Stacking Dinner- Eggplant Cutlets and Raw Tomato Stacks

Eggplant Cutlets with Melted Mozzarella and Oregano

Ingredients:
1 Eggplant
1 Tomato
1 Large Zucchini
Basil

For the breading:
Bread crumbs, flour, red pepper, salt and pepper, eggs

Oil (coconut or vegetable oil for frying)
Mozzarella cheese sliced
Oregano for garnish  

Preheat the broiler.

Prepare your vegetables by slicing in rounds 1/4 in thick. Set aside

Prepare your breading by mixing ingredients in three bowls: one bowl flour, one bowl bread crumbs, salt, pepper and red pepper if you like, and the third bowl is your whisked eggs.

Prepare your frying pan with the oil- use a high temp oil like coconut or vegetable (about 1/4 cup). Heat  the oil to hot but not smoking. Test the pan by dipping a little piece of veggie in it. It is ready when it is sizzling.

Bread the eggplant and zucchini by dipping in this order:  flour, egg, bread crumbs. Place gently in the hot oil.  Cook till brown and tender. Remove from the heat and place them on a plate covered in paper towels to drain.

When cool to touch, assemble your stacks on a baking sheet. Bottom layer eggplant, next tomato and basil, top layer zucchini. Cover with sliced mozzarella and put under the broiler to brown and bubble. Watch it carefully, remove and garnish with oregano.

side note: sometimes I add a fourth layer of fried polenta on the bottom. 
Enjoy


or try

Raw Tomato Stacks
recipe by Renee Loux Underkoffler


Serving Size : 6

Ingredients:

2 large tomatoes
1 1/4 cups raw macadamia nuts, soaked for 30 minutes -- (whole raw cashews can be substituted)
1/4 cup pine nuts
1 small garlic clove
1/4 to 1/2 cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest
2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup finely chopped parsley
1/4 cup finely chopped basil
1 ear corn
2 green onions, finely chopped to the top
1 Tablespoon dill

Cut the tomatoes across the width into half-inch slices. Drain the macadamia nuts. In a food processor, chop the macadamia nuts, pine nuts, and garlic into a fine meal. Add lemon juice, lemon zest, olive oil, and sea salt and blend until smooth. Add more lemon juice if necessary to blend into a smooth paste. Mix in parsley and basil gently or by hand. The chopped herbs should remain fairly intact so the spread does not turn green.

Cut the corn from the cob. Mix with green onions and dill.

Spread 3-4 Tbsp. of the spread on a slice of tomato. Generously top with fresh corn mixture, pressing it a bit into the spread.

Thunder Cake for an Autumn Ritual

It worked! I made this cake with our son, Trey, the morning of the farm party. Thunder started around 2 o'clock and the storm cleared before the festivities began.

This is a great book by Leah Polacco and Thunder Cake is more than a good story, tomatoes make a deliciously moist chocolate cake.

Here's the link to an educational website by Leah Polacco

The Story
Thunder Cake The Story
(From Leah Polacco)
"Grandma looked at the horizon, drew a deep breath and said, ‘This is Thunder Cake weather, all right. Looks like a storm is coming.’"
Thunder Cake is the story of how Patricia Polacco conquered her childhood fear of Michigan thunderstorms with the assistance her grandmother. By encouraging the young Patricia to ignore the approaching storm, the two wander outside to gather the ingredients for Thunder Cake, the perfect recipe for a rainy day. After the cake is in the oven, Grandma recounts the day’s events, convincing Patricia that only a "brave" girl would climb out from her hiding spot to collect eggs and tomatoes, milk the cow, and venture through Tangleweed Woods to the dry shed. Realizing that her grandma is right, Patricia welcomes the storm and a warm slice of Thunder Cake, never again to fear the "voice of thunder."


Recipe:

Thunder Cake!
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
Cream together one at a time:
1 cup shortening
1 3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 eggs, separated
( blend yolks in. Beat whites until they are stiff, then fold in.)
1 cup cold water
1/3 cup pureed tomatoes
Sift together:
21/2 cups cake flour
1/2 cup dry cocoa
11/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
Mix dry mixture into creamy mixture. Bake in two greased and floured 8
1/2 inch pans at 350 degree for
35 to 40 minutes. Frost with chocolate butter frosting. Top with
strawberries.

ENJOY!!!

