Tomato, Rice and Cucumber Salad

A simple and healthy rice salad dinner recipe made with tomatoes and cucumbers from the backyard edible garden, some left-over albacore tuna and thinly sliced pork belly.

Video on YouTube on the link below...

Mediterranean Chicken With Garden Tomatoes and Basil

A colorful tomato harvest for dinner with chicken, basil and kalamata olives. Seasoned with a pinch of salt, a good cracking of black peppercorns and a teaspoon of smoked paprika. Yum!

Video on YouTube, link below...

Shakshouka With Homegrown Tomatoes

Summer weekends are for lazing away like eating breakfast and lunch together. For today's brunch, I prepared a Mediterranean dish called Shakshouka made of the juiciest and sweetest homegrown tomatoes and homegrown bell pepper, seasoned with paprika, cumin, a sprinkle of salt and freshly-cracked black peppercorns. Simmered for about 20 minutes, then I cracked three eggs and then I topped the shakshouka with homegrown herbs - shiso leaves and chives. Also on the table are some homemade aebleskiver, homegrown apples and nectaplums and coffee. 

Video on YouTube and link below...

Backyard Apple Picking For A Picnic In Malibu

Ah, finally it's weekend! We've been homebound all week and it's time to breathe some fresh salt air from the ocean. So off we went to Malibu Bluffs Park, spread out the blankets and ate our picnic. The picnic - apples and tomatoes from our backyard edible garden, sandwiches from an Italian deli and some sliced watermelon.

Video on YouTube, link on profile

Summer Harvest Au Gratin

This evening's backyard edible garden haul for a perfect weeknight recipe - SUMMER HARVEST AU GRATIN. I picked different varieties of tomatoes, eggplant, and zucchini. They were sliced along with ham steak, topped with freshly-grated parmesan cheese and cooked on a Le Creuset baking dish on a 350-degree pre-heated oven for 30 minutes. The zucchini and eggplant got a head-start on the pan. The lavender was placed onto a glass half-filled with water and the nectarine will be eaten tomorrow..

Video on YouTube, link below...

Grapes and Tomato Harvest for Dinner

Summer is a season of bounty! For last night's dinner, my little knight in shining armor and I harvested some vine-ripened grapes, sun-kissed tomatoes and delicious peaches from our backyard edible garden. Then on to the kitchen to prepare dinner - silk snapper, seasoned and broiled and tomatoes turned into salad with salted eggs.

Apple Picking in Los Angeles and Making Apple Pie

Apple season kicks off early in our backyard garden with some harvest turned into an apple pie. We picked the apples, peeled off the skin, then sliced. A sprinkle of cinnamon, nutmeg and ground ginger and a cup of caramel sauce. Then on to an apple pie dish lined with a crust, a lattice on top and on to a 425 F pre-heated oven for 15 minutes, then 350 F for another 45 minutes. Our Homemade apple pie with backyard apples is ready. A dollop of ice cream on top.... yum!

Video on YouTube, link below...

Nectaplum Harvest From A Small Backyard Garden in Los Angeles

Our nectaplum backyard harvest - the first of the season - turned into our favorite summer treat. Nectaplum is a cross between nectarine and plum. It is hybrid, but non-GMO since it was done through the old-fashioned way of pollinating by hand. Happy summer!

Video on YouTube, link below...

Steak, Tomato Salad and Baked Potatoes On 4th Of July

On the 4th of July, we harvested some tomatoes, berries and herbs for lunch. We had grilled porterhouse steak with rosemary, baked potatoes with chives and garden tomatoes with basil. Happy Independence Day everyone! Let us take a moment to remember all those who have given the ultimate sacrifice so that we may live free. God bless America... our home sweet home!

Video on YouTube, link below...

Panzanella with Homegrown Tomatoes & Homemade Ciabatta

Just a few steps away from our kitchen is our edible garden where I picked different varieties of tomatoes that I used for our panzanella. Panzanella is a tomato and bread salad from Tuscany. For the bread, I used the ciabatta that I left in the oven a little longer than I should the other day. The ciabatta and some tomatoes were sliced into cubes. The cherry ones were sliced in half. A drizzle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, then topped with basil chiffonade. And there goes our colorful panzanella. In the second half of the video, I showed clips of how I made the ciabatta as well as pandesal. Pandesal is a Filipino version of dinner rolls.

Video on YouTube, link below...

Breakfast In The Garden With Backyard Harvest

One of the great things about summer is the endless bounty of fruits and vegetables in the backyard garden -- like the donut peaches that are dropping off the tree. So on my summer day off, I picked some of them along with a handful of blueberries, raspberries and a lone strawberry for our breakfast while I listened to the birds sing their morning song.. The berries and the peaches all came together on a shredded pancake which was carried back to the backyard garden and eaten under the shade of a fig tree.

Video on YouTube, link below..