and pour egg mixture over it, stirring carefully to combine. Let stand for about 15 minutes. Bake uncovered for about 45 minutes, until pudding is set and top is lightly browned. Serve in bowls with maple syrup or honey, if desired. Makes about 6 servings.
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Pear and Ginger Bread Pudding
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8 slices stale or toasted bread, cut into 1/2" cubes
1/2 cup golden raisins, plumped in hot water and drained
4 ripe pears, peeled, cored, and sliced 1/4" thick
2 tablespoons crystallized ginger, chopped
4 eggs
3 cups warm milk (can use part half-and-half)
2 tablespoons melted butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
pinch of salt
Heat oven to 350°F. Butter an 8"x11" baking dish (preferably glass) and line it with the bread cubes. Sprinkle drained raisins over the bread. Layer the pear slices on top and sprinkle the crystallized ginger over the pears. In a bowl, beat the eggs and add the warm milk, butter, brown sugar, and salt. Pour egg mixture over the bread and pears, and let stand for about 15 minutes. Bake for about 45 minutes, until pudding is set and lightly browned. Serve with ice cream or whipped cream, if desired. Makes 6 servings.
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"To Make A Devonshire White-Pot"
A Bread Pudding Recipe from 1663, for the Traditionalists Among Us
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| (Originally published in A Queen’s Delight, or The Art of Preserving, Conserving, and Candying, England, 1663) |
Take a pint of cream and strain four eggs into it, and put a little salt and a little sliced Nutmeg, and season it with Sugar somewhat sweet; then take almost a penny Loaf of fine bread sliced very thin, and put it into a dish that will hold it, the cream and the Eggs being put to it; then take a handful of Raisins of the Sun being boiled, and a little sweet Butter, so bake it. |
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The Funky History of Food Preservation
(and some modern advice)
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"I’m convinced
that food
preservation
is the
key to
understanding
all of
human
history!"
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Pickled, Potted, and Canned (How the Art and Science of Food Preservation Changed the World) by Sue Shephard begins with this anecdote: "In 1800 some archeologists working in Egypt found a large jar of honey. They opened it and found that it tasted perfect even though it was thousands of years old. As they greedily dipped into the jar, they found some hairs, and when they tipped all the honey out, they discovered the perfectly preserved body of a small baby."
| How Nicolas Appert Saved the French Navy from Scurvy |
| Nicolas Appert, born in 1750, was a gifted chef and confectioner who had a small shop in Paris where he experimented with preserving all kinds of food. He scorned the older methods of drying, salting, and smoking because they changed the taste and texture of food, and began filling glass jars with fruit, vegetables, or meat and heating them in baths of hot water. For centuries, cooks and chemists had been experimenting with this method, using wine jars, champagne bottles, and other vessels and attempting to extract all of the air, which they believed caused putrefaction.
Although Appert (along with everyone else) was not aware that microorganisms caused spoilage, he realized that using a sterile method and heating sealed jars of food in a water bath seemed to work the best. He supplied the French navy (under blockade at the time by the Royal Navy of England) with bottles of soup, boiled beef in gravy, fruit juice, and fresh beans and peas, all carefully processed in glass jars sealed with pitch. The sailors loved the food — quite the change from salt pork, dried cod, and wormy biscuits — and Appert went on to win a prize from Napoleon for keeping the navy in good health and free from scurvy.
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The ancient Egyptians took their preserving seriously. They knew honey was a powerful preservative (of both humans and food) as well as a "self-preserving" food that keeps almost indefinitely and remains a good source of energy. Honey, like other sugars, creates an environment that is inhospitable to spoilage. Alone or combined with vinegar, honey has been a favorite preservative for thousands of years.
Until they figured out the essentials of food preservation, humans could not live in northern latitudes, go on long sea voyages, cross deserts, or travel in armies or large groups without starving to death. After reading Pickled, Potted, and Canned, I’m convinced that food preservation is the key to understanding all of human history!
If you like food (you must, if you are reading this) and you like history, Pickled, Potted, and Canned is a great read. It illuminates the events of history and, more to the point of this newsletter, illuminates the food we eat. "Ploughman’s lunch"? It’s on the menu of many country restaurants, usually rustic bread with a nice slab of cheese, perhaps a bowl of soup. The soup, we learn, would not be authentic, for the original ploughman’s lunch was totally portable, something that did not need heating or cooling, yet was hearty and filling. Cured sausage, dried fish, raw onions or radishes, biscuits, cheese — these were among the original "field fare" items that sustained farmhands for centuries.
With the canning and preserving season soon upon us, it’s good to know that when we can our jars of strawberry jam or dilly beans, we’re only the latest in a long continuum of food preservers, making sure our fresh foods of summer are transformed into something that will feed us next winter.
Three wonderful books for how-to information on canning, freezing, drying, and otherwise preserving food are:
The Complete Guide to Home Canning and Preserving (a USDA publication known for its solid and usually quite conservative advice about food safety)
Preserving Summer’s Bounty (published by the Rodale Food Center)
Putting Food By (published by Penguin; used copies from earlier printings are widely available)
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Strawberry-Pineapple Marmalade
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The Ball Corporation in Muncie, Indiana, maker of canning jars, publishes the Blue Book, widely available in garden and hardware stores. This paperback has gone through many editions since its start in 1905. Here’s a delicious and easy marmalade recipe from the 30th editon (1983).
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2-1/2 cups finely chopped, cored, pared, fresh pineapple (1 medium)
1 teaspoon grated orange peel
2-1/2 cups chopped orange pulp (about 4 medium)
7 cups sugar
1-1/2 quarts stemmed strawberries
Combine pineapple, orange peel, pulp, and sugar. Bring slowly to boiling, stirring occasionally until sugar dissolves. Cook rapidly for 15 minutes. Add strawberries and continue cooking rapidly until thick, about 20 to 30 minutes. As the mixture thickens, stir frequently to prevent sticking. Pour, boiling hot, into hot jars, leaving 1/4" head space. Adjust caps. Process for 10 minutes in a boiling water bath. Makes about 6 half-pints.
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Sylvia’s Dilly Beans
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And speaking of dilly beans, here is our friend Sylvia’s tried-and-true recipe for a most delicious way to use up fresh green beans.
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Remove stems from about 2 pounds of tender green beans. Pack the beans vertically into four hot, sterile pint jars. Leave 1/4" headroom. To each pint jar add 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, 1 clove garlic, 1 head of dill (or 1-1/2 tablespoons of dill seed). In a saucepan, bring 2-1/2 cups of water to a boil. Add 2-1/2 cups vinegar and 1/4 cup salt. Bring to a boil. Pour over the beans, leaving the 1/4" headroom. Seal the jars, and process for 15 minutes in a boiling water bath. Makes 4 pints.
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