Turkey Garden Soup & other recipes

late summer Rudbeckia
my favourite harvest flower

One of the tastiest things I've come up with to do with zucchini has been a snack: a round of zucchini topped with jalapeno havarti and wrapped in philo dusted in a little olive oil & butter. Baked until golden with melted cheese and crispy baked zucchini...yum. I've made a recipe-to-remember double chocolate zucchini cake, came up with another great recipe for Zucchini Pineapple Walnut Spice Cake, made a crustless quiche, muffins... 

I'm not tired of zucchini yet, especially not the pineapple spice cake.

I made more tzatiki than we can eat or give away. I think it's time for pickles.

The jet lag has really got me beat this year. I still feel groggy and off schedule nearly two weeks later. ::excuses, excuses:: Summer has gone by in a blur of gluttony and wine; and it's been wonderful. I always start the season with intentions - good intentions - of documenting the growing, photographing the product, following it all to the kitchen. I thought about that a lot while I baked and ate the zucchini (the Spiced Zucchini Walnut Pineapple Cake mostly to myself). It doesn't help that I left the garden to its own devices for more than a month, but also... I haven't been giving it as much attention on my devices since we returned. I've been too busy eating it and playing real Scrabble (not online!) with old friends. I really have to give it to those people who can stick to updating regularly. 

With its bursting tomato plants and a beanstalk wall, our edible garden is a bit of a mess - at first sight. I've taken out the remains of the peas, spinach and radishes, cleaned a few containers, made room for some fall planting. There are still some weeds, and the unsightly grassy patch which needs a mow - and lord know the dogwood needs to be pruned..but, the bees are indulging and so are we, so a few unsightly edibles doesn't bother me. There are little bits of beautiful everywhere.

a bee favourite

Butterfly Lavender

Tonight leftovers from our recent barbecue turkey dinner are being boiled together with garden herbs, carrots, kale, chard, and beet tops, onions, leeks ...and celery from the store. Turkey Garden Soup. Our little kitchen Bay Laurel supplied some lovely leaves to the pot, along with tarragon, rosemary, sage, and thyme.

Though I hope I'll get around (sooner rather than later) to updating my food blog with my recipes and results, for now this will have to do. As I enjoy the last slice of Zucchini Spice Cake with Pineapple and Walnuts, I nod out the window to the garden and say, thanks.  

Dear Garden Diary

We've been eating a lot of tomatoes.
R's been experimenting with homemade ketchup recipes,
which become experimental barbecue sauce recipes, for testing on our guests invited to Porkfest(s).
I've got salsa plans for the next abundant harvest; and, you know, nothing says welcome home like having our favourite tomato, basil, and feta salad fresh from our backyard since we've returned from Australia.
Garden, you've been tomatolicious this year.

Three weeks ago I saw my first Aussie bees.

lavender, Barbara's garden
Mildura, Victoria

Yesterday, R saw his first hummingbird.
It was beautiful as it hummed in and out of the blooms below us.
We had been standing on the back balcony, enjoying
(and sharing with the dogs)
some beans that have climbed to balcony floor.
(Any stalks that dared to go beyond that has been chewed loose by a dog.)
We were discussing the garden,
and its future plans,
when the hummingbird flew in to enjoy some scarlet runner blooms and thriving nasturtiums.

semi-double blossom
Mounding Nasturtiums
Buttercream

 As wonderful as it was to see, I felt a little sad for the little bird - because of what he could have enjoyed. Leaving the garden at high season makes keeping on top of things very difficult. There were a few Nicotiana blooms left, which he did find, but I know what he could have had - a hummingbird version of Porkfest. Without deadheading and feeding, most of the potted plants are overgrown and exhausted. It was a hot dry summer, and new plants suffered a little stress. There should be so much more still blooming.

I'll take what I can get though, especially the Nasturtiums. They've rambled their way under and through R's newly constructed back deck and make me smile.

The nasturtiums pop up everywhere in the garden, and make up a great deal of the jungle. The heaping, heavy tomato plants make up the rest. Peas went to the dogs, and apparently carrots now too...

Clifford enjoys a carrot.

The tomatoes remain ours, so far safe from the four legged family members.

As for the garden's future plans: they mostly involve finding new and better ways to separate human space and gardens from dogs. The dogs require space, and deserve some places of their own to run and play outside. The dogs need grass, and more than our downtown yard provides - well, the yard space would be plenty for the dogs if it weren't taken up by so much garden. We can't share it, and have to reclaim some clean human grass.
Strangely, our plans are to create even more garden space. There will be less human grass space, which will be fine: I just want some place to sit in clean grass, and smell my garden, not the dogs. Garden photography has been a precarious activity this summer, as the dogs have had free roam while the dog run is under construction (holding all the soil we had delivered in the early summer).

In the end, a new fence and a new construction project for R - and possibly some new tools. A sod cutter will be brought in to remove what's there, new soil will be added, the garden beds will be created and treated, composted and lasagna(ed) for the winter, and will be full of tomatoes, peppers, and rambling zucchini next year.
To make way for a much longed for wood fired pizza and bread oven, the Caragana will move to the new garden gate, and face the clean human grass. To make way for the garden gate the Potentilla and oat grass will be removed. Another garden gate and small fence will close off the side of the house and protect the side garden, currently full of blooming foxgloves.

The dogs will have a full grassy area within the dog run, and while we all love the basketball court it is sadly under-used - the dogs need that space more than we do right now. They'll also have free run of the newly named "dog forest" which will be lighter on junipers, allowing for great for leaping and dodging dogs. R also wants to widen the path to the dog run by moving all the rocks that line the dog forest back toward the fence. I think he's crazy, but will stand by my man.

Roasted Red Pepper Soup

Roasted Red Pepper Soup

SERVES 6 - PREPARATION TIME 1:30

          FOR SOUP

          3 TABLESPOONS shallots, finely chopped

          1 TABLESPOON freshly chopped thyme 
             (or 1/2 TSP dried)

          1 TABLESPOON butter or olive oil  
                 (or a combination of both)

          12 red bell peppers (capsicum), 
              roasted and chopped

          3 CUPS broth (chicken, 
             or for vegan: vegetable)

          1/2 CUP heavy cream (optional)

          fresh lemon juice to taste

          salt and pepper to taste

Rohan discovered this recipe in the griller's manual that came with his barbecue. More than a manual, this glorified pamphlet has proved itself invaluable in our home. Simple, well thought recipes make up more of it's content than cook settings. It's brilliant. We were immediately drawn to this red capsicum soup recipe, and have been known to make a few substitutions along the way. The recipe posted above is my edited version.

We've often included a variety of hot peppers from our garden.

PREPARATION

Preheat barbecue on HIGH heat.

Place capsicum on grill and char on all sides, turning as needed.

Remove from barbecue and cool.

When cool enough to handle, peel off the blackened skin, remove stem and seeds, and chop the flesh of the pepper.

Using the side burner (or in our case, directly on the grill), melt butter in a large pan over low heat. Add the shallots and thyme, and stir until softened. 

Add the bell peppers and broth, and simmer the mixture, covered, until the peppers are very soft (about 15 minutes).

enjoy a glass of Sauvignon Blanc while you wait

Using an immersion blender (or food processor) puree the mixture until smooth. Return the mixture to a clean pot and (if desired) whisk in the cream. 

Season with salt, pepper, and lemon juice to taste.

The recipe also suggests a butternut squash and grilled leek version of this soup, opening up he garden gate to endless combinations of grilled vegetable soups. 

Enjoy!