 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
These are sungold and currant Cherry Tomatoes.
|
|
|
"Putting up" tomatoes from Julia:
preparing the tomatoes for canning or freezing: I put whole tomatoes, with the green calix removed, in a big dry pan. Then I cook them down til their good and sauced. Then I let them cool a some, then I put them through a food mill to easily remove skins and seeds. Now, if the sauce is too watery, I cook it down some more. Then I proceed with glass jar canning (good for BLACKOUTS!), or with the ziploc method. This does include letting the sauce contact plastic, but I live with that for convenience.
Ziploc method: Take prepared tomato sauce, add chopped basil if you like, and add to freezer ziploc bags. Label with a permanent marker and then put in freezer.
FRESH TOMATO SAUCE adapted from Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone
3 pounds ripe tomatoes, quartered
3 Tablespoons chopped basil
Salt and pepper
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil or butter
Put the tomatoes in a heavy pan with the basil. Cover and cook over medium-high heat. The tomatoes should yield their juices right away, but keep an eye on the pot to make sure the pan isn't dry. You don't want the tomatoes to scorch. When the tomatoes have broken down after about 10 minutes, pass them through a food mill. If you want the final sauce to be thicker, return it to the pot and cook over low heat, stirring frequently, until it's as thick as you want it. Season with salt and pepper to taste and stir in the oil.
Julia's notes: If you don't have a food mill, you can first blanch the tomatoes in boiling water for a minute or so then easily remove the peels (and seeds if you like.) I added the fresh basil right before I poured it into the bags. I eyeballed the amounts and didn't measure anything exactly, the sauce turned out great.
Deborah M.'s notes about freezing tomato sauce: Making sauce to freeze for the winter isn't a big production–or a time consuming one. When tomatoes are in season, I make the Fresh Tomato Sauce using 4 to 5 pounds tomatoes or whatever is convenient. When it's cool, I ladle it into plastic freezer bags in 1- or 2- cup portions and lay the bags on the freezer floor until they harden. This makes slim packages that are easy to store upright, taking little space. When you warm the sauce, you can season it with crushed garlic or an herb that goes with the dish you're making.
Julia's Daily Caprese Salad
Chop 1 or more ripe heirloom tomatoes. Add chopped fresh basil if available. Add soem cubed fresh mozzarella. Drizzle with a little olive oil, season to taste with S and P, and eat.
Breakfast Tomatoes
Broil halved or sliced tomatoes under the broiler (sprinkle with garlic and olive oil if you like) until they are pleasantly browned. Serve with eggs or just eat on a piece of toast. Season with S and P to your liking. A great way to get a vegetable serving into your first meal of the day.
Chickpea (Garbanzo Bean) and Tomato Salad
adapted
from Simply Recipes
2 15-ounce cans of garbanzo beans , drained & rinsed
4 tomatoes (about 2 lbs.), cored and chopped
4 large hard-boiled eggs, peeled and chopped
2 cups of sweet onions or 1 bunch green onions, chopped
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
6 Tbsp of white wine vinegar or sherry vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper
Chopped parsley for garnish
Method
1 Combine the garbanzo beans, tomatoes, eggs, and onion in a large bowl.
2 Separately mix the dressing ingredients in a jar or a small bowl - olive oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper. Pour over salad ingredients. Sprinkle on chopped parsley. Serve immediately.
Serves 6-8.
Fall Risotto with Chanterelles and Late Harvest Tomatoes
adapted from Fields of Greens by Annie Somerville
If chanterelles aren't available, use white mushrooms, or cremini, or a combination of the two.
Stock (vegetable, chicken, or 'tomato mushroom on p. 157 if you own this book)
1/2 pound fresh chanterelles or other mushrooms
3 Tablespoons unsalted butter
S & P
2 medium sized leeks, white parts only, cut in half length-wise, thinly sliced, and washed, about 3 cups
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups arborio rice
1/2 cup white wine (dry, not a super sweet wine!)
1/2 pound tomatoes, cored, seeded, chopped
1 Tablespoons coarsely chopped parsley
Grated Parmesan Cheese
Pour the stock into the saucepan, bring it to a boil, and reduce it to 6 cups. Keep the stock warm over very low heat.
Using a brush or a damp cloth, carefully clean the mushrooms. Remove the dirt and bits of organic matter, but don't wash them, or they'll soak up the water and lose their delicate flavor. Trim off the base of the stem if it is particularly dirty and discard. Cut the mushrooms into large pieces or thickly slice them, being sure to include the stem.
