Early Girl Tomato Sauce with Roasted Onions and Garlic
make about 4 – 5 pints

8 lbs early girl tomatoes, stems removed
salt
pepper
2 T. dried herbs (Italian seasoning blend, or a mixture of rosemary, thyme, basil, marjoram, and sage)
1 head garlic
olive oil
1 sweet onion
2 yellow onions

Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil.  Prepare a large bowl of ice water and set aside.

Cut a small X in the bottom of each tomato, then add tomatoes in batches to the boiling water.  Blanch for about 30-45 seconds, or until the skin starts to peel away from the tomato flesh.  The blanching time depends on the ripeness of your tomatoes.  Remove from the boiling water and place into the ice water.  Repeat until all tomatoes are blanched.

Place a fine mesh strainer over a large pot (a 5 qt dutch oven works well).  Remove the tomatoes from the ice water and peel the skins off and discard.  Squeeze each tomato over the strainer so that the juices go into the pot but not the seeds.  Add the de-seeded tomatoes to the pot.  They will break down while cooking, so there is no need to chop them.

Add about 1 t. each salt and pepper to the tomatoes, as well as the dried herbs, then bring to a boil over medium heat.  Reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 1.5 hours, stirring occasionally and scraping the bottom of the pan to dislodge any stuck bits, until the tomato sauce has thickened, but is still a little more watery than you’d like for the final product.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Slice the top quarter off the head of garlic, drizzle with olive oil, then wrap loosely in foil.  Loosely wrap the un-peeled onions individually in foil, then put them along with the garlic into the oven and roast for about 1 hour.  Remove from oven, open foil, and allow to cool.  Once cool, peel and chop the onions, and squeeze the garlic cloves out of their skins. and mash into a paste

Add the onions and garlic to the tomato mixture, mix well, and gently simmer for another 45 minutes or so  Taste and season with more salt, pepper, herbs, or even a little acid (balsamic vinegar, for example).  Use immediately, refrigerate for up to a week, or freeze in small portions for future use.  Enjoy!

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I lack self control when it comes to buying vegetables from Mariquita Farms.  In no way, shape, or form did I need twelve pounds of early girl tomatoes.  But something — my vision of delicious ripe tomatoes paired with a lack of vegetable self control, most likely — made me check the box ’1 flat Early Girl Tomatoes’ on the online order form.  A few days later I found myself at Piccino picking up not only the twelve pounds of tomatoes, but also ten pound of apples and a 15-20 lb “Mystery Box” of vegetables (including more tomatoes!)…  Delicious, yes.  But we’re just two people!  What was I thinking?

From the moment I picked up the tomatoes, the whole thing seemed like an ill-fated endeavor.  To start, I couldn’t carry the 40 lbs of vegetables to my car by myself and had to have someone help me (which she did very graciously!).  Next, there was no way I was going to fit that much produce into my fridge.  Really? 40 lbs?  that’s like if I tried to put my cat into the fridge four times over… or maybe my entire left leg… you get my point — that’s a lot of produce.  After that, I discovered that fruit flies LOVE tomatoes.  Since I couldn’t put them in the fridge both because of space constraints and the fact that one should never put tomatoes in the fridge, I left them on the counter only to find the box swarming with fruit flies the next morning…  ugh.  What was I thinking?

Ok.  I know what I was thinking.  I was thinking — these Mariquita Farms tomatoes are SO GOOD and they are only available for a few short weeks every year! I missed tomato season last year because I was in the process of moving back from Germany, and I absolutely didn’t want to miss it this year.  That’s what I was thinking.  So what if I had 14 lbs of tomatoes staring me in the face?  I vowed to make good use of them.

