3 tomato condiments: homemade ketchup, hot tomato chutney and tomato cucumber red pepper relish

I’m sorry, Mom, belatedly. I’m sure now we’d think that homemade ketchup you put up that one year was really wonderful, and a great improvement over the store-bought generic-tasting stuff. Oh, how we dissed it. I don’t know how many jars she put up, but we turned up our noses at it and she wound up having to eat them all up by herself. Kids are such a harsh audience for change.

So all these years later I decided it was finally time to try making my own ketchup. Pretty tasty. Can’t wait to make some fries to dip it in.

Here are three takes on tomato condiments to use up the tomato supply.

Ketchup

From Saveur magazine

Ingredients

4 whole cloves

1 bay leaf

1 stick cinnamon

¼ teaspoon celery seed

¼ teaspoon chile flakes

¼ teaspoon whole allspice

2 pounds tomatoes, roughly chopped (you’ll be pushing them through a strainer, so don’t fuss about seeds)

1½ teaspoons kosher salt

½ cup white vinegar

5 tablespoons brown sugar

1 onion, chopped

1 Anaheim chile, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

Method

Wrap cloves, bay leaf, cinnamon, celery seeds, chile flakes and allspice in a cheesecloth bundle. Add to a large saucepan along with tomatoes, salt, vinegar, brown sugar, onion, chile and garlic. Heat over medium heat until onions and chiles are very soft, about 40 minutes.

Remove spice bundle. Transfer tomato mixture to a blender and puree. Strain sauce through a mesh strainer. Return to saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring periodically, until thickened, 45 minutes to an hour. Adjust seasoning with salt, sugar or vinegar if needed. Makes about 2½ cups.

Rating: Looks like the ketchup you’re used to; close to the same color and consistency. But it’s subtly better, with more depth of flavor and a hint of heat. I suspect this recipe would have gone over better all those years ago, because I seem to remember the recipe Mother made was more chunky, more like a chutney……

Hot tomato chutney

Adapted from “The Herbal Pantry,” a flavor-packed little volume by Emelie Tolley and Chris Mead that I got years ago and have yet to cook my way all the way through.  This recipe is a must-make every year since I first tried it.

Ingredients

4 to 5 ripe tomatoes, coarsely chopped

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup cider vinegar

1 red pepper, chopped

1 large onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 teaspoons ground ginger (or 3 tablespoons peeled and minced fresh ginger)

½ cup golden raisins

2 chopped jalapenos

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 teaspoon mustard seeds

2 teaspoons salt

¼ cup chopped cilantro

Method

Combine everything but cilantro in a large saucepan and cook over medium heat. Stir until sugar dissolves. Then cook 30 to 40 minutes, stirring periodically, until mixture thickens. Add cilantro and cook for a few minutes more. Then pack into hot, sterilized jars. Wipe tops of jars with a clean cloth and seal with jar lids and rings. Process in a hot water bath for 15 minutes. (Or if you’re not up for canning, just make sure to leave enough head space in the jar, seal, cool and freeze until ready to thaw and use.) Makes 3 to 4 pints.

Rating: Slightly more sweet than heat, this is a gem of a recipe that works well as a topping for roast pork, and is great on turkey or beef sandwiches. I pack it in tiny jars to tuck into holiday gift baskets.

Tomato, cucumber and red pepper relish

From Ellie Krieger via the Foot Network

Ingredients

1 red pepper, seeded and diced

1 cucumber, seeded and diced

2 large tomatoes, diced

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon dried oregano

Method

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Rating: Not horrible, but not a wower. I served it first as a relish on pork, as which it was OK. Then I tried it as a salsa for chips, adding in a bit of cilantro, which helped a bit. Then I added the leftovers of that combination to cooked quinoa, feta and chick peas, which turned out to be its highest and best use. Two out of three isn’t bad. It did help me use up one more cucumber from the garden.

Green beans with lime-chili-anchovy dressing

I planted my beans late this year, so now I’m dealing with a deluge of beans just when ordinarily I’d be winding down a bit. So here’s yet another way to cook them.

Summer beans with a spicy lime spritz

From Mario Batali in “Food & Wine Best of the Best (2012)”

Ingredients

1 pound green beans, trimmed and snapped into roughly 3-inch pieces

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 red onion, diced

3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

Hot pepper flakes

2 teaspoons anchovy paste

Juice of 1 lime

Method

Blanch beans in boiling salted water until just tender. Drain and transfer to an ice bath. When cool, drain in a colander.

In large saute pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, a generous sprinkle of hot pepper flakes to taste and anchovy paste. Cook until onions are beginning to brown. Add beans and cook about 4 minutes until hot and coated with sauce. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Squeeze lime juice onto beans.

Rating: It works. A bit of heat and nice lime to go with the garlic. There was dressing left at the bottom of the pan, and I tossed it with more olive oil and vinegar to make a quite tasty salad dressing with the leftovers.

