Not to sound 'punny' here, but, the way I started re-growing herbs and vegetables in our kitchen happened quite organically.
She-Ra and I were shopping for dinner one night at our local
market a while ago and I picked up a bunch of green onions and put them in the
basket. Not too sure what we were making but apparently it involved scallions
of some kind. Anyway, from out of nowhere, this kind but very obvious hippie
lady sees me doing this and just says:
“You know you can re-grow green onions from the white ends
you cut off and usually throw away. Just put it in water and it just sprouts
back up. It's pretty cool.”
Um, okay. Thanks for that. Luckily she didn’t try to engage
me in some conversation about how sad she is that Phish no longer is together
or the fact that I could not detect one scent of the usual patchouli aroma that
wafts over those with blonde dreads named Karma and has investments in the
Birkenstock corporation. Nope, just a nice if not a little strange woman with
some helpful tips on how to regrow food. Alright. Maybe I'll try it someday.
 |
| Regrown lettuce from scraps |
That night, after much chopping and eating, I saved the lil
nubs of green onion, got an unused shot glass, filled it with water and dropped
the bulbs in. Then I put it in the kitchen windowsill and forgot about it.
That is until a few days later, I open the sash to find
that, yes indeed!, the green onions were regenerating itself. It was amazing. I
had never thought about that before nor have I heard about it. And this coming
from the chef era Metal Mark where I was engulfed and covered in food all day
everyday...well, at least on a professional level. Now I just take that food
engulfment and write about it. But still! And after a few days I had enough
green stem goodness to use in another dish.
The results of that regrowing of the scallion was superb.
The taste was pure and electric; sizzling with tiny particles of Allium
perfection, with a toothsome crunch and a mild spice on the tongue. After that,
I was hooked.
Soon after I began looking into what I could and could not
grow in old wine, champagne and shot glasses. Being married to a bartender, you
tend to accrue such items in your pantry and bar cabinet. Seeing as we are not
big (if at all) wine and champagne drinkers, I got the approval to go ahead and
use the vessels to aid in my strange fascination with growing things in our
small kitchen windowsill.
 |
| From nothing sprouts something... |
Okay. Some of the easy ones were always a success. Green
onions. Done. Just drop the white ends with the hairy bits (that sounded crude
right?) into a glass of water where just the top nib of the bulb just peeks out
from the surface. Boom. In a few days you have a usable green onion again. So
cool.
 |
| Green Onions about two days in just water |
 |
| Same Green Onions a day or two later... |
Because the green onion was so simple I tried leaving the
already cultivated bulb in the water to see if it would do it again. Yeah, not
so much. I guess the scallions have one good push in them and then it's time
for the bin or mulch. Sometimes they would perk up but it was a far less great
experience than the first shoot that would emerge.
It was around this time that I began my research on
regrowing food from scraps. Turns out there was a ton of things that
regrow itself organically. Fennel for one.
Here's the thing: we don't use fennel in a lot of dishes.
Actually, the last time I used fennel was when I was a pizza chef and it was
for this Venetian sausage dish that didn't go over well with the customers so
it was scratched after a month or so. Being in the same family as the carrot,
it made sense that fennel would simply revitalize itself with a little help
from the dude that chopped it up just a moment ago. Turns out that carrot tops
will keep sprouting if you hover the ends in water and once the tiny carrot
nibblet is visible, you can take that to the garden, plant it and, bingo, you
got a carrot farm going on kid.
Now, you might be reading this going, “Yo, Metal Mark. This
is cooking and gardening 101. I've been doing this crap for years. Get back to
eating tacos and insulting D list celebrity cookbooks...”
Yes, I understand your concerns as this post isn't as
snarky or grandiose, but, honestly, from an amateur gardener's perspective and
as a big time eater and cook, this post is to just let everyone else out there
that you too can do this at home. Not everyone knows about regrowing veggies
from stuff you normally toss in the trash and forget about. Plus, now that I've
been doing it for a while I wanted to share what worked for me, what didn't and
some tips I learned along the way. Is that cool?
