Tomato Shallot Saffron Tagine Recipe

Tagines are earthenware pots from Northern Africa which can be used on a stove-top at low heat to create amazing dishes.  


Pictured below, you can see that the lids for tagines can be very tall, and the hole in the middle is part of a clever design that keeps it cool enough to handle without use of a hot-pad.

Tomatoes and other fresh vegetables are perfect ingredients to cook in these vessels, and the results can be spectacular!   

This T-Farm recipe is a delicious way to cook some fresh tomatoes in a small tagine.

T-Farm Tagine Saffron-Tomato 

Shallot Recipe (serves 2)

2 Tablespoons Olive oil

1/4 cup water

3 tablespoons arborio rice

3 cups large chunks of fresh red tomatoes

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 tablespoon lime juice

4 small shallots diced

8 small twigs of saffron

Warm the tagine on low heat for about 5 minutes.  Put the ingredients in the order listed above, and bring pot to boil at a medium heat.  (If you attempt to heat the pot at a higher temperature, you may crack the pot)

Lower to a simmer and let cook for 40 minutes, stirring every 12 to 15 minutes.

Remove from heat and enjoy!

Double-Decker Tomato Sandwich

Now that more fresh tomatoes are coming off the vine, the question for those of us that REALLY love fresh tomatoes is how to possibly work more of them into a meal.

Before the T-Farm tomatoes started ripening this year, I had a very nice sandwich the other day with a local tomato slice on it that was maybe 1/4" thick.  It tasted pretty good, but the flavor was not quite all there in my opinion. (Perhaps it was not picked red)

Anyway,  if you slice open a large tomato, and make the slices that thin, there better be a pretty large group of people ready to eat or you will have to find another use for the rest of the tomato.  In short, sandwiches can be a slow and limited way to eat tomatoes if prepared in this fashion.

And then there is the Double-Decker tomato sandwich, which is truly a lycopene packed innovation that solves the sandwich/tomato dilemma.   The sandwich shown above was created by my friend Mike yesterday with a rye bread I had baked and some T-Farm tomatoes and basil layered with some white cheddar.  If this wasn't Wisconsin I suspect the cheese may not have been doubled!

After copying the design of this structural sandwich, I can tell that you it tastes every bit as good as it looks.  With the Midwest weather as nice as it has been so far this year, many of us may need to find new ways to eat all of the garden bounty, and this is a great way to go!  Enjoy!

Tofu Marinade and Potatoes

Last month I shared a Tofu Marinade recipe, that has turned out to be quite popular.  However, some people that don't often prepare tofu have asked, "what should I serve with this dish, or what should I prepare with it?"

One easy way to serve the Tofu Marinade, is to add potatoes to the tofu, fry together and serve as a breakfast dish.  The two are a great compliment to one another, it's a great first meal of the day.


Potato-Tofu Breakfast Fries

• Prepare tofu marinade. This can also be made the day before.
• Par-bake 4 to 5 medium potatoes so that they are almost fully baked, but still have some firmness. At 350 this should take about 25-30 minutes.
• Cool the potatoes on a cookie rack for 10-15 minutes.
• Cut the potatoes into 1/2" slices.
• Heat up a skillet or iron wok on medium-high hear with canola oil coating the pan.  The tofu already has garlic, but at this time, you may dice and add another clove if you want extra.  Fry the potatoes stirring frequently (and extra garlic if added) for about 8 minutes, or until lightly browned.
• Add the tofu and more oil and fry for another 5-7 minutes or until the tofu and potatoes are browned.

Enjoy!

Calzones with fresh tomatoes

There are few foods as absolutely satisfying as a good homemade calzone.  Calzones are typically made with a thinner crust then most pizza, so using fresh tomatoes in this dish without having excesses moisture is even more difficult to achieve.  Calzones are basically folded over pizzas that are sealed, so there is little opportunity for excess moisture to evacuate during the baking process.  This means that the ingredients going into the dish should already be fairly dry. 

