November 4, 2018
Using up the Bounty
By Linda Dansbury

This week proved to be a week of going through the fridge/pantry and using things up - my hubby had a bad cold, so it was all about comfort food.

Onions/leek, parsley, carrots, turnips, chicken - One cool thing I learned on the first day of him feeling bad is that you can make truly delicious chicken soup in 1 hour in the pressure cooker. I used breasts, which is rare for me because under pressure they don't get dried out. We had a couple delicious dinners and my hubby a lunch from this hour of prep time - a really good investment!

Beets, onions - I roasted all the beets I had in my fridge - 2 weeks worth - peeled them and broke them into 2 bowls. One bowl I did into pickled beets - much more sour for me than sweet. The other I made a Dijon vinaigrette, adding tarragon because I like that flavor combination with beets. I grow a plant called Mexican tarragon. I never had luck getting French tarragon to over winter. It definitely tastes like French tarragon but it is grown as an annual. I currently have a sprig on my counter in a glass of water, hoping to root it.

Carrots, onions, parsley, garlic, butternut squash (last one), tomatoes (frozen) - made long cooked beef shanks - very easy to do and tastes like it took hours of prep - it takes hours to cook, but the prep is about 30 minutes at most - season the shanks and brown well in a large dutch oven. Remove and add celery, onions, carrots to pan and saute until slightly soft. Add squash (optional) and garlic and cook until fragrant, about a minute. Add some red wine and deglaze for a couple of minutes. Add tomatoes and bring to a slow simmer. Add the shanks back to the pot and add enough of your favorite broth to cover the shanks. Cover and place pot into a 305 degree oven for about 3 hours or until meat is tender. Serve over your favorite starch or just a nice crusty loaf of bread for sopping up the deliciousness!

Greens - several large salads, mixing bits of all the greens along with some of the beets I cooked up - yum!

How did you enjoy the harvest? Email me at lindadansbury@comcast.net