Heat 1 Tablespoon of the butter in a large skillet; add the chanterelles, 1/4 teaspoon salt, a few pinches of pepper, and 1/4 cup stock. Gently saute over medium heat until the mushrooms are barely tender. (cooking time depends...) Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
In the same skillet, heat the remaining 2 Tablespoons butter; add the leeks, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and a few pinches of pepper. Saute over medium high heat until the leeks begin to wilt, about 3 minutes. Cover the pan and steam the leeks until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes.
TOMATO CONSERVE
18 cups tomatoes, cut in chunks
3 teaspoons ginger
6 cups sugar
3 lemons (thinly sliced)
Cook tomatoes 45 minutes. Add sugar, lemon, and ginger. Cook until thick and smooth. Pour into sterilized jars to within 1/2 inch of top. Put on cap, screw band firmly tight. Process in Boiling Water Bath 10 minutes. Yield: 8 eight oz. jars.
Gringa Sopa
julia's recipe
"Sopa" is what we know as ‘spanish rice' here in the US. The traditional Mexican sopa you see here in Watsonville is barely pink, usually made with just a couple of tablespoons of tomato paste, rice, oil, and "knorr swisa", or powdered chicken bouillon. I like to make my own version of sopa, with more tomatoes and no bouillon. Here's my recipe:
2 cups tomatoes, peeled, seeded, quartered and then pureed in the blender.
(I've been known to leave the seeds and skins on....)
3 Tablespoons cooking oil
3 medium/large cipolline or other onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups raw rice
2 3/4 cups boiling water
Cook the onion in the oil in a large dutch oven with a lid that fits well until it's soft but not too brown. Add garlic and rice, cook another couple of minutes. Add tomatoes and salt, stir well, then add the water and cover and cook, covered, over low heat for 20 or so minutes.
My loose salsa recipe
red tomatoes diced fine (I use skins, seeds and all, but others like
to remove at least the seeds.)
roasted jalapeños, skins removed, diced fine. (I put them under the broiler
until blistering, then into a pyrex dish that has a tight fitting lid, then
they steam for a few minutes, then remove the skins and they're ready to dice.)
Onion, diced very fine
garlic, also diced very fine (this is optional, just a little)
cilantro, washed and chopped up
salt to taste
Mix and eat.
Roxanne C's Pizza Recipe
You guys really make me look good. Scenerio; Foggy day, hankering for pizza, hanging close to the house waiting for lost (indoor) precious kitty to meow us to her hiding place and knowing commercial pizza just gives us a belly ache. Mariquita box gives up tomatoes, peppers, onions(last week). Fridge and pantry give us hope to just go ahead and make our own. Boutique, gourmet, nouvelle, light pizza on a nickel and dime budget emerged as a revelation to me, but a resourceful mama of the 19th century probably could have done it in her sleep.
Pizza crust
Basic bread dough with olive oil added (2T to a 2C of flour recipe) This dough will keep in fridge (wrapped in plastic, no rising necessary after 1st kneading) Tomato Paste
1 C chopped onions
1 1/2 C chopped tomatoes
olive oil (just enough to lightly coat bottom of skillet)
Warm pan with oil in it, add onions, moving around in pan a few minutes to start softening, then add tomatoes. I didn't peel or seed tomatoes, and I didn't add salt or pepper or anything else. Your tomatoes and onions are so sweet that they cooked down to a beautiful spreadable sauce in about 10 minutes. In fact, it was gilding the lily to use other stuff to make a good pizza.
