5 minute read
GARDEN
Starting indoors
Sow seeds for heat-loving, slow-growing vegetables indoors about eight weeks before the soil is warm enough to plant them outside. Go to BHG.com/ SeedStarting for all the basics on growing from seeds.
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EGGPLANT
Eggplant comes in a surprising number of varieties. And they’re not all purple. OUR PICKS Japanese White Egg, an Asian variety, bears 2- to 3-inch white oval fruits, a good size for stir-frying. Rosa Bianca is an Italian heirloom prized for its lavender color and mild flavor. Patio Baby is a prolific producer, yielding a few dozen small purple fruits on a single dwarf plant. Try it in a pot.
TOMATO
Heirloom varieties and unusual new hybrids offer almost every color of the rainbow and a delicious array of flavors. OUR PICKS Orange Zinger is a crack-resistant variety. Fruits are both sweet and citrusy. Fantastico offers high yields of sweet red cherry tomatoes. Red Zebra is a gorgeous heirloom with red skin and orange stripes. The 3-inch fruits have outstanding flavor.
PEPPER
Branch out from the usual bell pepper with a wider range of sweetness and heat. OUR PICKS NuMex Easter is a hot new chile pepper. Fruits go from lavender to pale yellow to bright orange-red. Mama Mia Giallo offers stunning yields of 7- to 9-inch-long fruits that are golden when ripe. Sweet Sunset is a new banana type that bears loads of crisp, mild fruits that ripen to red.
SEED SOURCES
BHG garden editor Jane Miller picks her favorite online catalogs:
BAKER CREEK HEIRLOOM SEEDS rareseeds.com
BURPEE burpee.com
JOHNNY’S SELECTED SEEDS johnnyseeds.com
RENEE’S GARDEN SEEDS reneesgarden.com
SEED SAVERS EXCHANGE seedsavers.org
THE COOK’S GARDEN cooksgarden.com
SET SEEDLINGS BY A SUNNY WINDOW OR 2 INCHES UNDER FLUORESCENT LIGHTS.
A RAISED BED WITH LOOSENED SOIL AMENDED WITH COMPOST IS IDEAL FOR SEEDLINGS.
Direct sowing
Certain seeds sprout and grow so quickly that you gain little by starting them indoors. Root crops such as carrots and beets don’t like to be transplanted because their taproots are fragile when young. Sow these directly in the ground.
CORN
Sweet corn is plentiful and inexpensive in high season, so use garden space for rarer varieties that are both edible and ornamental. OUR PICKS Strawberry corn is popular for fall decor, and it’s delicious when popped. Field of Dreams has attractive striped foliage and small but flavorful popped kernels. Sugar Pearl is a sweet, early-maturing corn with all-white kernels.
LETTUCE
Though lettuce can be started indoors, most sow this cool-season crop directly in the ground as soon as soil is workable. OUR PICKS Little Gem is a cold- and heat-tolerant mini romaine. Each head is a single serving. Lollo Rosso is a cut-and-comeagain looseleaf type with ruffled burgundy leaves. Four Seasons, or Merveille des Quatre Saisons, is a French heirloom Bibb with pink-tinged leaves.
SQUASH
Choose among nearly endless forms and colors. Many squashes are as decorative as they are delicious. OUR PICKS Honey Nut is a personal-size baby butternut type for small gardens and single servings. Grow vines on a trellis. White Wonder is a mild-flavored acorn squash prized for its long storage qualities. Costata Romanesco is an Italian heirloom zucchini with an unusual ribbed pattern and nutty flavor.
CUCUMBER
Let vigorous vines ramble over the ground or climb up a trellis to save space. Bush types can be grown in containers. OUR PICKS Lemon is an heirloom that bears pale yellow fruits the size of lemons. Mexican Sour Gherkin resembles tiny watermelons. Plus, it’s a good size for snacking and pickling. Bush Slicer is a compact variety that will be happy growing in a pot. The 6- to 8-inch fruits are sweet and crisp. Q
SPOON ON A HEART OF WHISPERPINK WHIPPED CREAM FOR VALENTINE’S DAY.
food
FOOD STYLING: GREG LUNA; PROP STYLING: SUE MITCHELL
CRAVINGS
CHOCOLATE PUDDING
Sometimes you just want a little something sweet and familiar. Remember the last time you had a homemade bowl of this easy American classic? We couldn’t either, but suddenly it was exactly what we wanted to make and eat. So we whipped up this rich and extra-dark-chocolaty version. Go ahead, grab a spoon. Recipe, page 117.
how to cook BOLOGNESE
In our new monthly column, we take a closer look at a historic, homey sauce that’s the ultimate winter comfort food.
BOLOGNESE (pronounced boh-luhn-yeyz to be absolutely correct) is more than just meat sauce. It’s one of the most versatile sauces in the kitchen. A lazy Sunday afternoon simmer develops the layered flavors into something more than its humble ingredients. Though there’s debate over what the traditional version is (even in the Northern Italian city of Bologna where it originated), most start with a few basics: meat, vegetables, and wine. Some include tomato, and others use milk or cream for more complexity. We gave our Bolognese a spin that will make it worth making again and again.
SERVING TIP: TOSS PASTA WITH A FEW TABLESPOONS OF BUTTER BEFORE SPOONING ON THE SAUCE.
BUILDING THE SAUCE
MEAT
Ground beef (we like 85 percent lean ground chuck) is the primary ingredient, but pork provides a bit of sweetness, and pancetta a smoky flavor. There will be a fair amount of fat. Remember: Fat is flavor! Any excess can always be skimmed at the end.
VEGETABLES
The most traditional recipes call for onion, carrot, and celery. We traded celery for fennel stems, which are similarly shaped but deliver a mellow anise flavor. We like our sauce to have texture, so don’t worry about precise chopping—rough will do.
WINE
Use any good dry wine that you’d be happy to serve with dinner. White wine melds right into the sauce, but you can also use red, which tends to give a slightly more assertive flavor.
MILK
Milk, which cooks away before the tomatoes are added, gives a layer of unexpected richness. But don't worry, this isn't a cream sauce.
TOMATOES
Some recipes call for tomato paste, but we prefer whole canned San Marzano tomatoes (Italian plum tomatoes that have a sweet flavor and low acidity). Cut into pieces, they fleck the sauce without overpowering it.
