August is Tomato Month

So I wrote an Ode to Blueberries earlier in berry season.
But I can't forget about the other wonderful super-fruit, tomato.

Check these delicious heirlooms from my backyard.

As the season progresses, the colors change as different plants fruit at different times. The pink ones are my personal favorite, as their low acid-high flavor profile is very agreeable. There would be more pink in this picture, but I am constantly snacking on them, sprinkled with salt and eaten out-of-hand. The others have their special characteristics as well, and combining them makes it all the better.

But here we go for recipes I've gleaned and deemed acceptable. You will not find a bread salad with tomatoes here. There will be no gazpacho. There will be no fresh salsa. You shouldn't need someone to tell you how to make salsa. You shouldn't be eating bread salad unless you're in Italy. Just saying.

Cherry Tomato and Vanilla Bean Preserves - Saveur suggests this is perfect with a triple cream goat cheese. I'm inclined to agree.

Tomato Confit - Also called Preserved Tomatoes, this dish looks great, and I'm sure would be fantastic with crusty bread and hummus.

Tomato Butter - Yeah. Maybe the easiest preparation in the line up. This will make toast and eggs magical.

Pickled Tomatoes - For those with a craving for an Eastern European style meal. Get some dark bread and hot smoked fish. Have some green borscht and sour cream while you're at it.

Tabbouleh - Great time of the year for this fresh herb powerhouse.

Tuna and Tomato Tartare - This just seems amazing. Having a few friends over and want to impress them? This.

Quesadillas with Squash Blossoms, Bacon and Tomato - God this sounds awesome.And you know what? No one needs a recipe for quesadillas. It's the idea that I want to share here.

Roasted Tomatoes - Grill some fish, cut up some crusty bread, and serve these tomatoes. You're welcome.

Roasted Tomato Risotto - Save this recipe for later in the season when creamy risotto is the perfect start to a long, beautifully chilly fall evening.

Tomato and Herb Tart - Puff pastry; tomatoes; Gruyere. Yes. Please.

Oven-Dried Tomato and Olive Tart - Because one tart is not enough. Puff pastry, olives and goat cheese make this tomato tart a winner. Please don't even think about using canned olives.

KETCHUP - Yeahhhhh. They call this tomato jam. But we can all see from the recipe, this is clearly ketchup. Have you had homemade ketchup? It's freaking fantastic.

Ketchup! - There's more than one way to skin a cat. Or a tomato. This recipe for ketchup involves more ingredients. Doesn't necessarily make it better - just different.


Okay you get it right? Okay good. Make some food. Or make your friends make food. Just make sure there's tomatoes involved. It's the season after all.

Culinary Mycology

I found more mushrooms. Glorious mushrooms. I went back to Union market after finding Blue Foot Mushrooms which I most thoroughly enjoyed, and found MORE AMAZING MUSHROOMS!

Keep your pants on, because this is going to be one wild ride.

This time, in addition to the Blue Foot mushrooms, I also scored some chanterelles and some black trumpet mushrooms. I knew this was going to be an awesome day.

This was a first for me with the black trumpets. I had never had them before this, and let me tell you, they are amazing.

Here is a little pic of the three mushrooms, safe at home on my cutting board.

 The trumpets had a lot of pine needles and sandy dirt on them, and the chanterelles had a lot of dirt and debris on them too. But after I cleaned everybody up and secured the rest of my ingredients, I was ready to make the most amazing dish.

I pan fried some polenta, seasoned with salt and pepper,and then grated Parmesan cheese over top. The cheese melted onto the polenta disks and added an amazing, nutty, cheesy flavor. Setting the stage for a fantastic trio of mushroom heaven.

After the polenta was done, I wiped the pan clean and added butter and fresh thyme. When the butter was melted and bubbly, but before it browned, I added all the mushrooms.

The smell was incredible. A few minutes and some tossing, and everything had come together very nicely.

