We've waited all year for real tomatoes and finally, they're here, in all their juicy, sweet, tart, red-orange-yellow-purple-and-even-green glory. The Aztec people developed the tomato from small, bitter bush-berries, named it tomatl, meaning "plump fruit."  | | Katie Henry shows off early tomatoes. |
Tomatoes are technically a fruit, and actually have a pretty low sugar content, but they have lots of glutamic acid--this is the stuff that makes meat and nuts and mushrooms so savory and rich. The Japanese call this quality umami, and here in the west scientists have recently added it to the four basic tastes (sweet, salty, bitter, and sour). Tomatoes are so umami and rich-tasting, you can make a delicious sandwich with just a slice of field-ripened tomato and a smear of mayo. Yum! |
It's almost that easy to make kosher pickles the traditional way.
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Kosher Pickles (Half-Sours) 1/3 cup kosher salt 1 cup boiling water
2 lbs. cucumber pickles, washed and cut lengthwise into halves or quarters
5 or more cloves or garlic, crushed
1 large bunch of fresh dill (or seedy cilantro) roughly chopped
Mix salt and water until dissolved, then add a few ice cubes to cool to room temperature.
Add remaining ingredients and water to cover.
Put a small plate on top to weight the future pickles and let ferment at room temperature.
Begin sampling after four hours and refrigerate when they're as pickled as you like (up to 48 hrs.)
Refrigerate for up to a week (they'll continue to ferment in the fridge, but more slowly).
This recipe's adapted from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. |
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Sweet corn is amazingly delicious all by itself! But here's a fabulous recipe that's a favorite of the folks who invented corn.
Mexican Grilled Sweet Corn
4 tsp. vegetable oil
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. chili powder
1/4 cup mayonnaise
3 tablespoons sour cream
3 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
1 medium clove of garlic, minced or pressed
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
4 tsp. lime juice
1/2 cup grated Pecorino Romano or Parmesan cheese
6 large ears of corn, shucked
Get your grill going and oil the grate.
While the grill is heating, mix the vegetable oil, salt and 1/4 tsp. of the chili powder and rub down the ears.
Mix the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl and set aside.
Grill the corn over hot coals, turning until lightly charred on all sides, 7 to 12 minutes.
Remove from grill and toss with mayo mixture.
This recipe was adapted from Cooks Illustrated magazine.
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Diana Ferdman and Andrey Gerasenkov were the randomly chosen winners of the July Picking Spree and they quickly found their way to the rows of blueberries. They visit the Rondout Valley from their home in Brooklyn several times a summer.
Tell your friends to stop by and drop their cards in the bright orange boxes at our checkout--they could win a picking spree, too! |
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 Raspberries Blackberries Tomatoes Peppers hot + sweet Eggplant Sweet corn Kale Kohlrabi Zucchini Summer squash Cabbage Cucumbers New potatoes: red, white & blue! Herbs Green & yellow beans Onions Garlic Cut flowers
Plus:Pet food + supplies Large animal feed |
Sunday August 21, Accord Community Oven Potluck Pizza Party. All are welcome! Email for more info.
Save the date:
Sat. September 10,
Celebrate Chomsky the giant gnome and Homegrown Mini-Golf's fifth anniversary at Kelder's Farm! Party in the afternoon! More info to come!
Save the date:
Sat. September 24, Jenny Bell Pie Festival, Kelder's Farm.
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 Why are tomatoes treated by botanists as a fruit and by the rest of us as a vegetable? Technically the difference is that a fruit is the part of a plant that contains the seeds to grow a new plant. So tomatoes, eggplants, cucumbers, peppers and squash are all actually fruit, even though we eat them with our main course as vegetables.
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What's the big secret of the Valley of the Giants? Find out about the plan to bring wonder and inspiration to the Rondout Valley one Local Giant at a time. Support the Valley of the Giants by stopping by Kelder's and getting a window sticker and by liking it on Facebook!
Magic lives in the Rondout Valley!
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