Tomato Love Summer Soup

Given my absurdly successful experiences with starting tomato plants from seed, I am never able to complain of too many tomatoes, but, wow!, there are a lot of them coming ripe at once.

With three pounds of blanched and peeled tomatoes on hand, a take on the classic gazpacho cold tomato soup was easy to accomplish. I still had another two pounds for making pasta sauce, and that's not even counting the endless cherry tomatoes.

This is a refreshing soup with a little crunch. If you prefer really smooth, just keep the blender running longer. If you make a lot of this, you can keep it in a pitcher in the fridge and just pour out some when you need a quick, cool hit of yummy tomato bliss. The addition of red pepper, classic cucumber, and tangy celery gives it a more complex flavor, as does the onion and garlic. Since I'm not a big fan of raw onion or garlic, I sautéed and cooled mine before I adding them to the soup (absolutely not classic!), but you can go with uncooked if you prefer...and it will be faster.

Almost Classic Gazpacho
Serves 4-6

1/2 yellow or white onion, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil (if cooking the onion and garlic)
3 pounds fresh tomatoes, peeled
1 cup diced cucumber, peeled if skin is thick
1 cup diced celery
1/2 cup diced red pepper
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Sauté onion and garlic in olive oil, if cooking, until onion is translucent and garlic light brown. Set aside to cool. If not cooking onion and garlic mix them and set aside.

In a blender, combine cooked or uncooked onion mixture, tomatoes, cucumber, celery, red pepper, red wine vinegar and olive oil. Pulse until mixture is of the desired consistency. I like mine a bit chunky, but it can be smooth. If necessary, process in one or two batches. Taste and add salt and pepper to taste.

Turn into a non-reactive bowl or pitcher and chill thoroughly, at least one hour.

To serve, put portions in either glasses or bowls. If desired, garnish with red pepper and/or cucumber cut into a fine dice. Crisp croutons are also a nice garnish. Serve at once while fully chilled.

Buttery Ravioli

I'm not a big fan of standard time, having decided years ago that daylight savings time is far better and should just be the time we use year 'round. It makes no sense to me that as the days grow shorter we switch to  standard time where an extra hour at the beginning and end of the day is in darkness or nearly so. Sweetie has been playing tennis with his friends after they finish work for most of the spring, summer and fall. Once the time was moved to standard they had to quit playing an hour earlier. If that meant that in the morning it would be light maybe I could understand but the days are so short by the time that daylight savings time ends that it is still pretty dark at 7 am, which became 6 am. Does that mean that there is more light at 8 am, which became 7 am? A little but hardly enough to warrant switching.

For me the worst part is that my photos of food suffer. I mostly use natural daylight for my shots and so that means middle of the day photos. When I'm trying to get a good photo of breakfast or dinner food I turn on all the lights I can, but everything takes on a golden tone. Sometimes that is pretty, sometimes not.

Tonight I cooked a lucious dish for dinner. It closely resembled one I had for lunch at a Santa Rosa restaurant a week before. The photo makes it look more orange than it really was, but those round butternut squash ravioli were a bit orange to begin with. You can't see it, but underneath there is a bed of fresh baby spinach. On top of that there is a warm mixture of fresh white corn, cut off the cob, mixed with diced red and yellow bell pepper and just a hint of finely chopped red onion. Next come the just cooked ravioli and a sprinkle of cubed fresh butternut squash which had been roasted until very soft and tender inside and a bit crusty on the outside. A drizzle of melted butter to which a lot of fresh, minced, sage was added and you have the dish. It was a wonder of contrasts...crisp chilled spinach, warm, soft, buttery ravioli, crunch but warm corn, zesty red bell pepper, zingy red onion, very herby sage. Sweetie loved it and ate every last bit. I served it with some sliced heirloom tomatoes and corn muffins. It was almost comfort food and seemed very much a harvest meal.Totally delicious!

The key for this dish is planning. The squash needs to be roasted first. The spinach has to be washed and dried and put in the fridge to crisp up. It doesn't take lond to cut the corn from the cob or dice the peppers or chop the onion and sage, but those are good things to do while the water comes to a boil for the ravioli. While they cook you can melt the butter and add the sage, slice and arrange and dress the tomato slices and heat the corn mixture. Just before the pasta is done is the best time to layer the spinach in the bowls. While the cooked pasta drains you can add the warm corn mixture on top of the spinach, then the pasta, the roasted squash and the butter drizzle. It's a good idea to serve it right away while the pasta is still warm and the spinach hasn't wilted from the warm elements in the dish.

