From Scratch: Roasted Tomatoes ( Plus my favorite way to eat them)

From Scratch: A new series here on the blog! Ever since I got married and had my own kitchen to cook in, I've been interested in making things from scratch, that I would ordinarily buy. Don't get me wrong, I didn't grow up in an overly processed foods family, in fact, my Mom would refuse to buy certain things I begged for at the grocery store on Saturdays, saying oh I can make that for us. And she did! I've been trying to take that a step or two or three farther over the years and I now have an ever growing arsenal of my favorite recipes for things I would have normally bought before. So I'd like to share some of those here from time to time.

It's that time a year when cherry tomatoes are about to come in and take over our lives. I kid, well kinda. I actually made roasted tomatoes in the winter for the first time because cherry tomatoes are really the only edible looking/tasting tomatoes in the grocery store during the cooler months and this brought some cheer to my winter meals. But now that my tomato plant is full of little green cherry tomatoes it reminded me to share my favorite way to use them up!

Roasted Cherry Tomatoes ( spread over ricotta toast)

cherry tomatoes or other small varieties
oil
rosemary
salt + pepper

Toss these together on a rimmed cookie sheet or oven safe bake-ware. Roast at 425 for 20-30 minutes until they begin to pop and "deflate"! That's it! Now you can puree them into a lovely fresh tomato sauce, add them to a store bought tomato sauce for some added flavor, or spread them onto crusty bread with ricotta and a drizzle of good olive oil.

Ricotta Toast

Good crusty bread
whole milk ricotta ( it's the best, I'll never go back to part skim)
garlic
olive oil

Slice bread and arrange on a baking sheet. Slice a clove of garlic and rub on each toast. Bake until slightly crispy. Spread a generous spoonful of ricotta, topped with some slightly cooled roasted tomatoes and finish with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of sea salt. YUM!

From Scratch: Homeade Lemonade

From Scratch: A new series here on the blog! Ever since I got married and had my own kitchen to cook in, I've been interested in making things from scratch, that I would ordinarily buy. Don't get me wrong, I didn't grow up in an overly processed foods family, in fact, my Mom would refuse to buy certain things I begged for at the grocery store on Saturdays, saying oh I can make that for us. And she did! I've been trying to take that a step or two or three farther over the years and I now have an ever growing arsenal of my favorite recipes for things I would have normally bought before. So I'd like to share some of those here from time to time.

I love fruity drinks! Here is a classic! I got into juicing my own juice when we inherited the one pictured above! I tried my hand at orange and grapefruit juice and of course lemonade! They are so unbelievably fresh, it's worth the extra work to make them from scratch! Of course you can always stir a few extras in like berries, basil, mint or make an adult version. I've been wanting to try this Rosemary St. Germain one from Lesley!

What you need:
1 cup sugar
5 cups water, divided
6 to 8 lemons (about 1 cup of lemon juice)
Ice

How to do it:

1. Make the simple syrup. 
   Combine the sugar and 1 cup of the water in a small saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer over low heat to dissolve sugar.  Once the sugar is completely dissolved, remove from heat to cool.
2. Squeeze the lemons.  Roll each lemon over your cutting board, pressing down as you do.  This will help them to release their juice.  Cut in half and squeeze.  Repeat until you have one cup.  You may not need all the lemons but try to save at least one half if you want to garnish your glasses.
3. Combine.  Add the cooled syrup to your pitcher, followed by the lemon juice and the remaining 4 cups of water. Stir.  Taste and adjust: add a few tablespoons of sugar if it needs to be sweeter or the juice of 1/2 lemon if it needs more tartness.
4. Add ice.  Add ice to pitcher if you think you will drink the whole pitcher right away.  Otherwise add ice to each glass.

From Scratch: Refrigerator Pickles

 From Scratch: A new series here on the blog! Ever since I got married and had my own kitchen to cook in, I've been interested in making things from scratch, that I would ordinarily buy. Don't get me wrong, I didn't grow up in an overly processed foods family, in fact, my Mom would refuse to buy certain things I begged for at the grocery store on Saturdays, saying oh I can make that for us. And she did! I've been trying to take that a step or two or three farther over the years and I now have an ever growing arsenal of my favorite recipes for things I would have normally bought before. So I'd like to share some of those here from time to time.

I first made these pickles last summer! I made them three or four times, they were so delicious! I even made some for my son's first birthday party! They are the perfect quick an easy pickle. The only down side is you have to eat them more quickly since they are refrigerated and not canned. We didn't seem to have a problem with that part! They were so fresh and crisp that you couldn't even begin to compare them with anything you get at the grocery store. The best! Come on summer!

Refrigerator Dill Pickles

Ingredients:
1-1/2 cups distilled white vinegar
1/4 to 1/3 cup granulated sugar
4 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
3/4 teaspoon dill seeds
2 cups hot water
2 pounds kirby cucumbers, sliced 1/4-inch thick
3/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh dill
3 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped

Directions:
1) Combine vinegar, sugar, salt, mustard seeds, coriander seeds and dill seeds in a heatproof bowl. Add hot water and stir until sugar dissolves and liquid is clear. Cool to room temperature.
2) Place cucumbers, garlic and dill in a large bowl. Toss to combine. Pour brine over all and turn to coat cucumbers. Cover them with a plate to weigh them down and keep them covered in brine. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight, stirring once or twice. Transfer to an airtight container and store for up to two weeks. Yield: 1 quart.

