The Modern Victory Garden

Each Monday, Daphne’s Dandelions hosts “Harvest Monday” where everyone submits links to their blog posts summarizing their harvest for the week.   It’s fun to see what everyone else is harvesting from gardens in so many different regions. Check it out and join in!                        

Only a couple of harvests this week to supplement the preserved and stored items we are using heavily at this time.   Early in the week, I cut some young corn salad (mache) to use in place of lettuce on some tacos for dinner.   I pulled carrots on two separate occasions as well, and a small bit of celery was harvested that did not round up to a ¼ pound and thus did not make my tally this week.   I did not get pictures of the mid week harvests as it was quite dark when I made them late in the evening - but here is the Saturday harvest.                               

Saturday’s carrot harvest was combined with garden grown onions, garlic, and potatoes from storage and a jar of home canned diced tomatoes to make a classic beef stew using French cooking methods as described in Julia Child's original classic book "Mastering the Art of French Cooking".      

The Recipe in Brief

The stew meat (1 lb in small pieces) and vegetables (thinly sliced onions (2 cups), minced garlic (1 large clove), diced potatoes (1 large potatoe peeled), thinly sliced carrots (2 cups) ) were marinated in white wine (1 1/2 cups), olive oil (2 TBS), salt (to taste), and herbs (a little thyme and a crushed Bay leaf)  for 3 hours.   In a Dutch oven casserole, cut up slices of bacon were laid on the bottom, about 1/3 of the marinated vegetables were layered on, half of the marinated beef was removed from the marinade, dredged in flour, and then laid on top of the vegetables.   A quart jar of diced tomatoes was opened and drained thoroughly. Half of the diced tomatoes were then layered on.   Another layer of cut up bacon strips, marinated vegetables, and marinated beef dredged in flour, and tomatoes was completed and then all topped by the last of the marinated vegetables.   The remaining marinade wine/oil mixture was poured over and beef stock added to just cover.   The fire safe casserole pot was placed on the stove top and heated until the stock just began to simmer, at which point the lid was put on and it was all placed in a preheated 325 degree oven and cooked for 2 1/2 hours.                                    

Not a recipe to make when you are in a hurry, but oh my goodness it was delicious!    Our weather has turned very cold and so hearty food such as this stew recipe are very comforting and satisfying.         

Harvest totals for the week of November 15th through November 21st (rounded to the nearest ¼ pound).              

• Carrots 0.50 lbs
• Lettuce and Greens 0.25 lbs

Total For Week 0.75 lbs

Total Year To Date 441.25 lbs                        

Eggs harvested this week - 34                                   

Laura

kitsapfreedomgardener