To start with, we have to have one of these:

In general, you should only roast sugar pie pumpkins. They are small, cute, uncarveable, and perfect for making your own pumpkin puree. The pumpkin featured above is called a Cinderella Pumpkin. It’s beautiful, but not really what I recommend for roasting because it seems to be 99% water. The end result is not nearly as much pumpkin as I’d like, but I get more by roasting it than I do by throwing it in the compost pile. If you are going to roast a pumpkin, just buy the tiny ones. You’ll thank me later as you’ll get almost as much pumpkin puree from a couple small ones as I got from this ginormous one!

Preheat your oven to 350 and throw the whole pumpkin in the oven on a foil lined baking sheet.

Bake for 20-40 minutes, or until you can insert a knife without too much trouble. The actual timing for that will depend on the size of your pumpkin. Once you an insert a knife, remove the pumpkin from the oven, and cut it into several good-sized pieces. The idea is to hasten the cooking time by allowing it to cook from the inside out. Bake until the flesh is easily pierced with a butter knife. For this pumpkin, that meant another hour in the oven. Sugar pumpkins will require much less baking time.

Remove from the oven and let cool. Seriously. Let it cool all the way unless you’re a masochist who likes burning the flesh off your fingers.

Ignore the huge bottle of vodka in the background. I promise I’m not a drunkard. It’s for making this. No, really. I swear it is!

Remove the skin and seeds from the pumpkin. Place the remainder of the flesh in a separate bowl.

And here is where it gets fun. And by fun, I mean messy. At this point you can toss all your pumpkin puree into a food processor and let whirl until it’s really smooth. If it’s still too watery at that point, place several paper towels in a strainer that has been set over a large bowl. Pour the pumpkin onto the paper towels and let sit until the pumpkin is the desired consistency.

OR…. you can be super cool like me and use this nifty KitchenAid attachment. First, put the pumpkin in a strainer to let some of the excess moisture drain out. Easier to do that now than later.

Then, feed the pumpkin through the shoot of the fruit and vegetable strainer. You won’t have any waste. In one bowl, the pumpkin will be more watery. In another, it will be more solid. The solid pumpkin is ready for immediate use.

After you’ve extruded all your pumpkin, set a strainer lined with paper towels on top of a large bowl and pour the watery pumpkin mixture through the paper towels. Let rest for 1 hour, or until pumpkin is the constancy you desire.

And voila! Enough pumpkin to get you through the baking season! I got about 8 cups of pumpkin puree from this haul. I gave half of it to my mom because she’s awesome (hi mom!) and saved the rest for making all kinds of amazing pumpkin-filled goodies to share with you. Like the soup that I shared on Thursday. You read about that, right? If not, here it is.

This soup has it all: healthy, hearty, quick to make, and tastes fabulous.

Last year, my little pumpkin patch was prolific, and we harvested 75-100 pounds of squash. I still have some of those pumpkins leftover today, waiting to be turned into pies, cookies, breads, and this soup. I first made this soup earlier this year during a surprise late-spring cold snap. Brant’s not a fan of squash, but he knew not to complain as I was running out of creative uses for pumpkin and this soup automatically garnished my favor simply because it used two cups of pumpkin. I was hesitant because I was afraid that the soup would taste pumpkin-y. Nope! It was great! Brant and I were both eager to eat it again for leftovers and, like most soups, it tasted even better the second day. The pumpkin made the soup rich and thick, but even with such a large amount of pumpkin, the soup didn’t taste like squash. We loved the addition of the meaty, salty ham chunks and the flavor that they imparted. This is a new favorite for us on cold winter nights, and it’s so healthy that we don’t feel guilty about going back for seconds!

Remember a couple of weeks ago when I posted on Facebook asking the question, “What in the world should I do with the swiss chard growing in my garden?” Boy, oh boy did my readers have soooooo many suggestions! Eggs to soups to lasagnas to pizzas… the list goes on! I whipped up this scramble for lunch that day and I was surprised. I liked it! I really liked it! I liked it so much, in fact, that I made it a week later as a special breakfast for my husband. He loves anything savory for breakfast, so eggs doused in cheese is a real winner. I encouraged him to try these even though his negative sentiments towards swiss chard surpass mine! Brant loved this egg scramble and gobbled it up, swiss chard and all! And so we have a swiss chard winner!

Is your ideal breakfast sweet or savory? Because I’m *totally* a sweet person. In fact, I couldn’t eat this scramble for breakfast. For lunch? Divine. For breakfast? Ick. I gave my portion to Brant and reheated a strudel topped peach muffin for myself. How about you? Sweet or savory to start your day? 