THE GILDING THE LILY STUFF
roasted peppers (whole, dry on a baking pan until blistered) hot 450F pull off stem and seeds when cool enough to handle skin may come off easily when doing this, but it doesn't matter too much when they are cut in strips for the pizza I used the peppers, a little cheese, a few pine nuts to enhance the tomato/onion paste which was spread over the pizza dough, made into 6-8in "pies". Put a little corn meal (I had polenta in the fridge) on the pan to keep the pizzas from sticking and it lifts the dough enough to make it crisp. Bake in 450F oven until crisp and edges are light brown, cheese bubbly 8-10 min. I still drool over Sonoma-Williams catalogs, but somehow I'm not sure that their pizza pans, stones, bricks or other tools could have made it better. The BEST ingredients are 90 percent of the project and that comes from YOU. Note.....the other combo I tried was onions, mushrooms, a little chopped ham, Fontina cheese and a palmful of chopped DILL. The Italians may wrinkle their eyebows over that one, unless they are far to the north near the old Austro-Hungarian cities. Our kitty finally answered our calls after 10 hours of making sure,,,,,,,,,the aromas from the kitchen may have reminded her that her home is a pretty good place after all. Roxanne
Tomates Concassées
This is the French term for chopped, seeded, and peeled tomatoes, I think. Andy likes to make a fresh pasta sauce this time of year and call it "Tomates Concassées" because he read about it in a book years ago. He basically makes a ‘salsa' but with the Italian red sauce ingredients, all raw but the onions and garlic and of course the noodles. I've seen him make it many times, below is my approximation:
3 pounds ripe tomatoes, any color
1 pound onions
3 garlic cloves
some olive oil
1 bunch of basil
juice from one large or two small lemons
salt and pepper to taste
1. Bring a saucepan of water to boil. Rinse the tomatoes, and make a 1-3 inch shallow slit in the bottom of each one. Lower the tomatoes, 2 or 3 at a time, depending on their size, into the boiling saucepan of water. They should only bathe for *5* seconds, no longer. Remove to a plate, rinse in cool water if you like. When all the tomatoes are done, remove peels and seeds, and roughly chop. (I personally admit to skipping the final cool rinse and fully admit to skipping the seed removal, no one has complained about my own sauce yet.)
2. Peel and chop onions and garlic. Saute the onions in a little oil over a medium heat in a wide largish soup pan for a few minutes, then add the garlic. Take care not to burn either. Remove from heat when both are soft and won't be raw and crunchy in the sauce.
3. Wash and chop basil, then mix it with the cooled onion mixture, and the tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. (Andy is very liberal with the pepper....) Toss with just cooked noodles, and eat.
GREEK SALAD SANDWICH Bon Appetit May 1995
12 ounces small tomatoes, cored, halved, thinly sliced
6 cups spinach leaves, stems trimmed
1 1/2 cups thinly sliced cucumber
1 cup crumbled feta cheese (about 4 ounces)
1/3 cup coarsely chopped pitted black brine-cured olives (such as Kalamata)
16 large fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced
1/4 cup olive oil
5 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 large garlic clove, minced
4 5- to 6-inch-diameter pita bread rounds, toasted
Place tomato slices in strainer; drain 15 minutes. Combine
tomatoes, spinach, cucumber, feta cheese, olives and basil
in large bowl.
Whisk 1/4 cup olive oil, 5 teaspoons lemon juice and minced
garlic in small bowl to blend. Season dressing to taste
with salt and pepper. Pour dressing over salad and toss to
coat.
Cut pita bread rounds in half crosswise. Divide salad
mixture among 8 pita halves and serve.
GRILLED SHRIMP, CORN AND BLACK BEAN TOSTADA SALAD
For dressing
5 tablespoons fresh lime juice
3/4 cup olive oil
6 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 1/2 tablespoons minced, seeded jalepeno chili (preferably red)
1 tablspoon ground cumin
For salad
3 cups chopped seeded toamtoes
1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed, drained
1 cup chopped green onions
3/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
3/4 cup chopped red onion
6 cups shredded iceberg lettuce (about 1 head)
2 ears corn, husked
24 large shrimp (about 1 1/2 pounds), peeled (tails left
intact, deveined
24 large tortilla chips
Additional chopped fresh cilantro (optional)
Make Dressing:
Place lime juice in medium bowl. Gradually whisk in olive
oil. Mix in cilantro, jalepeno, and cumin. Season to taste
with salt and pepper.
Make Salad:
Combine tomatoes, beans, green onions, 3/4 cup cilantro and
red onion in large bowl. (Dressing and salad can be
prepared 6 hours ahead. Cover dressing and let stand at
room temperature. Cover salad and refrigerate.)
Prepare berbeque (medium-high heat). Mix lettuce into
salad. Pour 1/4 cup dressing into small bowl. Reserve
remainder for salad. Brush corn with dressing from small
bowl. Grill corn unril beginning to brown, turning often,
about 5 minutes. Brush shrimp with dressing from small bowl
and grill until opaque in center, turning occasionally,
about 5 minutes.
Cut kernels from corn and add to salad. Toss salad with
enough dressing to coat. Season with salt and pepper. Top
with shrimp. Garnish with tortilla chips and additional
cilantro, if desired.
Makes 4 servings.
