Roastin' My Romas

About three months ago we took off on a cross-country trip in our RV.  We planted tomatoes, peppers, cukes and various herbs in our raised bed gardens, set the auto-watering system and hit the road.  We knew it was a gamble to leave these tender little plants on their own in late April.  Our gamble paid off...sort of.  While we were confronted with eight foot tall weeds when we returned a couple of weeks ago, we did find some treasure as we began to banish the weeds.

We could see tomatoes in the jungle so we weeded there first.  The Roma tomatoes were full of fruit and were already dying down.  This is because they are a "determinate" variety. The birds were busily enjoying them (the little peckers!), so I've just about picked them all, even the ones that were not quite ripe (they ripened nicely over the next couple of days in a paper sack).  The slicers, a combination of Early Girl, Big Boy and some heirlooms whose name I don't remember, are doing well and the birds have not started on them yet for some reason. Our cukes sunk without a trace, the peppers looked like they were the same size as when we planted them. The oregano, thyme and sage are still fighting to survive along with the weeds, the basil and chive did not make it.  I hope the survivors hold on until the temperatures abate somewhat, as I have no plans to weed in 90 degree temps!

I don't have nearly as many Romas as I would like, but that's what I get for taking the "set it and forget it" path with the garden.  I'll aim to do better next year.  Still, I had a paper Kroger sack about 1/2 full and needed something easy-peasy to do with them.  I decided to roast them with Italian spices and freeze them for future use.



To Roast:

*Spray or brush cookie sheets with EVOO and sprinkle liberally with spices of your choice. I used Thyme, Marjoram and Oregano (remember my Basil died during my trip) but you can vary this any way you like.

Sliced, cut-side-down on seasoned foil.

Wash Romas and allow them to dry.  Pull off any green leaves or stems that may still be attached.

Cut each Roma in 1/2 and lay, cut side down, on the cookie sheet.

A half-a-Kroger-sack filled up both of my large cookie sheets with 20 or so tomatoes left over.  I placed these "extras" in a shallow pan and froze them whole.

Place your cookie sheets in the oven and go do something else...for hours.  Depending on the size of your tomatoes, it will take 6-8 hours of slow roasting.  Enjoy as the aroma permeates your house.  ;-)

Fresh out of the oven.

Mine were not done until bedtime, so I set them out on the stovetop to cool.  I always get up more than once during the night, so during one of those breaks, I slid the cooled pans of tomatoes into my freezer.  This morning, I took them out and bagged them.  The two large cook sheets filled up one 1 pint freezer bag.  

I also bagged up the tomatoes that I froze whole.

Frozen solid and ready for bagging.

Either the frozen whole or frozen roasted tomatoes may be used in any sauce, stew or other recipe that does not require fresh tomatoes.  You can either leave the skins on the whole ones or thaw them and easily slip the skin off.  I usually keep skins on as I hear that's where most of the nutrients lurk and I don't use pesticides in my garden.

*I put aluminum foil on my cookie sheets and oiled that...next time I'll try parchment or even the bare pan.  The AL foil was a bit of a beast.

Tomatoes are a summertime gift that I can never get enough of!

Easy, Cream-Cheesy Baked Peaches - Like Upside-down Cheesecake ;-)

My Queenpin Mamma friend, Katie, reminded me yesterday that I had not posted a new recipe for quite some time.  She sampled these and suggested that they would be a good addition.  ;-)



4-6 fresh peaches
1/4 cup melted butter
cinnamon
sugar
4-6 oz. softened cream cheese (depending on how cheesey you want your peaches - just add a bit more sugar too)
1 egg yolk (I freeze the white for other uses)
1/4 cup sugar
splash of vanilla or almond or other flavoring

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Cut peaches in half
Slice a tiny sliver off the bottom of each peach half so they don't wobble
Dip each half in melted butter and place on parchment paper in a shallow pan (cookie sheet is perfect)
Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar
Mix the cream cheese, egg yolk, sugar and flavoring until smooth and creamy.
Put a dollop in the center of each peach and bake for 30 minutes.

Enjoy warm or at room temperature.

Sunk

Somehow I lost momentum....thought I would make it through the winter without the bleches.  Every morning (almost) would start with coffee, yoga and then all the cozy domestic things that I love so much.  We would even venture out early (it has to be very early if it's together) and do grocery shopping.  Always on Tuesdays (Kroger senior discount) and always with coupons in hand.  I'm not an extreme couponer, nor do I want to be...smacks of hoarding to me.  I do like to see if I can come close to cutting my grocery bill in half after the coupons are deducted and I love to get expensive cheeses near the end of their sell-by date (extraordinarily marked down!) so I can enjoy them without feeling like a spendthrift.  I suppose this is the thrill of the hunt for me.

