Perfectly GORGEOUS Heirloom Tomatoes

Amy Goldman's book, The Heirloom Tomato: From Garden to Table: Recipes, Portraits, and History of the World's Most Beautiful Fruit , will simply take your breath. The recipes are "to die for" and the photographs (by Victor Schrager) are artistic masterpieces. The author's expertise is clearly evident. According to Amazon, "Amy Goldman is a passionate gardener, seed saver, and well-known advocate for heirloom fruits and vegetables. She is the author of The Compleat Squash and Melons for the Passionate Grower, and she appears frequently on such TV programs as Martha Stewart Living and Victory Gardens."

http://www.amazon.com/Heirloom-Tomato-Recipes-Portraits-Beautiful/dp/159691291X

If you love to cook, have a passion for local food, or simply want to peruse an incredible feast for the eyes, this book is for you. The sources in the back of the book allow you to order and experiment with growning a wide variety of heirlooms. My experiments are in tiny peat pots and sprouting "to beat the band."

Day Eight....Egg Number Six!

When I came home before lunch, I checked the Chicken Palace to see what was happening. Amber was planted in her nest and Honey and Molly were strutting about. I knew that I wanted to get the broody Amber on film in her nesting box, so I took several shots. Still no egg.

Stephen arrived for lunch and immediately headed for the hen house. He opened the door and found a warm egg, which he left until the guys across the street could officially DISCOVER it.

The doorbell rang as soon as Jacob and Joseph got in from school. DING, DING, DING, DING! I knew what was in store. Boy was I surprised as I opened the door to find the lone Jacob on our doorstep. "Can we see if there is an egg?" he asked. Jake and I went out in the backyard and opened to door to the Chicken Palace. He walked into the Chicken Palace and glanced downward. The screaming and yelling commenced, "There's an egg, an egg, an egg," with such commotion that Joseph and his friends came from across the street.

The egg was gathered and the count was taken. This was egg number six...and the seventh will belong to the guys across the street! Stay tuned!

Laid today, Eaten tonight...Eggs don't come any fresher than this!

Amber has maintained quite a record! In the past 6 days, she has laid 5 eggs. According to head mathematician, Stephen Atkinson, Amber's production rate is .833 eggs per day! You go, girl!!!!

Egg number 5 was discovered with grand fanfare. Jake and Joseph, the two children who live across the street, pulled in the drive on their bikes as I parked the car. As I opened the car door, they called, "Any more eggs yet?" We walked to the Chicken Palace in great anticipation. As I opened the door, I spied a fresh egg, but didn't let on. I told the boys to go in and look. The both walked in and immediately started jumping up and down yelling, "An egg, an egg, an egg!"

The guys were so excited that I was fearful that the egg might get scrambled before it was gathered, so I told the boys that we needed to go into the house to get the egg basket. In doing so, they called Stephen at work and yelled into the phone that they had found another egg. Their excitement was priceless.

After we took more pictures of the egg, we brought it inside and put it into the refrigerator. Our plans for cooking the eggs had been "hatched" earlier in the afternoon. Melissa would arrive at 6pm and she, Stephen, and I, fully dressed to eat breakfast for dinner, would greet trick-or-treaters and cook Amber's first 5 eggs.
Bacon fried, coffee brewed, mimosas mixed, the Best Drop Biscuits baked (from this month's Cook's Illustrated), and Amber's eggs scrambled ...now we were ready to sit down and enjoy. Divine biscuits, extremely crisp bacon, and everything else outstanding...nothing could top the taste of fresh eggs from Amber's nest. All that we can say is, "Well done, girl. Keep up the great work. While you are at it, clue Molly and Honey into your secrets!"