Continue reading: egg, cheese, and swiss chard scramble

This year my husband asked me if we could expand our garden to include popcorn. I have never grown popcorn, but it certainly sounded fun! We chose a multi-colored popcorn and harvested the corn when the stalks had dried out. And look what I’ve learned about popcorn: you can tell when the kernels are ready to pop because they take on a dull sheen and are impossible to scratch with your fingernail. I feel like a real farmer already!  Once we removed the kernels, we found them a little too wet for popping, so we are letting them dry out for a week or two before storing them for later popping!

Surely I’m not the only one who thinks that growing popcorn is fun! If you’re interested in receiving a packet of organic heirloom popcorn seeds to grow in your own garden, just leave me a comment below saying so. One commenter will be chosen on Thursday, September 29 to receive popcorn seeds for planting next spring.

Continue reading: home grown popcorn & a giveaway

My garden has been more prolific than usual this year, and those of you who read this blog often have seen more than your fair share of posts featuring tomatoes as a result. We harvested about 150 pounds of tomatoes this year, and figuring out how to use those requires a fair amount of creativity.

Every summer I make a bunch of roasted tomato soup and can it for winter. It’s easy to make since it does not require peeling the tomatoes. It’s also absolutely delicious and makes a great quick meal when I am hungry and crave comfort food. After making five gallons of soup last year, I learned that we do not need five gallons of soup. Even if it is the best tomato soup around, that’s just way, way, way too much soup for our little family of two. So, after turning our first 40 pounds of tomatoes into jars of soup for our family (plus a few to share!) I declared a moratorium on tomato soup for the season.

Last year I also canned almost two gallons of pasta sauce to eat throughout the winter months. Given how much I love pasta, this was a fabulous choice and the amount was perfect for us. The problem with pasta sauce is that you have to blanch the tomatoes, throw them in an ice bath, peel off the skins, dice them, and *then* you can make the sauce. Oh, so much work! But I did it. About a month ago, I blanched and cooled and peeled and diced for 3 hours one night while playing Princess Bride in the background (“Inconceivable!”) and getting tomato juice and seeds all over every possible surface in my kitchen. It was a real tomato sauce making party.

The next day, my mom told me she had picked out something for my birthday but wasn’t sure if I wanted it. This is a problem when you have a daughter who is a kitchen gadget collector. How do you track all the toys she keeps buying? Mom hemmed and hawed and finally decided to just tell me about the gift to make sure it was something I’d want. I took one look and said, “I have that! It’s a fruit and vegetable strainer for my KitchenAid. It’s how I make gallons of applesauce every year when my tree dumps apples faster than I can bake with them.” My mom looked at me utterly perplexed. “Then why didn’t you use that for your tomatoes last night?” I stared at her blankly. Then it dawned on me. Oh my gosh. This is a fruit and veggie strainer. That’s what it does! It strains out the icky stuff! Oh my gosh… Oh my gosh. Oh. My. Gosh. Hours and hours and hours wasted on a task that could have taken minutes. I could have kicked myself. My dad suggested that instead of buying me nice things for my birthday, they should just buy me instruction manuals. Ha, ha, Dad. Very funny.

No worries, though. My garden had one more 40 pound tomato harvest, so I decided to give it a try. It took a few tries to figure out how to maximize the results, but let me tell you, this is a breeze compared to the way that I used to puree tomatoes! Do you have so many tomatoes that you don’t know what to do with them? Here’s how to puree them with minimal effort. I made a batch of pasta sauce immediately with my puree based largely on this recipe. I adjusted the sugar and spices to taste since I was not using the traditional canned tomatoes. The sauce was so awesome that I canned even more jars for winter. More pasta for us!

tomato puree

1. Place as many racks as you can in the oven evenly spaced apart. Preheat oven to 500 degrees with convection turned on. If you do not have convection, you will need to rotate your pans as you cook.
2. Cut your tomatoes into chunks or slices and place on a pan. Don’t worry too much about how big the pieces are (I just halved or quartered my tomatoes, depending on their size) and certainly don’t bother with making them pretty. They’re about to be pureed. Save the pretty stuff for later.
3. Place the pans in the oven and cook (rotating after 7 minutes if you don’t have convection) for 10-15 minutes, or until the tomatoes are soft and the skins are bursting a bit. Remove and place in a bowl. Refill the pans with any remaining tomatoes and cook again.
4. Ladle the tomatoes into the feed chute of the food mill and watch as the water and puree pours into one bowl and the “ickies” (stems, skins, seeds, cores) plop into another.

