Every year I make a pilgrimage to Southern Maryland to can tomatoes. Perhaps it seems silly (and environmentally unfriendly) to drive 500 miles each way, but I treasure the time I spend with my friend Brett – harvesting, cooking, fishing, eating and drinking. And we always have much to chat about – whether it’s the tomato blight or the antics of his work-crew.
When Brett started Even’ Star Organic Farm twelve years ago, he wanted to be known as the “Tomato Man.” He pledged to only sell tomatoes that had truly ripened on the vine, unlike the commercially graded “vine ripens” which need only show the slightest blush of pink to garner that label. Unfortunately, after the first year, he discovered that the fully ripened tomatoes were too fragile, and his customers wanted a product with a longer shelf life – 2 days instead of 2 hours. Now he picks them two days from perfection, still more ripe than his commercial counterparts.
Over the years, and through some research I did for him, he realized that the tomatoes were a loss leader – he only makes about $1 per case profit. This is not a get-rich-quick scheme, and he uses the tomatoes to lure customers and relies on other crops to make his money.
This year, Brett is up to his eyeballs in tomatoes. And coming from New England, where entire tomato crops have been wiped out, this is a welcome sight! Hundreds of cases of tomatoes fill the storage room. His CSA subscribers are getting seven pounds a week.
He will not be able to sell all the tomatoes, so he will preserve them to sell with his winter CSA subscription. In addition to canning for his home-use, some tomatoes will be truly sun-dried. The tomatoes are sliced thickly and laid out on trays in the greenhouse (where temperatures can exceed 150F) to sun-dry.
If you are in the DC area, you can purchase his tomatoes at the Chevy Chase Farmers' market on Saturday mornings from 9am – 1pm, at the corner of Broad Branch and Northampton Sts., NW, DC.
Sun-dried Tomato Pesto
1 cup sun-dried tomatoes ½ cup olive oil 2 tbs. pine nuts or almonds 1 tbs. chopped garlic. 2 tbs. parmiggiano reggiano ¼ cup basil leaves Salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste
1. Rehydrate tomatoes in olive oil: Combine in skillet over medium-low heat and cook until the tomatoes plump and are pliable, about 5 minutes.
2. To the tomatoes, add the garlic and nuts, and continue cooking for 2 minutes, stirring constantly, until garlic is lightly golden and nuts are slightly toasted. Immediately remove from heat.
3. Strain oil and reserve. Put tomato/garlic/nut mix in a food processor. Coarsely chop. Then slowly drizzle in reserved oil and process for 1 minute more. Add parmesan and basil and pulse until incorporated.
4. Season to taste with salt, pepper and lemon juice.
Early in the summer I began noticing worms in the soil. I knew the soil started out in excellent condition, 3 summers ago, when I imported 5 tons of compost, but worried that I hadn’t sufficiently amended the soil in the subsequent seasons. The worms told me that I was doing okay.
Over the years, I have tried and given up on growing heirloom tomatoes. I’m lucky if I harvest one tomato at the end of September. Despite my track-record, I plant at least one heirloom every year. This year, I planted three. And so far, I’ve had 10 tomatoes! It must be the worms.
The threat of blight still looms. I regularly trim back any yellow spotted leaves that show signs of disease. The foliage is thinning, but the tomatoes stalks are heavy with fruit.
And I’m tense. Because, in fact, they are too heavy. The plants are drooping, bending the stalks despite all my efforts to stake them.
I wonder if the tomatoes will get the required nutrients and energy from the plant with a weakened structure.
The tomatoes still ripen on the vine (i.e. they don’t rot), so I continue to enjoy them: lots of tomato/mayo sandwiches and a few tomato sauces.
Mediterranean Eggplant and Tomatoes With the glut of eggplant and tomatoes, I made a Mediterranean style dish. With basil, it takes an Italian bent and pairs beautifully with grilled steak and potatoes. With dill, the Turkish inspiration takes over making it perfect with mackerel and basmati rice.The dill is in short supply and I’m reserving it for pickles. I decided to lean Italian.