And make good use of them I did!  I dried about 4 lbs of them (cut in half, dry in a 200 degree oven on oiled cookie racks until dry but still pliable, about 4 hours), saved one lb, and made the rest into this awesome, simple tomato sauce.  I’ve been using it for all sorts of things since I made it this weekend — as a dipping sauce for cheesy bread, as pizza sauce, mixed with sauteed greens, eating it straight from the jar with a spoon… you know, the usual :)

The most time consuming part of this recipe is blanching and peeling the tomatoes.  If you have a food mill, you can ENTIRELY skip this step!  I didn’t use my food mill this time since I desired a chunky sauce, but I discovered the tomatoes break down so much while cooking that it would have been a wash texture-wise between blanching & skinning the tomatoes versus roughly chopping them with the skin and seeds and passing the mixture through a food mill (which removes skins and seeds) after cooking (but before adding the onions).  Next time I have this many tomatoes I’ll definitely use the food mill and save myself about an hour of blanching and skinning.  Live and learn.

Well, tomato season is upon us for probably 3-4 more weeks, and if you find you cannot exercise tomato self-control (similar to me) when confronted with a case of beautiful dry-farmed tomatoes, try this recipe and know that you will have delicious tomato sauce for weeks, months to come.  Enjoy!

Roasted onions and garlic — I roasted one too many onions, but have been making great use of it on other things!

Still Hungry?  Try one of these:

- Wintertime Tomato Sauce

- Simplest Tomato Sauce with Roasted Onion, Shallots and Garlic

- Tomato and Cheese Auflauf

Ricotta, ricotta, ricotta.  So versatile, so simple, so delicious when done well, and so awful when done wrong.  For most of my life I hated ricotta, thinking it too rubbery and tasteless.  That is, until I tried (quote unquote) REAL ricotta.  Not the stuff from the grocery store, but the artisan cheese that is traditionally the by-product of making mozarella.

Artisan ricotta is an entirely different entity than typical grocery store ricotta.  And for those of you who think I might just be snobby about these things, well, I must say it’s simply not true!  Take cottage cheese, for example. I have sampled and re-sampled artisan cottage cheese and compared it to regular cottage cheese…. and the result?  the grocery store variety is good enough for my day-to-day.  However, this is absolutely not the case with ricotta.

So now that we’ve established my ricotta obsession, let’s move onto the gnocchi!

About two weeks ago Steven and I decided to do a night on the town, complete with a few Berlioz pieces at the San Francisco Symphony and a dinner at the much renowned Zuni Cafe.  After two hours of wonderful music, we sat down to a late dinner at Zuni.  After perusing their tempting menu we decided on the ricotta gnocchi with brown butter sauce, along with their world famous burger.

The gnocchi were the first to arrive, and after taking the first bite I turned to Steven and said, “I just ate a little piece of cheesy heaven”.

They were that good.  If you are in SF, run, don’t walk, to Zuni to get these gnocchi.

Returned home, the wheels started turning and I decided I must make these at home.  After perusing one of my favorite blogs, The Paupered Chef, I came across a recipe that seemed like it might be as good as the Zuni gnocchi — Ricotta Gnudi from The Spotted Pig.

A week and a few cups of semolina later, I found myself fishing ricotta gnocchi out of their flour bath and dropping them into a vat of boiling water.  And the result?  Wonderful!  When you bite into them, the gnocchi basically explode with warm ricotta in your mouth.  Though that may or may not sound appealing to you, it is simply delightful.

The other thing about these little balls of deliciousness is that though they take time, the effort required is quite minimal.  MUCH easier than making, say, homemade fettucine or lasagne noodles since no pasta machine or rolling is required.  But even though they are easier to make, the effect is no less dramatic, and if you were to serve these at your next dinner party, accolades would most surely follow.

Zuni inspired Ricotta Gnocchi
serves 2-3

1 c. high quality ricotta, preferably sheep milk
1 c. grated parmesan
2 eggs plus 1 egg yolk
1/2 t. grated nutmeg
1/2 c. AP flour
3-4 c. semolina flour
Your favorite sauce (suggestions: brown butter with fried sage, bright and spicy tomato, light cream, pesto, bacon/cream/parmesan/parsley/olive oil)

Combine the ricotta, parmesan, eggs and egg yolk, and nutmeg in a bowl.  Whip until light and fluffy.  Fold in flour and mix until well combined.  Add more flour if the mixture is too sticky to roll into balls.

