There are 470 members in our CSA. When I was preparing food, I was dealing with quantities like 10 pounds of potatoes for potato salad, plus two quarts of homemade refrigerator dill pickles, two pints of sweet pickled onions, and a pint of soy mayo. The summer salad used 12 cups of boiled corn, all cooked in the solar oven and cut off the cobs, plus 4 huge Armenian cucumbers, another two pints of sweet pickled onions, and a flat of tomatoes, which were all seeded to keep the salad from getting too soggy. The 6-quart pot of beans barely fit in my solar oven. Due to the sheer mass of beans and water to heat, it took five hours to cook. Many breadsticks to roll out, and so on and so forth.
Let me put this another way. I'm tired! Don't get me wrong, it was a fulfilling experience - cooking and preparing wonderful food to inspire members to try cooking with the sun and find new ways to use what they get in their CSA shares. But, I'm happy to finally have my refrigerator and freezer space back, as well as time to catch up on everything that I've let slide for the past month. (Yes, I've been working on this for a month - canning green tomato relish, candying citrus peels, pickling onions and cucumbers, freezing corn, and so on!)
What's on my schedule for the next month?
Clean (out) the house
Cleaning has been ignored for a bit, with the exception of making sure my working area in the kitchen was sanitary. I still have clean underwear so the laundry must not have gotten out of control yet.
The house, though, is so cluttered, it's scary. I don't think there are any overdue bills lurking under the piles, but I won't know for sure until I look....or the lights won't come on when I flip the switch.
Organizing the fridge & freezer
There's food in there, good food, but it's been so crowded I've had a hard time finding it lately. It's time to inventory again and get back to meal planning for a while.
Food preservation
Canning
BBQ Sauce: This is on the schedule for the very near future. I've got a flat of tomatoes to process. After poring over recipes, I want to try my hand at homemade barbecue sauce. I've made it from scratch starting with tomato sauce before but never from raw tomatoes.
Tomato Jam: To get the sauce to cook down quicker, I'll be seeding the tomatoes. I don't want to waste all that flavorful juice, though, so I think I'll try adding one or two tomatoes to the seeds to make tomato jam. Has anyone ever made tomato jam? What do you use it for?
Eggplant & Tomato Relish: another interesting looking recipe from the Joy of Pickling book I found in a used bookstore. I've liked every recipe I've tried in this book so far. Oh darn! When I searched for a link for the book, I found out there's a new completely revised edition out....with 25 new recipes. How long until Christmas? Hm, can we have Christmas in July maybe?
Condiments
Vinagre: Yesterday I picked up an organic pineapple at the farmer's market. The closest the vendor can get them is from Oaxaca. I specifically purchased it to try making Vinagre (Spicy Pineapple Vinegar) as featured on Daisy Cooks! I don't like habaneros and no chiles are ripe locally yet so I picked up a poblano pepper from the Mexican market this morning.Dried Tomatoes: I dried a bunch of cherry tomatoes this week. I love the taste of them but have never used them regularly in cooking due to their cost. Any suggestions? Best ways to keep them in storage?
Exercise!
I've missed my self-defense classes for the past week while we gave the new dog a chance to get used to his new home. I'm looking forward to starting up again next week. I'm loving, absolutely loving, punching and kicking my weight bag at home. Talk about working out stress issues! Even my TMJ is improved after a good workout.
Now that my time isn't so strapped, I'll get back on my bike for errands...provided I can get them done before it hits 105 degrees outside (the forecast temperature for all of next week). Oops, I need to remind my sweetie to fix the handlebars.
I tweaked them (to the left) when I fell off my bike last week heading over to take care of a friend's cats while she was away. My knee looks worse than the handlebars and we won't talk about the bruise I got from falling forward on the bike. Let's just say that if I were male, I probably still couldn't talk yet.I should get my new orthotics within the week and be able to start walking in the canyon again. I've missed my nature fix.
Train my dogs
Classes start next weekend. Daily follow-up is going to be important if we want to end up with two good, well-behaved dogs.
How can you help?
- Tell me about your experiences with tomato jam.
- Suggest good uses for dried tomatoes.
- Send dog training treats.
- Drop a hint with my sweetie about the new edition of The Joy of Pickling.
- Come eat up some of the leftover potato salad from the demo!
