Scape Goats (Recipe: Tomato Soup with Scape Pesto)

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Tom-soup

Scape experiments would not be complete without the de-rigueur pesto. And so I pulled out the food processor, olive oil and parmesan.

After the hake and kale, I didn’t have enough scapes left to make a full batch of pesto. But the basil is coming in; it seemed like the perfect marriage – scape-basil pesto! The scapes would replace the garlic in the more traditional version. Honestly, though, my pesto isn’t very traditional… it’s really just an herb oil, as I don’t like nuts. Nonetheless, moving forward…………..

With pesto in mind, I need something to put under it. Tomato soup seemed the perfect foil, especially since I still have plenty of jars left from last summer, and I will be canning this year’s stash in just a few weeks hence.

The flavors of the pesto were pronounced without being overpowering. I could taste the basil, garlic and tomatoes. The scapes had the spicy raw garlic flavor, though it didn’t linger in a way that raw garlic can. And with tomato soup, one must have grilled cheese! And so, I made lunch…

Tomato Soup, Scape-Basil Pesto and Grilled Cheese

Tomato Soup

1 tbs. butter
1 shallot
2 garlic cloves
¼ cup white wine
2 cups stewed tomatoes
1 cup chicken stock or water
Salt and pepper to taste

1. In a soup pot, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add garlic and shallots and cook for 5 mimutes, or until soft. Add wine. Then add tomatoes and stock.

2. Simmer for 10 minutes (longer if using tinned tomatoes). Puree

3. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Scape-Basil “Pesto”

4 scapes
1 handful basil
¼ cup parmesan cheese
¼ cup olive oil
Salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste

1. Combine all ingredients in a few processor. Blend until mostly smooth but a little chunky. Season to taste with salt pepper and lemon juice. Drizzle on top of soup.

Grilled Cheese

4 slices baguette
¼ cup grated cheese
1 tbs. butter

Spread butter on bread. Put bread, butter side down in an oven proof dish. Put cheese on top. Bake at 400 until cheese is melted. Serve with soup and pesto.


GYO-1GR-200

I'm submitting this recipe to Andrea's Recipe's "Grow Your Own" Blogging event.  Check out her site to see what other folks from the blogosphere are cooking up from their gardens.

Volunteerism

Volunteerism
My morning routine includes a pot of coffee, the New York Times and an inspection of the garden.

This time of year, I’m looking to see if radishes are ready to harvest, lettuce ready to cut and if the strawberries are ripe. And of course, I look for stray weeds. I want to catch them when they are still small and easy to pluck out of the ground. Obviously, I appreciate the aesthetic of having a weed-free garden. More importantly, given how hot and dry it’s been lately, I don’t want any intruder depriving my fledgling tomato and cucumber plants from their much needed water and nutrients.

Looking at the thicket of mint, I noticed a few leaves did not belong. As I reached down to pluck them out of the ground, I realized it was, in fact, a tomato plant. An errant seed from one of last summer's tomatoes must have landed in the mint patch. A volunteer.

Who knows what will come up, but for sure it will be a hardy plant. Perhaps it will be a yellow cherry tomato…. I recall several tomatoes split from the combination of rain and heat. I few of those dropped on the ground. Did I not bother to clean them up? I thought I was pretty vigilant with the rampant blight. Or perhaps it’s a Roma tomato. I remember sharing a ripe tomato with one of my favorite four-year-olds. The plum tomato, dry and ideal for stews and sauces, was too mushy for his taste and he spit it out.

Though I’ve been better about labeling plants this year, I’ll mark this one with a big question mark.

Impatient Gardener (Recipe: Pasta with Young Garlic, Tomatoes and Basil)

 

Green-garlic-pasta
I’ve developed a strategy for crop rotation that, up until this year, has been pretty successful. I plant lettuces and spring crops in half the yard and then the summer crops in the other half. When the spring crops wind down, usually in late June, I prep the soil and get it ready for the fall crops which go in in August.

This year, I have a problem. I planted garlic for the first time with the notion that I would harvest the bulbs in late May/early June, just in time for the summer crops to go in. The stalks were looking thick, so I thought I’d pull one up to see how it progressed. It looks closer to a leek than a garlic bulb. They will need at least a month more. 

