Thursday, July 22, 2010

Stop staring at me, tomato. [RecipeS]

You're aware that the garden's been busy. I know you are because I keep telling you.

But, what I haven't told you lately is what the F we're doing with all that garden business. Rude of me, I know.

I also haven't been telling you exactly what the F I'm doing with everything in the farmshare for the purposes of weekly Farmshare Project updates, and for that I apologize. In the sense that I'm sorry I decided to do a tedious weekly post that would actually be more useful for people being buried alive by chard if it were a directory of recipes listed out by scary, unknown or potentially hazardous amounts of vegetables.

So, I am just going to be telling you, at random intervals, what all I'm cooking with these vegetables (because LORD KNOWS WE EAT A LOT OF VEGETABLES) and then linking to those recipes from The Farmshare Project tab that lives on the top of the blog there.

Yes, there. Go look. There's a lot of recipes already. You know this, too, because I have already told you, but I won't hold it against you if you forgot. YOU DIDN'T FORGET DID YOU? Sorry. I promise I forgive you.

No hard feelings.

Meanwhile, in all of my rudeness I haven't told you my new favorite tomato sandwich, and that is just not right.

What am I if not a dedicated tomato sandwich maker? Nothing, that's what. I friggen' shell of a gardener, perhaps.

Anyway, I was working from home the other day with my tomato (it proof reads and provides much needed tea refills) and by the time lunch rolled around, I'd hatched a plan for its demise. This plan also included getting rid of some leftover ciabatta type bread before it went bad and some cheese.

Except we didn't have the typical eat-it-with-ripe-tomatoes-cheese: fresh mozzarella.

Sadness briefly washed over me until I realized that HOT DAMN we have blue cheese. And not just any blue cheese, but some fancy ass buttermilk blue cheese that needed to go before we could break into the Amish blue cheese I'd gotten to make Bubba's favorite chicken salad.

It's a specific schedule for the blue cheese and we must follow it closely.

Anyway, and let's not pay any attention to the fact that I have a variety of blue cheeses in my dairy drawer, when I finally approached the tomato and plucked it from the plant (you really have to love the satisfying *snap* these Better Boys make when they are picked) and marched it off to the kitchen for slicing, its fate had been sealed.

Finny's BCT (Blue Cheese Tomato - der.)
Recipe by moi
 
Ingredients
1 sun-warmed homegrown tomato, sliced
2 slices of ciabatta bread, lightly toasted
2 T crumbled (buttermilk) blue cheese
(Olive oil) mayo
Fresh cracked pepper

To make
Scrape just a bit of mayo on both sides of the sandwich, add black pepper to the top half, crumbled blue cheese to the bottom and stack the tomatoes on top of the blue cheese. Press the top half on there and cut it in half if you so desire.


And, right there, I just told you how to make a sandwich as though you've never made one before. Retarded!

Oh well. You forgive me now and we'll all go on with our lives.

Also, with these slowly ripening tomatoes, I made my go-to hot weather tomato dish: Mellow Tomato Pasta and paired it with my go-to WHAT THE F AM I GOING TO DO WITH ALL THESE BEANS beans: Roasted Green Beans.

Notice those purple beans turned green when cooked. Purple FAIL.

Those recipes can also be found on the Farmshare Project Tab because I love you a lot. See? It's true.

Don't believe me? I've found a way for you to kill green beans, carrots, peas, onions and fennel in one meal.

Really. 

And if you happen to have most of a can of coconut milk threatening to go bad in your fridge, well, then you'll be extra happy, too.

I can't, however, take credit for the recipe because it's another Sunset one, but I totally recommend Pea and Carrot Coconut Curry if you're a curry person. Or a carrot person. Or a person woefully at a loss for what to do with all the vegetables included in the title. You get it.

The beans though? Let me tell you.

