While some fast-maturing summer crops can still be planted--I'm thinking beans and basil, summer squash and cukes--you'll want to start thinking about what you want to have quantities of for winter use.  Of course you already planted your winter squash, leeks, and onions, but there's so much more to be done!

My fall garden line-up includes some big yellow beets, storage types of carrots (Chantenay types that do best in our heavy soil are also the best keepers), rutabagas, daikon radishes, and mustard greens mixes.  I've already got in the kale (some people plant this in spring--I don't have room at that point), and I sowed a little bulb fennel the other day as well.

I've also started soaking flats for fall cabbages--one for a red ballhead and another for a green arrowhead.  I'd thought I had seed for a big keeper variety like "Late Flat Dutch," but that must've been my imagination.

My cue for starting fall crops is when we start getting a little rain again after our early-July drought (we're getting a lovely soaking as I type this).  That makes it a little easier to keep things moist.

Carrots take quite awhile to germinate, too, so I usually strew my fall carrot beds with a very light covering of straw to keep in a little moisture.  Cover all the radishes and brassicas with row cover to discourage the cabbage moths and flea beetles that so like to munch on those crops.

We'll likely still have some "dog days" in August, but September comes quick, and then the frosts.  Get on that fall garden planning!

The result wasn't quite what I had in mind, one bunch of kale, even when blanched, did not cook down as much as I hoped.  I had just as much kale on my chopping board as I did black beans; so much for hiding it.  But it was already blanched so I decided to continue.  I figured between an extra clove of garlic and melty pepper-jack cheese it couldn't be too bad.  Luckily it was much better than that.  The burrito filling even turned out pretty in my opinion.

Black bean, quinoa and kale burritos

• 1 bunch kale
• 1 1/2 t salt
• 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 3/4 cup quinoa-black bean salad*
• 1 T oil
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 t cumin
• 1/8 t chipotle powder
• pepper-jack cheese
• lettuce
• flour tortillas
• salsa

Put on a big pot (soup pot sized) of water to boil.  Blanch the kale (for 5-7 minutes), skip the next paragraph if that is all the direction you need.

If I haven't mentioned it before, kale needs a good swish in a bowlful of water before using.  Once it is cleaned strip the leaves from the tough stems.  You can do this by using a knife or just dragging your index finger and thumb (plus a bit of your hand) down the stem from cut side to tip.  Because you will eventually be chopping it semi-fine it doesn't matter if the leaf comes off the stem nicely.  Roughly chop the kale.  When the water is boiling add the salt, then add the kale and cook it for about 5-7 minutes.  While it is cooking fill up a bowl (like the bowl of the salad spinner) with cool water, you will put the blanched kale into the cool water to stop the cooking.  Then I dump it into the salad spinner insert and use it to remove the excess water from the kale.  (I think this is much less messy than trying to squeeze it dry with my hands or between towels).  Chop the kale to be semi-fine, you don't want any pieces bigger than a bean, but it doesn't need to be turned to mush either.

Heat a 10" skillet, add the oil and garlic and saute until the garlic is nice and fragrant then add the kale and sprinkle the cumin and chipotle on top.  Stir it so the spices cover the kale nicely then dump in the black beans and quinoa salad.  Stir occasionally while it heats up.

Grate the cheese and shred the lettuce.  Heat up your tortilla in your preferred (or required, *cough* darn electric stove *cough*) method.  Fill with the black-bean, quinoa and kale mixture, top with some cheese, salsa and lettuce, wrap and enjoy.

*since I used this I should give the recipe shouldn't I?  That will be the next post.  I'm sure about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of cooked quinoa would be great too, or some rice if you have that handy instead.

If you're familiar with (good) Mexican food, but not Spanish food, I should say that Spanish chorizo is a hard, dry sausage, and nothing like the also delicious Mexican sausage of the same name.  Jamón serrano is similar to prosciutto, although it's easy to taste the difference between the two.  If you can find a place that sells jamón ibérico in the U.S. (it is possible now), it's is the ham of the gods.

So, I put out a plate of the sliced chorizo and jamón serrano.