Roll the mixture into roughly 1 inch balls.  Pour a 1/2 inch layer of semolina into a baking pan, and place the balls in the flour, spaced about 1 inch apart.  Cover with the rest of the semolina and make sure the ricotta balls are well-buried.  Cover and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, carefully fish out the gnocchi from the semolina, gently shaking the balls to rid them of excess flour.  The flour that remains can be sifted and saved for a later use.

Allow the gnocchi to come to room temperature, and in the meantime bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil.  Carefully slide the gnocchi into the boiling water and cook until they float to the surface, about 1-2 minutes.  Be careful that you do not overcook them, which results in a rubbery texture.

Serve immediately with your favorite sauce, perhaps browned butter with fried sage, a bright and spicy tomato sauce, a light cream sauce, or even with a crumble of bacon along with some olive oil, red pepper flakes, and parmesan.

Still Hungry?  Try one of these:

- Agretti and Ricotta Cheesecake

- 48 Hours in New York, 3 recipes: Nora’s Beets with Ricotta; Roasted five-spice Squash, Caramelized Onion, and Chevre Bites; The MB Hangover Cure and General Wellness Drink

There is no cheese that I enjoy more than high quality, handmade ricotta.  For years I poo-poo’d it because all I had ever tasted was the shelf stable, strangely homogeneous, fairly tasteless, mass-produced grocery store variety.  And then a few years ago I had a ricotta epiphany!  My friend Nora (the Cheesemonger at The Kitchn and food expert extraordinaire) introduced me to artisan handmade ricotta from Saxelby Cheesemonger in the Essex Market in NYC.  Creamy, wonderfully textured, subtly yet richly flavored, I was smitten from my first bite to my last.

Since then I’ve searched out artisan ricotta, and it’s harder to find than one would hope.  Call me picky, but in SF, THE city of foodies, the only ricotta I have found that I really love is Bellwether Farms ricotta.  They make a cow milk and sheep milk version, and both are delicious.  Unfortunately, only a handful of shops carry the cheese (none of which are my  regular grocery stores), and the cheese turns sour if left for more than a few days.  How disappointing it is to be excitedly looking forward to the last few bites of perfectly textured, creamy ricotta, only to open the container and smell a sour aroma…

I have tried making ricotta before, using whole milk and lemon juice as the coagulant, but I found the taste to be a little strange, and the texture too dry and spongy… The whole experiment was a bit of a bust, and I sort of gave up on the idea of homemade ricotta.  That is, until I saw this article over at the Kitchn describing fresh buttermilk cheese.  Though it’s decidedly not ricotta, it seemed like something I would enjoy (and it’s absurdly easy to make), so one night after work last week I decided to make cheese.

And the result?  Absolutely fantastic.  It has that elusive and wonderful texture only found in high quality ricottas, and the flavor is great — subtle, not too rich, with just a slight tang, and lots of character.  The lemon and thyme add a nice touch, though on its own or with another simple seasoning (black pepper, tarragon, even lavender perhaps), the cheese would be delicious.

I took Nora’s advice and crumbled about 1/4 cup into scrambled eggs, and they were divine!  Spooned over some crunchy toast, it could be my new favorite breakfast…

Thyme and Lemon Fresh Buttermilk Cheese
Adapted from From Nora Singley’s Cheesemonger column

1 qt. whole milk
1 1/2 c. buttermilk
2 t. coarse sea salt
1-2 t. fresh thyme, minced
1 t. lemon zest

Line a colander or strainer with either a cotton handkerchief or 3 pieces of cheesecloth that have been cut into 12 inch squares.  Set colander in sink or over a large bowl.

Combine milk, buttermilk, salt, thyme, and lemon zest in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan, and heat over medium-high heat until mixture has separated into white curds and translucent whey, about 8 minutes. If using low-fat buttermilk, separation occurs at about 180 degrees and the curds will clump together readily. If using whole buttermilk, separation occurs closer to the boiling point, about 212 degrees, and the curds are finer-grained. When using whole buttermilk, let curds and whey stand off heat for about 3 minutes after separation, so the curds cling together and facilitate the straining step.)

