Roasted Tomato Vegetable Soup

This past Sunday was a gorgeous day! It felt like autumn blew in on a cool, crisp breeze. It brought beautiful clouds that dwarfed the fields, wisps of burning wood fires, and jacket weather.Trees are only beginning to hint about their color changes but soybeans have turned golden and will be harvested soon. This early autumn weather urges me to finish stacking my firewood. And it reminds me of all the other chores that I still need to get done around here before winter.

But autumn makes me think about fun things, too, like fresh apple cider, smokey campfires, bumpy hayrides, and soup...... this soup.

I love this soup!

When you read how to make this soup it might sound like it's complicated, but this is really a very simple recipe. Three different pans of ingredients are roasted. Then they are combined with some stock in a blender. That's it. Done!

This soup cans well, too. It maintains its flavor and consistency if you home can it. When you open up a jar of this soup it's just as fresh and tasty as the day you made it.

Here's how to prepare this soup:

1) Peel, seed, and chop 5 pounds of tomatoes. Spread them out into a shallow non-reactive pan. Add several cloves of rough chopped garlic. Drizzle with a bit of olive oil. Sprinkle with thyme, fresh ground pepper, and salt. Roast at 300 degrees for a couple of hours. This will yield about 2 quarts of roasted tomatoes, including their liquid. (Don't drain the liquid.)2) Roast, core, and peel 3 or 4 large red (or orange or yellow) peppers. Here's how I do it... I cut the flesh of the peppers into large sections that will lay flat on a baking pan. I place the pan in the oven under the broiler until they become mostly blackened. Then I remove the pan from the oven and I lay a piece of plastic wrap loosely on top of the blackened peppers. I let the peppers rest until they are cool enough to handle, then I rub the skin off of the peppers.3) Peel and roughly cut 4 cups of carrots. Peel and slice 2 cups of onions. (Optional: add a chopped jalapeno.) Combine carrots and onions (and jalapeno, if using) in a shallow baking baking pan. Drizzle with a bit of olive oil and sprinkle with fresh ground pepper and salt. Cover pan and roast at 350 degrees for 1-2 hours, stirring or shaking pan occasionally, until carrots and onions are soft.

4) Puree prepared and cooled ingredients and a quart of vegetable stock, in a blender. This is quite a bit of soup. I have to blend 10-12 batches of it in my standard sized blender to puree all of it. I add a bit of each ingredient (some roasted tomatoes, some roasted and peeled peppers, some roasted carrots and onions, and some vegetable stock) to each batch that I whirl in the blender. Blend ingredients well so that no chunks of vegetables remain. Pour each blended batch into a large stock pot and stir to combine all the batches.

5) Heat soup. Add a pinch of sugar, adjust seasonings to taste, and serve!If canning, fill hot jars, leaving one inch of headspace, and process in a pressure canner at the pressure that is appropriate for your altitude. (Despite the tomatoes, this is a low acid food and can not be processed in a boiling water canner.) I process it for 35 minutes at 11 pounds pressure, the amount of time recommended for the least acidic ingredients, and the pressure required for my elevation. This recipe makes 7-8 pints of soup.ROASTED TOMATO VEGETABLE SOUP

5 pounds tomatoes
several cloves garlic
2 tablespoons of olive oil
thyme
salt and pepper

3-4 red (or orange or yellow) sweet peppers

several large carrots
1-2 onions
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper

1 quart vegetable stock

more salt and pepper, if needed
a pinch of sugar

1) Peel, seed, and chop 5 pounds of tomatoes. Spread them out into a shallow non-reactive pan. Add several cloves of peeled, rough chopped garlic. Drizzle with a bit of olive oil. Sprinkle with thyme, fresh ground pepper, and salt. Roast at 300 degrees for a couple of hours. This will yield about 2 quarts of roasted tomatoes and their liquid. (Don't drain the liquid.)