¼ cup plain oil 5 Japanese eggplants, sliced in half lengthwise 2 tablespoons currants or raisins 2 tablespoons pine nuts or pistachios 1 tablespoon butter ¼ cup white wine 1 shallot, peeled and diced 1 large garlic clove, peeled and diced 2 cups diced tomatoes – whatever you have in your garden 2 tablespoons fresh basil or 1 tablespoon fresh dill Salt and pepper to taste
1. In a large skillet heat oil over high heat. Add eggplant to pan, cut side down, and cook until a deep brown. Flip over and cook on the other side until the eggplant is soft, about 1 more minute. It’s important to cook the eggplant in a single layer, so you may need to cook them in batches. Drain on a paper towel and season with salt.
2. When eggplants are cooked, pour off the oil from the pan. Return the pan to a medium heat. Add the pine nuts and raisins and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly, or just until the pine nuts start to brown. Remove from heat and drain.
3. Wipe the pan clean, return to medium high heat, and add the butter. When the butter melts and shallots and garlic. Cook for 5 minutes, or until soft. Add the wine and reduce. Add the tomatoes. Cook until the tomatoes have released their liquid and start to thicken. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
4. Just before serving, stir in the fresh herbs.
When serving, sprinkle toasted pine nuts and currants on top.
One of the best parts of summer (right behind the Crane's Beach and fried clams on the Essex River) is all the fresh produce available at farmers' markets and from my garden. I could subsist on tomatoes, corn and fresh herbs.
The garden tomatoes are still producing (and as I back-up, the farmers' at the weekly markets still have field tomatoes). My romas are a bit mealy — is it the variety or all the rain we've had this summer? Whatever the reason, they are better for cooking anyway. And the cooking changes the texture so that mealiness disappears. I slow roast them in the style of Fred Flintstone tomato sauce.
Grilled corn is wonderful, but I also like it sauteed in butter with a touch of cream and a pinch of curry powder.
And to make the trilogy pop with color, I saute zucchini with fresh mint.
In the summertime, my cooking simplifies. While baked salmon doesn't have the crispy brown skin that's only achieved from sauteing, it's so much easier. I cover the fillets with fresh basil and tarragon, and layer lemon slices on top. The flavor is wonderful, the fish is moist and delicate and the presentation's okay too.
Roasted Salmon with Creamed Corn, Roasted Tomatoes and Zucchini
6 – 8 oz. filets of salmon, skin on 3 ears of corn, kernels cut off 1 tbs. butter 5 shallots, diced 5 cloves garlic, diced 1 clove garlic, sliced 1/2 cup cream 1/2 tsp. curry powder 4 roma tomatoes, cut in half 2 tbs. olive oil 1 tablespoon fresh basil, chiffonade 1 tsp. fresh thyme 1 zucchini, cut in half lengthwise, and then cut into 1/2 inch slices 1 tablespoon fresh mint 2 lemons: 1 juiced, 1 sliced thinly 1 fistful of fresh basil and tarragon plain oil salt and pepper to taste
1. Toss tomatoes with 1 tbs. olive oil, thyme, 1 tbs. chopped shallots and 1 tsp. garlic. Roast in 450F oven, until tomatoes begin to brown. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Toss with fresh basil.
4. Melt butter in a skillet. Add corn, 1 tbs. chopped shallots and 1 tsp. garlic. Cook until garlic and corn begin to brown. Add curry powder and cook for 1 minute more. Add cream, and cook for 5 minutes, or until cream is reduced by 1/2. Season to taste with salt, pepper and lemon juice.
5. In a skillet, heat remaining oil on high heat. Add zucchini and garlic slices. Cook until the zucchini turns bright green and the garlic browns. Season to taste with mint, lemon juice, salt and pepper.
6. Season salmon with salt and pepper. Cover the fillets with fresh herbs and layer lemon slices on top. Roast in 375 oven for 10 minutes, or until cooked to desired doneness. Garnish with corn, tomatoes and zucchini.
Home Depot should publicly apologize for killing the New England Tomato Crop.