Ladle the contents of the saucepan into the prepared colander. Let the whey drain, 1 to 2 minutes. Lift the four corners of the cheesecloth and gather them together.

Gently twist the gathered cloth over the cheese and press out any excess whey.  Do not squeeze out too much liquid of the cheese will be dry and grainy.

Serve unwrapped cheese warm on French bread, drizzled with olive oil and seasoned with salt.

Heat milk, buttermilk, lemon and thyme

Cook until curds and whey separate

Ladle curds into a lined strainer

Drain and squeeze

Still Hungry?  Try one of these:

- Beet Towers with Farmers Cheese and Oranges

- Buttermilk Biscuits with Chives

- Simple Basil Buttermilk Salad Dressing

When I try to explain what tempeh is to a person who isn’t familiar with it, it never ends up sounding very appetizing… well, it’s cooked, hulled soybeans that have been mixed with a special mold spore and incubated for about 24 hours until a thick layer of white mold grows throughout the beans.

Yummm…… moldy soybeans……

I swear though, tempeh is actually very delicious — a little nutty, chewy in a great way, mild but with a unique earthy flavor — I love it and eat it at least a few times a month.

I used to make the mistake that I am sure many people make when first making tempeh — not steaming the tempeh before using it.  Typically when I would buy tempeh, I would simply cut it into cubes, lightly fry it in a mixture of butter and oil, then serve the cubes with a flavorful dipping sauce.  It was acceptable, but the texture was quite dense.

Then, after seeing a mention of it on an Indonesian cooking website, I tried steaming the tempeh cubes for about 15 minutes before frying them.  And the result was fantastic!  The dense texture that I wasn’t wild about changed to perfectly chewy with enough body to keep things interesting.

Since I like tempeh so much, I decided to make it from scratch to understand the process.  As many of you know, I have a thing for making things from scratch — tofu, jam, pickles, limoncello, gravlax, sauerkraut, and sausage to name a few.  Tempeh had been on my to-make list since seeing the recipe in Sandor Katz’ book, Wild Fermentation (a fantastic book with great explanations of fermentation at home, plus recipes for more unusual tempehs — I highly recommend it).  The process isn’t very complicated (much easier than making tofu from scratch in my opinion), but it does take a good two days from the time you start to soak the soy beans to when you have finished tempeh.  Thankfully, patience is something I have a lot of.

The two most difficult parts of the tempeh making process are 1) acquiring the tempeh spore, and 2) hulling the soy beans.  For problem 1, I bought my tempeh spore from Budiman Food in San Jose, CA.  I just sent them an email and asked for enough tempeh starter to make a few batches of tempeh.  A good sized package cost somewhere in the vicinity of $5-$10.  For problem 2, I decided to remove the skins of the beans by pinching each one after they had been soaked but before they were cooked.  This took me the better part of an hour for the pound of soy beans.  Some might call it tedious, but I prefer to think of simple repetitive cooking tasks like this as meditative….  I just checked out the Budiman Food website again after not visiting for a few months, and I see they now sell tempeh making kits that include already hulled soybeans!  Talk about two birds with one stone.

Anyway, if you’re feeling adventurous and have some free time on your hands, I recommend you try making tempeh at home!  The process is fascinating as well as being a nice way to spend a lazy weekend.

Homemade Tempeh
Adapted from Wild Fermentation by Sandor Katz

1 lb dried soy beans, soaked overnight in plenty of cold water
2 T vinegar
1 t. tempeh spore

Hull the soaked soybeans. This is the most tedious part of the whole process. Pinch each soybean between your fingers to separate the skin from the bean. Discard the skins, and put the beans into a large cooking pot.

Cover the beans with cold water so that they are covered by about 2-3 inches. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium low, and cook until beans are almost cooked, about 1 – 1 1/2 hours. Stir the beans every now and then, and remove any leftover hulls that float to the top.

