Showing posts with label tomatoes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tomatoes. Show all posts
Tuesday, 19 November 2013
Thursday, 17 November 2011
A foody friday
(but a little early)
Close your eyes.. Imagine you're in the kitchen. A warm , wintery, fuggy kitchen .Inhale. The sweetness of roasted tomato, the pungency of garlic, the sheer summery tang of basil, and the seductive plummy whoosh of red wine.
That's my kitchen as I come to the end of the tomato season.As I've said on an earlier post, the tomatoes were late to ripen, and most of them have had to turn red on the windowsills.The first ones basked in the sun rather smugly I thought, but within days, more were jostling for pole position in direct sunlight.
I'm sure they were breeding, they seemed to multipy - there wasn't one single windowsill in the cottage free of them and an alarming amount decided to ripen all at once.
Lycopene is supposed to be very good for you...so I 'm feeling very virtuous at the moment. And versatile..At least when it comes to cooking tomatoes.....
Two of the simplest ways to use lots of them up have been the tastiest according to the gang of four (the rest of my family)
Roasted tomato with basil...
Place sliced tomatoes in a ceramic dish, overlapping each other.
Tuck some fresh basil leaves in between them.
Throw a glug of exra virgin olive oil over them, add salt and black pepper and grate some parmesan cheese over the top.Wang in the oven at 190 degrees fahrenheit or gas mark 5 for about 20 - 25 minutes.
As the meerkats would say - SIMPLES! (It's an ad campaign in the UK , fronted by meerkats who talk , for those of you who are wondering what the hell I'm talking about.)
I've also been making quite alot of pasta sauce to put in the freezer...again , so simple to make, and it's a firm family favourite.
A gutsy tomato sauce
First of all line a roasting pan or baking sheet with aluminium foil. Cut about 10- 12 tomatoes in half , put on the foil cut side up. Drizzle with olive oil.
Wrap a small bulb of garlic (do not skin) in aluminium foil and place in the middle of the tomatoes.
Bake in the oven for about 25 minutes.Throw the tomatoes into a liquidiser, squeeze the garlic cloves out of their skins , add them to the food processor and then add a third of a glass of red wine, and about 6 or 7 basil leaves..Whizz into a thick sauce.
Job done. That's it. As the children used to say easy peasy, lemon squeezy!
And you will have the gutsiest, garlicky sauce which you can simply pair with your favourite pasta and top with parmesan.
Or, sometimes I saute courgettes , mushrooms and peppers and add to the sauce, or add mince.
There are just a couple of caveats when making this sauce.
The first is , don't add too much red wine. Difficult I know.But with this sauce if you do add too much wine, and I have in the past, it makes the sauce too thin and looks unappetising. Unless you're a vampire that is....
Secondly, do remember to make sure the lid of the liquidiser is firmly on. I didn't (only once mind you, and it was the first time I made it) and the kitchen looked like a crime scene. A little tomatoey pasta sauce , like blood, goes a long way!
And the the last caveat....do not eat this sauce if you 're going out on the pull. You will have liked eating this sauce, but those you may kiss at the end of the night won't.Especially if they are vampires...
So what have I done with the rest of the tomatoes that I simply can't eat this week?
This....
Today's track.....nothing to do with tomatoes whatsoever! Just one of my favourite songs,from an amazing album...and as I sit in the kitchen ., on my favourite wicker chair with a glass of wine, this is playing.....
(but a little early)
Close your eyes.. Imagine you're in the kitchen. A warm , wintery, fuggy kitchen .Inhale. The sweetness of roasted tomato, the pungency of garlic, the sheer summery tang of basil, and the seductive plummy whoosh of red wine.
That's my kitchen as I come to the end of the tomato season.As I've said on an earlier post, the tomatoes were late to ripen, and most of them have had to turn red on the windowsills.The first ones basked in the sun rather smugly I thought, but within days, more were jostling for pole position in direct sunlight.
I'm sure they were breeding, they seemed to multipy - there wasn't one single windowsill in the cottage free of them and an alarming amount decided to ripen all at once.
