Tag Archive for 'tomatoes'

Canning 101 & Tomato Jam

Published on October 5, 2011 in Sauces. 1 Comment Tags: , , .


Yes, it’s true. I’ve been bitten by the canning bug. It seems like everyone is doing it these days. My mother says that back in the day, they canned pretty much everything (in peak season, they also picked 40 quarts of strawberries EVERY day — can you imagine?). So there was jam and tomatoes every which way, including what Mom is convinced what a precursor to salsa. That just makes me laugh. Why can’t I imagine salsa existing in the 1950s? I’m sure it did, but it just seems strange.

I know, canning is scary. At least, it seemed that way to me. But the truth is it’s actually quite easy. It’s just that you have to follow a bunch of steps and have certain gear, which is normally enough to get me to just blow the whole thing off. But for some unknown reason, I decided to persevere and just sort of worked my way through it.

So, here’s what you do: take your jars (I’d use 1/2 pint jars for this recipe), lids and screw tops and put them on a canning rack (I didn’t have one, so I blew this off; I’ll probably buy one for next time — I’m such a rulebreaker) in a pot that’s big and deep enough to give you a couple inches above the top of the jars. Pour hot (not boiling) water into the pot (and jars) and bring to a boil. Boil for 10 minutes. Your jars are now sterilized. That was easy, right?

Now for the processing. Once you fill your jars (after draining and drying them), put the lids and screw tops on and put them back into the pot of boiling water (canning tongs are good for this; regular tong can work in a pinch, but be careful, that pan is HOT). Boil the jars for 15 minutes, take them out and let them cool at room temperature. You can test to make sure the seal is good by pressing down on the lid; if it doesn’t move, you’re good. If you push down and hear a click and the center goes down, it’s not sealed. You can put it back in and boil it again or just eat the contents within a couple weeks.

Anyway, I ended up making this particular tomato jam because a) I had a bunch of beautiful tomatoes, b) I wanted to try something different, and c) I got sucked into this site, which, whoops, you’re gone now…and won’t be back for awhile if you start reading. Never mind the amazing recipes, this woman, Jennie, is going through hell and then some (and still going). There are no words.

So, now that you’re back and thoroughly depressed, please cheer yourself up by making this jam. Tomatoes are still out there at the markets, but they’re going fast, so get on it. And also try not to be too scared about the amount of sugar in there. I put less than the original recipe called for and at first, I was sort of freaking out about how sweet it was, but then after it sat a bit, I realized it was kind of awesome. It is sweet, yes. But it is also savory. And in my case, a little spicy too, which I think counteracts the sweetness.

As for how much time you cook this, it’s a taste and feel thing, which in my case went for about 4-1/2 hours and was REALLY just almost perfect, until somehow, someone, I think it was the dog, turned the heat up from low to ultra-high and I realized that that very disturbing, acrid burning-pan smell was coming from my kitchen. Well. I was able to salvage the top layer of the batch, which ended up very caramelized and actually quite tasty (we won’t discuss the scorched black layer or my very sad Le Creuset pan, which is NOT the same). Yeah, so don’t do that. And keep an eye on the dog. They’re tricky. Very tricky.

Tomato Jam

Makes 1-1/2 pints (or 1 pint in my case *sniff*)

3 1/2 lbs tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1 small onion, diced
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup cane sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon coriander
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon cumin
2 dried thai chilis OR 1/4 teaspoon cayenne OR 1 teaspoon red chili flakes (optional, but use it!)
1/4 cup cider vinegar
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
1/2 cup finely diced tart green apple

Put all ingredients in a 2-quart pot. Bring to a gentle boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Cook until thickened and jam-like consistency, about 3 hours. Transfer to sterilized glass jars and store in refrigerator for up to two weeks, or use a hot-water canning bath for 15 minutes for long-term storage.

This site is super helpful. Also, you can watch this fun and informative video. We like fun and informative. It’s a good combo.

Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

Published on September 14, 2011 in Appetizers and Side Dishes. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

This one’s easy, but so so good. I like to smear these on a nice fresh baguette with an extra drizzle of olive oil or add them to this or if I’m being totally honest, eat them right off the pan with a spoon. You can use other tomatoes (roma, heirloom, whatever is at your market), just don’t forget the garlic; that really makes them happy.

Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

1 pint cherry tomatoes
3 garlic cloves, smashed, skin on
1-2 glugs olive oil
5-10 sprigs of fresh thyme (rosemary would be good too)
Pepper
Sea salt
Raw sugar (optional)

Preheat oven to 400ºF/204ºC. Halve the larger tomatoes if you have any. Toss the tomatoes and garlic in a sheet pan with olive oil. Sprinkle with the thyme sprigs, season generously with salt and pepper (sometimes I like to add a tablespoon of raw sugar for fun).

Roast until tomatoes are soft, about 15-20 minutes.

Dinner: An oldie, but a goodie

Published on September 13, 2011 in Dinner. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Zucchini pie, roasted cherry tomatoes and arugula salad.

Zucchini Linguine

Published on September 9, 2011 in Italian and pasta. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

Don’t you just love it when you randomly start making something, and it turns into something mindblowingly delicious? Something that you could eat every day and never get sick of? Something that you can’t stop raving about to your perplexed but grateful husband while simultaneously shoving it in your mouth?

Well, this is that something.

It all started when I was cruising food blogs and found a bunch of intriguing posts centered around raw zucchini cut into the shape of spaghetti. Now you all know how I love zucchini (don’t you?). And as it’s in season, there’s a lot of it to love. But I wasn’t feeling the raw angle and I felt like it needed a bit more oomph (as my mother would say) or substance, so I decided to combine it with actual spaghetti. Totally meta. And yet not too heavy because it ended up being half zucchini spaghetti and half real spaghetti.

And then the plot (and dish) thickened. I had some lovely roasted heirloom tomatoes lying around and decided to toss those in.

And then (yes there’s more), I was thinking about a recipe from Gwyneth Paltrow’s cookbook (stop rolling your eyes, I didn’t actually purchase it, just saw a recipe on some website; but I have looked at it and there’s some good, if not groundbreaking, stuff in there, so don’t hate, people) where you bread and fry zucchini slices and thought that sounded nice, but too much of a pain to execute. So I came up with the idea of a cooked butter-parmesan-panko gremolata-type topping (translation: fancy breadcrumbs). That turned out to be a very good idea, to the point that I now want crunchy cheesy lemony breadcrumbs on pretty much everything.

The bottom line is that the result of my meandering, puttering day of cooking and fiddling is a damn good dish that I will be making again and again. And you should too.

Zucchini Linguine

2 medium zucchini, julienned lengthwise on a mandoline (or spiral slicer)
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 garlic cloves (preferably roasted), chopped
1 cup roasted cherry tomatoes (optional)
1-2 tablespoons half & half
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
Black pepper
Salt
3/4 lb. spaghetti
1/4-1/2 cup pasta water, reserved

Topping:
1-2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated, plus more for garnish
Zest of half a lemon
2 handfuls (about 20 good-sized leaves) of basil, chiffonaded and separated

Put a large pot of water on to boil. Cook the spaghetti til al dente and reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta water (before draining!).

In a nonstick sauté pan, melt butter over medium heat. Add the breadcrumbs and cheese, stirring to combine. Keep stirring continuously and cook until breadcrumbs start to brown. Turn off the heat and stir in the lemon zest and 1/2 the basil. Check for seasoning.

Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in a large sauté pan. Add garlic and zucchini, cooking until just softened, but still holding its shape, about 3 minutes. Add the half & half and let it thicken a bit. Turn the heat down to medium-low and stir in tomatoes (if using) and lemon juice; season to taste with salt and pepper (chili flakes would also be nice).

Add the pasta to the zucchini pan and cook for a couple minutes, adding a bit of the pasta water to loosen things up a bit. Transfer the zucchini pasta mixture to a serving dish and garnish with the breadcrumb topping. Season with more salt and pepper, the remaining basil and more Parmesan.

Pizza

Published on September 7, 2011 in Breads + Muffins, Italian and Main Courses. 2 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , .

