Tomato Chutney, definitely addictive.

This was the year of crop failures here on the Mount Ranch. Our apple and pear trees did not get enough chilling hours to produce fruit, first time ever and a devastating one for the resident orchardist.
I usually make a LOT of pear chutney, it's a popular item at the arts & crafts sale I do every fall.

I needed something to fill that niche...and I had just bought 40 lbs of "seconds" organic dry farmed tomatoes. In a quick search I found this tomato chutney recipe, it was billed as "adult catsup".
My usual sous chef has an extreme aversion to peeling tomatoes and I can't do it for long without thumb pain, so I enlisted my very good friend, Susan, to help. While she peeled the "love apples" ( old fashioned term for tomato), I peeled and chopped the garlic and onions.

I had no idea how this mixture would turn out so it was a bit risky to start with a double batch which is what I did. Luckily it was an instant hit here served the next day with burgers. In fact we liked it so much we took it with us on a camping trip the following week. We met our friends who were hiking the John Muir Trail to give them supplies.

They had been on the trail for twenty days and were so happy to have food that did not require rehydrating. We made them burger (beef and veggie) for dinner with this chutney as the star condiment. Even my friend Laurie who is not a fan of most chutneys pronounced this one: amazing. She liked it so much she bought a jar once she was back home :-)

Here is my (as always) modified version.

Amazing Tomato Chutney

    •    4 lb tomatoes, peeled, cored and chopped  ( I weighted them before peeling)
    •    1/4 c. minced garlic (about a medium sized head)
    •    1 c. chopped onions
    •    3/4 c. brown sugar
    •    3/4 c. white sugar
    •    1 c. cider vinegar
    •    1/2 cup white vinegar
    •    1 TB. pickling salt
    •    1 lemon, zested and juiced
    •    1 TB fresh grated ginger
    •    1/2 tsp. hot pepper flakes (or to taste)
    •    1 tsp. cumin seeds
    •    1/2 tsp. black pepper
    •    1/2 c. raisins, chopped


1) Here is my post on how to make peeling tomatoes relatively painless.

 2) Peel and chop the garlic and onions. You can do a coarse chop in a small food processor or do it by hand.
3) The recipe calls for chopping the raisins, you can leave them whole if you like.
4) The original recipe called for powdered ginger and cumin. These will certainly work but I like my modifications. Remember it's much easier to grate ginger if the root is frozen, it will also keep longer that way.
5) Combine all the ingredients in a heavy nonreactive ( stainless steel or enamel) 4-6 quart pot.
6) Bring to a boil over high heat, then lower heat and cook at a low simmer for 1-1/2 to 2 hours until thickened. Stir often as it thickens to prevent scorching. When I double recipe it took twice as long to boil down.
7) Can in half pint jars using a hot water bath for 10 minutes. As always use safe home preserving techniques, here is  a site with lots of information. The original recipe did mention that she had good results freezing this chutney.
Yield is about five half pint jars, depending on how much you cook it down.
Try it on potatoes and anything else that passes by your plate !!

Gazpacho time !!

The other day my sister gave me this beautiful basket of tomatoes from her yard in the banana belt of Sunnyvale. Maybe all of Sunnyvale is a banana belt...where I live two blocks for the edge of Monterey Bay is certainly NOT. I can't grow tomatoes here, except tiny cherry tomatoes that ripen in October. Please don't write to me about San Francisco Fog tomatoes, tomatoes are meant to be grown where it is warm and sunny, that's what makes them taste so good.

With this bounty at hand, my taste buds turned to the great summer treat: gazpacho. It's so easy and versatile, I knew I could put together a batch from what I had on hand.

I used my recipe from two summers ago. I didn't have a red onion so I used the sweet yellow onion I had on hand, I added celery since I had some, and used some roasted bell pepper from my freezer. Mostly it's just chopping and tossing it into bowl, the most tedious part is removing the skins from the fresh tomatoes. A couple of cups go into the blender, and added back to the bowl. Be sure to chill it before serving.