On A Mission...Tomato Road Trip

Melissa and I talked about canning tomatoes so much after reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle that not following through was simply not an option. After buying quart jars when I bought jars to make fig preserves and buying the canner that Melissa found at Globe Hardware, the plans for canning tomatoes had to move forward. Unfortunately, I could not find homegrown tomatoes in bulk in Pitt County. During the past several weeks, the tomatoes offered at the Pitt County Farmer’s Market have been “few and far between.” Renston Homestead couldn’t help me (as grape tomatoes are their forte), so Stephen and I set off early Saturday morning on a “tomato road trip.”

We had several Triad locations on our itinerary, but the State Farmer’s Market in Raleigh was our most important destination. We arrived shortly after 2PM and the place was bustling. We began to look for tomatoes and were overwhelmed with all of the choices. Ranging in price from $.89 a pound to $1.25 a pound, I knew that that these prices were too steep for the large quantity that I came to buy. Although Barbara Kingsolver says that she never cans tomatoes unless she has at least thirty pounds of tomatoes, Melissa thought that beginning with a smaller quantity was fine. My first “find” netted a large box of canning tomatoes for $6. The box was heavy, although HOW HEAVY I did not know...I failed to ask how many pounds of tomatoes it contained. As we put the box in the car, I continued to search booth after booth and found no one who was willing to swing a deal for a large quantity of tomatoes. Sidetracked by several very interesting vendors, Stephen purchased a brown turkey fig bush (so he could compete with the other successful fig growers in our area…including his mom!) and I bought some amazingly perfect sunflowers and beautiful cockscomb in fuschia, gold, and chartreuse colors. After buying half a loaf of LaFarm Bakery’s signature farm bread (whole wheat sourdough), we finally hit paydirt. We found a vendor offering a large basket of canning tomatoes for $6.00. We left with 17 more pounds of tomatoes and a great market basket, as well. Last, we bought several ears of fresh corn for the chickens and some gorgeous peppers in an array of colors from a farmer who lives in Climax, NC.

On the way home we bought several local cheeses (Farmer’s Cheese and Herbed Goat Cheese from the Chapel Hill Creamery) and some local milk (Maple View Farm in Hillsborough) at Whole Foods. After one more stop at the Gem and Mineral Show at the State Fairgrounds, we headed home.

This morning as we prepared to begin canning, we weighed in our tomato collection. OK…I went a little overboard! Forty-five pounds of beautiful dead ripe tomatoes waiting to be canned. I might add that at $12 for the lot, these homegrown beauties cost us $.26 per pound. (You might be saying, “But what about the trip and the gas????” We consider this a bargain and a contribution to the local economy considering that the food on the average American’s table when purchased from a supermarket has traveled between 1,500 and 2,500 miles!) After consulting Kingsolver’s directions in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and the information at http://www.canning-food-recipes.com/canning_tomatoes.htm,
we plunged tomato after tomato into boiling water, slipped the skins off, and prepared them for hot packing into quart jars.

Six quarts of beautifully canned tomatoes behind us, the remainder of the tomatoes simmered into one of the most divine tomato sauces that I have ever tasted. Adapted from the “Family Secret Tomato Sauce” in Kingsolver’s book (p. 214), the sauce is not only beautiful, but topped whole wheat pasta, sautéed shrimp, red peppers, and garlic this evening to end our day on an exceptionally delicious note. Here is the recipe that I used for this outstanding tomato sauce:

Herb Tomato Sauce

10 quarts tomato puree (about 30 pounds)
4 large onions, chopped
½ cup chopped fresh basil
¼ cup chopped fresh chives
2 tablespoons fresh thyme
1 small bunch chopped Italian Flat Leaf Parsley
4 generous sprigs rosemary
¼ cup chopped fresh oregano
½ cup local honey
3 tablespoons salt
½ Moroccan preserved lemon, rinsed and slivered (fresh lemon rind if you do not have Moroccan preserved lemons...I made some this past winter with the lemons that we grew on our lemon trees.)
2 teaspoons freshly ground pepper
2 teaspoons cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg

Soften onions in a heavy 3 gallon kettle-add a small amount of water if necessary, but no oil if you are canning (very important!). Add pureed tomatoes and all seasonings, bring to a boil, simmer on low heat for 3-4 hours or until sauce is of desired thickness. Stir frequently to avoid burning. Meanwhile, heat water in canner bath, sterilize jars in boiling water or dishwasher, and pour boiling water over jar lids. Add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice to each quart jar before filling with tomato sauce to assure safe acidity. Ladle into jars and leave ½ inch headspace. Cap jars, lower into canner and boil for 45 minutes. Remove, cool, check all seals. Can also be frozen.

Ah yes....SWEET SUCCESS!

The jars procured and canning pot purchased (thanks to my friend, Melissa's help), last night I set out to make my FIRST fig preserves. Having followed the recipe the night before, the figs had been quartered and chopped in the food processor. I stirred in only half the sugar that the recipe recommended and Stephen and I taste-tested. The ripe figs were so very sweet that we decided to add no more. The mixture "steeped" in the refrigerator the night before the preserve-making began.

As soon as I came in from work, I poured the fig mixture into a large cooking pot and it simmered on low temperature all evening. Finally as it thickened into what I thought was an appropriate consistency, I sterilized my half-pint jars, tops, and rings. Stephen schooled me in Sterilizing 101 as he had plenty of prior experience as a "canning assistant" to his mom during his youth.

I cut thin lemon slices into quarters and placed them into the jars. Just before pouring the beautiful amber preserves into the jars, I decided to be adventurous (sorry, those of you who know me well understand that I simply cannot follow a recipe verbatim) and stir in some raisins. I know that raisins and lemons are not local, but I simply could not help myself! Nine half-pint jars were filled to the brim along with one honey jar and a favorite tiny jam jar that I had saved. The tiny jar will make a trek to Blacksburg this weekend so that Rach and family can sample the preserves to see how the results of the "blog chronicle" really taste.

Breakfast proved to be a good testing ground and we thought that the preserves were divine on toasted whole grain bread with rosemary and walnuts. Our next experiment will be a wonderful savory bruschetta that our friend, Carol, made for us last fall. After grilling whole grain baguette slices brushed with olive oil, top slices with generous dollops of fig preserves. Then top liberally with crumbled blue cheese. Broil until preserves bubble and blue cheese melts. Last, open a crisp bottle of white wine (probably a pinot), cut some fresh fruit...and UMMMM!

Fig Bounty!

There is a standing joke in the Atkinson family about one's fig bounty. Several years ago we planted fig bushes on Mother's Day in two different places...one in our yard and one in Stephen's mother's yard in Clayton, located about 1 1/2 hours east of us. While our bush was a Mission Fig variety and hers was a Brown Turkey Fig, we thought that since they were planted at the same time that we could expect a similar yield. We couldn't have been more wrong!

While our bush flourished and grew so tall that it had to be pruned, Stephen's mom's bush was beaten to death by the yard crew's weed eaters and looked so pitiful during subsequent visits to her house that we were sure that it would die. But alas.....Soon there were reports of small figs growing and her pathetic bush was soon covered with figs ready to pick. Our bush, on the other hand, sported a few figs that either birds or insects devoured or dropped to the ground. Needless to say, Stephen was not happy and his mom bragged about having to hire workers to come in and help pick her crop.

This past weekend when Peggy came to visit, she brought a small bag of ripe figs to us from her bush. During the "yard tour" outside our house, we viewed Stephen's magnificent fig bush....completely devoid of figs. Mission Figs must simply not like the eastern North Carolina climate.

