Tasty Tuesday

In an effort to celebrate the reason behind 3 Billy Goats Bluff, we will begin to celebrate the seasonal foods we enjoy. Our little business began as an outlet for high-quality, naturally grown meat goats. We are now gearing up to have farm fresh, chemical free produce next season.

Thanks in advance to an old friend, Annette, for this recipe for tasty rhubarb muffins. Those are moist, dense and super delicious with a fantastic balance between the tangy rhubarb and the brown sugar sweetness.

Combine well:
1.5 cups brown sugar
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg, beaten
1 cup sour milk
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla

Then add:
2.5 cups flour
1.5 cups chopped rhubarb

Fill muffin cups 2/3 full. This is too moist and dense to dome up or make fluffy muffin tops. Combine 1/3 cup white sugar and 1 Tbsp. melted butter. Sprinkle sugar/butter mixture over muffin batter in cups. Bake at 350 F for 20-25 minutes. Makes 24-30 muffins. Enjoy!

Asparagus Season

We have been lured into the family business – asparagus. Rick’s dad has been operating a small asparagus farm in the Yakima Valley for about 15 years. It is his retirement project. This year Rick and The Horde (aka my kiddos) went down over spring break to help set up the irrigation system and plant new crowns in the nursery patch. The lifespan of asparagus is about 15 years. The nursery is intended to produce stock to rejuvenate the primary field, which is approximatley 7 acres in size.

The Horde returned home with a bag full of crowns for our garden space! What a fabulous suprise. The crowns grow together in giant, many tentacled clusters. Rikard gave us all a quick lesson in how to “pinch” them apart and carefully untangle the roots. Some of these clusters came apart into five or more individual crowns. Basically, you search until you find an asparagus shoot and break them apart between shoots.

Then, you set the crowns, right side or pointed side up, into the trench. Spread the tentacles or roots out as much as possible. Asparagus prefers to be planted about 18″ deep and covered with rich soil, compost and lime.

Father-in-law sent home two 20-lbs flats of asparagus for me to put away for winter. I took about 15 lbs, blanched and froze it for winter eating. I prefer asparagus spears to be fresh and lightly steamed or grilled. I’m not a fan of canned or frozen spears, as the process makes them soft, soggy, mushy. However, I do freeze asparagus and use in throughout the winter to add to vegetable soups, pasta sauces and casseroles. I also enjoy making cream of asparagus soup.

Pickled asparagus is by far our favorite way to enjoy this treat year round!