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.

Kitchen Entertainment - Cooking with Friends

(risotto, risotto carbonara, gluten free)
Kitchen entertainment - adventurous, enjoyable, and a way to get to know about those endearing little idiosyncrasies you'd otherwise never know your friend possessed. Kind of like taking a road trip without the complications.

Truly -  some of the best times I've had were cooking fabulous food with a friend.  I talking about cooking together - participating in the creative process and in the end result. Working together in the kitchen, sharing a cup of coffee or a glass of wine sure works for me.


With this in mind, the other evening I got a spur of the moment call from an old friend. Seems he wasn't doing anything and wondered if I was free too. Would I like to come over, have dinner and catch up on the last 6 months. Yes - I was open and yes - I'd be there at 5. Since this was spur of the moment he hadn't any idea what to prepare, so we hashed back and forth the virtues of various entrees, then settled on an experimental Risotto Carbonara (I love pasta carbonara, he loves risotto). We decided to make this a joint culinary effort, he as the executive chef would come up with a recipe, gather the ingredients, and orchestrate the process - I would function as the sous chef - second in command.

When I arrived, he had the kitchen ready for action. All the ingredients and cooking utensils had been assembled - the stock prepared. We commenced with the process.  He read the recipe - I chopped the onions.




He read the recipe again - I chopped the pepper bacon. (He couldn't locate panchetta and the pepper bacon turned out to be a terrific substitution.)

He sauteed the onions and bacon. I pressed the garlic.

 

Then came the crucial stirring of the rice, and simutaneausly blending in the stock. He poured, I stirred.

After that he grated the pecorino romano cheese and incorporated it into the risotto.

It was going well - we congratulated each other for what looked to be a fine risotto. Oh yes, it called for another glass of wine.

At a certain point the risotto was ready for a short stint in the oven (20 minutes). We then lightly scrambled the eggs and added the creme fraiche to the mixture. (Again, he couldn't locate creme fraiche, so we ended up using the best sour cream I've ever tasted - Organic Valley Organic Sour Cream - and it turned out fantastic!)

Then we took the risotto out of the oven and with the precision of a master chef gently folded in the egg mixture. It was look'n good!

In fact it looked good enough to have come out the pages of Food and Wine.  Even better - it tasted like it came out of Food and Wine.  And  even better than that was the crazy fun we had putting it all together, together.

So here we were with a pretty darn good Risotto Carbonara - the gluten free version of the classic pasta dish.  Never would have thought of it without my friend and visa versa. 

Apples - It's Been A Very Good Year!

ABUNDANCE --- It is Fall in Oregon and I'm getting wary of friends that have an apple tree in their backyard.  The apple surplus seems bigger than usual this year, so as with zucchini, I feel like I need to lock my car for fear an over supplied neighbor will sneak in a bag or two.

I have one friend that has a whole orchard. Since the apples have ripened, every visit includes a walk down to the orchard with a couple of gigantic bags in tow, which are so quickly filled and so heavy you can hardly lug them back up the hill.  And you keep saying to your friend, "oh thank you, I think I have enough now" and they keep piling the apples in with a pleading, desperate look in their eyes, "here - just a few more, we haven't even begun to touch the tree".  So you take them home.

And then what?  I've now spent the entire week trying to figure out what to do with all these apples. What applelicious treat can I concoct?  I have to confess, I've not been successful in coming up with any truly blog-worthy recipes for all my kitchen testing.

In fact my apple jelly failed to jell (because I didn't follow the instructions carefully), and the caramel apple jam was a little short of true fabulousness (too sweet for my taste).

I made an apple cake, that I thought was going to knock the socks off of my guests, but it turned out to be pretty ordinary (boring).  I tried apple slaw - eatable, but no pizzaze.   And to my disappointment I've put on 5 pounds just testing (althought I can't entirely blame the apples for that).

Now, as we all know apples are wonderful, there are as many fabulous apple delicacies to be found, and made, and eaten, and fondly remembered, as there are apples.  With this in mind, I settled down, took a look at my most dependable blog sites, and found some true apple winners that I'm now going to focus on this week.

