Tomato Jam

Tomato jam - the perfect blend of sweet and savory. Eat it on crackers with cheese, on a toasted baguette, as a spread for sandwiches, or over grilled fish or chicken. I bought a whole box of end-of-the-season tomatoes at the farmers market and this jam was the perfect use for them. 

We wait all year for fresh tomatoes. And when they're ripe, there are so many, it's impossible to eat them all. Enter tomato jam and the water bath canning method. (Don't be intimidated, it's not that hard. Just a big pot of boiling water.)

There are some fun surprises in this tomato jam. Like, green apples and vinegar, cumin and coriander! I didn't create the recipe, but I'm pretty sure they're the key. I can't wait to taste it.

First, though, there is a lot of chopping to do! I had to sit down for this part. Chopping 7-8 lbs of tomatoes plus apples and onions takes a bit of time, so why not pull up a chair?

Here are all my ingredients after I finally got all the chopping done. Let the cooking process begin. You're going to want to be home all day for this. A rainy Sunday in Iowa is perfect. There's nothing else going on.  

Full disclosure: This needs to be stirred every half hour or so. I figured that out because the first time I made it, I completely ignored it for 2 1/2 hours, and it was burned, big time. With a very thick crust of char stuck to the bottom of my pan. So, stir. You don't want all the chopping to go to waste!

This has been simmering for about 3-4 hours. Not quite there yet. But, check out the change in color from the first picture. It's getting to be a rich, deep red. And that is the exact color we're going for. 

Here's the set-up on my stove. Once the jam is just about there, start the boiling water for the water bath. I put the glass jars right in the water. This serves 2 purposes. First, the jars need to be sterilized so you don't have any bacteria growing in there while you leave this jam on your shelf for 6 months. Second, you want the jars to be warm, so after you fill them and put them in the boiling water, you don't want the jars to shatter or crack because of a temperature difference. 

I also have a small pot in the very back that is boiling the lids for the jars. These need to be sterile too.

Once the water is boiling, it's time to fill the jars. Make sure to leave 1/4 inch "headspace" at the top. This prevents the jars from spilling over as the jam heats up in the boiling water.  Then, the lids go one, along with the rims and into the boiling water they go!  (In canning terminology, this is called "processing.")

I ended up with 9 1/2 pints of tomato jam! It tastes great on triscuits with some blue cheese on top!

Tomato Jam

Adapted from In Jennie's Kitchen. Please see her blog for more details. The original recipe makes a smaller amount, so if you're hesitant to try this start small and see what you think!

7-ish lbs of fresh tomatoes, chopped in large pieces

2 small onions, chopped

3 small green apples, chopped

1 c brown sugar

3 c white sugar

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 c cider vinegar

Juice of 2 lemons (or use bottled lemon juice)

Mix all the ingredients in a big pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. This is going to need to simmer for a long time, about 6 hours. Make sure to stir every half hour or so to prevent burning.

Once the jam is thickened and of a spreadable consistency, transfer into sterilized jars (that you had waiting in boiling water). Put sterilized lids on and tighten the rims slightly. Put back into water bath canner for 15 minutes. Then remove and leave untouched for 24 hrs. After 24 hrs check to make sure the jars have sealed. To do this, press in the center of the lid. If it moves, the jar is not sealed and must be refrigerated and used within a few weeks. Otherwise, the sealed jars can be stored long-term.

Thai Curry Stir-fry with Quinoa

This is probably one of my favorite meals.  And, it's packed with nutritional benefits too! Fresh vegetables, whole grains and high fiber. And you can use whatever vegetables you have on hand, so it's great for cleaning out the fridge. But, the best part? It's a one-bowl meal. I really like meals where you just need a bowl to eat them. Everything can mix together, and something about it makes it feel warm and cozy. (Maybe because I can wrap my cold hands around the warm bowl?)

Now, there are two ways you can make this. You can either make the curry sauce from scratch, or cheat and use a jarred curry sauce. I cheated. I used Trader Joe's red curry sauce. And, it was awesome.