2) Roast, core, and peel 3 or 4 large red (or orange or yellow) peppers.

3) Peel and roughly cut 4 cups of carrots. Peel and slice 2 cups of onions. (Optional: add a chopped jalapeno.) Combine carrots and onions (and jalapeno, if using) in a shallow baking baking pan. Drizzle with a bit of olive oil and sprinkle with fresh ground pepper and salt. Cover pan and roast at 350 degrees for 1-2 hours, stirring or shaking pan occasionally, until carrots and onions are soft.

4) Puree prepared and cooled ingredients and a quart of vegetable stock, in a blender. This is quite a bit of soup. I have to blend 10-12 batches of it in my standard sized blender to puree all of it. I add a bit of each ingredient (some roasted tomatoes, some roasted and peeled peppers, some roasted carrots and onions, and some vegetable stock) to each batch that I whirl in the blender. Blend ingredients well so that no chunks of vegetables remain. Pour each blended batch into a large stock pot and stir to combine all the batches.

5) Heat soup. Add a pinch of sugar, adjust seasonings to taste, and serve!

Danish Tomatoes

I've heard that men think about sex seven times a minute.I don't believe it. I don't think it's even possible. I think about food a lot but even I don't think about food seven times a minute.My thoughts about food take many forms. Of course I think about eating food. And I also think about growing food and taking pictures of food and writing about food. But mostly I think about preparing food.

I can curl up with a recipe book as if it were a novel.

Knowing this, you would expect me to have an overload of cookbooks, but I don't. I make an effort not to accumulate too many of them.

But I made an exception the other day when I found this cookbook for one dollar at a charity book sale. I couldn't resist when I opened it up and felt its smooth glossy pages.It was published in 1972 by Southern Living magazine. The preface states that this cookbook is a compilation of family recipes for garden vegetables "...created and perfected by homemakers from Maryland to Texas" and "passed down through generations."

The recipes are wonderfully simple and it has colorful retro photographs.Each recipe gives credit to the homemaker who contributed it.When I got home and randomly opened the book I was drawn to the first recipe I saw, Danish Tomatoes, contributed by Rosemary Martine of Chattahoochee, Florida.

I immediately set about making her recipe.One of the ingredients is "buttered croutons." I sauteed some pieces of cut bread with butter in a skillet to make these.

Then I assembled and cooked this simple recipe exactly as she directed and then I ate some of it. (Okay, I ate a lot of it.)Oh my goodness!

Thank you, Rosemary Martine, Chattahoochee, Florida, for your delightful and delicious recipe!

DANISH TOMATOES
(From The Vegetables Cookbook, Southern Living Cookbook Library, 1972, recipe contributed by Rosemary Martine, Chattahoochee, Florida)

Fresh tomatoes (I peeled mine)
Sugar to taste
Salt to taste
Buttered croutons
Crumbled bleu cheese

Cut the tops off tomatoes and cut almost through in wedges. Spread to resemble flowers. Sprinkle with sugar and salt and place in a shallow pan. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes. Add the croutons and cheese. Bake until the cheese bubbles.

Stovetop Tomato Chicken Stew

Healthy, filling, and full of flavor, this meal cooks up on top of the stove in one pot. It's easy enough to be a quick weeknight meal but it's classy, too, and perfect for company because it doesn't require much attention while it simmers and cooks and teases you with its delicious aromas.

Change the spices to suit your own taste. Use some basil and oregano to give it an Italian flair and serve it topped with Italian cheeses. Give it more of a New Orleans spin with your favorite Creole seasoning. Or, use cumin, paprika, and some heat to give it a Mexican taste.

