Tag Archives: foodie

Essays and Reflections, pumpkins, Travel

Orsara di Puglia: A Culinary Adventure

November 6, 2018 squash and awe Leave a comment

I have again returned to this place, in the rolling Southern mountains of Italy. This mix of medieval and modern, tradition and change. Surrounded by wind turbines, but grounded in stone. My culinary adventure is quiet, and makes me content. Entire days and nights have been spent before plates of food. Nine courses can be the norm.

I walk most days, in quiet contemplation verging on exhaustion. The village is comprised of rolling hills and alleys of stone. Narrow, cool and quiet, surrounded by stone on three sides, sometimes four. The 20% grade on the local hills will burn those calories away, making the long evening meal well earned.

Agriculture, Farming, gardening, Hawaii, Uncategorized

Ark of Taste Seeds from Baker Creek!

May 28, 2016 squash and awe 2 Comments

A couple weeks ago, I was at the Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds headquarters in the Missouri Ozarks. I sat down in Jere Gettle’s office and spilled the beans: I had been selected as a Slow Food USA Delegate to represent Hawaii at Terra Madre. I was shaken, and excited about the prospects. I had just given a speech a couple days prior at The Spring Planting Festival that explained how heirloom seeds assisted me in finding growing solutions that resist pests, disease, and drought here in Hawaii. Some of those solutions were found in Ark of Taste seeds. Take a look at Slow Food’s Ark of Taste . These are historic vegetables that were in danger of extinction. How do we keep them going? Grow them, eat them, put them in our markets, our menus, reconnect them with our lives. They have been around a long time…for good reason. They are resilient, and delicious.

I am thrilled to report that Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds has now donated an entire case of Ark of Taste heirloom vegetable seeds to assist in getting me to my Slow Food USA delegate position in Italy…yes, it is in Italy! Check it out here: Terra Madre Two years ago I was cheering for some of my favorite family farmers as they packed their bags and went off to represent all of us. Now it is my turn to do so. I will be posting more in the future, but let’s get back to the seeds.

Since funds are being collected to get me that very long way from Hawaii…all the way across the globe to Italy, I am trying to make fundraising fun, and also have some serious perks for the Hawaii community. What better way to celebrate along with our USA delegation, and be with us in spirit as we represent in Italy, than to be growing Ark of Taste seeds in your gardens? Kind of a seed solidarity! Jere and Lisa let me go though the vast array of seeds and seek out Ark of Taste varieties that had a strong chance of thriving in Hawaii. I made my selection, and they have shipped them here. This generous gift will be helping me, and the seeds will be helping the community here in Hawaii. Everyone wins!

I have put together a GoFundMe funding page where you can put me to work! That is right, put me to work. For every action there is an equally loving action performed. You can send me off to an Italian rare beans cooking class at Terra Madre…then I will give a rare beans class for Hawaii students or adults. You help put me on a plane to Italy…I will help put food on our communities tables through food pantry donation. Win, win…win. I am curating Ark of Taste seed packets into baskets for a silent auction (more on that later) and individual seed packets will also be sent out to those who sponsor at any level $20 and over! You can also sponsor, and have your seeds donated to a school garden, or a Hawaii gardener. I have a list of people who will make good use of these seeds! Slow Food is all about community, so please assist in my efforts at building community. Follow along too on my farm Facebook page and you will see how much is happening. So think about what you would like to see in the community. Pick your favorite schools, pick your favorite community action and I will teach what I know. Thank you for your time, your support, and thank you to those who read this and are currently clearing space in their garden to grow Art of Taste vegetables…it all matters.

Essays and Reflections, recipes

The Lima Bean Squash Taco with Homemade Kraut

August 23, 2015 squash and awe Leave a comment

I decided to cook up some of my heirloom Christmas lima beans and make a casserole. With a lot of work to do in preparation for the National Heirloom Expo, I need my energy. I had the food processor out with the shred blade on, as I was already making my pipinola (chayote) kraut. I was also sitting on several pounds of zucchini from a farm trade that I made with our local CSA. I decided to just keep shredding and make a taco seasoned dish that I could use throughout the week. Here is what I did: I had cooked the Christmas lima beans on low overnight in the crockpot with water enough to cover, and 1/2 of a Sweet Onion. I was already planning on using the beans, so I thought that all I needed was some more vegetables.I shredded one half of a large Hawaiian Sweet Onion, One large Zucchini, one pipinola(chayote squash) 2 orange habanero peppers, and 5 pickled hot peppers. I then poured the shredded veg into a bowl, and pulsed 2-3 cups of the now room temperature cooked lima beans. I added them to the bowl, and added two packages of taco seasoning, a sprinkle of sea salt, and a cup of breadcrumbs. I mixed it all together and pressed it into a 9×9 square pan, baking it at 350 degrees for an hour.

I’ve been making homemade kraut for several weeks now, as a means of capturing the harvests that come and go at both the farm and garden. The salty zing of the sea salt brine is welcomed after a hot day in the field. I thought, why not? Add it to the taco. I am happy to learn that this one taco casserole makes two completely different dining experiences. Fresh out of the oven, it is warm and comforting, with melted cheese and steamed rice for an evening meal, but the next day, it is bright and light as a chilled lunchtime taco with the ice cold kraut.

Since I am doing a lot of physical labor, I need a lot of food energy to get me through the day, so this homegrown, healthy taco had enough staying power to keep me going. Granted, my farmer portion was probably a bit larger than many would make. Overall, it was a simple feast made out of farm and garden goods. I will certainly make it again soon.

Try experimenting, I am sure carrots or pumpkin would be equally nice additions to the taco. Just think in terms of a meat loaf minus the meat. You can add two beaten eggs to the mix as well, or add chopped boiled eggs if you are a hungry one like me. As for the kraut, I have made a wide variety of them in my initial experimentation. It is all based around what is in arms reach. I have a few chili peppers producing now, and I always keep fennel fronds near. Though I am not a seaweed (limu) collector, I support those few that do here in Hawaii. I have been using seaweed as the majority of the salt in the recipe, topping off jars with just a bit more salt for fermentation. If you haven’t read it, you may enjoy my earlier post on my summer fermentation trials with pipinola (chayote)