I enjoyed it before ushering for Much Ado About Nothing in the Glen and it made a refreshing appetizer before the meal I served to my nephew and his family last night.

Beans, tomatoes and basil, oh my !

Not all in the same dish, although I am sure I could come up with something if it were a "quick fire challenge" or a "mystery basket" like the cooking competitions have.

This is just my way of covering several topics in one post.
It's summer and the farmer's markets and family gardens are full of tomatoes and basil so I have been making pesto and caprese salads. So good !!

Now is the time to think about what you will do your bounty of fresh tomatoes as well.
I was just telling a friend about the easy way to make great tomato sauce using roasted tomatoes, no peeling, no canning. This same link will also show you a simple and tasty way to make your own tomato juice, again no peeling or canning, we like that ;-)





But what about beans ??
If you are like me, you have jars of colorful, shiny dried beans in your cupboard that you plan to cook one day.

However, when it come to meal time it's just so much easier to reach for a can of already cooked beans. One of my kitchen goals for 2014 was to use all those dried beans. I thought I would do it using the pressure cooker, I didn't. In fact I gave up for a while...then I realized I could cook my dried beans with my slow cooker, a much less scary piece of equipment.

I was amazed at how easy this really is. You do have to think ahead a bit. Sort, wash and soak your beans overnight.

Here are some white beans that I don't even remember buying.

Rinse your beans and put them in the slower cooker with plenty of water and turn it on high if you are going to be around or on low if you want them to cook while you are at work. On high they take 4 to 5 hours, on low and I am guessing longer. Obviously if you are going to leave them all day be sure you have plenty of water.

I am talking about larger beans like the white beans, garbanzo beans, black beans, pinto beans and such.

 I add no other seasoning, except maybe a little salt, that way you can use them for any kind of recipe. And here is the great thing...they freeze beautifully in freezer bags. Once they have cooled, I measure them out in one or two cup portions, mark and label the bags.

 It's easy to grab a bag of frozen beans in the morning and throw them in the fridge for dinner that night. And so very satisfying !

I make my favorite kale and white bean soup.

Or killer re-fried beans.

Or Gina's beans or my curried chickpea soup... you get the idea.

What kinds of forgotten beans are lurking in your cupboards ??

Tomato Jam

I want to get this posted before tomato season is completely over ! We have been enjoying the boxes of Early Girl tomatoes we have been getting from Yellow Wall Farm. While they don't sell at the farmer's market they do have a farm stand on Saturdays between 9:00 and 1:00 PM. Judy has been very good about setting aside the most beautiful "seconds" for me. I have been making more tomato juice and roasted tomatoes for our freezer. Here's Bob with the new freezer we bought ourselves for our anniversary this year. Our old one was full to the top and I was not done yet !! I love my new freezer.

Back to the title of this post, tomato jam...a while back I was lunching with some friends at Greens at Fort Mason in San Francisco. One of the condiments was a cherry tomato jam. I was intrigued and tried my hand at a version with full sized tomatoes.

Here's what I came up with:

Laurie's Tomato Jam

Ingredients:

4 cups peeled and whizzed tomatoes

3 cup sugar

1 lemon juiced

 one inch cinnamon stick, one cardamon pod, three cloves in cheesecloth or muslin bag.

1) How many tomatoes you need will depend on the size. And they will need to be peeled, so do the "boiling water for one minute" trick to make the skins slide right off. If you use cherry tomatoes, don't bother, of course.

2) Once the tomatoes are peeled, use a blender, food processor or emersion wand to whiz them.

3) Toss them in a pot along with 3 cups of sugar, the juice of one lemon and the spices tied up in cheesecloth or muslin bag.

4) Simmer slowly then bring to a hard boil almost to jell point 220.

5) Remove the spice bag and can as usual or store in the fridge. This recipe makes four cups.

You can use it on sandwiches or burgers, over cream cheese, in salad dressing or on toast :-)

Summer Soup : Gazpacho !!

