Tomatoes and Other Stuff (UPDATE!)

What again!  Not more tomato stuff!  

After washing, blanching, chopping, freezing and saucing what seemed like a bushel of tomatoes the other day, I still had a bunch of plum tomatoes sitting on the counter looking like they wouldn't last through the weekend.  I decided to oven roast (or dry) the few that remained - so, if you happen to have some Roma or Marzano (any plum variety) tomatoes sitting around, and you've made enough sauce or paste to last a millennium here's a way to use them up.

I'm really happy with the way these turned out - call them roasted or dried, they're worth fixing up this way.  I recommend you try at least one batch.   While it's true that there are many recipes on the internet to follow, I simply sliced my tomatoes length wise (3 slices per tomato making 4 pieces), and put them on a rack after I brushed them with olive oil and pressed garlic (a little salt and pepper helps too).  I prefer to finish them off with a slight drizzle of balsamic vinegar - although you can season them with many other herbs or spices depending on your taste. Again you will find many renditions of this process on the internet, and they all seem worth trying

Once they've been appropriately seasoned, put them in a 200 degree oven for about 4 hours (check every so often).  I like them fairly dry but a little gooey - slightly caramelized.  You can freeze them (will last for 3 months) or simply pop them in the frig (2-3 weeks).  Some cover them with olive oil put I don't know if that's necessary.

They are a delicious addition in sandwiches, any kind of pasta, dressings, pizza, scrambled eggs, etc., etc., etc.  They're fantastic to have around when you need a little extra something.

My Cup Runneth Over - Tomatoes and Other Stuff

I woke up this morning and couldn’t even make it through the second half of that incredible designer granola I’ve been touting.

My stomach was so stuffed from yesterday - when I devoured homegrown tomatoes, stuffed with fresh  tuna salad, and accompanied by a warm baguette of French bread. I had to eat it all when it was still warm and fresh, right?  

Then a little later that day there was the caprese salad with, again, fresh homegrown tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and basil and drizzled with olive oil and balsamic. This was, of course, the first course to a very delicious brined rosemary smoked chicken and then followed by blackberry pie ala mode.  I think the operative word to use here is “epic”! And it was. 

You may have notice a theme.  Fresh, fresh, and fresh – without a doubt September is the month when we are so overwhelmed with homegrown produce that we live in guilt ridden fear of watching it rot, knowing that we will never, never ever again, until next summer, eat homegrown tomatoes that taste this good or enjoy a warm fresh blackberry pie topped liberally with vanilla ice cream.  Which is true.

But there are other things to do with this stuff besides coming up with a new way to eat it now.  Especially the tomatoes.  They can be canned whole, made into sauce, paste, ketchup, conserve, salsa, pickled, dried, or frozen.  Did I overlook anything here? 

Having received a bounty of assorted tomatoes this week, I thought the easiest way to deal with my windfall was to blanch them, remove the skins, then dice and stuff them into plastic quart bags before popping them into the freezer.  

All of this, of course, took up much more time than I had thought when I started and requires many more bowls, pots, pans, and counter space.  Nevertheless - it’s all worth it – I put in a good days work, pacified my guilt and my glutinous tendencies, didn’t let them rot, and I have a freezer full of fresh tomatoes to use this Winter.

 

I still have some Roma's that I'll slice and dry in the oven, drizzled with garlic, olive oil and balsamic.  These guys are perfectly wonderful inside a panini or plan old grilled cheese sandwich, or incorporated in a salad, pasta and the list goes on and on.

But for tonight - it's pretty hot outside - the perfect evening for a salad with fresh flavorful tomatoes, a cool cucumber, colorful pungent red onion, kalamata olives and a little goat cheese.  Better enjoy them while their here!

Autumn - The Changing of the Guard

Now that we’re in the crossover season, I’ve been spending a lot of time cleaning up the garden - putting it to bed for the winter.  It seems to take you by surprise, this time of year, because just when you think things are winding down, there’s still so much left in the vegetable garden to pick and process.  If fact it can be the busiest time of the gardening season.  It took the tomatoes so long to ripen - we didn’t really have a good crop until September - and now we’ve got to quickly salvage what’s still on the vines (and there’s plenty) before the first frost.  Last week instead of canning them, I decided to blanch, peel, chop and then put them in quart freezer bags for the freezer.  This way I can do what I want with them later when I have so much more time (during those dreary nothing to do Winter months).

 

I took a drive out into the country and realized that October has become a boon for pumpkin and squash farmers.  Kind of like what u-cut Christmas trees are to Christmas tree farmers. Out at Heiser Farms on Grand Island,  it’s almost an amusement park with hayrides, a corn maze, a hay maze, little railroad station, fantastic pumpkin slide, pick your own pumpkins, and my favorite – pumpkin smashing.  Yes pumpkins smashing - the most mindless activity that is so astonishingly laughable (joyously funny!).  

This is the way it works – the pumpkins are shot out of cannons only to swoosh through the air (like cannon balls) and splat hundreds of yards away in the field.  And then you laugh and they do it again!  Heiser’s is open every weekend through October so you better get out there, pick you pumpkin, and watch the pumpkins splat.

