Cooking on the Farm

I wanted to share some tips on farm cooking. Now please note that I do not profess to be a good cook but I do enjoy doing it. We have had some wonderful greens start coming into the garden over the past few weeks and I wanted to offer some tips on getting them from the farm to the table.

Green Beans: the Fall green beans we planted are called blue lake. These beans require only snapping prior to cooking. (which is wonderful as oppose to hours for having to get the strings out of them). I usually will cut all the ends of the beans and snap into two maybe even three sections before throwing into the pan. Fill the pan with plenty of water to cover the beans adding lots and lots of salt and garlic salt as well. Then adding chicken broth if you have some or a half a bouillon cube if you don't have the broth. Now most of the time I will bring the beans to a rolling boil and then turn the heat all way done for at least one hour usually two hours being careful to add water when needed.
An easier and faster way to enjoy these beans is steaming them. This works if you are in a time crunch it take around 30 minutes start to finish. Be sure to season them before you eat with salt and garlic salt.

Turnip Greens/Mustard Greens: Cleans leaves well and place in boiling water on the stove. Add a side of fat back. Let cook for 30 to 45 minutes until greens are tender. These are best seasoned with salt, pepper and a tad of butter.

Broccoli: Clean and remove stems. (keep stems if you are in the mood for broccoli and cheese soup you can them to it). Place broccoli in steamer and steam for 20 minutes. Be careful not to over-cook this can cause the broccoli to completely fall apart making for a very messy side dish. Top with salt and butter or Miss E's favorite top with grated cheese.
I have also used the broccoli this week in a stuffed chicken recipe and topped some on a twice baked potatoe. All were delicious. Or I almost forgot the easiest way to enjoy Branch Farm Broccoli is raw with ranch dressing. YUM!

More ideas and tips tomorrow. Sorry I'm tired :)
To be Continued...