Man this was freaking amazing. The blue foot mushrooms stayed relatively firm; they tasted meaty and delicious, just as I remember them from my last encounter. They gave a contrasting texture to the other softer players in the dish.

The black trumpets almost melted they were so soft. The flavor was unlike any mushroom I have ever had, and they had an intense, concentrated mushroom flavor. They tasted naughty; they tasted like sex.

The chanterelles really stole the show. They got super soft and creamy, but held their shape. The texture was otherworldly. Their flavor was phenomenal. Eating these mushrooms was like eating rare filet Mignon they were so meaty. They tasted like where they came from; the forest. Their flavor was in your face and subtle at the same time. Pleasing, relaxing, and exciting.

The marriage of cheesy polenta, fresh thyme, and the holy trio of mushrooms was fantastic to say the least.
It's no wonder people find some foods an aphrodisiac.

Hot and Numbing

So a few posts ago, I gave a shout out to the Spice Hunter on seriouseats.com. I thought that instead of just posting about it, I would actually go out and hunt for spices!

Ever hear of Sichuan Peppercorns?

I had. And I wanted some for myself.

I heard a rumor that a lone tree in Brooklyn's Prospect Park grows a small berry-like fruit that smells intensely like lemon and wood, but with a mysterious element that is almost impossible to put your finger on (is that Lysol?) I had to go and check it out and try to get my hands on some elusive Sichuan Peppercorns. I had read about them, I had seen pictures of them, and I had imagined what their numbing properties were capable of. Imagine no more!
I found the tree, based on a little sleuth work, and my friend Andrew and I set out to grab our own stash of this mysterious Asian delicacy.

Alas! The tree was found, and we spent the better part of an hour collecting our treasure from the tree. No one bothered us or asked us what we were doing. Just pure unadulterated foraging. Our hands dirty and fragrant, our mouths numb and tingly, we we satisfied.

Andrew and I had our haul; about a sandwich size Ziploc baggie each.

 I had some more investigating to do to make sure that the peppercorns I got would be properly processed for consumption.

After the berries dried for a few days on a cookie sheet, this is what they looked like.

Beautiful right?

Now all I had to do was separate all the seeds, stems and usable spice. (All I had to do. This step took quite a while)

Also, I couldn't bring myself to throw out the seeds. Now I've got a jar full of usable Sichuan Peppercorns, and a jar of seeds I need to figure out what to do with.


I'm really excited to make a lot of things with these peppercorns. Spicy, noodley, soups will probably be first, but sweet, hot, numbing chutney sound really good too. You can bet that there will be pictures!

Citrus

This is a sour orange tree in Mexico that I picked from. It was growing in a friends driveway, and I used it for an excellent vinaigrette for fish tacos, and I also used some of the orange juice and peel to flavor some black beans.

On that note, I love citrus. I describe it as my favorite fruit group and for good reason. So many phenomenal things can be made with citrus or you can just eat it as is.

Recently I discovered Cocktail Grapefruits. These smaller than average grapefruits are ridiculously good. First of all, I love regular grapefruit, and I peel and eat them like oranges. But cocktail grapefruit is an entirely different animal than the ruby reds or the white grapefruit. A sweet small grapefruit that would be good in any application that calls for oranges or grapefruits. I cannot believe that these haven't shown up on my radar before.

The words I would use to describe them would not do this sweet not-so-tangy grapefruit justice. Go get one.

Also, it's blood orange season, and Cara Cara orange season as well so maybe it's time we make a tropical fruit salad; or maybe a outrageous ceviche.

Go out and find them. The season is short but sweet for certain.

Wild Edibles

Another Link!

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/24/dining/24forage.html

Love this. Although not new, eating wild items, whether foraged berries and greens or hunted game, is such an excellent way to go about the culinary experience.

In my post about the leg of lamb I roasted, I also harvested local American chestnuts to mash like potatoes. It turned out to be an excellent meal, and I felt even more proud that the side dish was harvested less than half a mile from my front door and by my own hands.

Need to prep for Thanksgiving. More on this later!