Sauce

Let’s start with the sauce, which for calzones is typically served in a bowl on the side.  You may use a pre-made sauce, but if you are making sauce from fresh tomatoes, you will need to simmer it for several hours to get a thick consistency.  If you are pressed for time, try this method: 

• Bring your crushed tomatoes to a boil while stirring in order to avoid burning.
• Strain excess liquid by placing a colander over a bowl and pouring in the tomatoes. (You may save the juice for soup stock)
• Return the tomato solids to the pan and add dried tomatoes.  These will soak up some of the water without diluting the flavor.  Simmer for at least 10-20 minutes or until the sauce begins to thicken.
• Add sauteed onions, sweet peppers, salt (if desired) and Italian seasonings.

Dough Preparation

To make the shell, you will need about 1 pizza dough portion for each 2 calzones that you make.  Pre-made pizza dough can be purchased from an Italian grocery or some pizzerias. Or you can make your own.  The portion size should be from 5 to 6.5 ounces.  If you don't have a scale (like this one that we used to make ours, which we also sell) press the dough ball into a one cup measure, and use about 3/4 cup.  If you roll 6 ounces of dough out fairly thin, you will wind up with a very large calzone as you can see from the  photo below.

Assembly

• Place a baking stone in the oven and pre-heat to 450 degrees.
• Transfer the rolled out dough to a peel or cookie sheet covered with a coarse corn meal.  Now you are ready to add whatever you like to each individual calzone.  (Making 2 at a time with each person adding their own ingredients often works well.)
• You may add whatever amount of dry ingredients on one half of the dough, like cheese, sweet peppers, onions, etc. so long as you can seal it up when done.
• If using "wet" ingredients, special care must be taken.  For spinach, and tomatoes, you should precook in a pan and then drain the liquid off first.  Then use sparingly, and surround it with dry items like the provolone blanket I made for the drained tomatoes shown in this photo.
• Fold half of the dough over the ingredients half and pinch the edges to seal it shut.  You may also use a fork to press the edges.
• Use a fork to poke four to five sets of air holes on the top of the shell.
• Ladle or brush olive oil or butter over the top of the shell.
• Using a large spatula as a backup, transfer the calzone(s) to the stone.
• Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until done.
• Serve with a red sauce on the side, which is ladled over the crust just before eating.  If you like it spicy, chopped hot peppers on top of the sauce is fantastic.

Enjoy!

Tomato Dijon-Rosemary Shish Kabobs

Tomato Shish Kabobs are a delicious way to prepare small tomatoes and other foods on the grill. 
Let’s get started by making a simple Dijon-Rosemary marinade.

Dijon-Rosemary Marinade

1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon dried or cracked rosemary
1/2 teaspoon salt

Grilling Steps
1.     You can use stainless steel skewers like the ones we sell in our General Store, or if you use bamboo or wooden skewers, be sure to soak in water ahead of time so they won’t burn on the grill.

2.     Use whole, small tomatoes.  Pieces of large tomatoes will likely fall apart.

3.     Make your kabobs with tomatoes and other ingredients, and place on a pan or casserole dish that they barely fit on.  We used tofu to go with the tomatoes.  Large sweet onion pieces, or prebaked potatoes would also be a nice addition. 

4.     Marinate your ingredients, by pouring the marinade over the top, then ladle or brush over the surface again until covered.  If the marinade does not stick to the food, you may add up to 2 teaspoons of flour, and cover again

5.     Note: If using a marinade with a lot of oil, there will be a bit of flare up when the kabobs first hit the grill.  This will sear the outside of the food.

6.     Do not walk away from the food on the grill; kabobs need to be turned frequently, about every minute or two depending on the heat.