Some notes that you should most definitely read:

One, you’ll notice in my set up above that my bowls are all stacked kadiwampus. That’s necessary because the ickies tend to fall backwards into the bowl of puree that you’re making. It’s a bad product design, but there’s nothing I can do about it now, so I have this system set up to ensure that my puree stays pure.

Two, if you don’t heat your tomatoes first, you will lose a lot of the good stuff to the “icky” pile. Just cook ‘em first like I suggested and you will be happy.

Three, my tomatoes are very, very watery. Yours might be too. If that’s the case, boil the puree along with a can or two of tomato paste on medium low for as many hours as it takes to thicken up to the consistency that you’re happy with. If you need to do this, stir the mixture every 30-45 minutes to ensure it doesn’t burn to the bottom.

Four: I would not add flavorings like onions, salt, garlic or any other spices until you want to cook something with your puree. Other than the puree that I reserved for use in pasta sauce, I canned the remaining puree without any additional seasonings so that I can add it to soups and stews later and then adjust seasonings to taste at that time.

Tomatoes. Yeah. I know. We’ve talked about this already. I have a lot of them. You see them featured every other day on my blog. Deal with it. I just processed the last huge batch (a blog post on that coming soon!) so I promise to let up soon. Then we’ll move onto winter squash. If you thought I posted a lot of tomato recipes, wait until you hear about the pumpkin and butternut squash!

This is a pretty basic recipe, and when you want the flavor of your heirloom tomatoes to shine, basic is exactly the type of recipe you want. It would make a great side dish or appetizer at a party. It’s pretty, it’s easy to eat, and it’s delicious!

I’ve never been a fan of Caprese salads. While the idea is lovely – tomatoes layered with fresh mozzarella and snips of basil – the resulting taste for me is bland. I have had it topped with olive oil. Still bland. I’ve had it drizzled with balsamic vinegar, which was a step in the right direction. As I perused America’s Test Kitchen 2010 cook book in search of recipes that would use loads and loads of tomatoes, I came upon this one and thought to myself, “Hmmm… a dressing! I may like this!” And sure enough, I love it! I halved the recipe for my husband and me to share as a light lunch. He wasn’t very hungry so I ate almost the entire bowl. That speaks volumes. This has all your classic Caprese elements, but the tomato juices and seeds are boiled down with balsamic vinegar and shallots to create a reduction that is lightly tossed with the salad. The end result? Caprese perfection.

caprese salad
from Best of America’s Test Kitchen 2010 Cookbook

Note: Because this does not keep well overnight, I halved the recipe to serve two or three people a fairly decent portion. If you’re serving more than that, double this recipe. 

1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 tsp sugar
4 oz fresh mozzarella cheese (packed in water), sliced into 1/2″ cubes
3/4 cup loosely packed basil, roughly torn into half-inch or one-inch pieces
1 1/2 tbsp minced shallot
1 tbsp high quality balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp olive oil
additional sea salt and pepper to taste

Combine the cherry tomatoes, salt, and sugar in a medium bowl and let sit for 30 minutes. After thirty minutes, pour tomatoes into a salad spinner and spin for 30 seconds to one minute to release juices. Reserve at least 1/4 cup of tomato juices. Discard any additional juices.

Combine tomato juices with shallot and balsamic vinegar in a saucepan over medium heat. Reduce until the mixture is approximately 1.5 tablespoons. Remove pan from the heat and whisk in olive oil. Cool for 5 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine the tomatoes, cheese, basil, and sauce. Mix well and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve immediately with crusty bread.

As I already mentioned, my zucchini plant is smaller than most peoples’ zucchini fruits. I don’t know what happened to the garden bed where I planted all my squash. It’s like someone sprinkled Miracle-Gro’s evil twin sister on it. My parents’ 85 year old friend stopped by today remarking about how disappointed he was with his zucchini this year because he’s only gotten a few fruits. I showed him my 6-inch plant with all four of its leaves and he literally could not believe that it was really a zucchini and not some impostor. I think that in all 85 of his years, he’s never seen anything so preposterous. There you have it. I’m 28 and I’ve seen everything.

On the other hand, my other friends’ zucchini plants are producing more fruit than any sane person would know how to use, so I’ve become the universal zucchini deposit box. I now have more zucchini on my counter than I ever could have grown on my own and I’m searching for more and more creative ways to use it. I have made chocolate chip zucchini muffins before. I decided to try the same recipe in a loaf pan and was glad that it worked out perfectly.

