bounty of tomato!

tis the season for red (which is my favorite color). we have tomatoes galore around here, and I am loving it. The flavors the differing types- they are all smelling so wonderful! We are had our fill of zucchini just in time to have a fill of tomato.

I love to can my marinara sauce (sadly, it doesn't last long- I would love to make enough to last all winter) but we do have gallons of it made.

we try new recipes often....

here was last nights newness of delight.

I got the start of the recipe from this fabulous West Coast Cookbook, by Helen Brown, that was given to me by a great friend (here is a Katie shout out! WHOOT) but I added some additional substance to make it even more perfect.

Saucy Tomato

Slice 6 tomatoes. making one tomato 4 slices.

lay tomato slices in a 2 qt. dish.

chop green pepper ( 1/2 cup)

chop onion (1/2 cup)

salt and pepper

throw all on top of tomatoes.

pour 1 cup of cream ( heavy or reg.) over all.

set in oven at 350, and bake until tomatoes are soft.

here is where I went off recipe. cooked up some brown rice ( 1 cup rice, to 2 cups water cook for 1 hour) and steamed 2 chicken breasts (after steamed- I shredded)

in a 9x9 dish I placed the rice and chicken... and poured the tomato creamy stuff over- mixing it together. then I cooked it another 30 minutes in the 350 oven- so that the rice and chicken absorbed some of the yummy tomato-ness.

I then woke up this morning to hear Bjorn tell me that daddy was making sun dried tomatoes in the oven.... and now, 3 hours into the drying- the house smells delightful!

Sun Dried Tomatoes

(via the oven- because it is not quite sunny here!)

slice tomatoes in 4's and spread on a baking sheet.

sprinkle with some course sea salt, and any herbs you wish. (we use basil, oregano and rosemary)

bake in oven at 200 for 6-8 hours. allowing then to dry slowly.

tightly pack them into a small jar, fill with olive oil (getting the oil to fill all air gaps), and use within the next two months ( I store mine in the fridge and when I am using them, I bring to room temp by setting out on counter in the morning) .