Monday, August 14, 2006
Everything's Coming Up...Tomatoes!
I posted for the Loveliness Fair of Elegant Simplicity in the Kitchen a picture of a basket of our homegrown tomatoes.
I, for one, never tire of fresh tomatoes. For dh and me, the tomatoes are the reward for the work in the garden. It's the treat of summer.
But what do you do with all those tomatoes?
Even though our garden is producing many tomatoes, I don't think it's enough. ;-) What I mean is it's perfect for daily eating, but I don't have enough to do canning or freezing yet...nor have I tried that. We eat too many to get enough to make a large batch of sauce. Did I mention that we LOVE tomatoes?
Inspired by Donna Marie's upcoming Carnival of Yum I want to share our summer tomato treats. Keep in mind that we avoid wheat, eggs and dairy, so that limits our combinations.
Sliced tomatoes: The easiest and tastiest way to serve a ripe, homegrown tomato is to simply slice and serve.
Scrambled Eggs with Tomatoes: I like to have eggs in the morning, and a nice change was scrambling eggs with chopped tomatoes. Add green onions and garlic (either a dash of garlic powder for a hint of taste or small amount of minced garlic) and keep stirring until eggs are cooked. One could do an omelette, but I like the scrambled eggs better.
Eggs in Purgatory is another way to use tomatoes with eggs. This could be breakfast or a meatless meal. I omit the cheese.
4 large tomatoes, peeled
3 tablespoons butter or olive oil
1 pound fresh mushrooms, thinly sliced
6 to 8 eggs
salt and pepper
3/4 cup (3 oz.) Jack cheese, shredded
Fresh parsley, chopped
Cut tomatoes into cubes and drain in a colander for several minutes.
Meanwhile, in a 10" to 11" frying pan, over high heat, melt butter. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring until they are soft and juices have evaporated. Add tomatoes and stir to heat thoroughly.
With a spoon, make 6 or 8 nest spaces and break an egg into each space. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and cover evenly with cheese. Cover pan and cook on low heat until eggs are set as you like. Garnish with parsley. (Source: Sunshine Italian Cookbook, 1981)
Different Versions of Marinated Tomatoes: The cherry tomatoes are perfect to serve alone. I cut them in half and marinate them in various ways:
This version was my paternal grandmother's recipe:
Marinated Tomatoes
tomatoes, sliced or chopped
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon oregano
1 clove garlic, cut real fine
Serve it just as is. The earlier you make it the better.
Lemon Dressing for Tomato Salad:
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Salt and ground pepper to taste
Add to tomatoes chopped red onion and fresh basil, mix the dressing and pour over tomatoes.
Marinated tomatoes or Tomato Bruschetta
I make a quick version of this recipe to serve just the tomatoes (since we can't have the French bread). I use less of basil and garlic for the quick treat, and no cheese, obviously. But it so yummy. For guests, serve the gusto with the bread, too. I suppose I could also serve with corn chips.
5 ripe tomatoes (on the vine), cut in small pieces and drained
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons Vidalia onion, chopped fine
hand full of fresh basil, chopped
4 tablespoons Olive oil
dash balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper, to taste
Fresh mozzarella, tiny pieces, optional
Bread or Crostini
1 loaf French baguette slices, cut horizontally in thin slices
1 clove garlic, halved
olive oil
Mix first ingredients together (except mozzarella). Let tomato mixture sit 30 minutes or so to let ingredients seep together.
Take bread slices, rub each slice with halved garlic clove. Brush with olive oil and broil until crispy. You also can broil the bread and then add garlic and oil (crostini).
Serve with crostini, either on tray with each slice with tomato mixture added, or let guest put mixture on bread slices.
Chicken Sautéed with Fresh Tomato: I used our tomatoes for on St. Dominic's Feast Day. I didn't have time to let the sauce cook down further, but still it was sweet and delicious...definitely a different taste than canned tomatoes.
Pasta Salad
1/2 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried basil
dash red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon salt
8 ounces pasta (such as macaroni, rotini)
20 cherry tomatoes, halved
1 can kidney beans
1/2 medium vidalia onion, sliced or chopped
I didn't have this, but it would be nice to make this an antipasto salad, by adding some pepperoni. Broccoli florets would be a nice touch, also. Whisk first six ingredients together, then pour over cooked pasta. Put in refrigerator for about 30 minutes to soak up the marinade, then add other ingredients, toss together and serve.
Last but not least, my pièce de résistance is my homemade salsa. As soon as I mention my tomatoes are coming in, my family and friends start asking when will I start making a batch of salsa. It's that good. I use the food processor to make things chopped and even. Confession: I don't like cilantro, so I omit. But some love it, so I include it in the recipe.
