Tomato - King of the Garden

Mixed cherry tomatoes from Eckerton Hill Farm

It is tomato season.  We’ve waited all spring and summer and now, when the tomatoes ripened, it is not one or two, but dozens.  The trick is to find as many ways to use up these sun ripened beauties so they don’t 1. Go rotten on your counter (you do know tomatoes lose flavor if refrigerated?) and 2. Make you lose your desire to eat another one.  

This time of year also brings an abundance of fresh herbs, and basil is not the only one that works well with the sweet tanginess of tomatoes.  I purposely used other herbs to brighten up the acknowledged king of the summer garden.

With all that in mind, I have created recipes for an entire meal using tomatoes.  I have tried to create some unusual but easy to make dishes.  I want to also add that all recipes can be doubled for more servings. So let’s dive right in, appetizer to dessert using tomatoes.

Cherry Tomatoes with cream cheese filling.

4 oz. cream cheese at room temperature

2 tbsp. milk

Lemon zest from one lemon

⅛ tsp. nutmeg

2 tsp. chopped fresh dill leaves

Pinch of black pepper

Sea salt

1. Combine all ingredients above except for sea salt. 
2. Using larger round cherry tomatoes slice the tops off about ¼ of the way down.  You can also slice a tiny bit off the bottom to make the cherry tomato sit without rolling.
3. At this point you can either choose to put the cheese mixture on top, or squeeze out the seeds and hollow the tomato out and fill it.  You can use a pastry bag and tip to pipe the filling in.  Otherwise use a small spatula or knife to fill or top the tomato.
4. Place on serving plate and when all are filled, place in refrigerator to cool. 

 

To serve: sprinkle tops with sea salt.

If you don't keep roasted garlic in your refrigerator, you should.  Next time you heat up your oven, place a whole head of garlic in the hot oven.  Roasting takes about ten minutes, garlic is done when soft.  Roasted garlic provides a milder garlic experience in raw foods such as this soup.

Cold Avocado-Tomato soup

2 medium-large tomatoes

½ Haas avocado
1 large clove of roasted garlic

8 large basil leaves

⅛ tsp cumin
1 tsp salt

Pinch of pepper

4 tbsp. lime juice

¾ C. water

1. Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.
2. Pour into serving bowl and place in refrigerator to cool, about 2 hours.

Serve with tortilla chips and hot sauce.

 

Tomato with Radicchio Salad

¼ head of radicchio shredded

Several large beefsteak tomatoes

¼ C. balsamic fig vinegar

1 tbsp. chopped fennel leaves

½ tbsp. chopped basil leaves

1 tsp. salt

Black pepper to taste

Crumbled feta

Olive oil

1. In a small bowl, combine the shredded radicchio, vinegar, chopped fennel leaves, chopped basil leaves, salt and pepper. 
2. Place in refrigerator and let radicchio macerate for several hours.
3. Slice tomatoes into ½” slices and place one slice on serving plate. Cut the slices into sixths or eighths depending on the size of the tomato, so you end up with pie wedge shapes.
4. Spoon the radicchio and a bit of the vinaigrette over the tomato slices.
5. Drizzle with a small amount of olive oil.
6. Sprinkle with crumbled feta.

 Option: Quartered fresh figs make a lovely addition to this salad.

Fresh Tomato Pizza Casserole

4 medium-large tomatoes sliced in ¼” slices

4 oz. sliced mozzarella cheese

½ lb. of oyster mushrooms, sliced into ½ to ¾” pieces

8 slices of bread

Optional: cooked sausage slices, pepperoni, or tofu cut in ½" cubes

Olive oil

Seasoning mix:

            ½ C. grated Romano or Parmesan cheese

            2 tsp. dry oregano

            ½ tsp. salt

            ⅛ tsp. black pepper

            ½ tsp. garlic powder

            1 tbsp. dehydrated minced onion.

Preheat oven to 325º.

