This week I came across a lovely article in Saveur about Mexican salsas and Mark Bittman’s New York Times feature about tomatoes (both complete with mouth-watering photos). And now I have two jars of homemade salsa, ready to be spooned over huevos rancheros and dipped into by crispy tortilla chips. Salsa de tomatillo is a no-brainer when my CSA gives us tomatillos. I’ve made it with raw tomatillos before, but I think I like the roasted version better. Salsa borracha is a tangy, thinner salsa that gets a boozy kick from beer AND tequila. I adore them both.
The weather report for today was fraught with words like “icy,” “sleet,” and “freezing rain.” Meaning the weather really sucks. On the bright side, this is exactly the kind of day for a homemade version of that canned kiddie favorite, tomato soup. With a plain grilled cheddar sandwich, of course. It’s a winter version of a favorite summer combination: bread, tomatoes, and cheese.
At its simplest, all it takes to make tomato soup is canned (home-canned or otherwise) tomatoes, a little bit of chopped onion, water or broth, and salt and pepper. If you want to get un-basic, you can take it in all kinds of directions: fresh herbs, other vegetables (celery, peppers, carrots, garlic), spices like curry powder or cayenne pepper or cumin, creme fraiche stirred in at the end. I also found that a pinch of sugar is exactly what tomato soup needs to round out all that acidity. To make it: soften the onions (and other vegetables, if using) in a little bit of oil or butter, then add the rest of the ingredients. Bring to a simmer. Give it all a quick whirl (carefully and messily) in a blender or food processor (or with an immersion blender), then return it to the pot to heat it through.
I’m still picking up green tomatoes from my CSA and the farmers’ market, even as autumn-licious things like acorn squash are rolling in. I was looking for something quick and simple to do with green tomatoes that completely didn’t involve frying, as lovely of a tradition as that is. I went ahead with this recipe and added yellow tomatoes. Honeydew melons were nowhere to be found so I left them out. Still fresh and summery and delicious.
I bought some beautiful ripe red tomatoes at my local greenmarket today for $1 a pound and whipped up one of my favorite mom-made dishes. It’s a simple tomato and tofu stew that we ate pretty often when I was a kid. And it tastes even better a day or two after it’s made, so my mom would sometimes prepare enough for two meals at a time. If my memory serves me correctly, this tasted very, very close to the real deal. Pat on the back!
1/2 small onion, sliced
1 clove garlic, thinly sliced
6 oz fried tofu (the spongy kind is good because it soaks up the sauce)
4 or 5 small red tomatoes, each cut into 8 wedges
1 teaspoon corn starch
1 cup water
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon oyster sauce
1 teaspoon fermented black beans
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
dash of white pepper
scallions (cut into 1-inch segments) and/or cilantro
Heat a bit of canola oil in a wok or large, deep pan over medium-high heat. Add onions and garlic, and stir fry until translucent but not browned. Add about 2/3 of the tomatoes, and tofu.
In a small bowl, combine cornstarch with water. Add soy sauce, oyster sauce, black beans, sesame oil, and pepper. Pour sauce into pan and simmer on medium-low heat, letting sauce thicken up a bit. Add remaining tomatoes, scallions, and cilantro. Serve with rice.
Goodbye summer (vacation), hello graduate school. I’m savoring the last of the season’s summer produce while I attempt to keep up with all my weekly reading so I don’t feel like a complete doofus in class. These free-form tarts were fun to make, even though it is tempting for me to get all kinds of OCD with the arrangement of the vegetable/fruit pieces. I made a savory ricotta one (followed Smitten Kitchen’s recipe, minus egg glaze and with the addition of tomatoes, and my basil was purple) and a sweet one with some mediocre fruit that I couldn’t stand to waste but also couldn’t stand to eat on its own (same crust as the savory one, with a honey-ricotta mixture, peaches, and sliced almonds were added but not photographed at the end). I also kind of over-filled them, so the crust wasn’t as folded-over. Leftovers were excellent snacks on a 6-hour flight to Tab and Christine’s beautiful and fun-filled wedding (congrats guys!).
Summer produce feels like the greatest thing in the world right now. Especially the way it smells. Every morning I stick my head into a bag of peaches and take a big whiff before slicing one up into my breakfast. Our CSA basil is so good that you can smell it halfway down the block from the pickup site (a church. an indoor church). And I love picking the stems off of tomatoes and sniffing them, because their scent reminds me of my grandparents’ old house.
