Heirloom Tomato and Provolone Sauce on pasta

Every fall, I make a big batch of Roasted Tomato Sauce (and, last year, tomato paste) and can it for wintertime. Opening up a jar of it in the dead of winter is glorious. It’s like bottling summertime. But this year I just haven’t gotten to it and really am not sure if I will. While I love having my own, fresh, homemade sauce ready to go, I’ve had a lot on my plate lately.

But I still want to make it.

In the meantime, I am small batch cooking with tomatoes. This lovely Heirloom Tomato and Provolone Sauce is a thick, hearty, slow-cooked sauce with a sharp, but craveworthy, taste. It’s enriched with a little butter too, an idea I gleaned from the latest issue of Bon Appetit (it’s in Molly Wizenberg’s column).

From tomatoes to sauce in a little over an hour ...

All in all, this sauce can be made in a little over an hour. You start by chopping tomatoes and crushing garlic. Toss it in the pan with a few other ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and let it simmer for an hour. Then, you puree the sauce, add the butter and cook for a few more minutes. Ready to serve.

Paige helped stir the ingredients together.

Paige and Will helped me make this sauce. Paige transferred most of the ingredients to the pan and stirred it all together. Meanwhile, Will ran the scraps out to the compost pile. They love helping in the kitchen — anyway that they are asked to.

Love that. Read the rest of this entry…

Apple, Prosciutto and Walnut Salad might just be my official salad of fall 2010. It’s divine.

A few weeks ago, one of my cohorts at Tablespoon mentioned making an Apple Salad for this month’s content. Apple salad, I thought … should I grate it and toss with a little lemon and then add to a coleslaw? Should I do something with beets and apples? But then it came to me: Apples, Prosciutto, Walnuts, Cheddar … these are to-die-for together.

The crispy, sweet apples are a lovely contrast to the salty prosciutto, creamy cheese and meaty walnuts. Heaven on a plate, if you will.

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At a family party this weekend, my cousin made a beautiful salad of heirloom tomatoes, red onions, herbs, nectarines and a light vinaigrette from a local farm. It was brilliant. The sweetness of the nectarines are a lovely contrast to the onions and tomatoes. And the vinaigrette really brought it all together. It was absolutely amazing.

This salad is inspired by hers. I’ve switched up the herbs a bit and left out the red onions, though they would be a welcome addition. I’ve added a cucumber for crunch as well. And instead of the local vinaigrette, I made my own lime-walnut one. It light and complimentary for the flavors in the salad.

Paige and I made this salad this morning. The herbs came straight from our garden, picked minutes before we used them. Then, she feasted on it for lunch, asking for seconds. I daresay she loved this Heirloom Tomato and Nectarine Salad.

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Every Wednesday since the beginning of July, I’ve headed to a local organic farm where I belong to a Community Supported Agriculture program and picked up a box of fabulous, fresh veggies. We’ve feasted on fresh greens, tomatoes, squash and more this season. Oh, sweet joy. I’ll be so sad when the CSA is over, but thankfully I have stored many veggies for wintertime.

This week’s basket was overflowing with goodies. Tomatoes galore, corn, potatoes, eggplant, greens and several large delicious apples.

Apples are one of those fabulous signs that fall is here. The season is ushered in with cooler temperatures, and lingers until just about when we light the pumpkins on the front porch. I can hardly wait to head out and pick apples with the kids, a tradition we’ve upheld for years.

Last week, I made some delicious Homemade Cinnamon Applesauce. It’s a rich, sweet applesauce, perfect for any time of day. If you are looking for something to make with your apples, that’s my best suggestion.

As for the rest? Here are a few ideas:

• Tomatoes and Eggplant – Grilled Ratatouille
• Tomatoes – Gazpacho
• Potatoes – Beef Stew
• Greens – Swiss Chard with Garlic and Bacon

I love when apple season rolls around. From apple picking to homemade apple goodies, it’s a lovely time of year. The cool temperatures are pretty awesome too.

This week’s basket was filled with quite a few of these beauties. If you can stop yourself from eating all the apples from your basket this week, here are a few apple recipes to use those delish beauties:

• Apple Turnovers
• French Apple Pie
• Apple Cake
• Sarah’s Spiced Applesauce

Today, we celebrated my husband’s birthday (Happy birthday, honey!). The day started with a homemade breakfast of cheese omelets, homemade hashbrowns and chicken sausage. Then there was Will’s 5-year-old well-visit to the doctor followed by lunch (sandwiches from our fav deli), work and a special dinner with family.

It was a whirlwind.

So, I am keeping this post short today.