Jenn's Own Salsa
8 ripe tomatoes, size medium to large, peeled and chopped
2 jalapeno chile peppers, finely diced
5 green onions, or one small yellow or Vidalia onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced finely
cilantro, to taste
salt, to taste
1 lime, to taste
Dash of Tequila (optional)
Blanch and peel tomatoes. Remove core, seeds, and chop tomatoes. Drain in colander after chopped to reduce amount of juice.
Remove seeds and chop jalapenos very finely. Be sure to protect your hands (and eyes). I use rubber gloves when chopping. Also, taste the jalapeno for heat. Each one varies. Dice onions and chop/mince garlic.
Use food processor or chopper to make chopping a bit easier. Add all above ingredients until to consistency desired. Add juice of 1-2 limes. Add salt, cilantro and Tequila.
Chill for 30 minutes or so before serving. Taste again to see if more salt is needed before serving.
Serve with tortilla chips. I usually make large batches because it goes fast!
19:10 Posted in Summer Meals , Vegetables and Salads , Wheat, Egg and Dairy Free | Permalink | Comments (4) | Email this
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Feast of St. Dominic, August 8
El Greco: St Dominic in Prayer, 1586-90
This is a special feast day in my extended family. We celebrate one brother's birthday, one sister's wedding anniversary, and it was Great, Great Aunt Clair's birthday, a very special, saintly lady, may she rest in peace.
About St. Dominic, see Catholic Culture, Patron Saints Index, and a goldmine of links from the Dominicans (of course!).
St. Dominic was born in Spain, but fought Albigensianism, a Christian heresy in western Europe. Father John Hardon has an excellent explanation of Albigensianism. (Image: Pedro Berruguete, St Dominic and the Albigenses, c. 1495).Dominic founded the Order of Preachers. The reason why so many people were being sucked into this heresy was plain ignorance. So his mission was preach the Gospel, the Truth. From the Encyclopedia of Catholic Saints (August), there are some interesting notes on his life:
It was while he was still a student that he was given the first opportunity to show that charity and loving kindness which were to be the hallmarks of his life. The harvests had been poor, the reserve supplies of food were quickly running out, famine was already devastating the countryside and would soon reach Palencia. As always it was the little people, the poor and the humble, who were the first to be affected. The professors at the university took no notice; so long as they were paid they could always buy something on the black market. The students were as carefree as usual; if the worst came to the worst, they could always go somewhere else in search of learning and food. But Dominic at once sold all his possessions, including all the books that he had annotated with his own hand. For a scholar, and particularly for a scholar in those days, this was a great sacrifice, but Dominic explained it simply: "I do not wish to study dead parchments when men are dying of hunger." He used the money to buy food for the poor, but the words that he spoke--clear, simple and full of the spirit of the Gospel--aroused his fellow-citizens to their duty, and works of charity began to multiply all over the city. For Dominic was a scholar whose search for truth had drawn him closer to his fellow-men and not, as so often happens, away from them.
So beautiful! What a reminder on what our studies and reading should bring us. And these actions at the age of 16!
I couldn't find many quotes from this saint...but the ones I did find all point back to penitence and fasting. Another prod that in this day mortification is still very much needed.
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A man who governs his passions is master of the world. We must either command them or be enslaved to them. It is better to be a hammer than an anvil.
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Fight the good fight, my daughters, against our ancient foe, fight him insistently with fasting, because no one will win the crown of victory without engaging in the contest in the proper way.
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Possess poverty. (Dying words)
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For this saint's feastday, I don't think anything elaborate would be appropriate. We won't be fasting, but simplicity will be the aim. I'm going to trace back to Dominic's Spanish roots and use a recipe (once again) from my favorite Spanish cookbook My Kitchen in Spain by Janet Mendel for the main dish. My tomatoes are ripening and this recipe is perfect for using some of those luscious fruits, Chicken Sautéed with Fresh Tomato. Accompanying this I will have brown rice, a simple green salad and fresh fruit salad for dessert.
Chicken Sautéed with Fresh Tomato
Pollo con Tomate
3 Tbsp. olive oil
2 pounds chicken legs and/or thighs
4 1/2 pounds fresh tomatoes (about 8 large tomatoes)
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 tsp. salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Pinch dried thyme
1/2 tsp. pimentón (I'm omitting)
2 bay leaves
2 Tbsp. brandy
Choppped fresh flat leaf parsley
Heat the oil on medium high heat in a deep skillet, then add and brown the chicken pieces, about 10-15 minutes. Remove when browned all over, and drain extra fat except 2 tablespoons.
Either microwave or boiling water method, blanch and peel the tomatoes. Seed the tomatoes and chop coarsely, making 5 1/2 to 6 cups.
