Red Wine and Thyme Tomato Jam (Recipe 3)

Red Wine and Thyme Tomato Jam

Yes, I know how long it has been since I last posted anything substantive. Yes. And yet, I refuse to feel bad, because a) summer, b) I've been enjoying actually reading books to read them instead of reading them to review them, and c) I've excitingly taken a new job as a library director and, duh, had to learn to do my job. For all other quibbles, I refer you to point the first, otherwise known as a. It was summer, it has been hot, and who really wants to hover over a pot, even a pretty one like my bluetiful Le Creuset?

That said, it has been end of summery, which to me always means the best tomatoes of the year, in quantities you can barely fathom. In fact, when one of my girlfriends went a-honeymooning after her marvelous wedding, she bequeathed me her bountiful, juicy, delicious weekly share of tomatoes from her farmshare. Most survived to see the pot; several were devoured directly on the spot. I've been a fan of tomato jam since I first travelled to the Carolina's and tried it at Asheville's now defunct Tomato Jam cafe. The South is onto something, Northern friends. Tomato jam is where it's at!

Red Wine & Thyme Tomato Jam

(adapted from The Boston Globe Magazine)

Makes roughly 28 oz.

3 lb ripe tomatoes, cores removed and chopped

¾ c + 1tbsp turbinado sugar

5 Tbsp red wine vinegar

3 medium shallots, minced

1.5 Tbsp chopped fresh thyme

1 cup red wine

¼ tsp salt

1 Tbsp olive oil

1) In a food processor, pulse tomatoes, ¾ c sugar and vinegar until it is finely chopped.

2) In a large Le Crueset/Dutch oven, or huge and deep pan, warm olive oil over medium high and saute shallots, thyme and salt for roughly three minutes until they are soft.  

3) Add the 1 Tbsp sugar to the pot and saute another minute or two over medium until incorporated.

4) Add the wine and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally to prevent burning/sticking to the bottom of the pot and cook down until most of the liquid has evaporated and a rougher liquidy glaze starts forming, roughly 5-7 minutes.

5) Add the tomato mixture, stir, bring to a simmer, and cook for about an hour until the volume of liquid has reduced dramatically and mostly cooked off.  

6)  Serve, or cool and save!

Notes:

- A lot of the adaptation of this recipe was born of necessity; ie.  I had a LOT of tomatoes, turbinado sugar, and a huge bunch of thyme...so upped the other ingredients too.  The gist of the idea comes from the Globe’s recipe, though I found their suggested cooktime woefully off, and consulted the Down Home Kitchen cookbook for a much more accurate cooktime 1-1 ½ hours!

- I worked in batches because my food processor is too tiny to accomodate the masses of tomatoes I used.  Just pour into a large bowl and stir when you’re done with all!

- Other versions of this include spices like ginger, cumin, cloves, cinnamon, lemon, etc.  I decided to stick with the basics here, but may experiment with those later!

- I chopped everything very finely, and ran it through a food processor.  If you prefer a much rougher version of this, don’t do that!

- If you can can, can.  If you, like me, are not so proficient, this should keep for about two weeks in the fridge or you can freeze it.  

- This obviously goes well with biscuits.  But some of us don’t readily have access to good biscuits (#notfromthesouth)...so I’ve tried it on toast, English muffins, as a spread in sandwiches, and on chicken so far.  All good!  

Recipe 9: Sweet Potato Vichyssoise

Sweet Potato Vichyssoise

 I don't know when, where, or how this recipe idea came into my head, but I do suspect why. This summer started sweaty, and suspect that may have had something to do with it!  But what sane person is all "yeaaaah, sweet potatoes cold!" Can you think of any other one thing that is a regular and also cold sweet potato based dish, because all I'm coming up with are things that are not good served cold: sweet potato casserole, sweet potato fries, baked sweet potatoes, soups, etc.  You get the idea.  As a disclaimer, I'm really not a huge fan of the humble, servicable pot-a-toe.  I appreciate it.  I'll eat them, sometimes.  Thanksgivingtimes.  The same goes for things with cream included.  But I've grown increasingly fond of throwing sweet potatoes into things, and rather like them. And I did really want a cold soup that wasn't a gazpacho. Good thing I'm not sane though, amirite?!?