I always get water going to cook my grain first (whether it's quinoa or brown rice, or whatever). While you're waiting for the water to boil, get the vegetables chopped. I had some help with the chopping in the kitchen!

The other way I cheat when cooking quinoa is to skip the rinse! (For shame, I know). I tried it once, and what a pain! After all those little grains get wet, they stick to everything! They stick to the colander you used to rinse them, they stick to the spoon you had to use to scoop them out, and there are bound to be little quinoa grains haunting your kitchen for days after. So, I skip this step. I know, quinoa supposedly has a bitter soap-like coating on the grain that can make your quinoa taste bitter. But, I haven't noticed a change in taste at all. If I did, I might put up with the pain of rinsing the quinoa. For now, though, I am officially NOT a quinoa rinser.

I do like my quinoa fluffy, though. And here's the trick I use for that. Once all the water is absorbed and the grains are cooked through, remove from heat, put a cotton towel over the pot, and replace the lid. Let the quinoa sit like this until you are ready to serve. I'm not sure why this works. Maybe something about the towel absorbing the steam so the quinoa doesn't get too mushy from just sitting around?

I think this is one of those dinners you can make quickly on a busy weeknight. In the time it takes to cook the quinoa, you can have your veggies chopped and sautéing away and dinner can be ready in about 1/2 hour. Not to bad! Plus you get a bonus hand-warmer from holding the bowl. And, it's pretty tasty too!

Use this recipe as a guide. Use whatever vegetables you have. And, you can vary the amounts depending on how big your pan is, and how many people will be eating.


Thai Curry Stir-Fry with Quinoa


1 c dry quinoa
2 cups water or broth
2-3 cloves garlic
3 small eggplant, chopped into large bite-sized pieces
1 small onion, chopped
3-4 sliced carrots
3 large handfuls spinach
1 can bamboo shoots
1 block extra firm tofu, sliced
1 jar red curry sauce
olive oil

Pour water or broth into medium-sized saucepan and bring to boil. When boiling, add quinoa, reduce heat to a simmer and cover for about 15 minutes. After the quinoa is done cooking, remove from heat. Place cotton towel over pan and replace the lid. Let sit until ready to serve.

While waiting for water to boil, begin chopping and slicing all your vegetables. Then, heat some olive oil in a frying pan and briefly fry the tofu on all sides, remove tofu from pan and add garlic, onions, and carrots. Sauté until they begin to soften, then add eggplant and bamboo shoots. Once all the vegetables are softened, add the curry sauce and spinach. Cook for a few more minutes to wilt the spinach.

Then spoon quinoa into a bowl and top with the vegetable curry.





 

Vegetable Paella

To me, paella always seemed like such a fancy dish to make. I have eaten it occasionally, but have been hesitant to make it at home. Until I saw Martha Rose Shulman's recipe in the New York Times for Simple Vegetable Paella.

Reading through the recipe, I thought "Hey, I can do this. I can make paella this week." What a revelation!

I started by chopping all the vegetables. It can be so relaxing to just put some tunes on and chop vegetables. I have red and green peppers, diced white onion, chopped garlic, and halved green beans.

This isn't just regular tomato sauce. It's freshly grated tomatoes! 

Once the vegetables are chopped, I started simmering the vegetable broth while sautéing the onions, garlic, and peppers. And got the rice all ready to go. I decided to use short grain brown rice because it's my favorite. But it's probably not the traditional paella rice. Oh well, it has more fiber. But, it did take a bit of extra liquid and time to cook. So, make sure you factor that in.

Once the vegetables are sauteed, I added the rice and veggie broth and left to simmer until the rice was cooked. So easy!

And, the surprising part? I realized this was a very common food my mom used to make when I was growing up! And her mom used to make it! She always called it Spanish Rice. And now that I think of it, paella is a type of Spanish Rice. Eating this for dinner brought back memories of eating a dish very similar as a child. 