Bon Appetit
August 1996
Fresh Tomato Gazpacho
Julia's note: I love cucumbers and red bell peppers in my gazpacho, if you prefer the bitter tang to a green bell pepper you can add that as a garnish or in the blender stage. Adapt this recipe to what's in your garden/fridge. -julia
5 pounds ripe tomatoes, any color
1-2 cloves garlic
2 Tbs. lime juice
2 Tbs. olive oil
1 Tbs. white wine vinegar
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. dried or 1 TBS fresh oregano, chopped
6 green onions, thinly sliced
1 sweet bell pepper, red or yellow, finely chopped
1/4 c. finely chopped celery
1 cup finely chopped, seeded cucumber
1-2 jalapeno chilies, seeded and minced
Accompaniments: seeded, chopped red bell pepper, diced avocado,
fresh chopped cilantro leaves, garlic croutons, thinly sliced radishes, thinly
slivered cabbage, lime wedges, creme fraiche
Seed and finely chop 1 tomato; reserve.
Coarsely chop remaining tomatoes. Combine these w/ garlic in a blender (you may need to do this in two batches)-process until smooth. Press through a sieve into large bowl; discard seeds. Whisk lime juice, oil, vinegar, salt and oregano into tomato mixture. Stir in reserved chopped tomato, green onions, red pepper, celery, cucumber and chilies. Refrigerate, covered, at least 4 or up to 24 hrs to blend flavors. At serving time: Stir soup well and ladle into chilled bowls. Pass accompaniments to be added according to individual taste.
Michel Nischan's Pan Roasted Chicken with Heirloom Tomatoes and Fresh Bay Leaf
Ingredients:
2 each skin-on, boneless chicken breasts, about 6 ounces each
2 each fresh bay leaves
2 teaspoons grapeseed oil
4 to 6 cloves roasted garlic
2 cups reduced rich chicken stock
1 each purple cherokee tomato sliced 1/2 inch thick
1 each big daddy sunshine tomato sliced 1/2 inch thick
2 to 3 each small green zebra tomato sliced 1/2 inch thick
6 each yellow pear tomato, slit in half lengthwise
6 each red pear tomato, slit in half lengthwise
sea salt and freshly milled pepper to taste
6 year aged balsamic vinegar to taste
Insert a fresh bay leaf between the skin and meat of each chicken
breast. Cover and
refrigerate for one hour.
Remove the bay leaves and reserve. Heat a medium saute pan over
a low flame* for
several minutes until he pan is quite hot. Lightly season each chicken breast
with salt and pepper on both sides.
Rub the grapeseed oil onto the skin of each chicken breast and place the breasts,
skin side down, into the hot
saute; pan. Turn the heat up to medium and allow the breasts to cook until well
browned. Turn the chicken breasts
over then use a paper towel to absorb the excess fat.
Add the roasted garlic and allow to heat until you can smell their
perfume. Add the chicken stock and simmer for 3
to 5 minutes, depending on the thickness of the chicken breasts. Remove the
breasts to a heated holding plate
and keep warm.
Increase the flame and reduce the chicken stock until it coats
a spoon like syrup.
Reduce the flame and add the sliced tomatoes. Allow the tomatoes to just heat
through. Swirl the pan, rather than
stirring, so the tomatoes retain their individual shape and color. Remove from
the flame immediately and swirl in the
reserved bay leaves. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add balsamic vinegar
if the sauce needs acidity. Divide
the tomato sauce to the centers of two warmed bowls or deep-rimmed plates. Place
the chicken breasts over
the sauce, garnish with the bay leaves, and serve with toasted crusty bread.
*This method of preparation uses a low temperature saute. Leaving
the pan over a low flame for a long
period of time allows the pan to get hot enough to put a good sear on the chicken.
When the chicken is added to
the pan, the initial heat sears the skin while the cool temperature of the flesh
reduces the heat of the pan shortly
afterward. Oil is rubbed on the breasts rather than placed in the pan. This
method, combined with the heat
absorption of the breast, protects the oil from breaking down which would create
free radicals. Turning the fire up
once the chicken is added gently brings the heat of the pan back to a point
which allows the skin to crisp without
scorching.
Carole Peck's Green
Tomato and Apple Chutney
(yields 4 quarts)
This is a great combination for autumn, something delicious
we can make right now, at the end of the tomato
season. I use the green tomatoes that never ripened, and combine them with
the sweet, juicy new fruit of the
season: apples. This condiment is a great accompaniment to many types of dishes,
from grilled fish, meat and
fowl to rice, grains and all sorts of fall vegetables, especially the roots.
