In the Kitchen with Leon

As I looked at all my tomatoes, I didn’t want to waste any of them but am never sure just what to do with them. One thing is certain you won’t use them all, right now. So I was off finding my options for the tomatoes sitting on the sunroom floor.

First there was roasted tomato sauce. Tomatoes, onions, garlic, and basil with a little olive oil, salt and pepper drizzled over the top and into the oven for about an hour until all the tomatoes are wrinkled and the basil and onion blacken. Then it was into the blender for a smooth sauce good for a number of uses. I have found it good with spaghetti or other pasta. Adding a little ground beef or sausage made a great dinner. But then all of that can’t be use NOW. I did six baking dishes of them after all. So two cups of sauce are put into freezer bags and into the freezer. Oh yes, don’t forget to leave some in a container in the refrigerator for use this week.

Next there was salsa. Tomatoes, red onion, garlic, cilantro, and hot pepper all finely chopped. That was the biggest job. No food processor can do the job just the way you want it done. I would have to say this has been a hit with visitors that have stopped by. A few chips and the people were very happy.

But there were still more tomatoes and I had five bags of sauce in the freezer. Then it was drying tomatoes in the oven. Well that was simple cut in half, drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper and into the warm oven for ten hours. They are not completely dry but look great. I am looking forward to trying them with some pasta, mushrooms, olive oil, and ???

With all the cooking, I decided it was time to share with neighbors some of my work. So we had three of the couples in the neighborhood over for our Italian dinner. After all there I can make the stuffed tomatoes, and put diced tomatoes in both the soup and beef dish. Oh yes, a little slice of tomato is a great topper on the crostini covered with some of the fresh pesto and Parmesan cheese.

Well that had taken care of most of the tomatoes and I was getting tired of the tomatoes. It was off to my new cookbook of American Classics where I found a great recipe for Chicken and Dumplings. Starting with a whole chicken and using the back and wings to make the chicken broth and topping with the light dumplings, it was a wonderful trip through the kitchen. Well, with all the food you had to have company so a last minute call to Norm and Mary Lee provided some assistance in eating the fresh salsa and Chicken and Dumplings.