Tomato Marinade for Tofu

I created this delicious marinade today and used it to bake and fry tofu.  Even non-vegetarians enjoyed it a lot, but it would likely work well with other foods as well.  Start by putting the following ingredients into a blender and blending until smooth:

3 cups loose fresh tomatoes cut in half  (will puree into 2 cups)

1 teaspoon Penzey’s Salad Elegant

1 teaspoon paprika

½ teaspoon Penzey’s Cajun seasoning

1 ½ teaspoon Penzey’s 4/5 seasoned salt

3 large pealed cloves of garlic

1 Tablespoon soy sauce (may need a dash later)

2 Tablespoons olive oil (will need 1 tablespoon later)

1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

2.      Preheat oven to 425 degrees

3.      Cut 2 pounds of tofu into approximately ½” slabs and lay into a large Pyrex or ceramic baking dish.  We have some great lasagne pans for sale in our General Store under baking.  A basic Pyrex one and Bodum's which comes with a silicone lid that can also be used as a trivet!

4.      Spread marinade over the top of the tofu and bake for 60 minutes

5.      Remove from oven and spread 1 tablespoon olive oil over the top of the tofu, and then turn each piece over in the pan

6.      Continue to bake 20-25 more minutes until browned

7.      The dish may be served as is or fried in additional olive oil and a bit more soy sauce for about 3 minutes on a high heat; be careful not to burn the tomato paste that covers the tofu

8.      This made a wonderful compliment to fried potatoes with onions, scallions and sweet bell peppers  at breakfast.  It would also go quite well with sautéed asparagus.

Caprese Tomato Salad

When the tomatoes are peaking, one of the best ways to enjoy them is also one of the easiest to prepare.  A classic Italian Caprese salad can be made in about ten minutes.  Here is what you will need:

Ingredients

1. Fresh tomatoes, sliced
2. Fresh basil leaves
3. Olive oil
4. Balsamic vinegar
5. Coarse sea salt

6. Fresh mozzarella cheese (optional)

Preparation

1. Slice the tomatoes and lay onto a plate or bowl
2. Wash and remove the stems from the basil, which can be whole leaf or chopped; sprinkle on top of the tomatoes
3. Grind coarse sea salt over the tomatoes and basil

4. Slice the mozzarella cheese and put a small piece onto each tomato slice (optional)
5. Drizzle balsamic vinegar and olive oil over the salad and serve

6. You may eat right away or serve chilled.  If you freeze the plate ahead of time, you can easily keep this dish nice and chilled.

Enjoy 

Crispy Fresh Tomato Pizza

Earlier recipes I have posted on making a pizza with a pre-made crust and fresh tomatoes with no sauce (like a Tale of Two Margarita Pizzas) have focused on fresh milk mozzarella as the cheese. Well, some folks either don't have access to this cheese (yes I do realize not everyone lives in Wisconsin), or want the most crispy pizza possible, and that is what this recipe is all about.

1.      Pre-made crust - The first aspect to consider when making a crispy fresh tomato pizza is of course the crust.  I recommend going with a thin crust that has been pre-baked on corn meal for about 6-8 minutes in an oven pre-heated to 375 degrees.  You can even make the crust ahead of time and then freeze it if you like, using freezer paper, and it will keep nicely for quite a while.  Pre-made crusts can also be purchased from some grocery stores (especially Italian-food grocers).

2.      Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit with a stone

3.      Basil - Wash and remove the stems from enough fresh basil to scatter over the surface of the crust. Lightly pat dry the basil with a fresh kitchen towel or paper towel to remove any remaining moisture from washing. 

4.      Tomatoes – Here is where you need to be extra selective if you can.  This time of year if you have a good farmers market or produce market, use one of these: San Marzano, Italian Paste, heirloom Roma or just plain Roma if nothing else is available.  We used 3 large San Marzano tomatoes and one smaller Italian Paste Heirloom.  Get at least a pound or more depending on how large a pizza you are making.  If you have heard that the San Marzano tomatoes are the best, you heard right.  Whoever told you that is probably a reliable source of information regarding Italian food!  Slice and layer your tomatoes on top of the basil.

