Summer

So, according to my husband, summer has officially arrived. Mind you, he doesn't mark seasons by the calendar but by activities-- such as wearing his seersucker suit and suede bucks, eating blueberry cobbler, drinking mint juleps... You get the idea. I tend to mark seasons by food, so I'm declaring it summer, too, due to peaches and tomatoes from our farmers. Today's lunch was chilled tomato and peach soup with tomato jam & mozzarella tart. (Soup recipe is also courtesy of our farmers; Jill sent it out last summer.)



Recipe, links, and notes

Chilled tomato & peach soup

1 T butter

1 clove garlic, pressed

1 ts fresh ginger, minced or grated

3 large tomatoes, coarsely chopped

1 1/2 c chicken or vegetable stock

3 large peaches, peeled and coarsely chopped

2 ts sugar

1/2 c cream

salt, pepper

Melt butter in a medium stockpot. Add tomatoes, garlic, and ginger; cook over medium heat until fragrant. Add stock; simmer 20 mins. Strain tomato mixture, pressing as much liquid as possible through sieve; discard pulp. Season remaining liquid with sugar, salt and pepper. Puree peaches, then add to liquid. Stir in cream. Cover and chill.

Rather than straining out tomato pulp, I added the cooked tomatoes, garlic, and ginger to the blender when I pureed the peaches. Be careful if you do this, because hot liquids really expand in the blender! Try to add as little of the hot tomato liquid as possible, and hold the blender lid with a folded kitchen towel. (Thanks to Cat Cora for this tip, which saved my outfit and ceiling today.) Or, allow the tomato mixture to cool before blending. Or, add the peaches to the tomato mixture and use an immersion blender.



Tomato jam www.vegetariantimes.com/recipes/10685?section
Make this when summer apples and tomatoes are available at the farmers' market. The apples are naturally high in pectin, so it sets beautifully, like magic! I've tried substituting peaches for apples and adding pectin, but couldn't get the amounts just right, so I ended up with a delicious tomato-peach sauce instead. One substitution that did work-- red pepper flakes for the jalapeno. Try it with grilled fish or pork.

Tomato jam tart
Top 1 sheet thawed puff pastry with diced fresh mozzarella and tomato jam. Fold edges (about 1") over filling. Bake at 400 degrees until golden brown.