Category: Food

What I Did With the Tomatoes

Last week I posted about using up the last of the home grown garden tomatoes. As part of the final garden tasks for the year, the plants were removed and the last green tomatoes harvested. These slowly ripen in the garage allowing us the opportunity to have fresh, local tomatoes through a winter freeze.

Attempting to cram too many tasks into a day left me with limited time to do something with the tomatoes. So I resorted to a tried and true, relatively quick method of using up a random quantity.

Placing the tomatoes in a colander in the sink, I poured boiling water over them then rinsed in cold water. This made peeling easier. The next step was to squeeze out the seeds, quarter and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Sprinkled with my favorite Tuscan Sunset Herb blend from Penzey’s and drizzled with olive oil, these baked at 350º convection for about 45 minutes.

The baked tomatoes were dumped into a stock pot and blended with an immersion blender. (If you do not have one of these awesome kitchen gadgets, you need one. Stop reading right now and order on Amazon. Several inexpensive models are available and it is worth it.) Back to the tomato sauce: season to taste with salt and pepper, then keep warm while making the rest of the meal.

This is a super versatile sauce, but sometimes there is nothing like simple spaghetti noodles with this fresh sauce topped with freshly grated parmesan cheese. I added a quick salad and cheesy bread. Simple, satisfying and fresh.

This meal did not use up all of the sauce; what is left will make a tasty lasagna several days later. I will layer wide noodles with sauce, mozzarella and ricotta. Lasagna always makes enough for leftovers and is even better the second time around in my opinion.

At the end of this round of sauce, which took less than an hour of active time, we will have at least three meals. Not bad for November tomatoes.

I still intend to get out the Julia Child cookbooks, but when you run out of time during the day and just need to get something quick on the table; fix an old favorite and don’t apologize.

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Tomatoes in November?

Yes! We still have a few ripe garden tomatoes.

It has frosted here in Central Illinois and the tomato plants are gone from the garden which means the remaining green and half ripe ones are in the garage to slowly finish ripening. End of the season tomatoes are not sizeable enough for slicing, although diced or quartered onto a salad still tastes fresh and amazing. Most of the remaining will be used as cooking tomatoes. Only a few are ripe at a time, so it becomes a challenge to use up varying amounts. 

The Options

One option I have used is to juice a couple of small batches and store each in the refrigerator until there is enough to justify getting out the canner. Using this method, I canned 6 more quarts of juice. Now we have the base for 6 more pots of chili, or with some additional seasoning, this could be 24 more Bloody Mary’s. 

Now on the kitchen counter awaits another small group of tomatoes. What to do with these? 

A fresh sauce perhaps? Cooked and pureed with Italian seasonings, these will give a taste of summer in a lasagna or some other pasta dish. 

Or maybe chop along with the end of the garden peppers and make a season ending fresh salsa. 

Following the directions in a previous post about Sunshine Mary’s, I could do a traditional, fresh Bloody Mary with these small numbers of tomatoes.

What if I consult the Julia Child cook books and try a French dish with tomatoes? 

The possibilites abound. Any of these will make for a fine meal. 

And the winner is…..

Come back next week to find out what delicious creation I made.

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Meal in a Bowl

It’s late October at the Farm and we are enjoying the last of garden fresh vegetables. Sweet potatoes, carrots, spinach, peppers and lettuce were all harvested before the killing frost.  

Of course I take this bounty as a sign that I should create a new recipe. Add that to my recent infatuation with broth bowls and I’m off to the kitchen to create a meal. 

 I have found that I can flavor a broth easily with the following technique. Pour two cups of bone broth into a 4 cup microwave safe bowl. I use a pyrex measuing cup. For the bone broth, I use either home made or an organic one in a carton. Into the 2 cups of broth, add 1 inch piece of ginger, thinly sliced, 6 to 8 one inch pieces of lemongrass and a couple of peppercorns. Microwave on high for 2 minutes, then let sit while prepping the rest of the ingredients. Heat again just before pouring over the bowl.

What goes in the bowl?

Rice or noodles. If I’m using rice, my favorite is the high protein Cahokia rice grown in Southern Illinois and available on Amazon. It is also reportedly available in some grocery stores. Sometimes I use plain ramen noodles and prepare according to package directions. Plain ramen noodles are now available at my local Walmart. In a pinch, you could probably use just the noodles from the cheap packages and discard the high sodium flavoring packet.

Add some toppings.

Choose a variety of colors of vegetables and proteins to make the bowl interesting. I have been using bite sized chunks of sweet potatoes, julienned carrots, poblano and sweet peppers, strips of chicken breast, plus shreds of spinach. All of the toppings are either oven roasted or steamed before adding to the bowl. I keep each topping separate to place around the top of the bowl.  

Put it all together.

Once all ingredients are ready, assemble the bowl. 

Place the rice or ramen, whichever you are using in the bowl, top with vegetables and a few shreds of fresh spinach. Pour the hot broth over the bowl,  which will slightly tenderize the spinach. Top with cilantro, Sriracha sauce and/or soy sauce as desired.

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Sweet Potatoes

There is more to sweet potatoes than a casserole topped with marshmallows.

Do you like sweet potatoes?

Most people think of sweet potatoes only at Thanksgiving. Baked in a casserole with loads of brown sugar, butter and marshmallows melted on top. Although that is a delicious dish reminscent of warmth and family, if that is the only time you are eating sweet potatoes, you are missing out. Sweet potatoes are a delicious, colorful and nutrient rich powerhouse any time of year.

Culivation of sweet potatoes originated in the tropics thousands of years ago. The consistent warm and humid weather provides ideal growing conditions. As humans began to travel the world, they took this vegetable with them and created new varieties.

Even those this relative of the morning glory is a tropical plant if you pay attention to the weather, you can grow them quite well in the 6a zone of Central Illinois. The most prevalent variety and what we grow here at the farm is Beauregard. This variety produces a tuber with dark orange flesh.

Harvest and Storage

As you might imagine with their tropical history, sweet potatoes must be dug before the first frost. If you experience a light frost, it will kill the vines and you should dig the potatoes as soon as possible.

After digging, lay out the potatoes to cure in a warm humid location. This improves the storage capability and makes them sweeter. After two weeks of curing, brush off remaining dirt and store as you would white potatoes.

We have discovered that even though this is the way to prepare for longer term storage, the potatoes are sweet and delicious fresh from the garden.

Preparation

Beauregard sweet potatoes have a smooth creamy flesh when cooked. They are sweet with no additional sugar added. Try cutting into bite size chunks and steaming until tender. Or drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper and roast in a 425º oven until done and the edges are carmelized. Most recently I added steamed sweet potatoes in a ramen noodle bowl along with carrot strips fresh from the garden.

Sweet potatoes go beyond a delicious dish. They are good for you with rich stores of beta-carotene, Vitamin C, fiber and other nutrients.

Think about sweet potatoes next time you want to add some color to your plate.

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