Sun Gold from back garden, volunteer mystery tomato in the front garden, growing wild all over the Rose shrubs. Both of these are completely delicious! #ediblelandscaping #tomatoes #garden #summer #delishytown

Tomato bread bagels for breakfast featuring 3 kinds of cherry tomatoes and basil from our garden, yum! #tomatoes #garden #summer #food #organicgardening

Spaghetti Bolognese

I love Bolognese Spaghetti, It's the best. On a cold night it's the kind of food that makes you very happy. This is delicious comfort food and only takes about 1/2 hour to make.

I've been studying chefs on you tube make their version of Spaghetti Bolognese, and Mario Batali has an interesting and very authentic take on it. He uses a mixture of ground meat and cooks it slowly with the aromatics, a small amount of tomato paste which he sears in the pan, and milk. Searing the tomato in the pan before adding liquid gives it a rich sweet tomato taste that is elevated from just plain old tomato sauce from a can. I like to use the tomato paste from Italy that comes in a tube. This recipe is a combo of some of Mario B's technique and the way I've always done it. Mine has more tomato in it, and not as much pepper. And I don't cook veal. So I leave that out. Here's how to make an easy pot of delicious spaghetti for supper.

In a large heavy bottomed pot, brown ground grass fed beef in a little olive oil with minced celery, carrot and onion. Season with salt and pepper. Cook slowly until everything starts to become fragrant. Add minced garlic and 1 large bay leaf. Add 2 to 3 tablespoons of tomato paste and let it sear on the bottom of the pot for a few minutes until the color changes slightly. Add 3/4 cup red wine and a can of blended whole peeled tomatoes. Season with more salt and pepper. Let it simmer and bubble for a while until it thickens and becomes amazing.

Meanwhile heat a pot of salted water for the spaghetti. Cook according to package directions until al dente. When you drain it, reserve a little of the cooking water.

Toss the spaghetti with the sauce in a pot on the stove, adding a little bit of the water from the spaghetti pot if you need to thin it out slightly. The starchy water helps the whole thing come together. Top with Parmigiano reggiano and fresh basil leaves. Yum!

Caprese Salad

Here's another delectable way to use all those garden tomatoes. In this photo: Isis Candy tomatoes on a plate that's been rubbed with a garlic clove, add fresh Mozzarella, shredded Basil, salt, pepper, and Olive oil. Serve as a salad, or over pasta as Cecca, with toasted French bread as Bruschetta, or with any grilled fish or meat. You could also add a drizzle of Balsamic vinegar. This is very fresh and delicious!

Edible Landscape Update, July 9, 2014

I took these pictures this morning in my front and back yards. It's the time of year when winter vegetables set seed. The Leeks are flowering in the front garden. Their flower heads look like fireworks exploding. The Radicchio is setting beautiful blue flowers, their flower stalks are spindly and other wordily and so pretty! I love this plant in every stage of development. Celery seed is starting to dry on the plant, and fennel seed too. Both of these plants I grow primarily to use the seeds as spices. I love making celery salt, it's one of my favorite flavors. And fennel seed is a delicious flavoring in home made sausage, even veggie sausage.

We've got green tomatoes on all of our plants; Cherokee Purple, Brandywine, Isis Candy, and Patio among others. I love summertime mostly because of tomatoes. We've been harvesting Sun Gold since last week. I gently pinch the center of the tomato flowers to get the plants to set more fruit. It works!

I planted Haricot Vert and Yellow wax beans at my friend's house, who's on vacation. We've been harvesting beans whenever we go there to water. She has patty pan squash, and Moon and Stars watermelon and Butternut squash trailing across her back yard garden. 

Our Tuscan Kale has been mulched with a layer of straw and is going strong in the summer heat. We also have Purple Ruffle Kale and Green Curly Kale. 

The Cripps Pink, aka "Pink Lady" apple tree has 2-4 little green apples on each branch. The grapes are setting fruit, and the passionflower vine is covered with passions fruits. I have no idea what to do with these, it's my first time growing them. The blueberries are done, but the blackberries are starting to set flowers again. Our strawberries are doing great. I keep harvesting them in order for the plant to keep going. I look forward to this every day. 

There are three varieties of Eggplant in our garden; Rosa Bianca, Casper and Little Fingers, which is a very creepy name for a vegetable. All are doing well. They love the sunshine and heat.

 Purple Basil, Thai Basil, and Genovese Basil are growing strong. We made pesto from the Genovese the other night, it was delicious. 

Tarragon has gone wild, it's huge! I'll clip a few stems off and hang them to dry because there's no way I'm going to use it all this summer.  

