From our Food Goddess, TaMara:
I emailed JeffreyW earlier this week and told him I wanted to focus on tomatoes today and did he have any favorite tomato pictures for me. Wow, did he. It was difficult to choose. I thought the one above really highlighted what’s great about the peak of tomato season: simplicity. Fresh tomatoes from the garden, a little salt and pepper, that’s all you need for a great treat. Add some mozzarella and basil, toss with pasta and it’s dinner (recipe here).
When your bushel basket runneth over, then the ideas get a bit more, shall we say, creative? Anne Laurie sent me a link to a Tomato Recipe Contest, and the winner was Frozen Fattoush – a savory tomato sorbet served as a cold salad with cucumbers and pita chips. I know, I know, it seems crazy, but if you click here, it actually sounds tasty. That recipe and all of the winners can be found here at the Washington Post in case you’re looking for some unusual ideas. Many thanks to Anne Laurie for the heads up.
If you’re not quite ready for that much adventure, I have some more traditional tomato ideas.
JefferyW does a simple Sauteed Cherry Tomatoes over Pasta (click here).
A little something different to do with tomatoes and cucumbers: Cold Tomato Cucumber Soup (recipe here)
And salsa recipes, we have several: Simple Salsa (here), JeffreyW Salsa (here) and if tomatoes aren’t your thing, why miss out on the salsas: Salsa Verde (click), Red Pepper Salsa (click), and Pineapple Salsa (click) are all tomato free. We do not discriminate.
What are you doing with your tomatoes this year (garden or farmer’s market fresh)? What fall produce are you looking forward to…for me it’s apples, yum. Hit the comments and share your harvest season recipes.
And finally, tonight’s featured recipe, one of my favorite soups:
Tomato-Spinach Soup14 oz of diced tomatoes (fresh or canned)
2 cups loosely packed baby spinach, cleaned (reserve
2 thick slices of french bread or equivalent (optional, works well without, if you need to keep it gluten free)
2 carrots (1 quartered, the other sliced)
1 cup green beans
1/4 of a small onion, chopped
1 cup water, as needed
2 tsp crushed garlic
1 tsp dried basil, crushed
1 tsp dried oregano, crushed
salt and pepper to taste
Grated Parmesan, fresh spinach leaves for garnish
blender, saucepanIn a blender, blend together bread, spinach, tomatoes and 1 carrot, until smooth*. Add to saucepan with vegetables and spices. Bring to low boil, reduce heat and let simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Serve with Parmesan. Makes 2 generous servings.
*Blending the spinach, tomatoes, carrot and bread together gives you a nice hearty tomato base for the soup. You can add some spinach leaves at the end if you like, letting them get limp but not overcooked.
Ruckus
I fire roast tomatoes and make fresh salsa, or use them in linguine sauce. Or both sometimes. Both are very simple to make and very tasty.
My post will be 5 pages long if I try to write out how to make these, have AL email me if you want and I’ll send it to her.
Just Some Fuckhead
Sometimes I feel like you are lording Jeffrey’s fabulous tomatoes over me.
Felonius Monk
We’ve already had a SWAT team in to confiscate the okra, do we now need one to get the tomatoes as well. Then it will be all about okra and tomatoes — Yum.
Redshirt
I can’t find good tomatoes up here in yonder Maine. There was a news story today about it and everything – rainy July, apparently.
I just spent an ungodly 5 hours making a huge batch of “The World’s Best Guacamole” and another huge batch of a couscous “salad”, the recipe of which came to me in a dream and is incredible.
Cooking is fun, but 5 hours is a bit much, and I still have to wash dishes.
I need to hire JeffreyW.
Helen
Tomatoes. My Dad grew tomatoes. I ate them like apples (which he also grew).
When I was a little girl (early 70’s) my mom (an immigrant born a raised in Belfast) made us fried green tomatoes – you all know about that now cuz of the movie – and red tomatoes fried in bacon grease. Heaven on earth
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
Lots and lots and LOTS of spaghetti sauce, packed and frozen for the winter. And a fresh tomatoes, olives, and feta cheese mix tossed with hot pasta while the tomatoes are coming in.
scav
Wouldn’t be a thread recently without the Guard barging in. Homemade ketchup, reputedly handy for odd ones and overflow. Can also, presumably, be lost (with the mustard) or detained (stored in refrigerators) depending on the needs of exact meme or thread of battery and jokes.
schrodinger's cat
Made some tandoori chicken on the grill and served it with a corkscrew pasta salad with roasted red peppers and mozzarella.
My cherry tomatoes are still green. I just cut them in half and use them in a salad. My friend from Andhra (a state in southern India) used to make a great side dish with tomatoes
Basically it was red onions and tomatoes stir fried in hot oil flavored with bird’s eye peppers, cayenne, mustard seeds, curry leaves and turmeric. Garnished with lime juice and cilantro. Was great with fish or chicken.