This time I seasoned mine simply with a bit of my "hot" spice... a variety of hot peppers, dehydrated and then ground. I rubbed the chicken pieces with a mixture of kosher salt, pepper, and "hot." Then I sprinkled more of those same seasonings and pushed a little sprig of fresh thyme into the dish as it was beginning to simmer on the stove. Usually I like to eat this with crusty bread or buttermilk biscuits. I like to push the bread down into the bowl to soak up every drop of that tasty sauce.STOVETOP TOMATO CHICKEN STEW

3-4 pounds, bone in, skin on, chicken parts
kosher salt, pepper, and a hot spice, (cayenne, chili, or chipolte powder, or red pepper flakes)
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chicken broth
1 quart jar of tomatoes, undrained
1 cup tomato sauce
2 cups chopped carrots
2 cups chopped celery
2 cups sliced onion
several cloves garlic, roughly chopped
a pinch of sugar
1-2 bay leaves
fresh or dried thyme, to taste
more salt and pepper, and hot spice, to taste

Rub chicken with kosher salt, pepper, and a hot spice such as cayenne pepper, chili powder, or chipolte powder. Heat olive oil in large stock pot and brown chicken on all sides, then remove chicken and set aside. Add chicken broth to pot and scrape up browned bits from bottom of pan. Add canned tomatoes and tomato sauce. (I like to can some 8 ounce jars of tomato sauce and chicken broth because I seem to use "1 cup of tomato sauce" or "1 cup of chicken broth" in a lot of recipes.) Add chopped vegetables and garlic, pinch of sugar, bay leaves, and thyme. Place chicken back in pot, Push pieces of chicken down into liquid. Simmer on stove top for about an hour, until chicken is very tender and falling off the bone. Remove chicken and let sit until cool enough to handle. Pull meat from chicken and return meat to pot (or skip this step and just leave the pieces of chicken whole). Add more salt and pepper and hot spice, to taste. Serve with fresh crusty bread or buttermilk biscuits.

Canning Tomato Juice

September is tomato season here.

I spend much of the year dreaming of fresh tomatoes. But when September rolls around all of my tomato dreams come true and I end up with more tomatoes than I can stand.

No preserved tomato beats the taste of a fresh homegrown tomato. But regardless of that, I feel compelled to put tomatoes up in every way possible. I am determined to enjoy that tomato bounty, in one form or another, all year long. Hello, Tomato Juice!

A food mill makes it easy to make tomato juice.First, pick, wash, and quarter your tomatoes. Put some in a single layer in the bottom of a large cooking pot. Turn on the heat and start crushing them with a potato masher. Continue adding tomatoes, a few at a time, crushing them with the others in the simmering pot.When all the tomatoes have been crushed continue to simmer them for a few minutes. Then, carefully (because this is hot) pour batches into a food mill fitted with a small holed screen and crank handle to separate the tomato juice and fine pulp from the skins and seeds.Sometimes you have to set up quite a contraption to collect all that juice in one place and the discarded skins and seeds in another. I would be lying if I said this doesn't get messy. (It can get very messy.)

When all tomatoes have been processed, heat the juice. Fill prepared (hot) jars one at a time, pouring the hot juice into the hot jars. Also add some lemon juice and salt to each jar. Sometimes people make an herbed tomato juice by adding herbs to the jars, too.

Process jars in a boiling water canner for the proper amount of time for your altitude. (My altitude is a little over 1000 feet so I process quarts of juice for 45 minutes).Please refer to the National Center for Home Food Preservation for complete canning instructions, including a chart of processing times for different altitudes.

Canning Tomatoes

My thoughts were about the East Coast this past weekend as I watched images of hurricane Irene making her way from the Carolinas through New England. I worriedly followed her path on the weather radar and I tuned into news updates on my television. She looked like a pretty scary hurricane so I did the only thing that I could do, which was to pray.

But prayer seemed especially powerful this weekend, didn't it? I felt like my own prayer was just one little part of an enormous crowd of prayers. It felt like maybe a lot of people all over the world were praying together, and each of our little individual prayers combined to create something strong and good that each of us could hold on to.

