Summer Tomatoes

Recently NPR posted a news article based on the book Tomatoland: How Modern Industrial Agriculture Destroyed Our Most Alluring Fruit by Barry Estabrook. The article peaked my interest because I have always dreaded tomato purchasing during the winter. Ugh! Grocery store tomatoes are NOTHING like a homegrown summer tomato. The taste, the texture, the appearance of winter tomatoes are not the same fruit/vegetable as what is picked during the summer months. 

 

 

So during the summer months I try to take advantage of the summer harvest by canning, (wonderful to use in vegetable soups and sauces)

 baking pies and tarts,

 sauteing, and roasting,

Below are two of my favorite ways to use summer tomatoes.

Tomato Tart with Basil Garlic Crust

Crust:

1/3 cup fresh basil
1 garlic clove
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
8 tablespoon butter, chilled and cut into pieces
4 to 5 tablespoons ice cold water

Place basil and garlic in food processor. Process, scraping sides as needed until finely chopped. Add flour and salt. Pulse to combine. Add butter and process until crumbly. Add water, 2 tablespoons at a time. Pulse a couple of times each time. After 4 tablespoons, process a few seconds. If it forms a ball do not add any more water. Flatten to a disk and chill for one hour.

Tart:

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
2 large tomatoes, slices
1 tablespoon olive oil 
salt and pepper

Roll out crust and place in a tart pan. Add cheeses and top with tomato slices. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil. Bake 375⁰ until crust is golden brown and cheese is bubbly.

Roasted Grape Tomatoes

4 cups grape tomatoes

3 garlic cloves, peeled

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

In a medium bowl add the grape tomatoes and 3 garlic cloves. Drizzle with 3 tablespoons of olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper. In a 9 by 13-inch glass baking dish, place the tomatoes and garlic cloves, ensuring they are in just 1 layer. In a 350 ⁰ oven, roast for 20 minutes, and then stir. Add 2 to 3 tablespoons of hot water, if too dry in appearance. Return to the oven and cook for 20 to 30 more minutes. When ready, the tomatoes will have begun to shrivel and the liquid in the dish should have thickened. Serve hot from oven.

Enjoy...

Hot is HOT!

 For the past two summers, my husband and I have taken a road trip to visit our son in the City of Brotherly Love. 

 

 

 This summer we decided to do something different. We flew to Tucson, Arizona. Quite the contrast to the eastern United States.

 

 

While I knew this is a desert environment

 

 

with very little green vegetation or flowers,

 

 I was amazed at how hot it gets in Arizona.

Yes, I know it is a "dry" heat, but hot is hot!

Speaking of hot temperatures, summer is a great time to get out of the kitchen and do a little grilling. This Flank Steak Pinwheel with spinach, roasted red peppers and a bleu cheese sauce is an easy grilling recipe.

Flank Steak Pinwheels with Bleu Cheese Sauce

6 to 8 bacon strips

1 beef flank steak, (1 ½ lb)

1 cup fresh baby spinach

1 jar marinated roasted red peppers, drained

Seasoning (like Greek seasoning or salt and pepper)

1.Microwave bacon strips 2 or 3 minutes until partially cooked.

2. Butterfly the steak by cutting horizontally from the side of the steak to within ½ in of opposite edge. Open meat so it lies flat; cover with plastic wrap and flatten meat to ¼ inch thickness. Remove plastic wrap.

3. Sprinkle with seasoning of choose. Place spinach on top followed by the red peppers.

4. With the grain of meat going left to right, roll up jelly-roll style. Wrap bacon strips around meat and secure with toothpicks.

5. Slice beef across the grain and between each bacon slice. Sprinkle with more seasoning.

6. Grill over medium heat until meat reaches desired doneness.

7. Serve with Bleu Cheese sauce:

     3 oz cream cheese, ¼ cup milk, ½ cup crumbled bleu cheese

      Cook over low heat until melted and smooth.

Enjoy...

Attack of the Aliens

It happens every 13 years in the spring. One by one the shed skins appear on the exterior walls of houses, fences, tree trunks, plants and even hats.

 From these skins appear huge (1 1/2 inch) winged adults with orange eyes ready to move and make some noise.

They are EVERYWHERE; millions of them. The noise is deafening, reverberating, anything but pleasing to the human ear.

Every morning and early evening it sounds as though aliens are arriving. These invaders are buzzing, humming, flying around, laying on the ground, on the porch, in the bushes and all for what? To mate, lay eggs in trees and die. Apparently the humming sound is music to the ears of these alien females. The eggs fall to the ground, burrow into the ground only to emerge as nymphs in 13 years.

Welcome to the life of 13 year cicadas. Check out this cicada blog maintained by Clemson University entomologists. And no, I do not have a recipe for Cicada Cake or Cicada cookies :)

Loving This Thing Called Spring Break

Spring break finally arrived and I have enjoyed every minute of it. Started the week off by watching our nephew play a Little League baseball game,

and all the other activities taking place at the baseball park.

Took a road trip 

 to attended a wedding in small town USA.

Attended USC baseball game....The National Champions played #1 Vanderbilt.

And won the series - Go Gamecocks! YES!

Cleaned up the flower beds and planted some new flowers. 

Had my car fixed after a limb decided to make a visit to the top of my hood one night last week. UGH!!!

And, of course, did some baking.

 Coconut Pecan Cake 

1 box White cake mix

1 (3 oz). box vanilla instant pudding

1 1/3 cup water

4 eggs

¼ cup oil

1 ½ cup shredded coconut

1 cup pecans, chopped

Frosting:

1/3 cup butter, room temperature

6 oz cream cheese, room temperature

1 box powdered sugar

4 teaspoons milk

½ teaspoon vanilla

1 cup toasted coconut

1.To the cake mix, add all ingredients except the coconut and pecans. Mix completely.

2.Stir in coconut and pecans.

3.Pour into greased tube pan and bake 350⁰ for 60 minutes or until done.

4.To make frosting, cream butter and cream cheese until smooth and fluffy.

5.Add powdered sugar, milk  and vanilla. Mix until smooth.

6.Spread on cake and top with toasted coconut.

 

 

Enjoy...