Heat remaining oil in skillet on high, add all remaining ingredients except parsley. Cook for 5 minutes, then add the chicken back to the pot. Lower heat to medium and simmer uncovered, about 45 to 75 minutes. Remove the chicken when done, but continue cooking the tomato sauce over medium heat until very thick and beginning to brown, about 30 minutes longer. Add chicken back to the pot to reheat. Remove bay leaves, serve garnished with fresh parsley.
Another sidenote on St. Dominic. He's the patron of scientists, astronomers and astronomy. I wish I realized this before I went to the grocery store. Seems a star fruit would be in order for our fruit salad. ;-) But we'll eat out on the porch and perhaps do a little star-gazing tonight, as the night is clear.
15:00 Posted in Cultural , Family , Family , Food Allergies , Liturgical Year , Main Meal , Poultry , Summer Meals , Vegetables and Salads , Wheat, Egg and Dairy Free | Permalink | Comments (1) | Email this | Tags: chicken, summer, tomatoes, St. Dominic, Saint Dominic, Albigensianism
Sunday, July 23, 2006
Yummy Fish?
Days of abstinence are a penance for me. Don't get me wrong, I like fish. I just don't LOVE fish. Whenever I eat fish of any kind, fried, grilled, baked, broiled, stewed...it's an okay meal. And that's probably what's good for my soul -- I'm not eating for the enjoyment, but just for sustenance.
But sometimes we serve fish on days other than Friday. Yesterday was an example. Of all fish, I love halibut the best...probably because it's not fishy or oily at all. Trader Joe's (a place I love to shop) has a great selection of fish. Most of it's frozen, but it's really good. Many times what is at my close grocery store has been in the case for a while. At least I know it's frozen fresh from TJ's.
But I digress. In celebrating the reddening of our garden tomatoes, last night I prepared:
Halibut with Tomatoes
2 halibut steaks
1 cup tomatoes, diced
Fresh Basil
1 small onion, diced
1 Tbsp. fresh chives
1 clove garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
Kosher Salt
Pepper
In a small bowl combine all ingredients except halibut. Let soak a few minutes. Meantime, light the grill. In aluminum foil place halibut and pour mixture over. Close foil into a packet, and place on grill for about 15-20 minutes. Serve warm.
We accompanied this with brown rice and fresh marinated cherry tomatoes (that's another post). But dh and I both declared it "yummy" -- unusual for us. This is one to put into our family rotation meals for summer.
18:00 Posted in Family , Main Meal , Vegetables and Salads , Wheat, Egg and Dairy Free | Permalink | Comments (4) | Email this | Tags: halibut, tomatoes, grill, fish, abstinence
Monday, July 10, 2006
Trickling In...
The garden is growing, but not everything ripens at the same time. Any suggestions for jalapeno peppers, cucumbers and basil? ;-)
15:07 Posted in Vegetables and Salads | Permalink | Comments (3) | Email this
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Cool Cooking
The hot, hot weather is upon us. We've had a very mild spring in Virginia, but this week the summer's heat begins. And the transition to cooler cooking begins.
We fired up the grill for Memorial Day weekend, enjoying the visit of one of my sisters and their family. We dined alfresco, on our covered and screened porch. It was a spontaneous invitation, but it turned out to be a wonderful, relaxing evening.
The cookbook I turn to more often in the summer months is Twelve Months of Monastery Salads by Brother Victor-Antoine d'Avila-Latourrette. He has recipes for each month of the year, but I don't follow monthly patterns if I have the ingredients, I find the recipe.
One potato salad recipe that is free from eggs (and mayonnaise) is his Sicilian Potato Salad. I've made it with small red potatoes, but I just made it with russet potatoes. Easy and nutritious and delicious are my aims in the kitchen. I now put whole potatoes on to boil in salted water, and after they are fork tender, I rinse and then peel the skins. I save so much time instead of doing the process of peeling and cutting potatoes.
Serve this potato salad at room temperature, or cold. It passes the next day leftover test, although the olive taste was a little more dominant.
Sicilian Potato Salad (Insalata di Patate)
Salad
2 pounds small red potatoes, peeled, cooked in boiling salted water just until tender, drained and quartered
1 celery heart, finely chopped
1 red onion, finely chopped
1 cup black Sicilian olives, drained, pitted and chopped (I use less)
1/4 cup capers (optional)
1 gherkin (optional), finely chopped
a few sprigs fresh Italian parsley, finely chopped
Vinaigrette
1/2 cup Sicilian or other olive oil
2 Tbsp. dry Marsala wine
2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1. In a deep salad bowl, put cook potatoes and add celery, onions, olive, capers, pickle, and parsley. Toss lightly to combine.
2. Whisk vinaigrette ingredients together in a small bowl and pour over the salad. Toss lightly, making sure evenly distributed and serve.
Makes 6 to 8 servings.
21:08 Posted in Books , Summer Meals , Vegetables and Salads , Wheat, Egg and Dairy Free | Permalink | Comments (2) | Email this
Friday, May 12, 2006
All Choked Up
As I was preparing dinner last night, I again was taken with nostalgia and thinking of my maternal grandmother and also my Great, Great Aunt Peg.