Thank goodness that Irene showed a bit of mercy. It sounds like the general thought now is that "it could have been so much worse." I am left with some degree of relief, although my heart still goes out to the families that she devastated.Ironically, it was sunny and mild here in Ohio while Irene was assaulting the East Coast. A slightly cool breeze from the north smelled a bit like autumn and I had to keep reminding myself that it was only the end of August.

Tomatoes are coming in strong now, too, which also makes me feel like fall is right around the corner.

Luckily, canning tomatoes is a simple task that is nice to do while worrying and praying. So I canned tomatoes while I watched updates about Irene.And I would hazard a guess that I wasn't the only one poking around in the kitchen while worrying about Irene this past weekend.

I like to preserve tomatoes in a number of different ways... in home canned soups and chilies, as sauce, and salsa, and by drying them, and also by freezing them. But today I'm just writing about stuffing them into quart jars and processing them in boiling water. It's really easy and very rewarding.

First I pick, wash, peel, and quarter some tomatoes. Then I start simmering quart size jars in a big canning pot with a rack at the bottom of the pot.Then I remove the jars one at a time and pour a bit of lemon juice and salt in the bottom of each jar. I stuff the tomatoes down into the jar, pushing them and squishing them with a spoon so that every little space inside the jar is filled with smashed tomato and juice squeezed out from the tomatoes. Then I run a flexible spatula around the inside of the jar to make sure I've released any air pockets. I wipe the rim of the jar and place a lid that has been simmering in hot water onto the jar. I secure the lid with a screw on lid band. Then I put the jar back into the canner full of hot water.Once all the jars are full and in the canning pot I make sure that the jars are covered by a couple of inches of water and I bring the pot to a boil. Then I boil those jars for the amount of time required for my altitude. (My altitude here is a bit over 1000 feet so I boil these jars of tomatoes for 90 minutes.)

After the jars have boiled for the proper amount of time I turn off the heat and let them sit in the canner for a few minutes. Then I gently lift them out and set them on a towels I have spread out on my countertop. I leave those jars undisturbed on the counter for about a day. The next day I check to make sure that they all sealed and then I label them.Here's how the Ball company (who writes the Ball Blue Book and who makes Ball mason jars) explains this way of canning fresh tomatoes:

RAW-PACKED TOMATOES WITH NO ADDED LIQUID:

Packing tomatoes raw with no added liquid produces the most concentrated flavor. However, this method requires extended processing times to ensure the heat fully penetrates to the center of the jars.

You will need:

3 lb whole, halved or quartered tomatoes per quart jar
Bottled lemon juice or citric acid
Salt, optional
(32 oz) quart or (16 oz) pint glass preserving jars with lids and bands
Directions:
1.) PREPARE boiling water canner. Heat jars and lids in simmering water until ready for use. Do not boil. Set bands aside.
2.) WASH tomatoes. Dip in boiling water 30 to 60 seconds or until skins start to loosen and crack. Immediately dip in cold water. Slip off skins. Remove cores and any bruised or discolored portions. Leave whole, halve or quarter.
3.) ADD 2 Tbsp bottled lemon juice or 1/2 tsp citric acid to each hot quart jar. Add 1 Tbsp bottled lemon juice or 1/4 tsp citric acid to each hot pint jar.
4.) PACK raw tomatoes into hot jars leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Press tomatoes into the jar until the spaces between them fill with juice leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Add 1 teaspoon salt to each quart jar, 1/2 teaspoon to each pint jar, if desired. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if necessary, by adding tomatoes. Wipe rim. Center hot lid on jar. Apply band and adjust until fit is fingertip tight.
5.) PROCESS filled jars in a boiling water canner for 85 minutes for both pints and quarts, adjusting processing time for altitude. Remove jars and cool. Check lids for seal after 24 hours. Lid should not flex up and down when center is pressed.

For more information about canning, including how to determine your altitude adjustment, please refer to The National Center for Home Food Preservation.

