I’m seeing tomatillos ripe all over the place here in the Monadnock region right now, and especially in my garden. I’m not quite sure why, but they grow really well for me, even in places where I didn’t plan to have them grow. But I love them, so I mostly let them be, and then make my very favorite enchilada recipe when they all start to ripen and I start to get overwhelmed with keeping up.

Green chilies and tomatillos are a match made in heaven, though people here might not know it as well as I do, since I grew up in far West Texas. I like to roast them on the grill for the very best flavor. Then put the chilies in a paper bag to make getting the skins off easier. I leave the skins on the tomatillos.

Here’s my recipe for the enchilada sauce:

Match the number of chilies to the number of tomatillos that you have, then add an equal number of onions. (Mine are ripe in the garden now, too. Handy!)

Saute the onions with a little garlic, put into your blender. Then add the peeled chilies and the roasted tomatillos. Blend for about a minute, then put into your slow cooker. Cook on low overnight, or at least 8 hours. The longer the tomatillos cook, the sweeter and deeper the flavor.

In the morning, add a quart of chicken stock to the blender and add the mixture from the slow cooker, blend until mixed really well.

I put into half-pint canning jars and water-bath can for 30 minutes. It also freezes really well.

The weather is just perfect for grilling right now, isn’t it? These beautiful blue skies and lovely temps almost make me forget how rainy it’s been up to now. Sometimes for lunch, or even for dinner if we’ve been working outside all day, I just want some hotdogs on the grill. I always feel guilty, though. Standard hotdogs are filled with all sorts of crap and chemicals and I’m tired of not being able to just have a damn hotdog! So I went looking around for alternatives.

Stonewall Farm in Keene carries “franks” from Black Watch Farm in Weathersfield, VT, just about 30 miles north of me. They raise Highland cattle, who I’ve always called the furry burgers, but evidently they make yummy hotdogs as well. Because, seriously? These things rocked. I was nervous. I thought they’d taste different, or off, or something. I was stupid. They are divine. So much better than run of the mill hotdogs! Score. I’m so glad to have found them.

I ate them on homemade bread with homemade dill relish and ketchup, store bought mustard. Still, these were totally guilt free and I’m so glad I went looking. You should try them. Seriously.

It’s the last week in August and I’m struggling to keep up with some things in my garden. Last year I canned tomatoes madly about now, but I sure am NOT doing that this year. (Poor tomatoes. Stupid late blight.) I’m hearing various reports about how some of the local CSAs are doing and Farmers Markets. I am not getting calls from farmers with excess tomatoes like I did last year. (Everyone knows I will buy them if they are cheap because I’ll can them.)

I’m still overrun with cucumbers. Maybe two raised beds full of them was too much, huh? Live and learn! I’ve got a crock in the basement full of brine and cukes with one of those packages from Amway where you just add vinegar and water. Hopefully we’ll like the flavor. We are going to start another one with a different recipe now that I bought some dill weed. I need to put that on my list of stuff to grow next year.

One of the few things I still buy is dill relish, but I decided to try to make it myself this year. I used this recipe. Of course, I didn’t have dill seed but used a bunch of dill weed instead. It says to let it age for a month, so I won’t know for a while if we like it. I might try another recipe as insurance, still I still have too many cucumbers. (I’m getting about 10 a day!)

I was at the Keene Farmers Market this week, so I know that green beans and cherry tomatoes are in abundance right now. It’s the same thing in my garden. Because of this year’s awful late blight, my regular tomatoes are doing awful, but I’ve picked lots of orange cherry tomatoes, at least. I am just glad I canned a million tomatoes last year. I’ve got a few bean plants that survived my spring sheep attack, too, both green and purple. I’ve found the purple turn green really quickly, even when just barely blanched. Sad.

Anyway, I saw this recipe and just had to try it. Everything, including the thyme, is doing really well in my garden, so I am trying to keep up with what I harvest. I had some left over cucumber soup, which was perfect for a hot summer day. Hasn’t it been amazingly hot around here lately?