Sheesh...
 |
| Tasty, leafy sprout from a lettuce core |
The other item I have always had good luck with is lettuce.
Normally it’s advised that you use romaine or a good sturdy stock, but I have
had sproutlings from all sorts of lettuce varieties. Romaine, yes; just stick
the core end in some water and, kabloom, in a few short days that thing is
blooming tentacles of bright green goodness. Bibb lettuce usually works for me
as well, but because it's so delicate I haven't had much to harvest from the
regrowth. But the ends that I do gain are so succulent and grassy they make an
excellent topping to a salad or just a quick snack when you're working hard in
the kitchen. For me, lettuces such as Bibb or red and green leaf, works as a
palate cleanser of sorts. After a tart or spicy or a particularly overpowering
dish, it is always nice to pick a sprig off of the leafy tendril and after a
few chews over the tongue, you are ready to tackle the next culinary challenge
now that your taste buds have taken a bath of sorts.
Here's the thing: lettuce does not last very long in water.
Think about it. You've got a water based, fairly fragile food item just soaking
in sink water on your windowsill. What's going to happen? Yeah, the water turns
mucky and moldy and once that shoot is plucked clean it will not grow back.
Trust me here. I've left lettuces in water for weeks just to see what
happens. What happens is this:
 |
| Yuck! |
And, even more curious, this:
 |
| So odd... |
Weird huh? Little tufts of near dandelion springs just
opening up and chilling on the end of a once thought dead stick regrown from
the butt of a head of lettuce. Not really. It all makes sense once you do the
research and know the basics of vegetation and how things work within the
living food cycles. It's actually quite beautiful to me. I've left flowers
grown from lettuce and other varietals just because I thought the blooms were
kind of pretty. But then the smell begins, the wife complains and I have to
begrudgingly toss the fetid lot into the bin. Oh well. Fare thee well my fair-weather
leafy friend. You shall soon be replaced by yet another cousin of yours and
hopefully they too shall provide me with pleasure and nutrients.
Okay, enough with the rococo bullcrap, let's get down to
what else has worked for me.
 |
| Garlic is jammin'... |
Garlic. Oh yes. Now this is something I can get down
with. We use garlic in just about everything.
She-Ra being half Italian and me being, well, of British decent (which I
don't know how this parlays into the conversation here, but whatever...),
garlic is used in way too many dishes in our household. So when I found that
garlic can be regrown, I was both elated and strangely aroused at the prospect
of having garlic just popping up all over the place.
 |
| So yummy |
Now, with garlic, you don't get the usual bulb that you buy
in the store regrown. No. What you do here is, or rather what I've been doing,
is taking a garlic bulb that is beginning to sprout a little green buddy, take
that guy and put it in some good soil then using the green shoots in a lot of
Asian dishes. The bright green sprout from a head of garlic is so pungent and
fragrant that a little snippet of it goes a long way. Think a good brothy bowl
of pho infused with the stems of garlic or a green Thai curry tossed with a
decent chiffonade of the garlic sprig. So, so tasty. I'm pretty sure I once used the garlic shoot
in my breakfast cereal. Cocoa Pebbles and regrown garlic pith? Oh mais oui!
Makes the sugary garbage floating in milk so much more fragrant and bizarre.
I've also had decent success with celery.
 |
| Can't stop the celery... |
Celery, though, is a tough customer. Sometimes the top
greens just fly up and create a mass of reusable fronds that can be used in
cooking, or stocks or to be transferred to the garden for eventual harvest.
