“A cooked tomato is like a cooked oyster: ruined.”
Andre Simon (1877-1970)
‘The Concise Encyclopedia of Gastronomy’
I love tomatoes, cooked or raw, but at the beginning of every tomato season I can’t get enough of a sliced tomato. Tomato sandwich, gazpacho…. and the sungold tomato (yellow cherry tomato) a little ball of sunshine.
More firsts and lasts this week. First week of heirloom tomatoes!! Hopefully everyone will get a big fat juicy tomato. Also, lots of roma tomatoes getting ripe. First week of blackberries or blueberries, both are starting to come in. Last week of carrots, cabbage (oh yeah – I said last week of cabbage last week. It keeps hanging in there!!) Last week of cucumbers and summer squash.
You will be getting blue potatoes this week. While potatoes usually get a bad nutritional rap, blue potatoes have been proven to lower blood pressure. They also have higher levels of polyphenol antioxidants that protect body cells against free radical damage that can increase disease risk. So eat them with no remorse!!
Farm News: It’s been pretty quiet on the farm this week. We did have a group of girls from Camp DeSoto come for a flower cutting class Friday. It was really a hoot. 20 girls 10-12 years old cutting and making flower bouquets. Otis received more attention than any of the flowers!!
What’s in the bucket? Blue potatoes, heirloom tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, roma tomatoes, sweet peppers, hot peppers, carrots, okra or eggplant, savoy or purple cabbage, black or blue berries, cucumbers or squash.
Beat the heat with some GAZPACHO:
1 cup each, chopped: tomato, bell pepper, cucumber, celery.
1/4 cup minced spring onion
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 t dried chives
1 clove garlic minced
1 T fresh basil, chopped
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1 t worcestershire
2 cups tomato juice
1 t sugar
1/8 t tabasco
1 t fresh lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
Mix all ingredients together! I like to chop everything and have a chunky gazpacho that I can dip with chips or eat as a soup. However, it would be easier to put everything in a food processor and puree the soup.
Thanks for buying local food from our farm. Enjoy!!