recipes – Planet B Gardens

bear pastrami recipe

I love wildlife as much as anyone and probably more than most. Sometimes, though, it’s down to us or them. This male black bear is probably 2-3 years old and establishing his territory for the first time. Unfortunately, the bear decided he lives at my house now. He stood his ground whenever I tried to scare him off, broke through the electric fence to get to the beehives, and made his nightly bed in my front yard. That’s what you get for being on hiatus from the homestead I suppose. It was sad to have to finally bag him this morning. My neighbor was happy for the chance to use

October 16, 2018

pea shoot soup

Pea shoots taste like the essence of fresh peas in the pod you get later in the summer. Raw, they’re perfect on their own or in sandwiches and salads. Cooked, they marry that fresh pea flavor to a dish. One of my favorite ways to use them cooked is in cream of cauliflower pea shoot soup: Cream of Cauliflower Pea Shoot Soup Ingredients: 1 tablespoon butter 1 medium leek, sliced into rings ½ cup dry white wine 1 head fresh cauliflower, chopped into large pieces 4 cups stock (vegetable, chicken, or beef – whichever taste you prefer) 4 cups fresh pea shoots Couple dashes garlic powder Directions: In a stock pot,

June 4, 2017

yeast from scratch

Cultivating wild yeast to leaven bread is something I’ve been wanting to try since I learned it was possible. I should have done it much sooner. My bread game is changed. The process creates a sourdough starter that will last as long as I keep feeding it. Creating the initial starter takes around 14 days before it’s ready to use for baking bread. I started with local hard red wheat berries that I ground into a course flour. I mixed equal parts of the whole wheat flour with pineapple juice — 60 grams each by weight. I kept it in my proofer set to 70F, and followed the remaining sourdough starter-making videos here. After a

March 26, 2017

endless snow and baking

Getting mad baking skills with the endless snow this winter…. Rye batard today—fresh out of the oven.

sous vide vs oven roast beef

Bottom round is a flavorful, inexpensive — and tough! — cut of meat. It comes from the well-used muscle of the steer’s upper rear leg. There are a couple good methods for cooking bottom round roast beef to keep it tender and tasting good: cold oven and sous vide. Option 1: “Cold” oven method The best oven-cooked way I’ve found to make roast beef edible starts with preheating a oven to 500F. Once preheated, place your roast in the oven and cook for 5 minutes per pound. Then turn off the oven, and don’t open the door! Let your beef sit in the “cold” oven for an hour. Remove after an hour, slice it very thinly — using a

January 26, 2017

crusty boule

I’m getting closer, but still working on mastering artisan bread making. The crust is crunchy, and the inside “crumb” is bouncy this round. I’m going for a bit more crunch in the crust, and bigger holes with a chewier interior next. I’d love to master a great sourdough flavor, too. Mine is a tiny bit sour, but lacks the depth of flavor and slight tartness of a great artisan sourdough. Plenty of winter baking time left for practice, fortunately!

new year’s truffles

Chocolate truffles are easy to make and a crowd favorite. These are made with dark chocolate ganache and a dark chocolate coating. Dark Chocolate Covered Chocolate Truffles Recipe Ingredients: 1/2 cup heavy cream 18 oz. dark chocolate (high-quality chocolate chips or chip your own) 1 tablespoon unsalted butter Instructions: Heat cream and butter until lightly boiling. Add 8 oz. of the chocolate chips. Stir chocolate until melted. Whisk until smooth and shiny. Place the ganache in the refrigerator for 4+ hours until firm. Tempering the chocolate for the coating: The easiest way to temper chocolate is to start with two deep pots filled with water, a vacuum sealer, and a sous vide

December 31, 2016

roasted cauliflower soup

This roasted cauliflower soup is a tasty, relatively low-calorie, winter meal option. Planet B Gardens Roasted Cauliflower Lemon Truffle Soup Ingredients: 1 large head fresh cauliflower, cut into bite-sized florets Peeled garlic cloves from 1 small head (8-10 cloves) 2 small lemons 1 tablespoon fresh tarragon 1 tablespoon olive oil 1.5-2 quarts organic stock (I used chicken stock; vegetable or seafood stock will work as well) 0.5-1 teaspoon truffle salt Plain salt and pepper to taste Optional: Chopped fresh Swiss chard (or kale, spinach, other greens you like) Optional: 2 tablespoons heavy cream (if you prefer a richer soup) Optional: Seafood or poultry of your choice, cut into large, bite-sized

December 18, 2016

best thanksgiving turkey

Traditional Thanksgiving birds are cooked and served in their bird-shaped form. It’s what us Americans are used to. Based on my experience, however, there is a better way. I learned this technique a few years ago from the Serious Eats website. Unlike so many other websites with recipes, Serious Eats takes the time to do close to scientific, comparative method tests to come up with their conclusions about the best way to cook anything. Thanksgiving turkey is no exception. This is the Serious Eats Thanksgiving turkey recipe I based my recipe on. It really does make an amazing turkey if you can let go of serving up a whole bird at the table. Our

November 23, 2016

chili verde with hominy

Snow is falling here on the Montana homestead. Time for a warm, hearty meal. I had some ground, lean pork shoulder from a local farm in the freezer, plus hominy I’d made a couple weeks back. Just the ingredients to start a spicy chili verde. Chili Verde with Hominy 1.5 cups chopped onions 4-6 fermented garlic cloves, smashed and chopped (you can also use fresh garlic cloves) 1 lb. ground pork shoulder ¼ cup canola oil (if needed; if your pork has enough fat on its own, omit the oil) 4 large green jalapeños, sliced into rings (keep the seeds if you like it spicy, remove them if you prefer a

November 16, 2016