Green-garlic2
The garden is quite full right now. Summer veggies that are already planted: celery, leeks,  kale, beets, broccoli, brussels sprouts. The spring veggies that will be harvested over the next few weeks: lettuce, radishes, strawberries and the questionable garlic.
If I want to plant tomatoes, cucumbers and eggplant, something has to go.

I’m not sure what I will do… which would you sacrifice?

In the meantime, I couldn’t let the young garlic go to waste… I rolled out fresh pasta and tossed it with tomatoes, arugula and shrimp. 

Green-garlic-pasta3

From the garden: garlic, arugula, basil and tomatoes.

Pasta with Young Garlic, Tomatoes and Basil

1/2 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 tbs. olive oil
1 stalk young garlic chopped, or two cloves chopped
1/4 tsp (or more) chili flakes
1 – 15 oz. canned tomatoes
1/4 cup white wine
1 tbs. fresh (or frozen) basil
1/2 pound fettuccine

  1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Season generously with salt.
  2. Season shrimp with salt and pepper. 
  3. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add garlic and cook for 1 minute until it softens.  Add shrimp and chili flakes and cook for 2 minutes until it begins to turn pink.  Add white wine and tomatoes, continue cooking until tomatoes thicken and shrimp cook through.  If the sauce seems thin, but the shrimp are cooked, pick them out and set them aside.
  4. Cook pasta according to package direction, but for 1 minute less.   When pasta is cooked, drain and toss with tomatoes.
  5. Mix in basil. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Carbo-Loading (Recipe: Spaetzle)

 Spaetzle2

The Boston Marathon is just around the corner and the elite athletes are tapering their running and increasing their carbs. Our bodies take longer to break down complex carbohydrates, thus giving runners more sustained energy.

I won’t be running the marathon this year (nor have I ever, or likely ever will), but in solidarity with my fellow Bostonians, I will carbo-load with them.
One of my favorite starchy side dishes in spaetzle, a German boiled dumpling made with flour, eggs, milk and salt. It couldn’t be easier to make, but it’s a bit of a mess to clean up which is probably why I don’t make it more often.

Though, I usually serve spaetzle with chicken picatta, last night’s dinner was focused on cooking from the larder. I still have a hefty stash of tomatoes from last summer. Since I’m in the home-stretch until I’m knee-deep in tomatoes again, I’ve become more reckless using them in recipes. Some leeks in the crisper drawer were not looking so crisp. I further softened them in butter… the richness of the leeks played well with the spaetzle and offered a nice counterpoint to the acidic brightness of the tomato sauce.

Spaetzle
Spaetzle

Spaetzle can be adorned with fresh herbs (such as scallions, basil or sage) or spices (nutmeg is most common). I prefer mine plain.

2 cups flour

2 tsp. salt

¾ cup milk

3 eggs

1 stick butter or 1 cup chicken broth or a combination of the two.

1. Whisk flour and salt together.

2. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs until well beaten, combine with milk. Spaetzle3

3. Whisk flour with egg/milk mixture for about 30 seconds, or until just combined. Alternatively, mix in a food processor for 15 seconds. Let rest. 

 
4. When water boils, push spaetzle dough through the spaetzle maker. (You may need to cook them in batches, depending on the size of your pot). Wait until they float to the top and cook for 1 minute more. Scoop out with a slotted spoon and put in butter broth dish.

 Spaetzle5
Spaetzle6

Breaking Out Summer (Recipe: Eggplant Portobello Torta)

When winter seems interminable, usually around the beginning of February, I break into my stash of jarred tomatoes. The red jewels of the summer garden were canned at their peak of flavor. And when I need a dose of sunshine, the bright, sweet acidity exudes summer warmth.

In typical years, I can about 2 dozen jars. After I give a few out as gifts, I ration myself – one or two jars a month. I try to hold off as long as I can before I start digging in so that during the coldest days, I know I’ll have an antidote to dreary New England winters.

This year, I had a canning-palooza, with a record 72 jars! I’ve become a little reckless. Yes, I know, winter doesn’t officially start until December 21st. But last night, I opened the first two jars.

I pureed a can of smoked tomatoes with a can of tomato sauce for a simple, yet flavorful sauce to grilled leg of lamb. A “Portobello” napoleon rounded out the plate.



