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The last long hot days of summer's end are special but always
hectic.
For the gardening cook, the results of all our labors are ready for
daily harvesting, and often the abundance of fresh ripe vegetables
and
leafy herbs can threaten to overwhelm our kitchen counters and
pantries. It's the season for jokes about giant zucchinis, and
the thoughts that would have been just dreams in April or May (like too many tomatoes or an overabundance of ripe melons)
are now a reality!
By this time of year, most of us are all
getting fairly tired of our standard repertoire of preparing garden
vegetables. It's a perfect time to try some new recipe ideas for
meals to utilize the last big flush of the summer garden's rich
rewards
Center place in most American gardens goes
to tomatoes picked perfectly ripe from the vine because nothing can
top their juicy texture, full sweet flavor and beautiful jewel-toned
colors. Harvest fruits when their color is even and glossy and
texture is soft but resilient. Tomatoes
ripen from the bottom or "blossom end" to their tops or
"shoulders" where they are attached to the stem. Don't store ripe
tomatoes in the refrigerator, as cold temperatures mute and dampen
their flavor and sweetness. Piled in a basket, the beauty and color
of your tomato harvest will provide just as much satisfaction as any
bouquet.
If your tomato harvest threatens to
overwhelm you, but days seem just too busy and sultry to make and
put up sauce in jars, consider freezing your tomatoes. Just rinse
and dry them and put into heavy zip-lock freezer bags. When
defrosted, they'll have lost their shape, but not their flavor, and
it will be easy to slip off their skins. Sauce will be fresh
tasting, cook down quickly, and the kitchen will smell like August
again!
By the end of the season, you'll still have
lots of green as well as red
tomatoes on the vines and probably not enough time to ripen them all
up before cold weather sets in and puts an end to plant production.
Enjoy your green tomatoes in our delicious
green tomato and apple
pie, not too sweet and fragrant with spices. Or make our
green and
red tomato sauce - the tart but full-flavored green tomatoes balance
and complement the sweetness of the red tomatoes. You can also
slice, batter and fry up thick slices of green tomatoes, or pickle
them. To use green tomatoes in cooking, choose those that are
closest to coloring up, as they'll have more useable flesh than
small, hard, unripe fruits.
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View a sampling of recipes
from
Renee's cookbooks
Green Tomato and
Apple Pie
Arugula and Nectarine
Salad
Cantaloupe Salsa
Green and Red Tomato Sauce
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Most people know arugula as a piquant salad
green. It's a treat
to use its robust spicy taste as a flavor foil for sweet ripe fruits
as
we've done in our arugula and nectarine salad. You can also
substitute peaches or plums to good effect. Add cooked turkey,
smoked fish or leftover BBQ chicken to make a whole meal salad.
The combination of slightly tangy arugula and honey-sweet fruits
will really perk up jaded palates.
Grilling vegetables is one of my favorite
ways to prepare them in the summer. I just cut the veggies into thick
slices and brush with olive oil and grill until softened and a
little charred, then sprinkle with salt and fresh chopped herbs.
Besides being easy and healthy, the results are savory and
delicious. Slow grilling allows vegetables' natural sugars to
caramelize from the aromatic heat of the BBQ. Onions and eggplants
and peppers are especially rich flavored when cooked this way.
Freshly made fruit salsas are a delicious
way to compliment and enliven the flavors of fish, poultry and meat.
Our cantaloupe salsa combines sun-kissed melon flavor with citrus,
mint, cilantro and chile for a colorful bright tasting fresh salsa
that is also wonderful with rice or beans. Salsas add color, taste
and just plain eating fun to everyday meals and their spicy pizzazz
makes everything on the table seem different and better. Salsas
should be prepared close to mealtime so their fresh ingredients are
at their peak and the mixture doesn't get too watery or limp in
texture. These spicy fresh combinations are wonderful to spark up
everyone's appetite when the heat is on.
If zucchinis seem to be getting away from
you in size or quantity, solve
the problem by literally nipping it in the bud and eat the flowers
before they can form fruit! This old Italian custom yields some very
tasty morsels. Pick male blossoms, (the ones without tiny fruit
shapes at their bases) and pluck out the pollen-bearing anthers
inside. Fill with your favorite ravioli stuffing and brush with
butter or oil. Bake at 350°F for 15 minutes. Serve with
fresh tomato
sauce. Or, in southern Italian style, simply dip the blossoms in
well-beaten egg, then flour and saute in hot olive oil until golden
brown. Season with garlic salt and fresh chopped parsley.
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