Pecan Cheese Crackers

16oz shredded sharp cheddar
12 tbsp butter, room temperature
2 eggs
2 cups chopped pecans
3 cups whole wheat flour
Black pepper to taste
Smoked paprika to taste
Sea salt to taste

Pulse pecans and flour in a good processor until nuts are finely ground. Beat cheese and butter together until combined. Beat eggs in. Add nuts, flour, and plenty of freshly ground pepper and combine until you have a pliable dough. Roll dough into logs and chill until firm.

Slice logs into 1/8" thick slabs and arrange on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Sprinkle with paprika and sea salt. Bake in a 350 degree oven until golden. Let crackers cool for 5 minutes, then transfer to paper-towels to blot the extra oil.

Winter Garden

Oregano, thyme, sage, rosemary and parsley are still green.

Matcha Sables

Recipe to follow...

Drying Herbs

Sage...

Caterpillars

These two ate all of my dill.

Roof Garden

Some photos of my mini roof farm.

Found in the compost:
-tomatoes
-butternut squash
-bell pepper
-avocado
-apple (or pear?) seedlings

Purchased at the farmers market:
-cilantro
-flat leaf and italian parsley
-holy basil
-strawberries
-chocolate mint
-spearmint
-dill
-thyme
-Greek oregano

Grown from purchased seeds:
-sweet basil
-flat leaf parsley
-chives

Propagated from cuttings;
-sage
-rosemary
-more spearmint and chocolate mint
-more strawberries

Shepherd Salad:

3 ripe tomatoes chopped
1 medium cucumber chopped
1 small green bell pepper chopped
1/4 cup chopped red onion
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1 table spoon minced fresh oregano
1 table spoon minced fresh dill
1 table spoon minced chives
1 table spoon capers
1 wedge of feta cheese

Toss with a squeeze of lemon juice and a drizzle of olive oil.

Garlic Shoot Dumplings

Have you ever kept a head of garlic so long that the cloves begin to sprout green shoots? The next time this happens, don't throw them out! Put the bases into a dish of water and put them on your window sill (you can also encourage a new head of garlic to sprout this way). These tender shoots are delicious stir fried in a hot wok, or snipped into an omelet or salad Their flavor is green like a scallion with a garlic aroma. Garlic scapes, the curly stalks and seed heads of the garlic plant show up in farmers markets in the spring, but you can grow your own shoots year round. I grew a bunch a couple weeks ago and used them to make dumplings to add to my collection of homemade frozen dinners. But in my opinion, the best way to bring out the flavor of the garlic shoot is to fry them. Next time!

Filling:

A hand full of young garlic shoots, 25 or so, 8" long (on average, mine were actually all different lengths)
A pint of fresh shitake mushrooms
2.5 oz sai fun mung bean noodles, which was half of my box
1/2 lb silken tofu, which was half of my box
2 tbsp soy sauce
1/4 tsp toasted sesame oil
1 egg

I used store bought shanghai style dumpling wrappers, which are thicker than Hong Kong style. and made an egg wash out of just one egg beaten with a fork.

Dipping sauce ratios:

3 table spoons of soy sauce
1 teaspoon of rice wine vinegar
chopped scallions optional.

If you bought the dumpling wrappers frozen, let them thaw thoroughly before trying to separate them.

To make the filling: clean the mushrooms with a damp cloth and chop into cubes. Toss mushrooms with 2 tablespoons of soy sauce and saute in oil until the mushrooms are browned.
Put sai fun noodles in a heat proof bowl and cover with boiling water. Let sit for 5 minutes. Drain noodles and chop into 1/2" pieces. If the pieces are too long, they will stick out of the edges of your wrappers making it very hard to get a good seal when you are pinching the dumplings closed.
Mince the garlic chives. Chop the tofu into small pieces. Toss all of the above together in a large bowl with the sesame oil and crack in the egg. Mix until incorporated.

To make the dumplings: hold the dumpling wrapper in one palm and put about a tablespoon of filling in the center. Dip your finger in the beaten egg and moisten the perimeter of the dumpling. Pinch the edges closed pleating as you go. As the wrappers absorb the moisture of the filling, they will become very soft and sticky. Place dumplings that you will cook immediately directly into the steaming basket. Place the rest on a baking dish, far enough apart so that they do not touch, to be frozen.

To steam dumplings: place them in a steaming basket, in a pot over an 2 inches of water. Steam for 15 minutes until the wrappers are slightly translucent.
To freeze the dumplings: put the cookie sheet uncovered in the freezer overnight. In the morning, when the dumplings are frozen through, they can be put into a zip lock bag, or piled into another container and will not stick together.