Butternut Squash Ravioli with Warm Corn Salad, Spinach, Butternut Squash and Sage Butter

2 cups peeled and cubed butternut squash, seeds and stringy parts removed
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
4-5 cups fresh baby spinach
2 ears fresh corn, husks and silks removed
1/2 medium red bell pepper, seeds and ribs removed
1/4 medium yellow bell pepper, seeds and ribs removed
1 tablespoon finely chopped red onion
4 tablespoons salted butter, melted
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh sage
1 5-oz. package fresh butternut squash and cheese ravioli, uncooked

Toss the butternut squash cubes in a plastic bag with the oil, salt and pepper. Spread on a parchment lined baking sheet and roast in a preheated 450 degree oven for 10 minutes. Stir and roast another 10 minutes. Remove from oven and keep warm.

Wash and drain and dry the baby spinach. Wrap in a tea towel and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Using a sharp knife, cut the corn from the cobs. Dice the red and yellow peppers into 1/4 inch dice. In a microwave safe bowl combine the corn kernels, all the peppers, the red onion. Set aside.

Heat 4 quarts water in a large pot over high heat until it comes to a boil. About 10 minutes before you plan to serve the dish, slide the ravioli into the water and stir. Continue to stir and/or turn the ravioli over as the pasta cooks, with the heat on medium-high, for 5-6 minutes or until pasta is tender.

While pasta cooks, mix the melted butter and fresh sage and keep warm.

Heat the corn mixture in the microwave on HALF power for 2-3 minutes, until just barely warm.

In a large bowl, like a soup bowl, layer the fresh spinach, topped by the corn mixture. Gently remove the pasta from the simmering water when it is cooked and drain in a collander. When drained, place about 5 ravioli for each serving on top of the corn mixture in the bowl. Scatter the warm squash cubes over and drizzle with the sage butter. Serve at once. Serves 2.

What to Do with the Rest of the Beans

Only one cup of cooked cranberry beans were left after making the awesome Cranberry Bean Salad. I cleaned out the fridge today and there they were...poor, unloved beans. I also found that the crisper had ample amounts of fresh spinach, half a yellow onion, some red bell pepper that needed using up, lots of celery and some carrots that were starting to dry out. There was no doubt in my mind that the answer was...SOUP. With the fog scheduled to roll in by dinnertime I knew it would be cool enough to enjoy some soup. The fridge clean out also inspired me to make some salmon egg rolls, but that's for another post.


I often don't post soups that I make because it seems so simple to me to make soup. This time it turned out so well that I want the recipe just as I made it for future reference. It is still pretty simple, but these days I forget what I had for dinner last night, so it is likely I won't remember the exact proportions and that might just be the secret for why this soup was so savory and delicious.

I started, as I usually do, with chopped onion, sauteed in a little olive oil. Garlic goes in after the onion has had some time to soften. Chopped celery and red pepper went in next, followed closely by chopped carrot. That all cooked for about 3 minutes before I added some yellow zucchini, covered the pot, turned the heat way down, and sweated the mixture for a while...about 10 minutes.

Then I gave it a good stir and turned the heat up to high...that allowed the excess liquid to steam off and also some of the veggies had some nice browned spots on them. Before brown could turn to black I added chopped tomato including juice. That deglazed the pan nicely! Fresh spinach was stirred in until it wilted. The beans were added, along with thyme, sage, dried orange peel, paprika, and pepper. Again the the pot was covered and the heat turned low. Another 10 minutes allowed all those wonderful flavors to combine. After uncovering again I added some broth and gave it all a stir. Covered again the mixture simmered another 20 minutes.

The soup smelled sooo good and tasted even better. Often I try a new recipe and make notes right away on what to do differently next time. This time I wouldn't change a thing. Quite unusual, but now you know why I want to save this recipe...and why I want to share it with you.

Cranberry Bean and Veggie Soup
serves 2-4

2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped fine
1-2 stalks celery, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1/2 cup chopped carrot
1/2 medium zucchini (any color) sliced lengthwise in quarters and then sliced in 1/4 inch slices
1-2 medium tomatoes, cored and chopped...keep the juice for the pot
3-4 cups fresh spinach, rinsed
1 cup cooked cranberry beans (see THIS recipe for cooking the beans)
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/8 teaspoon dried orange peel
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon dried sage
pepper to taste
1 can (1 3/4 cups) vegetable or chicken broth

In a soup pot heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions, stir and cook, stirring often, for 2 minutes. Add the garlic, stir and cook another minute. Add the celery, bell pepper, and carrot and stir. Cook for 3 minutes. Stir in the zucchini and stir. Cover and cook over low heat for 10 minutes. Uncover and turn heat to high. Cook another 3 minutes, stirring about every 30 seconds. Vegetables will brown a little bit.