I don’t have any good/fun/creative ideas or recipes for peaches (or fruit in general, really) because when we get some good ones, things like cake batter and ice cream only seem to get in the way. The tomatoes (especially the cherry tomatoes) have also been good enough to eat on their own. Still, I find myself eating the same thing for lunch everyday: simple tomato and cheese sandwiches. It’s hard to go wrong when you put tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and a good smear of homemade basil pesto between two slices of bread.
Or how about a buttery-ass grilled cheddar and gouda sandwich with yellow and red tomatoes? This combo never ever ever gets old.
Ok fine, I had one of each of these today. I hope you’re all as in love with tomatoes as I am right now.
Goodbye tomatoes, it’s been a rough summer. Hope things go better next year. Hey there string beans. I will always love you. Hello shell beans. We’ll get to know each other better this fall and winter. You all go so nicely with pasta, garlic, parsley, olive oil, a small squeeze of lemon, and lots of pecorino romano cheese.
John and I re-visited our dining-together roots tonight by making some fast and easy pasta, the way we used to when we were students on a budget (wait a sec, we still are). I’m even posting this as I should be studying furiously for tomorrow’s Anatomy & Physiology midterm. Some things never change.
I am at home in sunny southern California right now, with the privilege of being a bridesmaid at a very exciting family wedding (congratulations Brenda and Chris!). Had I not stuffed my face the evening before my flight, this would’ve been part of a delicious and summery carry-on lunch. It’s a colorful succotash of sorts, with sweet tomatoes, crisp bacon, and a simple miso dressing.
2 ears sweet corn
2/3 dry pint cherry tomatoes
1 cup frozen shelled edamame (or fresh, in their pods)
4 strips bacon, cut crosswise into small pieces
1/2 small red onion
1 tablespoon white miso
1 1/2 tablespoon warm water
1 1/2 teaspoons white balsamic vinegar
black pepper
Cook edamame in boiling salted water for about 3 minutes, or until tender. Drain and rinse with cold water.
Fry bacon in a pan until crisp. Remove and drain on paper towels. Reserve about 2 teaspoons of the rendered fat in the pan. Remove the corn kernels from the cobs, and cook in bacon fat with a pinch of salt and lots of black pepper over medium heat for about 3 minutes.
Thinly slice red onion. Cut cherry tomatoes in half. In a medium bowl, combine miso and warm water. Add vinegar and black pepper to make dressing. Add onion, corn, edamame, tomatoes, and bacon. Toss to coat evenly.
This peach salsa staring you in the face qualifies as good picnic fare (in my book) because it meets the following criteria:
- It does not have to be eaten hot or cold, so it’ll taste fine all afternoon (and I do not want to be responsible for nasty bouts of foodborne illness).
- It can be made ahead of time, and keeps well.
- It is totally safe for vegetarians, vegans, the lactose intolerant, and people who are allergic to nuts or wheat (and fine, it’s fresh and nutritious).
- The ingredients are cheap, especially when in season.
I happen to have two additional go-to picnic contributions that meet these criteria: hummus, and those summer rolls too.
recipe:
5 roma tomatoes*
3 medium peaches
1/4 of a medium red onion
1 serrano pepper, seeds removed if you can’t stand the heat
juice of 1/2 a lime
salt to taste
a fistful of cilantro
Finely chop all ingredients that need chopping, then add lime and salt to taste. Alternatively, puree everything in a blender or food processor for a more liquid salsa. Or you could do like I did: use both methods, then combine the batches for the best of both worlds. Serve with tortilla chips. This stuff is also good as a topping for grilled fish or chicken, or nachos with black beans and lots of Monterey Jack cheese (exactly what I did with the leftovers).
* There’s been a story in the news about late blight, a fungus that attacks tomatoes and potatoes, and other members of the nightshade family of plants. (One article here, and Chef Dan Barber’s take on the situation here.) This summer, the fungus has spread all over the Northeast, and it’s sounding pretty bad for farmers and organic tomato lovers alike. Farmer Deb from my CSA recently announced that we will not be getting any tomatoes this year. This is seriously disappointing, because the cherry tomatoes we usually get each summer are seriously delicious. For this salsa, I purchased conventional tomatoes from Whole Foods.