Roast Leg of Lamb with Eggplant Portobello Torta and Smoked Tomato Coulis
Serves 4
4 portobellos, caps only
1 shallot, diced
2 cloves garlic, sliced
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil (optional)
1 tablespoon fresh chopped thyme
1 eggplant
1/4 cup flour
1 egg mixed with ¼ cup water
1 cup bread crumbs
1 can smoked tomatoes
Canola/olive oil mix for cooking

Marinade
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon ground coriander
½ bunch fresh sage, chopped
½ bunch fresh thyme, chopped
½ bunch scallions, green and white parts, chopped.
1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped

Salt and pepper, to taste

1. Make the marinade: Heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and garlic. Cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add herbs and spices, and cook about 2 minutes more, until they are fragrant. Let marinade cool. Add lamb, and marinate overnight.
2. Put mushrooms in a single layer on a baking sheet, fins up.
3. Sprinkle with garlic, shallots, vinegar, oil, and thyme.
4. Season with salt and pepper.

5. Roast in 400F oven for 15 minutes, or until tender.

6. Cut the eggplant on a bias into at least 4 slices. Season eggplant with a generous sprinkling of salt. Let sit for 20 minutes. Rub off excess salt off and pat dry.
7. Bread the eggplant: use three dishes, one for flour, one for the egg, and one for the bread crumbs. Coat with flour, then dip in the egg mixture and finally coat with bread crumbs.
8. Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the oil to coat the bottom of the pan, by ¼ inch. Fry eggplant for 4 minutes on each side or until golden brown and crispy. Let the eggplant drain on a paper towel.
9. Puree tomatoes. Warm in a sauce pan over medium heat. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper as desired.
10. Preheat oven to 425F.
11. Heat a large skillet over high heat. Sear lamb on all sides until brown
12. Roast lamb for 15 minutes, or until cooked to desired doneness.
13. Make a “sandwich” with the eggplant, cheese and Roasted Portobellos.
14. Bake at 400F until the cheese is melted.
15. Meanwhile, slice lamb.
16. Garnish with sandwich, tomato coulis and broccoli.

Garden Burgers

I grocery shop at least 4 times a week; a pound of coffee here, a quart of milk there. Given that the Whole Foods is only 2 blocks from my house, I never plan my meals and provisions too far in advance. It’s much easier to shop one meal at a time because I know exactly what I need. Better still, I waste much less food.

By now, most of the Whole Foods staff knows me by face, if not by name. And they must think I have the most miserable diet. Aside from a bit of fruit and a random vegetable or two, my shopping cart is mostly filled with meats and starches. Why buy vegetables when I have a garden brimming with kale, lettuce, leeks, Brussels sprouts and celery?

Yesterday, I made garden burgers. No, not vegetarian patties. But meat patties topped with condiments from the garden. I purchased the ground meat at Whole Foods, and topped it with scallions (instead of onions), arugula in place of lettuce, and ketchup I made last month from the bumper crop of tomatoes. Since I don’t grow potatoes for French fries or cabbage for cole slaw, I just sautéed some kale as a side to the burger.

Total Cost: Meat: $2.25, Bun: .25, Cheese Slice: $.25
Taste: Priceless.

Homemade Ketchup
4 cups diced tomatoes or 1 (28-to 32-ounces) can whole tomatoes in juice
1 tbs. plain oil
1 medium onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
Pinch cayenne
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1 tsp. salt

Purée tomatoes with juice in a blender until smooth.

Heat a stainless steel sauce pot (do not use aluminum because of the high acidity), over medium heat. Add oil, onions and garlic. Stir occassionaly, and cook for about 10 minutes, or until soft and lightly gold. Add spices and cook for one minute just to help them release their fragrance. Add the remaining ingredients. Turn heat to low and simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the ketchup is very thick. Let chill.

Purée ketchup in blender until smooth. Will keep for several months in the refrigerator.

Where There’s Smoke, There’s Deliciousness (Recipe: Roasted Wellfleet Clams with Smoked Tomatoes)

How do you smoke a turkey? From the butt-end…. ba-da-bum!
(Thanks goodness I have a day job!)