This has not been a good summer for us. First, the June monsoons dampened our spirits, and now a blight found on tomato plants from “big box stores” is spreading, literally, with the wind and destroying tomato fields one by one. As any farmer or gardner will tell you, the zucchini and cucumbers are fine, but what we really care about are the tomatoes! You can read about the blight here and the plight of Waltham Fields Community Farm here.
Though I did not buy my tomato seedlings from Home Depot, I’m still noticing damage: yellow, wilted leaves with black spots. Two tomatoes, just days from perfection, had insect holes bored out from the center. I’m cutting back the leaves in hopes of preventing the spread.
I bought several tomato plants at Russo’s, and have a few from my friend Brett. Those from Brett were bred for disease resistance, and so far are proving the most hardy!
This week, I did manage to harvest a few ripe tomatoes — 4 black krim and 3 hybrid big boys. Though the plants are weighted heavy with fruit, who knows if they’ll survive to harvest… so just in case, I made my favorite, quintessential, summer sandwich, best to savor the tomatoes: Toasted Bread, Mayonnaise, Tomatoes and Salt.
Some people mark the start of summer at Memorial Day, others on June 21st. For me, summer officially begins with the first tomato from the garden.
Though the first tomato appeared in early June, the miserable rains and cool weather that followed thwarted any chance of an early July first harvest. A few weeks off “schedule,” I’m picking the first tomato. Of course, one tomato does not make a salad, much less a meal. Thankfully, on the same day the first cucumber is large enough to pick also. With a few scallions and fresh dill, I have all the fixings for a favorite summertime salad, and enough to serve as a side for dinner.
Israeli Salad In Israel, this salad of chopped tomatoes and cucumbers is usually served at breakfast with smoked, cured or pickled fish. It’s also a great condiment for falafel, or tossed with Israeli Cous Cous for a refreshing side salad. This recipe is also featured in Even’ Star Organic Farm’s Summer Cookbook.
2 of your favorite heirloom tomatoes 1 small cucumbers 3 scallions 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 1 tablespoon lemon juice 1 ½ teaspoon fresh dill or lemon basil ½ teaspoon salt ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1. Coarsely chop tomatoes. Toss with salt and pepper. Let sit for 5 minutes
2. Meanwhile, coarsely chop cucumbers (unpeeled).
3. Drain excess liquid from tomatoes. Toss with remaining ingredients.
4. Adjust seasoning to taste with salt, pepper, lemon and/or olive oil.
"Midnight will come tonight as it does every night." Those were Frank King's famous words as he pranced through the kitchen I was working in —they were meant to be a comfort as we cooked as fast as we could on a busy Saturday night. At 8 o'clock, I could not see beyond the five skillets I was juggling on the stove-top and as many in the oven. Stacks of plates awaited roast chicken, seared foie gras and soft-shell crabs.
As I look out the window at the gray skies, I think of Frank, slightly modifying his famous words, "August will come as it does every year."
Last summer, I canned 24 quart jars of tomatoes, which I have judiciously used over the winter. With August just around the corner, I know I will soon again be knee deep in the coveted summertime queen of the garden. I’m more brazen using the last few jars of tomatoes in my cooking.
This week, I made ricotta ravioli, served atop garden kale and tomato coulis. The pea greens on top also came from the garden. Alas, I did not have much for more than a garnish.…
Ricotta Ravioli with Tomato Coulis
Filling:
1 ½ cups fresh ricotta ¼ cup parmesan 2 tablespoons fresh basil Salt and pepper to taste
1. Mix everything together.
Pasta dough:
2 ¾ cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus ¼ cup for dusting 4-5 large eggs as needed 1 tbs. olive oil 1 tsp. salt
1. Sift 2 ¾ cup flour onto a clean counter. Make a well in the flour, and add 4 of the eggs, olive oil and the salt.
2. Beat the eggs with a fork, gradually bringing in the flour from the sides of the well, until the paste has thickened enough so the liquid will not run onto the counter. Switch from a fork to a pastry cutter. Bring all the flour into the already wet part and cut through the dough several times until it is evenly moistened. Start kneading with your hands until the dough forms a ball and looks homogenized, about 8 minutes. 3. If the dough becomes stiff, and refuses to bend, rub in a little of the remaining egg. If the dough becomes too moist, add a bit of the flour.