Today I'm planting out squash I started from seed, and more tomatoes in a new bed I made where a dying tree had to be cut down a few weeks ago. I'm sad to see the tree go, it was really big and shady, but happy to have more garden space.

Happy Gardening everyone!

Cheesy Eggs Baked in Tomatoes with Pita Toast

It finally got cool here and we can turn the oven on. Yay Autumn! This is a delicious, cheesy and very easy dish. It also looks very pretty if you're having people over for breakfast.

Cut around the core of the tomato and discard. Cut a wide-ish circle into the tops of however many tomatoes you're cooking and scoop out some of the tomato, creating an opening big enough to hold an egg. Chop the parts you scooped out and mix with slivers of garlic, salt & pepper, basil and olive oil. Drizzle some of the juice from this garlicky mixture into the cored tomato to give it flavor as it bakes. Place the chopped mixture in the bottom sides of a small oven proof dish, one oven proof dish per tomato. Place the cored tomato in the center and bake at 400 for about 15 minutes.

Remove from the oven and crack an egg in the center. Top with shredded cheddar cheese and julienned basil. Return to the oven and bake an additional 10 or 15 minutes until the egg is cooked, cheese is melted, and the tomato is soft and bubbly. Add pita bread to the oven for the last 3 or 4 minutes of baking to toast. Yummy!

DIY Ketchup

Making your own organic ketchup is amazingly delicious and saves a lot of money. You can control how sweet, spicy or savory you make it. I made this ketchup using garden tomatoes, onions, brown sugar and spices. I usually try to buy organic ketchup, or ketchup with "sugar" in the ingredients list, to avoid eating high fructose corn syrup derived form GMO corn. But making your own from home grown tomatoes is even better! Yum!

Here's how I made this:

In a saucepan, 2 tblsp olive oil, 1 large sweet onion chopped, 3-4 garlic cloves, chopped, 1/2 inch grated ginger, salt and pepper and sauté a few minutes. Add 5 or 6 large, chopped garden tomatoes, (or 1 can whole peeled tomatoes) 2 tblsp organic brown sugar, 2 tblsp cider vinegar, 2 allspice berries, 1 clove, fresh ground pepper, celery salt, a sprinkle of cinnamon, 1 tblsp worcestershire sauce, 2 tblsp tomato paste.

Simmer until it thickens, about 45 to 1 hour. Taste. Is it sweet enough? If not, add more brown sugar or honey.  

Strain through a food mill, or smoosh through a strainer with the back of a spoon. A food mill is much easier, I don't use mine often, but when I do, I'm glad I have it.

Place in jars and refrigerate. Lasts up to a couple months, I think, not positive.

If you make a big batch, and want to keep it for up to a year or more, sterilize some canning jars, pour the hot ketchup into the sterilized jars, cover with sterilized lids and rings, process in a hot water bath for 25 minutes. Cool and store.

(alternate mild ketchup tip: If you are making this for kids, or if you don't want it so spicy, leave out the ginger, allspice and clove.)

Turkey Tacos with Red Jalapeño Salsa

  Mmmm, tacos... These are better than anything you might get at a corner taco place. These are actually better than anything. I love tacos. Especially the kind with savory crumbled meat. However, chain restaurant food always makes me wonder, "What exactly did I just eat?" So, I like to make my own at home. That way I know what foods are in my food.

In order to get the "all day cooked" taste of the corner tacos, I slow cook the lean ground turkey with olive oil, garlic, chili powder and other aromatics. Here's how we made this:

Add to a skillet a little olive oil, sauté one chopped shallot, 1 small chopped onion, 2 or 3 fresh chopped garlic cloves, and 1/2 red jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced. Season with celery salt and pepper. Add 1 lb free range ground turkey and sear until parts of it get golden brown. Break the ground turkey apart as it cooks with the aromatics.

Once the meat is mostly cooked, deglaze the pan with 1/2 bottle of beer, drink the other half. Add 1 tsp ancho chili powder, 1/2 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp smoked paprika, a sprinkle of garlic powder, a sprinkle of onion powder, black pepper and salt and fresh chopped cilantro. Cover and turn the heat way down. Slow cook for about 40 minutes or more, stirring occasionally and adding more beer or stock as the liquid evaporates. Cook until very tender.

Meanwhile, grate cheese (we used cheddar and queso fresco), chop lettuce (these were from our garden) chop tomatoes and avocado, slice lime wedges.

I also like to make a little fresh hot salsa for this by combining some of the chopped tomato with the other half of the minced jalapeño pepper, salt & pepper, chopped cilantro and crushed garlic and lime or lemon juice.

Heat oven to 350 and cook taco shells according package directions. These were organic blue corn taco shells. Assemble tacos with meat on the bottom, tomatoes and avocados,  lettuce, cheese, and the spicy salsa. Yum!