There were a few differences, of course (like using Ketchup instead of freshly grated tomatoes), but who has time to grate tomatoes when you've got small children to feed?

I will definitely be making this again. I might halve the recipe next time, though. Because my husband and I were eating Paella left overs for a really long time! And, that's no fun!



Vegetable Paella
Adapted from Martha Rose Shulman's Simple Vegetable Paella


1 qt vegetable stock (plus a bit more water if using brown rice)
Large pinch saffron threads (about 1/2 tsp)
2 TBSP olive oli
1 medium onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 red pepper, cut into strips
1 green pepper, cut into strips
2 cups short grain brown rice
1 TBSP tomato paste
1 tsp sweet paprika
1 lb ripe tomatoes, grated on the large holes (or use canned chopped tomatoes for a shortcut)
1/4 lb green beans, trimmed and cut in half
2 or 3 baby artichokes, trimmed and sliced
1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 c cooked edamame
salt and pepper

Bring the stock to simmer in a medium saucepan.  Crush saffron threads with your fingers and place in a small bowl. Add 1 TBSP warm water and set aside.

Heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring until tender. Add garlic, peppers, and a bit of salt. (I always go easy on the salt. There will be salt in the vegetable stock too, so you don't want to over do it.) Cook until the peppers begin to soften. Add the tomato paste, paprika and rice. Cook, stirring until the grains begin to crackle (about 1 minute).

Add the grated tomatoes and cook, stirring until they cook down slightly and smell fragrant, about 5 minutes. Stir in the saffron with its soaking water, scraping in every last bit with a rubber spatula.

Add the stock, green beans, artichokes and chickpeas. Bring to a boil. Stir once, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer without stirring until the liquid has just about evaporated, about 10-15 minutes. Add the edamame. Continue to simmer until the rice is dry, another 5-10 minutes. If the rice is not cooked, add a bit more water and continue to simmer until the rice is soft.

Taste and adjust seasonings. Remove from heat and serve.

Margherita Pizza From Scratch

That's right, from scratch. Even the crust. No mixes, no frozen or prepared crust here. Just flour, water, yeast, salt and a bit of sugar.

Ever since reading the book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, by Barbara Kingsolver, my husband and I (ok, well I) decided to have pizza Friday. Just like she did in the book. Well, in the book, she also makes her mozzarella cheese from scratch. I haven't gone that far...yet.

Anyway, we've been having pizza Friday for quite some time now. And we've learned a few things about making pizza from scratch:

1. Preheat the oven first. (It takes a long time to get to 500 degrees, and we're hungry here).

2. Using a pizza stone is key. (And, as I learned this week, preheating the pizza stone is even better!)

3. Don't use too much sauce.

4. Put the cheese on the bottom

5. Put fresh basil on immediately after taking the pizza out of the oven (not while it is still in the oven).

6. Alternate weeks on who gets to pick the toppings (that way, every week isn't bbq chicken pizza).

Clearly, it was my week to pick the pizza toppings. And I wanted a classic margherita pizza. No sauce, just fresh tomatoes, cheese, and basil on a chewy crust.

There's a bit of a process to making pizza. First, you get the crust mixed together, kneaded, and left to rest. While the crust is resting, chop up and prepare all you other ingredients.

When your ingredients are all ready, the crust should be too. My newest pizza trick is to preheat the pizza stone in the oven while the oven is preheating. It adds a bit of a tricky step, because you have to assemble your pizza and then transfer it onto the hot pizza stone while the oven is open.

I assembled my pizza on a cookie sheet with no edges (or you could turn one upside down). First the cheese.

Then the tomatoes.

Use a TON of flour and cornmeal on the bottom, so the pizza can slide around when you shake the pan. Then, just gently shake the cookie sheet as you guide your pizza onto the stone. It's kind of tricky, but, the crust was awesome! It's crispier this way, and can hold it's own, if you know what I mean. 