Roasted Beans with Fennel and Onion
Recipe from Live Earth Farm's newsletter

Ingredients
1 lb green beans, trimmed
1-2 fennel bulbs, sliced thinly (if you have a death wish, use the mandolin)
1 onion, sliced thinly (see dare above)
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

To make
After taking your own life in your hands by choosing to use the greatly-feared mandolin, add enough oil to cover your thick-bottomed pan and, when its warmed and fragrant, add your sliced fennel and onion, stirring occasionally until it's browned. I hear this process is called, "brown frying", but I find most technical cooking terms to be subject to user invention, so who knows if that's a real thing.

Anyway, while your fennel and onion is frying and browning, steam your beans until just crisp. Rinse them with cool water so they don't get all brown and grody. 

Could we call that, "brown-grodying"? Probably.

Once all your fennel and onion shavings are brown and such, toss in your crispy steamed beans and give them a good toss with some salt and pepper - as much as YOU, specifically, like. Me? I'm a salt girl. Which may explain why I drink so much water and feel like my tongue is shriveling half the day, but hey, that's my issue.

When everything has mingled to your satisfaction, serve it alongside your Pea and Carrot Coconut Curry and bask in the glow of having killed many vegetables with one totally edible meal.

You rule.


8 comments:

  1. so ya, its 9:22 and i peep here, saw the bct sammy and im like, omg, i have all that, and sounds tasty...


    nomnomnom

    osodelish!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Brown frying? That is TOTALLY MADE UP. Also, stupid.

    I wish I liked blue cheese. Or goat cheese. Or any other cheese that tastes like rot/a barnyard. But I don't. I blame my Velveeta and mid cheddar childhood.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Mild, I meant.

    Apparently, I could use your tomato's proofreading skills.

    ReplyDelete
  4. i checked out your roasted green bean recipe, and i want you to know that if you put some garlic in there, and some lemon zezt, while roasting, then tossed with (separately)roasted pine nuts, olive oil, a bit of lemon juice and parmesean, when they come out of the oven, then you'd have my favorite wtf-am-i-gonna-do-with-all-these-beans-recipe. i just wanted you to know.
    and, you really made me giggle with those mandoline cracks.

    ReplyDelete
  5. A vegan recipe?!?! I am so happy! It looks great too. I am going to try it! :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Lisa - IT IS YUM. Have it.

    Kris - I *knew* it. Jerks and their made up terms. And, for the record, I like Velveeta, too. On occasion - like when it's in the form of Velveeta Shells and Cheese. Sick, yes, but strangely comforting. Must be the chemicals.

    Kris - My tomatoes are very wise in the ways of spelling and grammar.

    Cake - I'm trying that ASAP. It may be my new favorite way - you never know!

    HayMarket8 - Oh my god you're right. How'd THAT happen? Happy to oblige. Let me know if you like it :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Tomato salad to die for:

    Chopped up tomatoes
    minced red onion
    avocado, chunked
    Capers
    Red wine vinegar
    White TJ balsamic vinegar
    Salt and pepper
    Coupla dashes olive oil

    Mix it up! Add some cold roasted chicken if you have it. YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

    ReplyDelete
  8. Oh Finny, I've missed you and your posts. Don't worry, I'm all caught up now. AND growing tomatoes this year. Unfortunately they're still green. Next year I'm going to have to get some early girls or something. Can't wait until I have too many to deal with!

    ReplyDelete

[2013 update: You can't comment as an anonymous person anymore. Too many douchebags were leaving bullshit SPAM comments and my inbox was getting flooded, but if you're here to comment in a real way like a real person, go to it.]

Look at you commenting, that's fun.

So, here's the thing with commenting, unless you have an email address associated with your own profile, your comment will still post, but I won't have an email address with which to reply to you personally.

Sucks, right?

Anyway, to remedy this, I usually come back to my posts and post replies in the comment field with you.

But, if you ever want to email me directly to talk about pumpkins or shoes or what it's like to spend a good part of your day Swiffering - shoot me an email to finnyknitsATgmailDOTcom.

Cheers.