Then:

Pan con tomate:

• I grated one tomato on the "fine grating" area of the cheese grater, discarding the skin.  (What do you do with tomato skins without tomato insides?)
• To that I added about a half clove of garlic, grated on a microfile style grater.
• Stirred in olive oil and a little salt, and the tomato... spread is all done.
• It goes over toast.  For whatever reason, since the price of bread has skyrocketed, now the really good quality bread at Trader Joe's is the same price as the cheap stuff at the big box supermarket, so we have some great, chewy, stone hearth variety Italian bread.  (I toasted it.)

Patatas Bravas:

I had some of the brava sauce left over from the other night, so I wanted to use it.  And, again, the inspiration for my recipe is here: spanish-fiestas.com/recipes/patatas-bravas.htm.  Let me just say that if you come across a recipe for patatas bravas for which the sauce is basically a jazzed up thousand island, don't do it.  Just don't.  The basic ingredients of ketchup are all in the real recipe, true.   But, still...  Let me also repeat that I boil my potatoes then put some color on them in a minimally oiled cast iron skillet, rather than frying them.  I do it for better health, and it's good.

Kale:

• OK, there's nothing Spanish about Kale (at least I don't think so), but I wanted some greens and I like Kale.  So...
• I rinsed the Kale and removed the stems.
• I made some vegetable stock from the stems.  There's no reason to waste things.
• I heated a little olive oil.
• When it was hot, I added some chopped walnuts, maybe a ¼ cup, and 2 cloves of minced garlic.  The walnuts were raw, and needed a little flavor sauteed into them/ rawness sauteed out of them.  And, I think nutty flavors do well with cooked greens.
• I also put in a couple of pinches of red pepper flakes.
• Next, I smashed the kale into the pot and poured a some of the vegetable stock into it.
• Seasoned with salt, pepper, and a bit of ground caraway seed.
• Cooked, stirring occasionally, until it became a texture that satisfied me.

What I liked:

• Do I need to say that the chorizo and jamón serrano were delicious?  They were.
• Pan con tomate is an easy, low effort path to tastiness.  It's goodness doesn't have anything to do with anything I did though, it all depends on quality ingredients.
• Walnuts (or just about any nut for that matter) and caraway jive well with greens.  I don't fight the bitterness, I just try to compliment it.  And, no, you don't have to put in bacon or back fat to make greens good.  Although, I did eat them with two kinds of fatty pork, so...
• Oh, yeah, chorizo and jamón serrano are both fatty enough that it's worthwhile to have some red wine with them - if you need an excuse to drink more wine...

First course was breaded shrimp served over garlic-rosemary beans.  I sautéed some thinly sliced red onion in oil, added sliced garlic, salt and pepper.  To that I added pink beans- I used canned beans that I had rinsed.  I like the creamy texture of a pink bean, and they need minimal work.  To this I added some fresh rosemary and let it just hang out.  Meanwhile, I took the shrimp that I had peeled, added salt and fresh pepper, and sautéed them in a little oil.  Before the shrimp are completely opaque, I added a generous amount of breadcrumbs and butter.  This gives a rich flavor to the dish, while toasting the breadcrumbs.  The dish is simple, and I like it as a first course.  (I wish I had fresh spinach on hand to add to the beans- I think it would have been a nice compliment.)

Course two was mostly prepared before course one because it needs time to marinate.  I took a recipe that came from a friend at City Harvest and just modified it a bit.  I took a little red wine vinegar and fresh lemon juice, and added red pepper flakes and chopped garlic.  I let it infuse a little while I washed, dried and cut my kale into a coarse chiffonade.  I cut strips of red bell pepper and red onion, added it to the kale.  I stripped the corn off of one cob, and added that to the vegetables.  The color is gorgeous- feel free to experiment.  If I had not done beans with the shrimp, I thought about adding them directly to the salad, as well.  I whisked in enough olive oil in my red wine vinegar mixture to emulsify it, and then added it to the vegetables.  I covered and refrigerated until ready to serve.  It's like a cold pasta salad in the sense that it needs time for the vinaigrette to be absorbed.  To serve, I crumbled goat cheese on top.  (You could definitely serve it without the cheese, but I do love the rich creamy cheese with the bite of the dressing!)

