Got Tomatoes? Make ... Jam!

The idea of making tomato jam may seem odd at first, but tomatoes are, after all, a fruit. They have a lot of natural sugar and pectin; add the right spices and you have a sweet-spicy condiment that's terrific on sandwiches, with cheese and crackers (including goat cheese or cream cheese), and even on toast for a savory/sweet switch-up with your usual strawberry.

If you are looking for something to do with your summer glut of summer tomatoes, this is a good choice. Every time I make it I give away several jars and it's always a hit.

More than a few years ago, I picked up this recipe from Mark Bittman's old The New York Times column, and there was even one of the entertaining videos he did periodically.



Bittman does not call for peeling the tomatoes, but I do; the skins don't really break down and I don't care for those chewy bits in my jam. Some people would go so far as to seed the tomatoes, but the seeds don't bother me. Besides, it's been shown that a lot of the strongest flavor components come from the "jelly" around the seeds, and if you remove the seeds, you'll wind up removing a lot of the jelly. So, seeds in; skin out.

Butternut Squash and Goat Cheese Empanadas

I stumbled across a recipe for butternut squash "hand pies" a while back, and with a few tweaks it turned out to be nice choice for a potluck this past weekend. Contributing a dish to the annual Nashville Food Blogger party is a bit nerve-wracking, given that our group includes food and food writing professionals as well as extremely talented amateurs. I was very pleased with how they turned out.

I detest the term "hand pie" so I call them empanadas, given the Latin American-inspired flavors. The combination of butternut squash, goat cheese, and the seasonings work well together. The crowning glory of the empanadas is the crust; this is a standard all-butter pie crust, which I discussed in this previous post.

The directions here are for creating mini empanadas; the perfect size to provide a few bites as a snack or appetizer. You can, of course, make a larger size for a more substantial treat.

A Tale of Two Crackers, Part Two: Thin Wheats

This post highlights the second homemade cracker I made to go with the Thanksgiving Soup Bar. The method is very similar to the Black Pepper Parmesan Cream Crackers, with the added twist of whole wheat flour and no cheese or cream. Thinner and a little less rich, as well as nuttier from the whole grain, these make a great accompaniment to soup or salad or as just a stand-alone snack.

Thanksgiving Soup Bar: Potato and Corn Chowder

There are many philosophies regarding corn chowder. The same applies to potato chowders without corn. Many recipes include bacon, using that as the source of the fat. Others include red peppers, for color and flavor. I'm a purist, though. While a sprinkle of crispy bacon on a chowder is wonderful, I don't want that smoke throughout the soup. The same with peppers -- great as a garnish on occasion, not something I want dominating this soup.

Still, the different schools of thought show what a great base a dish like this is. If you want to punch it up with other flavors, it can take it. Bacon or peppers, sure, but also a little crushed garlic or curry powder. If you want to make it more substantial by adding some leftover diced chicken or ham, it's cool. In the spring, change it up with leeks instead of onion. If you like a thicker base, increase the amount of flour. You can use whole milk or cream instead of half-and-half. Etc.

Another point about this chowder is that while it was featured in the Thanksgiving Soup Bar, it's something I've been making for years. This is the first time I've written down the recipe, though, because I've always made it by feel, and based on what I had on hand. I don't worry too much about measurements, I just shoot for general proportions. It's all good.

A Tale of Two Crackers, Part One: Black Pepper Parmesan Cream Crackers

This cracker is a recipe that I've made several times, but not in a while. I pulled it out of the file to include as part of the Thanksgiving Soup Bar. Crackers are one of those foods that we tend to take for granted as coming from a store. They are actually quite easy to make at home, though, if you have a reasonable amount of experience working with cookie or pie crust dough. They are lower-pressure though -- for some reason cracker dough isn't as fussy as pie crust can be, and don't have the expectations associated with Good Pie Crust.

Crackers can be simple -- flour, salt, water -- or enriched with fat, or punched up with whole wheat flours or other grain flours, or flavored with an endless variety of herbs and seasonings.

I first ran across this recipe in the fabulous, now retired, Minimalist column from Mark Bittman in The New York Times. Then Deb Perelman posted the recipe with her commentary on her blog Smitten Kitchen, and I had to make this cracker.