Tonight when Stephen comes in from work, he will be stunned and most likely disgusted at his "lack of yield," compared to other fig growers in the area. My friend, Melissa, caught me before I left work to share the news that her friends, Mary and Panny, had figs and figs and figs. Since Melissa knows how much we love them, she arranged for me to go by Mary and Panny's house on the way home. I was stunned when they gave me a huge bag filled with ripe figs...weighing 5 1/2 pounds on the scale when I returned home. Panny told me that he has picked between four and five BUSHELS of figs from this one bush. As you can see by the pictures, they are beautiful and after sampling a few (yes, I couldn't resist), they couldn't be sweeter. I've read through many recipes and the fig preserves below sound most appealing. The suggestion about adding thin lemon slices really intrigued me. Now the decision before me is to consider whether or not to head out in search of small canning jars!

FRESH FIG PRESERVES

There is probably no better known use for figs (as with most fruit) than as preserves. Debates between cooks continue on whether "real" fig preserves contain some citrus (we like it) and whether one should peel the figs (don't expect me to do it).

Here's the classic guide. Ratio: one cup sugar to one cup chopped fresh figs (it works the same for one pound of sugar to one pound of fresh figs; one palmful of sugar to one handful of figs -- you get the picture...) Grated lemon zest or finely sliced bits of lemon (the paper thin slices make the preserves delightfully like a marmalade - leave them out if this does not please you)

Basic Directions: Cut up the figs as fine as you like. Mix the figs with the sugar and let rest in a covered plastic or glass container overnight. The next morning, cook the mixture down over very low heat until it is soft and thick. Spoon into hot canning jars and cover with lids you've had soaking in boiling (hot) water. The lids will seal as the jam cools. Refrigerate any jars that do not compress and seal.

That's basically it and the recipe has been winning blue ribbons for generations. Everything else is the individual cook's imagination. We like it less sweet and cut back on the sugar. We have had this with a lot of citrus grated and sliced into it; with raisins cooked into it; with cinnamon and other spices. Be careful - the taste of the figs is rich but light and can be quickly overpowered. We recommend trying a straight batch first and then getting adventurous.

Gourmet Variation: A delicious addition to a fig preserve recipe is a drop or two (per jar) of real maple syrup to enhance the natural flavor of the figs. The maple adds just the right touch to the natural flavor of the figs, but only add just a drop or two per jar -- not enough to even be able to identify it as maple. --MZ

Our thanks to Viola Dickerson and Joyce Bradshaw Maria Zee and fig lover V.R. for sharing their winning fig preserve tips with us!

-Recipe adapted from the Fresh Fig Preserve recipe at:

http://www.paradisenursery.com/frfigpr.html

Moving Day AT LAST!

John Alexander and I worked on finishing the chicken pen all day on Thursday and quit at dark. Stretching chicken wire tautly was not as easy as it looked. Up at 6 AM the next morning, we finished adding the final wire to the side of the cage, built a ramp, spread cedar bedding in the coop, and added a latch to the pen. A roosting stick was added inside the house, but nesting boxes and the front steps would have to wait until later.

We wanted the girls to get acclimated to their new surroundings during the day since we had to leave our house at 1AM to drive the RDU Airport for a 6AM departure to Denver. So as soon as the pen and Chicken Palace interior were ready, we prepared for the big move. The tin roof still had to be screwed in place, but that could take place AFTER Amber, Honey, and Molly moved in.

Temporary pen in transport, the girls clucked happily outside their new home. Stephen suggested that we wait to feed them until they had been moved, which proved to be a brilliant idea. Net in hand, Amber was the first to be scooped up and put in the pen to check out the new digs. Honey and Molly followed with little reluctance until Stephen attempted to soothe Molly before she joined her sisters. OOPS! Too bad about those black pants, Stephen. JA and I hooted, Molly officially joined the girls and the gate was shut. A celebratory repast of chicken feed and fresh corn was enjoyed by all.

Soon after chowing down, the REAL CELEBRATING began. Because the pen area enclosed a shaded area under the pine tree (formerly full of Jerusalem artichokes), a loose dirt floor was the perfect venue for a spa adventure of unending dust baths. Clouds of dust rose from the pen as the girls nuzzled into the cool soil, scratching and throwing dirt with wild abandon.