Here are my top winners!

• Apple Jelly - David Lebovitz, Living the Sweet Life in Paris - What was I thinking when I attempted my own version of AJ? This is the way it should be done.
• Membrillo - Simply Recipes - Made this last year with quince (ancient relative to the apple).  Follow the instructions and you've got success. This is a classic Spanish treat served along side Manchego cheese.
• Apple Tarte Tatin - Smitten Kitchen  If you in the mood for a challenge these are the best instructions for this complicated French classic.  I confess that I have always wanted to, but never attempted this intimadating dessert. Maybe I'll give it a try this week.
• French Apple Tarte -  Barefoot Contessa on the Food Network - This one has become a favorite in the family.  Actually it's my daughter's easy go to recipe that she knows like the back of her hand.  Check out the video on the page too!
• Classic American Apple Pie - Food Wishes - This is a video blog by Chef John at Food Wishes. The recipe is almost all filler, but you will notice a recipe for a traditional pie crust at the bottom of the blog. He actually has several apple pie recipes on his blog including a caramel apple pie which is his favorite.  I can do this one, it pretty basic and it is always a hit.  Enjoy the video!

As they say we're just looking at the tip of the ice berg here. You can make juice, cider, crisp, cake, turnover, you can dry or you can stew (oh my!) and on and on.

But there was one recipe I almost passed up - my granddaughter's all time favorite - German Apple Pancakes - truly blog-worthy! 

Life is good!  Bye for now.  Evelyn  

REMEMBER - Bye Local When you Can!

This was shared with Clever Chicks Blog Hop, and It's a Blog Party

September - Favorite Things

Here it is the end of September and time for some favorites of the month.   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 September.  Let me know what you think.

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

~ Bon Appetite Magazine ~

Years and years and years ago this magazine first inspired me to appreciate really good food.  Always interesting with imaginative recipes, now the September issue has announced that Luce Italian Restaurant in Portland (pronounced LOO-chay), is one of the 10 Best New Restaurants in the country for their brilliant Italian cooking. Congrats to Luce and Portland.

Pink Martini’s A Retrospective is the first compilation album by the American group, released in 2011 the album contains twenty-one tracks from six studio albums. What can I say, I love Pink Martini and their funky international style. They are just another example of Portland's really cool, but ever so slightly off-beat vibe.

Albacore Tuna Roast– grilled on a bed of Rosemary branches. The fleet is in, buy albacore tuna fresh from the Oregon Coast now.  It's the best September has to offer.  

Dahlias - Real dazzlers in September!

Cucumbers, Tomatoes and Goat Feta Cheese Salad - Some kind of wonderful!

Left Coast Cellars 2006 Heritage Pinot Noir. An exceptional wine fermented by native yeast in French oak and aged for 34 months, this wine has every component to age for a future generation. Elegant and structured; decant to serve now or age upwards of 15 years.
(only 30 cases remain).  My favorite for very special occasions and the very best company (dear old friends and family).

~ Portland Race for the Cure ~ 

The Race which took place September 16th raises significant funds and awareness for the breast cancer movement. It was a time to celebrate survivors and their families while working toward the promise of ending breast cancer forever.

~ Finding Portland ~  

You really should take a look at this time lapse video which is beautifully composed. It captures  the City of Roses in a most creative style.   If you like Portland, you’ll love this video - created by Uncage the Soul Productions.

Pumpkin Vase - Flowers, shrubs, and fruits can be arranged in a hollowed out pumpkin vase.  Perfect for October or November (you can use other members of the squash family also, depending on space and color scheme).  This and other stylish centerpiece ideas (and great pumpkin recipes) come from Holiday Pumpkins by Georgeanne Brennan, Jennifer Barry Design.



Here we come October !  Evelyn

Remember:  Buy local when you can!

Pennsylvania Pictorial

This month it was time for a long overdue trip to visit friends who had moved from the West Coast to Pennsylvania. This was my first trip to the Quaker State. The first thing I noticed was  how much Downtown Pittsburg looks like Portland, and then (just like Portland) in no time your out in a countryside which is strikingly similar Oregon.

