Kay Wheeler Moore

Welcome to my blog

Hello. . .

The Newfangled Country Gardener is for anyone who has a garden, would like to have a garden, or who simply enjoys eating the garden-fresh way. I don't claim to be an expert; in this blog I'm simply sharing some of the experiences my husband and I have in preparing food that is home-grown.

About the author

Kay Wheeler Moore is the author of a new cookbook, Way Back in the Country Garden, that features six generations of recipes that call for ingredients that are fresh from the garden. With home gardening surging in popularity as frugal people become more resourceful, this recipe collection and the stories that accompany it ideally will inspire others to cook the garden-fresh way and to preserve their own family food stories as well. The stories in this book center around the Three Red-Haired Miller Girls (Kay's mother and aunts) who grew up in Delta County, TX, with their own backyard garden so lavish that they felt as though they were royalty after their Mama wielded her kitchen magic on all that was homegrown. Introduced in Kay's previous book, Way Back in the Country, the lively Miller Girls again draw readers into their growing-up world, in which a stringent economic era--not unlike today's tight times--saw people turn to the earth to put food on the table for their loved ones. The rollicking yarns (all with recipes attached) have love, family, and faith as common denominators and show how food evocatively bonds us to our life experiences.

Monday, March 21, 2011

Southwest Skillet Corn and Zucchini makes wearin'-o-the-green a multicultural event

Son-in-law’s birthday lunch time had rolled around; of course something Irish had to be at the top of the menu list. With a birthday just two days after St. Patrick’s Day and with an Irish family heritage, son-in-law would always and forever be linked with the wearin’-o-the-green (his signature color, by the way). So without a doubt the legendary Irish recipe, Shepherd’s Pie, had to be the entree of choice. (I’ll blog about that recipe tomorrow.)

To make it a muticultural event, however (his wife did happen to be a Spanish scholar), I added a few dishes of other ethnic origins. Southwest Skillet Corn and Zucchini was a form of the Latin dish Calabacitas that I found while I performed an Internet search for something to create using fresh corn off the cob (www.seriouseats.com yielded this recipe for me). This dish almost outranked the wow! birthday dessert (to be featured later this week as well) in terms of popularity.

Southwest Skillet Corn and Zucchini involved sauteing the fresh corn, sliced zucchini, and chopped onion in a small amount of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat until the veggies started to brown. I added green chilies and garlic powder and then poured in 5 ounces chicken broth (either canned low-sodium broth or homemade). I simmered until the veggies were tender and then covered all with shredded cheese.

This made a dandy side dish that was colorful and flavorful and fresh-tasting. As I write this, I look toward my burgeoning early spring garden and envision the now-level brown dirt spot that’s been reserved for the corn ears. Before too many weeks we’ll be picking our own fresh corn ears when we want to replicate this winner of a birthday-lunch dish. Hooray!

Southwestern Skillet Corn and Zucchini

8 ears fresh corn
2 small zucchini, chopped
1 small onion, cut up
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
green chilies to taste (I used 1 tablespoon)
5 ounces chicken broth
salt (or salt substitute) and pepper to taste
3/4 cup grated Cheddar cheese

Steam corn until almost done; cut kernels from cob. In medium skillet heat olive oil; add corn kernels, zucchini, and onion. Cook until onion is translucent and veggies start to brown. Add garlic powder, green chilies, chicken broth, salt, and pepper. Simmer until vegetables are tender but firm, about 15 minutes, and liquid is almost evaporated. Top with grated cheese. (Just before I spread on the grated cheese, I transferred the veggies into a serving dish.) Makes 6 servings.



1 comment:

  1. Made this for dinner tonight; used fresh, frozen corn since I didn't have fresh, garden corn! Was delicious!!!

    ReplyDelete