When I preserve tomatoes for the winter, I stew a case for all-purpose cooking, and smoke a case for a more jazzy supply. The smoked tomatoes add depth to so many of my favorite dishes, including — Beef Stew, Chicken Enchiladas, Ricotta Ravioli with Tomato Sauce.

I don't have a proper smoker, but I use my Weber Charcoal Grill. While the fire is blazing in the grill, I soak 2 cups of apple wood chips in water or wine. Just as the fire starts to wind down, I drain the wood chips, and toss them on the smoldering charcoal. I replace the cooking grate, and fill it with tomatoes (and as I did the other night — also jalapenos and chicken). I'm careful to place the food away from the direct heat. I don't want the food to cook too quickly. And, should there be a flare-up, I don't want the food to burn. I cover the grill, leaving the vents just cracked open… and walk away for at least 30 minutes.

With the smoked tomatoes, I make another summer-time favorite, enjoying the last few sparkles of the warm weather….
Roasted Wellfleet Clams with Smoked Tomatoes and Grilled Bread
2 tablespoons butter
1 onions sliced
3 cloves garlic
2 dozen Wellfleet or other littleneck clams
3 smoked tomatoes
1/4 cup white wine
4 slices of crusty bread for grilling

1. In a large skillet, over medium – high heat, melt butter. Add onions and garlic and cook until they're soft, about 5 minutes.
2. Add clams and toss in butter/onion mix until well coated and the clam shells begin to roast
3. Add tomatoes and white wine. Cover pan, and cook for 5 minutes or until all the clams have opened.
4. Toast or grill bread
5. Serve clams with grilled bread for soaking up all the yummy juices.

Optional: Serve with grilled corn and/or chicken.

The Staples of Life (Recipes: Panzanella and Strata)

By some strange miracle, the blight never struck my tiny patch of soil. In fact, I have more tomatoes than in any other year before. This year, when I transplanted the tomatoes in the spring, I recalled a friend's advice: Prune the bottom two leaves and bury the root mound deeper than usual to allow for extra root growth and stability. Could this have made the difference? Thankfully, friends are quite enthusiastic about relieving me of my bounty.

Every meal this week has a variation of tomatoes, basil, bread and mozzarella. Who knew you could make so many different variations with the same four ingredients.

Panzanella…

Bruschetta…

Strata…

Panzanella
Recipes abound for panzanella. Most suggest that stale bread needs to be soaked in water and then squeezed out. I don't fully understand the purpose of this step — obviously, the bread needs to soften up. But why not soften it in tomato juice?

2 cups cubed bread — stale or toasted
1 large cucumber
1 tsp. salt
2 tomatoes
8 oz. fresh mozzarella
fresh basil, chopped
2 tbs. extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

1. Slice cucumbers. Toss with salt and let sit for 30 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, cube tomatoes and set aside in a small bowl. Cube mozzarella.
3. Drain excess water off of the cucumbers.
4. The tomatoes should start to give off water after 15 minutes of sitting. Take this liquid and toss with bread cubes.
5. Mix the remaining ingredients together just before serving. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper to taste.

Tomato Mozzarella Strata
Strata is a breakfast dish, similar to a quiche or frittata.

3 tbs. butter
4 slices bread
3 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbs. fresh herbs: basil, scallions, tarragon and/or parsley
1 tbs. finely diced celery
2 tomatoes, sliced
8 oz. ball fresh mozzarella, sliced

1. Melt butter in a 9" x 9" pyrex dish. Lay bread slices on top of melted butter.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine eggs, milk, herbs and celery. Season salt.
3. Pour egg mix over the bread.
4. Layer tomatoes and basil on top. Sprinkle with a little extra salt and pepper for seasoning.
5. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until eggs are set. Serving immediately.

Tales from the Farm (Recipe: Crab Scallion Pancakes)

Last week's New York Times featured a terrific article about Brett and his winter-hardy greens. For those of you who received seeds from me from the give-away several months back, these are them!

Pajeon

Thursday was the big canning day!

While Brett drove into DC to deliver the weekly CSA boxes, I got myself organized. Brett had set aside 60 pounds of tomatoes for me. Early in the week, I trimmed, cut and then smoked 30 pounds, and diced another 30 pounds. The outdoor kitchen was set up: a steam kettle to fit all 72 jars, a propane cook-top to sterilize the tomatoes and a 6 foot work table.