What a lovely way to use up beans and tomatoes. I think I’m next going to make a tomato cheese tart. I love summer.

With this heat, my cucumber plants are going crazy, and I’m struggling to keep up with the produce. I bet you are getting a lot of them in your CSA baskets right now, too? How are you using them up?

It was so hot yesterday that I decided to use up a bunch in a lovely cold cucumber soup. I googled around for a while, checking out recipes, but decided to use what I have in the icebox rather than go shop for ingredients. I saw some with sour cream, cream cheese, cream and yogurt, but didn’t have enough for a whole recipe, so I mixed it up.

Here’s my simple recipe:

8 cucumbers, peeled and seeded
1/3 cup cream cheese
1/3 cup Greek yogurt
1/3 cup sour cream
1/2 cup spearmint
1 teaspoon salt
chives to garnish

Whir in blender. Chill. Yum.

I’m also pickling a bunch in a crock, and adding to the crock every day with the new ones. I want to try to make my own dill relish this year, too.

Went to 24 Carrots, looking for a replacement for mainstream meat. After watching Food, Inc. Got some venison and some ground Bison, from a farm called Yankee Farmers in Warner, NH. They have two other locations, with about 300 acres and a thousand acres of pasture, where they raise their bison for processing. The small herd (16 animals and a water-buffalo that actually makes them look small!) at Warner is for show. The Farmers (that’s their name, as well as their occupation) are looking to attract visitors, tourists, school groups, etc.

They’ll need to add a little to the “things to see” at the farm, to be a destination. But the store is well-stocked and the prices seem reasonable. You can go up there and buy bison, elk, deer, ostrich and organic chicken in bulk to fill your freezer. The other animals are not grown there; the Farmers have made meat from other local growers available in their store. Or, you can get bison, and several of the other meats from the freezer at 24 Carrots.

We made meat-balls from a pound of ground bison. They were 100% a replacement for ground beef. I used to use 93-95% lean beef, so I was used to the leanness of the buffalo meat. According to the Farmers’ info, it’s actually lower in fat than CHICKEN! A few days later, we had bison sausage, fried up with onions. Really good sausage! Tasty, and you can eat it without wondering what nasty stuff is in it. It’s been a long time since I’ve let myself enjoy a good Italian sausage – this will ADD sausage and pepper sandwiches, and all kinds of dishes back into our menu. Nice work, Yankee Farmers and 24 Carrots!

On farmer’s market day in Keene, we ran into a surprising sign that announced one of the alleys between the downtown blocks as “Mushroom Alley.” I couldn’t resist, so we strolled down it to find Dave Wichland under a white tent at the corner of the parking lot behind the main farmer’s market area. His homemade sign announced him as “Wichland Woods Mushrooms,” and he had a variety of fresh and dried mushrooms, mushroom art, and even two flavors of sun-brewed mushroom tea, which he was offering samples of to passersby.

Paul Stamets’ book Mycelium Running was prominently displayed on the table, so we had a starting point for conversation. Dave has been to Stamets’ seminar, sells his sporulated chain-saw oil, and is probably the local expert in the same way Stamets is the expert on northwestern mushrooms. One of the things that became apparent in our conversation, is that Dave has taken a lot of the general knowledge in books like Stamets’, and adapted it to the particular conditions of the New Hampshire climate and landscape.

We bought a package of fresh Chanterelles and Black Trumpets, which went into a nice white sauce for pasta that evening (it’s always a challenge for me, finding out how to use new and different foods, because I’m not a big fan of recipe-reading. I like to start by using the new thing in something I’d normally eat anyway). Dave also has a landscaping business, and can consult on or implement mycological projects for bioremediation (cleaning up toxins in agricultural runoff, for example) or permaculture-style biological diversity.

Dave has developed a hardy local strain of “garden giant” mushrooms that have been very successful outdoors in Keene. He grows them in his yard, which is walking distance from my yard, so I’m looking forward to dropping by to see his plantings. And then putting some around the yard, so maybe we can pull mushrooms from the garden next year! Dave has tackled all the issues I thought were the “Hot buttons” when I was reading Stamets. It’s great when someone does cool stuff, so you don’t have to do it all yourself!