Anyway...drifted off topic there a bit.  One early Tuesday in February, as we packed up the grocery bags and prepared to head out the door, the phone rang.  A phone call that early in the morning is never good news in this household and sure enough it was bad.  The father of my beloved had breathed his last sometime between 1:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. My mother-in-law was trying to gather such of his children and others who loved him as were available to come be with him for a final time before she reported his death and he was taken from her.  I won't say more about that time and I honestly don't know if his passing ( a mercy for him really as he was in later stages of ALS and was being stripped of his dignity by this dreadful disease) was the cause of my decline.  But....there you have it.  All of my carefully crafted routines went out the window and I was back to dragging myself from one end of the day to the other...just like before I retired.  Oh, I would occasionally rally for a day or two, usually if someone was coming to visit but then I'd sink back down, down to my armpits it felt like sometimes.

Mike requested that his ashes be scattered partially in the Atlantic and partly in the Pacific.  When that circle is completed perhaps another more positive cycle can commence.  I hope so, I think so...

Summer Vegi Stew - Contributed by Kayla Murray

2 tbp olive oil
1 diced onion
1 28 oz can of diced tomatos
1/2 tsp fresh garlic
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1 tsp Italian seasoning
2 diced med. potatos peeled, small cubes
1 carrot cut in slices
1 zuchini sliced to moon shape
1 yellow squash cut to moon shape
1/2 tub of fresh mushrooms halved
1 can of chick peas drained and rinced
2 tablespoons of sugar (cuts out acid from tomatos and makes it easier on the belly)
cauliflower is optional or whatever veggies you like
1/4 cup of tomato juice is also optional

In a pot, heat on med oil, add onions and garlic and cook till done.

Add tomatos and 1-1/2 cups of water, crushed red pepper and itallian seasoning. Boil for 5 min (add a bit more water if needed)

Add carrots and potatos, boil for 5-10 min or until carrots and potatos are tender (not to soft though)

Add zuchinni, squash and mushrooms and optional cauliflower, boil for 5 min or until tender

Add 1 can of drained chick peas and suger, boil for 5-10 min.  ENJOY

Kayla left this on March 25...while I was still "sunk" (see post above).  Kayla it sounds great...I can't wait to try it.  Forgive me for being so slow!  ;-)

Cheesy Bean Tortilla Pie

I have been singularly unmotivated to cook lately.  The DH was beginning to think I was on a mission to starve him so I had to cook something tonight. This was quick, easy, yummy and pretty healthy.

You need:
flour tortillas
refried beans
black beans
cooked brown rice
leftover corn would be good if you have a little in the fridge (I didn't this time)
chopped onion
chopped cilantro
salsa (you pick the temperature according to your taste)
sour cream

Heat oven to 350.  In a pie pan, alternate tortillas with the fillings listed.  I did refried beans on one layer, another was black beans and salsa, another was rice and cheese, and a final was chopped onions, cilantro and more cheese.  This was topped with one more tortilla and sprinkled with even more cheese.  I like cheese. ;-D


After baking for 20 minutes, slice just like you would a pie and serve with a dollop of sour cream.  Chopped tomatoes would be good too but as it's winter and I dilly-dallied and did not get my hydroponics going, I didn't have any. I've learned my lesson this year and I'll be sure to have tomatoes growing again in the basement next year.

 Leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

Polenta For Fries, Croutons or Crostini

So easy. So good.  Printable copy

2 cups liquid (I use 1 cup milk and 1 cup water but you could use stock too)
1 1/2 cups polenta
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup olive oil (or butter if you're feeling decadent)



Add the salt to the liquid in your sauce pan and bring it to a boil.  Slowly add the polenta, stirring all the while.  Continue cooking until the polenta thickens up and stir in the parm.  You want a very thick, gloppy texture.

Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper or lightly butter the bottom.  Spread the polenta mixture 1/2 inch thick.  Chill in the fridge for at one hour to overnight.





Slice into fry-sized rectangles, small squares for croutons, or use a cookie cutter to make crostini bases for appetizers.  Drizzle with olive oil or melted butter and sprinkle with salt. You could add other spices/herbs as your imagination suggests. Bake @ 450 for 10 minutes, flip fries and bake for 10 more minutes or until golden brown.  For crispier texture, you may pan fry them too.

Lovely Mixed Mushroom Soup

Yesterday Kroger had some really nice looking mixed and button mushrooms marked down 1/2 price.  I bought them all.  Today will be mushroom soup with polenta fries (or perhaps croutons).


1 lb. mushrooms
1 1/2 cup cooked wild rice*
1 yellow onion, diced
celery, diced
garlic to taste
salt
fresh ground pepper (it really does taste better)
2-3 tablespoons soy sauce
olive oil
6 cups stock (whatever flavor you have on hand)


In your soup pot, season the mushrooms with salt and pepper and cook in 2 T olive oil until they have released their liquid and are nice and brown, set aside.  Next, saute the onion and celery until they are tender.  Add in the soy sauce, cooked rice and stock.  Simmer another 15 minutes or so.  This is where you will taste and tweak with any other spices or herbs that you have on hand and are partial to the flavor of.  When you are ready to eat, you might sprinkle with chives or crumbled bacon...use your imagination.

*You could also substitute cooked barley or other grain for the rice.