1. Combine ingredients for seasoning mix in a small bowl, mix well, and set aside.
2. In a deep baking pan, sprinkle a bit of olive oil
3. Place four slices of bread in a single layer, don’t worry about gaps.
4. Place a layer of tomato slices and sprinkle with 1/3 of the season mix.
5. Add meat or tofu if using.
6. Add mushrooms.
7. Place a layer of cheese over all.
8. Repeat these layers once more.
9. Finish with a layer of tomatoes sprinkled with the last third of the seasoning mix.
10. Place pan in preheated oven and bake for 45 minutes.

As with pan pizza, this casserole is delicious cold too! 

Some notes:  I made this with gluten-free bread which did a great job soaking up the liquids from the tomatoes.  Use a good Italian bread to achieve the same result.

I use organic spices from Mountain Rose Herbs and my own homemade garlic powder in the seasoning mix, but you could use fresh minced garlic and onions if you prefer them. 

Dessert!

Chocolate Tomato Ice Cream

½ C. Half and Half

1 pint plain tomato sauce (I used homemade from last year)

1 oz. unsweetened chocolate

½ C. agave syrup

¼ tsp. cinnamon

¼ tsp. medium hot red pepper powder (optional)

1. Taste your tomato sauce, it probably doesn't need any salt, but I can mine with a minimum amount, so I added ½ tsp. of salt to mine.
2. Warm the half and half in a saucepan on the stove over a medium heat or in a bowl in the microwave to 100º.
3. Add the chocolate and let it melt.
4. When the chocolate is melted, add the rest of the ingredients combine well, and place in the refrigerator to cool.
5. When the mixture is cool, place it in an ice cream maker and follow the manufacturer’s instructions.
6. When frozen, move it to a sealable container and place it in the freezer to temper (harden).

So there it is.  I hope you find these recipes tasty, intriguing, and surprising fun for your palate.

Oyster Mushrooms from Primordia Farm 

I want to thank Primordia Farm for the mushrooms I used in the Fresh Tomato Pizza Casserole and Eckerton Hill Farm for the cherry tomatoes.  Thanks for your support!

I hope you enjoy these recipes and you may share them.  Please don't steal them, if you copy, please credit it them to me.  Thanks.

From the Garden to the Freezer … and more

Shoyo T Cucumber

Last year I planted a variety of cucumber that was new to me, Shoyo T.  It is a long Asian cucumber that has deep rippled skin and tends to curl into a ‘J’. This year I had two volunteer vines come up in a window box and instead of weeding them out, decided to transplant them into my new straw bale garden.  Much to my surprise, one is a Shoyo T cucumber.  I have harvested over two dozen cukes from this vine so far this year.  I have made them into salads for picnics, given many away, but here I am with still more on my hands, so time to experiment.

This summer being as hot as it has been, I keep thinking about cold desserts and you can’t get much cooler than frozen.  But that got me thinking, why wait to the end of the meal for a frozen treat?  So that got me thinking about those cucumbers.  This cucumber sorbet can be served as an appetizer, as a palate cleanser between courses, or as a cool finish to a meal.  I hope you will try it and enjoy a nice bit of summer cool.

Cucumber Sorbet

Enough cucumbers to make two cups of cucumber puree

1 large lemon

½ C. agave syrup

1. Peel cucumbers and slice lengthwise.  Remove any mature (hard) seeds.  Cut in pieces and place in blender or food processor and blend (process) until smooth.
2. Transfer to a bowl measuring until you have two cups.
3. Zest or grate the peel of the entire lemon, then juice it.  Blend the zest and juice into the cucumber puree.
4. Stir in ½ C. of agave syrup.
5. Place this mixture into an ice cream freezer and follow manufacture’s directions.  Alternately, put your bowl in the freezer.  Stir the mixture, carefully scraping the sides of the bowl, every ten minutes until the mixture is thick.
6. If you used an ice cream freezer, transfer to a sealable bowl, place in freezer, and freeze at least six hours.

