SUE ANN'S TOMATO FUN

            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....