broccoli stem pickles

As I've mentioned, I have a ton of broccoli plants with great big stems that honestly didn't produce much broccoli florets this year. So, I'm on to pickles. This week I'm going to pull all the plants and make pickles from the stems.

I'm going to do two different kinds of pickles; fermented dills and processed bread and butter. I've cobbled together some recipes that I think will work. Note that broccoli stems have the same vitamin content as the florets, and that the fermenting process doesn't destroy the vitamins and may actually enhance them.

( Fermented Broccoli Stem Dill Spears )

( Bread and Butter Broccoli Chunks )

tomato sauce

Here's my first ever batch of tomato puree from fresh garden tomatoes. It went well! I'm going to freeze this and make it into real sauce in a week or so.



I blanched the tomatoes and skinned them, and then chopped them and simmered them. After simmering for about an hour, I put them through a ricer to get the seeds out.



I think I had some 10 beefsteak tomatoes, and I'd say that I have about 1 1/2 quarts of thin puree.



I have plastic wrap covering the top of the puree. I'm letting them come to room temperature, and then I'll place them in the bottom of my freezer. Later tonight, I'll cap them with new lids and rings.

Hopefully I'll have time this weekend to make the paste, and then I'll mix up some sauce.