As I walked thru the garden yesterday, I brushed past the basil and my nose was accosted by it's spicy scent. It made me think of ravioli.
Jon used to go to all the trouble to make homemade ravioli and it was delicious but a tedious job that took a good share of the day. Then he discovered how good the frozen kind was and never made it again! He would make the best herbed olive oil to serve over the cooked raviolis. He'd heat the oil with partially crushed rosemary, thyme, Italian oregano and fresh garlic. The oil was drizzled over the raviolis and he always garnished it with freshly torn basil leaves. Served with some herbed garlic bread, it was an awesome meal!
BTW, I say BAY'-ZEL...but I love how Brits say BAAA'-ZEL
Soup
The other day I lunched with my sister Marsha. She had made some of the most delectable turkey soup! It was a hot day but that soup was so wonderful. I have decided that it doesn't have to be winter to enjoy a bowl of hot soup! She'd done a turkey breast in the crock pot (better than the oven for not heating up the house in the summertime) and used some of the meat to make this wonderful soup. It was a simple soup...just broth, turkey meat, celery, carrots, onion, macaroni and some herbs...OH! and some of the best little tiny red potatoes from her father-in-law's garden. It made me think about some of my favorite soups that are diet-friendly and yet hearty and always satisfying. I'm going to make soup! I'm getting a turkey breast today to throw into the crock pot...the beauty of a turkey breast is that you can use it for an initial hot meal, cold sandwiches and use what's left for soup! In days to come I'll make chili and probably split pea soup.
Pix of past pots...
Potatoes
Yesterday we harvested our "horse tank potatoes"! What a laugh we got. The website where I got the idea to plant potatoes in a big barrel (I used an old horse tank instead of a barrel) promised a barrel full of potatoes at the end of the growing season! HA!!! We got half a small bucket. I did everything according to the instructions...planting the potato starts after they were cut and dried...
Letting them grow until they were over 6" tall them covering them with 3" of dirt....
Doing this every time they got up to 6" tall, until the tank was full...
Well, the vines bloomed a while back, then started to dry up, as potatoes do when it's time to harvest them...and here's what we got...
They are beautiful and delicious, I know because of having creamed peas and new potatoes a couple weeks ago...but we learned a few lessons from the meager crop of potatoes. We will start earlier next year ...potatoes are supposed to be planted on Good Friday, IF you subscribe to "farmer's almanac" type gardening theory, and we won't start them out in the very bottom of the tank...we'll add more dirt to begin with...6" just wasn't enough!
Ginni, Jon's method of serving ravioli sounds wonderful. What frozen brand did he favor? I think I may have to try some in his honor.
ReplyDeleteThose ravioli do sound really good with the oil on them. That's a nice idea instead of a heavy cream sauce - and marinara just doesn't work on everything. What a nice idea - I think I shall give that a try, as Anne said, in Jon's honor.
ReplyDeleteI think that's a pretty good harvest of potatoes actually. I had some teeny tiny ones the size of fingerlings this year, which is crazy because it's all coming from compost that I used over 2 years ago! But it's fun to dig them out just the same. They made really good breakfast of hashbrowns one morning. :)
Have a good day, Mz Ginni.
lovins,
fiwa
I'll have to try the pasta. I wouldn't have thought of seasoned olive oil over it. I need to learn to think outside of the box more. And the potatoes ? well sometimes it takes a try or two even if you do follow the directions - everyone and every place is different right ?
ReplyDeleteHere's the brand we get. It's fresh (refrigerated) Buitoni Four Cheese Ravioli.
ReplyDeleteHere's the website so you can see what the package looks like.
http://www.buitoni.com/Products/ProductDetails.aspx?ProductId=1C509E7C-4347-46AE-BDB3-BCD11542D244
Just heat extra virgin olive oil and add well chopped fresh garlic, thyme, rosemary and dry oregano. Drizzle it over the cooked, hot raviolis and tear up fresh basil on top. Use lots of basil so you can get a bite with each ravioli! It's fast, easy and yummy. Jon was really big on using lots of fresh herbs. He would be happy that someone is trying one of his recipes. He just loved to cook and especially to share his creations...it pleased him so much when someone liked what he fixed.
Thanks you guys, I love that you're trying it in his honor!!
I always wondered about those potato growing projects. I'm glad the ones you got are delicious.
ReplyDeleteOh, and I checked the pasta link. We use them all the time, but I didn't know they made whole wheat pasta. Now if I can just find it . . .