Note: I had enough batter here to make a loaf of zucchini bread and 6 additional muffins. This was perfect for me! I was able to gift the loaf of bread and hoard the muffins for myself.

chocolate chip zucchini bread

this makes enough for one large loaf and several muffins that you can cook for 15-20 min

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil (I used 1/2 cup oil, 1/2 cup applesauce for a healthier slant… after all, we’re using zucchini here, folks. We are obviously trying to be healthy. )
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups grated zucchini
• 2 cups bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chips (or you could use walnuts or a combination)

On Saturday, my husband and I harvested the tomatoes from our garden. There is are few things that give me more pleasure than picking produce out of my own garden. I was jumping up and down like a kid in a candy shop. “There’s one! Over there! Get that one!” It was like playing “I spy” except that everything I spied was some shade of red. I have been to birthday parties that weren’t this fun.

I planted 16 tomato plants this year. This weekend we picked 26 pounds of tomatoes and I know for a fact that this isn’t the end of our harvest season. We are desperate to find delicious ways to use all of these tomatoes, and if you’re a fellow tomato gardener, you’re probably in the same boat. Here are some recipes listed in order of the ones that call for the most tomatoes. And good news! I’m trying even more amazing tomato recipes this summer so I’ll be able to add to this list next year!

roasted tomato soup – This soup is a favorite among my friends and family alike. Usually I can about 4 gallons of this to last us through the winter. My friend Stacy says that this is the only tomato soup that her boyfriend will even touch. Yes, it’s that good.

roasted cherry tomato pasta sauce – This sauce will make your tastebuds sing. Slow roasting the tomatoes brings out their sweetness. Nearly a quarter cup each of garlic and basil enhance their flavor. This sauce has forever changed my expectations of an amazing pasta dinner. (Pardon the old photos… they don’t really do this justice!)

pasta with fresh tomato sauce – this is our go-to pasta dish on a hot night because other than boiling water, there is no cooking involved. You could easily throw some grilled chicken or rounds of a spicy chicken sausage into this to give it more kick!

tomato salad with corn and basil – This is my favorite summer salad. My husband drools a bit whenever I mention that it will be on the dinner menu.

out of this world bruschetta – a new post here at Dishing the Divine that is worth repeating again and again and again. I’m starting to make sure I have dried bread on hand just so that I have excuse to toast it and serve it with this bruschetta.

grilled pizza – Grilling pizza is scary at first, until you actually try it and realize it’s no sweat. This pizza is delicious and the fresh tomatoes on top really are a must!

big tomato sandwich – Our favorite summer sandwich is loaded with slabs of tomatoes as well as roasted peppers, turkey, avocado, fresh mozzarella and plenty of pesto and vinaigrette!

What are YOUR favorite tomato recipes? I’d love to hear about them in the comments below!

The key to success in this recipe is to NOT overcook the zucchini. If it turns to mush, it is unpleasant. You want it browned but still with some bite to it. Toast the walnuts until they have a slight aroma. Do not let them burn. I prefer to use a mixture of oregano, sage, and thyme for my herbs and follow Cook’s Illustrated’s recommendation to half the amount of herbs since these are so potent. Yum!

zucchini with walnuts and fresh herbs
from www.cooksillustrated.com

A note from Cook’s Illustrated: Salt causes zucchini rounds to release excess water. This important extra step helps the zucchini to sauté rather than stew in its own juices. Quarter-inch slices are the perfect thickness. Thinner slices fall apart during cooking; thicker slices require a longer salting time. If you want to use more intense herbs such as oregano, thyme, or rosemary, halve the amount of herbs indicated in the recipe. If you do not have kosher salt on hand, use a teaspoon or so of regular table salt.

4 medium zucchini (about 1 1/3 pounds), rinsed, trimmed, and sliced crosswise into rounds about 1/4″ thick
kosher salt
3 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion or 2 large shallots, minced
2 tbsp minced fresh herbs (see note)
2 tbsp toasted, chopped walnuts
ground black pepper

Place zucchini slices in colander and sprinkle with 2 teaspoons salt. Set colander over bowl until about 1/3 cup water drains from zucchini, about 30 minutes. Rinse and thoroughly dry zucchini.

Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add onions or shallots; sauté until almost softened, about 3 minutes. Increase heat to medium-high; add zucchini and sauté until golden brown, about 10 minutes.

Stir in walnuts and herbs, and season with pepper to taste. Adjust seasonings and serve immediately.