I think that's the appeal of food, cooking, and meals shared in common. They have no boundaries, no time frames. Food is ever-changing, but also just the same. Food is always present to man. All of mankind requires eating to survive. All of history shares the common thread of eating, whether it be hunting, gathering, cultivation or in present-day, shopping. Meal preparation and ingredients vary according to geography, culture and history, but yet many methods and ingredients are renewed and presented again.
Christ's Paschal Mysteries are not only something that happened in history, but they are constantly Re-presented to us. The life of the Catholic Church is not in a timeline, but actually a circle or continuum. There is no time with God; everything is every-present. And in our final goal, heaven, that will be reality for us, also. So in a small way, our food gives us a glimpse of this continuum.
It finally became clear to me why it is so appealing to me to research and try traditional foods for feasts in the Liturgical Year, or to bring forward recipes from family members. I am longing for heaven. We might not actually eat in Paradise, but our meals are a small taste of the ever-present and eternal, and also of the universality of the Mystical Body.
Globe Artichokes make me think of Little Grandma and Aunt Peg. I love them any way. I can eat them just boiled and scrape off just the tender part of the leaves without dipping. I truly have not met a type of artichoke that I dislike.
And that credit goes to Grandma and her aunt, Aunt Peg. They introduced artichokes to me. How I loved coming over for a visit to hear the pressure cooker rattling away and the promise of the soon-cooked artichokes. I was only 6 or 7 when they showed me how to eat an artichoke, what parts were edible, how to remove the choke, and mostly, how to savor every bite. I wish I had more than just a mental picture of that little kitchen in Houston on Elm Street, with Aunt Peg's round table and the pressure cooker steaming away on the stove. But the memories are still vivid.
But I confess...I never cooked an artichoke...until yesterday. I was intimidated. I didn't think I knew the secrets of my great, great aunt and grandmother. To read about the sensitivity of artichokes, the chemicals that change, just made me think I'd do something wrong. So I would buy them canned, frozen, marinated but never fresh. Now you know, I'm not a true foodie!
Wouldn't you be a little intimidated when reading this from The New Complete Book of Food:
Preparing This Food
Slicing into the base of the artichoke rips cell walls and releases polyphenoloxidase, an enzyme that converts phenols in the vegetable to brown compounds that darken the "heart" of the globe. To slow the reaction, paint the cut surface with a solution of lemon juice or vinegar and water.
What Happens When You Cook This Food
Chlorophyll, the green plant pigment, is sensitive to acids. When you heat a globe artichoke, the chlorophyll in it green leaves reacts with acids in the artichoke or in the cooking water, forming brown pheophytin. The pheophytin, plus yellow carotenes in the leaves, can turn a cooked artichokes leaves bronze. To prevent this reaction, cook the artichokes very quickly so there is no time fore the chlorophyll to react to the acid, or cook it in lots of water to dilute the acids, or cook it with the lid off the pot so that the volatile acids can float off into the air.
I started simply. I bought 4 artichokes and boiled them and put the hearts in the salad. I'm buoyed by my success and have lost my fear. Dh was surprised how different the taste and texture as compared to marinated. I think he wanted the more intense flavor of the marinade, but I enjoyed the true taste shining through.
The warm seasons change is when I start pulling out the cookbooks by Brother Victor-Antoine d'Avila-Latourrette. Yesterday I used Fresh from a Monastery Garden which features 29 different types of vegetables (or vegetable families) and gives several recipes for each vegetable. There are 4 recipes for artichokes. I chose Artichokes Basque Style (Artichauts a la Basquaise)
Makes 4 servings
4 artichokes, trimmed
4 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 small head of leaf lettuce
4 medium size-tomatoes, sliced in quarters lengthwise
4 hard boiled eggs, sliced in rounds (I omit)
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
green olives
Vinaigrette
7 Tbsp. virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp. wine vinegar
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
In salted water mixed with lemon juice, cook the artichokes for 30 minutes, or until tender. Remove and rinse in cold water. Remove the leaves, take out the heart, and chill until ready to use.
Arrange whole lettuce leaves in four separate salad plates. Place 1 artichoke heart in the center, and surround alternating with tomato and egg slices. Add onion slices and green olives around artichoke.
Prepare vinaigrette and pour over each salad.
My presentation wasn't as beautiful as Brother Victor suggests. I used a bagged salad and Roma tomatoes and cut up the heart so that there was a bit in every bite. It's what I had! We enjoyed the flavor and I'll try harder for a "pretty" next time now that I have overcome my fear.
12:25 Posted in Comfort and Healing Foods , Memories , Vegetables and Salads , Wheat, Egg and Dairy Free | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this