Of course you can use the recipe as a jumping off point and add whatever seasonings or seeds you like, either mixed in the dough or as a topping. You can also vary the liquid, switching from cream to half and half or milk (or buttermilk, or yogurt, or sour cream, or ....) Instead of cutting into squares, you can cut out shapes or even bake the sheet whole and just break apart by hand after baking.

Thanksgiving Soup Bar: Black Bean and Tomato Soup

The next feature from the Thanksgiving Soup Bar is the Black Bean and Tomato Soup. This recipe has been in my repertoire for a couple of years. I'm not a huge fan of legumes, actually, but I try to eat them occasionally because they are cheap and nutritious. I like it best when the beans are pureed, as in hummus or as in this soup. The other thing I like about this recipe is that it has a lot of flavor going on -- it's not just "bean soup." It is so good that I actively like it rather than just tolerate it. That says a lot!

This was another pantry soup -- I had (nearly) everything on hand to make it. I didn't have the chipotle or serrano pepper called for, but I did have an Anaheim chile. That's a larger pepper than the chipotle or serrano, but milder, so I thought the heat level would be roughly equivalent. It worked out fine and I provided minced jalapeno as a garnish for the soup bar for those who might want more heat.

This recipe calls for cooking dried beans without soaking beforehand. Soaking doesn't shorten cooking time that much, so the extra step isn't really worth it. Just be sure that the beans are fresh. Many supermarket beans can be several years old, and old beans can fail to cook. If your beans don't cook up right, or you just don't want to risk it, you can substitute canned beans; see the end of the recipe for details.

Update of an Old Post - Mahogany Glazed Tofu

Today I discovered an old post of mine contained a link to a blog that is now invitation only. Back in the early days of this blog I just linked to recipes on other online sources rather than repeating the recipe here. Luckily some other folks had reblogged the recipe, so I've added it to my post.

I'm not a vegetarian but I do frequently eat meatless meals. I don't go out of my way to use meat substitutes, but the occasional tofu dish or veggie burger will make their way onto my plate. This Mahogany Glazed Tofu, served over rice, is deeply flavorful. It's is actually quite a tasty dish overall, and I plan to make it again soon.  Check it out!

Mahogany Glazed Tofu

Thanksgiving Soup Bar: Red Curry Butternut Squash Soup

The Thanksgiving Soup Bar idea started with the idea of doing a pumpkin soup, but I decided to do a butternut squash soup instead. I liked the idea of warming the soup flavors with curry. I could make a basic soup without a recipe, and I'd added curry powder to soups before. I flipped through cookbooks and web sites, though, to see if I could find a specific recipe. Curry and winter squash is a popular combination, and there were a lot of recipes to sift through. I settled on this one from Williams Sonoma. It appealed to me because it went beyond just adding yellow curry powder to a standard soup, but other than the squash, the ingredients were things I already had in the refrigerator and pantry.

I tweaked the recipe a bit, adding lemongrass to the already Thai-style flavor profile. Fresh lemongrass and ginger are wonderful, and I often have a knob of ginger on hand, but didn't last week. I keep tubes of Garden Gourmet pastes on hand as well, though, and using them here saved me a shopping trip. Because I was traveling for the holiday, I made the majority of the soup ahead. After the squash was cooked, I cooled the mixture and transferred it to a zipper bag for transport in an ice chest. Just before serving I pureed the squash mixture, added the remaining ingredients, and turned it over to my sister to man the strainer while I prepped the other soups. You can skip the straining step if you like - the little bit of remaining texture can give the soup a nice heft.

The soup was a little thin after straining; if I'd had more time I would have simmered it a bit to reduce as I prefer a little thicker soup. It was fine as it was, though. I could also see adding more coconut milk or even cream or half and half to make it a truly creamy soup; the amount of coconut milk here is enough to give it a little lightness, but not enough to make it creamy.

Next time I make this I'll add more than the designated 1 tsp of curry paste. I could barely tell

Gojo Ethiopian Cafe and Restaurant - A Taste of Africa off Nolensville Pike

My friend John is, among many other things, a chef. He's been cooking -- and exploring international food -- since he was a wee lad in East Tennessee. He's worked at world-class restaurants in New Orleans, New Zealand, and Nashville. So, you might say he knows a bit about food, and it shouldn't surprise you that one of our primary activities together is restaurant crawling.