Tomato Poached Eggs

This is my favorite summertime breakfast. I posted this recipe a long time ago, but recently told my friend Molly about it because she was looking for something easy and healthy. She tried it and loved it, so I'm sharing it again. The simmering tomato liquid poaches the egg and makes it taste fantastically delicious!

This is so easy, takes only about 4 ingredients, and uses up all those garden tomatoes.

Heat oven to 375.

Chop any fresh tomatoes you have on hand, about 1 cup, and place them in a small casserole dish. Add 1 minced garlic clove. Drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and toss it all together.  Bake until bubbly, about 10 minutes. 

Remove the dish from the oven and scoot the tomato pieces to the edges. Crack an egg into the center, add fresh chopped basil, (optional). Bake for an additional 5 minutes or so until the egg is done to your liking. 

Serve with crusty sourdough toast to soak up all those stewed tomatoes. Yum!

This was my lunch today and I meant it.

Portabella Mushrooms and Sun Dried Tomato Spaghetti

This was so delicious and easy. Boil water for pasta, I used whole wheat spaghetti. In a skillet sauté 1 small chopped onion, 2 minced garlic cloves and 8-10 mushrooms in a little olive oil. I had small portabellas, but any mushrooms would be delicious in this dish. Add chopped kale or chard if you have it, chopped fresh parsley or fresh or dried basil. I also added some chopped sun dried tomatoes. Once your pasta is done, toss it with the sautéed veggies, a drizzle of olive oil,fresh ground black pepper and a generous amount of parmesan cheese.  Yummy!

Heirloom Tomato Bread

We have a billion tomatoes in the garden, and my neighbor just brought over some more from her veggie patch! Here's an easy summer tomato recipe.

Chop tomatoes, (the ones in this photo are heirlooms, the variety is simply called "Black". They're one of the nice, sweet, dark red varieties, like Cherokee Purple or Black Krim)

Toast English muffins. Pre heat oven to 400. Dress the chopped tomatoes with 1 smashed garlic clove, a drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper and some freshly chopped basil.

Place the English muffins on a cookie sheet and top with the tomato /garlic/ basil mixture, a slice or two of turkey peperoni, and some grated cheese.

Bake for 10 to 15 minutes until melted and bubbly.

Yum. 

Greek Frittata

I made this with Swiss Chard and Kale from my garden instead of buying spinach. It was sooo yummy!

In a skillet, saute some chopped onion or shallot. Add the chopped stems of the Swiss chard if you're using chard, or you can use spinach or whatever greens you have. Chop the green parts of the chard and add those.

Slice a tomato and place the slices in the hot pan so that they touch the bottom of the pan & sear a little bit.

Add some sliced Kalamata olives. Season with salt, pepper, dried basil and a pinch of dried oregano. Scramble 2 eggs and pour them over the cooked veggies. Top with crumbled feta cheese. Broil for a few minutes to cook the top of the omelette. Garnish with some slices of sun dried tomato.  YUM!

Oven Roasted Tomato Sauce

I have lots of tomatoes growing in my garden right now and they seem to be ready to harvest all at once. Here's a really easy and delicious way to use a bunch of tomatoes. Oven roasting brings out the sweetness of the tomatoes and onion. You can freeze the leftover sauce to use in a lasagna or a pot of chili.

If you don't have garden tomatoes, this recipe is great with store bought plum tomatoes. 

Cut tomatoes in half and put them in a shallow roasting pan. I use a glass, ceramic or enamel pan for this sauce and avoid metal.

Slice a sweet onion or shallot and add it to the pan. Smash open a few cloves of garlic, no need to chop or peel.

Drizzle about 1/4 cup olive oil over the tomatoes, garlic & onions and toss the whole thing with salt and pepper.

Bake at 350 till bubbly. Squeeze the garlic from the peels.

Serve over pasta with fresh basil and cheese.

Tomato, Spinach & Feta Scramble  (recipe below)

Fresh Rainbow Salsa~  

This is a delicious home made salsa that we make a lot. It's quick to do in the food processor. This goes great with chips, over eggs or fish, and inside tacos or burritos.

In a food processor, combine 5 or 6 fresh tomatoes*,  1 clove fresh garlic, juice of 1 lemon, 1/4 tsp chili flakes, salt, pepper. Pulse. Once it's nice and salsa-y, add chopped fresh cilantro and pulse a couple times quickly. Pour in a bowl and garnish with a little olive oil. Yum! You could also do this chopping the ingredients by hand.

* Use the sweetest you can find. A can of whole peeled tomatoes also works in a pinch. Make sure to add a 1/4 tsp of sugar if your tomatoes  aren't so sweet. The sweet/hot combo is undeniable.