Tomato and Sweet Pepper Jam

spiced tomato/sweet pepper jam

½ c fine olive oil
1 2/3c chopped onions
1.5-1.75# sweet red peppers
1.5c red wine vinegar
1.5# ripe roma style plum tomato
1-1.5c sugar, to taste
1c golden raisins (I used currants)
2 med cloves garlic minced
1tsp ginger minced (or 1/4tsp dried)
½ tsp salt
1/8 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/4tsp all spice
2 sm dried hot red peppers (optional but I did use)

1. In large heavy saucepan heat olive oil and cool onions over medium low heat stirring often til onions are golden~about 10 minutes.
2. Blanch sweet red peppers in boiling water for 3 minutes, plunging into ice water to cool. Strip skins from peppers, quarter, core and seed them. Slice the quarters crosswise in to ¼ inch strips:you should have about 2c.
3. Add peppers to onions. Stir, cover and cook over low heat for 10 minutes. Add vinegar and boil uncovered until reduced by ½.
4. While peppers are cooking scald tomatoes, ice bath and remove skins. Cut up tomatoes, puree them in a food processor and then through a food mill or sieve. Measure 2c of the puree and reserve rest for another use.
5. Add tomatoes to pepper mixture: add 1c of sugar & raisins, garlic, ginger, salt, pepper, allspice & dried red peppers. Cover and cook over low heat until thick, about 1.5 hours. Stir occasionally and uncover toward end. Taste and adjust seasoning adding more sugar if you like. Remove dried peppers.
6. Ladle the condiment in hot, clean glass canning or storage jars. Let the relish cool, then cover tightly and store in the refrigerator.

Guacamole

Does it need to be said that Guacamole would be a great way to use up some of the tomatoes and garlic, and even peppers that we are getting? Probably you've thought of this by now. In case you haven't? The fresh guac that we just made was absolutely delicious.

Here's a recipe to try, but you hardly need it. Gather the flavors you love and mash them all together.

• 3 Haas avocados, halved, seeded and peeled
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
• 1/2 medium onion, diced
• 2 Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
• 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
• 1 clove garlic, minced

Directions

In a large bowl place the scooped avocado pulp and lime juice, toss to coat. Drain, and reserve the lime juice, after all of the avocados have been coated. Using a potato masher add the salt, cumin, and cayenne and mash. Then, fold in the onions, tomatoes, cilantro, and garlic. Add 1 tablespoon of the reserved lime juice. Let sit at room temperature for 1 hour and then serve.

Tomato Almond Pesto

When I saw this recipe, I wanted to slap my forehead. Yes, THIS is what to do with those leftover tomatoes. Of Course.

I've stolen this from SmittenKitchen - you should follow the link to see her amazing and inspirational photos.

Linguine with Tomato-Almond Pesto [Pesto Trapenese]
Adapted from Gourmet

3/4 cup slivered almonds
1 large handful fresh basil leaves
1 to 2 large garlic cloves
Several sprinkles of sea salt
6 ripe plum tomatoes, quartered
1/2 cup grated Pecorino or Parmesan
1/4 to 1/3 cup olive oil
1 pound linguine

In a large skillet, sauté the almonds in a little olive oil until toasted. Let cool, then blend them in a food processor or blender until they are in coarse pieces. (“The size of orzo,” the original recipe suggests.) Scoop them out of the processor and set them aside.

Put the basil, garlic and a few pinches of sea salt into the food processor and chop. Add the almonds back to the food processor (keeping them separate will keep them from getting too finely chopped as you get the basil and garlic to the right texture) with the tomatoes, cheese and olive oil and whirl briefly. Season it with freshly ground black pepper.

Cook your linguine until it is al dente and could use another minute of cooking time. Reserve one cup of pasta cooking water and drain the rest. Immediately toss the hot linguine with the pesto and mix quickly so that it drinks the sauce up a bit. Add more pasta water if needed. Serve this lukewarm, or at room temperature, with a glass of wine, after you get the baby to bed.

Chakchouka

Don't be alarmed by the name, which is thoroughly exotic even to those of us who have traveled extensively through our dining. It is nothing more than a traditional Moroccan tomato and pepper salad, though salad might be stretching it a bit compared to our usual fare. I think this would make a lovely side dish, especially with some grilled fish and couscous. It also has the advantage of using many items in our current shares.

This is from the New Mediterranean Diet cookbook, which is an all-around great book, and especially useful for folks in CSAs.