Course three was my favorite, but I totally got it from Real Simple Magazine.  I know- I totally cheated.  I can't help it- the women over there know what they're doing...and when I read about it, I just wanted to eat it.  I tweaked it just a little.  I made chicken cutlets with sautéed tomatoes.  I replaced the scallions in the recipe with thinly sliced onions, and the tarragon with a mixture of fresh rosemary, thyme and marjoram.  I split my tomatoes in two because I don't like them to burst.  I browned chicken (seasoned with salt and pepper) and set aside.  I added the tomatoes to the same skillet with onions and salt and pepper.  I sautéed for two minutes, pulled the pan off the heat to add some dry white wine.  Returned to the heat and let wine reduce by half, stirring often.  Just before pulling off the heat, I added some butter and the herbs.  Served this over the chicken, and it was to-die-for! 

I was uninspired by dessert.  It was too hot, and I just wanted something light.  I picked up some mango sorbet at the store- served it with diced fresh mango and fresh blueberries that I crushed and sweetened with a vanilla maple syrup.  Unfortunately, the mango sorbet left something to be desired.  Perhaps next time I will just stick to lemon sorbet which I seem to have more luck with or even make a quick fruit granite.  Want a tasty and simple summer drink?  I have been making this for a number of years: thinly slice lemons and limes.  Add a generous amount of sugar, and press lightly to 'juice' them slightly.  Add ice and some white wine, and you have your own wine cooler.  (We like big glasses in my house, but you could serve in wine or martini glasses!)

Here are some recipes  I enjoy so much that I make them over and over again.

WHAT TO DO WITH GREENS

6 - Add remaining ingredients to bowl and mix.
7 - With hands, ‘massage” greens until bulk is reduced by half.
8 - Set aside to marinate for one hour (or up to 24 hours).
Alternatively, eat right away.

Pesto is such a great weeknight meal: QUICK AND EASY.  Also you can substitute any greens for basil or walnuts for pine nuts...it's a great way to use up a few things laying around.  I had some Red Russian Kale from a share pick-up a couple weeks ago and the basil this week was a bit skimpy, so I thought I'll combine them.  A great trick I learned from the blog I Heart Kale is to blanch the kale in a strainer with boiling water (and the garlic).  It mellows the flavors!  I kinda winged it from there and didn't measure the rest of the ingredients: grated parm, olive oil, pine nuts (toasted-yum!), some basil leaves and a couple cloves garlic.  It was so yummm! Great healthy alternative to just plain ol' basil pesto (not that there's anything wrong with it!)

I'm excited by this mix, purchased from Territorial Seed, because it promises to offer a wide variety of what is my absolute favorite fall green. The problem with thinning them, though, is that they all pretty much look alike at this small stage--mostly like Red Russian kale.

(This is a small plant that re-emerged this spring in my home garden.)

So, I tried to thin judiciously  and not just take all the small plants--but to thin according to looks (a little lighter stem color, a little crinklier leaf) and vigor, and also optimal spacing.

A happy coincidence is that the bed, which is on the north side of a hog panel trellis where my cukes are going gangbusters, had a couple of wire mesh cages over it to keep the deer/rabbits off the romaine (though they were more interested in the chard and beets anyway).

Those cages were a pain to weed around, but I couldn't remove them because the first planting of cucumbers is sprawling over them and grabbing them with their tendrils.  The happy coincidence is that with the cages there, the cukes don't crush the young, tender kale plants with their bounding growth (and give them a little shelter from the boiling sun).

I put a few more of those cages in to protect the kale and give the cukes additional support.  Speaking of cukes--I will most definitely have some for market tomorrow--not a ton (I have a special order to save a couple for one regular customer), but they'll be there along with sweet peppers, parsley, and a few other things I'll post on in my regular pre-market post tomorrow afternoon.

I am going to up the price a little on the cukes--I was charging 25 cents each for the cukes I had last week--then I saw the grocery store is charging a buck or two each!  But I won't charge that much--maybe 50-75 cents, depending on size/variety.

What I really need now is a pickle crock--anyone have one sitting around their garage or basement?  They're getting hard to find because the antique dealers are snatching them up--I don't care if my crock is antique--it just has to be straight-sided with no cracks and between one and 5 gallons capacity because I'm actually going to use it (of all thing!) for making pickles.

“Freezing?  Now there’s an idea,” I thought. 

Jeanette explained that I should blanch the kale and then run it through cold water with ice.  I did exactly as she said, and it worked out well for me.  Today I ate the frozen kale, and it tasted as good as the fresh batch I’d eaten a week earlier.