When the beans are nearly done (the beans should be slightly underdone — they will continue to soften during the incubation process), drain the beans, discarding the cooking water. Spread the beans over a large kitchen towel, and dry with another towel. Dry the beans very well — one of the main reasons for failed tempeh is too-damp beans. After drying the beans, you may even consider spreading them over a different dry towel and allowing them to air dry for another 2-3 hours (or even overnight).

Mix the beans with the vinegar and tempeh spore, and spread evenly into a 9×13 inch baking dish. Poke holes every inch or so in a piece of aluminum foil large enough to cover the baking dish. Press the foil fairly tightly over the beans.

Incubate the beans at 85-90 degrees for somewhere between 24 and 36 hours (longer at cooler temperatures). I incubated my tempeh in the oven with just the pilot light on. For the first 12 or so hours, not much will happen. Eventually, patches of white mold will begin to appear. Then the mold will start to fill all of the spaces in between the beans. The tempeh is done when there is a solid coating of white mold, and patches of black being to appear (probably near the air holes in the foil). The finished tempeh may have the distinct smell of ammonia — this is ok, and totally natural.

Cut the tempeh into large squares and either use immediately, refrigerate for up to 3 days (allow tempeh to fully cool before refrigerating, otherwise it will continue to incubate), or alternatively, cut into smaller pieces, steam for 10-15 minutes, then freeze for up to two months.

To cook, cut the tempeh into cubes, steam for 15 minutes, then fry in your favorite fat — butter, olive oil, bacon drippings, etc. Serve with a flavorful dipping sauce. Enjoy!

Still Hungry?  Try one of these:

- Homemade Tofu

Sundried Tomato and Fennel Sausage

1/3 c. dry packed sun-dried tomatoes
1/2 – 1 T. olive oil
4 T. cold water
2 t. fennel seeds, freshly ground
3 garlic cloves, finely minced
1/2 T. fresh thyme, finely minced
1 1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. white pepper
2 lbs pork shoulder, well chilled

Place the sun-dried tomatoes in a bowl, and cover with boiling water.  Allow to soften for 15 minutes, then drain and finely chop.  Place chopped tomatoes in a small bowl, then mix with the olive oil, water, fennel, garlic, thyme, salt, and pepper.  Set aside

Cut the pork into smallish cubes, about 3/4 inch or so.  Pass through the coarse plate of a meat grinder.  Place pork in a bowl, then using your hands, mix in the tomato and fennel spice mixture until well combined.  Pass meat mixture through the coarse plate of the meat grinder one more time, then place in a bowl and refrigerate for at least two hours or overnight to allow the flavors to blend.

Shape into patties and fry, stuff into casings, or simply saute the loose sausage.   Enjoy!

Alternatively, if you don’t have a meat grinder, if you ask nicely, most butchers will grind the meat for you in their shop.  Or you can simply start with ground pork, adding 1/4 c. or so extra chopped fat from slab bacon or pork belly

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Sometimes you find an ingredient that just inspires you.  Usually for me it’s not something that’s exotic or expensive, but rather something that is of such high quality or is so fresh that you want to run home and cook something with it *right now*!

Such were the dried tomatoes I found at a small salumeria in Como, Italy this past weekend.  Steven and I went down for a long weekend and pretty much ate ourselves silly with amazingly delicious Italian food.  The highlight was an under-the-stars dinner on the terrace at Al Giardino (on Via Monte Grappa, if you happen to be in the area) in the outskirts of Como — fresh burrata, handmade pasta with fresh spicy sausage, breaded and fried lamb chops, a chocolate and pear tart, and oh the red wine!

But back to the tomatoes.  These dried tomatoes are perfectly pliable, deep rusty red, and highly aromatic.  Personally, I find more uses for dry packed tomatoes than tomatoes packed in oil, though both have a time and a place.  Once I got back home, I started thinking of ways to use the tomatoes… tomato cream sauce, polenta with dried tomatoes, egg custard with dried tomatoes and herbs… and then my mind drifted to sausage — I do live in Germany, you know :).