Simple Crusty Baguette Buns (and How I Dreamed of Eating My First Tomato of the Season)

Each spring, when I plant tomatoes, I think about the first tomato that I will get to eat.

As the tomato plants grow, and flower, and then start growing small green fruits, I keep thinking about that first beautiful juicy red tomato.This year I pined for that first tomato especially long. Late freezes and spring floods made it so tomato plants got into the ground later than usual.

I actually had a dream about how I would eat that first tomato while I was waiting for it to actually happen.

This is what I dreamed......a lovely thick slice of tomato on a crusty baguette bun with mozzarella cheese and thinly sliced strips of fresh basil.

That's it. I didn't even need mayonnaise.

This sandwich was perfect, just as it was.

But this post isn't about that first tomato... it's about that Simple Crusty Baguette Bun.These buns are crusty and crunchy on the outside but light and airy on the inside... perfect for a rustic sandwich and great with soups or any time you want a crusty bread to go with something.

And they are seriously simple, which is nice for people (like me) who want to eat freshly baked bread, but (like me) don't want to go through all of the fuss that making bread usually demands.

In fact, any real bread makers out there please look away, because this recipe is probably an assault to all of you true bread-making souls who are good at the art of kneading and rising and proofing. This here is just my countrygirl shortcut. These buns take about 2 hours from the moment you think about making them until the moment you bite into one (and most of that time the buns are rising while you are doing something else).

First you combine some flour, yeast, and salt and whisk that mixture into some warm water.Then add more flour and stir it in as much as possible.Knead for five minutes and then let dough rest for fifteen minutes. Shape dough into balls and put them in the oven to rise for an hour.Then, no pre-heating, just turn the oven on and bake them. The next time you even touch the baking pan these buns are ready to eat!

SIMPLE CRUSTY BAGUETTE BUNS

3/4 cup warm water
1 teaspoon fast-acting yeast
1/2 cup bread flour
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1 more cup of bread flour
a bit more flour to sprinkle on counter for kneading
olive oil or vegetable oil for greasing baking pans

If possible, use non-metallic bowls and utensils. Combine 1/2 cup bread flour, yeast, and salt in a small bowl. Whisk these dry ingredients together. Pour 3/4 cup warm water into a larger bowl. Add dry ingredients to water and whisk to combine. (Optional: you may want to add some dried herbs at this time.) When mixture is smooth add 1 more cup of bread flour. Stir this together with a spoon as much as possible. When ingredients are mostly combined place dough on counter top sprinkled with flour and knead for about 5 minutes, until dough is smooth and pliable. Let dough rest for 15 minutes. After dough has rested drizzle a bit of oil onto baking pan and spread oil onto baking pan with your fingers. With oily hands, pinch off pieces of dough and form into 6 to 8 round balls. Place dough balls several inches apart on baking pan. Place baking pan on middle or top rack of oven and turn oven light on. Let dough rise in oven for an hour (or less... if they rise too long they start to get wide and flat instead of puffy). After dough balls have risen leave them right there in the oven. Place a small metal bowl or baking pan with a handful of ice in it on the bottom rack of the oven and turn oven on to 400 degrees. Bake until buns are golden on top, about 25 minutes (although I expect baking time may vary oven to oven). Buns will be crusty and crunchy on the outside but light and airy on the inside. Beware: they are addictive.