On Friday we had a date to go "somewhere ethnic" in my part of town. The Nolensville Pike area is Nashville's epicenter for international culture, and the list of food choices is nearly endless. This embarrassment of riches is explored periodically on the Bites Blog of the Nashville Scene's web site -- Sean Maloney writes an occasional series tagged "The Road" that visits various eateries on this international corridor. John and I had long talked about exploring some of these mom-and-pop restaurants, groceries, and delis; Friday was our first joint foray. After a little discussion we decided on a spot and headed out. Along the way, though, he asked if I'd ever been to Gojo, the Ethiopian restaurant just off Nolensville on Thompson Lane. I hadn't, but had wanted to go for a long time. He had been, and liked it, and I was game. So we made a snap decision to change course and visit together.

Unexpected Bonus Recipe: Refried Beans

Even though I'm not in full posting mode, I have a few spare minutes this evening, and I thought I'd offer this little dish. I posted it in response to a bean discussion on a cooking bulletin board I frequent. (I've actually posted it there several times.) My mother discovered this recipe years ago in a Southwest cookbook. I don't know the name, but I'll find out and add the appropriate credit when I do.

This recipe is noteworthy because it is so much more than the pinto bean paste that we normally associate with refried beans. (You know, those refried beans that you get at every Mexican restaurant that you swear must come from a Central Bean Processing Commissary, because they are exactly the same everywhere.) I like this dish because It has some interesting seasonings that you wouldn't expect. They don't overpower the dish and turn it into anything other than really good refried beans. Use it as a side with rice (I especially love saffron rice) or use as a base for vegetarian tacos, burritos, tostadas. and the like. Or, you could actually use it as a bean dip with tortilla chips.

Refried Beans

5 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp ground chili powder
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
2 cans (16 oz each) undrained pinto beans
     (or 3 cups freshly cooked pinto beans with liquid)

Heat oil over medium heat. Saute onion and garlic until tender. Add seasonings. Add beans with 1/2 cup liquid and mash with potato masher. Cook 30 to 40 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add more liquid/water if needed.

The Weekend That Wasn't

I was sick this weekend with a mystery ailment. Saturday afternoon I started feeling just generally bad, and a little achy. Then I realized I was pretty cold ... to the point of shivering. I crawled into bed with the heat turned up and the covers pulled up to my chin, and I could not get entirely warm. Within a few hours the chills turned into a fever. My temp climbed and climbed up to about 101, and for me that's a serious fever; my normal temp runs well below 98. I felt like my skin was on fire. A hefty dose of ibuprofen and a little more time, and it finally broke. The fever and chills hung around, just at a lower intensity. It was only late today that I finally shook the last remnants. There were no other symptoms other than a little queasiness, so I don't know what I had.

Needless to say, the weekend didn't lend itself to cooking. In fact, after lunch on Saturday I didn't eat anything but some Goldfish crackers, until I had a bowl of cereal Sunday for lunch. Today I've lived on some yogurt, and finally this evening some of my carrot-ginger soup that I had in the freezer. The idea of something warm and simple and liquid appealed to me, and I knew the ginger would be good for my still-wombly tummy.

I've been making this soup for many years, usually portioning it into individual servings for freezing. It's something I just made up on the fly one day because the idea appealed to me. I usually make it based on the amount of carrots I have on hand. I've never measured any of the other ingredients; I just eyeball everything. This recipe is more of a set of guidelines than a recipe. I've found since then that there are lots of carrot-ginger soup recipes around, but I've always just made my seat-of-the-pants version.

Carrot-Ginger Soup

I start with a little slick of olive oil in a medium to medium-large sauce pan. (You could also use butter.) I add chopped onion, sliced fresh ginger, sliced garlic, a LITTLE chopped celery (if I have any on hand, which frankly I usually don't), salt & pepper. Saute until the onion is soft and translucent but not brown.

Add carrots, cut into chunks (or baby carrots), and enough low-sodium chicken stock to cover by an inch or so. (I have even used just water when I didn't have any chicken stock to hand. You could also use vegetable stock, obviously.) Bring to a boil, then simmer until the carrots are tender. Allow to cool, then use a blender or food processor to puree. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve. At this point I might also add a sprinkle of nutmeg or thyme.

