84-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, October 13, 2001 On Being a Farm Wife (and other hazards Joyce Bupp We’re rounding up the left overs. Leftovers account for most of the odd assortment of foods cur rently hovering around the house. Like the two orange-red peppers cooling their heels on the back porch, lingering in the out door temperatures to which they’ve grown accustomed. A handful of volunteer potatoes, small container of yellow-skinned onions, and a lush planter full of pretty, green parsley seedlings, from seed produced by a plant carried over the winter, also add to our leftovers of the fading sea son. Cylindrical-shaped red beets wait to become a tasty addition to an upcoming menu. Red beet seed I planted in spring never germinated well in the dry condi tions. But we have the good for tune to trade excess leftovers with the keepers of the next generation family garden across the meadow. In fact, most of the peppers we’ve enjoyed this sum mer originated there, since our three plants turned out to be pretty poor performers. Tomatoes, on the other hand, yielded bushels, and we spent weeks shuffling them around from garden to porch, to kitchen to canned goods shelves, to foi sting them off onto friends. We’ve enjoyed plump, juicy ones that filled the palm of my hand, super-sweet cherry minis, plum types shaped pudgy and bell-like and a long, skinny variety which clung to the vines for Weeks, just getting redder. As chilly weather closes their harvest, those leftov ers become increasingly prized. Actually, we hope to enjoy left over tomatoes for many weeks, with a bounty of Long Keepers tucked into storage in flats ahead of the cold front which arrived early in the week. Though over run with an infestation of morn ing glories gone wild, the comer of garden devoted to these long hold tomatoes yielded well. With these treasures carefully squir reled away, we hope to enjoy fresh tomatoes in salads and sandwiches long after frost black ens the rest. Dry, brown, crackly string bean pods swing from the yard fence in the breeze, leftovers of this year, resulting from leftovers from last year. The volun teer pole beans dropped into the soil last fall as season tail- enders, then germina ted unnoticed in spring at the foot of a row of sunflowers Under thick leaf cover, they stealthily wove their way up through the tall “stakes,” which provided perfect sup- port and dappled shade for the beans to thrive. By the time the sun flowers were fading, and the long, fat pods became more visible, they were well on their way to the leftover stage. So the mature, dry shelled out bean seeds will spend the winter where other leftovers get forgotten: refrigerated. Maybe a note on the calendar for next spring- will-jog my memory to plant them. Left overs stuff the greenhouse, where several dozen assorted house plants and potted greenery were quickly stashed ahead of frost threats. Pots of leafy ferns battle for space with planters of gerani um and marigolds, still colorful wax begonias, impatiens and the Norfolk Island Pine, now topping six feet and poking up against the plastic inner-liner of the ceiling. Moving the houseplants inside is always one of those jobs that is put off until the very last mo ment. It seems so unfair to move them in when days are bright and sunshiny and they add their cheery colors to the porches and deck. So, I inevitably find myself, year after year, lugging dusty, spider-web-decorated pots into safekeeping decked out in hat, gloves, sweatshirt, and winter vest. Sometimes darkness arrives before the last are moved in, leav ing me trudging around in the dark, maybe with a flashlight or by moonlight, as stars snicker down from overhead at us pro crastinators. Somewhere in the past, the image of leftovers took on a somewhat negative connotation. Leftovers are often thought of as lower in quality than the original, less desirable, something to store and maybe eventually pitch out, offal that those of higher taste might not want to have anything to do with. And the green, fuzzy stuff growing on who knows what buried somewhere in the backs of many of our refrigerators tends to leave that impression. But leftovers mean that we have more abundance of some thing than we can use, more than we can wear, more that we can eat. And so we save it for another day, share it with someone else, or make it into something com pletely new and useful. Hopefully before it grows green fuzz. Maybe we need to put a new spin on our image of leftovers. After we clean this unknown stuff out of the refrigerator. t>' - -_x ii Wedding Invi Brochures Business Card Sale Cards Catalogs Newsletters Newspapers One East Main S P.O. Box 527, Ephrata, 717-733-6397 • Fax 717 Broccoli, Cabbage, Cauliflower Harvest The cool fall weather is the ideal climate for broccoli, cab bage, cauliflower, collards and kale. Growers are just starting to harvest the fall crop of broccoli and cauliflower while the cab bage harvest is continuing since it began in July. The harvest will continue throughout the fall. Cabbage by itself ranks as the sixth most important Pennsylva nia vegetable crop in terms of acreage. More than 1,700 acres are grown each year and are usually harvested from late June into December. Pennsylvania ranks 12th in the nation in the production of cabbage. About 400 acres each of col lards and kale are grown along with roughly 350 acres of broccoli and 230 