Freezing will now be a solution whenever I waver about buying any of the bunched vegetables for fear that it will be too much.  I’m not sure that it would work as well for the more delicate leafy greens – like spinach or Swiss chard – or things like watercress and parsley.  I suppose I can give it a try, and if freezing freezes the life out of delicates greens, I guess there’s always the compost bin. 

[BTW, if anyone out there has any experience with freezing the delicate leafy stuff, please write in and let us know whether it works. I’d love to hear from you.]

Sweet and Spicy Barbecued Beans (adapted from Cooking Light)

Ingredients

Eight Delicious Blueberries

Last year, we put in blueberry, raspberry, and blackberry plants.  They were mail-order, and arrived as barely more than twigs. We got 3 of each type of plant, but one of the raspberries died.  Only one of the blueberries matured enough to flower and fruit this year.  We noticed yesterday ( July 10, 2008 ) that the berries were ripe.  We picked and ate our first-ever blueberry harvest:  8 delicious berries. 

The photo shows my husband holding our harvest.

Tonight, for the first time this summer, we grilled.  We have a charcoal grill, and we used a vegetable grilling tray to make it easier not to lose food between the bars of the grill.  The vegetables we grilled were summer squash, beet roots, and beet stems.  The beet greens I cooked in the microwave, so as not to heat up the kitchen.  Everything was delicious. 

To prep it for grilling, I sliced the summer squash, and tossed (briefly marinated) it in olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt, and jarred dried spices:  basil, oregano, and garlic powder.  If I were using fresh herbs, I'd sprinkle them on after grilling. 

I trimmed the beets, but for the past few years I've been too lazy to peel them.  I've also stopped peeling my carrots and potatoes, and I only buy them organic.  I prepped the beet roots for grilling by slicing them, somewhere between 1/4 and 1/2 inch thick, and then lightly oiling and salting the slices.  I also lightly oiled and salted the stems, which I left long (not cut up) to reduce their chances of falling through to the charcoal.  The beet slices need more cooking time than the stems.  The beet greens I microwaved.  Like the roots and stems, I seasoned them with oil and salt, and then also splashed in some red wine vinegar. (I used vinegar because it was out already for use on the summer squash; normally I'd use lemon juice). 

Earlier in the week, I used the microwave-to-not-heat-the-kitchen trick on the mizuna.  Before microwaving, I tossed on some rice vinegar, soy sauce (tamari), sesame oil, and ginger paste (which didn't mix in as well as when I sautee the mixture). 

It was finally cool enough, by the time we'd finished eating, to blanch and freeze the kale.  (See instructions in week 4.)

Just for recordkeeping, a quick rundown of what's still in the fridge:  The napa cabage and parsley (both week 6) are demanding attention rather urgently.  The carrots (6 bunches from weeks 6 and 7) and beet roots (3 bunches from weeks 5 and 6) are waiting quite patiently until their services are desired.  The kohlrabi (2 from week 6) I'm not sure of, how long it will stay good.  The spring onions (week 7)would probably make a lovely stock, but onions and I don't get along, so I need to give them away.  I still don't know what to do with the fava beans (2 pounds from weeks 6 and 7).

The kale and broccoli are the only things that will freeze well, but we already ate the broccoli (and yes, it was delicious, sauteed up in olive oil with garlic). 

The carrots and beet roots will keep perfectly well for a long time in the refrigerator. 

I've never had kohlrabi before, but at least Joy of Cooking has an informative entry.  It looks like it will keep for a short while (longer than a week), as will the summer squash.  I wonder if there's a good way to cook them together?  Squash is lovely grilled. 

The mizuna and beet greens will only last a few days, so I'm worried about using them up in time.  Normally, we eat at home 6 nights a week, but summer messes with our schedules and we need to make an active effort to eat perishables before they turn.

I still have no idea what to do with the favas.    (See week 6.)

is the winner of this Edition of the WordPress.com weblog award.

Here is part of the post that caught our eye:

Kale is a Four-Letter Word

I’m a little scared of kale. Mostly, my experiences thus far with kale include it as a saute ingredient. Which is, you know, fine. Except that sometimes it’s still tough and chewy. And it tastes so… healthy.

...

Then my friend Aliza introduced me to the concept of kale chips.

