Posted on 07/25/2017 3:33:39 PM PDT by Jamestown1630
I’m posting this Tomato Soup recipe from last year again, because even though it’s a hot soup, which we may not want in Summer, and the recipe uses canned tomatoes, it’s a great use for fresh tomatoes if you have a ‘bumper crop’. It’s also a wonderful starter for any season: light and bright – not a heavy creamy soup; and you might like it as a lighter change for the soup course even at Thanksgiving or Christmas.
The original recipe comes from 'The Chesapeake Bay Cookbook', by John Shields (highly recommended!) but I've goofed-around with it a bit. I leave out the sugar, because I like a really tart tomato soup - and I usually throw in a lot of dried basil, instead of using thyme or fresh basil. (Now that I’ve got my year-round basil via Aerogarden, that may change.)
Making this is a bit of work, and you do need a food mill to do it properly; but it’s worth it - and it freezes well.
Deal Island Summer Tomato Soup
1 C. Butter, or Olive Oil (I usually use half butter, half oil)
3 green bell peppers, diced
2 C. diced onions
2 C. diced Celery
2 T. chopped Garlic (opt.)
3 C. water
4 lbs. Tomatoes, Peeled and Cored; or Canned (I usually use a big ol' can of tomatoes from Costco.)
4 tsps. Sugar (or less, or opt.)
2 tsps. Salt
2 Bay leaves
1 tsp. dried thyme, or 6 fresh basil leaves, chopped
1/4 tsp. ground Nutmeg
Freshly ground pepper
Garlic Croutons
Melt butter or heat oil in soup pot. Add onions, celery, bell peppers and garlic. Cook, stirring, 10 minutes.
Add water, bring to boil, then simmer 30 to 40 minutes.
Add the tomatoes, sugar (if used), salt, bay leaves, thyme and nutmeg. Simmer 45 minutes.
Pass soup through food mill. Return to pot and reheat. Adjust seasonings. Serve topped with freshly ground pepper and croutons.
(We usually double this recipe.)
Lately, while roaming around on YouTube, I’ve often seen recipes for ‘7-Up Biscuits’. I had never heard of this, and made the mistake of using a recipe that was NOT a good one last weekend. The result was a mixed success – the batter came out so runny that I had to just pour it into an oblong pan and bake it like Corn Bread. It was very tasty – but not biscuits ;-)
I did retroactive research, and found that my recipe used half as much of the biscuit mix as necessary. I learned my lesson! and my wild birds are getting a special treat this week ;-)
Here, from 'Angie's Southern Kitchen', is a recipe with the right proportions:
http://www.angiessouthernkitchen.com/2012/06/7-up-biscuits/
Earlier this week, Freeper Covenantor showed us a wonderful pie using apple roses; and whimsically suggested Bacon Roses, for which we actually found a recipe. And while I don’t think that ‘bacon roses’ are something I’d actually make, it reminded me of something I used to make for kids’ stockings at Christmas: Dollar Bill Roses:
'Thrifty Fun' has the instructions for crafting them:
http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf67951187.tip.html
-JT
I’m within sight of the Blue Ridge but down in the Piedmont, north of Greensboro and Winston-Salem. Regarding the NC mountains, the high country around Boone is rugged, but the really high (by eastern standards) mountains are in the vicinity of Asheville, quite a number over a mile high, not just Mt. Mitchell. You’d probably love the town of Highlands, too, it’s way south on the SC/GA border of NC. Town itself is like 4,200 ft so it seldom to never gets hot there. Flora and fauna excellent, very beautiful country.
Just got back from right outside Asheville. My mom lives in Buncombe co. The mountains are so gorgeous, but it was so unbelievably hot & humid. Ate some delicious food & spent a wonderful time w/ my mom. I love western NC.
Asheville, being in the river valley, isn’t as cool as some of the surrounding towns with some elevation, but it’s still cooler than driving out and down into the Piedmont. Hot and humid as it may have seemed, a 30 mile drive east or south would have added a good ten degrees to that.
