Roasted Tomatoes

I love fresh garden tomatoes, so it was hard for me to admit that we had more fresh tomatoes than we could eat fresh (although we have definitely eaten our share of salads, bruschetta, and salsa lately). I made 2 really big pots of sauce (which I then put in the freezer), but still had tomatoes left over, including lots of romas. I decided to roast them and was not sorry when I piled a pastry crust with tons of roasted tomatoes, a few onions, and some cheddar cheese. I don't have a photo, but believe me this dish was gorgeous and delish!

Roasted Tomatoes
Slice roma tomatoes in half lengthwise, then toss with olive oil, salt and pepper and thyme. Arrange on baking sheet and bake for 45 min to 1 hour at 400 degrees.

Roasting tomatoes dries them out a bit and really deepens the flavor. They are great on pizzas and tarts, tossed in salads or on a roasted veggie sandwich. These are some recipes using roasted tomatoes that I'm thinking of trying:
Corn Fritters with Roasted Tomatoes and Garlic Aoili
White Beans with Roasted Tomatoes
Fussili Pasta with Roasted Tomatoes and "Hidden" Zucchini
Slow-Roasted Tomato Bruschetta

Glorious garden

Upon returning from a week away, MO and I were greeted with about 10 pounds of gorgeous garden tomatoes! In my opinion there is nothing more delicious than a fresh-picked garden tomato...

We also had 2 obscenely large zucchinis, about 10 cucumbers, 4 eggplants, and lots of green and purple string beans. So, needless to say, we've been eating a lot of veggies this week. We've made:

• the beautiful caprese salad pictured above


• fresh salsa with tomatoes, jalapeno, and cilantro from the garden


• Spicy Summer Pasta Sauce (with fresh garden tomatoes instead of canned)


• a Thai-style eggplant and tofu stir-fry


• Zucchini-Walnut Muffins (I'm still perfecting the recipe, but will post it soon)


• Dill Refrigerator Pickle Spears

I still have zucchini and eggplant to use up, so I'd better get cooking!

Tomatoes (yes, again)

I know, I know...you're probably tired of hearing about our garden tomatoes. But they're not gonna last too much longer, so here's another post on the tomato theme.

We finally got to the theater to see Julie and Julia. It's a movie all about food, blogging and Julia Child, so it's right up my alley. There were many gorgeous dishes in the movie, but there was one that I was still thinking about after leaving the theater. It was a simple bruschetta that the character Julie made but made with - you guessed it - fresh garden tomatoes and a little butter. I tossed together fresh chopped tomatoes, garden basil, a little garlic, olive oil and salt and pepper and loaded it onto thick slices of french bread that had been toasted in pan with a little melted butter. I think this is my new favorite tomato preparation. Seriously, I could eat this every day.

Cherry Tomatoes Galore!

Normally I eat all of the cherry tomatoes in our garden before they have a chance to be brought inside. This year, however, we have so many I am being forced to get creative. The odd thing is, this year, all our cherry tomatoes are an orange variety. MO insisted he bought 5 different kinds of plants, but apparently they are all the same sweet orange variety. There is one that is different - a juliet tomato plant - but that one is orange, too!

So, here are some of the ways I've used our abundance of orange cherry tomatoes:
- cherry tomato, green bean, and potato salad with basil vinaigrette (from Annie Sommerville's Fields of Greens cookbook)
- chunky cherry tomato salsa with garden green onions and cilantro
- simple cucumber and cherry tomato salad with dill and red wine vinegar
- quick cherry tomato sauce

This last one deserves a special mention because it was so delicious and beautiful. MO was the original creator of this one, but I've made it again since. It's great on pasta with some fresh Parmesan cheese and basil, or on pizza like we made:.Quick Cherry Tomato Sauce
for pizza, pasta, or whatever!

1-2 tsp. olive oil
2 pints cherry tomatoes (it's fine to leave them whole)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup water
S&P to taste
fresh herbs (basil, parsley, oregano)

Heat oil in pan, then add cherry tomatoes and garlic. Add water and bring to a simmer. Simmer over low-medium heat, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes or until tomatoes are soft and broken up. Add S&P and fresh chopped herbs and remove from heat.

Is there anything better than a homegrown tomato?

The beautiful juicy yellow tomato in the photo was lovingly grown in our garden by MO. The cool-looking heirloom was from the farmers market. The one from the farmers market was very pretty (detail in photo below) , but I have to admit ours was much tastier! I made this gorgeous salad last night by simply layering tomato slices with a little bit of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, fresh garden basil and s&p. Scrumptious!

Delicious!

Yu-um! I'm not sure what was more delicious this morning - the breakfast I made or the photo I took of it with our new camera! I now have a new tool to further my obsession with food and writing and reading about it.

My first model was the breakfast I made for MO and myself on this beautiful Sunday morning: Poached Eggs over Fried Green Tomatoes and Toast. I dusted sliced green tomatoes* in cornmeal, then pan-fried them until golden brown. I messily poached some eggs (a technique that I definitely have to work on), layered them with the tomatoes on toast and topped it all with a mixture of chopped red tomatoes*, parsley*, a splash of champagne vinegar and s&p. It was delicious and fresh and we didn't even miss the rich hollandaise that would normally drown a dish like this at a restaurant.

* = from our garden!

Roasted Corn Salsa

This quick and easy salsa is impressive and makes a great addition to a party snack table or a mexican or latin dinner. The family who I worked for as a nanny made this often and it always makes me think of them.


2 cups corn kernels (defrosted and drained if frozen)
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium tomatoes, diced
1 small jalapeño, seeded and minced
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
juice of 1 lime
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 450.
Mix corn and minced garlic with olive oil. Spread on cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until corn kernels are a dark golden brown. Watch so that garlic does not burn.

Let corn cool before stirring it with remaining ingredients. Serve with tortilla chips or as a side dish.

Green Tomatoes

It's that time of the year when MO pulls out the plants in the garden. It always makes me a little sad - the last sign that summer is really truly over - but that's ok I guess because it is December, after all. Ah, the glories of living in California...

So, this year we happen to have tons and tons of green tomatoes and MO gave me the task of taking care of them, so...

First, I fried them. I've had fried green tomatoes at restaurants a few times, sometimes deep fried, sometimes with a thick cornmeal-type crust, but I think the way Dad made them when I was a kid is still the best.

Fried Green Tomatoes
- Green tomatoes
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 cup flour
- salt & pepper to taste
Slice tomatoes about 1/4" to 1/2" thick. Pour a small amount of milk into a shallow bowl. In another bowl, put a 1/2 cup of flour, seasoned with salt and pepper. Dip each tomato slice into milk first, then dredge in flour. Shake excess flour off of tomato slices. Cover the bottom of a large frying pan with a thin layer of vegetable oil and heat on medium-high heat. Add tomatoes and fry until browned on each side. Serve asrm as a side dish with breakfast, luch or dinner...or just as a snack. Yum.

And then, I pickled them. I love pickles (more about pickles to come), and these are some of the yummiest I can remember.