June Harvest No 1: Rhubarb!

I know Calgary probably has one of the shortest growing season, and I am sure a lot of you harvested their first vegetables and herbs in April/May already.
We are still waiting for most things to be ready for harvest. Mostly what we planted and what is ready now is greens, such as fennel greens, dill, kale or spinach.

Therefore it just fills me with pride and joy to walk into our garden and pick something more substantial that I can actually cook with rather than just using it for salad, such as rhubarb.

Don't get me wrong, salad is great.
But rhubarb? That's about child hood memories of grandma's rhubarb crumble or rhubarb compote with vanilla ice cream.

Wil is already thinking about making rhubarb wine (as well as saskatoon berry wine, dandelion wine, elderflower wine etc.).

We'll see how that works out.

I'll go for the compote and cake for now!

Tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes!

So, Wil is a very, very good and dedicated gardener and has been taking care of our tiny balcony and the plants. 

We grew tons of tomatoes this year which are all ripening now.

As promised, here are some pics of our harvest!

before picking

after picking

 

 

They taste sweet and fruity... almost like candy.

 

Wil made a salad with our first tomatoes adding arugula, mozzarella, 

chanterelles sauteed in butter and balsamico, bacon and pine nuts...

Artichoke with sour cream-mustard-balsamico dip

For everyone who thought my diet only consists of meat and chocolate, here is the proof that every so often even I consume green stuff with vitamins in it...

One of my favorite vegetables are artichokes.

They are a good side dish and perfect finger food.

I usually buy the big ones. I remove the stem and cut off the tips of the petals with a scissor. 

After that I throw them into a big pot of boiling water with a dash of lemon juice.

It depends on how big they are but usually artichokes need to cook for around 30-45 minutes.

You know the artichoke is ready to eat when you can easily pull off the outermost petals.

Unfortunately you usually cannot eat all parts of an artichoke. 

Especially the big ones are often hard and spiky.

Here are some instructions on how to eat them properly:

1. Start at the base of the artichoke, pull off one of the outermost petals. 
2. Dip the base of the petal into your sauce/vinaigrette. 
3. Pull the petal through your slightly clenched teeth to remove the soft, tender flesh at the bottom of the petal. As you progress upward from the base, the leaves become more tender, with larger edible portions until you reach the choke (the undeveloped flower).
4. Remove and discard the "hairy" choke using a teaspoon.
5. Cut the remaining Artichoke Heart into bite-sized pieces, dip and enjoy!

PS: For the dip mix sour cream, mustard, honey and balsamico vinegar and season with salt and pepper.