Week 11 - Watering, Helping and Eating Bulgarian Dishes

Hot and dry weather. Climate crisis! Floods and wildfire are spreading everywhere in Bulgaria as well. Humans never saw that kind of tragedy in the millennium. There is a chance to solve it with permaculture techniques and polyculture.   

This week passed with watering, cleaning the channels, helping the Shipka celebration, eating with the elderlies, and making a permaculture base map.

Melissa officinalis - Lemon balm is quite tasty with fruit and salad. This herb is a commonly grown household remedy with a long tradition as a tonic remedy that raises the spirits and lifts the heart. It helps dramatically in the treatment of herpes. The infusion oil being used to calm the central nervous system and are vigorously antispasmodic. It is used to relax and to make younger, especially in cases of depression.

Rubus fruticosus - Blackberries are spread by animal droppings. These berries are full-packed with vitamins. They often spring up in burnt-over, abandoned land and make marvelous pioneer species. The young root should require boiling for eating. The blackberries leaves are usually used in herbal tea blends. Young shoots are harvested in the spring, peeled, and then eaten in salads.

 

 

We prepared amazing tomato Cannings with Monka, Angeline, and the Kuckin family. Their little dog Garry was quite scared of all of us and in the end, he used to us. I thought would be nice to walk with him in the garden. However, Garry escaped and we searched him and his chain was loose. So he came himself to home. They asked spontaneously if we would like to eat with them. Kuckin's love of food was incredible. How he described and made the salad was indescribable. They made stuffed pepper rice in the oven, sausage, Bulgarski salad. For sure, the family served watermelon, homemade rakia, wine, and beer. Their garden was huge and feeding all the family members all the year. I enjoyed them a lot by their company.

Canning Tomatoes Instructions(1)

1. Fill a large saucepan two-thirds full of hot water to boil.
2. Fill boiling water bath canner half-full of hot water. Put canner on to heat.
3. Examine jars and sealing surfaces to make sure that all surfaces are smooth. Wash jars and sealers (rims) in hot, soapy water. Rinse well. Leave jars in hot water until needed.
4. Put lids (flats) in a saucepan filled with water, and place on stove to simmer until needed.
5. Select just enough tomatoes for one canner load. Make sure tomatoes are fresh, firm, and red ripe. Wash tomatoes and drain. Put in a wire basket, and lower into boiling water in the second large saucepan. Remove after about 60 to 90 seconds, or when the skin begins to crack. This depends upon the size of tomatoes – smaller varieties may only take 30 seconds.
6. dip tomatoes into cold water. Cut out cores and remove skins. You can cut them in half or four pieces according to their size. 
7. Remove 1 jar from hot water and drain.
8. Add 2 tablespoons of bottled lemon juice to each quart jar. If using pint jars, use 1 tablespoon lemon juice.
9. Pack hot tomatoes into the jar, leaving 1.5 cm headspace. Pour hot cooking liquid over tomatoes, leaving 1.5 cm headspace. Add 1 teaspoon canning salt to each quart jar (half teaspoon for pint jars).
10. Run a nonmetallic spatula between tomatoes and jar to release any trapped air bubbles. Wipe the top and threads (the screw threads at the rim) of the jar with a clean, damp cloth.
11. Using tongs, remove 1 lid from simmering water and place it flat on top of a jar so the sealing compound is against the jar. Screw band down evenly and firmly.
12. Repeat steps 10 and 11 with all jars. As each jar is filled, stand it on a rack in a canner of hot, not boiling, water, which should cover jars by 2.5 to 5 cm. (Add additional water if necessary.) Put the cover on the canner, and bring water to a boil.
13. Process quarts for up to 45 minutes (40 minutes for pints) at a gentle but steady boil.
14. Using tongs, carefully remove jars from the canner and set them on a wood or cloth surface, placing jars several inches apart and out of drafts. Do not retighten bands. Allow jars to cool for about 12 hours.
15. Remove bands (rims) and test seal. Wash the outside jar surface. Store in a dry, dark, and cool place.

Shopska Salad

 4 medium tomatoes, chopped

4 green onions, sliced

1 cucumber, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

¼ cup parsley, chopped

1 teaspoon sea salt

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

¼ cup Olive oil

15-20 kalamata or black olives, pitted and sliced in half

1 cup feta cheese, crumbled

In a bowl, combine tomatoes, cucumber, green onions, green and red bell peppers, parsley, salt, pepper, vinegar, and olive oil. At the end mix well without smashing Kuckin's tip. Garnish with olives and feta cheese. Dobŭr apetit!

 

Captured by klukarnika

Finally, we visited Koprinka dam, it's been great to refresh off with friends' company and good food, an amazing local place in Shipka.

(1) https://farmflavor.com/lifestyle/canning-tomatoes/

(2)https://cookingtheglobe.com/bulgarian-shopska-salad-shopska-salata/

Stay tuned for more 

This was brought to you by Ruhsar