Creamy Bruschetta Stuffed Mushrooms
Ingredients
12-18 white button mushrooms (12 large or 18 med-small)
a drizzle of olive oil
For the filling:
200 grams cream cheese (approximately 7 oz)
1 cup shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons freshly chopped flat leaf parsley
1/2 teaspoon dried or fresh oregano
1 teaspoons chopped fresh basil (or dried)
1/2 teaspoon fresh (or dried) thyme leaves
2 cloves garlic, crushed
salt and pepper (to taste)
3 medium ripe tomatoes, finely chopped and drained
For the topping:
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
some chopped parsley for garnish (if desired)
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Wash and dry the mushrooms well, removing their stems and placing them upside down on a baking sheet that’s been drizzled with olive oil.
Add the cream cheese, mozzarella, and Parmesan cheese to a large bowl, along with the parsley, basil, oregano, thyme, garlic, and salt and pepper, mixing well to combine.
Add the chopped tomatoes (drain them first!!) stirring the mixture gently just until combined.
Spoon the mixture into the mushrooms until they’re fully stuffed.
Sprinkle the remaining Parmesan cheese on top and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 18-20 minutes until the tops have browned slightly.
Garnish with fresh parsley after baking and enjoy immediately.
http://thebusybaker.ca/creamy-bruschetta-stuffed-mushrooms/
My favorite summer food as a kid was tomatoes, lettuce, a lot of butter and Catalina dressing on white bread!
To this day each of my sandwiches have some kind of dressing on them. Ham, Honey mustard. Turkey, 1000 island. Beef, Blue Cheese. Except Bologna or Oscar Mayer liverwurst. They get Miracle whip. And BLT’s, Mayo (Dukes).
Winter, I buy Camparis. As kid’s our job was to tend dad’s garden. Tomatoes from heaven. Never have eaten heirlooms. You got me thinkin. Think I’ll try to find some farm stand ones this weekend. LOL! Thx!
“27 pints of Awesomesauce, which is pretty much the entire reason I grow tomatoes.”
That’s my idea of heaven. (Plus never hearing Shillary’s voice again or an ED commercial. )
I see a dentist in Asheville. Partly because I like the drive ;). I go through Sam’s Gap, which is quite high. And has the cutest name too. So southern.
I’ve been to Boone, and around there, a lot - so pretty and so many waterfalls.
Google maps says highland is 3 hours from me - that would make a nice day trip. Thanks for the idea. Are there Scottish things there?
That looks very good!
BTW, I’m currently reading a very interesting book: ‘The Mushroom Hunters: On the Trail of an Underground America’, by Langdon Cook.
It’s a little like ‘The Orchid Thief’, in that it describes a very interesting ‘subculture’; but this one is about wild mushrooms and the people who are obsessed with them and provide them to the culinary industry.
I’ve saved Campari seeds for many years and plant them so we can grow our own. Nice size and flavor.
I read the Orchid Thief many years ago. Used to grow a lot of them too, had over 30 there for many years. Now I’m down to 3. Cured myself of that sickness.
They are actually very hardy, just more touchy as far as light and temperature requirements to get them to bloom. I am frugal (cheap) and most orchid’s flowers last for months, sometimes 5 months. Making them a pretty economical flowering plant for your house. I infected 2 good friends many years ago, one whose house has many and one who wound up building a heated greenhouse to keep all of hers. I’m bad.
I killed my one. I fell for the ‘ice cube’ way of watering ;-(
Oh no. I have never done that. I gave many away to a botanical garden that just got too big. Some I lost to insects not caught in time.I had one antelope dendrobium for over 20 years and it was a dependable bloomer.
Do NOT tempt me! :-)
They’re so pretty, and weird; I especially like the pink and fuschia colored ones....
NO.
That does sound very interesting.
I’m currently obsessed with jade plants. I have grown quite a few new babies in the past year from leaves that have either fallen off of my plants, or given to me by someone else. The kids have taken a liking to them too. A new one was named a few days ago LOL.
With a tweak or two, they should work fine; cut the cornstarch AT LEAST in half, swap the wine for lemon juice (probably not half a cup, though), and use white sugar instead of brown.
Highlands was planned and developed in the roaring 20’s as a resort town, if there’s any Scottish reference with the name I’m not aware, it’s just on a high plateau, about 4,200 ft. The nearby Whiteside Cove area is stunning, a whole series of granite balds lining a scenic valley. If you love waterfalls, you’ll love Highlands, there are several right alongside US 64 which is the main east-west highway there. And, if you really love waterfalls, the area east of there is even more spectacular, starting with Whitewater Falls, highest in the east, over 800 feet counting both Upper and Lower Whitewater Falls, it falls from NC into SC. Keep going east on 64 and you’ll enter Transylvania County, that’s waterfall central in this state, thousands. So many that the majority are unnamed.