It's hot today so I have gazpacho on my mind. In fact I just put some in the fridge to chill for tomorrow's dinner. I also promised my sister-in-law I would post this recipe soon. My brother is growing most of the ingredients in his garden. She got to taste it earlier this week. I made it to take on a one night camping trip we took to watch the Perseids meteor showers at Carrizo Plains.

Here's where we camped.

I knew it would be a warm night so a cold soup was just the ticket. It was !! We did see about a dozen nice shooting stars that night. The next day we headed to Lompoc for two nights with my brother and sister-in-law.

Anyway back to the gazpacho, I did a take off on a recipe by Alton Brown. I have served it several times to guests always with rave reviews. It's great as a starter or for lunch. The combination of flavors and textures are very refreshing.

Great Gazpacho

Ingredients

5-7 tomatoes, peeled and chopped

2 cup tomato juice

1/2 red onion chopped

1 cup peeled, chopped cucumber

1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper

1 clove smashed garlic

1/4 cup olive oil

2 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

1/2 teaspoon cumin powder

1 lime or lemon, juiced

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

pinch cayenne ( optional)

5 fresh basil leaves, 1 avocado ( optional)

1) To peel the tomatoes, pour boiling water over them for one minutes, drain and cover them in cool water for another minute or so. They should peel easily that way. 

2) Chop the peeled tomatoes into small chunks and toss them into a bowl.

3) Peel and chop the red onion.

4) Peel and chop the cucumber and add it to the bowl.

5) Seed and chop the bell pepper, yes, in it goes.

6) Add the olive oil, lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, cumin, smashed garlic, salt and pepper ( and cayenne). Toss together gently.

7) Remove 1 1/2 cup of this mixture and blend it for 20 seconds in the blender. Mix it back in with the rest and refrigerate for several hours, or overnight, which I prefer.

8) When you serve it, you can top it with a finely chopped fresh basil leaf and several chunks of avocado.

Feel free to add other fresh herbs and spices. The proportions of the vegetables are not that important, use more tomatoes, less cucumber or different peppers if you wish. I do find that letting the flavors marry overnight gives the best results.

Basil, it's not just about pesto...

It is officially basil season with huge, leafy bunches showing up for cheap at local farmer's markets.
When most people think of basil, they think pesto, this garlicky pasta sauce is certainly a staple in our home.

Since basil is so abundant right now, let's think outside the sauce...

I used almost a whole bunch the other day when I made a variation of our favorite green soup, what a great addition. That big basil flavor went well with the other greens giving them a great summer taste.

Here are two more recipes that highlight this leafy herb: caprese salad and basil ice cream ( yes I did say basil ice cream, don't knock it until you try it !!).

Basil leaves are also great in sandwiches, on burgers, on pizzas, in fresh spring rolls and green or kale salads.

Capreses Salad
As the tomatoes show up at the farmer's market I get a craving for caprese salad.
"Caprese" means in the style of Capri, a very cool island off the coast of Italy. I remember swimming in a grotto there as a teenager, the water was an amazing color of turquoise, but I digress.

Caprese salad is simply fresh mozzarella slices, fresh tomato slices and basil, at least that is the basic recipe.

Here's how I made my caprese salad recently for a dinner with my brother.
Ingredients
4 large lettuce leaves
2 large balls, fresh mozzarella
1 clove finely chopped garlic
10 small tomatoes or 5 large ones
1-2 tablespoons good olive oil
1-2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar


1) I started with a bed of lettuce on a large plate.

2) Then I washed about 10 nice big basil leave and coarsely chopped them.
3) I sliced 10 small tomatoes from my brother's garden.
4) I finely chopped on clove of garlic
5) Sliced 2 big balls of fresh mozzarella.

6) I arranged all the ingredients on the bed of lettuce : mozzarella, tomatoes, garlic then basil.

7) I sprinkled the olive oil and balsamic vinegar over the top.

Here's my brother ready to dive into that caprese salad.

Basil Ice Cream with Balsamic Boysenberry Sauce

I was intrigued when a friend mentioned she had made basil ice cream. I asked for the recipe, changed it to suit my tastes and voila !!