Lycopene is supposed to be very good for you...so I 'm feeling very virtuous at the moment. And versatile..At least when it comes to cooking tomatoes.....
Two of the simplest ways to use lots of them up have been the tastiest according to the gang of four (the rest of my family)
Roasted tomato with basil...
Place sliced tomatoes in a ceramic dish, overlapping each other.
Tuck some fresh basil leaves in between them.
Throw a glug of exra virgin olive oil over them, add salt and black pepper and grate some parmesan cheese over the top.Wang in the oven at 190 degrees fahrenheit or gas mark 5 for about 20 - 25 minutes.
As the meerkats would say - SIMPLES! (It's an ad campaign in the UK , fronted by meerkats who talk , for those of you who are wondering what the hell I'm talking about.)
I've also been making quite alot of pasta sauce to put in the freezer...again , so simple to make, and it's a firm family favourite.
A gutsy tomato sauce
First of all line a roasting pan or baking sheet with aluminium foil. Cut about 10- 12 tomatoes in half , put on the foil cut side up. Drizzle with olive oil.
Wrap a small bulb of garlic (do not skin) in aluminium foil and place in the middle of the tomatoes.
Bake in the oven for about 25 minutes.Throw the tomatoes into a liquidiser, squeeze the garlic cloves out of their skins , add them to the food processor and then add a third of a glass of red wine, and about 6 or 7 basil leaves..Whizz into a thick sauce.
Job done. That's it. As the children used to say easy peasy, lemon squeezy!
And you will have the gutsiest, garlicky sauce which you can simply pair with your favourite pasta and top with parmesan.
Or, sometimes I saute courgettes , mushrooms and peppers and add to the sauce, or add mince.
There are just a couple of caveats when making this sauce.
The first is , don't add too much red wine. Difficult I know.But with this sauce if you do add too much wine, and I have in the past, it makes the sauce too thin and looks unappetising. Unless you're a vampire that is....
Secondly, do remember to make sure the lid of the liquidiser is firmly on. I didn't (only once mind you, and it was the first time I made it) and the kitchen looked like a crime scene. A little tomatoey pasta sauce , like blood, goes a long way!
And the the last caveat....do not eat this sauce if you 're going out on the pull. You will have liked eating this sauce, but those you may kiss at the end of the night won't.Especially if they are vampires...
So what have I done with the rest of the tomatoes that I simply can't eat this week?
This....
Today's track.....nothing to do with tomatoes whatsoever! Just one of my favourite songs,from an amazing album...and as I sit in the kitchen ., on my favourite wicker chair with a glass of wine, this is playing.....
Friday, 28 October 2011
Love apple days...
They took a long time to germinate,then pots of pots of them took over the dining room until the danger of frosts was over, and I've been a watering and a spoiling them ever since.
I'm talking tomatoes..little ones(cherry), mediumsized ones (roma) and some larger ones but I haven't a clue what they are as I did a swap with my mate Keith in our village. I grew most of them at my allotment but kept all the little cherry tomatoes here in the courtyard at home.
Those were the first to ripen...one by one, they took their time..and every morning I looked eagerly outside the kitchen window to check how they were doing.
The allotment tomatoes grew well enough,a few turned orange and red,so I whisked them smartly into the kitchen to be sliced,and have olive oil,black pepper basil leaves thrown over them.
The rest of them have been obstinate little devils - refusing to ripen, like teenagers kicking their heels....and shouting "No! Won't!"
As with teenagers sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind....with a cold frost forecast last week they all were all taken off the tomato plants, before they died.
Since then , I can't see any of my windowsills...the tomatoes are lying in the sunshine there, finally turning colour.They're the ones in pole position for the race to ripen.
I'm having to help the less fortunate ones...I've taken this lot out to bask in the sun today.
I was going to make a rich sauce with some of them today but as it's such a beautiful day here, I've decided to make one last summer tomato tart.
It's a recipe I've loved and cooked for years... by the wonderful Tamsin day Lewis.She makes tartlets but I like to see a big tart...