 

It was one of those trips spent visiting the smaller cities and towns around the Amish country, the battlefields of Gettysburg, historic Johnstown, and the somber, yet serene Flight 93 Memorial. We were on a pretty tight schedule taking in all the history that has formed the framework of what our country is today.  

With all this sightseeing we were fortunate enough to find a wonderfully secluded rural bed and breakfast appropriately named the Swiss Woods Inn located in the town of Lititz the heart of Lancaster County (Amish territory).  It truly was idyllic, where you could reconnect with nature, discover history, and experience Pennsylvania Dutch culture, lulling you back to a slower, gentler time.  Plus if you were not careful you could put on a bit of weight devouring their sumptuous breakfasts.  First morning there we woke up to enjoy their featured recipe of the month, Pumpkin Pancakes with Lemon Apples.

The owner of this charming inn has teamed up with several other bed and breakfast owners around the country and started a blog about their recipes, kitchen wisdom, and anything that is foodie related.  It is appropriately named, "Eight Broads in the Kitchen."  

I warn you the recipes are not for the weight watcher crowd, but they involve good, fresh ingredients avoiding the fast food approach to cooking or eating.  That’s what I call “kitchen wisdom”.

Battlefields of Gettysburg

 

 

 

Pennsylvania Countryside

 

It was a wonderful trip, but as Dorothy put it, "there's no place like home".

Bye for now - Evelyn

REMEMBER:  Buy Local When you Can!

Goat Cheese Salad

The other night, having had no thought about dinner until it was time to eat, I had to concoct something from what I could find in the frig.  Thankful we had the vegetable garden for I found a cucumber and some heirloom tomatoes sitting on the kitchen counter, which I put together with the goat feta cheese bought at the Fairview Farm Goat Dairy last weekend.

The Fairview Farm Goat Dairy was a place I'd wanted to visit for sometime - ever since I sampled some of their cheese at the Dallas Farmers Market (aka the Polk County Bounty Market).  Since the farm is only open to the public Friday through Monday, I took a ride over to the far side of Dallas last weekend. Aside for the dairy store they also have a road side self serve kiosk outside farm. You’re on your own, using the honor system, but you can purchase eggs, cheese, yogurt, milk and other things (is this possible?). 

The owners, Terry and Laurie Carlson, are usually working around the farm and in the dairy store on the weekends.  They are happy to talk to you about the dairy, the goats, and the products they produce and sell.  There's all sorts of samples to try so you can decide what you like the best, and to my pleasant surprise, they have soft serve goats milk ice cream on tap, served up in a cone just the way I like it.

As you can see I had a great time at the farm, the goats were as interested in me as I was in them.  Confidentially, they really are more like pets than dairy goats.  It’s obvious they are loved and well cared for – as are the chickens!

Meanwhile, back to my dinner -  which turned into sliced up cucumber, tomatoes and chunks of that goat feta cheese, mixed with dill, a pressed garlic clove, equal parts of fresh squeezed lemon and olive oil (about 2 T each), salt, and fresh ground pepper.  Humm –  explode in your mouth flavor – wonderful.

Usually when I have fresh chevre on hand I prepare a warmed goat cheese salad  that I found in Ina Garten’s book, Barefoot Contessa Parties!.  The simplicity of the salad makes it a perfect starter to a more elegant meal and I have served it often.  I substitute equal parts of champagne vinegar with half olive and vegetable oil instead of the dressing suggested in the recipe, just because this is what I prefer.

Or one could simply marinate disks of fresh chevre in olive oil and fresh herbs (rosemary, basil, parsley, etc.) for a couple of hours (or not), coat with bread crumbs (sour dough, panko, whatever you have that will work), bake in the oven (I use my toaster oven)  at 300 degrees for about 4 minutes (or until the goat cheese is warmed), then very carefully remove the disks from the pan to a plate.
That’s pretty wonderful too!

Bye for now - Evelyn


Remember:  Buy Local When You Can!