Blooming Friday

Lots of blooms and butterflies in the Caribbean garden this week. Alas the butterflies wont stay still so here are some of the blooms

Always my favourite: bougainvillea


antigonon leptopus ( coral vine) trailing on yucca ( and top photo. This is such a pretty and easy vine I have no idea why almost no one uses it in the Caribbean. For years I could not get a plant-till one day I had a meeting and as I was leaving I saw these vines growing in an abandoned lot and got a friend to help pull out pieces for cuttings.


Vitex agnus-castus and Arabian Lilac (Vitex trifolia)



Aloe maculata with twisted bloomstalk


Euphorbia milli


I saw this lovely trailing vine at a hotel in St Kitts-brought home five seeds, got 2 plants out of those, and they have now started to bloom. When I asked the gardener at the hotel its name he told me "its a weed".



Delicate lavender bougainvillea. This one always reminds me of the friend who gave me the cutting, Art-he died from cancer last year after a fantastic 30 year battle.

Paneer in creamy or spicy tomato sauce

One of my favourite Indian dishes. Its takes a bit of time to make but if you love vegetarian Indian food you'll like this. I have two versions here of the sauce-one spicy, one creamy.

Wikipedia states “Paneer Hindi: panīr, from Persian پنير panir) is the most common South Asian and Persian cheese. It is an unaged, acid-set, non-melting farmer cheese made by curdling heated milk with lemon juice or other food acid.”

Make paneer using this recipe. I usually add 1 tablespoon white vinegar with the lemon juice to get the milk to curdle better. You can also omit the yogurt if you don't have any. Of course if you can also purchase fresh paneer if its available. Its sometimes availale in the farmers market in the US. DO NOT use frozen paneer. Paneer can be made up to 3 days ahead and stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container.

After you have made and pressed the paneer, cut into in ¾ inch cubes. Fry paneer cubes in a little olive oil in a non stick pan, turning on all sides to brown (about 5 minutes in all), Drain and set aside.

Sauce:

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 small onion, finely chopped/minced
3 cloves garlic finely chopped/minced
1 inch piece ginger, finely chopped/minced
(an easy method is to put onion, garlic and ginger together in the food chopper and finely chop.)
Hot pepper to taste
1 tsp coriander (optional)
1 tsp Turmeric
1/2 tsp Ground cumin (geera)
1 1/2 cups canned tomatoes with their juice, pureed, or 5 fresh vine-ripened tomatoes, pureed
1-2 tsp kosher salt (less if using canned tomatoes-in fact I use no salt at all then)
2 tsp garam masala

1/4 c cream or 2 tablespoons cream cheese (you can also use ¼ cup plain yoghurt but it won’t be as rich tasting)

4 tbs finely chopped fresh coriander or mint

Method

Heat oil and add onions, garlic and ginger, fry for about 5 minutes stirring constantly. Add hot pepper, ground turmeric and cumin, stir, then quickly add the pureed tomatoes. Cook about 10 minutes, stirring often.

For spicy sauce: add 1 cup hot water and bring sauce to boil. Reduce heat to medium and cook the sauce, covered, for 10 minutes. Add paneer cubes and cook 4 minutes. Fold in garam masala & chopped coriander or mint leaves.

For creamy sauce: add 1 cup hot water and bring sauce to boil. Add cream/cream cheese and stir till mixed in. Add paneer cubes and cook 4 minutes. Fold in garam masala & chopped coriander or mint leaves.
Serves 4-6

Why Farmers Markets-Blog Action Day

When I was a child growing up in the Caribbean almost everyone had a kitchen garden and exchanged what they grew with neighbors and family. Almost every backyard had fruit trees. People bought their supplemental fresh fruits and vegetables from roadside stands and the Sunday farmers market. Farmers from different islands would also take or send their produce on boats to sell in the Sunday market.

Later, supermarkets started offering produce, but these were mostly bought from the farmers and were sold at higher prices than in the market. It was only in the 1990’s that the supermarkets started selling a variety of imported produce. The surprising thing is how this expanded-given the clear inferiority in the quality in much of the imported produce–I don’t know why anyone would buy a gas ripened supermarket tomato or unripe plum.

I have loved observing the growth of farmer’s markets in the US and have been to them in San Francisco and New York. They were just wonderful. While farmers markets have always been around in the Caribbean, I hope the Caribbean islanders take notes and expand their offerings. I also hope more people buy directly from local farmers.




In some Asian countries housewives go to the market several times a week, to get the freshest produce.



Apart from supporting local farmers and having fresher healthier and tastier food, farmers markets means less fuel is used in transportation, less pollution to the environment. And if it’s organic produce, even better.
You certainly can't get fresh like this when its trucked/flown or shipped thousands of miles



Luscious fruit



My friend Taly shrooming in the Noe Valley farmers market

Heirloom tomatoes and delectable eggplant


Farmers market also allow producers of agricultural products to sell and promote their goods-like olive oil, honey, cheese, pepper sauce etc.



“Blog Action Day is an annual event that unites the world's bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day on their own blogs with the aim of sparking discussion around an issue of global importance."

Mark's Roses

Not only are Mark and Elizabeth bakers of award winning breads (and my favorite pizza!) at Raymond's Bakery (in Cazadero, Sonoma where I had a lovely weekend in July)




Mark also grows some beautiful roses.







A couple years ago on previous visit I took cuttings from this rose above and actually managed to get 2 plants. I enjoyed the blooms for several months until my plants died (I think from the summer heat). These are mine below