acres of cauliflower. While many growers across the state grow broccoli and cauliflow er in small acreages, the produc tion of collards and kale is con centrated among a few growers with large acreages in southeast Pennsylvania. The cabbage family is also known as the Crudferae family because their flowers are shaped like a cross. According to the Wellness Encyclopedia of Food and Nutrition of the University of California at Berkeley, cruci ferous vegetables contain indoles nitrogen compounds that seem to protect against cancers of the stomach and large intestine. They also are generally high in fiber and antioxidants like vita min C and carotenoids. Antioxi dants neutralize the action of free radicals unstable oxygen mole cules which promote cancer. Cruciferous vegetables also con tain compounds that stimulate the release of anticancer en zymes. Some people object to the odor produced by cooking cruciferous vegetables. The odor is caused by the release of sulfur compounds as these vegetables cook. While boiling cruciferous vegetables in large amounts of water in an open pot will minimize the char acteristic strong cabbage taste, it maximizes the loss of nutrients. Steaming, microwaving or quick cooking in small amounts of water minimizes nutrient loss in the cooking process. Of course, broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower can all be enjoyed raw by them selves or in salads. Dietary experts recommend in cluding cruciferous vegetables in the diet regularly, at least several times a week. They also recom- Arl Haas mend a daily serving of a vege table (or fruit) high in vitamin A, one high in vitamin C and one high in fiber. Broccoli fulfills all three requirements while cabbage and cauliflower fulfill the vitamin C and fiber requirement. Noted Lancaster County cookbook au thor Betty Groff offers the fol lowing recipes to help you enjoy Pennsylvania cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower. Baked Cabbage 1 medium head cabbage 2 Tablespoons flour 1 teaspoon salt Freshly ground pepper Vi teaspoon chives 1 teaspoon chervil 2 Tablespoons sugar 3 Tablespoons butter 1 cup hot milk 'A cup grated cheese Cut cabbage in wedges V* inch thick and boil in water for 10 minutes. Drain well and place in a buttered casserole. Sprinkle with the flour, salt, pepper, chives, chervil and sugar. Dot with butter. Pour the hot milk over the cabbage and top with the grated cheese. Bake in pre heated 350°F. oven for 35 min utes. Ham-Stuffed Cabbage Rolls Serves 6 to 8 2A pound head of cabbage 2 pounds smoked ham, ground 1 cup cooked rice 1 cup dried bread crumbs 2 eggs, lightly beaten 'A cup onion, preferably 6 or 7 green (spring) onions 'A cup crushed pineapple Salt and pepper to taste Orange-pineapple sauce, see below Rinse cabbage. Cut out the core and remove the outer two or three leaves from the head. Save them and any other leaves that are tom or too small and cover the bottom of a large saucepan or Dutch oven. This will help pre vent the cabbage rolls from stick ing while cooking. Place the cab bage in a casserole dish and microwave on high for 8 minutes in 'A inch of water, covered with wax paper. Drain. When cool enough, remove the outer 12 to 16 leaves and cut off the thick rib at the back of each leaf. Combine the meat, rice, crumbs, eggs, on ions, pineapple, salt and pepper and mix well with your hands. Divide into 12 to 16 equal balls and flatten them slightly in the center of each leaf. Fold the sides in and overlap- the top and bot- tom securely, then place seam side down in the saucepan. Top with orange-pineapple sauce and simmer, covered, for an hour or longer. Serve with additional rice on the side if desired. Orange-Pineapple Sauce 4 Tablespoons sugar 2 Tablespoons cornstarch l'/2 cups orange juice IV2 cups pineapple juice 1 cup pineapple tidbits Few drops of red food coloring (optional) Mix sugar and cornstarch to gether and stir into the juices. Heat, stirring constantly until clear and thickened, then add coloring, if desired, and fruit. Add more of either juice if extra liquid is needed. Betty’s Baked Corn And Broccoli Pudding Serves 6 This is easy, delicious, and pretty served in the baking dish. The first evening we served it, our guests all asked for seconds. The recipe has a custard-like consis tency. It is quite different from the better-known baked com. It can also be prepared in an electric skillet for an outdoor party. 4 Tablespoons butter 4 cups broccoli buds 4 cups com kernels Grated zest of 1 lemon (yellow part only) Freshly ground black pepper [ A cup flour 2 teaspoons salt 1 teaspoon sugar 4 eggs 1 cup milk Use 1 Tablespoon of the butter to butter a 9-inch by 13-inch bak ing dish. Arrange the broccoli buds at each end of the dish. Put the com in the center. Sprinkle the lemon zest over the broccoli, and grind pepper over the com In a bowl, combine the flour, salt, sugar, and remaining butter. Gradually add the eggs and mix well. Stir in the milk to make a thin batter. Pour over the vege tables. Bake in a preheated 3SO°F oven for 1 hour until the egg mix ture is set and firm. Bake longer, if needed. To test the pudding, insert a silver knife in the center. It is ready when the knife comes out clean. We used to test this recipe with a broom straw, but who has a broom anymore? Microwave: Following this rec ipe through the entire prepara (Turn to Page B 8)
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