Homegrown Garlic and Herb Tomato Sauce

I have never been a big fan of summer, but growing and preserving food has given me a new perspective on the season.  An in-season fresh tomato does not compare to a store bought tomato, bred for transport, harvested green and ripened with ethylene gas.  I love putting in time over the summer to capture that freshness to enjoy later in the year.

This was my most successful garden attempt in Georgia, which is fitting since it is my last garden attempt in Georgia (we will be moving this autumn).  I started most everything from seed, transplanted the seedlings and direct sowed the rest.  I picked off pests by hand and fertilized with composted chicken manure and Neptune's Harvest.

Tomato Hornworm that got away from me 

Bigger than Colin!

The tomatoes, squash and green beans produced nicely, the cucumbers did alright and the peppers lagged behind, producing a few fruits.

Beauties

The tomatoes are my favorite part and I am so glad they did and are doing so well.  We have many tomato centered dinners these days or just have them on the side.  When it starts to seem that there are too many tomatoes, I know it's time to make sauce.  I keep this one simple with fresh herbs and garlic.  This batch was destined for lasagna, but it would go equally well on pasta or pizza.

Homegrown Garlic and Herb Tomato Sauce
Yield 1 Quart

5 pounds Plum or Paste* Tomatoes
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 small Red Onion, 2 ounces, diced
4 cloves Garlic, minced
2 Tablespoons Red Wine Vinegar
1 sprig Rosemary
2 sprigs of Thyme
1 teaspoon Honey
12 fresh Basil Leaves, cut or sliced into thin strips
1/4 teaspoon Salt or more to taste
Pepper to taste

1. Wash, core and crush the tomatoes into a dutch oven or large stock pot set over medium heat.

2. Once all the tomatoes are in the pot, increase the heat to high and bring the tomatoes to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium low and simmer the tomatoes for 15 minutes.  Remove from heat.

Ready to puree

3. Run the tomatoes through a food mill to remove the seeds and skins or process in a food processor and press through a fine mesh strainer.  Collect the puree in a large measuring cup or bowl.

Ready to get saucy

4. Heat the oil in your now empty pot over medium heat until shimmering.  Add the diced onion and cook until translucent and starting to brown, about 7 minutes.  Add the minced garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
5. Add the vinegar to loosen up any brown bits, scrape those up with your spoon or spatula.  Return the tomato puree to the pot along with the rosemary and thyme.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium low.

Cooking down

6. After 30 minutes, remove the rosemary.  Continue to cook until sauce is thickened, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.  Remove any thyme twigs left in the sauce, add the honey, basil, salt and pepper.  Taste and adjust seasonings.  Enjoy!

Fresh sauce for lasagna

*If you want to make this recipe but you only have slicing tomatoes, go for it!  The yield may be less but the sauce will still be delicious.

Shared at Clever Chicks Blog Hop and Eating Inside the Box.

Sweet Potato Apple Chili

In this neck of the woods, we had pretty much figured that spring had sprung.  We have lovely blooms on Tulip Magnolias and Bradford Pears and some early spring flowers are proudly displaying their colors, yellow and white daffodils, pink and purple hyacinth.  Warm days (80's!) combined with daylight savings time made winter seem like a distant memory.  Then the wind blew in more chilly weather and at least one more overnight freeze.

This recipe for Sweet Potato Apple Chili is full of warm fall flavors that should help you through the last cold snap before spring is here to stay.  Apple cider, sweet potatoes and apples lend a sweet component to this slightly spicy chili, which should please little palates.

Seconds after taking this picture, my daughter stole and ate the cactus cornbread.  

I prefer using dried beans over canned because they are way cheaper and you can control the ingredients, cooking medium and process for the beans.  For instance, a long soak in a salty brine before cooking will make beans much more tender and easier to digest (a great tip from Cooks Illustrated).  Most beans triple in size during soaking and cooking, so 1/2 cup dried beans will yield 1 1/2 cups cooked beans.  If you use canned beans, drain and rinse them well.

