Slow Roasted End of Season Tomatoes

“The difference between a bland tomato and a great one is immense, much like the difference between a standard, sliced white bread and a crusty, aromatic sourdough.” Yotam Ottolenghi

I always look forward to fall and all its splendour.  But, hélas, it also signals the end of tomato season.  In my garden, I have some tomatoes that are struggling to ripen with the cooler temperatures upon us and many that have become mealy and are just not that good.  Slow cooking these end of season, less than perfect tomatoes, can rescue them and bring out some of their sweetness and improve their texture.  Adding spices boasts their flavor and makes them fragrant additions to autumnal soups, braises and stews.  When the garden gives you mealy tomatoes…..make slow-roasted spiced tomatoes!

To slow-roast them, cut the tomatoes in quarters or halves depending on size.  For every pound of tomatoes, toss with:

• 1-2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Spread the seasoned tomatoes on a lined baking sheet in a single layer.  Bake in a 275 F degree oven for 2 hours. You will end up with caramelized, gently spiced tomatoes to use in various recipes and fill your kitchen up with the most heavenly aroma! Be sure to scrape up any cooking juices.    I puréed mine with zucchini and onions into a creamy all vegetable  soup.  So good!

Growing Moss on Hypertufa and Clay

“And when thou art weary I’ll find thee a bed, Of  mosses and flowers to pillow thy head.” John Keats

Moss envy! I dreamed of recreating this ancient looking moss in my home garden.

On a tour of English gardens last year,  one of the things I loved the most were stone structures covered in moss.  Some of these gardens were hundreds of years old and the moss looked even more ancient.  

Pumpkin Mac’N Cheese with Roasted Bacon-Brussel Sprouts

“Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall.”

F. Scott Fitzgerald

What can be better than a bowl of home made Mac’N Cheese on a cool fall day?  A heaping topping of crispy bacon-brussel sprouts with caramelized onion on top of that bad boy is what.  Adding pumpkin to the cheese sauce makes it almost virtuous to have your Mac guilt free. The sauce gets a onctuous velvety texture with no cream, no thickening agents and less cheese.  And pumpkin is so good for us!   This Mac’N Cheese is  easy to make and has fall in every delicious bite.  It can even be served to company, it’s that good.   Use strong flavored cheeses with good melting properties to balance the sweetness of the pumpkin in the sauce.  I used smoked gouda and asiago in mine.  For ease of execution, roast the brussel sprouts while the pasta is cooking so you can serve the Mac’N Cheese as soon as it is ready.  An autumnal twist on a favorite classic.

Brown Butter Nutella Cookies

“You can be miserable before eating a cookie.  You can be miserable after eating a cookie.  But you cannot be miserable while eating a cookie.  Ina Garten

These cookies should be outlawed.  As if they weren’t decadent enough with the inclusion of triple chocolate chips,  they are stuffed with Nutella!  Swoon.  My first introduction to them came from my Canadian friend Christine who brought them to a bookclub meeting.  One bite and everyone was moaning with pleasure and asking what was in those cookies.  Christine revealed the secret ingredient, Nutella in the center, making these cookies soft and fudgy.  We made joining the bookclub conditional on Christine sharing the recipe.  Upon making them myself, I noted a second secret ingredient that really elevates these cookies into a stratosphere of their own:  brown butter.  I think melting the butter first until it foams and gets good and brown adds another distinctive layor of flavor.  I think these might be the best cookies on the entire planet.  Guess who the newest member of our bookclub is?