Pizza is the one thing I’ve been willing to turn the oven on for this summer (ok, that’s not entirely true; there was this and this and this). But you have to turn it up really high, like 450-500ºF. So it needs to be worth it. And pizza is one of the few things that is worth it.

It’s the ultimate in flexible cooking. In the instance of the pizza above, I had some leftover pesto, so that went on with the tomato sauce, cheese and arugula (make sure you put the arugula on right at the end and cook just until wilted and really pile it on — it shrinks up a lot). If you don’t have any tomato sauce, you can toss on olive oil or tomatoes (roasted or not). Avocado is so good on pizza; try it, please. My guacamole pizza is so easy: olive oil, garlic, tomatoes and avocado, finished with cilantro and lime zest. Figs, nuts, dried fruit…really, the possibilities are endless. Olives are sort of essential in my opinion. And pretty much any kind of cheese is good on pizza; don’t just stick with the usual suspects.

Having said all that, don’t overload your pizza with too many ingredients because that makes it harder to cook the crust properly (not to mention transferring the uncooked pizza into the oven). Think 3-5 ingredients. That way you can really taste them. Of course, if you make enough dough, everyone can top their pizza however they like.

Nowadays, making pizza doesn’t even require that you make the dough, although it’s super-easy*. You can buy pre-made dough pretty inexpensively (whole wheat, regular, even herbed) at both Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s, which can make the pizza-making process much more of a spontaneous event. Just make sure you let the dough sit out for at least an hour before you starting rolling/stretching; cold dough is not terribly cooperative.

Pizza Dough (bread machine version)

Makes 2 12″ pizzas

3/4 cup cold water
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
2-1/2 cups bread flour (you can substitute up to half with whole wheat flour)
1-1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 tablespoon fresh herbs like basil, thyme or oregano (or 1 teaspoon dried), optional

Put the ingredients in the bread machine mixing bowl in the order they appear above, making a small well in the flour before adding the yeast. Set on the dough cycle and go read a book, run or whatever for 1.5 hours.  There will be pizza dough waiting for you when you get back.

Pizza Dough (by hand)

Replace the cold water with lukewarm. Stir dry ingredients, including yeast, in a large bowl. Add water and olive oil and combine into what will hopefully resemble a ball. Once it’s pretty well together, dump it out on a floured work surface (I just use my *clean* counter) and, with floured hands, knead for a few minutes to get that gluten to start working its magic. Lightly oil the bowl you mixed the ingredients in, drop in the dough and roll it around to coat all surfaces in oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rise for a couple hours or until double in size.

Once that’s happened, punch down your giant blob of dough to release the air and scoop it back out onto the work surface. Divide into two equal pieces (or four if you want to make “personal” pizzas), shape each into balls and let it sit for another 20-30 minutes under the plastic wrap.

Rolling Out the Dough

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface using a rolling pin. I don’t worry too much about making a perfect circle; I just like to get the surface very even and thin. I actually like the sort of random shapes I end up with sometimes. If you’re feeling daring, oil up your hands and stretch the dough by hand into a disk and then use your fist to gently coax the dough out into a larger, thinner circle.

Cooking your Pizza

Now for *how* to cook it. I love my pizza stone, but I’ve also had good results with a basic sheet pan. To prevent sticking, I use cornmeal on the stone and oil with the pan. If you’re using a stone, preheat the oven with the stone on the floor of the oven (use the bottom rack if you have an electric stove) for 30 minutes or so (don’t heat the sheet pan if that’s what you’re using). I first cook the pizza on the bottom of the oven, then move it up to the top rack and broil for the last couple minutes (you want to make sure the bottom is well-cooked before you do this). I find it much easier to precook the crust for about 6 minutes (make sure to poke the dough all over with a fork or you’ll end up with some very puffy bread) and then add the toppings, but if you have a pizza peel (which would be handy, but makes me nervous), you can compose the pizza on that and then slide it onto the stone/pan.

Oven temperatures vary widely, so while 450ºF works well for me, you may need to crank your oven up to 500ºF. Just experiment. The best way to tell when the pizza is done is to just keep an eye on it, and lift up a corner of the bottom to check how it’s browning.

* This or this is for when you’re planning ahead. Sounds great, but I have yet to try it.