But, I don't know, it's always been a hit or miss for me. Celery really isn't meant to be contained in
a pint glass on my kitchen windowsill here in Tucson, AZ. But occasionally the
celery stalks will produce a relatively okay amount to be reused.
 |
| Regrowth celery roots... |
Although their family member, the leek, is a mofo! I have
had so much regrowth from the white chalky ends of leeks I can't even begin to
describe the good fortune with these guys. Leeks, in a bit of water and in a
bit of time, regrow with amazing abundance. The first morning I used a regrown
leek was in an omelet with some Gruyere cheese and baby heirloom tomatoes. It
was unreal. So tasty. Just a quick sauté of the leek greens with the tomatoes
and I was in lonely man brunch heaven. You can re-purpose the leeks in way too
many dishes to list here. I don't wanna bore you with some vast list here, just
use your skills and check your recipe books for anything involving leeks. Then
use the discarded ends for a savory dish later. You'll thank me in the end.
Trust me.
Other items that I haven’t gotten around to regrowing include
mushrooms, lemongrass and sweet potatoes. Apparently all of those regrow like
mad and hopefully in the near future I can try my hand at that project.
Here, once again, is the one real important factor when regrowing things on your
kitchen windowsill: PLEASE change the water as frequently as you can!
 |
| Keep your water clean kids! |
Here in Tucson, where temps get easily up into the 90s and
100s often, what I had to contend with was mosquito larvae. Blecch! For real, I
had to switch water on all of my experiments on an almost daily basis. You
really don’t want revolting insects in your food do you? No. That’s what I
thought. Plus the mossy build up begins to grind on the fertile roots that are
literally just submerged in tap water. Chemicals upon chemicals have a way of receding
the goodness that you want from that fresh green shoot that promises to delight
and entice.
Yet with all of the amazing success I have had, there have
also been major let downs. Remember me saying that sweet potatoes have a way of
coming back? Yeah, well apparently so do regular ol’ russet potatoes. Those
eyes that begin to cry hard, green mollusks when you leave them sitting around
too long? Yeah, if you plant them, apparently they begin to grow more potatoes.
Unfortunately for me, this is the progress that I have had the last few months:
 |
| Potato planted a few months ago |
 |
| Same potato taken this morning. Oh well.... |
See? Not much. Perhaps I’m doing it wrong, I don’t know,
but according to many websites I have visited and gardeners I have spoken to, this is the way
to do it. Maybe you’ll have better luck that I have or will. If so, get back to me and
let’s compare notes.
Also, regrowing certain lettuces outdoors result in this brown out:
 |
| Not happening... |
Maybe it’s the harsh desert climate, alkali in the dust or
something, that makes it stunt like this, but so far my success rate on the patio is near zilch. Not too sure why, but when I grow these
buggers indoors I have no problem.I guess it's the hothouse factor or something, even though we keep the air on at all times. Whatever..
Thing is, as Jeff Goldblum said in “Jurassic Park”:
And because of that, I think this project has been one of
my favorites so far concerning food. Since I’ve only been at it a few short
years I still have lots to learn and you better believe that I am in no way
shape or chloroform going to quit anytime soon. Sure our tiny kitchen
windowsill can sometimes look like a child’s science project gone horribly
wrong…because that’s precisely what it is! I just hope that I don’t discover a
plant/liquid combo that’ll cause some kind of abnormal combustion and blow up
the place.
No, wait… That’d be awesome!
Anyway, here are some websites you might want to peruse in
order to get you started:
And if you get started on this project, or are already doing
your own regrowth experiments, you can always share your pictures, notes and
tips by commenting here on this blog, or emailing me at: tucsonhomeskillet@gmail.com
Thanks for stopping by and reading The Tucson Homeskillet.
More good stuff is under way. For now, I have to tend to my strawberry tops
because they are turning the water red and producing some type of “foam”.
Well, you never know till you try.
Cheers!
 |
| Remember in "RED" when Bruce Willis was regrowing from an avocado seed? Yeah...that. |
Typing and Camera
Metal Mark
July 1, 2015
Metal Influence:
Bay Area neo- Black Metal outfit
BOTANIST
No comments:
Post a Comment