8 large tomatoes, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

1/4 C olive oil

4 sweet peppers

1 small chile pepper

1 Tbs paprika

1 Tbs fresh parsley

In a large pan over medium heat, cook the tomatoes, garlic, and olive oil until the tomatoes cook down and get jammy, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, roast and peel the peppers. Cut into large dice. Stir the peppers and remaining ingredients into the tomato mix. If you are the sort of person who keeps preserved lemons handy, add some of that too. Otherwise, serve with bread or other grain.

Farm Magic

A trip to the farm is always better than I imagine it will be. It's not that I imagine it will be dull, exactly. It's just that I never anticipate getting as much incredible knowledge and brilliant ideas as I invariably do, and yesterday was no exception.

I was at the farm yesterday when Liz shared her ketchup with me. Homemade ketchup is a revelation. It tastes so much more fresh and the individual flavors are much more distinct than in the store-bought varieties. Liz had made two varieties, and they were both fabulous - deep intense flavors that would have been luscious with a burger, or just about anything else you could cook up.

Lucky for me, I had a tip that Jamie Oliver has a great ketchup recipe in Jamie at Home, so I looked it up. The good news here is that we are getting many of the ingredients in our CSA boxes, so there isn't much to add to make it all come together. Ketchup is also easy to can (with all the vinegar, you don't have to worry so much), so you can make up a big batch and shelve it for your next barbecue party!

Homemade Tomato Ketchup

1 large onion, chopped

1/2 a fennel bulb, chopped (or, presumably, one small bulb)

1 stick of celery, chopped

olive oil

a thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled and roughly chopped

2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped

1/2 a fresh red chilli, seeded and finely chopped

a handful fresh basil, stalks separated from leaves

1 Tbs coriander seeds

2 cloves

1 tsp black pepper

sea salt

2 lbs tomatoes, chopped

3/4 C + 2 Tbs red wine vinegar

1/3 C brown sugar

Put all ingredients, onion through sea salt, into a large pan and saute on low for 10 - 15 mins.

Add tomatoes and 1 1/2 C water and bring to a boil. Simmer until liquid is reduced by half.

Add basil leaves then blend the sauce in a food processor. Force the pulp through a fine mesh sieve twice. Place sauce into a clean pan and add vinegar and sugar. Simmer over medium heat until the sauce becomes the consistency of ketchup.

- Christiana Thomas

Baked Eggplant

When CSA inspiration is running low, I like to pull out Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. This encyclopedic work turns up page after page of potential recipes for whatever vegetable you are most hung up on. In my case, it's eggplants. Also tomatoes, of which I have tons.

This recipe beautifully takes care of both.

Baked Eggplant with Feta Cheese and Tomatoes

(from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone)

4 Asian or Italian eggplants, about 6 oz ea.

1/3 C EVOO

Salt and pepper

4 ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped

2 - 3 oz feta

1/2 tsp dried oregano

Preheat oven to 375. Slice each eggplant lengthwise in half and score the cut sides.

Heat 3 Tbs EVOO in a large pan and add eggplant, cut side down. Cook for 3 mins, then turn and cook three minutes more. Remove eggplant to a plate and season with salt and pepper.

Heat 1 Tbs EVOO in the pan add tomaoes, and cook until they are a chunky sauce.

Set eggplant in a baking dish. Top with cheese, then tomato sauce, then oregano. Cover and bake about 40 minutes.

Tomato Sauce

There is nothing quite like a fresh tomato sauce - sweet, summery and easy to prepare. There are loads of fresh sauces in cookbooks old and new. I used to make one that was basically raw tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil with a little oil, and just heated the ingredients through with the heat from the pasta. I found another interesting one here, though I doubt that she can truly get it done in fifteen minutes.

These days, my fresh sauce looks like this: heat oil, add a clove of garlic, add cut tomatoes, and simmer with a little white wine for 10 minutes or until desired thickness. Of course, I always top with basil. This approach has infinite variables - some shrimp, peas, cheese, and cream are all excellent additions. The tomatoes are all so amazingly sweet and delicious that you really can't go wrong.

- Christiana Thomas

Dawn of the Nightshades

With warmer weather finally coming, we are starting to see nightshades in our shares. Nightshades are a curious group of vegetables, named such because they grow at night, rather than in the sun. Plants in the nightshade family include tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant, peppers, and tobacco.

Many health food folks warn against eating too many nightshades in a single meal, a warning blissfully ignored by my (and many many other) Italian families. Piling nightshade on nightshade results in some truly delicious Italian dishes. Here are a few suggestions for mixing tomatoes and eggplant.

Alice Waters will not lead you astray
Make it into soup
Serve it as a starter
My favorite? FRY it!

- Christiana Thomas