If you miss Dave on market days, ask Michael and Barb at 24 Carrots – that was the first place I saw his mushrooms.

Calling all those who live in the greater Swanzey area!!

Do you ever feel that driving ten minutes into Keene just to get groceries is such a pain? Do you ever wish there could be a place near you where you could purchase food that is both locally grown and closer to your house? Well no need to fret any longer…

24 Carrots is the newest and hottest store on your block! Not only is it located conveniently near the airport but it just a short drive from the outer limits of Keene. The owners, Barbara and Michael, are not only very friendly but also very knowledgeable. They know about all their products and will help you with anything you need.

The food I have purchased at 24 Carrots has been absolutely superb! Most of the produce is grown close to home and very fresh, with new bundles of things coming in every day. Not only is it local, but also all you eco-buffs out there will like this too… it’s organic!

So go check out 24 Carrots at 125 Old Homestead Highway or at their website at http://www.24cfs.com/. And sign up for their email newsletter to stay informed about new products that have come in, and special events like wine, beer, and cheese tastings!

The huge black raspberry bush in front of my mother-in-law’s house in downtown Marlow is just covered with fruit this week. It’s one of those bushes that seems to have a never-ending supply. They’ve been going out to get fruit for their cereal all week, and I went over and picked for about 20 minutes to get enough to make a batch of jam. I love black raspberries! They are so hard to find if you don’t have your own bush, and this year I think I’m going to try to do some tip rooting and transplant them up to my place, if I can find a place I know will be sheep free.

Last year, I tried to recreate one of Frank’s favorite treats from Friendly’s Ice cream place — a chocolate soda with black raspberry ice cream. We hardly ever eat out anymore, but whenever we go there, that’s what he orders. I made the ice cream with so much fruit that it was almost a sorbet mixed with ice cream — a bit much, to be honest. If I try it this year, I’ll try to be a bit more restrained. Making the chocolate soda was tricky too, but I managed it, even making my own chocolate syrup with an Alton Brown recipe instead of resorting to buying Hershey’s. I really do try to make my own stuff whenever possible, as locally as possible.

That bunch of berries made so little jam — just four little half-pints. That hardly seemed worth turning on the canner and heating up the house. I had to go out, so I went in search of who else in the area had berries. Bershear’s in Alstead has both blueberries and raspberries. Monadnock Berries seems to have every berry known to man. (I must get to that side of the county!) Fertile Fields Farm in Westmoreland shows raspberries are ready. I drove past Alyson’s Orchard in Westmoreland, who is showing pick-your-own blueberries are ready. But I stopped at High Hopes Orchard and got a quick 4 quarts of blueberries. Perfect.

If you don’t make your own jams, Cheshire Gardens has all sorts of jams and jellies from berries that they grow right here in our region.

I’ve been canning a lot over the past four years now. My pantry is probably 3/4 filled with things I’ve preserved myself, rather than purchased. I’m sort of silly about it, now. I push anything bought to the back and wonder how I can can that myself next time. It’s become a bit of an addiction! I’ve got lots and lots of stocks (lamb, pork, veg, duck, goose, mushroom, turkey and of course chicken). I hate to let all those bones go to waste, and now I use stock instead of water almost all the time when cooking pasta or potatoes, rice. All those veggie vitamins plus all that yummy flavor.

I’ve been noticing lots of people tweeting about canning jams and jellies, pickles, tomatoes. Twitter is pretty interesting in the #farm #food and #agchat spaces. I noticed that there’s a bit of interest in a country-wide canning event planned for the end of August called Cans Across America — August 30th. The closest one I could see was in Somerville, and it’s crazy to drive two hours to do something that I do almost every week in my kitchen.

I wonder if there are people in the Monadnock area who’d like to do a canning party? I bet we could get space at the commercial kitchen in Keene — First Course. Anyone interested?