Veggies are in

[Heather]

As most of you know the kids and I...oh and Matt... planted a garden this year.  We have potatoes, green beans, tomatoes, squash, and some herbs, cantaloupe, and watermelon..if our last plant survives.  Tonight we are getting a taste.  We picked some green beans and I am cooking them with the taters.  Matt is frying some squash and green maters as I type.  I made some baby back ribs to go with.  I can't wait.

Heather

[DalesCarpentry]

Sure sound like good eats. Dale

[kinslayer1965]

Heather,

Did you ever try the fish recipe?

CR

[Datil]

 Eating kind of high on the hog.   Datil

[billy_56081]

Fried greem maters sound interesting, I have never had them. Recipe please, and are these just the non ripe garden variety?

[gypsyman]

Billy, here's my recipe for green 'maters. 2 big soup bowls, first one,egg and milk wash. 2nd. bowl, flour,salt,pepper and paprika. I like the tomatoe's to have just a hint of pink, but all green is ok. Cut them about 1/4 to 3/8 of an inch thick. Frying pan with bacon grease sizzling. Dip 'mater's into wash, coat in flour mixture, drop into fry'in pan until brown, flip once, eat.  gypsyman

[nw_hunter]

As most of you know the kids and I...oh and Matt... planted a garden this year.  We have potatoes, green beans, tomatoes, squash, and some herbs, cantaloupe, and watermelon..if our last plant survives.  Tonight we are getting a taste.  We picked some green beans and I am cooking them with the taters.  Matt is frying some squash and green maters as I type.  I made some baby back ribs to go with.  I can't wait.

Heather

You got me slobbering! I have some summer crookneck squash on the way, but our growing season, here in Oregon, is later than yours.
I didn't hear you mention Okra though!......OH! how I miss my old Mama's fried Arkansas okra.
I haven't had any luck growing it here(nights are too cool for okra to do well.

[Questor]

I must convince my wife to move south with me. She likes gardening. We don't get tomatoes until mid-september.

[billy_56081]

I must convince my wife to move south with me. She likes gardening. We don't get tomatoes until mid-september.

?

You need to buy some earlier varieties Questor, I get maters from mid july until the end of september.

[Questor]

A big factor for us is that she doesn't start them until early June. My buddy who is a tomato expert (as apparently you are too) uses cloches to get them started earlier. He starts his plants indoors early. He too gets tomatoes in July. We tend to pick the varieties that have flavor as an advertised trait, and I have noticed that those tend to be a bit later. So for us, it's see ya later, 'mater.

[Glanceblamm]

For a very good and simple to make Veggie batter try...
3/4 cup corn starch
1/4 cup flour
1 Tablespoon Baking powder
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup water

It will seal in those natural juices right now along with giving you a restaurant quality browning. Makes the veg stay hot till all are fried as it really seals them up as said.
Will also keep the oil (and your fingers + utensils) very clean. We often double this recipie but go easy on the water so you dont get it thinned down too much.

[Oldtimer]

Last night we had butterbeans, string beans, tomatoes, and cornbread made from stoneground meal ground at Mount Vernon.  The only thing missing was a cold glass of buttermilk.  I love it when the garden begins producing.

I built a couple of raised beds for my wife this year and we are several weeks ahead of everyone else in our garden.  Also, it is much easier on the back.  There are always rabbits hanging around the garden, but neither they nor the deer have touched anything, YET .
When we had a threat of frost early on, it was easy to put a tarp over the whole thing to protect it.  It would also be easy to make some sort of a frame and convert it into a cold frame and pick up a few more weeks are  either end of the growning season.

[Heather]

Well gentleman dinner was delicious.  No okra this time.  My paw paw planted a lot and he said it should be ready in a few days, so we will get our share soon.  We teamed up this year and he planted what we didn't, okra, corn, some peppers, more watermelon and cantaloupe.  He is a little behind us, but we should have a larger variety soon.  THe children LOVED the fried squash and said it tasted like the best tater chips they have ever eaten...lol...they were sliced kinda thin.  I think I could get used to the fresh veggies...taste much better then from the store.  I just have to convince Matt that there is other ways to eat them besides fried!

Heather

[Questor]

Next year I'm raising a section of our best southern exposure to start 'maters early. Cherry tomatoes, which I love the most. I think I'll use cloches for them. I'm such a tomato freak that I'm surprised I never did this before.

We do have romaine lettuce, and the brussel sprouts are coming along well. Our first batch of strawberries is done. They were delicious. The are little early bearing fruit with a whopping powerful flavor that makes supermarket berries seem pretty lame.

We've got herbs growing well. This year, after a lifetime of avoiding dill, I tried it. I'm using it in Mediterranean sauces, like Greek salad dressing. It's really good. I've never been a basil fan either. But we've got lemon basil this year, and it's good too.

[Heather]

We have more maters than we will ever eat.  I am going to experiement this year with making my own spagetti sauce and pizza sauce.  We have oreagno and basil growing that will be great with seasoning.  I also plan to make salsa with some of my maters and paw paw's peppers.  It might not go so well the first time.  I have done extensive research and think I can make it happen.  Oh well only one way to find out!

Heather

[Questor]

Heather:

I tried the tomato sauces and it didn't work out very well. Too much skin and seed. Then a friend told me about a cheap little tool called a food grinder, which is like a sieve with a rotor in it. You put the cooked tomatoes in it and it separates the seeds from the pulp. It's a really good too. I don't know where you can find one. We got ours at a garage sale. We also got in the habit of freezing the pulp until the weather cooled off, so we weren't cooking it on 80 degree days.

Good pizza sauce is based on tomato puree. I simulate it by adding some tomato paste for thickening to my tomato sauce. Tomato paste is very expensive to make, so it's better just to buy it.

[Questor]

Heather:

One more thing: salsa is really good stuff if you have lots of tomatoes. If you like chips and salsa, try making the chips out of corn tortillas from the grocery refrigerated section. I heat them in the oven, then break them apart. Good stuff. We also make fajitas, and serve them with the salsa. Basic salsa is just diced tomato, diced onion, minced jalapeno, and chopped fresh cilantro, and a bit of salt. It takes minutes to prepare a pint of it.  I make my own because commercial salsa is expensive. I usually just use a can of diced 'maters. It's cheaper that way, and tastes better too.

[Rustyinfla]

  A little squeeze of lemon or lime juice in that salsa goes a long way too.

 But wait a minute... fried green tomatoes, in flour? No way, try corn meal instead. Everything's better with corn meal.

  And yes Heather it has to be fried.

  You can cheat a little bit though. On the grill.

   Make some garlic olive oil by placing 5 or 6 cloves of garlic in some olive oil and heat it over the lowest heat you have until the cloves start to turn brown. Take the cloves out of the oil and eat them if you like. Use this garlic oil to brush on yellow squash, zucchini, egg plant, onion, tomato, or any other veggie you like to cook on the grill. This stuff is so good you'll forget where you put the meat.