It’s Fall and also October as far as the calendar goes, but it could not be further from cool and scarf-worthy here. That will not keep me from enticing it with spices my kitchen and soup on my stove. I made this recipe from good-looking seasonal veggies from my fridge and tons of garlic. It was perfect for a quiet Sunday evening at home after a long week. It was good for the soul. Check out the playlist at the bottom of the page for this recipe :) I’ll try to add that when I think of it.
I love my Grandma’s dishes with this soup. I think she would have liked this soup, too.
Go out and find yourself some great looking tomatoes…organic heirloom if you can. The reason I get that specific kind is not because it sounds cool…even though it kinda does. The heirloom varieties are grown from seeds that are from an old variety of tomato plant which hasn’t been altered by cross-pollination or hybridization. Basically, the person who saved the seeds for future plants saved them in a way (involves covering the tomato blossoms to prevent cross-pollination) where they were not changed. They are pure, which I love.
Toss the tomatoes with some olive oil, salt, and pepper, to taste.
Do the same to the fennel, onions, and garlic. Roast them both in the oven at 400 degrees for 30-40 minutes, or until browned.
While you’re cleaning, beware of battle-scenes. You never know when they might happen.
After they are finished roasting, pour both pans of food in the blender and puree. I poured about a cup of vegetable stock in to thin it a bit. That’s it. I didn’t even have to season with extra salt and pepper or add any herbs. When the vegetables roast, they create their own rich flavor from the slight caramelization. The cool thing is that you won’t have to add any cream. making this a vegan dish if you leave out the creme fraiche. Maybe that’s not cool to you, but I have some friends who will think it’s cool. Plus, I think it’s cool.
Roasted Fennel and Heirloom Tomato Soup
5 pounds of tomatoes, chopped in large chunks
4 large pieces of fennel, sliced
2 stalks of celery, chopped
2 red onions, chopped in large chunks
10 cloves of garlic, halved
Salt and pepper
olive oil
1 c. vegetable stock
chives, for garnish
Creme fraiche or sour cream, optional
I guess it was nice to enjoy it on the patio with a tank and flip-flops, instead of inside with no fresh air. Wherever you are, I hope you enjoy it!
New! Just added these playlists so you can rock out to it too…if you feel like it.
Matthew West Pandora Station
One of my very favorite things to cook is roast chicken. It’s one of the few things I enjoy making over and over again, the same. For this version, I wanted to mix the flava’ up a little.
My oregano is so overgrown so I decided to use that along with some lemon thyme for the butter rub.
First preheat the oven to 425. You can chop up whatever herbs you happen to have and add them to 1 stick of softened butter. Mix.
Inside the chicken cavity, put the aromatics shown above. The goal here is just pump some flavor into the meat as the ingredients are steamed inside.
Salt and pepper the chicken and rub the outside with butter. I REALLY don’t like to look at pictures of raw meat but wanted to show how the bacon gets laid out on top next. I’m so thankful our local Trader Joes store started carrying the uncured bacon only. So nice.
Cook the chicken until the temperature reaches 165. When you get to about 140 degrees, take the bacon off and let the chicken brown. Normally, “they” say to tuck those wings underneath, but I was being lazy. Oh well. It tasted the same.
Summer Roast Chicken
1 whole free-range organic chicken
1 orange, halved
1 red onion, halved
1 head of garlic
6 sprigs of herbs, whole
1 stick of butter
3 T. fresh herbs, chopped (I used thyme and oregano)
1 lb./ package bacon
… … … … … …
Some lovely and EASY side dishes I’ve been serving lately are:
Sautéed English green peas with bacon. Trader Joes carries these peas seasonally, but you have to ask for fresh ones from the back if you want them to last more than 5 minutes. They get slimy super-fast.
Polenta with thyme.
Roasted asparagus with olive oil, salt, and pepper. I eat these like french fries.
Grill some market-fresh summer veggies.
Creamed corn. One of my favorites.
Gnocchi sautéed with garlic and rosemary.
Last year, the canned item I got the greatest response to (besides pickles, of course) was salsa. It seems that salsa speaks to everyone. The cool thing about salsa is you can basically make it however you want. I have a “gringo” tongue so it’s pretty abnormal that I would even stick a jalapeno in it at all…hehe. What? You think I make tomato soup, not salsa, eh? To each his own, I guess.
So, turn some music on before you start this recipe and enjoy…
Start with whatever you feel like throwing in. My sister and I chose local heirloom tomatoes, red peppers from my garden, jalapeno, red onions, garlic, and local apricots.
I roasted the peppers and tomatoes together. In another pan, I roasted the onions and garlic. The tomato group I drizzled with olive oil and broiled for about 10 minutes or until the are charred :). The onion group I drizzled as well, added salt and pepper, and roasted for 45 minutes. I had a lot of onions so you might only need to roast a small batch for 20 minutes. The apricots I did the same as the tomatoes. Again, if you are making a small batch, you could probably fit it all on the same roasting pan.
After the charring and roasting, we blended both until evenly chopped to our desired consistency. For me, I wanted something that wasn’t pureed but not too thick. You know, the kind of salsa where you scoop it and it stays on, chunks aren’t falling off. but it’s not dripping.
My sister in her awesome apron she made from a not quite as awesome men’s shirt.
Chop up the cilantro and toss it in. Salt and pepper the salsa while you’re at it.
That looks much better now. Cook the salsa until it is simmering, then cook for 10 minutes longer.
Fill the jars with a 1/2 inch head-space and process them for 10 minutes.
You have to work quickly and only fill as many jars as you will be putting in the pot. The average stockpot will fit 6 half-pint and 4 pint size jars.
We were super happy with the results and immediately broke out the chips!
Christmas presents?
Charred Tomato and Apricot Salsa
6 heirloom tomatoes
1 red pepper
1 jalapeno
4 apricots
1 red onion
1 head of garlic (yes, I really love garlic)
1 T cilantro
olive oil, for roasting
salt and pepper, to taste
Share with friends and if there could be a pool or beach that would be perfect.
One of my favorites, this salad. I first had a beet salad several years ago at the Pebble Beach, CA restaurant, Club XIX (amazing place, by the way). This kind of salad was hardly popular yet and I was hooked right then and there. This restaurant also is responsible for my husband and myself becoming a fan of the “chef’s tasting menu” where the chef picks his best eats for you. We have never been disappointed. Conversely, we have tried many things we would have never ordered and have increased our food knowledge as well.
This was my third winter for planting beets and was also the best. I opted for “Bull’s Blood”, “Chioggia”, and “Detroit Dark” this year. I couldn’t locate any golden beet seeds this year locally, but that’s next on my list. Beets are super-easy to grow. The hardest part is waiting for them to grow up, instead of eating them as baby beets. Kids can plant these very easily because the seeds don’t get lost in the grasp of a small child.
If you’ve never tasted one, beets are sweet with a bit of an earthy flavor. They pair nicely with something acidic like oranges or vinegars.
I’m anxious to try a beet dye oneday…
Precious garden cargo, planted by my little buddy.
You can saute’ the greens but I’ve never been a big fan. Here they are beheaded. Cook at 350 for at least an hour or until tender when poked with a fork.
All peeled, diced, and ready to mix with:
- goat cheese
- basil or chives
- roasted pecans
- balsamic vinegar reduction
- walnut or olive oil
- salt and pepper
Serve by a window looking out to something lovely and a good gardening book to plan for your beets!
I HIGHLY recommend Carrots Love Tomatoes by Louise Riotte found here in addition to a region specific book of your finding.
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