Why I Have a Crush on Pesto

Though pesto has oomph, its lusciousness remains approachable.

Fulsome, but never standoffish

It accompanies pasta well, coating each strand with its awesomeness.

Linguine & pesto

In its expansive way, it will pair with many different pasta forms.

Corkscrew pasta & pesto

At first it shyly plays its role as a garnish for soups.

Then with an encouraging nudge by a spoon, it snuggles up to everything else in the bowl.

Chicken soup & pesto

Pesto enhances omelettes as well does a dollop on hard-boiled eggs.

French bread finds its soulmate when it meets up with pesto.

Why this flurry of pesto dishes?  There was one remaining freezer container with last season's harvest.  One way to preserve basil is by processing the leaves with olive oil, then freezing it in suitable containers. Defrost, add garlic, Parmesan, and my preference, walnuts and...

Presto, you got pesto!

This time I did not add the full amount of olive oil I usually do, but instead relied on the small amount used in preparing the basil for freezing. This thicker version went better with the non-pasta dishes.

This season's impending basil harvest may look unassuming, but through time its delectable charm will develop.

In the potager, steady spring rains--fairly unusual here--has kept everything happily moist, the hose curled up, and the rain-harvesting tank nicely filled.

Peas in the centre are pleased with the cool rain,  but not the strawberries on the middle left

Cottage pinks, which would be my desert island flower choice, are prominent in the garden at the moment.  Pinks can be white, all tints of red, and yellow, and their distinctive edges have given pinking shears its name.

Red 'pinks' on the left and the fabled Mrs. Sinkins with its intoxicating fragrance in the right background.

One of my favourite varieties has pale-pink, double blooms tinged with yellow.

Cottage pinks cover the knobby knees of roses very well.

Pinks readily propagate by cuttings and by seeds if you can locate a nursery source.  Their stalwart, silvered foliage is evergreen, making it an all-year-round ground cover and edging plant.  There are many different varieties, some with delicate coloured fringes/centres and strong fragrance.

Dayo's return to the garden was short lived as his paw injury once again became worrying. He will be confined inside the house for several weeks.

He has a chance to catch up on his sleep.  At least that is what I tell him, especially when he stares forlornly through closed windows.

À la prochaine!

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How to make pesto and preserve basil
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Sauteed Radishes and Their Greens...and thinning carrots

Radish greens when young are wonderfully tasty.  Though they can be sauteed by themselves, their delectable, crimson roots can be included. Radishes become mild and a little sweet, somewhat like turnips when cooked. Though I enjoy mashed, buttered turnips, radishes are way more visually attractive than an off-white, mushy mound.

With its cheery green and red, this side dish would be a worthy addition to a Christmas dinner

Gardening holds many sensory delights, and tactile sensations are one of them. Radish leaves are a bit fuzzy, tickling my hands during harvesting and making me smile. Wash them and separate leaves from fifteen to twenty roots. Since my garden radishes are cylindrical ones, just a halving will do. With round radishes, cut several slices.

At the moment, the only vinegar in the world for me is Sherry.

Melt a tablespoon of butter in a skillet and saute briefly a minced garlic clove till translucent, about a minute over medium heat. Add a teaspoon of sugar and stir for a few seconds.  Toss in the radishes and stir occasionally until they start to brown.

Add the leaves and a tablespoon of Sherry vinegar and stir to mix everything together.

Too pretty!

Simmer, covered, for a couple of minutes until the veggies are tender, most of the liquid is gone, and the radishes are slightly glazed.  Any water clinging to the washed greens should be enough liquid, if not add a little water. Salt to taste, and to bring out the flavour even more, sprinkle a little fleur de sel just before serving.

Meanwhile in the potager, another root veggie, can pose a few challenges, though the flavour of home-grown carrots more than trumps any effort required, not to mention the extra bonus of soup-stock-enhancing leaves. One of the peskier aspects is to sow thinly since carrot seed is tiny. If sown thickly, meticulous thinning with its required clipped-off seedlings strewn about invites the carrot fly to come sniffing around to deposit its eggs which will hatch into larvae burrowing inside the carrot. Meanwhile you are happily walking around the carrot bed, lush with leaves, naively thinking about all that golden bounty which is sight unseen being devoured.

Mixing the tiny seed with clean, fine sand helps.  Also, after a while, the knack of thinly distributing seeds develops.  With my fourth sowing, the seedlings did not come up so thickly.

Thin the seedlings when they are about 3-4 inches high, preferably on a windless day and in late afternoon.  Clip them with scissors or using your fingers, pinch off level with the ground as not to disturb the remaining seedlings, leaving about 2-3 inches between each depending on the size of the variety.

Thinning the carrots while on my knees, I cursed and grunted in English, startling a trucker from Spain--his truck was marked with its country of origin--as he walked along the refrigerator truck depot entrance which flanks one side of the potager.  He also startled me, so we were mutually frightened for a few seconds until we managed to smile. At least we did not scream at each other like in that scene from the film, E.T. the Extraterrestrial. My noisy monologue would have been worse if not my using a gardening knee cushion. If you don't have such an indispensable item, please get one.

Try to remove all the felled seedlings.

Then cover the seedlings with horticultural fleece.  Keep watering as necessary right over the fleece and remember to check underneath for any needed weed removal from time to time.

For the last five days, I was out of commission because of a flu replete with muscle aches and extreme fatigue.  The only thing I managed to do was set out the potted seedlings each morning and bring them back in before dark. Today was the first day I began to think about any real work in the garden, like finally planting the remaining fifty seed potatoes--I had managed to plunk into the ground twenty-five early potatoes before the flu transformed me into a limp noodle.