Add the chopped tomatoes to the pot and stir. Lower the heat to medium. Use a wooden or nylon spoon to scrap any dark brown or black bits from the bottom and sides of the pan. Add the fresh spinach and stir. Let cook another minute to wilt the spinach. Add the cooked beans, dried thyme, dried orange peel, paprika, sage and pepper to taste. Cover and cook 10 minutes over low heat.

Uncover, add the broth, recover the pot and simmer for 20 minutes. Serve. If desired, sprinkle a little grated Parmesan cheese over the soup in the bowl before serving.

Black Beans and Pork with Oranges

Well, we've had the come-to-mama sugar fix with those waffles. Now the weather seems right to try the delicious recipe that San Francisco Anne brought to the Boxing Day Party. Don't you just love to get a recipe that you know will be great because you've already tasted it? She is a fantastic cook, so I made sure to have some of what she brought and insisted on having the recipe...it was that good!

Not only did she lend me the recipe, but she lent me the book it came from. The book, Paula Peck's Art of Good Cooking has gorgeous hand done illustrations by Mel Klapholz, is a mid-'60 cookbook with wonderful recipes, including one for homemade sour cream that sounds a lot like what is now called creme fraiche. She even gives instructions for rendering chicken fat.

Recipes for mayonnaise, tapenade, and pesto sound very modern, using basic fresh ingredients.

In fact the use of fresh ingredients and the lack of canned soup sets it apart from many cookbooks of the era. There is a recipe for Chicken and Garlic Stew which uses 40 - 60 plump cloves of garlic and it sounds wonderful. I'll try it sometime, leaving out the monosodium glutamate that she seems to add to most things. It has white wine, fresh herbs, unexpected spices like allspice and cinnamon and sounds very light with only a little olive oil used and no butter, eggs, or heavy cream.

The pork recipe is also fairly healthy, depending of the kind of sausage you use. Beans are heart healthy and also delicious prepared this way! Onion, peppers and garlic add flavor, the black beans add substance and a great contrast to the pork. Orange juice and red wine help make a tasty sauce and the thing that is surprising, but ties it all together is the zing of the fresh orange segments.

If you are going vegetarian, I suspect that it would be delicious without any of the pork...just the black beans, onions, peppers, garlic, orange juice, red wine and oranges, plus salt an pepper to taste. A little hot sauce might be needed if the pork is omitted, too.

As with many dishes containing cooked onions, this dish is delightful made ahead, refrigerated for a day or two, and reheated to serve. That's what I did. I served it over saffron rice (white rice cooked the way we like it, but with some real saffron thread added). You get a nice flavor and color that way.

Since the success of this dish depends on fresh oranges and, in the Northern Hemisphere, it is citrus season, do give this hearty meal a try! Thanks again to Anne for sharing this great recipe!

Pork and Black Beans over Rice
From Paula Peck's Art of Good Cooking
Serves 6

2 cups dried black beans (about 1 pound)
1/3 cup olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 large onion, minced
1 large bell pepper (green, red, yellow or orange), seeded and diced
2 teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon coarse black pepper
1 1 /2 pounds unsmoked pork tenderloin, cut into 1 inch cubes
¾ pound Mexican sausage (if available), or fresh pork sausage
(Note: I used Southern style bulk pork sausage and it worked well, but use the kind of sausage you enjoy)
2/3 cup orange juice
½ cup dry red wine
2 -3 fresh oranges

Wash, pick over beans. Either soak overnight in water to cover or do quick cook by covering with water in a saucepan, bringing to a boil, turning down heat and simmering for 2 minutes, turning off heat, covering and letting sit for at least two hours. With either method pour off the soaking water and rinse the beans. It helps remove the enzyme that leads to exess bean gas :)

Heat olive oil in a deep pot. Add garlic, onion and bell pepper and sauté’ until tender. Season with salt and pepper. Add the beans and enough water to cover them. Cover the pot, and simmer about 45 minutes, or until the beans are tender, adding more water if necessary.

