Silvia, sounds like you had a very good dinner. We also had a pork roast with fresh vegetables from the garden. But we had to purchase sweet potatoes from the store. The Tradition, like silvia says don't give up, they will produce in time. My garden is running a month later this year due to the unusual weather. nene09, you will have a fat healthy rabbit to eat if nothing else. I have the squirrels to contend with. I try to trap them and transport them across the river. I would like to use my pellet gun and kill them. But in my old age I don't like to kill anything if I can prevent it. Luther

I bought garlic from that lady last year in September. Wish I had the name of the vender. I bought one or two bulbs of everything she had, which was slightly different from that list. I think I grew some of every thing on that list, plus Red Russian, which made huge cloves and big bulbils. There were others, but at the moment I don't remember the names. I saved bulbils to plant, it takes a couple of years to get big bulbs from these, but I hope to increase my seed stock with them. Elaphant garlic is really a shallot, with a very mild garlic flavor. I can't really tell you about flavor, because we have been eating oddballs, the ones I couldn't identify or whose leaves had all died making them poor choices for storage. The one I cooked with last night, which I think was a softneck had no flavor. This might have been because it was on the edge of sprouting, or maybe they will all be mild from whatever variety that it was. I learned the flavor is stronger if you let them cure a few months. You can eat the bulbils, too, they are just small, most varieties are about the size of a grain of rice.

Here's one of my favourite Spanish dishes - Although I have been making it for years the way a Spanish cook once showed me, this time I followed the preparation seen recently on a Spanish Cooking TV channel. Their ingredients included a small piece of or pork fat and a stewing chorizo (chorizo para guisar). If choosing a chorizo for this dish, be sure it is the right type which has the red pimiento colour. The small piece of tocino can be seen just to the right of the sprig of rosemary. Stewed Lentils (Lentejas Estofadas) 350 grams (1 1/2 cups) of small dark lentils - put them to soak the night before in water to cover 100 grams (3.5 oz) red stewing chorizo sausage - lightly pricked over with tines of a fork 50 grams (1.7 oz) salted tocino pork fat - cut into large diced pieces 1 TBSP flour 2 carrots diced fine 2 medium leeks, using only white stems sliced finely in rounds 1 lg clove garlic (this was optional but I wouldn't leave it out) - pass through garlic press 2 cups beef broth (I used 2 Knorr cubes) 1 bay leaf fresh rosemary - small sprig olive oil - about 1/4 cup 2 cups extra water to add after 1st hour 1. Soak lentils the NIGHT BEFORE in water to cover. * Note this if now often unnecessary with newer fast cooking lentils. 2. Next day drain and rinse lentils, put aside. 3. Heat olive oil in heavy cooking pot. When sizzling, add carrots, garlic and leeks. Lightly brown while stirring. 4. Add 1 TBSP flour and keep stirring for about a minute. 5. Add lentils, beef broth, whole chorizo, tocino, laurel and rosemary 6. Put on lid and simmer very gently for 1 1/2 - 2 hours. Check after 1st hour and add up to 2 more cups water as needed. 7. Adjust seasoning and serve. ***************************************** Lentil & Potato Potaje (Potaje de Lentejas y Patatas) 3 cups of presoaked lentils 4 medium potatoes - cut into large dice 2 slices of stale bread 3 cloves garlic vinegar salt Put lentils in large pot, cover with water and begin to boil. As soon as lentils have begun to cook do the following: In a frying pan with 1/2 inch of oil brown the garlic and then add the bread and fry until brown. Remove garlic before it's too dark. Put browned bread and garlic into a mortar and grind to a paste. During the early part of cooking the lentils add the paste from the mortar to the lentils together with the oil that's left in the pan After about half an hour and before lentils are tender, add the diced or quartered potatoes, salt and finish cooking until all is tender. Check and correct salt and a dash of vinegar before serving. Source: A cook friend from Mallorca. *************************************** LENTIL & VEGETABLE SOUP Ingredients: lentils - 250 grams (slightly over 1 cup) garlic - one whole head onion - 1 large - quartered Kasseler smoked pork chop - 1 large (or 250 grams other smoked pork or bacon) ham or pork bone as for making stock 4 medium carrots - sliced into coins 2 stalks celery - diced 5 medium potatoes - peeled and cut into 8ths 6 flowerettes of cauliflower green beans - handful sliced tomato puré - small 4 oz tin olive oil - 4 TBS fresh garden herbs: 1 bay leaf, several sprigs thyme, Italian flatleaf parsley 2 or 3 sprigs chicken stock 1 liter (4 cups) or water and 3 Knorr chicken stock cubes salt & fesh ground pepper water to cook lentils vinegar - 1 teasp garlic croutons - optional garnish Method: 1) Turn on oven to 350F. Put lentils in large heavy bottomed stew pot with water to cover plus about 2 inches, bring to boil and simmer 45 minutes. Check water level and add more as needed. 2) Meanwhile put whole head of garlic into shallow baking pan together with quartered onion, Kasseler or smoked pork and ham or pork bone, drizzle with olive oil and roast in oven at medium heat about 45 minutes. 3) Remove baking tray from oven when all is nicely browned and cut meat into small dice and add to lentil pot along with onion. Squeeze garlic from skin into lentil pot, adding ham/pork bone along with oil and juices scraped from roasting pan. 4) Add rest of vegetables to lentils, chicken stock (or water and stock cubes), tomato puré, fresh herbs and bay leaf, parsley - reserving one sprig, fresh ground pepper. Bring to boil and simmer about 1 hour until vegetables are done, adding more water if needed. 5) When vegetables are tender, remove ham/pork bones and any bare thyme stems from pot, check for flavour and add salt as needed. Add vinegar and stir. 6) Serve with a bit of chopped parsley and more fresh ground pepper. Homemade garlic croutons are also nice as a garnish. Source: Recipe as I learned from a Mallorquin housewife years ago. ******************************* Lentil Purée Convert leftover stewed lentils into a delicious purée by putting them into a food processor and adding the following: 1 1/2 cups of chicken broth 2 lg cloves of garlic crushed and browned in 1/4 cup oil in small frypan 2 slices brown bread broken in small pieces and fried in the garlicky oil until brown Processed the above until smooth and then heat it gently. Dice more pieces of brown bread and toasted them in the frying pan with oil and garlic salt for the croutons. SharonCb

