Month: June 2012

Craving Crepes

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Yesterday I had a giant bowl of blackberries in my possession  (and the stained fingers and scratches to show for it) and an unusual-for-me craving; a savory fruit dinner.   Yeah, yeah, savory fruit dishes are nothing new but I’ve always preferred my fruit to stand alone as a sweet treat (except when it comes to apples and cheese).

 

Crepes with Caramelized Onions, Blackberries, and Feta
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 30 mins
Total time: 40 mins
Serves: Makes 6 Crepes
Ingredients
  • 2 teaspoons butter
  • 1/2 yellow onion, slivered
  • 2 teaspoons honey
  • 3-4 cups fresh blackberries
  • 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Instructions
  1. In a skillet caramelize onions with butter, honey, and salt (cook slow and low until very soft and golden).
  2. Add blackberries to pan and turn the heat to medium.
  3. Add vinegar.
  4. Cook on medium-high heat until the berry juice and vinegar reduce to a thick sauce.
  5. Serve in crepes with a generous sprinkle of feta cheese and fresh thyme.
Notes

Crepes

1/2 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup milk
2 eggs
pinch of salt
butter for the pan

Whisk all ingredients together and let sit for at least 5 minutes.
Heat a skillet on medium-low heat with a little bit of butter.
Pour about 1/4 cup batter into hot skillet and immediately pick it up and swirl the batter to coat the bottom of the pan in a uniform thickness.
When the batter looks dry on the entire topside, carefully flip the crepe and cook for about 30 seconds on the second side.Repeat until you’ve used all of the batter.

If you aren’t inclined to make crepes, this would also work really well on a thin slices of fresh baguette!

What’s your favorite way to eat fruit for dinner?

 

Needy Tomatoes

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I joke that the secret to my green thumb is neglect.

My house is always full of plants but I only water like once a month.  I know little about soil preparation, fertilizing, or feeding.

This ‘lazy gardener’ style has worked out pretty well for me.  That is, until my tomatoes got needy.

Just as I began to see some blushing on these beauties I also noticed this disturbing black spot.

A quick visit with ol’ man Google informed me that my ‘maters have blossom-end rot. 🙁

Blossom-end rot has to do with inadequate calcium absorption and distribution throughout the plant and is caused by inconsistent watering.  In other words, I caused this!

At first glance I was worried that it might be a fungus or something so I was slightly relieved to learn that it is probably curable by providing consistent water from here on.

Note: blossom-end rot can also stem from overwet soil or excessive nitrogen but I’m pretty sure that mine is from underwatering and inconsistency.

My plan-of-action is to mulch around the plants and water more regularly.

Lucky for me, the rest of my garden seems to be thriving under my, ummmm, hands-off approach. 😉

(a little history behind these Tigerlillies.  my sisters boy-friend gave me a pot of them for my birthday 5 or 6 years ago when we all lived together in Portland.  when I moved to Peru I gave the pot to my sister, who had it until she moved to Tacoma.  last winter she went back to the yard where she left it and grabbed me some of the bulbs.  now they are planted all over my Charlottesville yard!  the most painstaking aspect of moving, besides leaving friends, has always been deciding which plants get to come with me.  i still have a houseplant that i was given for high school graduation in 1999!)