At this point you can freeze, or reheat to serve. You can enjoy it as is, but I usually either top with a dollop of sour cream or plain yogurt, OR mix in milk, half-and-half, or cream to make it "cream of" soup. If not adding the milk/cream, you can add more water or broth if the soup is too thick, which it sometimes is.

It's Summer, So It Must Be Zucchini Time

This frittata is one of those dishes that's more than just the sum of its parts. It's a good way to use a generous amount of zucchini, it's a nice lower-fat vegetarian main dish, and is very tasty. The tomato side is optional but is a nice piquant contrast to the creamy greenness of the frittata, and rounds out the plate well.

The original recipe (from Eating Well) calls for fresh marjoram, but really you could use just about any herb or herb combination. The last time I made it I used a dried Italian herb blend, of course using only 1/3 of the amount of the fresh herb called for. To boost the heartiness of the dish and to provide some starch, I added a bit of cooked potato to the mix. I prefer to use grape, cherry, or plum tomatoes for the side; regular "slicing" tomatoes are too juicy and break down too much in the saute. Finally, since I was cooking for just me, I cut the recipe in half, using a medium well-seasoned iron skillet. If you use the non-stick skillet called for, be sure that it's one that is oven safe.



Zucchini-Ricotta Frittata with Warm Tomato Garnish
adapted from Eating Well

1 1/2 pounds zucchini, coarsely grated
1 1/8 tsp salt, divided
2 Tbsp olive oil, divided
4 large eggs
4 large egg whites
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup grated Parmesan or Monterrey Jack cheese
1 Tbsp chopped fresh marjoram (or other herbs)
1 cup cooked diced red or white boiling potato (optional)
2/3 cup part-skim ricotta cheese

for the garnish:
2 1/2 cup chopped tomato (preferably grape, cherry, or plum)
1 medium shallot, minced
1 small clove garlic, minced
2 tsp chopped fresh marjoram (or other herbs)
2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

1. Toss zucchini with 1 tsp salt in a medium bowl; put in colander to drain for 20-30 minutes. Rinse briefly and squeeze dry.
2. Whisk eggs with pepper and remaining salt in a large bowl. Stir in cheese, herbs, and cooked potato (if using).
   
3. Preheat broiler.
4. Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil over in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add zucchini and cook, stirring frequently, until water evaporates (5-6 min). Add to egg mixture, stirring to mix well.
   
5. Wipe skillet clean and return to medium-high heat. Heat remaining 1 Tbsp oil in the skillet, then add egg mixture and reduce heat to medium-low. Dollop ricotta over the top.
6. Cook until eggs are set on bottom but the top is still wet (5-7 min). Transfer skillet to broiler and broil until done (3-5 min).

For tomato garnish: Toss all ingredients together. Cook in a skillet for a couple of minutes, until warm and releasing juices.

A "Grate" Way to Use Summer Vegetables

Mark Bittman, the NY Times columnist and cookbook author, has been doing a blog for a few months. I generally enjoy his columns and recipes, although he sometimes displays a foodie-elite attitude that gets on my nerves. (For example, one blog post focused on his trying to find good uses for microwaves, an appliance he previously disdained. At least he was tryin'.) One recipe he posted in the blog (cleverly named Bitten) has been a repeater in my house the last few weeks. It can be made with just about any gratable vegetable, but I've just used zucchini so far. I can see lots of potential for riffs and variations with herbs, seasonings, toppings, and vegetable mixtures. As you can see from the ingredient list, these don't burst with strong flavor, but simple flavors are OK sometimes. I really like the fact that they are mostly a vegetable dish rather than a batter-heavy true fritter. A larger serving is hearty enough to serve as a main course with several additional sides. You could also use them as a base under something like a piece of grilled fish or chicken. I LOVE to top mine with a little dollop of reduced-fat sour cream or whole milk yogurt. A squeeze of lemon is lovely too.