5.      Cheese – Some good options that are widely available: slices of provolone or mozzarella (or use grated).  Top the tomatoes with your cheese.  We used sliced provolone for this one.

6.      Garlic – Peel and chop two large cloves of garlic.  You do not need to mince the garlic finely as you will sprinkle this on top of the cheese and it will roast and then bake into the cheese.

7.      Bake - Bake until nicely crisp, about 20-25 minutes depending on your oven and stone.  You can see from the photos of the results how nice and crispy the end result was.  If you don't have a pizza peel like the one shown above, you can get it from our General Store.  Here is the direct link to a good pizza peel that we sell.

Also, the pizza cutter that we used (similar one shown above) works really well, and you can get one from us here at a great price.

Enjoy!

A Tale of Two Margarita Pizzas

One of the fastest ways to create a fantastic pizza is to start with a pre-baked crust that is either fresh or frozen. Many busy people feel they don’t have time to make their own pizza. Using a pre-made crust simplifies the process so that a good homemade pizza can be put together in just a few minutes. Having a pre-made crust also makes the process more fool proof, because you have a solid foundation to build on that is less likely to get mushy from wet ingredients like fresh tomatoes.

Since this is the time of year in the Midwestern United States that we finally have an abundance of tomatoes, I decided to try making two Margarita pizzas in the T-Farm Test Kitchen on pre-made crusts.  The goal was to see how they would each turn out, and also to demonstrate how you can use most any good tomato and get a good result.  One pizza was made with juicy heirloom slicing tomatoes and the other one contained heirloom Italian paste tomatoes. 

The slicing tomatoes, purchased from a local grower, are an Heirloom which appears to be Copia, but I am not positive that is the variety.  In any event, the photo below shows just how gorgeous they are.  At first glance you might mistake them for small apples!

On the second pizza I used our own T-Farm grown “Principe Borghese,” which is an Italian Heirloom paste tomato and is very popular in Italy for sauces and drying, but you can use any paste tomato to obtain a similar consistency.  This variety grows on a compact plant and has a deep rich flavor, also making it perfect for pizza.   Here is what they look like:

The pizzas were both constructed very quickly and simply in the same way.  Only a few ingredients are needed, but of course you can add whatever toppings you like. 

Here are the steps.

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

2. Place a fresh layer of basil on the surface of the crust.  This is done for a couple of reasons.  It helps to keep the crust crunchy as it can hold some of the juices from the fresh tomatoes before they boil off, and secondly, the tomato juice keeps the leaves from drying out and losing their flavor.

3. Layer tomato slices on top of the basil.

4. Fresh milk mozzarella cheese, which sometimes comes in a log shape, should be cut into ¼” slices and then cut in half slices; layer them over the tomatoes.

5. Finally, a clove of freshly chopped garlic should be sprinkled on top of the cheese.  This will allow the garlic to brown while baking and fuse its flavor into the cheese.

6. Bake the pizza directly on a stone until brown, from 15-25 minutes depending on the crust and type of tomato used.  You can use a knife or peel to check the underside to ensure the crust is done.  If you don't already have one, we check out the baking stones we sell in our Amazon General Store here.

Results

The pizza with the juicy tomatoes turned out pretty well, but as you can see in the photo below, it had more moisture than it needed to.  If we had pressed the tomatoes on a drying rack to remove some of the liquid, that would have helped reduce the liquid on the final pizza.

The pizza made with the paste tomatoes was perfect.  As the closeup photo shows, although there was still moisture, most of it was gone when the pizza was done baking.  Everyone seemed to enjoy it, though the other pizza was also eaten, but perhaps not as quickly! 

Making Pizza on a Grill

When grilling out this summer, consider something special - Grilled Pizza.  Making Pizza on the grill is a little more difficult than baking, but it is a delicious treat with that smokey grill flavor that people will enjoy and ask for again and again.  Here are the steps you will need to follow to make a prefect grilled pizza.