Tomato , camembert and herb tart
Ingredients
1 tbspn Dijon mustard
A large shortcrust pastry case - prebaked
100gm Gruyere or parmesan cheese
8 -10 firm ripe tomatoes, thinly slcied
1 whole camembert , quatered and thinly sliced
6 tbspn olive oil
2tspn finely chopped fresh thyme
1 tspn fennel seeds
2 garlic cloves
salt, pepper
How to make
1.Heat the oven to 190 C (375)F Gas 5 and put a baking sheet in the oven to pre heat...this will keep the pastry base crisp
2.Spread the mustard thinly over the pastry base then sprinkle with the gruyere or parmesan/Arrange overlapping slices of tomatoes, then a row of slices of camembert, another torow of tomatoesetc
3.Put the oil in a small bowl, add the thym,me, fennel seeds, adn crushed garlic.Brush the tomato and camembert slices and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
4. Bake the tarts on the hot baking sheet until golden and bubbling - it only takes about 25 minutes.
5.Serve hot, warm , or at room temperature...I prefer warm.
One last reminder of summer....
The soundtrack for today's post was going to be something else....but in view of the pounds and pounds of tomatoes here , it's got to be Paul Simon - 50 ways to leave your lover.
Only I'm singing 50 ways to cook tomatoes at the top of my voice alongside the chorus.Go on , try it....it fits!You may get some odd looks who cares? The sun is shining!And this is such a snazzy version.....
I'm talking tomatoes..little ones(cherry), mediumsized ones (roma) and some larger ones but I haven't a clue what they are as I did a swap with my mate Keith in our village. I grew most of them at my allotment but kept all the little cherry tomatoes here in the courtyard at home.
Those were the first to ripen...one by one, they took their time..and every morning I looked eagerly outside the kitchen window to check how they were doing.
The allotment tomatoes grew well enough,a few turned orange and red,so I whisked them smartly into the kitchen to be sliced,and have olive oil,black pepper basil leaves thrown over them.
The rest of them have been obstinate little devils - refusing to ripen, like teenagers kicking their heels....and shouting "No! Won't!"
As with teenagers sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind....with a cold frost forecast last week they all were all taken off the tomato plants, before they died.
Since then , I can't see any of my windowsills...the tomatoes are lying in the sunshine there, finally turning colour.They're the ones in pole position for the race to ripen.
I'm having to help the less fortunate ones...I've taken this lot out to bask in the sun today.
I was going to make a rich sauce with some of them today but as it's such a beautiful day here, I've decided to make one last summer tomato tart.
It's a recipe I've loved and cooked for years... by the wonderful Tamsin day Lewis.She makes tartlets but I like to see a big tart...
Tomato , camembert and herb tart
Ingredients
1 tbspn Dijon mustard
A large shortcrust pastry case - prebaked
100gm Gruyere or parmesan cheese
8 -10 firm ripe tomatoes, thinly slcied
1 whole camembert , quatered and thinly sliced
6 tbspn olive oil
2tspn finely chopped fresh thyme
1 tspn fennel seeds
2 garlic cloves
salt, pepper
How to make
1.Heat the oven to 190 C (375)F Gas 5 and put a baking sheet in the oven to pre heat...this will keep the pastry base crisp
2.Spread the mustard thinly over the pastry base then sprinkle with the gruyere or parmesan/Arrange overlapping slices of tomatoes, then a row of slices of camembert, another torow of tomatoesetc
3.Put the oil in a small bowl, add the thym,me, fennel seeds, adn crushed garlic.Brush the tomato and camembert slices and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
4. Bake the tarts on the hot baking sheet until golden and bubbling - it only takes about 25 minutes.
5.Serve hot, warm , or at room temperature...I prefer warm.
One last reminder of summer....
The soundtrack for today's post was going to be something else....but in view of the pounds and pounds of tomatoes here , it's got to be Paul Simon - 50 ways to leave your lover.
Only I'm singing 50 ways to cook tomatoes at the top of my voice alongside the chorus.Go on , try it....it fits!You may get some odd looks who cares? The sun is shining!And this is such a snazzy version.....
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