Drain liquid from pot and reserve. Return the drained beans to the pot. Remove 2 cups of cooked beans from the pot. Cover remaining beans and keep them warm. Puree’ the 2 cups of cooked beans with as much bean liquid as necessary in a blender. Stir bean puree’ into cooked beans and keep warm.

Brown pork cubes and sausage in their own fat in a skillet. If very lean, use a little olive oil. Pour off fat when meats are golden all over, and, if in casing, cut sausage into 1 inch pieces. If not in casing, break up sausage into chunks. Add both meats to beans; season with additional salt and pepper if needed.

Pour orange juice and wine into the skillet that the meats were browned in, and cook over high heat until liquid is reduced to less than half, scraping any brown bits in the pan into the sauce. Pour into the bean mixture and stir to combine all flavors. Place in a preheated 350 degree F oven for 30 minutes.

While pork and beans are cooking, peel the oranges, slice an inch thick and separate into segments…you’ll have about 1 ½ cups of triangles of orange.

Serve over saffron or steamed rice. Garnish with orange segments.

Long, Slender and Orange

I read a lot of recipes. I'm frequently browsing through cookbooks or all kinds, cookbooks I own, cookbooks from the library, cookbooks I borrow from friends, recipes in magazines, recipes from friends. It is inspirational and a little frustrating. So many recipes, such limited time. There is time to cook and even bake, and meals to be made. The limiting factor is often my disorganization...I don't remember (or write down) the necessary ingredients, so end up making old familiar dishes.

Recently I saw a recipe in the August 2007 Bon Appetit magazine that looked wonderful and innovative. It's a pasta dish with lots of lemon flavor, a flavor I always enjoy, but especially in the winter. The innovative part is that they use a vegetable peeler to shave long, thin strips of carrot to act sort of like linguine, then combing the carrot with linguine. It looks really pretty with the long, slender creamy linguine and the long, slender and orange carrot strips all mixed up together on the fork when you twirl them together.

The great thing is that I actually remembered to buy some nice long straight carrots, made sure I had lemons and linguine, and improved the recipe a bit by adding snow peas for color and crunch and making it with red bell pepper instead of orange or gold, mostly because I like some contrast. It was amazingly good as well as good looking. There was some butter in the sauce, but it still was a pretty healthy dish.

A tip on making the carrot strips: Start at the wider end of the carrot (where the leaves join the root) and, using a sharp vegetable peeler, peel one thin strip, then another one, then turn the carrot a quarter turn and repeat. This way you strips of carrot will stay fairly narrow. If you just run the peeler down the carrot time after time, the strips from the middle of the carrot will need to be cut into two. Otherwise they will be too fat and not play nicely with the linguine.

The snow peas are the only part of the dish that isn't shaped long and thin, but it's texture is different, too, very snappy and crisp. It makes a nice contrast to the softness of the rest of the dish and the color contrasts are fun, too. The lemon gives a burst of flavor and zing to each mouthful.

Linguine with Carrot Ribbons, Snow Peas and Lemon Sauce
A colorful, fresh tasting first-course or side dish

4 long slender carrots (about 9 oz.), peeled (although I didn’t peel mine and it was fine)
½ onion, finely chopped
¼ cup (1/2 stick) butter
1 tablespoon, packed, finely grated lemon zest
1 large or 2 small red bell peppers, cored and seeded, flesh cut lengthwise into ¼ inch strips
1 ½ cups snow peas, any tough strings removed, each cut in two pieces
8 oz. linguine
2.3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
¼ cup tablespoons fresh lemon juice
salt and pepper

Run vegetable peeler down length of each carrot, shaving into ribbons. (I found that turning the carrot a quarter turn after a couple of passes with the vegetable peeler kept the ribbons narrow.) Melt butter in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add lemon peel and onions; stir 1 minute. Add carrots; stir 1 minute. Add bell peppers. Saute’ until just tender, about 4-5 minutes. Spread the snow pea pieces over the hot carrot and pepper mixture. Reduce heat to low and cover. Let sit for 1-2 minutes until peas are bright green, but still crunchy.

Meanwhile cook pasta in medium pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to the bite. Drain, reserving ½ cup cooking liquid.

In the microwave, heat the lemon juice for 50 seconds at half power.

Add drained pasta, ¼ cup reserved cooking liquid, cheese, and the hot lemon juice to the skillet. Toss until sauce coast pasta and vegetables, adding more cooking liquid id too dry. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

4-6 first-course servings