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August 20, 2007

Summer cooking: tomatoes and watermelons

Well...it's been a long time since I've blogged about anything other than All Things Baby, so here's a break for those of you who get slightly nauseated when inundated with too much cuteness.

I haven't done as much cooking this summer as I usually do, at least not as much creative cooking. I've probably done more in general, but (*blush*), I'm relying much more heavily on boxes and bags and freezers (but I make sure that I supplement with or add fresh vegetables and/or protein sources to the mixes/frozen foods). My energy level is definitely lower these days, and the triple-digit Georgia temperatures aren't exactly an incentive to stand over a hot stove. And at his request, Tim has asked me to teach him how to cook (so that he can help me as I get more limited or busy with babies), so I've been teaching him some easy dishes.

But here's a few things that I've done lately!

I have a summer ritual that started several years ago in Pittsburgh. A church friend couple has an enormous tomato garden, and they've shared their bounty with us repeatedly. We walked around the man's garden, and felt like we were being taken to a wine cellar by a great conneisseur. He told us the best qualities of all of his 40-something variety of tomatoes. And his heirloom tomatoes were beautiful. There was one variety that reminds me of a Monet watercolor, reds and yellows streaming together. I always saved those until last.

Anyway, my favorite thing to do with really good, in season tomatoes is to make a fresh tomato sauce. I used to have a recipe, but now I sort of wing it. A couple weeks ago, our local Whole Foods-ish grocery store, Earth Fare, had a .99/lb. (!!) sale on local heirloom tomatoes. Here's what I do:

Uncooked Tomato Sauce

1) Chop, deseed, and drain slightly (if necessary) 2-3 lbs of tomatoes.
2) Toss in bowl with olive oil, 2-3 cloves of minced garlic, salt to taste, freshly ground pepper to taste, and 2-3 tablespoons (or more!) of chopped, fresh basil (or whatever herb you have on hand). You can also add a teaspoon or two of balsamic vinegar if you want to deepen the taste. Also, some diced olives and/or capers makes a nice variation.
3) Dice 8-16 oz. brie OR fresh mozzarella OR crumble feta cheese. Toss with mixture.
4) Allow to set at room temperature for a couple of hours
5) Bring 8-16 oz. of pasta (angel hair is nice, or pretty much anything!) to a boil.
6) Toss with tomatoes while still hot. The pasta melts the cheese a little bit, but the uncooked tomatoes taste sooooo fresh!

I've also developed a watermelon fetish this summer. I've found it's a great way to stay hydrated, and get some vitamin C at the same time. Of course, I love it fresh, but I've also started making a virgin margarita-ish drink with it. So, again I wing it, but here's what I've been doing.

Watermelon "Virgin Margarita" and Granita

1) Cut several cups of watermelon into chunks, and dump into blender (I fill it about 3/4's of the way)
2) Pour 1-2 tsps. of lime juice over it.
3) Once or twice, I've gotten a watermelon that's not quite as sweet as I've liked, so I put in a teaspoon or two of the strawberry jam I made earlier in the summer. Frozen or fresh blueberries are nice, too.
4) Add half a dozen or so ice cubes and blend.
5) Then after I've drunk my fill, I freeze the rest into a granita. I pour it into a shallow bowl, put it into the freezer, and scrape it every few hours.

Yum!

cooking stuff | By Tim and Jo | 1:30 PM

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Posted by: at August 24, 2007 7:57 PM

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