Makes about 8 cups or 4 pints to serve 8 or more

1 1/2 cups cooked or canned Red Beans

1 1/2 cup cooked or canned White Beans

1 1/2 cup cooked or canned Pinto Beans
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1 large Onion, peeled and diced fine
2 cloves Garlic, peeled and minced
3 Tablespoons Tomato Paste
1 Tablespoon Chili Powder
1 Tablespoon ground Cumin
1 Tablespoon ground Coriander
1 large Sweet Potato (about 12 ounces) peeled and diced into 1 inch pieces
1 large Granny Smith Apple (about 8 ounces) peeled, cored and diced into 1 inch pieces
1 28 ounce can of crushed or diced Tomatoes (for this batch, I used diced, but I prefer crushed)
2 cups Water
1 cup Apple Cider
Salt and Pepper to taste


1. Heat the oil in a 10 inch skillet over medium heat.  Add the onion, cover and cook until onion has softened and is starting to brown.

2. Add the garlic, tomato paste and spices and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Quickly remove from heat and add to the crock of your slow cooker.

3. Add the diced sweet potato, apple, tomatoes and liquid to the crock and mix well.



























4. Cover and cook on low for eight hours or up to nine hours.

Serve with corn bread, tortilla chips or spice cake muffins.


Shared at the Clever Chicks Blog Hop and Meal Planning Monday Recipe Link-Up.

Cast Iron Skillet Panini

It all started with a failed Italian bread recipe.

The loaves spread out instead of rising up.  The bread was still delicious, very soft, probably due to too little flour, and nice crumb.  I halved the loaves lengthwise and widthwise and froze them, hoping to come up with a good way to use them knowing that they would be perfect for paninis if only we had a panini press.

A few weeks later it hit me, why not use two cast iron skillets, one to grill and one to weigh down the sandwich?  While we lack a panini press, we have lots of iron skillets, I love them almost as much as mason jars.  They are inexpensive, indestructible, simple and they cook everything you can think of.  Yes, you will miss the nice grill marks, but you'll still have a nice grilled sandwich.  To further test the idea without wasting ingredients, I searched the Internet to see if this was possible.  Of course theKitchn had a post about it, they think of everything!  If you don't have two cast iron skillets, you could try using a regular stainless steel pan.

For the filling, I used what we had in the fridge.  We are lucky enough to have access to delicious, local greenhouse grown tomatoes and peppers in the dead of winter, shiitake mushrooms and greens.  Feel free to use your favorite veggies or whatever you have that is seasonal in your area.

Sweet Potato and Summer Squash Tacos

The climate and growing season is very interesting in Georgia.  Currently, it is October.  To this Jersey girl, that means cool weather, brisk nights and crisp air.  However, in Georgia, it is still averaging 80 and muggy with heavy air.  But, what we give up in comfort, we gain in available fresh veggies.  Summer squash is still in season while cool weather crops, like sweet potatoes, are popping up.  It occurred to me to unite these unlikely companions and make tacos, a perfect excuse to open a jar of the salsa I put up over the summer.  The husband and I were both thrilled with the results.  The toddler ate beans and tortillas and, therefore, was also thrilled.   

I forgot to take a picture of the sweet potato before I diced and cooked it. 

Sweet Potato and Summer Squash Tacos
Makes 12 Tacos

1 Large Sweet Potato, 14 ounces

2 Medium Summer Squash, 12 ounces

1 Small Yellow Onion, 5 ounces

2 Small Sweet Peppers, 3 ounces

2 teaspoons Taco Seasoning

1 ½ Cups of Cooked Cranberry or Pinto Beans

12 Corn Tortillas

Your choice of guacamole, salsa and shredded cheddar cheese for topping.  

