TOMATO FUN
What
to do with cherry tomatoes besides tossing in a salad? Roast them!
ROASTED
CHERRY TOMATOES
12 oz cherry tomatoes, fresh, or store bought ( use an even pound!)-cut in
half
3 T olive oil
1 T vinegar (your choice)
1 t sea salt, or coarse salt
1/2 t ground black pepper
Preheat
oven to 375 degrees F.
Line
a rimmed baking sheet with foil.
Place
tomatoes cut side up, on baking sheet, set aside
In
a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, and vinegar.
Drizzle
over tomatoes. sprinkle salt and pepper over.
Bake
45 mins., or until they are slightly charred.
Remove
from oven, let cool slightly, serve warm, as a side dish veggie!
OVEN
DRIED TOMATOES
1
1/2 lbs. plum tomatoes ( I double this recipe, sometimes triple it! This year
will be a triple year!)
1
t sugar
1
T balsamic vinegar (Doreen!!!!)
or,
you can use red wine vinegar
Heat
oven to 225 degrees F.
Slice
each tomato in half, then in half again, lengthwise, for four slices each.
Spread
in single layers on parchment lined rimmed baking sheets.
Sprinkle
with sugar and vinegar-separately. Vinegar first, then sugar.
Bake,
2 1/2 hrs. Turn each slice once after the first hour.
remove
from oven, let cool
Now,
you can eat these right away, store in the fridge for a bit, or freeze them. I
usually have a lot at this time of year, and come Dec....there are no fresh
tomatoes, I can pull these out. They thaw quick and are great in salads, or
anything you cook on the stove or in the oven, where you want a tomato!
Get
a length of parchment paper, and lay one tomato slice down, fold paper over, add
another slice, fold paper over, add another slice, and on, til you have a good
bunch! It will be a little narrow, and long- it all depends on the container you
are using. I use old bread bags, so I can lay a filled length of parchment paper
in it, and add several more to the bag. Then you remove just what you need in
the winter..the parchment unwraps easily. Pull out what you need. Sometimes if I
know I will be doing a mixed salad, I will get out, oh, a dozen slices, for 3
people.....they can be eaten hot or cold.
They
will darken in the oven, more like a char look, and shrink a bit...they are a
type of candied tomato.....but not so sweet.
Lemons
are cheap at the market now, and will be cheap in early winter.....something to
do now, for the holidays.
CANDIED LEMON SLICES
(basic
recipe- can be doubled, tripled, according to how many lemons you have)
1
lemon- sliced very thin, seeds removed.
1/2
c simple syrup
(simple
syrup- 1 c water, 1 c sugar- boil water, add sugar-stir constantly til
syrupy-syrup will stream off spoon-just like your pancake syrup)
Heat oven to 225 degrees F
Dip
lemon slices in simple syrup
Place
on parchment paper lined baking sheet
Place
in the preheated oven, and turn oven off. Let stand in oven overnight.
Take
out of oven the next day, and you can wrap them in parchment paper for the
freezer, the same as you did for the plum tomatoes.
These
are fun to add to cakes, in, or on top of the icing, cupcakes, anything you
want! Even eat as they are! A sweet meat.
even
if you cannot get a lot of lemons for a good price ( we have them in 1 lb bags
right now for 99c), you can always do at least 2...and have them at the the
ready.....They last 4 mos in the freezer..so it is just in time for Christmas
and New Year's- if you make them now.
I
was watching a PBS show last night and they were over in Asia somewhere.....one
of the "stan" countries...what caught my eye, were the peppers! They were
showing markets, and there..strung on thread were peppers!!! Banana, poblano,
anaheim.....some were already turning red! Which is a good sign,you want that in
the drying process...and, I thought of all my NY State of Mind pals.....out
picking, or buying their peppers, and stringing them!!!! So, even across the
ocean....they hang their peppers!!!
One
last treat, since they are plentiful now, and cheap-( they are 99c a lb here- 4
med size makes a lb.)
EASY PLUM CAKE
2
eggs
1/2
c plus 1 T sugar
1/2
c plus 1 T flour
1-2
T butter-chilled
4
ripe plums , red or black or purple
Beat
eggs in mixer til fluffy
Beat
in sugar til blended well.
Beat
in flour til JUST blended..do not over beat- I use a spatula to blend in any
flour in the bowl, after a gentle beating with the mixer.
Pour
into a greased 8 " pie pan.
Arrange
plums over the top- no need to skin, but take pits out, slice them in fourths,
nice little half moons.
Top
with dabs of chilled butter...all over the top.
Bake
400 degrees F, 20 -25 mins- til tooth pick comes out clean.
serve
warm, or cold. Can dust with 10x sugar, or serve with ice cream.
The
batter poofs up over and around the plums...be generous with the
plums.....arrange them in a circular, or however you want- fill the top of the
batter up!!!! remember, you can freeze anything!!! so make 2 or 3 of these
cakes, let cool completely wrap in parchment paper, then in plastic wrap, then
in an old bread bag.....this makes a nice breakfast treat- instead of
pancakes....