Work the dough by machine:
4. Divide the dough into 3 balls, and let rest under a damp towel for 20 minutes. (This is a good time to make the rest of the recipe). Start working the dough through the pasta machine starting with the widest setting. After running it through the machine, fold it into thirds, and run it through again. When the dough is smooth, run the dough through the machine through successively small settings. The dough will stretch out, and be rolled very thin.
5. When you have achieved thin sheets, you can let the dough rest for a few minutes before filling and cutting. Use the remaining egg as glue for the ravioli sheets to stick together.
Tomato Coulis 1 tablespoon butter 1 tablespoon chopped shallots 1 – 16 oz. can best quality tomatoes ¼ cup white wine
1. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add shallots and cook for 3 minutes, or until soft. Add tomatoes and white wine.
2. Cook tomatoes until much of the water has evaporated.
3. Puree tomatoes in a blender. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Last summer, I dated a man I affectionately called Fred Flintstone.He garnered this nickname because of his caveman-like eating habits.He had many wonderful virtues, but his palate was not one of them.His diet consisted of three things: chicken parmesan, pizza and kung pao chicken.
Since eating out is one of my favorite pastimes, I wanted to expand his repertoire and expose him to new flavors so we could eat together at a greater variety of restaurants.I had a plan: start with the basics and refine them.I thought, “I’ll make him the best friggin’ chicken parm he’s ever eaten!”
Off to Whole Foods: I bought organic, free range chicken, fresh mozzarella, Parmigiano Reggiano, and brioche for homemade bread crumbs.For the sauce, I had organic, heirloom tomatoes that I canned. I proudly served him my masterpiece:The chicken was cooked perfectly, properly seasoned and juicy.The mozzarella had a light golden crust and the crunchy bread crumb crust with seasoned with the parmesan cheese and olive oil.
He said, “Your sauce could use a little tomato paste.”
He ate more broccoli than chicken, which was a particularly bad sign since vegetables were not part of his regular diet.I was thoroughly demoralized.
I wouldn’t tell him this, but he wasn’t completely wrong. The sauce was watery.Tomato paste was not necessarily the answer but it did need thickening – either by longer cooking or by using a less juicy tomato.
Out of this came a new way of making tomato sauce that does not require long simmering and stirring.I roast roma tomatoes, sliced in half, with garlic cloves and shallots.When everything is slightly browned and caramelized, I puree it all with some olive oil, balsamic vinegar and fresh herbs.
Why did we break up, you ask?Because he was a hopeless caveman, and I couldn’t convince him to try foods beyond his basic three dishes.Perhaps, I had diminished his culinary trust in me with watery tomato sauce. He never did try the improved version.But I have a new red sauce recipe to remember him by.
Fred Flintstone Tomato Sauce
3 pounds plum tomatoes, cut in half, lengthwise 2 shallots, peeled and cut in half 6 garlic cloves, peeled 2-3 stalks fresh thyme ½ cup olive oil 2-3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar 1 sprig basil Salt and pepper, to taste
1.Toss tomatoes with shallots, garlic, thyme and oil.
Roast the tomatoes in the oven for 30 minutes at 400F or until tomatoes are tender and the garlic is lightly browned.
3.Puree the tomatoes with garlic and shallots in a food processor.When smooth, add basil and puree for 10 seconds more just to chop. Adjust seasoning with balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper.
Broccoli that even a Caveman will eat
1 head broccoli, cut into florets 1 tablespoon chopped garlic 2 tablespoons olive oil 1//4 teaspoon chili flakes 1 squeeze lemon juice.
Heat a large skillet over high heat.Add garlic and chili flakes.When garlic starts to brown add broccoli.Stir to coat in olive oil and garlic.Add ¼ cup of water to steam broccoli.When water evaporates and broccoli is bright green, season with salt, pepper and lemon juice.
All year, I wait with anticipation for the August tomato – firm and sweet, and slightly acidic, with juice that drips down your chin with the first bite. The varieties of heirlooms available at a “commercial” level are astonishing – satisfying every palate and culinary need. For the sandwiches, there’s Brandywine or Pruden’s purple, for salads, Cherokee or cherry tomatoes. If you prefer an acidic tomato there’s black krim and a sweet tomato, gold turtle egg.