Where it all starts: the glamorous kitchen sink.

Somehow, somewhere, sometime in July, while probably lying in my bathtub for my 10th freezing shower of the day, inspiration struck: what about a cold soup with something I like - sweet potato?   In fact, as I started to explore options and do research to find out if it would be possible (I really hate wasting food), I was surprised that not too many sources had tried something like this.  My only two solid leads were Marcus Samuelsson and Design Love Fest.  It may have taken way longer to actually get around to making this soup, but it was worth it when I did, and I'm glad that I've got enough frozen that I can defrost and easily make a quick lunch or dinner of it.  I'm fairly certain it'll taste pretty good hot, but why mess with a good thing? 

 
It's filling, mild to spicy, and easy to adapt as you want.    I really loved it with a garnish of scallions, a dash more of cayenne, and a hearty dash of soy.   Consider this your base, and get creative for other iterations of it (chipotle? peanuts? WHY NOT), or with toppings.  I've already been mentally cooking up version 2.0.   We're getting close to the tail end of it, so why not try this lovely orange hued soup during the dog days of summer in September?

Notes: I planned to freeze and keep it, so I immediately ruled out using cream, despite it being a vichyssoise; cream just gets disgusting when frozen and defrosted.  Nobody wants to eat baby vomit!  This mostly vegetarian (if you use vegetable stock, or 100% vegan if you use oil instead of the butter) recipe does freeze and keep well.  

First blend: Sweet Potato Vichyssoise

Second blend: Sweet Potato Vichyssoise

Recipe:

Recipe 9: Asparagus, Ricotta, Lemon Soup

Spring is still springing, and I can’t stop thinking about green, and bright things, like sunshine.   I realized last week that I hadn’t had nearly enough asparagus this spring, and was fixing to just get some and roast it, when I met some friends at a local watering hole with nibbles on the menu, saw a chilled asparagus ricotta soup on the menu and promptly failed to order it.  I mean...what was I thinking?  Huge fail.  I should probably also add that sometime in the past month I also developed an overwhelming, inexplicable, and insatiable craving for ricotta.  Double what was I thinking, right?  

Not ordering it was probably the best thing I did all month.  Why?  Because I had to have it, guys.  I just had to.  You know how it is!  I promptly started recipe plotting in the background of my life, and realized that this recipe would be a real winner.  It is super easy.  It is super quick.  It is super simple.  It is (probably) super healthy, being comprised primarily of vegetables.  And, amigos, it is a super celebration of a lot of the things that are the most delicious parts of spring: the green colors, the bright flowers, the sunshine, the spring vegetables, the crisp and warming air, the ricotta (okay, fine, this one is an every season thing).  

Prep probably takes longer than cooking (if you have maybe just tripped over a root while on a run, skinned your hand, and rage cried your pain out in a public place; this will, I assure you, slow things down considerably), but the rest of the process is probably a 30 minute cooking and blending window.  If you are a fast chopper, you’ll probably disagree with the previous statement.  All in all, I give it an over under of about an hour well spent on the road to springtime delight.  The best part?  This soup tastes great hot or cold.  That is to say, it is a rare soup that tastes the same hot or cold.  It just depends on how you want to eat it!  Options!

I have only two other tips besides be careful out there runners; roots can be real witches with a b.  Tip the first is to start with 5 cups broth, and add a bit more, up to 6 cups if you feel you need it for the soup to blend well, or want it to be more liquid than solid.  Tip the second?  I used store bought ricotta.  If you use fresh ricotta, I have a sneaking suspicion this will blow your mind.  If you are able to use fresh, and then are able to form a sentence, do tell me if my suspicions are sound.  Bueno?  

Asparagus, Ricotta, and Lemon Soup

Recipe 12: Lazy Voodoo Gumbo

Lazy Voodoo Gumbo

Last week, I attended either the most awesome or most gluttonous feeding frenzy of my relatively young life.  Southern Fight Night is a cookoff between three local restaurants (Trina's Starlight Lounge, East Coast Grill, and Tupelo).  It was delicious; it was filling.  In fact, it was 9 courses of filling, with 8 different types of meat, two kinds of fried chicken, only one plating of grits, and yes, gator.  I also discovered red eye gravy (hello, trouble).  But one of the dishes was a crawfish etouffe, which lead to an in-depth conversation about Mardi Gras and King Cake, and then days later, a lasting desire to eat some gumbo.  I'll make a bold statement/disclaimer here: I am not a southerner, and I've got no business claiming to know gumbo.  And yet...I found myself wanting some.