Noodles with Romas and Bacon

A while back I wrote about freezing roma tomatoes. It's incredibly easy... drop freshly picked romas into boiling water for about a minute until their skins crack. Transfer romas to ice cold water to cool. Peel the skins off. Place romas on a baking sheet lined with freezer paper and put into the freezer. Once frozen, transfer romas into a large re-sealable plastic freezer bag and return them to the freezer... until you are ready to thaw them for something like this! To make this simple dish, first roughly chop thawed romas and then drain them. (Thawed romas put off a good amount of liquid.) Set chopped romas aside. Next fry up some chopped bacon, and set it aside, too. Drain all but a spoonful of the bacon grease from the pan. Finely mince some garlic and drop into pan. Saute minced garlic for just a minute or so, and then add chopped, drained romas to the pan. Sprinkle some dried Italian spices into tomatoes. I keep a little jar of dried parsley, basil, oregano, and thyme, and I call it "Italian Seasonings." I use this mix quite often. Stir tomatoes in skillet for a few minutes until they cook down to desired consistency. I usually add salt, pepper, and just a pinch of sugar. Toss with cooked homemade noodles. Top with bacon and shredded Parmesan cheese when serving.This meal is so simple, you really don't need a recipe... but here's a guideline...

NOODLES WITH ROMAS AND BACON

5-6 slices of bacon, cut into pieces
1-2 cloves garlic, finely minced
8-10 frozen romas, thawed, chopped, and drained (or substitute a quart of home canned tomatoes, drained)
dried Italian seasonings such as parsley, oregano, basil, and thyme, to taste
salt and pepper, to taste
pinch of sugar
3-4 cups of dry noodles, cooked in salted water (proper amount of noodles may vary when using homemade noodles, use your best judgement)
shredded Parmesan cheese

Fry chopped bacon until crispy, remove from pan and set aside. Drain off all but one tablespoon of bacon grease. Add minced garlic. Saute over very low heat for about one minute. Add thawed, chopped, drained romas (or a quart of tomatoes, drained). Add spices. Stir for a few minutes until mixture cooks down to desired consistency. Toss with cooked noodles. Top with bacon and shredded Parmesan cheese when serving. This amount will feed two people. I like to serve this with a crispy fresh salad and warm buttered bread.

Blue Monday Pot Roast

Everyone has an occasional blue day. It happens to all of us. It sometimes even happens to good natured countrygirls. Yes, it's true. We get blue, too.

According to some bean counters, a lot of folks have the blues today. They say that January 17th is the saddest day of 2011.

Others say the saddest day of 2011 is next Monday, January 24th.

This countrygirl thinks a case could be made for any Monday in January being the saddest day of the year. and I think there are others who might come on board with that observance.

Luckily, I have a remedy for sad January days... Blue Monday Pot Roast.

It's simple. It's delicious. And it makes the house smell really good. The aroma itself might lift your heart and pull you through the blues.

This is comfort food, homegrown comfort food, using ingredients that are readily available in January.

I leave my brussels sprouts in the garden through winter, breaking frozen sprouts off the stems of the plant when I want to eat them. Believe it or not, they are extra sweet and tasty this way. Parsnips can be dug in the fall and stored in buckets of dirt just like carrots. Herbs can be vacuum packed in individual bags and stored in the freezer for a very long time. And I've found that even if you don't raise your own cattle, you can sometimes make a nice trade with a friend, bales of hay in exchange for some home raised beef. Win. Win.

So the next time you're feeling the January blues, try this...BLUE MONDAY POT ROAST
(Adjust amounts and ingredients to your own tastes and what you have available.)

3 pound cut of roasting beef
black pepper
coarse salt
1 cup chopped onion
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup red wine
a splash of liquid smoke
a splash of worcestershire sauce
2-3 cups chicken stock
1 sprig rosemary (or herb of your choice)
6-8 cloves of peeled whole garlic
2 cups brussels sprouts. cut in half, if desired
2 cups chopped parsnips
2 cups chopped carrots
4-6 frozen roma tomatoes
additional black pepper and salt