After that first bite, I swear I will never eat a mealy, bland, rock-hard winter tomato again. Of course, come winter, I’m craving a rich osso buco to take the chill off winter. My favorite recipe calls for… you guessed it… tomatoes. It’s a vicious cycle.
The only solution is to preserve the peak summer tomatoes and then store them for winter. It’s a win-win situation – the tomatoes are the most flavorful and cheapest in August. And as a bonus, I can sneak in a visit to Even’ Star Organic Farm in Southern Maryland, where farmer Brett grows an abundance of heirloom, organic, truly vine-ripe tomatoes.
There are two basic options for preserving: freezing or canning. Freezing has one obvious (and big) advantage: it’s a hassle-free process. The primary disadvantage is that you need excess freezer space. And if there’s a power outage, you risk losing your entire stash.
Canning has an obvious disadvantage in that it’s a hot, laborious, time-consuming process. But in the end, you don’t need to worry about storage space – the jars can be buried in the basement or in the back of a closet. Climate control is unimportant.
Either way, you need to first process the tomatoes. Plum tomatoes are the classic stewing tomatoes because they have a drier, firmer texture. Alas, their flavor doesn’t compete with other varieties such as Brandywine or Pineapple. Optimally, you can use a 50-50 mix of the two to get the right balance of flavor and texture.
When I can tomatoes for the winter, I usually process 50 pounds or more. For this reason, I take short-cuts on skinning and seeding the tomatoes. I would rather remove the skins as I use the tomatoes (one jar at a time) if at all.
Stewed Tomatoes
This can be as basic or complex as you like. Either way, start with cleaned tomatoes. Take out the core, cut out any bruises or blemishes and cut into chunks. If you’d like, sauté onions and garlic in olive oil. When the onions are soft, add the tomatoes and cook for about 10 minutes. You can also add basil sprigs, and season with salt and pepper. When the tomatoes are cooked you can freeze them in one pint containers or can them (see below).
Smoked Tomatoes
This is a personal favorite. A little smoked tomato adds an unexpected depth to almost any recipe. You don’t need a smoker – a regular ole charcoal grill works fine. Wood chips are available at Whole Foods or at a hardware store.
For a Charcoal Grill:
You will need 2 cups wood chips (hickory or apple is great, mesquite is okay) soaked in 4 cups of water or cheap white wine. Drain just before smoking. And, of course, plenty of San Marzano Plum tomatoes, cut in half.
Prepare a fire as you normally would. When the fire is on its last legs (there are still some red embers) get ready to move quickly. Toss the wood chips on the fire. Put the grate on top, and place the tomatoes on the grate, ideally skin side down (should the skins burn, you can remove them, if the flesh burns…). Cover the grill with the lid, open the vents only ½ way.
Let the tomatoes smoke for 1 hour.
Puree them for a sauce for lamb or steak, or add them to your favorite recipe for a little zip.
For a gas grill:
Follow the directions as above. Except: Put the drained wood chips in a disposable aluminum tray, and place it directly on top of the gas flame.
Canning Tomatoes
The one thing to remember when canning tomatoes is that you need to boil everything. Boil the jars, boil the tomatoes, boil the tomatoes in the jar. The first two boil are necessary to sterilize the jars and the tomatoes, the third boil is to create a vacuum seal in the jar.
So to be clear, the process goes like this:
1. Purchase canning jars. I prefer the wide mouth because they are easier to fill. Consider buying a variety of sizes. Even if you are only canning one kind of sauce, the variety will enable you to maximize your tomatoes – if a recipe calls for a small amount of tomato, you open a small jar, instead of opening a large jar that may not be completely used. Also, buy a pair of “canning tongs”. These tongs are specially designed to lift the jars out of the water.
2. Wash the jars. Put the lids in one pot and the jars in another pot. The pot for the jars should be deep enough that the jars can be covered by at least on inch of water.