I consulted the Best Recipe cookbook, the Soup Bible, Bon Appetit, Cooking Light, my good friend Loe's Shrimp Creole recipe, and then basically threw my hands up and some things in a pot.  I was a) up the creek without shrimps with shells on, and b) too lazy to make my own, so I just used store bought seafood stock.  Which is apparently a huge cheat, so whatever, I'm a dirty rotten cheater and made my recipe big easy.  (Badum ching?)

This roux is not nearly Cajun enough.

Additionally, I was apparently falsely under the impression that a roux involved only flour and some form of a fatty liquid that originally came from a cow.  Color me shocked to discover that all, yes all, of the many gumbo recipes I consulted began with a roux made with - horror of horrors - boiling hot vegetable oil.  Dudes.  Do you know how freaked out I am by hot oil?  It only took one time of spilling hot coffee grounds on my wrist and a month long burn to enforce the lesson Charlie taught his big brother.  I ruled out using a thermometer; seriously, Best Recipe cookbook?  In my vision of Creole cooking on the bayou, there are no thermometers involved.  But there may be gators! And overalls!  And also, I hope it's cleaner than Beasts of the Southern Wild!  It's too hot for that, anyways.

You'll do, Cajun roux.

But I digress.  I did it, didn't burn myself, and you can too.  Just be prepared to stick with it and stir gently for awhile, to prevent burning (so you don't rue your roux).  The resulting soup was pretty decent, and I was pleased.  You can up the meat or veggie content; there is room in the broth for more.  I'd also advocate for using a low sodium seafood broth if you can find it; some of the ingredients are naturally salty and it's always easier to add than take salt away.  Finally, spice.  It was not spicy enough for me.  I added mucho hot sauco, as my poptart would say.  Tailor it to your audience...but don't be shy!

Below is my own voodoo recipe.  You do what you do...(PS. Probably goes well with Out of the Easy...which maybe also explains why I found myself craving this in the first place!)

Lazy Voodoo Gumbo

Serves 6-8

Lazy Voodoo Gumbo

Recipe 13: Pad Thai Soup

A few weeks ago, a friend was telling me about how she'd had what basically tasted a lot like Pad Thai in the form of soup.  Which made me wonder: could pad thai soup actually happened?  I hit up the googles and found a really great looking recipe on Domestic Fits for just the thing: Pad Thai Soup.  It seemed great, but maybe not peanut-y enough for me; I think Pad Thai needs to have some solid peanut undertones, along with the crushed nuts on top.  It also didn't have shrimp, which think of as a requisite for my favorite versions of Pad Thai.  I wondered (lots of wondering going on here), could I add peanut butter to the broth (like the Spicy Peanut Soup I made, way back when), and shrimp, AND some veggies, and create the Pad Thai soup of my dreams?  

Spoiler alert: the answer is yes.  As the forecasters started going crazy with snowpocalypse predictions, I realized a snowy day would be the perfect accessory to this dish.  And then when Ms. XB, she of the new blog WeRouxTheDay called to ask if she could come up early and get snowed in to avoid traveling during the storm, I knew this had to happen.  Dudes.  This was the greatest.  Fresh, healthy (or maybe not, but I don't want to know), good flavor, good spice, a nice balance of nutty and tart, and really perfect for being snowed in.  

 I assure you, it goes well with that blizzard survival wine stash you and any of the other treats you've got hoarded up  to make it through the snowy blowy weekend (ahem, ahem, chocolate covered frozen bananas, salt and pepper pretzel chunks, infused bourbon, brick of cheddar).  As an added bonus, this recipe is one of the quickest, easiest soups I've made, and will adapt well to your personal preferences for what you like in your Pad Thai.  This is a wonderful choose your own adventure type of dish.  For me, it was winner, winner shrimp, chicken, peanut dinner!