I had to figure out something to make for dinner, so I went to the freezer and pulled out a package of cut-up chicken. I decided to roast it in the oven, and serve it with the kale. I wanted a somewhat crispy crust, and scoured the internet for some ideas... and luckily, the meal turned out great! Here are the recipes:

Gina's "Nothing's in the house" Crispy Roasted Chicken

1 pkg chicken, or a whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces
1 stick butter, softened
1 TB fresh rosemary, chopped
1 TB fresh thyme, chopped
1 TB flat parsley, chopped (I guess I cheated - these herbs were from the garden)
1 tsp garlic powder or granulated garlic
kosher salt
fresh cracked pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Wash the chicken and pat dry with paper towels. Place on foil-lined pan (not a cookie sheet - be sure it's deep enough to catch the drippings). Season with salt and pepper. Mix butter with herbs and garlic. Put some of the herbed butter on each piece of chicken, and using your hands (this can be kinda messy) spread all over each piece. Bake in oven for 45-50 minutes until juices run clear. Let stand 5-10 minutes before serving/carving.

Emeril's Braised Kale recipe - from food network website

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups thinly sliced onions
1 teaspoon salt
12 turns freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons minced garlic
8 cups (firmly packed) torn and stemmed kale pieces
2 cups Basic Chicken Stock, recipe follows
Splash cider vinegar

Heat the oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add the onions, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes and stir-fry for 2 minutes. Add the garlic, kale, and stock and cook, stirring occasionally, for 8 to 10 minutes; add a splash of cider vinegar in the last minute of cooking. Remove from the heat. Serve immediately.

MMMMMMM!

There's a good rule of thumb -- if you have a full lunch, aim for a lighter dinner. Thus this, where in the midst of laundry and other chores I didn't want to spend a slew of time -- chopped and steamed kale, tossed with a bit of sesame oil and a rosemary salt blend, plus some good cheddar toasted on the whole grain bread bought yesterday. Add a glass of cab sav and you're good to go.

We got two bunches of beets (with greens, of course), one bunch of Red Russian kale, one of collards, one of parsley, one head of Napa cabbage, three bunches of carrots (two orange, one yellow), one pound of fava beans, and two pints of strawberries. 

One bunch of last week's basil turned into enough pesto for a couple of dinners, with beet greens on the side, followed by ice cream topped with strawberries.  The strawberries I picked over (and there were quite a few bad ones, and quite a few more that needed bad spots removed), then sliced and macerated in 3 heaping tablespoons of sugar and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice (if I'm remebering correctly).  The beet greens I washed (salad spinner method), cut coarsely, steamed, then tossed with olive oil, lemon juice, and salt.   The beets themselves keep well and are still in my crisper drawer.

The salad spinner method of washing greens is this:  fill the colander of the spinner about 2/3 full of greens.  For very sandy greens, rinse the leaves before placing them in the colander.  For moderately sandy or dirty, rinse them once in the colander alone.  With the colander in the bowl of the salad spinner, fill the bowl with water.   Use your hands to agitate the greens.  Lift the colander out of the bowl.  Notice how dirty the water is.  Pour out the water and rinse the bowl.  Place the colander back in the bowl.  Repeat the process, starting by  filling the bowl with water again.  When the water left in the bowl looks clean enough, you're done.  If you're steaming the greens, leave them wet, otherwise spin to dry. 

The collards and kale were too large to fit in our crisper drawer, so they sat on a shelf in the refrigerator and quicly became very limp.  I had planned to freeze them, but then it was too hot to blanch them.  I cooked them with black beans and served them over rice.  My favorite way to season collards, which works with most greens (like turnip greens or kale) is with olive oil, fresh garlic, and dried basil, cumin, and cayenne, and salt.  It's a surprising and very tasty combination I got from the Green Cafe in Bethlehem, PA.  It works for just the greens, as a side dish, and it also works for black beans and greens together.  The beans need more cooking time, so do them first, and when they're basically done add the greens, giving them only just long enough to soften. 

The Napa cabbage was dense enough to go in a crisper drawer, and held up fairly well, so it's still there.  I expect that it will go, with tofu, into a stir-fry of some sort.  The parsley is also still in a crisper drawer, and either needs to get packed in water and frozen (no blanching for herbs) or made into tabbouleh.  The carrots (both orange and yellow) are also hanging out in a crisper drawer.  They'll last perfectly well until I figure out what I want to do with them.  Some of them will get washed, cut into sticks, and packed in lunch bags.  I'm thinking about buying a vegetable scrubber to be just for carrots - they're covered in CSA dirt, and will be eaten raw, so there can't be any "foreign contaminants" on the scrubber, like those acquired from grocery store potatoes. 

