Garden Kitchen

Onions

(Photo LOF, salad onions)

White onions add a bit of crunch to tomatoe or green salads. They are a bit sweet and a bit spicy .
When the weather is hot and you don't feel like garlic in your vinagrette, use onions . You can read everywhere how good it is for your health.
However they are not great for your love life. Onions smell like onions.
So how can you eat a raw onion without the nasty side effects? 
Slice it and soak in vinegar for about 20 minutes before using it in your salad - it works. If your white onions resist - insist.
Note : This method can not be used for dirty socks.

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Curly endive and cracklings salad

(Photo LOF - Curly endive and cracklings - and after the ordeal its still crisp)
Contemporary genetics reveals the existence of  the first domestication of pigs in the 9th millennium BC. The domestication of chicory (Cichorium intybus) and its cousin the dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) is dated by archaeologists in the 5th millennium. These dates are not confirmed by geneticists, which gives jcp and I room to doubt that humanity could have roamed around for 5 milleniums before developping curly endive. 

Cut the curly endive in 3cm strips.
Put black pepper, Dijon white wine mustard, a crushed clove of garlic and some very good portuguese vinager in a salad bowl. Add the curly endive on top - no salt and no oil. Don't toss the salad yet. 

(Photo LOF - salted pork bacon)

Cut the salted pork bacon into 0.5cm cubes, let them melt in a large skillet, on low heat, stirring from time to time. It is not at all the same if you use normal bacon or smoked bacon. 
The purpose of cooking it on low heat is to get hot liquid fat and small crisp cracklings.
Be sure that the table is set because between the time the liquid fat touches the curly endive and the moment you eat it should not be more than 10 seconds.
Use wooden salad servers (because they have to live through the torture of boiling oil)
Pour the liquid fat and cracklings over the salad, it should sissle. Toss the salad and then put some of it into the skillet for a few seconds, then back in the bowl.
Toss well. Serve. It is absolutely delicious. I know it sounds really fatty but it tastes wonderful on a cool day, crisp salad (yes it should still be crisp) and crunchy cracklings.ummm
(Photo LOF - cracklings)

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Purslane salad

(Photo LOF - Purslane)
Purslane, now there is a plant for a gardener-cook.
Purslane has got to be the most persistant "weed" that exists here in an Alentejo garden. Everyone who comes to the garden (when it is full of purslane and I'm complaining) says ah but you know it makes an excellent soup. I mean how many times can you possibly eat purslane soup - no matter how good it is. This weed makes crab grass look like a kid.
There is purslane and then there is our friend Yesims Turkish purslane - another story entirely. The Turkish seeds have been feeding us for 2 years, it is a much larger leafed plant and its tastier and it doesn't bolt.
Serve chilled with a yoghurt, salt and garlic sauce. Its crunchy, fresh ... 
And about purslane soup - we'll talk about it some other day.
(Photo LOF - Purslane salad)

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