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gazpacho
In , on August 4, 2018 with No Comments

Gazpacho

My Dad found this recipe in the Des Moines Register newspaper, and with an abundance of garden veggies, we decided to give it a whirl. Everything in the recipe came from the garden, with the exception of the hot sauce and balsamic vinegar. The garlic I planted didn’t produce, but I’d picked up some really gorgeous organic garlic at the local farmer’s market, so technically it was produced within a few miles of my kitchen 🙂




You can easily adjust the amount up or down depending on how many mouths you have to feed and how many bowls you each will eat. It’s a great cold soup to eat on a warm summer’s day, and it’s a great way to use up produce if you have just a few of this and that in the garden.

Gazpacho

1-1/2 pounds tomatoes, cored and cut into 1/4-inch dice

2 red bell peppers (or use whatever peppers you have), stemmed, seeded, and cut into 1/4-inch dice

2 small cucumbers (or 1 large one), peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/4-inch dice

1/2 small sweet onion, or 2 large shallots, minced

2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced

1/3 cup good balsamic vinegar

Salt and pepper

5 cups tomato juice (I used homemade)

8 ice cubes

1 teaspoon hot sauce (optional)

Extra-virgin olive oil (for serving)

 

Combine tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumbers, onion, and garlic in a large bowl. Sprinkle with 2 teaspoons of salt. Season with black pepper to taste. Let stand for about 5 minutes or until veggies release their juice. Add the vinegar, tomato juice, ice cubes, and hot sauce if using. Stir to combine. Cover and refrigerate to blend flavors, at least 4 hours or up to 2 days.

Discard any unmelted ice cubes, and season soup with salt and pepper to taste. Serve cold, drizzling individual portions with olive oil. Garnish with extra veggies, croutons, chopped pitted olives, or finely diced avocados if you like.

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dehydrated romas
In , on August 4, 2018 with No Comments

Dehydrated Roma Tomatoes

Are you overrun with tomatoes in your garden? Tired of canning them? Then break out your dehydrator and make some “sun-dried” tomatoes. I’ve always wanted to do this, so I decided this was the year. I’d already made my salsa and spaghetti sauce from my paste tomatoes, and there were still a few left in the garden. I hate wasting produce, especially when you have to baby them to get them to produce in the first place, so I decided to dehydrate the handful that were ready.

I dehydrated only my paste tomatoes this time, but you can definitely dehydrate whatever type of tomato you have. I had slicers in the garden, but they were slated to be used in a different recipe.




Dehydrating tomatoes (and everything else) is really easy. You wash the tomatoes, removing any stems, and thinly slice them. Place them on the dehydrator sheets, and turn on the machine. I have an inexpensive Presto dehydrator, which doesn’t have a thermostat control, but if you have a dehydrator that does have one, set the temperature to 135 degrees Fahrenheit.

I filled the 4 trays that came with the dehydrator. Try not to have the slice touch each other – air needs to be able to flow around them. Let tomatoes sit in the dehydrator until crispy. You can periodically turn the slices over to help them along. The time it takes will depend on the style of tomatoes you use and how juicy they are. My tomatoes processed for about 9 hours before they were done.

 

This is what I ended up with after 9 hours – all 4 trays of Roma slices fit into 1 quart jar! You can store them just like this and use in your favorite recipe that calls for sun-dried tomatoes.  You can store them in olive oil (then keep in the refrigerator). You can snack on them straight from the jar, or you can grind them up in a blender/food processor until it’s a fine powder. You can use the powder in soups, casseroles—anything you want to add a little tomato flavor to. You can also reconstitute the tomato powder with a little water to make quick tomato sauce to use in your favorite recipe.

I plan to keep dehydrating my Roma tomatoes as long as they keep producing this summer. It’s fun to have different items in my pantry, and it’s especially great to know that I don’t have to go buy that expensive little bottle of sun-dried tomatoes at the grocery store when I only need just a few in a recipe.

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crushed mexican tomatoes
In on August 4, 2018 with No Comments

Seasoned Crushed Tomatoes – Three Kinds

I’ve always wanted to can seasoned tomatoes, but most years after I finish canning salsa, spaghetti sauce, and soup, I usually end up just canning plain tomatoes as I’m getting tired of looking at them. But this year, the tomatoes ripened in batches, so it didn’t seem as if I was constantly in the kitchen working on them. I looked online at different recipes, but ultimately, I used the recipe from Ball’s Complete Book of Home Preserving. It lists 3 different kinds of spice blends for its herbed seasoned tomatoes, and I used that, but I wanted crushed tomatoes instead of doing quartered tomatoes as the recipe showed. It doesn’t really matter what form your tomato is in just as long as you put lemon juice in the jars.




The Ball recipe gives spice blends for Italian, Mexican, and Cajun. I just did Italian and Mexican, but I’ve listed all three here so you can use whichever one(s) you prefer. The recipe says that you will have enough spice blend for 6 pints of tomatoes, but I doubled and even tripled the amounts just to make sure I had enough made up since I was working with way more tomatoes than 6 pints. If you would prefer to use an already made Italian spice blend, use 4 tablespoons in place of the basil, thyme, oregano, rosemary, and sage in the recipe. If you have any spice blend left over after you’ve finished, just put the extra in a Ziploc baggie and use in your favorite recipe.

 

Seasoned Crushed Tomatoes

12 cups tomatoes, peeled and cored

Spice Blend (see below)

Bottled lemon juice

Salt (optional)

 

Italian Spice Blend

4 teaspoons basil

2 teaspoons thyme leaf

2-1/2 teaspoons oregano

1-1/2 teaspoons rosemary

1-1/2 teaspoons sage

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon hot pepper flakes (optional)

 

Mexican Spice Blend

6 teaspoons chili powder

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons oregano

2 teaspoons garlic powder

2 teaspoons ground coriander

1-1/2 teaspoons seasoned salt (optional)

 

Cajun Spice Blend

3 teaspoons chili powder

2 teaspoons paprika

1-1/2 teaspoons onion flakes

1-1/2 teaspoons garlic powder

1-1/2 teaspoons ground allspice

1-1/2 teaspoons thyme leaf

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

 

Peel and core the tomatoes. Working in small batches, heat a few prepared tomatoes in the bottom of a large stockpot, crushing with a potato masher to get the tomatoes to release their juices. As they release the juice, keep adding tomatoes and crush with the potato masher until you have all the tomatoes in the stockpot. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring gently. Reduce heat and boil gently for 5 minutes.

While the tomatoes are heating, to each pint jar add 1 tablespoon of bottled lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon of canning salt (if using), and 2-1/2 teaspoons of the prepared spice blend you are using.

Ladle hot tomatoes into jars, add lids, and tighten rings just until finger tight. Process in a boiling water bath canner for 40 minutes. After 40 minutes, reduce heat, remove the canner lid, and let the jars sit in the canner for 5 minutes. Remove jars and let set on the counter for 12 hours. Check to ensure jars have sealed. If you have some that did not seal (lid will pop back up when you test – you can usually see it before you even test), put those jars in the refrigerator and eat them within a few days. Remove rings, wash jars, and store sealed jars in a cool, dry, dark place.

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