I'm stumped by the fava beans.  I think I've been stumped by them every year.  I use a lot of kinds of beans in my cooking (I can think of 8 varieties off the top of my head) but not favas.  Not only do I not know what to do with favas, I don't know how to make fresh beans edible.  Boiling?  If you know what to do with fresh fava beans, please leave a comment!

Of course, he's kind of a non-discriminate leaf and flower chewer. (If only he actually kept down all that greenery he pilfers.)

So, for week 6, along with the kale the kitty samples, we got: clockwise from left, garlic scapes, kohlrabi, cabbage, lettuce, kale, broccoli and peas. (This is the full share again.)

I used the kale last night to try a recipe that Hy-Vee dietitian Christy Frese shared with me after reading my column about trying kale for the first time. It was good -- I liked the contrast between the greens and the salty olives and feta. And it was quick and easy to make. But... and this is probably not something you should say to a dietitian... my husband and I agreed that we prefered the kale and pasta that was cooked with bacon fat (see the recipe here). Still, I'll probably try this recipe again -- and try it with some other greens -- later in the season.

Penne with Greens, Olives and Feta
Makes 4 to 6 servings

1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon peel
1 garlic clove, minced
1 large bunch greens (such as spinach, mustard greens, kale, or broccoli rabe; about 1 pound), thick stems removed, spinach left whole, other greens cut into 1-inch strips (about 10 cups packed)
12 ounces penne
5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pitted Kalamata olives
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese (about 3 ounces)

Mix parsley, lemon peel and garlic in small bowl; set aside.

Bring large pot of salted water to boil. Add greens and cook just until tender, 1 to 6 minutes, depending on type of greens. Using skimmer or slotted spoon, transfer greens to colander to drain. Return water to boil. Add pasta and cook just until tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally. Drain, reserving 3/4 cup pasta cooking liquid. Return pasta to pot; add greens and 3 tablespoons oil and toss. Stir in olives, feta, and enough reserved pasta cooking liquid by 1/4 cupfuls to moisten. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to bowl. Drizzle with remaining 2 tablespoons oil. Sprinkle with parsley mixture and serve.

Source: Bon Appetit magazine, April 2008

Have a favorite kale recipe? Post it here and share!

But now I have a weekly farm share. Ergo, there is kale. Ergo, I was getting nervous: Do I face my fear of TMJ or risk the guilt of wasting food?

Then my friend Aliza introduced me to the concept of kale chips.

Still a little wary, I resolved to give it a shot.

They are delicious. Salty, crispy, crunchy--- but not chewy! I recommend fooling around with the spices you add; curry, chili powder, salt & pepper, various herbs, etc are all quite yummy.

By Monica Udoye-Stubbins

Down oyster shell driveways, past horse drawn buggies, former slave plantations, tobacco fields and the great Chesapeake Bay on rare days exists a peculiar pig - only on the tip of Southern Maryland. St. Mary's County is the home to the growingly popular stuffed ham.

Navigate your way through the unique southern dialect and brief suspicion granted outsiders for the St. Mary's famous October Oyster Festival or holiday visit. On these days there are a number of Southern taste-tempting innovations. Oyster-cornmeal pancakes fried in sizzling lard with a side of creamy onion cast-iron stewed potatoes, piping hot blue crabs and evenings filled with mugs of Dandelion wine are delicious. But nothing can compete with the sacred pig only found on holidays. This little known county that could not attract visitors with all its boasted attractions, including a historic plantation and abounding nature was able to attract the likes of CNN, The Food Network and countless others with the religiously worshipped stuffed ham.

Each holiday, strangers that have only had a taste of some friend's stray stuffed ham sandwich wander to the county in search. Wrapped in cheesecloth, a corned ham is slotted throughout and stuffed with finely diced kale, watercress, collards, cabbage, mustard seed, onion, lots of hot red pepper, a little celery and a dash of salt and pepper.

Recipes vary slightly. Boiled for several hours, and cooling in its own juices, the cheese cloth is removed, layers of stuffing that were packed on top fall away to reveal a perfectly pink ham stripped with green manna – food from heaven, a mouthful of complex flavors, which historian credit to the cultural hodge-podge of colonial St. Mary's.