Cucumber Sorbet in the ice cream maker

To serve, place a scoop in a small bowl.  You can sprinkle with freshly chopped mint or basil leaves or serve plain.

~~~~~

For my next frozen treat I turn to one of my favorite foods, cream.  The heat of this summer has had me craving ice cream, not a good thing while trying to lose weight!  Having this treat in the freezer, just a little bit takes the craving away.  Of course part of my justification is that I am eating it with fruit, so to some extent, it is healthy. (This is where the smiley face goes.)

Frozen Whipped Cream

1 pint heavy whipping cream

1 C. toasted filberts (hazelnuts)

¾ C. sugar or powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1. If you are using sugar, place it in a blender and grind until fine.  This requires stopping the blender and stirring the sugar until all has been ground.  If you are using powdered sugar add  ½  C. to the blender, set aside  ¼  C. of sugar, and proceed to step 3.
2. Remove ¼ C. of the sugar and set aside.
3. Add the filberts and  ¼  tsp. salt and grind into a crumbly paste.  Pour into a bowl and finish blending any sugar traces into the ground nuts.
4. In a large bowl combine the pint of heavy cream, the ¼ C. of sugar, and 1 tsp. vanilla extract.
5. Whip cream with a hand mixer until firm peaks form.  BE CAREFUL!  Don’t whip too long or you will turn it into sweet butter.
6. In a sealable bowl or container, alternate layers of the whipped cream and the nut mixture by spreading the whipped cream with a spatula and then sprinkling the nut mixture over the cream.  You should be able to get four layers of cream with three layers of nut mixture.
7. Cover your bowl or container and place in freezer. 
8. Let freeze for at least four hours.

To serve put a small scoop on top of berries, or sliced peaches, or float a scoop in a bowl of cold fruit puree.  Or serve with shortbread cookies, sponge cake, or angel food cake.

 Alternatives: 

Substitute toasted pecans or peanuts for the filberts.

Use almond meal mixed with ¼ C. agave syrup and ¼ tsp. almond extract.

Add melted chocolate to any of the nut mixtures.

I hope you enjoy these recipes and you may share them.  Please don't steal them, if you copy, please credit it them to me.  Thanks.  Sandy Britland

Exotics in the Zone 6 Garden

In my last post I shared a recipe that included olives and capers.  These Mediterranean exotics can’t be grown in my humid zone 6.  Thomas Jefferson, during his time in Europe, was so excited about olive trees he brought young trees back to Monticello in hopes of developing an economically viable crop for farmers here in the United States.  Needless to say, his efforts failed.  Of course that was before Texas, Arizona, and California were part of the nation.  My point here is that we have to face the fact that we can’t grow everything we’d want to use in our food preparation.  Even creating microclimates in our gardens won’t work due to the extremes of temperature and humidity.

But that doesn’t mean that we can’t grow some exotics!  In my garden I grow Lemon Grass and Ginger in pots.  I also grow Bay Laurel and enjoy the freshest peppery taste of bay leaves in my cooking.  All three of these plants thrive in the hot humid zone 6 summers, and at the end of the season, I place them under a bank of shop lights in the cool basement, cut back on water, and wait patiently for the warm weather to return.  In spring, I thin, prune, harvest, repot if necessary, and out they go into the garden again.  Of course during the course of the summer, I use all three of these plants fresh.  Pulling a stalk of lemongrass or a few bay leaves is fine and if you are very careful, you can harvest the ginger without lifting the whole plant.

Bay Laurel

Lemongrass

Ginger

OK, if you are living in zones where these grow without having to deal with super cold winters, these may not be exotics to you, but maybe this idea will be, so enjoy!

What do I suggest to do with these exotics?  There are so many recipes out there using all three, I am going to suggest a new direction: summer coolers!

Here is a recipe to make base syrup for drinks, plus a few ideas on how to use them.  And one more tip: once you have made the base for each of these, you can freeze them in ice trays and use them to cool other drinks. 