From Scratch: Salsa Verde

From Scratch: I'm going to start a new series on the blog! Ever since I got married and had my own kitchen to cook in, I've been interested in making things from scratch, that I would ordinarily buy. Don't get me wrong, I didn't grow up in an overly processed foods family, in fact, my Mom would refuse to buy certain things I begged for at the grocery store on Saturdays, saying oh I can make that for us. And she did! I've been trying to take that a step or two or three farther over the years and I now have an ever growing arsenal of my favorite recipes for things I would have normally bought before. So I'd like to share some of those here from time to time.

This week I'd like to share a new favorite of mine! Salsa Verde! I'm pretty sure I had this for the first time when I was living in California, right after I graduated from high school. I decided to commit myself to a year of living in the inner city of Oakland, CA and volunteering there. It was a year that I will never forget and a year that I was introduced to a whole new world of food! Thai, Indian, Cambodian, real Mexican and Vegetarian fare were all new to me. I jumped at the chance to try any new flavors that my small town in PA couldn't offer me at that time. This green salsa was new for me and I loved it!

Fast forward 9 years to last summer when we were getting tomatillos in our weekly CSA share. We would regularly buy salsa verde at Trader Joe's, so I was pretty excited to find this simple recipe to make my own at home. It was delicious! I can't wait to make more this summer!

We enjoy our salsa with tacos, tamales, eggs, chicken and pretty much anything else you think needs a little kick of this awesome sauce!

 Salsa Verde: recipe from pretty simple great

• 1 1/2 quarts water
• 18 tomatillos, washed, husked, and quartered
• 4 serrano chiles, seeded and halved
• 5 whole cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
• 1 white onion, peeled and quartered
• 1 jalapeno, seeded (optional) 
• 1/2 bunch cilantro
• 1 teaspoon salt

 Bring the water to a boil (cover with the lid to decrease the waiting time)

Remove the husk from them tomatillos, and discard. Wash gently under cold running water. Cut in quarters
Rough chop garlic, onion, and chiles
when water reaches a rolling boil add tomatillos, garlic, onion, and chiles. Boil on
high for 30-45 minutes

 Sift out tomatillos, garlic, onion, and chiles and set aside to cool. Reserve water for later

 Once cooled add tomatillos, garlic, onion, cilantro, salt and chiles to a food processor or blender and process. I add water until I reach my desired consistency. I like it to have small chunks of chiles and onions and not to runny. By slowly adding the reserved water, you'll have more control of the end result.

From Scratch: Brownie Sundaes

From Scratch: I'm going to start a new series on the blog! Ever since I got married and had my own kitchen to cook in, I've been interested in making things from scratch, that I would ordinarily buy. Don't get me wrong, I didn't grow up in an overly processed foods family, in fact, my Mom would refuse to buy certain things I begged for at the grocery store on Saturdays, saying oh I can make that for us. And she did! I've been trying to take that a step or two or three farther over the years and I now have an ever growing arsenal of my favorite recipes for things I would have normally bought before. So I'd like to share some of those here from time to time.

We had company over for dinner this past week. I needed a dessert for the evening and was in the mood to make ice cream. When I was trying to come up with a flavor, I remembered when I was a kid and at church we sometimes had brownie sundaes with the boys and girls club. For some reason this stuck out in my head so vividly. I thought that it would be fun to do that, especially since there were kids coming over for dinner.

I'm starting this series off with three from scratch recipes!

* I'm not always this ambitious when it comes to making things from scratch. I love to do it when I have the time and it just so happened I HAD the time this week to make a dish with three separate components.

Ice cream: Recipe can be found here. I added vanilla bean and seeds to the milk and cream mixture.

Chocolate Sauce: forget the hershey's syrup. this sauce is so much tastier and high fructose corn syrup isn't the main ingredient or and ingredient at all.

~ from seeded at the table

• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 cups sugar
• Pinch of salt
• ¼ teaspoon vanilla

Combine the water and cocoa powder in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium while stirring with a whisk to dissolve the cocoa. Stir in the sugar until dissolved. Bring to a boil while stirring occasionally and heat for 3 minutes, watching carefully to avoid boiling over. (Turn down the heat, if necessary.) Remove from the heat and mix in the salt and vanilla. Let set to cool. Use a funnel to pour into a clean glass jar with a tight fitting lid. Store in the refrigerator for up to two months. 

Chocolate Chip Brownies: The best I've ever made!honey and jam's version of alice medrich's best cocoa brownies

10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks, 5 ounces or 141 grams) unsalted butter

1 1/4 cups (9 7/8 ounces, 280 grams) sugar

3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (2 7/8 ounces, 82 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder (natural or Dutch-process)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 large eggs, cold

1/2 cup (66 grams, 2 3/8 ounces) all-purpose flour

2/3 cup walnut or pecan pieces (optional)

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 325°F. Line the bottom and sides of an 8×8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper or foil, leaving an overhang on two opposite sides.
Combine the butter, sugar, cocoa, and salt in a medium heatproof bowl and microwave for 1:30 minutes. Remove and stir until the butter is melted and the mixture is smooth. Set aside briefly until the mixture is only warm, not hot. It looks fairly gritty at this point, but don’t fret — it smoothes out once the eggs and flour are added.

Stir in the vanilla with a wooden spoon. Add the eggs one at a time, stirring vigorously after each one. When the batter looks thick, shiny, and well blended, add the flour and stir until you cannot see it any longer, then beat vigorously for 40 strokes with the wooden spoon or a rubber spatula. Stir in the nuts, if using. Spread evenly in the lined pan.

Bake until a toothpick plunged into the center emerges slightly moist with batter, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool completely on a rack.

Lift up the ends of the parchment or foil liner, and transfer the brownies to a cutting board. Cut into 16 or 25 squares.

Serve all three in a bowl, for a trip down memory lane!