3. Cover the lids completely with water and put them on the stove. Bring to a boil, and turn off the heat. Let them sit in the water until you’re ready to use them.
4. Cover the jars completely with water and bring htem to a boil. Continue boiling them for 10 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, bring the tomatoes to a boil, and continue cooking them for at least 10 minutes. Even if you smoked the tomatoes, you still need to boil them.
6. Remove the jars from the water, draining the water out. Fill each jar with tomatoes, leaving about ½ inch at the top. With a clean towel, wipe the lip of each jar clean.
7. Drain the water from the lids and cover each jar. Seal with the metal band.
8. Return the jars to the boiling water and let boil for 10 minutes. Remove from the water and let stand for 20 minutes. Remove the band and test the lids – if it comes off easily, then the seal did not work and you must repeat the process. If the lid is tight, then you are all set!
This year, I canned 12 pints of stewed tomatoes and 12 pints of smoked tomatoes. Alas, I processed more tomatoes than I had jars. I bought more jars and made ketchup with the remaining tomatoes.
Homemade Ketchup
8 cups stewed tomatoes
1 onion
½ cup brown sugar
1/2 cup cider vinegar
2 teaspoons salt
Puree onions and tomato. Combine in a stainless steel pot. Cook over medium heat for 2 hours, stirring occasionally to keep tomatoes from sticking to the bottom.
This will keep for 2 weeks in the refrigerator or you can jar the tomatoes.
Brett called two weeks ago to let me know that the plum tomatoes were in full production! He knows I plan an annual visit to the farm with the sole goal of canning tomatoes to last me through the winter. He suggested I come for a visit soon, lest I suffer the same fate as last year: my timing was off and the varieties available, though more flavorful than the plums, were too juicy for preserving. By the time I arrived this week, he had set aside 50 pounds of #1 plum tomatoes, plus another 20 pounds of #2 Cherokee purples which would add depth of flavor to my sauces.
The guise of my trip was to can tomatoes, but in truth, I cherish every opportunity to visit. In an era of high fuel costs and rising food prices, where the average food travels 1,500 miles from the field to the plate, I take a special pleasure in harvesting my food just hours before eating it. A typical meal on the farm has less than 10 food miles. Lamb comes from Donna and Cameron, just a few miles down the road in Lexington Park. Friend Bob fishes in the Chesapeake Bay, 1,500 feet from the farm – sharing his catch of Cobia, Bluefish or Striper. Vegetables, chicken and eggs come from the fields less than ½ mile from the house. The Mennonites raise livestock for milk and cheeses about 15 miles north in Leonardtown. Deer prance in the fields surrounding the farm, occasionally venturing into the fields and eating the watermelon. “Crop management” means we occasionally eat venison, too!
The farm is at peak production now – harvesting several varieties each of tomatoes, okra, red peppers, cucumbers squashes, eggplant, watermelon and okra. Meals are abundant, but so is the work.
The watermelon and okra coexist nicely on the south fields, neither encroaching on the others space. Unlike some of the other crops, the watermelon doesn’t mind the shade that the okra creates from its talk stalks. And in fact, it’s a good thing… when the crew harvests the watermelon, they leave them in the shade of the okra until they come with a truck to gather them all.
Neither is fun to harvest. The obvious challenge in watermelon is the weight. The crew will harvest one ton each week – 5 pounds at a time. After passing through the patch, snipping the ripe ones from the vine, the crew will pass through a second time with a tractor – one person driving the tractor off to the side and two others gingerly setting each watermelon in its hopper. The okra’s spiny stalks prickle as you harvest. To make the task palatable, the crew wears long sleeves and gloves – necessitating an early morning harvest before it gets too hot in the fields, making the protection as unbearable as the spiny stalks.
With proper protection, I love picking okra. The abundant flowers are beautiful white with a purple center; they smile at me. Brett usually hoards the okra for market, but my reward for harvesting is as much okra as I can eat. I usually make a succotash for one meal and deep fry some for a second. In fact, market demand is so strong, Brett doesn’t eat okra until September.