Seventy minutes south of Washington, DC, an isolated peninsula called St. Mary's developed a distinct culture. Stuffed ham is said to be the result of a rich history of slaves, indentured servants and Natives who came together during harsh times, grafted English traditions of "boiled meat", Yaocomaco Native American tribal grilling of leaf-wrapped meats and slave practices using the exact same ingredients and curing methods used in stuffed ham today. A labor of early American Cooperation, stuffed ham is in St.Mary's County Maryland to stay. It seems a part of a rare place with a rare pig.

During holidays St.Mary's grocery stores are stocked with Stuffed Ham, though they aren't elsewhere. St. Marian Sandra Marshall, who makes her own, says simply, " I don't think we could live without it."

Sandra Marshall's Stuffed Ham

1 (20 to 22-pound) corned ham, boned 8 pounds cabbage

2pounds watercress (optional)

2-3 pounds kale

5 pounds onion

2 to 3 tablespoons crushed red pepper

1 1/2 tablespoons black pepper

3 tablespoons mustard seed

1 tablespoon celery seed (or substitute a bunch of chopped celery )

1 package cheesecloth

Wash cabbage, watercress, kale and onions (optional celery) with cold water after chopping into approximately 1 inch pieces. Place in a large bowl.

Prepare a large pan of boiling water. Wilt cabbage, watercress, kale and onions until slightly pliable. Make sure vegetables are not in the water too long as it will cause them to loose flavor. Drain kale, cabbage, cress and onions well. Add mustard seeds, celery seed, red and black pepper. Mix all ingredients thoroughly.

Parboil ham 20 minutes in water used for wilting stuffing. Remove ham from water and prepare ham for stuffing by making 1 or 2-inch slits all over the ham, roughly 1 to 2-inches deep. Press stuffing into slits, crevices and cavities throughout the ham. Make sure you pack stuffing tightly and covering ham with stuffing as much as possible.

When finished stuffing, wrap ham with cheesecloth and tie ham with string.

Make sure ham is tied securely. If ham is loose or falling apart, use wooden skewers used for grilling or similar cooking tools to hold together. If ham is tied tightly this should not be necessary.

Either cook ham in water used for wilting on stove top for 4-5 hours

(OR)

Cook ham in water used for wilting in oven covered with aluminum foil and bake in a preheated 400-degree oven for 4-5 hours.

When ham is finished, drain and let ham cool down overnight in the refrigerator before carving. Usually served cold.

Monica Udoye-Stubbins was raised in a “cooking family” in Southern Maryland. Her family recalls Monica cooking from the age of two - her very first original recipe “potato chip cake”! Learning to cook with family-farmed produce and livestock (without running water), she believes in “all recipes from scratch”. Tucked safely in the woods (where no one would hear a two year old was allowed to cook), she developed her writing hobby alongside her culinary one. She currently works as a model, cooks for her husband and Hollywood Hills neighbors and writes. Her work has appeared in “The Baltimore Sun” and “Spillway”.

Friends are good for a lot of things - comfort, laughs, moral support, and sometimes even the odd break-and-enter job. They give hugs, induce fits of hysterical and inappropriate laughter, reassure you that you're not completely crazy, and drive get-away vehicles. This isn't to say that we clambered up any fire escapes and into bedroom windows this weekend, but by late evening on Friday, everyone had developed a fair appetite, so I was happy to take advantage of another thing that friends are good for - trying out new things on in the kitchen.

I made Melissa Clark's Double Garlic Soup, Peter Berley's Garlicky Braised Greens (minus the toasted pumpkin seeds) from his book, The Modern Vegetarian Kitchen, and a chocolate-almond layer cake, something half-improvised, half-adapted from an Ina Garten recipe. The idea behind the dinner was to introduce my friends to either new and unfamiliar ingredients or more familiar ones in an unusual way - all with nutrition and vegetarianism in mind, of course.

The soup was the dish I was most excited to make because instead of ordinary garlic heads it called for green garlic and garlic scapes, which I had read about in the New York Times earlier this summer and had found at the farmers' market. The soup was good to begin with and even better two sleep-deprived days later when I remembered that there were leftovers in the fridge. Even so, I'm not really in a hurry to make it again because it was fairly labour-intensive with all of the chopping and a bit on the expensive side. Maybe I'll have forgotten the pains of the process by next summer when scapes and green garlic are in season again.