I have no experience with tomato jam--just spread it on bread??? Use on hamburgers?? Or vegie burgers? How sweet does that taste?
ReplyDeleteCouldn't you just eat dried tomatoes by themselves? Dont;' know how much flavor they'd have that way. I've heard of sun-dried tomato breads.
Certanly, stews/soups/salads could use dried tomatoes in them.
I can't help with the dog stuff but
"To Chile's DH:
Chile wants the new Joy of Pickling! So buy it for her! Like Today!"
Books don't generally cost more than any number of other consumer items we buy so buy a book today!
cheers,
Shamba
Potato salad? I'm on my way...
ReplyDeleteI've not done tomato jam. I did make killer tomato relish this year though. How about just drinking tomato juice?
ReplyDeleteI can relate to the cleaning and tidying. I've been into the kitchen for the last 3 hours and still have the fridge to go. We have our winter crop of mice invasion.
viv in nz
I just LOVE potato salad. YUMMY!
ReplyDeleteSundried tomatoes. You can make a wonderful sundried tomato sauce by reconstituting them in boiling water (perhaps the same water used to boil noodles?) Just saute up some garlic, maybe some pinon/pine nuts, etc and use where eever you would use pesto.
Dogs. Two dogs is GREAT. I love how they entertain each other, and I love that there is always a dog in a mood for a cuddle, or a walk, or a game of fetch. With one, that wasn't a given. My dogs will eat ANYTHING, though. My militantly vegan mother was won over by them when Kirby (our biggest) ate an entire plate of her cardboard tasting pancakes. (Yes, I've TRIED to give her GOOD vegan recipes and impart my own mostly vegan knowledge, but she resists).
One of my favorite uses for dried tomatoes is simply mix them with creme cheese and spread on a cracker. Don't know how you can make vegan creme cheese, but I have all confidence that you will (and do)
ReplyDeleteSending dog treats as we speak- providiing Romeo doesn't see
Potato Salad??? Got my fork ready
Mr. Chile's Sweetie- Please buy Chile that Pickle Book- hey dude you get to eat the pickles and it's cheaper than jewelery
Oops- Damn Romeo caught me with the treats. Sorry Angel and Polie.
I love tomato jam with chili peppers mixed in then poured over a wedge of brie, topped with walnuts and served with crackers. I store my dried cherry tomatoes in a mason jar with the air sucked out with a food saver. Mine lasted all year. I like mine reconstituted in hot olive oil and stir fried with some spinach, garlic, basil and onions and used as a dip with toasted sour dough. OMG I love to eat.I am hungry just thinking about that good stuff.
ReplyDeleteTomato Jam - have made it. Great on toast or crackers. Add some hot peppers to make a spicy/sweet jam. Can also use as a glaze on grilled tofu.
ReplyDeleteDried Tomatoes - I dry all types of tomatoes, a staple in my kitchen. Add to just about anything savory that uses tomatoes. Will enhance tomato sauce. Reconstitute and use dried cherry tomatoes (I cut them in half to dry) in salads, especially a pasta or grain salad. Add to soups. Eat as a snack. Add to bread dough with herbs for a savory bread. Top a pizza or foccaccia with reconstituted tomatoes. Of course, use the soaking liquid in a recipe or drink it. Can you tell I LOVE dried tomatoes?
Storing Dried Tomatoes - I kept mine in the freezer last year, but I think I'll use the vacuum sealer with jars or re-use some of the bags that are piling up.
Book - sweetie needs to not wait until Christmas. There are many things to can/freeze/dehydrate NOW! :)
Potato Salad - Oh yeah, I'm all over that.
Treats - my dog needs some as well.
I don't do tomato jam, but I do fire-roast my tomatoes on the BBQ, let them sit in a bowl to cool down, then put them through an Italian tomato press (can be operated with one hand -- handy when I broke my left wrist at the height of my tomato season!). Lots of juice comes out of the tomatoes when they are cooling down -- and thus the stuff that comes out of the press is a lot closer to sauce (less heat in the kitchen!). What to do with the juice? Tomato stock of course! I did up a dozen points of it last year with whatever herbs I had growing in the garden. I collected it in the fridge or freezer until I had enough to do four or more jars. Wonderful base for soups!