Tomato basil goat cheese tart

What’s the line between a quiche and a tart? Pretty close, in this case; same flavors but without the same egg/cream ratio that lends a soufflé-like quality to the quiche. I have heaven’s own supply of little golden cherry tomatoes, so this appealed to me. I didn’t have quite enough goat cheese on hand, so I opted to use some Boursin for part of the recipe, which turned out well.

Tomato tart

Adapted from Lauren Chattman via Newsday

Ingredients

1¼ cups flour

8 tablespoons cold butter, cut into chunks

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ cup ice water

1½ cups cherry tomatoes, halved

8 ounces goat cheese

5.2 ounce package Boursin with garlic and herbs, or an equal amount of ricotta

2 large eggs

½ cup packed fresh basil

1 tablespoon olive oil

Method

Combine flour, butter and salt in a food processor and pulse until it resembles coarse crumbs. Slowly add ice water and pulse until dough comes together. Press into a disk, wrap in plastic and chill at least two hours. (The recipe claimed you could make it up to three days ahead, but I haven’t tried it.)

Roll dough out into an 11-inch circle on a lightly floured board. Transfer to an 10-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Place dough in pan, pressing up the sides. Trim excess by running a rolling pin over the edges. Prick bottom of dough. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes. (Can be made a day ahead.)

Line tart with tin foil. Fill with pie weights or dry beans. Bake for 15 minutes in a preheated 425-degree oven. Remove foil and bake 5 minutes more until it starts to pick up color. Set on rack to cool. Reduce oven temperature to 350.

Puree goat cheese, Boursin, eggs, basil and ½ teaspoon salt in a blender or food processor. Pour into cooled tart shell. Place tomato halves, cut-side up, on tart filling. Sprinkle with coarse salt. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with black pepper. Bake 35 to 40 minutes until filling is set.

Let tart cool slightly and then remove sides from pan.

Rating: Reasonably tasty; just don’t expect it to have a quiche consistency. Easy enough if you mix up the tart dough ahead. (And the filling could be mixed up in advance as well to further ease things.) It works as a main dish, side dish, or sliced into smaller slivers could work as an appetizer. It was fine warm and cold as leftovers. The consistency doesn't change, unlike when a quiche turns into more of a custard when chilled.

Don’t have any Boursin on hand? Here are a couple of recipes to make your own that I need to try out: One from Paula Deen (http://www.food.com/recipe/make-your-own-boursin-cheese-paula-deen-248495) and another  likely suspect that calls for garlic: http://www.thesaucysoutherner.com/homemade-boursin-style-cheese/

Tarragon potato salad

 

I’ve rarely met a potato salad that I didn’t like on at least some level, but a really good potato salad just makes me happy.

Tarragon potato salad

From “How Easy Is That?” by Ina Garten

Ingredients

2 pounds medium potatoes (she specified Yukon Golds, but I used a tricolor mixture)

1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons salt, divided

3 tablespoons chopped green onions

3 tablespoons minced red onion

1 cup mayonnaise

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons tarragon (or white wine) vinegar

2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon

2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill

Method

Cover potatoes in pot with water. Add 1 tablespoon salt. Bring to a boil and simmer until just tender. Drain well. When cool enough to handle, remove skins if desired. (I like a rustic potato salad, so I left some on the red potatoes for color, but peeled the blue ones to reveal the deep blue-violet color under the dull skins.) Slice into ½-inch chunks. Place in bowl and add green and red onions.

Mix mayonnaise, lemon juice, vinegar, 2 teaspoons salt and pepper to taste. Mix dressing with potatoes. Mix in herbs. Let set for a half hour or so to let flavors develop.

 

Rating: The Barefoot Contessa does it again. Very bright flavor to the dressing thanks to the lemon and tarragon. A nice change from the standard varieties that come out of many grocery store delis looking like yellow cubes.

While potato salad is my weakness, if dessert is more your vice, perhaps this 3D chocolate printer made from Legos is more your speed. I guess if you can make one, you have to:

http://www.instructables.com/id/3D-Chocolate-Printer-made-from-LEGO-1/

Lemon-rosemary roasted chicken with potatoes

Lemon-rosemary roasted chicken thighs with potatoes
From EveryDay with Rachel Ray, Sept. 2015, something to which I somehow ended up with a free sub. 

Ingredients
4 chicken thighs

1½ pounds red potatoes, cut into 1-inch cubes

4 sprigs rosemary

¼ cup olive oil

2 lemons, divided

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

2 garlic cloves, minced

Method

Preheat oven to 425. Place chicken in roasting pan. Surround with potatoes and tuck in rosemary sprigs.

Combine oil, zest and juice of one lemon, mustard and garlic. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Toss with the ingredients in the pan. Thinly slice remaining lemon and place over chicken potatoes. Roast, turning potatoes once, for 35 to 40 minutes.

Rating: This isn't exactly ground-breaking, since in effect this is more or less just cooking basics. But Dave pronounced it tangy chicken, and it used some of the copious amounts of rosemary I have growing outside, so OK.