Saturday, January 5, 2013

Food From My Yard - Using What You Have

I am very interested in where what I eat comes from. I also hate waste.
The season for my garden has ended but my old tomato plants continue to make the occasional fruit. I can't bear to let them rot.

This is four recent picks from the sad remnants of the summer garden. They are perched on a pretty piece of Lenox china from the Butterfly Meadow pattern that I found at Ross for a serious discount:)
I'd prefer red tomatoes but leaving the tomatoes to ripen leads to rot/predation so I pick them while they are hard, green little nuggets:)

Since we are eating low-carb I can't flour and fry them so I've been doing different things with them.
Since they can be quite bitter I reccomend you do as I do when you experiment by thinly slicing your 'greenatoes' and adding until you get a taste that suits you.
I like harvesting the things my yard grows - from the cultivated garden, from my grapefruit and calamondin and fig trees. I don't make enough to really do much more than add interest to our diet. It is nice to look at a plate and know something from your yard made it possible:)
There is also a very virtuous feeling to using what I have to make running my home a happy and fulfilling thing.
So - these hard green things. My favorite use so far is in omelets.

Green Tomato Omelets (ingredients per serving)

3 eggs, whisked with the water
1/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar
1 tsp water
1/2 small green tomato, thinly sliced
tbl of meat of choice - cooked sausage, ham or bacon
*optional - tbl sauteed red onion
tsp butter

Whisk the eggs with the water, add a littl salt and pepper. Heat the butter until melted in a small (6-8") pan. When the butter sizzles a bit (have the burner on med) pour in the eggs. Lift the eggs to allow the raw to get under the cooked and rock the pan to keep lifting the cooked egg up and shifting more raw to the cooking surface. When the eggs on the top are glistening and semi-firm, sprinkle the cheese and meat over the surface and spread the thin tomato slices - try to stay at least 3/4 inch from the edges of the pan. After about 20 seconds start the process of rolling the omelet. Lift one edge of the omelet and gently begin rolling it to the other edge. I like to use a spatula and a turner. You don't have to be all fancy in your own kitchen, do what it takes to get a neat outcome:)

If I'm feeling ambitious I'll broil a couple of thick slices of the tomatoes with cheese on top as a nice little side garnish.