* Food from Andhra is really hot, it will clear your sinuses and make you cry, but it is delicious.
muddy
My tomatoes have not done much, but the eggplants are all going insane. Huge leaves, covered in fruit, can’t keep up. It’s not something I usually put up but I will have to do something this year. Suggestions?
Gin & Tonic
Apples are coming soon, indeed. And from the orchard about 2 miles away, unpasteurized cider. That’s fall, to me.
But for the weekend, I was thinking of some cured fish. :) Maybe the host can help me choose.
schrodinger's cat
@muddy: Baingan Bharta either with tomatoes or yogurt, Baba ganouj.
ETA: Let me know if you would like the recipes.
Litlebritdifrnt
I have a tomato glut and have been cooking with them even though my DH doesn’t like tomatoes per se. I made a kick ass veggie lasagna with fresh tomato sauce, I have been eating a boat load of cheese and tomato on toast, as well as cheese and tomato sandwiches. Oh and omlettes, lots and lots of cheese and tomato omlettes.
Mnemosyne
I got to be in an all-day SAP users conference today. Fun!
My brother and a co-worker both bought those Topsy-Turvy tomato growers and decided to have a contest to see who grew more. My brother has a HUGE tomato bush growing out of his that’s producing tomatoes the size of baseballs that he’s not quite sure what to do with. His co-worker’s grew one vine, which broke off.
I’m pretty sure my brother won that one.
(His secret? Water, light, a little trimming, and Miracle Gro no more than every two weeks.)
raven
The maters in Georgia are long gone but we had a great year.
Redshirt
@efgoldman: I don’t know. I bill out at 100$ an hour, so there’s a 500$ tab I just ran up on myself. My time is money!
Joel
Cans, about 20 or 30. Plus lots of fresh salsa, bruschetta, and salads.
Litlebritdifrnt
@schrodinger’s cat: I don’t know if you know but do you have a good recipe for Onion Bahjies?
Yastreblyansky
Outrageous gazpacho found on the blessed Internet somewhere–if you want a real recipe you can google something like charred tomato gazpacho. You cut the tomatoes in half and then char them under the broiler, while aromatizing some olive oil with crushed cumin and coriander and soaking a little bread in water. Liquefy everything except some of the oil, in the blender, with salt and pepper (I used some hot paprika too, and mint is probably a good idea) and water as needed, until you get this thick thick pale red (not pink) substance, and chill it for a couple of hours. Add fine-chopped bell pepper, cucumber, and spring onion and garnish with some leftover cumin oil.
HeartlandLiberal
All from this year’s garden in the following (well, except the vinegar and sugar and the carrot).
A couple days ago I chopped up and drained excess moisture from about a dozen small tomatoes, at least half dozen varieties. Chopped a medium onion fine. Chopped a a bell pepper and two long green (not hot) peppers. Shredded half a large carrot. Added fresh ground cumin, smashed a huge garlic clove, added a couple teaspoons of vinegar, and a healthy amount of white Modena balsamic vinegar.
Then the piece de resistance: a new, long, tapered red variety of habenero pepper. The whole think. Chopped in chunks, then crushed in the garlic press into the mix.
Stirred it up, let it sit in fridge to mellow for a few hours.
Eaten with garlic and parmesan pita chips, it was a meal in itself. Cleared the sinuses as well as satisfied the taste buds. Washed down with a cold Heineken beer. My favorite. I like the crisp, bitter beer style. Can’t drink American mass produced beer. Swill.
Tata
Cut tomatoes in half, roast with olive oil and sea salt until soft. Let cool enough to touch. Slide halves into sterilized pint jars with liquid in roasting pan, add a tablespoon of lemon juice. Process for 25 minutes. Tomato glut becomes wonderful tomatoes for soups, pastas, roasts, sauces, anything all winter and you don’t go crazy.
muddy
@schrodinger’s cat: I love baba ghanouj, I wonder if I can can it?
Culture of Truth
mmmm that sounds good, and useful too, since I just bought some cherry tomatoes at the farmers market. They’re called ‘chocolate cherry tomatoes’ and don’t look appetizing, since they’re green-red-brown, but they’re very good.
Munira
@muddy: I make baba ghanoush with my eggplants and freeze it in cottage cheese size containers. When I thaw it, it’s a little bit watery so I put it in the blender with a spoonful of tahini and it restores the consistency. There are plenty of recipes online for baba ghanoush.
muddy
@Munira: I am hoping to can it rather than freezing, probably need the pressure canner and smallish jars as it’s not particularly acidic.
Redshirt
Can someone tell me if this resembles an existing dish, and if so, any details about that dish? Thanks
“Dream Couscous Salad”
Salad ingredients – peppers, onions, scallions, jalapeno, Anaheim, tomatoes and cucumbers. Spinach and romaine. Everything is diced very small, including the lettuce and spinach.
Small bit of pineapple
Cubed tofu soaked in a soy/red’s hot/bit of olive oil sauce with spices
Fresh Feta
Couscous
Steps: Stir fry tofu to light brown, add frying vegetables (not cukes, tomatoes, lettuce and spinach) at the end for 5 minutes or so.