Making sausage is really much easier than one would think, especially if you just make patties or use it as bulk sausage.  Most of the time when I buy sausage links, I end up taking it out of the casings anyway, so when making my own, I rarely bother with the stuffing step.  If you don’t have a meat grinder, then things are even easier!  Just ask your butcher to grind whatever meat you purchase there in the shop.  If possible, start with a cut of meat rather than buying pre-ground pork, as you are more likely to get the meat to fat ratio correct with a cut like a picnic shoulder or boston butt.  Then just mix in the seasonings, and you have bulk sausage.

And one last note, definitely don’t skimp on the fat when making sausage — an 85/15 or 80/20 meat to fat ratio is ideal.  Less than that and your sausage will have a grainy, dry texture.  And really, if you’re going to go to the trouble of making sausage from scratch, shouldn’t it be as tasty as possible?  And speaking of the taste of this sausage — it’s fantastic!  Herby with a hint of savory sweetness from the tomatoes, and just the right amount of pepper — delicious at any meal!

Bulk Sausage

Breakfast Patties

Still Hungry?  Try one of these:

- Homemade Greek Orange Sausage (Loukanika)

- Wintertime Tomato Sauce

- Simplest Tomato Sauce with Roasted Onion, Shallots and Garlic

Hands down, my favorite breakfast is two soft boiled eggs, a touch of butter, a piece or two of good ham or salami, a nice warm crusty roll or some dense wheat bread, and a cup of strong coffee with real cream.  I could eat it every day for the rest of my life.  It’s a typical German breakfast, though I started enjoying it far before I moved here a few months ago.  Pancakes, french toast, waffles… these are all good too, but nothing is as filling, satisfying, or simple as my beloved german breakfast.

I even have a bit of a breakfast ritual.  Two eggs get poked with a pin to prevent breakage, then cooked in barely boiling water for exactly six minutes, then run under cold water for about 20 seconds before being placed in their individual eggs cups, narrow side down.  While the eggs are cooking I arrange about 1/2 – 1T of butter, a little pile of salt, the salami, and the roll (a broetchen in German) on the plate, making it look nice so that I start the day off in the right manner.

With such a ritual, why ever change it?
Well, because you might be a sort-of cookbook addict, and you come across a recipe for something so simple but classic that you decide you must try it immediately.  Such was Fergus Henderson’s Celery Salt with Boiled Eggs in Nose to Tail Eating (I know, celery salt isn’t so “nose-to-tail”, but it does epitomize one idea of that book — that it can be easy to make products that we typically purchase at the store without a second thought… this celery salt is more fresh, more pure, more tasty than what you buy at the supermarket!)

And the result?  I love it!  It adds an earthy complexity to the otherwise clean and bright flavors of egg yolk, salami, and good bread.

If you’re a sweet breakfast type of person, and eggs with celery salt sounds like your anti-breakfast, I’d recommend using this mixture on things like steamed buttered vegetables, as a rub for a piece of poultry or other meat, mixed in to  ground beef for hamburgers, or even mixed into eggs for a savory quiche or tart.

Do you have any breakfast rituals? or any food rituals for that matter?

Homemade Celery Salt
Adapted from The Whole Beast: Nose to Tail Eating by Fergus Henderson
makes about 2 cups

1 1/2 c. sea salt
1 lb peeled celery root (celeriac)

Grate the celery root on the large holes of a box grater, then mix with the salt in a large bowl or ziploc bag. Mix until the salt and celery root are well mingled. Place in the refrigerator and allow the flavors to blend for about three days.

Heat the oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit, then spread the celery/salt mixture on a large baking tray. Dry in the oven for between 2 and 3 hours, until the celery root is very dry and crisp, but not singed. Allow to cool for 15-20 minutes

Grind the mixture in batches in a spice grinder or all at once in a food processor. Stored in an airtight jar, the mixture will keep indefinitely.

Enjoy with soft boiled eggs, sprinkled over vegetables, rubbed on a steak, or however you please!

Still Hungry?  Try one of these:

- Skillet Roasted Celeraic with Potatoes, Celery, Olives, and Sage