Lastly, I can’t write about Autumn (Fall) without mentioning the stunning (dare I say kick-a--?) beauty of the trees and fall flowers.  You know the drill - patches of crimson, butterscotch,  creamy yellow, and burgundy leaves bursting forth in the last show of glory before the inevitable.  It’s the same routine every year, yet it never fails to thrill and inspire.

August - Favorite Things

Lately I’ve been reading a lot of blogs and notice that publishing lists of things for one reason or another is a useful and effective way of conveying to your audience things you want them to know about.

I kind of liked the idea and have decided to start making a list on a month by month basis of great stuff.  So here is my first list.  Included are links, when available, for additional information about the items. I hope you find some things in the list that you too enjoyed in August.  Let me know what you think.  I'd love to hear from you and know if you have a "favorite" thing about August.

Favorite Things ~ August (it's a short list, I'm just getting started)

~ Queen Anne's Lace ~ Tomato Bread Salad ~ My Antonia ~ Goat Cheese  ~ Cape Kiwanda ~ Blackberry Jam ~ Basil Pesto ~ Perserving Summer's Bounty ~ Rain Valley Soap ~ My Life ~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Queen Anns Lace ~ Like blackberries, it grows everywhere in Oregon in August - in the city, in the country, on the roadside, and on the hillside.  It's really very beautiful, kind of like a snowflake in the middle of summer.  Makes a nice bouquet too!

Tomato Bread Salad - One of the best of many ways to enjoy summer's homegrown tomatoes.  

My Antonia - A great American novel by Willa Cather first published in 1918 which realistically depicts frontier life and the settling of the American prairie. Great summer re-read. 

Goat Cheese Cookbook  - Authored by Maggie Foard, there are over 60 farm-fresh recipes for appetizers, breakfast, lunch and dinner using various forms of goat cheese.  Each recipe is beautifully photographed and well thought out for perfect results.

Cape Kiwanda - The family favorite.  We never stop climbing the mountain at Cape Kiwanda!

Blackberry Jam - Plan, pick, and process.  My favorite jam always.

Betty the Cat – A loyal companion this month.

Basil Pesto - Perfect August addition to pasta, veggies, pizza.  Yum.

Preserving Summer’s Bounty - A "how to" book authored by the very credible Rondale Food Center. Everything you need to know about preserving food from harvesting, canning, pickling, drying, juicing, to root cellaring.

Rain Valley Soap - Wonderfully luxurious, lubricating soap handcrafted in Portland.

My Life – Ukulele king Jake Shimabukuro released a brief but completely delightful EP of six classic songs by a wide variety of artists (Judy Garland, Cyndi Lauper, two by the Beatles, Sarah McLachlan, even Led Zeppelin).  My favorite "In My Life"  is a wonderful rendition of the Beatles classic.

Life is good - bye for now!  Evelyn

REMEMBER:  Buy Local When You Can!

Panzanella, a.k.a. Tomato Bread Salad

Interestingly Sharing the Good Life in the WV was not intended to be a food blog per se, but I keep finding myself  writing about food.  Maybe it’s because it’s summer and there is so much of it around, both in good quanity and quality.  Nevertheless, over the weekend I had dinner with friends and we made the most incredible fresh homegrown tomato bread salad (Panzanella).  So here I we go again.  I really do want to share this salad with you.  It's one of my favorite summer dishes - one that's main ingredients are available now and will be gone soon – homegrown tomatoes.  If you don’t grow them yourself, you can surely find them at your local farmer's market.

Bon appetite!

Panzanella Salad

All ingredients are approximate depending on your taste.

• 4 cups of fresh homegrown tomatoes cut in wedges and quartered (this could include cherry and yellow pear sliced in half)
• ½ cup thinly sliced red onion
• ¼ cup kalamata olives sliced in half
• ¼ cup fresh basil leaves torn or cut in strips
• 2 T crumbled blue, gorgonzola or feta cheese (optional)
• 2 to 3 cups homemade croutons (recipe to follow)

Dressing

• 2 T balsamic Vinegar
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 1 clove pressed garlic (optional)
• salt and pepper to taste

1. In small bowl or jar combine the vinegar, lemon juice, pressed garlic, salt, pepper .  Wisk in the olive oil until well combine.
2. In a large bowl combine the tomatoes, red onion, olives, crumbled cheese and basil leaves. This can be done several hours ahead - cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
3. About 15 minutes before you are ready to serve, add the croutons and the balsamic/olive oil dressing.  Toss until well combined allowing the croutons to soak up some of the dressing.  Additional salt and pepper may to added to taste.

Homemade Croutons

Preheat oven to 200 degrees F

About 4 cups artisan bread torn into approximately 1 inch pieces.
     Ciabatta, sourdough or pugliese work well. 

3 T olive oil

2 garlic cloves smashed

1 tsp. salt

1. In a large frying pan, add olive oil and garlic. 
2. When olive oil is hot add croutons and quickly toss. 
3. Lower heat and continue to toss the bread until olive oil has been equally distributed into the bread. 
4. When the bread begins to turn a golden brown remove frying pan from heat and put into the 200 degree oven. 
5. Turn off heat and let croutons dry for about 30 minutes to an hour.  Croutons should be crunchy but not completely dried.
6. Store unused croutons in air tight container.