Lemony Zest :: Kim Lewandowski

Archive for February, 2011

We got our order from TomatoGrowers.com a few days ago and today, Dan will start the seeds in the sunroom. It should be quite a crop, and we may even have some extra plants to share, even though we’re thinking about expanding the square garden.

After this cold, snowy winter, I can’t wait to get the garden going. Some of the lettuces we planted last fall are starting to come back with the warmer temperatures we’ve had this last week.

So here’s what we got:

Tomatoes

• Kimberly – early season, 1-2 oz. red fruit
• Margherita hybrid – mid-season, 5-6 oz. red paste tomatoes, great for pizza, pasta and roasting
• Oaxacan Jewel – late season, bicolor – yellow with ruby streaks, 6-16 oz.
• Purple Brandy – late season, deep pink-purple beefsteak, 8-16 oz.
• Rose de Berne – late season, Swiss heirloom, dark pink, 6-8 oz.
• Virginia Sweets – late season, heirloom, gold-red bicolor, at least 1 lb. each

Peppers and Tomatillos

• The Big Early Hybrid – bell peppers, 8″ long by 4.5″ wide
• Ancho 101 – used for Mexican stuffed peppers; can be dried and ground into chile powder
• Ixtapa Hybrid – 4-inch-long jalapenos
• Golden Greek Pepperoncini – great for pickling and in Greek salad
• Purple Tomatillos – We will probably have dozens of green tomatillo volunteers, so we thought we’d try the purple ones this year.

We’re also planting yellow and red onions, green beans and peas. Later we’ll add cucumbers and maybe some melons. We got one edible cantaloupe last year, so I’d like to try again and see how it goes. And I have some garlic cloves in the kitchen that started sprouting, so I need to get those in the ground, too.

Barbara and I had dinner at Rajput last night. It was pretty good, although service was slow. They seemed confused about whose table it was.

I’m not as familiar with Indian foods and flavors as I am with some other cuisines, so I generally end up ordering the same thing: chicken tandoori. And that’s what I had last night. The chicken was nice and tender and the tikka masala sauce was tasty. There wasn’t a lot of heat, though. Next time, I might ask for some hot sauce. I also ordered garlic naan – that was delish!

Barbara had lamb biryani and offered me a taste. It was very good, with a bit of heat. Nice flavor. I forgot to bring my camera in, though, so no pix. This post is primarily a reminder for me, so next time I go out for Indian, I can look back and see what I liked.

I’ve been watching the new show Aarti Party on the Food Network, to learn more about basic Indian cooking. Now I need to actually try some of the recipes And I already have all five of her basic Indian spices.

When we were in Florence, Italy, in September 2009, we went to the Mercado Centrale, or Central Market. I’ve never seen anything like it – all kinds of fresh and preserved foods, wines, vinegars, oils – it went on and on and on. Took my breath away to think about being able to shop in a place like that every day.

This is my entry in the weekly photo challenge at Photo Friday. Last week’s topic was Breathtaking (yeah, I’m late posting again).