1.     Create a good bed of coals that has an even heat.  Coals should be white hot.

2.     Start out with good pizza dough, and roll it out to about ¼” thick.  A thin crust does well on a grill, but it has to be thick enough to not fall apart.

This peel for sale at our
General Store works well with pizza

3.   Roll the dough on a counter top with lots of flour to make sure it doesn’t stick when transferring it to the peel or cookie sheet.  The peel shown on the right works very nicely for pizza and is on sale at our General Store.

4.     Do not curl up the edges of the crust when preparing it for cooking on the grill.

5.     Put coarse corn meal onto a peel like the one shown on the right and transfer the crust to the grill and then cover.  At this time you will only cook one side of the crust.

6.     Turn the crust as needed to cook evenly.  Hot and cool spots may be present across the grill. 

7.     Using the peel, remove the crust and lay the cooked side up back on the countertop, peel or cookie sheet.

8.     The pizza is now ready for toppings.  Lay out fresh basil and add a thin coating of sauce.  Adding too much sauce may create a soggy pizza that could fall apart on the grill.  Add other ingredients and then cover with cheese.

9.     Use the peel to gently slide the uncooked side down onto the grill.  It may be helpful to use a large spatula to remove the pizza from the peel and transfer it back to the grill.  Cover the pizza, but rotate it every 1-3 minutes, depending on how hot the coals are.   

10.  When the pizza looks nicely browned, remove it carefully using the peel.  

Tomatoes make low-cal tasty

When you need to make a meatless, quick, low-calorie meal, tomatoes can be the ingredient that really makes it tasty and something you want to eat!  Consider this simple meal:
1 Thin bun - 100 calories
1 Medium tomato – 22 calories
1 Teaspoon Dijon mustard – 4 calories
1 Boca burger - 140 calories
1 Large sprig of fresh basil – 1 calorie
1 Ear of corn on the cob with butter – 155 calories
Total calories for the meal: 422

And if you like dill pickles, adding a whole one only bumps it up 12 calories.  And you can always make fresh, raw pickles if you have some cucumbers. 

Enjoy!

Fresh Vegetable Lasagna Recipe

When the tomatoes are ripe and your kitchen has an abundance, what should you do?  Well, tonight, I didn't feel like canning, so I opted to make a fresh vegetable lasagna.  Here's my recipe.

Ingredients

• 4 to 5 pounds of fresh tomatoes, chopped (more are needed if they are slicers)
• 1 large onion, diced
• olive oil
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1 tablespoon vegetable stock or 2 vegetable bouillon cubes
• 1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced into large pieces
• 3 cloves chopped, fresh garlic
• 1/2 large cauliflower, chopped into chunks
• 2-6 oz fresh basil
• 4 cups whole, fresh spinach leaves
• 2 large sweet peppers or 6 small ones, chopped into medium pieces
• 2 tablespoons Italian herbs
• "oven ready" or "no-boil" lasagna pasta
• 16 oz ricotta cheese
• 10 oz grated mozzarella cheese

Dice the onion and chop the tomatoes in a food processor. 

Then saute onions in a heavy cast iron pan with olive oil, and add the diced tomatoes.

Now add the salt and vegetable stock.  Now simmer to reduce the water content for 20 to 35 minutes until it thickens into a sauce with about 3-4 cups of liquid remaining.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

 Saute mushrooms and garlic with olive oil in a cast iron pan until golden brown.

Now add the following into the tomato sauce:

• mushrooms and garlic
• peppers
• spinach
• basil

Now mix it all together and you are ready to layer your dish! 

You will need a very large lasagna pan, or two medium sized ones.  First place a layer of pasta, then sauce, then use half of the  ricotta cheese.  Repeat with pasta, sauce, ricotta and top with the mozzaralla cheese. 

Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 400 for 30 minutes.  Remove the foil and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes until brown.

Top with fresh basil and serve.