What to do with your produce:

• Nectarines – Nectarine Muffins @ Pinch My Salt
• Corn – 10 Fresh Summer Recipes for Sweet Corn @ The Kitchn
• Slicing tomatoes – A simple idea for heirloom tomatoes
• Tomatoes – Sundried Tomato Basil Hummus
• Cherry tomatoes – Whole Wheat Couscous Tabbouleh Salad
• Garlic – Grilled Marinated Steak Skewers

Enjoy!

P.S. Sarah’s Cucina Bella will be on hiatus until Sept. 7, 2010 so that I can enjoy my kids’ last days of summer. See you on the 7th!

I love the taste of roasted leeks. Almost smoky … and so tender, with a hint of crisp. Then there’s the roasted beets, they get this beautiful sweetness to them. But the roasted eggplant? The crispy caramelization on the outside and creamy inside was sublime. As far as eggplant recipes go, this is a new fav. And the whole dish is infused with the roasted garlic which makes it all the better.

Roasted vegetables are really divine. I loved this dish. This roasted vegetables recipe is a perfect side dish for the chilly evenings we’ve been having. Unfortunately, the kids were less enthused. They both enjoyed the roasted beets in this dish, but were mixed on the other veggies. Shawn wouldn’t try it. Oh well. Can’t win every time, right?

Sadly, this week there were no beets, leeks or eggplant in the CSA box. But if you have leftovers from last week, then this is a great recipe to make. Or, you could just buy the ingredients and make it. Heck, I might do that.

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When I moved to New York (as in Manhattan) to go to college, I craved freedom and devoured the city. I walked everywhere, breathing in the skyscrapers and eying the fabulous fashion and amazing pace. Everything seemed so special, so amazing.

One of my favorite things was checking out the myriad grocery stores in the city. The small markets that dotted much of the Upper West Side where I dwelled were such a big change from the mega-sized supermarkets of upstate New York where I grew up. And the foods! They had fresh mozzarella, couscous salads and something completely unfamiliar called tabbouleh. I tried them all, one by one, discovering that I adored the fresh mozzarella and couscous salad, but not the tabbouleh.

So, yes, I am writing a post about a tabbouleh salad recipe, when I don’t like the stuff. But here’s the thing: this isn’t traditional tabbouleh. Adapted slightly from a Health Magazine recipe, this Whole Wheat Couscous Tabbouleh Salad is filled with fresh veggies and bright flavors. It’s lively and perfect for a hot summer day … and since it’s made with whole wheat couscous, it totally lacks the offputting crunch-factor that I don’t like about traditional tabbouleh made with wheatberries. I guess that makes it more of a couscous salad recipe, huh?

In any case, I loved it. This Whole Wheat Couscous Tabbouleh Salad is entering my lunch rotation …

Are you a fan of traditional tabbouleh? Couscous?

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Earlier this year, I made my first panzanella (aka bread salad). It was a fabulous, flavorful, fresh salad perfect for a summertime (and it’s so unfair of me to mention it, since that is one of the few recipes I kept to myself — I promise to reveal it someday). So, when I contemplated how to pair tomatoes and corn in a special dish for Foodie Fights!*, my mind jumped back to panzanella. (Psst! If you head over to the site, vote for my dish! Please?) What better way to use two of my favorite summer farmers’ market finds than in an easy summer salad?

Panzanella is a traditional Italian dish, typically served in the summer months. From what I’ve read in books and online, it’s big in Tuscany and other areas. Can’t you just imagine yourself eating this while sitting on the patio of a fabulous Tuscan villa? That’s what it totally reminds me of. Think Under the Tuscan Sun. (Coincidentally, did you know that Under the Tuscan Sun is a memoir? I didn’t. And apparently it has several follow-ups too, including Bella Tuscany: The Sweet Life in Italy. Who knew?)

This version of panzanella, my Balsamic Tomato, Corn and Cucumber Panzanella, has a lovely sweetness to it from both the fresh sweet corn and the lightly sweetened balsamic dressing. Bread salads like this aren’t just croutons on a tossed salad — the bread soaks in the dressing giving you spurts of freshness throughout. It’s delish.

Since this is a traditional type dish, it has a set of traditional ingredients that you’d normally find in it. Typically, it’s made with old bread, fresh tomatoes, onions, basil, vinegar, olive oil and salt and pepper, among other mix-ins. For this one, I skipped the onions and added cucumbers and fresh corn. Read the rest of this entry…

This German Striped tomato came in my CSA box yesterday. The big, juicy, thin-skinned heirloom tomato was prime for slicing. We ate it tonight for dinner with a drizzle of olive oil, a sprinkle of sea salt and couple spoonfuls of crumbled blue cheese. Delish.

German Striped tomatoes are sweet, smooth and fabulous. If you haven’t tried them before, you should.