Then bake (usually about 12 minutes) and let sit just for a few minutes before slicing. I think this helps the pizza to solidify a bit, so the cheese isn't quite so melty when you try to slice it. Here is my pizza, resting right after it came out of the oven.  Looks pretty awesome, right? Check out all the different kinds of tomatoes I have on there! The green ones are called "green giants."

Then, all you have to do is enjoy your pizza! We haven't ordered take out pizza since we started making our own. It tastes so much better!

Margherita Pizza

For the crust:

3/4 c warm water (think bathwater temperature)

1 pkt yeast

1/4 tsp sugar

1 3/4 c flour

pinch of salt

For the toppings:

1 1/2 c shredded mozzarella cheese

3 large tomatoes, sliced about 1/4 inch thick

Fresh basil

First, place your pizza stone in the oven on the middle rack and preheat the oven to 500 degrees. 

Mix the warm water, yeast and sugar together until yeast is dissolved. Let this sit for about 8 minutes to "activate" the yeast.

While yeast is "activating," mix the flour and salt in a medium sized mixing bowl.

After the 8 minutes, pour the yeast mixture over the flour and stir until a ball of dough forms. Dump the dough out onto a floured surface and knead, adding flour as needed for about 2 minutes. Then leave the dough where it is to rest for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, slice the tomatoes and shred the cheese. Cut the basil into thin strips.

On flat baking sheet with no edges, dust with flour and cornmeal and spread dough out onto the sheet in a rough circle. It doesn't have to be perfect here, I think a misshaped circle looks more rustic.

Make sure the dough is free to slide easily off the baking sheet. Then, spread the mozzarella cheese over the crust, leaving about 1/2 inch space around the edge. Next lay the tomatoes on the cheese, without overlapping too much. You can make a pretty design if you have a few tomatoes of different colors.

Then, the tricky part. Carefully slide the pizza onto the heated stone in the oven. Don't get burned!

Bake for 12 minutes, or until crust is golden and has a hollow sound when tapped. The cheese should be slightly browned and bubbly.

As soon as the pizza is done, pull it out of the oven and scatter the basil on top. Let sit for about 5-10 minutes. Slice and enjoy!

Ginger Peach Muffins

The best way to start off a morning baking muffins? A nice mug of warm tea. Specifically Chai Roobios Yogi Tea with Vanilla Soymilk. That is the way to start a morning right!

I have missed my morning tea routine. Since living through the hottest July in Iowa in over 60 years, I haven't felt much like drinking warm tea in the morning (the average temperature was something like 78 degrees, which makes it sound much better than it was. It was awful). I woke up too hot already! Now that it's approaching fall, however, the mornings are cool and refreshing, and begging for hot tea.

With tea made, it's time to start muffins! I chose the ginger peach muffins from Kim Boyce's cookbook Good to the Grain. Her cookbook is amazing, you should really check it out. She guides you through every step, plus uses a variety of whole grain flours (amaranth and teff anyone?) to make super tasty treats.

The ginger peach muffins stood out this morning because early September is the perfect season for peaches, and the ginger smells like fall.

I know to respect the original author of the recipe, I'm supposed to make the recipe once following the directions exactly as written, no matter how tempting it is to make substitutions and small adjustments. I've never been good at that. I try, especially with Kim's recipes, because I can tell she really knows what she's doing.

And, admittedly, I have a lot to learn.

So I used the full amount of butter the recipe calls for. (Usually, I always sub out half and add applesauce for the other half). But, I didn't grease the muffin tins with butter, I used cooking spray (come on, it's way easier and not nearly as messy!). And, I didn't have sour cream, I had plain yogurt, so I used that instead. (I actually never buy sour cream, because I always sub plain yogurt for it. Yes, even on baked potatoes and enchiladas).

And I used nonfat milk, instead of whole milk, which the recipe calls for.

I know, I'm sorry Kim. It's just the dietitian in me. Why use whole milk, when you can get away with nonfat? Cuts fat and calories, and no one knows!

