2012 MVG Harvest BBQ

This year the MVG Harvest BBQ was a hit with neighbors and friends. There was lasagna, beans, cupbread, and a big plum cobbler for everyone to nibble, munch, and devour. But let's follow the order in which my family and I cooked the vegetable filled mounds of food.

Morrison Victory Garden 2012

My first entree, VEGETABLE LASAGNA! Yum! I used the following steps when preparing and cooking the lasagna.

Golden on the top. This lasagna is done.

Ingredients: Green indicates items found and used from the victory garden

• 1 gallon Ziploc bag of frozen tomatoes (skin off)
• 4 tablespoons fresh chopped basil
• 2 tablespoons fresh chopped oregano
• 4 garlic cloves minced
• 1 chopped sweet white onion
• 1 chopped bell pepper
• Salt and Peppers
• 3 medium zucchini thinly sliced the long way
• 3 large yellow squash thinly sliced
• eggplant thinly sliced (amount depends on size of fruit)
• big tub of ricotta cheese
• big bag of shredded mozzarella cheese or use a mixture of mozzarella and cheddar cheese

lasagna layers

Directions:

1. In a sauce pan, mix tomatoes, basil, oregano, garlic, bell pepper, onion, salt, and pepper.  Bring to boil and stir constantly until sauce becomes thick.
2. In a large casserole dish, lay down a layer of sauce at the bottom.  Follow with a layer of zucchini, ricotta, sauce, squash, mozzarella, sauce, eggplant, ricotta, sauce, zucchini, mozzarella, etc. Your final layer should be shredded cheese. You may insert lasagna noodles into the layers.  I found a box with four lasagna noodles in my pantry. I cooked the noodles and placed two on the bottom layer and two in the middle layer. The long zucchini slices can be used in place of the lasagna noodles too.  It all depends on what you want in your lasagna or have on hand.
3. Cover lasagna with tinfoil to keep the cheese from burning. Cook at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  Remove tinfoil and cook for additional 30 minutes or until the cheese is golden brown.

Veggie lasagna is good!

The PLUM COBBLER was next on my cooking list.   I have never made cobbler but have watched my father make plum pie and cobber. I wanted to make sure I did not mess it up.  I searched online for a recipe that was easy and quick.  I found a recipe posted by Elise on Simply Recipes.

The outcome was fantastic. Many of my guests saved room for the cobbler or started the feast with a great fruit appetizer. I served the dish at room temperature since the day was warm and sunny.  During the winter months, I will heat up the cobbler and serve it with whip cream. I also think a scoop of vanilla ice cream is a great pairing with this dish.

Cobbler was sweet with a hint of tart. Yum!

Now time for the sides! A variety of beans from the garden were stir-fried and tossed with a lemon  herb mixture. I used the following steps when making the BEAN TOSS.

Ingredients:

• 4-5 cups of beans*, washed and cut into two-inch pieces
• 2 tablespoons lemon zest
• juice from a large lemon or 3 tablespoons of lemon juice
• 4-8 cloves of garlic (I like a lot of garlic and use the max)
• 2 tablespoons fresh chopped rosemary
• 3 tablespoons fresh chopped Italian parsley
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt

Directions:

1. Bring salt and water to a boil.  Boil beans 5 minutes. Remove beans from water and run under cold water/place in ice bath.
2. Combine zest, lemon juice, garlic, rosemary and parsley in a bowl. Set aside.
3. In a wok, heat oil on medium heat.  Add beans and cook beans until tender.
4. Remove wok from heat.  Toss bean with lemon herb mixture.
5. Serve and enjoy!

*I used a mixture of Blue Lake, Burgundy, and Scarlet Emperor beans from the garden.

The ears of corn and pesto were the most consumed item at the MVG Harvest BBQ. I boiled the corn for 5 minutes.  Guests were given the choice of plain corn or Elote.  Elote calls for lime mayo, Cojita cheese and hot sauce. I personally love Elote but give my guess the option to try it or not.  To make Elote you do the following:

1. choose your ear of corn.
2. lather the corn with lime mayo.
3. roll the mayo covered corn in a plate of finely grated Cojita cheese
4. sprinkle or douse your ear of corn with hot sauce.
5. eat and enjoy!

I used a 8-oz. plastic freezer jam jar of frozen pesto and a thawed quart of whole Juliet tomatoes when making my PESTO PASTA. Read my Pesto. Pesto, Pesto! blog post for the pesto recipe. I cooked and drain one box of whole wheat spaghetti noodles. In a large bowl, I toss the noodles with the pesto, tomatoes, and a handful or two of pine nuts. I top the aromatic pile of noodles with a generous sprinkle of goat or feta cheese. If you like basil, mix fresh basil (leaves or roughly chopped) with the cheese before topping off the dish.

I also made zucchini squash bread using cupcake tins. I like to call the dish ZUCCHINI SQUASH CUPBREAD  This makes the bread easy to handle and easy to transport.  I like to send my guests home with goodie bags.  I always wrap a few in tinfoil and place them in the bags. I referred to my Better Homes and Garden New Cookbook when making these cupbread delights.  I followed the zucchini bread directions but made the following alterations:

• use 2 cups of thawed zucchini and squash shreds**, for every cup of zucchini requested
• add 50% more oil (if recipe requests a cup add an additional 1/2 cup of oil)
• add in dried fruit mixture chopped up into small pieces ( use anything from dried coconut to dried mango to dried plums)
• Cook cupcakes at recipe temperature for 15-18 minutes.
• an occasional combination - add in 1/2 cup of granola but follow recipe zucchini measurement when using the thawed zucchini squash shreds**.

** Last season I froze fresh (skin on) zucchini and squash shreds in the freezer.  I place 4 cups of fresh shreds in each Ziploc quart bag.  This season, I placed a bag on the counter to thaw. Once at room temperature, the water and shreds separate.  I drained the water from the shreds.  You now have 2 cups of shreds to add to your baking recipes.

We also had additional items to consume.  My mother made chili with our frozen tomatoes.  We served hot dogs and soy dogs to feature our zucchini relish, kosher pickles, dill pickles, and bread and butter pickles. I also made fresh Ginger-Spice Cucumbers with fresh cucumbers from the garden.

Fresh cut herbs make fragrant center pieces!

Bouquets of herbs were tied.  Food was eaten.  The Morrison Victory Garden was toured. Goodie bags were taken with full bellies and warm hearts.  The feast was a success!

My family and I had a great time with our friends and neighbors at this year's MVG Harvest BBQ. Thank you to everyone who came out to see our garden.  A big thanks to everyone who tried the variety of dishes on the tables.  I am getting better at cooking and hope to one day WOW you in the yummy tummy department.

This pie was gobbled up, mmmmmm.

A big thanks to Deloris for making a fabulous apple pie, with the apples from her apple tree! A big thanks to Esther for the ice cream and doggie treats!

Happy gardening, cooking and eating to all!