Recipe below:

Pad Thai Soup + Friends + Major Blizzard = Majorly Tasty Fun

Recipe 16: Chocolate Chorizo Chili

Chocolate Chorizo Chili

Ladies und Gentlemen.  When you are having a bunch of lady nerds over for the Ladies World Series* (aka, the Downton Abbey season 3 USA premiere), there is no choice but to opt for decadence.   The dowager would have it no other way!  After having an unforgettable dark chocolate and chorizo tapa a few years back at some mysterious tapas restaurant in Manhattan at a friend's birthday party,  I hit up the Googles and came across a Cooking Light recipe I promptly bookmarked.

I've been circling this recipe for a longggg while now, and thought this would be a totally appropriate locale.  Because really - beer, chocolate, spicy hot British man servants?  There really is no recipe more appropriate for this event.  I combed over about three very, very different recipes, pilfered them for things I liked, and decided not to use things I didn't like (Cooking Light, Nigella Lawson via Baking with Bree, Feasting at Home).  What came of this?  Sheer deliciousness, boys and girls.  I've been shockingly positive in the new year, but this may, just may, be the best chili I have ever had, ever.  I kind of want to enter a chili cook-off with it (dudes, if you do, tell me about it!).

A few notes: 
Definitely splurge on the chorizo.  Most grocery stores will have some, but make sure it is the kind that oozes orange oil all over your hands.
Definitely use a chocolate stout.  I think a general stout will work, but if you can find it, roll with it.  It's well worth the extra burst of flavor you get.  Sidebar note, I used a local beer (Night Shift's Taza beer), which had in turn used a local chocolate company's chocolate (Taza) to brew this.  Even better?  It was bottled four days before I cracked it open - this vital information was handwritten on the label.  Yay local!  Holy guacamole.  A beautiful Slumerville marriage just happened in my Le Creuset, and in your mouth. 

*Oscars has the lock on the Ladies Superbowl title.

Chocolate Chorizo Chili

Serves 8

Recipe 19: Calabaza Queso Casserole (aka Pumpkin Mac and Cheese with Black Beans, Kale, Tomato, and Chili)

With their powers combined, you
too can have a delicious dinner!

I'll admit it.  I'm on a pumpkin bender.  But you know what?  I'm okay with that!  You will be too be when you try all of these recipes.  

While eagerly devouring my leftover Spicy Pumpkin Chili last week, I had the genius idea to put it on my leftover macaroni and cheese.  It was a very, very delicious decision.  Which made me ponder if I could hybridize the whole recipe.  And so I did, working from the recipe I often use to make really tasty mac and cheese.  

Making an appearance with my
experimentalpumpkin banana bread.

Below is what I came up with, using black beans instead of red kidney beans, and using double the kale and none of the meat.  I'm pretty confident you can throw in anything you want here and be fine.  I'd also like to encourage you to use three instead of my two cups of pasta, since this is a weird baked mac and cheese, not just a weird baked pumpkiny cheese chili-flavored kale thing.  

Feel free to add more cheese - the pumpkin cuts it a bit, so if you're all about the queso, don't hold back, Monterrey Jack!  If you try other ingredients in the fixin's mixture, let me know how it turns out!  I have a sneaking suspicion it'll taste delicious with sausage, different beans, spinach, bacon, etc.  By all means, get crazy with this!   It tastes awfully good with some extra cheese and sriracha...

Calabaza Queso Casserole
Serves 4-6

Calabeza Queso Casserole
(aka Pumpkin Mac and Cheese with Black Beans, Kale, Tomato, and Chili)

Ingredients

Fixin's

3 cups rotini pasta

1 medium onion, chopped

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

16 oz cherry or grape tomatoes, halved

1 4 oz can chopped green chilis

2 Tbsp chili powder

2 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp cayenne (more or less depending on taste)

1 bunch kale, torn into small pieces

Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

Sauce

2 Tbsp butter

2 Tbsp flour

3 cups milk

16 oz grated sharp cheddar cheese (save some to sprinkle on the top)

2-4 oz goat cheese (add more if you want it cheesier, duhs)

15 oz pumpkin (one can)