Lemongrass, ginger, bay leaves

Base Flavor 1: 24 fresh bay leaves or

Base Flavor 2: 2 stalks fresh lemongrass cut once lengthwise and then into 1” lengths

Base Flavor 3: 2 tbsp. grated fresh ginger

For each flavor, bring two cups of water to a boil in a non-reactive pan.  

Add one of the above prepared plant matter to the water and remove from the heat. 

To keep the flavor fresh and bright, DO NOT BOIL. 

Let brew for 5 minutes. 

Strain out the plant matter and add ¼ to ½ cup of sugar to your taste.

Drink Ideas:

1.  Pour ¼ C. of the Bay base syrup over ice in a glass, fill with lime seltzer, and two drops of orange blossom water.
2. Pour ¼ C of the Lemongrass base syrup over ice in a glass and fill with peach or mango nectar.
3.  Pour 2 tbsp. of the Ginger base syrup over ice in a glass and fill with apple or carrot juice.
4. Pour 1 tbsp. of the Ginger base and 2 tbsp. of the Lemongrass base over ice in a glass and fill with lemon or plain seltzer and two drops of rose water.
5. Pour ¼ C of the Lemongrass base syrup over ice in a glass, add fresh crushed raspberries and lemon seltzer.
6. Add any of the above syrup bases to taste to an iced glass of black tea.
7. Add any of the above syrup bases to taste to your favorite mixed drink.
8. Add any of the above syrup bases to taste to white wine and add a splash of unflavored seltzer.

As you can see, there are many possibilities.  And this winter, you can add the syrup to your hot drinks too.  Think of Lemongrass or Ginger in hot chocolate.  Or Bay in hot tea.

Be creative and Enjoy!

If you want more info about growing ginger, try this site.

http://www.gardenguides.com/68331-grow-ginger-plants.html

  

Harvest Time

I haven't posted here in about a year.  So many things take me away from the things I want to do.  All of them good of course!  I switch from craft to art to music to gardening to travel, there are too many wonderful things to do in this world.  So this is my attempt to make my posting easier and more frequent. 

Rutgers Tomato 

It is harvest time here in eastern PA.  Tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, corn, peaches are all ripening filling our market stands and farmers markets with an abundance of locally grown produce.  My small back yard is also producing food for the table, I harvested my first Rutgers tomatoes this weekend.


So with all this fresh produce coming in, this is my attempt to help use it deliciously. 



The following recipe can be served hot or cold, but I really recommend that you follow the recipe, including the chilling part, and reheat it if you want it hot.

I made this in my toaster oven and so used the small pan, (9"x9"), that came with it.  This is a lazy cook recipe, so don't worry if the ingredients are not distributed evenly in the pan when you start!

Eggplant Appetizer 

Eggplant Appetizer

3 C. eggplant cut into 3/4” pieces
1/3 C. green pepper cut in 1/2” pieces
1 sm. onion, chopped
3 sm. cloves of garlic, crushed
1 tsp. minced jalapeno pepper
2 tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped
about 12 sun dried tomatoes, chopped
1 1/2 tbsp. small capers
1/2 cup olives; black, green, or mixed, chopped
1/4 C. olive oil
salt and black pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 325°.

Pour 2 tbsp. of olive oil into the baking pan.

Layer vegetables and herbs in pan as you chop them, reserving half the eggplant for the top layer.

When all the ingredients are in the pan, including the last layer of eggplant, sprinkle the last 2 Tbsp. of olive oil and salt and pepper over the top and place the pan in the oven.

Let roast for 1/2 hour, then take the pan out of oven and stir the vegetables.

Redistribute so they are in an even layer in the pan, and return to the oven.

Repeat stirring in 1/2 hour.

Roast for an additional half hour (total roasting time 1 1/2 hours), then remove from the oven and pack tightly into a glass pint canning jar.

Cover loosely and let cool to room temp. This allows the moisture to distribute evenly.

Place in refrigerator and let chill overnight.


Use this over cold pasta or spread on crusty bread.

I hope you enjoy this recipe, and please note, although it is pictured in a canning jar, I have not tried to can it, and have no directions for doing so.

More recipes to come....