On the north side, with all the tomatoes, is my favorite chili – affectionately named “Peachy Mama.” Typically, it’s a sweet pepper with floral undertones. But since they are planted so close to the spicy chilies, they sometimes get cross-pollinated and develop a little kick. Unlike other chilies that are equally delicious red-ripe or green, the peachy mama is only good when it’s fully ripe — a pale orange. Harvesting is tricky… the brittle branches lose their flowers (the predecessor to the chili) easily. Each pepper must be carefully inspected for ripeness, but a clumsy touch means fewer chilis in subsequent weeks.
SAUTEED OKRA WITH TOMATO AND CORN
1/2 pound fresh okra 1 medium vine-ripened tomato – Cherokee Purple or San Marzano 1 small onion 2 cloves garlic 1 peachy mama pepper or ½ small red bell pepper 1 ear corn, kernels cut from cob 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil or butter 1 tbs. fresh Genoa or lemon basil salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste
Cut okra into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Chop tomato. Dice onion, chop garlic and cut corn from cob. In a heavy skillet heat butter over medium-high heat. Add the corn in a single layer and sprinkle the onions and garlic on top. Do not stir for a few minutes until the corn develops a sweet, roasted aroma. Stir, and continue cooking for 1 minute. Add the okra and pepper, stirring occasionally, until the okra is bright green, about 3 minutes. Stir in tomato and basil and simmer, stirring occasionally, 2 minutes, until everything is heated through. Season with salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste.
I’ve always known my garden is a few weeks behind everyone else. As I spy the neighbors’ yards in early spring when the crocuses start to burst, mine are still under a mound of snow. And when I go to the farmers markets, they already have mounds of zucchini, while I only have flowers. Their kohlrabi is just winding down, and mine still has a few weeks to go before harvest. Nonetheless, I’m eager to push the garden along.
Two weeks ago, I reported that the tomatoes had flowered, but not produced fruit. A little on-line research yielded a useful tip… Cut the leaves below the first flower. This enables to the plant to focus its energies on producing fruit as opposed to maintaining the foliage. Sure enough, two days later the first bump of a tomato emerged. Now all tomato plants show fruit, though still several weeks away from ripeness.
At dinner Thursday night at Garden at the Cellar, we munched on Fried Green Tomatoes with Smoked Paprika Aioli. One friend opined that the origins of this dish come from resourceful gardeners using up end-of-the-season tomatoes before the first frost hit. Knowing the tomatoes wouldn’t have a chance to ripen, they picked and fried them.
To offer this dish seasonally, it should only appear on menus in the fall. I would counter that fried green tomatoes are also a great option for the impatient gardener looking to cook something before the crops are truly ripe. Should you go this route, be sure to pick the tomatoes when the green has a “matte” finish. Once they become shiny, they’ve reached a different level of maturity and will get mushy when cooked.
Zucchini is the ideal crop for the impatient gardener. The plant produces flowers at a prolific rate. Most flowers are male and will not produce a vegetable, so there’s no harm in harvesting them. If the flower is attached to a thick stem, likely it will produce a squash. For me, I’m happy to just eat the flowers. I know in a few weeks, I’ll be up to my eyeballs in squash and peddling them the way I did sage.
Fried Green Tomatoes with a Squash Blossom Relish. 3 green tomatoes ½ cup buttermilk 1/2 cup fine corn meal ½ cup flour 1 tsp. salt ¼ tsp. pepper Pinch cayenne 2 slices bacon 2 garlic cloves 1 tsp. capers 12 squash blossoms, stamen removed 2 tbs. canola oil
Slice tomatoes about ¼ inch thick. Soak in buttermilk.
Season cornmeal with salt, pepper and cayenne.
Dice bacon, and cook in a skillet until the bacon starts to render fat, and the bacon just starts to look crispy. Add garlic and cook for until the garlic is lightly golden. Pour off any excess bacon fat and set aside. Add capers and squash blossoms and set aside.
In a large skillet, heat oil with leftover bacon fat.
Dust tomatoes slices in the cornmeal dredge. Add to oil, and cook on the first side until golden brown, about 5 minutes on medium high heat. Flip and cook for 3 minutes more. Drain tomato slices on a paper towel and serve with chutney.