I prefer to make the green tomato and apple chutney in large
quantities because it keeps refrigerated for up to 3
weeks. If properly canned in jars, it will keep indefinitely.
2 T vegetable or olive oil
3 large Spanish onions, peeled and thinly sliced
1 8 oz. piece of fresh ginger, or 4 oz. pickled ginger, finely chopped
6 jalapeno peppers, seeded and diced
3 carrots, peeled and julienned
1/4 cup honey
1 T each ground cumin and tumeric
2 tsp each ground allspice and cinnamon
1 cup rice vinegar (or white vinegar)
1 cup raisins or currants
10 medium green tomatoes, cored
10 medium cooking apples
1 bunch fresh cilantro, cleaned and chopped
Before you begin cooking the chutney, cut the tomatoes in half
across and squeeze out the seeds. Cut into 1/2
inch dice and set aside. In another bowl, peel the apples, quarter remove
core and cut each quarter into 4 pieces,
sprinkle with small amounts of vinegar and toss -- this will prevent them
from discoloring. Proceed with the
cooking process.
In a large skillet, heat oil over high heat, add onions, ginger,
peppers and carrots and cook approximately 5
minutes until vegetables begin to soften. Stir in honey, bring to a boil,
add all the dry spices and stir. Pour in
vinegar and stir again, let boil 1 minute. Add raisins and let cook 2 minutes
to plump. Last, add tomatoes and
apples, mix well. Let cook approximately 15 minutes until they are cooked
but not mushy.
Remove from heat, add the cilantro and let cool. This is better if it sets a couple of hours to marry all the flavors.
Copyright © 1997 StarChefs All rights reserved.
Tabbouleh
from Joy of Cooking
Combine in a large bowl:
1 cup medium bulgur
2 cups boiling water
Cover and let stand for 30 minutes. Drain in a sieve, pressing with the back
of a large spoon to remove the excess moisture, and return to the bowl. Add:
4 large ripe tomatoes, finely chopped
1 cup chopped parsley sprigs
1 cup chopped soup celery
1 cup packed mint sprigs, chopped
1 bunch scallions, finely chopped
1 medium onion, finely chopped
Stir in:
1/2 t allspice, optional
1/2 t salt
1/4 t black pepper
Whisk together:
1/3 C fresh lemon juice
1/3 C olive oil (extra virgin)
add to the bulgur and toss to coat. Serve at room temperature
CHILI SAUCE
12 large tomatoes (peeled)
3 large sweet peppers
3 large onions
6 small hot peppers
2 cups of sugar
2 cups of vinegar
1 teaspoon cloves ground
some salt
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon celery seed
1 teaspoon allspice
Boil tomatoes awhile -- add peppers and onions chopped fine -- add vinegar and sugar -- cook slowly -- add spices and simmer till thick (4-5 hours)
TOMATO SAUCE
18 Tomatoes
2 sweet peppers
2 medium onions
2 Tablespoons sugar, or to taste
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon allspice
2 cups vinegar
PEEL, core, and chop tomatoes. Chop peppers and onions fine. Combine all ingredients. Boil slowly 4 hours or until thick. Fill boiling hot to within 1/2 inch of top of jar. Process 10 minutes in Boiling Water Bath.
TOMATO CATSUP
1 peck (12 1/2 pounds) ripe tomatoes
2 medium onions
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 cups cider vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons broken stick cinnamon
1 tablespoon whole cloves
3 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
1 tablespoon paprika
1 cup sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
WASH and slice tomatoes and boil until soft. Into another kettle slice the onions. Cover with a small quantity of water and cook until tender. Run the cooked onions and tomatoes through a sieve. Mix the onion and tomato pulp. Add the cayenne pepper. Boil this mixture rapidly until it has been reduced to about 1/2 original volume. Place vinegar in an enamel pan; add a spice bag containing the cinnamon, cloves and garlic. Allow this to simmer for about 30 minutes, then bring to boil. Place cover on pan and remove from heat. Allow this to stand in covered pan until ready to use. When tomato mixture has cooked down to 1/2 original volume, add mixture, of which there should be 1 and 1/4 cups. Add the paprika, sugar and salt and boil rapidly until thick. This should require about 10 minutes. Pour while boiling into sterilized jars to within 1/2 inch of top. Put on cap, screw band firmly tight. Process in Boiling Water Bath 5 minutes. Yield: 6 pints.
About CSA |
Produce |
Frequently Asked Questions
Harvest Schedule | News |
Join | Contact
