As colorful tomatoes ripen on the vine and abundantly tumble across farmers market tables, childhood memories of salted tomatoes on fresh baked Rhodes bread with Miracle Whip come to mind for me. My adult-adapted version is even better with sea-salted slices, atop an artisan sourdough or ciabatta, slathered with mayo.
Mama would buy tomatoes by the flat from Mrs. Perkins’ local farm and another favorite was her simple version of stewing them. Years later I was pleasantly surprised when a senior employee who managed my lunchroom salad bar used that same recipe with soft tomatoes and canned commodities.
Roughly chop 3 or 4 ripe tomatoes and stew them in their juices and a generous amount of butter until very soft. (Did you know they sell butter at the SOVA Farm tent?)
Season to your taste with sea salt and a pinch of sugar or dollop of honey. (You can find honey at Fresh Meadows Organic Farm while you’re picking out your tomatoes.)
Add a thick slice or two of chopped stale bread and allow it to soak up the nectar.
Find a variety of tomatoes at most any of our produce vendors right now, along with fresh herbs and the best bread vendors every week.
This Dorie Greenspan Summertime Tian has “tomatoes, squash, eggplant and onion, garlic and herbs, just as ratatouille does, but the vegetables are all sliced thin, spiraled in the baking dish and sent into the oven to bake until they’re exceedingly soft – almost jammy – flavorful and fragrant. And juicy. So juicy that it’s almost a law that a tian must be served with heaps of dippable, sop-up-able bread.” So there’s another timely way to use many of the same ingredients.
The fruit at Caradonna Farms is a natural draw to the end of the market. The sight and scent is intoxicating!
Have you ever made a peach caprese salad? Combine sliced peaches and Joe Tomato Mozzarella cubed cheese with chiffonades of fresh basil and mint, then drizzle with Arlotta olive oil and a sprinkle of sea salt. A splash of their white balsamic vinegar is also nice, as well as a sprinkling of nuts or seeds. Try making this with fresh plums or cherries instead of peaches or a combination of stone fruit.
This Peach Custard Pie only has five ingredients with a pre-made graham crust.
Imagine you have a garden at your home, and right from the vine you harvest your bell pepper, onion, scallion, thyme, garlic, and other spices, then you blend them all together, and place in a jar to keep in your refrigerator for when you wanted to cook and marinade your proteins. That is what visiting vendor Newell Farmlands products are, a perfectly proportioned fresh blend of organic vegetables herbs and spices.
So instead of chopping vegetables every time you want to cook, take 2 tablespoons of Newell Farmlands and rub it on your chicken, fish, lamb, beef, or pork, salt to your own taste then cook. All products are sodium free, cholesterol free, fat free, with no added sugars or preservatives.
Word is R&M Farm has some of the best lamb around so this would be a great combo.
Neversink Spirits (that gin!) and Freefall Sangria are back this week and the long-awaited return of the Pizza Vitale food truck.
See you on Saturday...