1. Peel and dice the sweet potato into a ½ inch dice.  Add to a 3 quart pot filled with cool water with 1 teaspoon of salt.  Bring potatoes to a boil over high heat.  Reduce heat to medium high and continue to gently boil for about 5-8 minutes, until potatoes are just tender.  You don’t want the potatoes to become a mushy mess once you add to the other vegetables.  Drain potatoes and return to the hot pot.  Set aside.

2. Thinly slice the squash, onion and peppers.  A mandoline slicer works nicely here, or just use a nice sharp knife.   

3. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Saute the onion until it is translucent and just beginning to brown.  Add the pepper and squash and continue to saute until the vegetable are tender-crisp.  Add seasoning and salt to taste.

4. Add drained potatoes and mix well to incorporate with other vegetables and seasoning.  

5. To assemble, place about 2 tablespoons of beans in the corn tortilla.  Top with about 2 tablespoons of vegetable mixture and your choice of cheese, salsa or guacamole.  We used all three, because that's just the kind of family we are.  

If you can get away with any leftovers, the filling makes a really nice sandwich spread.  

Sweet Potato Carrot Fritters

The word fritter has entered our dinner menu frequently in recent months.  Almost any vegetable does well with a quick shred, salt, drain, form and fry to form a delectable patty.  You can even mix up the seasonings depending on your mood.  Think potato pancake with more veggies.  I decided to post this recipe because my husband could not stop talking about how good these were.

My daughter was less impressed.  While she did not throw her food on the floor, she did sit at the table in silent protest, refusing to eat until I reminded her that she had bread on her plate.  We ate these on homemade whole wheat buns with cumin squash pickles, pea tendril and sorrel mix, and salsa spread.

Sweet Potato Carrot Fritters

Makes 9 Fritters

4 Large Carrots, 10 ounces
1 Large Sweet Potato, 11 ounces

1 Medium Red Potato, 6 ounces

2 Small Sweet Peppers, 4 ounces

1 Medium Yellow Onion, 6 ounces

 ½ Tablespoon Kosher Salt
⅛-¼ Cup White Whole Wheat Flour
1 Egg
½ Teaspoon Taco Seasoning

¼ Teaspoon Chili Powder

olive oil to pan fry

1. Grate the carrots, sweet potato, red potato, peppers and onion using a food processor or the large holes of a box grater.

2. Transfer the grated veggies to a large bowl, layering while you go with the salt.  Toss the veggies until salt is well incorporated.  If this sounds like a lot of salt, don’t worry, much of it will drain out along with the veggie juices.  Transfer to a colander placed over your large bowl and let sit for a minimum of 30 minutes, maximum of a few hours in the refrigerator to allow the vegetables to release their juices.

 3. Using your hands, squeeze out as much juice as you can.  One nice trick is to transfer the mix to a cloth napkin or dish towel, pull up the corners to make a neat bundle and twist and squeeze to get out all that water.  The more water you extract, the less greasy your fritters will be.                                            

Squeezed Veg

All the extracted juice

4. Coat a deep frying pan with enough oil to completely cover the bottom.  Heat the pan and oil over medium low heat until the oil begins to shimmer. 

5. Mix your drained veggies with the flour until you have a nice, dry mix.  Add egg and seasonings and mix thoroughly.

6. Using a ¼ cup measure, scoop out the mixture and form into patties about 3 inches in diameter and ½ inch thick.  As your form patties, place into the hot oil and fry for about 3 minutes on each side until golden brown.  Remove fritters to a wire cooling rack placed over a cookie sheet to cool and drain.  

7. Continue forming and frying patties until you have used all the mix.  You may keep the patties warm in a 200 degree F oven, if desired.

8. Serve as a topping for a dinner salad, on a bun or bread, or eat as is for a simple approach.  For a nice accompanying sandwich spread, mix equal parts prepared salsa and strained yogurt, spread on your bread, add a patty and some greens and you have a rad sandwich.  These are nice the eat the next morning on the side of some eggs, hash brown style.

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