And one more thing - I didn't measure the grated ginger out. Or the crystallized ginger. I totally eye-balled the amounts. Which means, my guesses were probably no where near the specific amounts the recipe called for.

There is one thing I definitely trusted the recipe on. Kim says to let the muffins cool before eating, because the oat flour is moist when it's warm. When I was trying to twist the muffins out of their cups to cool on their sides, they were so soft! Some of them got a bit destroyed. But after 15 minutes of cooling, they had firmed up. So, trust us on the waiting!

Despite all my small adjustments to the recipe - the muffins tasted awesome! They had such a true ginger flavor (maybe from all the ginger I grated and didn't measure). And every so often, one bite had a chunk of crystallized ginger in it!

There is no ginger powder here! They don't taste like mini gingerbreads with a peach on top. It's a much more simple ginger flavor, glazed with a fruity peach on top.

The recipe is simple enough.  Start by mixing the dry ingredients together.

Then, mix the wet ingredients together.

Then, add the wet to the dry and you're done with the batter. Now the only thing left is to scoop them into muffin tins and lay the sliced peaches on top!

And, wait for them to cool before digging in! I know, it's hard. But trust me, it will be worth it.

Ginger Peach Muffins
Adapted from Kim Boyce's Good to the Grain


Butter for tins
2 TBSP + 1 tsp grated fresh ginger

Peach Topping:
1 lg or 2 small peaches, ripe but firm
1 TBSP butter
1 TBSP honey

Dry Mix:
1 c oat flour
3/4 c all-purpose flour
1/2 c whole wheat flour
1/4 c sugar
1/4 c dark brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt

Wet Mix:
3/4 stick butter, melted and cooled slightly
3/4 c milk (I used nonfat)
1/2 c plain yogurt
1 egg
3 TBSP finely chopped crystallized ginger

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Make sure the rack is in the middle. Grease muffin tins with butter.

Grate the ginger into a large bowl. Some will be used for the topping, and the rest goes in the batter.

Start with the peach topping. Slice the peach into 1/4 inch slices. Add butter, honey and 1 tsp of grated ginger to a medium-sized skillet. Heat on medium-high heat until the mixture is melted and starting to bubble. Add the peaches, and toss the pan to coat them. Set aside.

Sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl (but not the one with the grated ginger in it - that's for the wet ingredients). Whisk the wet ingredients into the bowl with the grated ginger. Using a rubber spatula, mix the wet ingredients into the dry and combine.

Scoop the batter into muffin tins, mounding it slightly above the edge. Toss the pan of peaches once more, to coat with the juices. Tuck one peach slice slightly into the batter, and lay another slice across the top. Make a V-shape with the peach slices. Spoon pan juices over the peaches.

Bake for 24-28 minutes. The muffins are done when they smell nutty and the bottoms are golden brown. The edges of the peaches should be caramelized. Twist each muffin out and place it on its side in the cup to cool. This will ensure it stays crusty instead of getting soggy. (Note: I tried this and the muffins pretty much fell apart. Maybe they needed to bake longer, or maybe I just needed to wait for them to cool a bit before trying to twist them.)

Smoothie Starts with Spinach

You would never guess this smoothie has spinach in it, right? I mean, it's not even green! That is the beauty of smoothies starting with spinach - no one will know! Plus, you get the added benefit of starting the day off with a green leafy vegetable. And, how many of you can say you do that? There's folic acid, fiber, calcium, potassium, vitamin K and plenty other great things in that smoothie. It's like a secret little bonus to start off your day.

Plus, spinach has such a delicate leaf (as opposed to kale, which is very hearty), most blenders have no problem chopping it up into tiny, small pieces for a smooth smoothie. My blender is not fancy at all, and the spinach is broken up easily. You don't need a Vitamix blender to try this smoothie at home!

I always prefer to make my own smoothies at home rather than buy them. I just never trust what other restaurants or coffee houses put in their smoothies. "Smoothie mix" is often the answer I get when I ask this question. (And yes, I have asked this question multiple times). My impression of "smoothie mix" is added sugar. Added sugar that is disguised as yogurt (or, powdered yogurt, whatever that is). And, often times extra sugar really is added to smoothies, even if it is in the form of honey. (Honey is still added sugar, people and the natural sugar in fruit is plenty).