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Pat meat dry and sprinkle liberally with pepper and coarse salt. Set aside. On stove top, heat olive oil in large (5-7 quart sized) dutch oven style pot and add onions. Cook onions, stirring occasionally, over medium heat for about 10 minutes, until they start to soften and even have a few brown spots on them. Remove onions and set aside. Increase heat to high so oil is very hot and brown each side of roast for 3-4 minutes. You want some seared looking spots on the meat. Remove meat and set aside. Add wine and deglaze bottom of pot, gently scraping up the brownish bits. Add a couple cups of chicken stock, a splash of liquid smoke and a splash of worcestershire sauce. Turn off stove burner. Put beef back in pot and add additional chicken stock, if necessary, so that meat is about half deep in stock. Dump browned onions back in. Push sprig of rosemary down into liquid. Add garlic, brussels sprouts, parsnips, and carrots. Place frozen romas on top. Sprinkle with additional salt and pepper (watch amounts of salt and pepper if using salted chicken stock). Cover pot, place in oven, and cook about 3 hours (1 hour per pound of meat at 300 degrees).

For some true comfort, serve with mashed potatoes (special occasion mashed potato recipe here) or buttermilk biscuits.

Butternut Lentil Soup

True Story: One time someone gave me a baggie of ground dehydrated hot peppers. I promptly stuck my nose in the bag and took a big whiff. I thought I was going to die. End of story.

I obviously lived to tell of it. But my advice to you is this: If someone gives you a baggie of ground up dehydrated hot peppers, don't put your nose in there and smell it.

It's like being sprayed with mace. (Not that anyone has ever had to spray mace at me.) (Really.) (Please believe me.) (I'm serious.)Let's get back to these peppers...

I carefully poured these ground peppers into a spice jar with a nice fitting lid and labeled them "HOT."

I use them all the time.

To make your own "HOT," grow a variety of hot peppers, dehydrate them in a dehydrator, grind them up, then put them in a baggie and give them to an unsuspecting countrygirl who you know will stick her nose in there and smell it.And please try not to laugh.

Cumin is another spice you can grow yourself, even in chilly climates. (I'm in zone 5 and I grow it.) But the slightest frost will kill a cumin plant, so wait until all threat of frost is gone before planting seeds. Let the plant grow all summer until it goes to seed. Let the seeds dry on the plant. Then just pick them off and put them in a jar before they drop off the plant. I keep those seeds in my pantry and smash them up with a mortar and pestle just before I use them. It doesn't take very many freshly smashed seeds to make something taste like cumin. (Don't forget to save some seeds to plant more cumin the next summer!)Now use cumin and something "hot" to make this delicious soup! BUTTERNUT LENTIL SOUP

1 cup diced onion
2-4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds, freshly smashed (increase to 1/2 teaspoon if using a jar of store bought ground cumin)
1/2 teaspoon ground "hot" spice of your choice (chipolte powder, cayenne pepper, crushed red pepper flakes, or chili powder... although you may want to reduce the amount of cumin if using chili powder since chili powder usually has cumin in it)
1 quart vegetable stock (instructions for making your own here)
2 cups any color of dry lentils
2 cups finely diced or shredded carrots (easy winter carrot storage system here)
4 cups finely diced or shredded butternut squash
8-10 frozen roma tomatoes (may substitute with 1 quart or 1 large can of tomatoes, undrained)
1 (1 to 2 ounce) parmesan cheese rind (optional)
1/4 teaspoon salt (wait and add later, if using vegetable stock with added salt)
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Saute diced onion in olive oil in a large soup pot for about 10 minutes until onion begins to soften. Add garlic, ground cumin, and "hot" spice. Stir and saute for a few more minutes, just until garlic and spices become fragrant.

Pour in vegetable stock. Add lentils, carrots, butternut squash, tomatoes, and parmesan rind.

Cover pot and simmer over very low heat for a few hours until lentils and vegetables are soft. Stir occasionally to keep from burning and to help break up tomatoes. Add salt and pepper after lentils and vegetables have cooked.

Remove a few cups of soup, let cool slightly, puree in blender until smooth, then stir pureed soup back into the pot of un-pureed soup. (Options: Add more vegetable stock at this time, if you'd like a "soupier" soup... or add a can of evaporated milk at this time, if you'd like a creamier soup.) Adjust seasonings to taste.

