The Critter Cage is Built!

The Last of the Fall Garden

December 7, 2009


January 7, 2010

Who could have predicted the change in weather in a month? Although there is no picture with which to document the ice and snow that surrounded our gardens upon return from Christmas break, suffice it to say that before I could saw through the frozen cabbage heads to harvest them, I had to saw through frozen snow just to get our critter covers off .

Here is what we did: after I cut each solidly frozen head, we put it in a plastic bag and put it into the freezer. Each class had one frozen head of cabbage to cook before their exam. Students researched and selected cabbage recipes, and each day I took a frozen head from the freezer, cut out its core, and placed it in a pan of water. As the leaves separated we washed and dried them. Those were then chopped and used as directed. Delicious!

Our favorite cabbage recipes:

HOT CHINESE CABBAGE (LA PAI T'SAI)

1 head of cabbage
2 chili peppers, shredded
2 tbsp. oil
3 1/2 tbsp. sugar
2 1/2 tbsp. vinegar
1 1/2 tbsp. salt

Cut cabbage into 2 inch strips.
Heat oil. Add chili pepper and cabbage. Fry over high heat. Add seasonings. Mix and serve cold.

POTATO, LEEK, AND CABBAGE SOUP

1 tablespoon butter

1/2 head cabbage, finely chopped

1 leek (white portion only), finely chopped

1 medium onion, sliced

2 stalks celery, finely chopped

1 large russet potato, peeled and diced

3 (14 1/2-ounce) cans chicken broth

1/2 cup cream

4 oz. sharp cheddar cheese

1 bay leaf

1/8 teaspoon dried thyme
3 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Salt, pepper to taste

Melt butter in a large pot or Dutch oven on medium-high heat. Add cabbage, leek, onion and celery. Cook until onion is translucent, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add chicken broth, bay leaf and thyme. Bring to boil. Add diced potato; simmer until potato is fully cooked.
Add cream and cheddar cheese (may substitute blue cheese in place of cheddar).
In a saucepan, make a roux with the butter and flour to thicken. A roux is a mixture of equal parts of flour and butter used as the basis for a sauce or as a thickener that is cooked gently (the flour should be added gradually) until it takes on a very light brownish color and the flour has had a chance to cook a bit. Just keep stirring and don't let it burn, and you have a roux.
Add the roux to the soup and stir to combine; cook until cheese melts and soup is hot.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.

January Harvest??

Now that Christmas is over and a new year has begun, we have one last thing to be harvested from our fall garden. The onions and garlic that we planted this fall will wait, but the savoy and dutch cabbage will not. It will be interesting to see how (and IF) they made it through the snow and extreme cold. What better example of a true experiment. Updates will follow soon...