Ingredients

For the ice cream*

2 cup milk
2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup sugar
2- 4 egg yolks ( depending on how rich you want it)
1 tablespoon vanilla
15-20 basil leaves

* Feel free to use your favorite basic ice cream recipe and infuse it with the basil leaves.

For the topping

2 cups boysenberries ( raspberries, blackberries or strawberries will work too.)
2-3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar.


1) Place the milk and cream in a pot on the stove at medium heat. Bring to just under a boil.

2) Add the basil leaves, stir, cover and allow to steep for 20 minutes. I would recommend tying the basil leave together with a bit of string, I found them difficult to fish out. Remove the basil leaves from the milk/cream mixture.

3) While the mixture is steeping, beat together in a bowl, the egg yolks, sugar and vanilla extract.

4) Heat the milk/cream mixture up slightly over low heat.

5) Add a tablespoon( up to four tablespoons) at a time to the egg mixture, beat in well each time.

6) Slowly pour the egg mixture into the milk/cream with the heat on low. Stir constantly.

7) Once all the yolk mixture is added cook for several minutes until it clings to the spoon and thickens. This usually take a few minutes.

8) Remove from stove, cool a bit before storing in the fridge until completely chilled.

Boysenberry Balsamic Topping

2 cups boysenberries ( raspberries, blackberries or strawberries will work too.)
2-3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar.

1) Place all three ingredients into a bowl.

2) Toss gently and allow to sit for 20 minutes.


Make the ice cream, allow to firm up in the freezer, then scoop and serve with the topping.

You will be amazed at how good this is !!

Tomato Season !!

I just bought these beautiful yellow organic tomatoes at my farmer's market this morning.
I already have a pan in the oven to make my fabulous and easy roasted tomato sauce.

I will make tomato juice out of some. If you haven't had homemade tomato juice, you don't know what you are missing. It's so easy. We love that there is no peeling involved !! Here is the recipe.

1) Core and cut your tomatoes into halves or quarters.

2) Bring the tomatoes to a gentle boil in a large pot, stirring often in the beginning to prevent burning. Simmer about 20-30 minutes depending on how many tomatoes you are cooking. The tomatoes should be soft.

3) Now it's time to extract the juice and leave the skin and seeds behind. There are several ways to do this. You may use a chinoise.

Or a food mill.

Or even a large strainer and a spoon.
Since I have a chinoise I used that. It works like a dream.

4) Once you have actually made the juice you have several options. A) You may refrigerate it and drink it within two weeks. B) You may can it, following safe canning procedures.
or C) Freeze it in jars or freezer bags like I do.

5) Treat friends or house guests with a glass of homemade tomato juice.

Summer Tomato and Fresh Corn Salad

I love it when fresh corn and tomatoes are bountiful at my farmer's market. Wanting to take advantage of both, I came up with this simple but very refreshing summer salad.

Summer Tomato and Fresh Corn Salad

Ingredients

Salad
2-3 baby gem lettuces or one head romaine
1-2 fresh tomatoes
1 cucumber
2 ears of fresh corn

Dressing
2 tablespoons red onions
1 tablespoon red bell pepper
1 tablespoon fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon fresh parsley
1/4 cup lime juice ( lemon can be used instead)
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika (or more chili powder)

1) Rinse and tear the lettuce.

I used the little gems but any kind of crunchy lettuce will do.

 

 

2) Remove the corn from the cob, be careful !! I probably should have done it into a bowl because the corn flew around a bit.

3) Peel and quarter a cucumber and cut into half inch chunks. Slice several tomatoes into wedges and assemble the salad.

4) Time to make the dressing: into the mini food processor I put the red bell pepper, red onion, fresh parsley and cilantro.

5) Whiz together with the lime juice, salt and spices.

6) Add the olive oil and whiz some more. Voila, yummy dressing !!

7) Dress each portion of salad separately unless you plan to use the whole bowl at once.

Note: I thought avocado would be a nice addition but my sous-chef claims he liked the whole texture of the salad the way it is !!