My mother goes to Dr. Potete /sp? on Hendersonville Rd. If you are ever in that area try Iannucci’s restaurant. Delicious food, relaxing atmosphere, & sweet servers. It’s “our place” when I visit.
Not a tomato recipe, but boy do these look delicious. I can’t wait to try them.
Chocolate-Peanut Butter Marbled Biscotti
Ingredients
PEANUT BUTTER DOUGH:
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
3 tablespoons peanut butter
2/3 cup granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ cup chopped peanut butter chips
CHOCOLATE DOUGH:
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ cup Dutch-process cocoa powder (I use Whole Foods 365 brand)
1 teaspoon espresso powder
½ cup mini chocolate chips
CHOCOLATE-PEANUT BUTTER TOPPING (optional):
2 cups semi-sweet or dark melting chocolate (I use Chocoley.com Bada Bing Bada Boom dipping and coating formula)
1 cup white melting chocolate (I use Chocoley.com Bada Bing Bada Boom dipping and coating formula)
¼ cup peanut butter, creamy-style
Directions
Preheat oven to 350° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
FOR THE PEANUT BUTTER DOUGH:
In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together butter, peanut butter, sugar, salt, vanilla, and baking powder.
Beat in the eggs one at a time. The dough may look curdled, but is fine.
Gradually add the flour until combined.
Fold in the peanut butter chips.
Wrap the peanut butter dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate while making the chocolate dough.
FOR THE CHOCOLATE DOUGH:
In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together butter, sugar, salt, and vanilla.
Beat in the eggs one at a time. The dough may look curdled but is fine.
In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cocoa, and espresso powder.
Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter-sugar mixture, mixing until combined.
Fold in the chocolate chips.
Remove the peanut butter dough from the refrigerator.
The dough will be formed into two logs. To form one dough log, use one half of the peanut butter dough and one half of the chocolate dough.
Divide each dough flavor portion into thirds and press the thirds into thick discs.
On the prepared baking sheet, stack the discs, alternating flavors. Press, stretch, and mush the stack into a log approximately 14” long and 2” wide.
Repeat using the remaining dough to form a second dough log. Place logs about 4” apart on the prepared baking sheet.
Bake for 25 minutes, then remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet for at least 30 minutes (or as long as overnight).
Reduce the oven temperature to 325°. Place the logs on a cutting board and use a serrated knife to cut the biscotti into ¾” slices (approximately 16 biscotti per log).
Stand the biscotti on the parchment lined baking sheet with a small space between each. Return to the oven for 30-40 minutes or until just beginning to turn golden. Biscotti will continue to firm up as they cool.
Cool completely on a wire rack before decorating or storing.
TO DECORATE:
In a small bowl microwave melting chocolate at 50% power for one minute or until melted. Spoon the melted chocolate into a small ziplock bag. Set aside.
I another small bowl, microwave the white melting chocolate and peanut butter at 50% power for one minute or until melted. Stir until the white chocolate and peanut butter are completely combined. Spoon into a small ziplock bag.
Line a small baking tray with wax paper. Stand a biscotti on the tray.
Cut off a bottom corner of each chocolate filled ziplock bag. Pipe alternating stripes on the top of the biscotti, two of each flavor. Starting at one end of the biscotti, drag the tip of a toothpick down through the stripes. Move over about ½” and drag the toothpick tip in the opposite direction, up through the stripes. Alternate dragging the toothpick down then up across the length of the biscotti.
After completing about 6 biscotti, place them in the fridge for about 10 minutes or until the chocolate is set.
Repeat until all biscotti are decorated and the chocolate is set.
Without chocolate topping, Peanut Butter and Chocolate Marbled Biscotti will stay fresh for up to one month with only slight softening over time. With chocolate topping, store for up to 2 weeks.
Packing tips
Do not add chocolate-peanut butter decorative topping to the biscotti if mailing to or from a hot location. Double wrap two or three biscotti in plastic wrap, cut sides together. Place bundles in an airtight container or ziplock bag.
http://themondaybox.com/2017/07/chocolate-peanut-butter-marbled-biscotti/
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