And sometimes, real fruit isn't even used! Some places use some sort of flavored fruity syrup instead of real fruit. Then you're missing out on fiber and vitamins, and getting flavored sugar instead! And, to be honest, I don't even really support using fruit juice in smoothies (even if it's 100% juice). I think juice just adds extra calories that aren't needed. And it doesn't have any of the good fiber from whole fruit either.

Anyway, my point is, don't trust all the smoothies out there marketed as healthy options, because that just may not be true! They can often be filled with added sugars and lacking benefits of real fruits. So ask how smoothies are made before you order. And make sure you could buy every ingredient mentioned. Make sure smoothies are made out of real food. Real fruit, real yogurt.

Better yet, make your own smoothie at home and pack in the nutrients with a surprise handful of spinach!

Spinach Smoothie


Handful washed spinach
3/4 c frozen berries
1/2 fresh or frozen banana
1/2 - 3/4 c liquid of some sort (milk, water, soy milk)
3 generous spoonfuls plain yogurt

Put all ingredients into a blender. Blend on high until smooth. You may need to adjust the amount of liquid, depending on how thick or thin you like your smoothies. Also, the amounts are very flexible. I don't even measure ingredients when I make a smoothie. So use these measurements as guides, but not strict rules. Adjust ingredients to your taste preferences. Enjoy!

Tomato Tart

A tomato tart is basically like a glorified, fancied up pizza. It's got a flakier crust, rather than a chewy one. And crumbled goat cheese instead of traditional mozzarella. And fresh tomatoes! Tomatoes that taste like sunshine. And the sky blue skies of summer.  Otherwise, they're basically the same food. A combination of crust + cheese + tomatoes (or tomato sauce) + herbs.

I wait all year for tomatoes. And, after living in Alaska for a year (where the tomatoes never did taste like sunshine), I am especially excited eating tomatoes this summer! When it's been over a year since I've had a tomato that tastes like a tomato, it is a very welcome treat.

The tart is so easy to make, it's kind of like cheating. I use frozen puff pastry (thus the cheating part), fresh tomatoes, goat cheese, and fresh basil and thyme. That's it. Five ingredients. The longest part of making this tart is waiting for the frozen puff pastry to thaw slowly on the counter. It's OK, you can snack on a few tomatoes to pass the time.

Of course, if you are a purist, feel free to make puff pastry yourself from scratch.  Sounds like it is a bit time consuming, with a lot of rolling. But, it probably tastes really good!

After your puff pastry is ready to go, roll it out and do a quick pre-bake. I think this helps if the tomatoes are especially juicy (but, I haven't tried it without the pre-bake, so I don't really know). Assemble your tart, then bake for about 15 minutes!

What about you? How do you enjoy tomatoes at the peak of their season?

Tomato Tart


1 sheet frozen puff pastry (or homemade, if you'd like)
1 red tomato
1 yellow tomato
Handfull of sun gold tomatoes
Goat cheese
Fresh basil
Fresh thyme

Thaw the frozen puff pastry slowly. It usually takes about 30 minutes on the counter. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Once puff pastry is thawed, roll it out into desired shape. (I did a rectangle. If that's too boring for you, you can cut out a large circle). Place the pastry on a parchment lined baking sheet and stab it with a fork all over the center. Pre-bake for about 7 minutes.

While pastry is pre-baking, thinly slice the large tomatoes, and halve the sun gold tomatoes. Gently chop the fresh herbs, so they are ready to go too.

After 7 minutes, assemble the tart. Spread tomatoes onto the pastry in a single layer. Crumble goat cheese over the top. Return to the oven, and bake for 15 minutes.

Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle with the fresh herbs. Let sit for a few minutes before slicing. (I know, awful, isn't it?). Then, enjoy!