Tobyt, this is the recipe that I have been using ever since visiting NOLA in the early '80s. Source is a 'picture postcard' distributed by Express Publishing Co, NOLA. As written: Red Beans and Rice 1 ham bone 1/2 pound ham, cubed 1 lb. dried red beans 1 large onion, chopped 1 cup chopped green onions, tops and bottoms 1/4 cup chopped bell pepper 1/4 cup chopped parsley 1/2 teaspoon basil 2 bay leaves 1/4 cup butter Salt & cayenne pepper to taste (*Caution w/ salt dependent on how salty the ham is.) Kidney beans will do, but small dark red beans are better. Put them in a heavy pot with enough water to cover, bring to a rolling boil for a couple of minutes, then soak overnight in the same water. In the morning, bring to a boil again and add all other ingredients. Reduce heat and simmer for at least 3 hours. The ham bone is important for flavor. Be sure beans are not old. They should become very creamy, but most will remain whole. Add cold water as needed. Goes well with smoked sausage and sliced raw onions. Serve over fluffy long grain rice cooked as follows: Bring 3 quarts of water to a rapid boil. Add salt, one tablespoon of oil and one of vinegar, and one cup of rice. Oil will keep water from boiling over and vinegar will let each grain fall to itself. Reduce heat an simmer exactly 18 minutes. Drain in a colander, rinse off excess starch with cold water and steam in colander until well warmed again. ------------------------------------------- * indicates my notes I've always omitted the butter and I just cooked rice and didn't use the recipe. Lately, I've taken to cooking rice in the pressure cooker. That said, next time I make this, I'm going to try cooking the rice according to the recipe instructions...I'm curious to see if the vinegar trick works to keep the grains separate. Oh, and I never fuss with the cubed ham, always leaving a ham bone 'meaty' knowing it's going to be used in a soup of some kind. All I really want is the ham flavor in RB&R...don't care for having chunks of meat in it. Probably goes w/o saying, but Tabasco is a requisite condiment for the table when you serve Red Beans & Rice. I like to accompany with a crusty baguette.