I decided on the Berley recipe because I'd been wanting to cook kale (yet another dark, leafy iron- and calcium-rich green of the vegetarian arsenal) for a few weeks but wasn't sure of how to approach it. Everyone enjoyed this dish too, and it was definitely the easiest of the three to prepare. It basically involved heating up a pot of water and doing some slicing and sauteeing.

The cake, however, seemed to be the real triumph of the evening. The original recipe involved a sugary, butter-heavy icing that I really wasn't interested in - yes, even dessert couldn't be entirely nutritionally void. Rather than going to butter for fat, then, I took the almond butter I'd made earlier in the day and turned it into a rich almond cream to separate the layers of fudgy cake. It was absolutely lovely. Seconds were had. Dishes were licked. I'll be making this again before the end of the summer.

Chocolate-almond Layer Cake

Adapted from an Ina Garten recipe printed in The Toronto Star.

Note: the cup of coffee makes this cake batter alarmingly runny, but not to worry, you will end up with a moist, fudgy cake after 35 minutes in the oven.

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup fresh-brewed coffee

• 1/2 cup almond butter
• 2 egg yolks
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 1 cup half-and-half (10% m.f.) cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup chopped, toasted almonds

The Cake

1. Butter two eight-inch round cake pans and line with parchment paper. Butter the paper and dust with flour.
2. Sift together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. Beat buttermilk mixture into the dry ingredients until just combined, then slowly incorporate coffee into batter.
4. Pour batter into prepared pans and bake in pre-heated oven at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool cakes in pans for 30 minutes, then invert onto a rack to cool completely. Peel paper off.

Almond Cream

1. Heat half-and-half in a saucepan over low heat until just about simmering - wait for the first few bubbles and remove from heat.
2. In the meantime, whisk yolks and sugar into the almond butter.
3. Gradually whisk half-and-half into the almond-butter mixture. Return mixture to saucepan on low heat until visibly thickened, about ten minutes. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Let cool to room temperature, then cover and chill in the fridge until ready to use.

Assembly

1. Spread half of almond cream over first cake layer. Place second cake on top of the first and spread with the remaining cream.
2. Garnish with almonds and serve.

First post regarding this recipe:  http://utopiankitchen.wordpress.com/2007/03/12/coriander-honey-tofu-w-bok-choy-joy-tester/

You can imagine that I am delighted to have someone to cook regularly for lately!  This healthy and delicious meal is packaged and ready to go.  :)

For this go-around, I served the tofu, pears, and sweet agave sauce with toasted quinoa w/ garlic and kale.  It's a great recipe and I really can't wait for Joy's cookbook to come out.  Her blog is here http://veganjoy.blogspot.com/.  I am not a tester anymore due to becoming a raw foodist, but I really want to make her new seitan with apples recipe:  http://vegandinners.blogspot.com/2008/06/seitan-roast-with-apples.html

The "throw everything in a pot and cook until done" recipe -- my favorite kind! -- can be easily adapted to use whatever vegetables you have on hand. We made a very nice variation with a little tomato paste added to the broth, as well as one with some curry spices.

Ingredients:
* cannellini (white) beans
* kale (LOTS)
* vegetable or chicken stock
* olive oil
* bay leaf
* onion
* garlic
* carrots
* diced tomatoes

Recipe from Golden Earthworm:
http://www.goldenearthworm.com/62507.htm (third recipe)

2 tsp. vegetable oil

1 tsp. bottled minced garlic

4 (2 oz.) smoked turkey and duck sausages with fennel, cut into ¼ inch slices

1 cup water

1 cup fat-free less-sodium chicken broth

2 (19 oz.) cans cannellini (or other white) beans, rinsed and drained

4 cups chopped kale

½ tsp. coarsely ground black pepper

¼ tsp. crushed red pepper

1/8 tsp. salt

2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add minced garlic and sausage slices; sauté for 1 minute. Add water, broth and beans; bring to a boil. Stir in kale, black pepper, red pepper and salt; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes or until kale is tender. Remove from heat; stir in lemon juice. Yield: 6 (1 cup) servings of 349 calories each.

Note: This is simple and pretty quick to make. The original recipe came with instructions for making cheese toast to eat with it.