Cook up the couscous with a few drops of lime and a dash of salt.
Once couscous is ready, add feta, stir, and cover.
Add fried tofu and vegetables, stir, and cover.
Once cooled, place in fridge until chilled.
Once chilled, add cukes (lots of cukes), tomatoes, romaine and spinach. Stir.
Add a couple of regular spoonfuls of greek yogurt, hummus, and guacamole. Add ground pepper, cayenne, cumin, and a bit of salt. Stir.
Place back in fridge for awhile, stir, then serve. Maybe with nice pita.
I just made it for like 20 people.
schrodinger's cat
@Litlebritdifrnt: Yes I do,
Onion Bhajia Batter
Thinly slice onions, add chopped cilantro, add cayenne, turmeric, salt to taste, a tsp of oil and chickpea flour. Mix the chickpea flour in with the onion mixture. You don’t need to add water, the water from the onions is enough, use no more than one tbsp of chickpea flour per cup of onion.
Heat oil in a wok or kadai , when the oil is hot, deep fry your bhajias, for a variation add some chopped shrimp to the bhajia batter.
Joseph Nobles
Aw, dang. If “Tomatoes Everywhere” is the theme, then my Savory Chipotle Pork Enchiladas don’t make the cut, because tomatoes can be everywhere except an authentic enchilada sauce. Or so I’ve been led to believe.
Anyway, I’m proud enough of the recipe I’ve cobbled together from across the Internet that I’m going to share a link to my Facebook note on it. Here you go:
Joseph’s Savory Chipotle Pork Enchiladas
I made them Wednesday night and they instantly became one of my favorite things to make. It can be vegetarian by subbing black beans for pork and vegetable stock for chicken. Make it vegan by leaving off the cheese or using soy cheese. I don’t use soy cheeses so I don’t know how well that would work, but I’m sure black beans and vegi stock would be fine. You’d probably need to watch the foil-off bake time a little closer with soy cheeses.
But come to my house and you’ve entered carnivore land. :D I’m having leftovers tonight!
schrodinger's cat
@muddy: I am not sure, I don’t can. I think you could definitely freeze some.
schrodinger's cat
Also too, roasted tomato and tomatillo salsa with some roasted hot peppers, onions and garlic. Roast everything and then put in a blender. Add salt and juice a couple of limes.
TaMara (BHF)
@Joseph Nobles: Those sound totally amazing…can I post on the What’s 4 Dinner blog?
Joseph Nobles
@TaMara (BHF): Yes, ma’am, you can if you think they’re worthy. I wish I’d gotten a picture for you, though. I’ll throw another pan in the Breville and cook it up all toasty and see what they look like.
Kristine
Sliced tomatoes, sliced cucumber, sliced red onion. Make a dressing of cider vinegar with sugar and salt/pepper to taste. Dash of olive oil. Let sit in fridge for a few hours before serving. Simple as anything, and flavor improves with age. I just keep adding sliced tomatoes.
My mom’s go-to summer salad. I think of her every time I make it.
Mousebumples
I found this recipe for Rice-Stuffed Tomatoes earlier this week and it sounds amazing. Problem is, I’m in the midst of moving and don’t really have access to a nice enough kitchen to try that out quite yet. But … it’s on my “someday soon” list. Maybe the recipe will intrigue someone else here, though … ?
Mnemosyne
@Joseph Nobles:
Nice! For some reason, all of the canned chipotles in my local grocery stores (Los Angeles) are ginormous. I can get tiny cans of green chiles, but it seems like the cooks around here all want their chipotles in adobe in the economy-size can.
TaMara (BHF)
@Mnemosyne: Same here. They freeze really well. I divide mine into 2 tbsp each, freeze and use as needed. Ice cube trays work really well for freezing, then I pop them into a zip bag. I do the same thing with tomato paste when I only need a couple tbsps and I have 1/2 can left.
TaMara (BHF)
@Joseph Nobles: I’ll check back mid-week and see if you have a photo, but it’s not a deal breaker. ;-)
Yatsuno
@muddy: Canning will overcook it. You’re better off freezing it. Or sending me a few. :)
Joseph Nobles
@Mnemosyne: Oh, wow! Here in Dallas we get little 7 oz cans. I guess there are #10 cans somewhere, but that’s wild that the big ones are there and not the little ones. My mom tried to tell me she’d never seen them in San Antonio. The plant that makes them is probably in San Antonio! She just had never had cause to look for them before.
@TaMara (BHF): That’s a nice tip about freezing the peppers. I chop them up to smithereens anyway, so freezing them could hardly hurt at all. And I will get a picture by then. This will be of a 9×9 Pyrex pan that I baked for 15 minutes and then put in the refrigerator. I’ll heat it up and get the cheese toasty. Maybe I’ll even try my hand at plating, but the lighting in my kitchen doesn’t work well for taking pictures. That could be the fault of the camera and the cameraman, too.