Most of the day was spent exploring the pen, dust bathing, and exploring again. Their one exposure to the coop’s interior occurred in the late afternoon as a thunderstorm erupted, JA scooped each girl into the side door of the coop where they stayed until the rain subsided. But as soon as the storm ended, they were back in the pen exploring again As we packed inside, we worried about what the hens would do as night fell. Would they willingly scale their ramp and head into the Chicken Palace for the evening? We all took ringside seats on the back deck to watch their antics as the roosting urge struck. As we expected, Amber was the first one inside. One sister followed and we all breathed a sigh of relief. But our lack of anxiety was short lived as the two emerged again. The next fifteen minutes yielded a hilarious shell game of one in, two in, one out, two out, etc. FINALLY, all three girls were in for the night and Stephen crept out to the palace to peek in the window. His eyes left the empty roosting bar and scanned the length of the house to the other end where the large plastic buckets of chicken feed and scratch were stacked. True to form, chickens always seek the highest place they can locate to roost. There they piled, on top of the buckets where they slept.


Before we departed for the airport at 2AM, Stephen stole into the backyard, flashlight in hand, to leave feed and scratch for the girls so they would have fresh food when they “awoke with the chickens” in the morning. Our official “chicken sitters,” our fine neighbors Pam and Tony have kept the girls well fed and watered while we have been gone and as of 7PM this evening, the girls were all doing well. Yes, anxious as we were, we had to phone home to see how Amber, Molly, and Honey were doing. As you must have surmised, there were no eggs sited before we left to take John Alexander back to Colorado State. Now we have fingers and toes crossed that the girls wait until we return home so that we can record the laying of the first egg on film!

Lemon Verbena Ice Cream...What the heck is that?

We love to experiment when it comes to ice cream flavors. Our first experiment, Lavender Ice Cream (recipe posted on June 9, 2007) was a resounding success. Since the bees and the heat have made our huge lavender crop no more than a wonderful memory, we are always in search of new "excuses" to get out the ice cream freezer. This particular recipe freezes really well without the grainy iced texture of many homemade ice cream. So after the ice cream is churned, we simply put the entire metal canister in the freezer and enjoy it until it is gone. Our second experiment...a Middle Eastern flavor concoction imagined by John Alexander...wouldn't churn and turn into ice cream. Evidently the entire cup of pine nuts that he added to his Cinnamon, Honey, Lemon Ice Cream with Pine Nut flavor somehow interfered with the freezing process. After letting it churn for more than an hour, we simply poured it into a container, forgot about it in the freezer for the rest of the day, and VOILA!!!! It froze and we enjoyed every spoonful. Who knows what happened?

Back to last week's Farmer's Market and an idea for ice cream. I am quite taken with the scent of lemon verbena, much in part due to the divine fragrance of an Anthousa diffuser that I purchased in Greensboro that marries lemon verbena, freesia, and lily of the valley. So, when I asked a vendor at the market who was selling herbs and flowers about a particular herb that looked unfamiliar, I was delighted when she told me that it was lemon verbena. As I rubbed a leaf between my fingers, the aroma was unmistakable. It came home with us and I substituted the lemon verbena leaves and zest of two lemons for the lavender blossoms in the Lavender Ice Cream recipe. Served with Pistachio Shortbread from the August issue of Bon Appetit, Lemon Verbena Ice Cream was more luscious than we ever expected. Now the boys and I are ready to say that it is an even greater favorite than the lavender....More ice cream adventures are sure to follow along with plans to plant lemon verbena in our herb garden next year!