The steam-kettle was wood-powered. We built a fire in the furnace below, and waited patiently for the water to boil. I put all the jars in the water, and set aside the lids. The smoked tomatoes fit perfectly into the 3-gallon rondeau pot I brought down with me from Boston.

Canner

After the water boiled (with the jars) for 10 minutes, the jars were sterilized. I carefully pulled out each jar, poured out the water and laid them out on the table. One by one, I filled the jars with tomatoes, then wiped clean the rims, put a lid on and screwed the top on. Back into the water they went.

Next up, the diced tomatoes. Again, I boiled the tomatoes for 10 minutes, boiled the jars for 10 minutes, and then filled them just as I did for the smoked tomatoes.

With all the jars were filled, and back in the kettle, I covered the pot, refueled the fire, and let them pressure cook over-night. This final stage serves two purposes. First, it kills any remaining bacteria or live spores remaining inside the jars. Second, it creates a vacuum seal which prevents any future aerobic bacteria from developing.

Canned-tomatoes_02

For more details about canning you can read about last year's canning.

When Brett returned from his delivery, we were both exhausted. He from waking at 2 am to load the truck with the 300 boxes (each weighing about 15 – 20 pounds), driving to DC to deliver (and unload) to 7 different sites and then returning back to the farm. It feels lame to put my exhaustion in the same category as Brett, but I was tired from working in the hot, 90+ degree sun over an open fire stove.

Needless to say, we both needed a restorative. With cocktails in hand, we headed back to the Chesapeake Bay to check on the crab pots and take a swim. We had 6 keepers.

For the past several evenings, we had enjoyed the crabs as a little snacking, picking the meat from the shell. On this night, I shelled all the meat and made Korean style scallion pancakes with Crab and a Soy Dipping Sauce (Pa Jon or Pa Jeon). I generated about 2 cups of meat

PaJeon with Crab
These pancakes are thicker and doughier than the Chinese counterpart

1 cups rice flour
2 cup A/P flour
2 cups water
2 eggs
1 bunch scallions, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 tsp. salt
1 pound crab meat
1 tbs. cooking oil (canola or peanut)

Dipping Sauce
½ cup soy sauce
2 – 4 tbs. rice vinegar (depending on taste)
1 tbs. sesame oil
1 tsp. fresh sesame seeds
2 tbs. scallion rings
1 tsp. chili paste (more or less to taste)

1. In a bowl, whisk together the rice and A/P flour. Stir in the water and eggs to combine. Finally, gently mix in the salt, crab and scallions. Let rest.

2. In a separate (serving) bowl, combine the sauce ingredients. Adjust to your taste with vinegar, sugar and chili paste.

3. Heat a large, cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Add enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Pour in a scant cup of batter and smooth out to 6 inches around. Cook until the edges crsip up. Flip over, and cook for 2 minutes more. Drain on a paper towel. Repeat this process, replenishing the oil in the pan as necessary, until all the batter is used.

4. Just before serving, you can spread out the pancakes into a single layer cookie sheet and reheat in a 450 oven for 10 minutes.

5. Cut into pie wedges and serve with dipping sauce.

A Salad to Stop Traffic

Stopping-traffic-salad-01

Traffic-salad

Aunt Ruby's German Green: a sweet juicy tomato with a piquant bite. The heirloom is a large beefsteak type tomato that, when ripe, is a pale green color with a hint of yellow striping. The large tomato often weighs one pound or more. Aunt Ruby’s German Green has the wetness of a melon and can give a deep flavor explosion. It is generally used in salads, but is also a wonderful tomato to fry
(Description from Slow Food USA)

Yellow Star: this odd little joy is plain yellow to yellow-green, slightly flattened like a mini pumpkin, and with dimensions of 1 ½” or 2” and only about ¾” high. But what flavors! Tart and exciting, extraordinarily juicy, not for everyone’s palate, and with tropical nuances that no other tomato can approach. Best for salads.

Pruden’s Purple: really complex flavors, excellent texture, and only moderate acidity make this a worthy competitor to the venerable heirloom Brandywine. Pruden’s is a bright pink to mottled purple, often large, and nearly as funny looking as Cherokee Purple. It has such nuance and superior slicing texture that it remains a favorite, year after year.