Grate a bit of parmesan cheese over top when serving.

Fried Green Tomatoes with Fresh Buttermilk Dressing

Tangy, soft, and almost sweet on the inside. Crispy, crunchy, and salty on the outside.

Addictive.

If you've ever eaten fried green tomatoes before, you know what I mean.

Once you've thought about these you can't stop thinking about them until the moment when you can finally put one in your mouth.

I like to dip fried green tomatoes in cool fresh buttermilk dressing and eat them while they're still almost too hot to eat... while I'm standing at the stove frying some more of them to stuff into my mouth.

Patience and restraint are not my strong virtues. But if standing in front of a skillet licking grease off my fingers can be considered a virtue, I might be redeemed. Because I can do that.

FRIED GREEN TOMATOES

Green tomatoes, sliced about 1/4 inch thick
Beaten egg
Flour
Finely crushed saltine crackers
Salt & pepper
Bacon grease
Vegetable oil (optional)

Put the beaten egg, flour, and crushed saltine crackers in 3 separate bowls. Add a bit of salt and pepper to the saltine crackers. I use about 1/2 teaspoon of each to 1 cup of crushed saltines. (I realize that saltines already have salt in them but I like a bit more.)

Melt bacon grease (with a bit of vegetable oil, optional, or use only vegetable oil, but if you do that, don't say you got the recipe from me.. no one will believe you) in a skillet and heat until it's hot enough for frying. You'll want the hot oil to be about 1/4 inch deep.

One by one dip each tomato slice in the beaten egg, then dredge in flour, dip in beaten egg again, and then push down into bowl of crushed saltine crackers so that each tomato slice is covered well in crumbs.

Place in skillet and fry for a few minutes on each side, until gently browned. Remove to a paper towel lined plate to drain excess grease.

Serve hot with Fresh Buttermilk Dressing!

FRESH BUTTERMILK DRESSING

1/3 cup mayonnaise (use a commercial brand or make your own)
1/3 cup sour cream
1/3 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons fresh parsley leaves, very finely chopped (this is equal to about 1/4 cup of slightly packed fresh leaves, before chopping)
1 tablespoon fresh chives, snipped into tiny flecks with kitchen scissors
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, rubbed off the stem
Salt & pepper to taste (I use about 1/4 teaspoon of each)
A pinch of garlic powder
A pinch of white pepper

Mix everything together with a fork and chill until ready to use.

How to have Fresh Homegrown Tomatoes on Your Thanksgiving Table

If there's one thing that can get tomato loving home gardeners really scrambling this time of year it's the threat of the first frost.

I wonder if meteorologists know how their announcement of a frost affects us tomato loving gardeners? A frost forecast sends us all out into our gardens with bags and baskets to collect every last luscious tomato on the vine before the frost destroys them. I've poked around in the tomato patch with a flashlight in the middle of the night to salvage tomatoes after hearing of impending frost on the late news. Every tomato gets picked, no matter it's ripeness, or uh, unripeness (is that a word?), even if I end up with a kitchen full of hard green tomatoes.Of course there are some tasty ways to use green tomatoes. Green tomatoes make an exceptionally good cake.

Sometimes I can up a batch of green tomato salsa... one well known Foodie Farmgirl has a really great recipe on her award winning blog. I recommend her recipe (and her blog).

And who can turn down a plate of freshly fried green tomatoes?

But you can also save some of those green tomatoes, let them slowly ripen, and enjoy red tomatoes for weeks to come, even possibly through Thanksgiving...

Gently wrap each green tomato in newspaper. Place them in a single layer in a shallow covered cardboard box (shoe boxes work nicely), and place the box in a cool dry place. Check them about once a week and use them as they slowly turn red.

I can't take credit for this simple and lovely hint! As it is with some of the best advice in the world, it was passed down to me by a nice little elderly lady before she passed on. I think of her fondly every autumn as I enjoy ripe tomatoes long past the first frost.