Last Two Weeks at the Market

I have much to report about the last two weeks of scouring the Farmer's Market. Somehow, though, posting on this blog has been beyond me since dealing with the loss of the Divine Miss Hannah. This five year old little girl was scientist, artist, and inquisitor extraordinare. Had I ever been fortunate enough to have a little girl, I would have wanted her to be just like Hannah. We will miss her terribly and as I write these next few posts about our new "family members" at 303 Williams Street...three Buff Orpington pullets, I write with the knowledge that Hannah and her baby sister, Lily, would be as fascinated with these gorgeous creatures as their cousin, Ella has been! Here is a much loved shot of Hannah in front of one of her "satellite art galleries"...our refrigerator.

Last weekend at the Farmer's Market, the organic vendor known for his luscious Sungold tomatoes made his appearance shortly before we arrived. I bought THREE POUNDS...all he had left, which meant that I needed an incredible recipe featuring tomatoes on our weekend menu. The prior week, I had saved one of Fred Thompson's recipes from his Weekend Gourmet column in The News and Observer. I went home and reviewed the recipe and knew that while I could find no local cilantro (much too hot here...we have tried again and again) that most of the ingredients could be bought locally. I used some of the Sungolds, all of the tomatoes that we could gather from our own garden, and a few other local tomatoes bought at the market. The flavor was amazing and I must agree with Fred Thompson who said, "Shed the shock of a cold soup and enjoy the flavor. You'll have a cooling and intense taste experience." You'll find his column about cold soups, entitled The Shock of the Cool fascinating. Below you will find my version of his Gazpacho with Crabmeat recipe. Stephen, John Alexander, Melissa, Jess, Ella, and I ALL TRULY ENJOYED IT! It will be on our table again this summer while local tomatoes are available!

Gazpacho with Crabmeat

INGREDIENTS:
Soup
3 pounds ripe local tomatoes
1 medium red onion, chopped
1 local red pepper, chopped
1/2 jalapeno, seeded and minced (more if you like more heat)
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper (more if you like more heat)
1 clove minced garlic
3/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
Juice and zest of one lime
2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Cilantro sprigs to garnish each soup bowl

Crabmeat salad
1 pound lump crabmeat
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 Teaspoons fish sauce

DIRECTIONS:

Soup-Core tomatoes and cut into quarters. Process in food processor until large chunks of tomato disappear and soup is consistently smooth. Pour into separate bowl. Add red onion, red pepper, jalapeno, garlic, crushed red pepper, and cilantro to food processor bowl and process until mixture is finely chopped. Add tomatoes again and process until gazpacho is of the consistency that you like (smooth vs. chunky). Pour mixture into a large mixing bowl or pitcher. Add lime zest and juice, both vinegars, olive oil, and salt and pepper. Stir and sample for taste. Adjust salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper/jalapeno to suit your “heat index.” Cover and refrigerate several hours…overnight, if possible.

Crabmeat salad and serving directions-Right before serving, mix crabmeat, cilantro, lemon juice, and fish sauce. Divide the crabmeat among six soup bowls and ladle chilled gazpacho over crabmeat salad. Garnish with cilantro sprigs and serve.

-adapted from The Shock of the Cool by Fred Thompson, The News & Observer, Friday, July 13, 2007

From farm to our mouths in less than a day!

John Alexander and I rode to Snow Hill this afternoon and stopped at Strawberries on 903 (Renston Homestead) on the way home to see the baby goats and piggies that we saw last weekend. We bought eggplants picked this morning, blueberries, and tomatoes. A money box was sitting there on the counter. We followed the instructions on the sign... weighed the produce, put our $20 bill in the box, and made our own change....unbelievable. Steve McLawhorn (the owner of the farm) drove up on his tractor as we finished paying and we talked to him at length. The farm has been in his family for 6 generations. He said that his SWEET corn will be ready on about a week and a half!

Well...off to make Eggplant Papoutzakia...p. 145 in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle! I'll let you know how it tastes!

PS...the recipe was DIVINE and took little time to prepare. It is also much healthier than the traditional Eggplant Parmiagiana. This recipe (and many others from the book) are available at animalvegetablemiracle.com.