The seed potatoes on the sill are well chitted and needed to go in the ground awhile ago

Dayo also is just recently getting back into his outdoor routine as he is mostly recovered from his paw injury though I am keeping a watchful eye. So we just hung out together while I took photos.

Precision patrol: Dayo neatly walks in between narrow rows of beets during his inspection

Dayo is pleased with how the David Austin climbing Falstaff rose with its damask fragrance is blooming

If you think Dayo is chomping on the cottage pinks, you are wrong.  He is judiciously weeding.

As the lilacs turn brown, the roses are starting to bloom. If you have lilacs but not the flu comme moi, carefully deadhead them just below the bloom so as not to eliminate next spring's flowering.

Those brown masses are lilacs well past their prime

One of the seven Queen Elizabeth hedge rose bushes

Unknown rose, but one of my favourites with its deep pink, ruffled blooms

The peonies are soon to follow.

As will the lavender.

And the honeysuckle.

There is just a hint of their fantastic fragrance in the air

Meanwhile the white Spirea and dark-pink Weigela are holding their own along with Heuchera's delicate, coral blooms.

Not to mention red Dianthus and pale-pink perennial geraniums.

Low growing sedum in the front and heather & Abelia in the background

À la prochaine!

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The Second Harvest of the Season: Pea Shoots...and planting blueberries

Linguine is one of my favourite pasta shapes as I regard it as spaghetti trying to become a noodle, that is, a Goldilocks shape, not too narrow, nor too flat. Since there are pea shoots coming up nicely in the potager, I added their pretty tendrils, succulent leaves, and juicy stems to my basic linguine sauce of capers, parsley, garlic, and Parmesan.

Pea shoots have long been enjoyed in Asiatic cuisine and are becoming popular outside that region.  They turn a dark green when cooked, adding a fresh, light pea taste along with a vibrancy only greens can give. Pea shoots are delicious raw too, making great salads.

When bush pea plants are about a foot high and before they flower, pinch off about four to five inches of top growth including the tendrils, some partially opened leaf growth, a tender full leaf and the stem below it.  I take just one pinching from each plant.  Peas shoots are so good that late summer I will sow some peas in a large pot just for shoots so I can keep pinching them off since they will not be grown for peas also. Additionally, peas can be sowed thickly so when thinning, you will be harvesting pea shoots at the same time.

Gather the ingredients: for one serving, about an inch-in-diameter of linguine, about five or six pea shoots, a tablespoon of capers, a tablespoon of fresh, flat-leaf parsley, a tablespoon or two of extra-virgin olive oil, table salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste, a sprinkle or two of fleur de sel, and several tablespoons of freshly grated Parmesan.

Cook the linguine in boiling water for about eight minutes and drain, reserving several tablespoons of the pasta water. Using the same pot, warm the olive oil on low heat and add the minced garlic and the washed pea shoots.  Stir and cook gently for about seven minutes or until the shoots are wilted, dark green, and tender.

Add the reserved pasta water, a tablespoon of capers, and a tablespoon of minced parsley. Toss the linguine in this sauce and simmer for about a minute or until most of the pasta water is gone. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper.

Top with freshly grated Parmesan and fleur de sel. Though pricey, fleur de sel lasts a long time and is an indispensable addition after cooking or on raw foods when using fresh, simple ingredients. It taste-enhancing edge is lost when heated.

Though not quite a noodle, linguine encourages slurping, and this version particularly triggered noisy enjoyment.

Peas being a cool-weather crop are always a challenge for me to grow as early spring sometimes can be non-existent in the southwest of France with late winter becoming summer without a significant transition.

Happily the first pea flower opened, signifying pea pods will develop before June.

About a month after sowing bush peas, I fertilized the young plants with an organic, NPK balanced product.

Sprinkle fertilizer per packet's instructions, scratch in, and water well

When the plants started to sprawl, I strategically placed twigs to help support their growth.  Though the variety is bushy and not a vine, I have found out if the weather turns inclement with strong winds and rain, the small bushes get entangled, making harvesting difficult.

Weeded, fertilized, watered, twigged, and mulched bush pea bed!

Each spring I try to add some new plants to the potager.  This time, they are asparagus, early season/new potatoes, and blueberry bushes.  As blueberries require a very acid soil of about 4.5 pH and my soil is neutral with a pH of 7, I filled up a large planter with a potting mix for acid-loving plants.

At least two plants are needed to encourage fruiting

If the plant is root bound with roots coming out the bottom holes, then submerge the pot in a pail of water until it gets saturated. After tapping around the pot and on its bottom, I place the plant's main stem between two spread-out fingers while easing the blueberries out of their containers.

I always looks for slug eggs which resemble tiny beige pearls and squash them between my fingers.

There were quite a lot of slug eggs in one plant

I gently roughed the root ball all around with my fingers, so the roots would be encouraged to explore their new home.

To serve both as a mulch and as deterrent from cats digging pit stops in my lovely planter, I placed cardboard on the surface after watering the plants well.

Cardboard mulch weighted down with fragments of ever useful terracotta roofing tiles.

On the left, the strawberry beds are in full flower meaning strawberry harvesting is getting closer.

Various seedlings started indoors about six weeks ago are getting to close to being transplanted into their beds.

For a brief period, of about a week, lilies of the valley reign in the flower garden.

Dayo unfortunately has been unable to keep me company in the garden as he injured his back, right paw.  He needs to stay in for a few more days and on his regimen of medicines.

The fence separating our garden from Monsieur and Madame Ms is most likely the culprit.  Dayo scampers over it many times daily.      

À la prochaine!

RELATED POSTS:

Basic linguine sauce with roasted garlic paste
Sowing peas
Sowing indoors
Gruyere & pea shoots omellete

RELATED LINKS:

More information on growing and harvesting pea shoots by Willi Galloway at digginfood