Pickled Heirloom Baby Carrots

Market Baby Heirloom Carrots

I have never managed to grow carrots in my country garden, so when I saw these beautiful baby carrots at the market this Saturday I bought them immediately.  The reds and yellows and oranges of the heirloom carrots were so vibrant that I wanted to preserve them and save some for the winter.  

2 bunches of baby carrots
2 small cloves of garlic
2 small Thai hot peppers
1 1/2 cups of cider vinegar
1/2 cup of water
1/2 cup of sugar
1 tsp of pickling salt
2 tbsp of finely chopped fresh oregano

Cut tops off of carrots leaving about a half inch of the green stem on the carrot.  Carefully scrub the carrots clean with an abrasive cloth.  Sterilize 2 - 8oz jars.  Place a pepper, a garlic clove, and half of the oregano in each of the jars.  Carefully pack the jars with the scrubbed carrots with the point down.

Bring vinegar, water, sugar and salt to a boil.  Pour over carrots, filling jars to 1/2 inch from the top.  Seal the jars and process in boiling water for 15 minutes.   The red from some of the carrots bled, resulting in the pink pickle juice.

Zucchini Flower Frittata

The zucchini are flowering again and I have a bounty of flowers and baby zucchini in my garden.  I plant the zucchini primarily for their flowers and any zucchini that manage to grow are an added bonus.  So Sunday morning, with a houseful of guests, zucchini became the star ingredient for brunch.  

Zucchini Flower Frittata

8 fresh eggs from the market
4 or 5 zucchini flowers
2 or 3 baby zucchini, less than 2"long
1 small onion, about 2 tablespoons when chopped
a handful of fresh herbs from the garden
1/4 cup of freshly coarsely grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup of vegetable oil
1/4 cup of olive oil

Serves 4 to 6 

Break eggs into a large bowl and whisk eggs until smooth.  Wash flowers, making sure that no bugs are hiding inside the flowers, and dry.  Remove pestle from the inside of male flowers.  Cut baby zucchini in half length wise.  Finely chop onion.  Clean herbs and coarsely chop.  Dip the flowers in the egg mixture, then dredge in flour.  

Heat oil in heavy cast iron pan, until very hot, but not smoking. Fry dredged zucchini flowers, until golden, on all sides.  Remove flowers and rest on paper towels to remove excess oil.  Turn down heat on stove, remove most of oil from bottom of pan, and saute onions until soft, and baby zucchini until until golden.  Mix half of herbs into remaining whisked eggs.  Turn oven broiler on. 

Spread onion and zucchini mixture evenly over bottom of pan.  Add eggs, arrange zucchini flowers in eggs, and sprinkle the remaining herbs on top.  Cook over medium heat until eggs are firm around edges.  Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top and put on middle rack of oven to cook top half of eggs.  Watch eggs, and when the  eggs puff up they are done.  Do not over cook.  Remove from oven and serve either hot or at room temperature. 

Orange Humus

Orange Humus

I first started making this recipe back in the early eighties. I had recently graduated from university, and was asked by a vegetarian friend to bring humus to her party.  I didn't  know what humus was at the time and of course this was long before the internet.  I had three cook books at the time, Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book which my grandmother gave me when I was eight, The Joy of Cooking which I bought in university and The Enchanted Broccoli Forest which I bought to so that I could feed my vegetarian friends.  Better Homes and Gardens didn't have a recipe, The Joy of Cooking required me to buy 3 ingredients, chick peas, tahini ( I didn't know what tahini was either) and black olives, and the Enchanted Broccoli Forest didn't require the black olives.  Being on a tight budget, the Broccoli Forest recipe was the one I opted for.  It was a huge success and I continue to make orange humus to this day.  My version of the recipe has evolved since then, and continues to be a crowd favorite.  It is incredibly easy to make and is always better if made the night before.

1 540 ml (19 oz) can of chick peas

1/2 teaspoon of cumin

1/2 teaspoon of ground coriander

1 teaspoon of dry ginger

1/2 teaspoon of dry mustard

1/2 teaspoon of turmeric

1/2 teaspoon of smoked hot paprika

1/2 cup of concentrated frozen orange juice

1/4 cup of tahini

1/4 cup of olive oil

1 teaspoon of salt

2 tablespoons of cider vinegar

3 garlic cloves

2 tablespoons of chopped of onion

Put all of the ingredients into a food processor and blend until almost smooth.  Adjust the consistency as required by adding more of the concentrated orange juice if required.  If I have a fresh orange I will grate some of the orange peel into the mixture.  Place in a container, seal and store in the refrigerator.