Italian-Style Vegetable Pancakes

Mark Bittman, New York Times

Yield 4 servings


About 2 pounds zucchini, eggplant or turnips, peeled if necessary
1/2 onion, peeled and grated
2 eggs, lightly beaten (I use 4 egg whites)
1/4 cup flour or plain bread crumbs, more as needed (I tend to use more)
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 to 4 tablespoons butter or extra virgin olive oil (I use cooking spray in a non-stick skillet)

Grate vegetables by hand or with grating disk of a food processor. In a bowl, mix together all ingredients except the butter or oil. The mixture should be fairly loose but not liquid; add a little more flour or bread crumbs if necessary.

Put the butter or oil in a large skillet and turn heat to medium-high. When the oil is hot, put large spoonfuls of batter in the pan. Cook, turning once, until nicely browned on both sides, 10 to 15 minutes total. Serve hot or at room temperature.

The full blog post is here: Italian-Style Vegetable Pancakes

The Previous Week's Kitchen Adventures

I've been been waiting for this blog to get "crawled" so my Amazon list and other widget-type things show up on the page, and ... well, I'm still waiting. So, despite my feeling the site's incomplete, I'll post a bit more.

This week I did some exploring of my latest cookbook purchase, How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, by Mark Bittman. Bittman writes a weekly cooking column in The New York Times. As the title -- The Minimalist -- implies, he focuses on dishes that are easy for the home cook to prepare. They are not dumbed-down, Sandra-Lee-esque, bland middle-American fare, but full of flavor, quality ingredients, and sometimes a bit of ethnic adventure. He's written numerous cookbooks and even has a PBS show or two under his belt.

So anyway ... HTCEV made it onto my shelves for several reasons. I'm not a vegetarian, and never will be, but I enjoy vegetarian meals and never feel meat is obligatory. I enjoy a wide variety of vegetables, fruits, grains, etc., but wanted to prepare more of them at home. I'm trying to cook more in general, and I definitely need to regain control of healthy eating habits that had slipped precariously in the last year or so. A new cookbook would help get me jazzed about all of this, and HTCEV was selected because it wasn't just a collection of recipes, but like most of Bittman's writing, went to lengths to explain, present the logic or tradition behind something, provide variations to encourage your own explorations, etc. This book is also much-discussed and praised by cooks whose opinions I trust. (More on that on another day.)

I've made two things so far. (For me to make two new, real, actual recipes in a week is pretty remarkable -- day to day I'm a throw-something-together-that-sounds-good kind of cook.) The first was Whole Wheat Couscous with Cauliflower and Almonds. In this dish, shallot and finely chopped cauliflower are sauteed, then combined with the couscous, stock, and a hefty amount of smoked paprika to simmer. At the last minute parsley and chopped almonds are added, then grated Manchego cheese is used to top the dish. Because I'm counting calories, it's not something I'll make as written a lot, but I was glad I made it. A serving is well over 400 calories, and if you make it as a main dish, the amount of food isn't huge. I did reduce the almonds and the oil called for, and was judicious with the cheese. It's too tasty to not make again, so next time I might reduce the couscous and increase the cauliflower. You could also omit the cheese to make it a more reasonable side dish. I also think I will increase the amount of liquid to give it a little more smoothness. I made my first mail-order purchase from the famous Penzey's to get the smoked paprika for this. This was the "stretch" for me for this recipe, and it was worth it. It gave the dish a beautiful color, and the aroma was mouth-watering.

The second item I made was fresh cheese. I'd read about this several times before, and had seen Michael Chiarello do it on his old PBS show Casual Cooking. I'd wanted to do it for a long time, just never did. Having a very simple recipe in a book I wanted to make use of talked me into it. Basically, you heat milk until it starts to bubble (providing you are at sea level), then add buttermilk and continue to heat. The mixture will break into curds & whey (shades of Little Miss Muffet), and you scoop up the curds, strain through cheesecloth, and squeeze the moisture out to make a ball or disk. I used 2% milk and lowfat buttermilk, and did add some salt. Honestly I will probably add more salt next time -- I like salty cheese. The flavor is very mild, but delicious for all that. I had some for dinner with home-toasted whole wheat tortilla wedges and a salad. There are other methods for easy fresh cheese -- Chiarello mixes the milk & buttermilk at the start. Some use milk and either lemon juice or vinegar. Etc. So, I can see that this will be an area for experimentation for me. Then, watch out -- I will be mailordering special cheese cultures, and a press, and .... Well, let's just see if I make another batch of fresh cheese first, hmm?