Salt and Pepper

1.  Cook your pasta, leaving it a weensy bit al dente and then drain it.  If you can't figure this step out, this recipe is not for you.
2.  Saute your onion in some olive oil over medium heat in a large frying pan for about 6 minutes, until they begin to brown up a bit.
3.  Add the beans, tomatoes, chilis, and spices, and saute for 3-4 minutes, stirring until well incorporated.
4.  Add the kale and cover.  After 4 minutes or so, remove the cover, stir to incorporate and recover.  Do this until the kale begins to wilt and lighten a bit in color, probably after 8 minutes or so.  Turn off the heat; you can stir in the pasta if you want to clear up some space on your counter.
5.  Preheat your oven to 350.
6.  In a medium to large sauce pot, melt your butter over medium heat.  When it starts to bubble, proceed to step seven.
7.  Whisk in the flour.  When the mixture begins to bubble, proceed to step eight.
8.  Warm 2 cups of your milk in the microwave, until it is warm but not hot to the touch.
9.  Begin to slowly whisk it into the sauce pan.
10.  When the milk is incorporated, lower the heat a bit and keep and eye on it.  You want it to start to simmer, but not turn into a full rolling boil that will make a mess of your stovetop!
11.  When the simmer is attained, lower the heat to maintain the temperature.
12.  Begin to whisk in the cheeses, one scoop or handful at a time.
13.  When the cheese is fully incorporated (and remember to save some for the top of the dish), add in the pumpkin one big dollop at a time, also whisking to fully incorporate before adding more.  Alternate with pours of the remaining cup of milk.
14.  Season to taste with pepper and salt if needed.
15.  Pour the sauce into the large frying pan and stir to coat the pasta and fixin's.
16.  Pour the mixture into a large Le Creuset sprayed with cooking spray or buttered.  Sprinkle with cheese and a few dashes of chili powder and cayenne.
17.  Bake for 20 minutes at 350, and then turn the oven up to a boil, baking for five more minutes or until the cheese on top gets really gooey and bubbly and maybe a bit brown.
18.  DEVOUR.  But let it cool a bit first.  The roof of your mouth will thank you.

If you close your eyes, this hot mess of Calabeza Queso Casserole
will look as good as it tastes...

Recipe 34: Bastardized Moosewood New Classics Cookbook Chili with Ground Turkey

The moment I realized that there was no way
those veggies were going in that skillet peacefully.

Just in time for Thanksgiving, what I know you are craving: MORE TURKEY!  You're welcome.  In truthiness, this is a recipe from the Moosewood Restaurant New Classics Cookbook that I bastardized by substituting ground turkey for the tofu.  It's really, really, really good with the tofu.  And I had originally planned it as the recipe is - tofu laden.  But around mile seven of a ten mile training run for the half-marathon I just ran (yeah, I'm totally smug; also, that's what I've been doing while not following through on New Years resolutions to use Le Creuset more...), I got really, really, really hungry.  Tofu is good and filled with protein.  But I'm sorry to say vegetarian friends, I was craving the meat of a previously breathing creature like Edward craves Bella.

Woks make for chili autentico, no?

This is totally an appropriate and related reference because I just saw Breaking Dawn and want to talk about it.  Obviously. Who do you think I am?  It was as truly terrible as I had fervently hoped and dreamed it would be.  I'm looking at you, talking wolf scene and awkward and confusing pro v. no choice agenda.   (Ps.  I encourage you to use these rules when watching.  It will end really well for you.) It is a textbook Case of the Terribles.  So, anyways, long digression short,  I went for turkey.  I'm pretty sure you could sub in any meat and it would be delicious, though.  It's really the base that makes this.   And I assure you, it is delicious.  As per usual, I had some problems with realizing I'd underestimated the size of skillets needed.  Good thing I had a wok!  It's totally a vessel used to cook an authentic chili, right?!? As with any chili, I found it ten times better the next day when all the flavors had deepened and become less bright.  Yum!  Apologies to Moosewood. 

(Bastardized) Moosewood Restaurant New Classics Cookbook Chili with Turkey

(Bastardized)  Moosewood Restaurant New Classics Cookbook Chili with Ground Turkey
Serves at least six, closer to eight