ReplyDeleteDon't know about tomato jam, but I use dried tomatoes in many cooking applications. They're lovely in stews, couscous, rice and all sorts of things. I just cut them up like a raw tomato, but add them (for couscous and rice) to the cooking liquid before it comes to a boil). Pretty much anything you'd cook with raw tomatoes you can cook with dried ones. If it's not a sauce or something where it cooks w/ a lot of liquid, just reconstitute them using hot or boiled water and save the water for a later use (like w/ dried mushrooms, basically). I just store them in a jar. It's humid here, so when I worry about that, I get one of those silica gel packages and stick it in. I'd use bread if I wasn't scared it'd mold quickly.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I received the book - thank you! I got it last week and was meaning to tell you, but I've been insanely busy with work. I'm excited to get started reading it!
Mmmm potato salad. There are few American dishes that I absolutely love, and potato salad is one of them. Bike over to see me and bring it with you for me to eat. Efficient...no?
ReplyDeleteI've added dried tomatoes to hummus (with chickpeas) and onto pizza. I've also seen a recipe for making ketchup with it.
To Mr. Chile: Please be a dear and get Chile the new Joy of Pickling cookbook. Think of the pickled fun you'll have.
To all who are trying to influence my sweetie re the Pickling book, please note that he does not particularly care for pickled foods so you cannot appeal to him through taste. Try flattery? You know, how kind he is to tolerate my many experiments in the kitchen, so many of which he doesn't even want to eat...
ReplyDeleteShamba - I have no idea how sweet the jam might be. That's, I suppose, what concerns me. I just can't see using it on toast and not sure I'd like something too sweet on burgers.
Of course, I can snack on the dried tomatoes. Bread sounds better, though. Soups in the winter, definitely.
Heather - better hurry. It's almost gone.
Viv - the juice is full of seeds so it'd be weird to drink. Maybe a soup base, though, would be better than jam.
Do you have cats that might eat the bumper crop o' mice?
Jennifer - I don't know if I'd want to rehydrate dried tomatoes to make sauce when I could have just made sauce from them fresh in the first place...
Two dogs are more fun but also more work. And the fur. Yikes.
Rob - the vegan version uses tofu, to which I am allergic sadly. But, they might be nice diced into hummus.
Kathy - I like the idea of adding hot peppers to the jam far more than adding weird spices. Thanks!
Maggie's Meadow - a second opinion on the spicy jam clinches it. I should have some jalapeno leftover from making BBQ sauce today.
Thanks for the ideas on the tomatoes! I've got them vac-sealed in jars.
Annet - thanks for the reminder that I should try out my thrift store find of the Italian tomato press thing.
Allie - mmmm, couscous. Love that stuff and, you're right, the dried tomatoes would be great with it. Glad the book made it!
Beany - if I bike the potato salad over to you, it will be spoiled long before I get there. Perhaps you should bike here?
Maybe I will come over. Hope you stay in SW AZ until the end of the year in order for that to happen...
ReplyDeleteMr. Chile: You are a very handsome man who will continue to get tasty, food as long as you buy the Joy of Pickling for Chile.
And...you are getting veeery sleeeepy...buy the Joy of Picking.
other uses for dried tomatoes - i dried a bunch and then discovered we don't really like them except in these three dishes:
ReplyDeletedried-tomato chutney (tomatos, oil, vinegar, some spices, soak the tomatoes in water & vinegar for a while, drain, process with everything else in the food processor or blender)
tomato bread - cut up the tomatos small with kitchen scissors, or soak them a little bit and chop as fine as you can stand to. Add to bread dough, also add oregano or or basil and slivered garlic. (this is good added to beer bread too, if you eat this.)
leek & dried tomato casserole - slice leeks into coins, arrange in the bottom of a cake pan one layer of tomato slices, 4-5 layers of leek coins, fresh leaves of whatever herb you like (I like thyme) another layer of tomato slices. Pour in boiling broth with salt til it just reaches the top of the top layer of tomatos or slightly lower, bake uncovered about half an hour, 300 degrees or so - top layer of tomatos will be chewy.
Beany - he got me the book. :)
ReplyDeleteRosa - great ideas for dried tomatoes. The chutney sounds good, maybe with some black mustard seed and garlic?