Tomato skin salt

I went nose-to-tail with the tomatoes yesterday, y'all. Instead of composting the skins that I peeled away before canning the pulp, I made tomato skin salt! 

It's a beautiful, unique, outrageously "foodie" way to use what would otherwise be tossed. I mean, let's be honest. Tomato skin salt is not going to change anyone's life, but I dare say I find my little Weck jars to be awfully pretty filled with this salt, and it made a lovely sprinkle atop our salad last night.

Other uses, according to the recipe author, include rimming Bloody Mary glasses and jazzing up corn on the cob. It'd also be a great addition to guacamole. 

tomato skins and kosher salt: after baking in a low oven for nearly three hours

It's quite simple to make. Weigh the amount of peeled skins, measure out that same weight of coarse salt, lay the skins out on a parchment- or Silpat-lined baking sheet, sprinkle the salt evenly over the top and bake in a 200° Fahrenheit oven until the skins are totally dry and the salt is caked. Let cool and blitz in a spice grinder. 

tomato skin salt in always-lovely Weck jars

A summery feast

There was a tinge of coolness in the air on Monday. I wore jeans comfortably, I didn't sweat or feel as I were baking. Although I much prefer warm weather to cold, I admit to finding Monday's fall-like clime lovely and invigorating. It was, plain and simple, perfect- the very reason people love fall so much.

And yet, as the seasons change, so too does the produce they offer. I'm not over my crush on tomatoes, delicate summer squash, juicy fruit and the bright beauty of it all, and so, for the next few weeks, plan to eat and put up as much of it all as I can. 

My dear friend of the annual tomato haul brought a second load to me on Monday. Yesterday, I used the last of the original forty pounds to make tomato-saffron sauce which I froze, and today will embark on canning a big batch from the new tonnage. In the meantime, it's tomatoes every which way including a lunch of cold tomato soup (ingredients + blender + 3 minutes) and a dinner of Yotam's socca, aka chickpea crepes with caramelized onions, gently roasted tomatoes and dollops of crème fraîche. 

pretty in pink cold tomato soup

chickpea flour crepe

socca

You cannot go wrong with either of these recipes though the latter takes a great deal more time than the former. Both are posted in Recipes and are tremendous ways to enjoy summer tomatoes beyond the common but always tasty caprese and tomato sandwich. 

I also finished up the last of the peaches yesterday by making a lightly spiced peach butter. Fruit butters, which contain no actual butter AND are a terrific way to use up seriously ripe fruit, are nothing more than heavily reduced fruit + sugar. The cooking process is similar to making jam but slower and over more moderate heat. Sugar draws liquid from the fruit, that poaches the fruit pulp that remains, and then the whole mess cooks down into a thick, spreadable "butter." I love fruit butters, and this peach one by Kevin West, spiced with allspice, nutmeg, cinnamon and a generous pour of Bourbon, is no exception. 

spiced peach butter

Last night, to go alongside the socca, I made a marinated zucchini dish from Food52. I first had this marvelous preparation at 2 Amy's, one of my favorite DC restaurants, a Neapolitan pizza place that serves much more than pie. A few weeks back, Food52 published a version of it in their Genius Recipe column, and my mouth has been watering since. 

Zucchini can be so bland, but what that means is that you also have ample opportunity to zing it up. Zucchini-feta fritters are one terrific way to do that, as is this red wine vinegar-garlic coated method. This is good hot, room temperature or cold and can be made in advance. Three cheers! Food52's recipe calls for basil but I used mint. Both are traditional, so use what you have or prefer.

marinated zucchini

Another great way to use zucchini is to mandoline (slice paper thin) it and serve it ceviche-style -drenched in olive oil, salt, vinegar and such- or atop pizza where it kind of melts into the cheese and crust and is luscious.

shaved zucchini with mozzarella and shaved asparagus pizza

Back to it with the toms, y'all. 

Death by fruit, part 3; dinner; goodbye

You guys, I've started to resent the fruit. The blackberries, raspberries, purple plums, most yellow plums and the majority of peaches and tomatoes are successfully put away. It has been a damn marathon. Mostly fun, now less so. 

Today I made lightly spiced plum jam, froze an arseload of peaches and berries and made a peach-blackberry pie which is, admittedly, divine. The highlight was the off-the-hook fabulous tomato-saffron tomato sauce I put atop paccheri for dinner. Blissful. Every single bite.

peach and blackberry pie, pre-top crust

paccheri with tomato-saffron sauce

Because I am now retching on the couch whilst trying to block my ears from the Republican clown car "debate," I am going to go pack because I leave for Amherst, MA, first thing in the morning. 

Why am I going, you might wonder? I am heading to what promises to be an amazing writing retreat with the inestimable Jena Schwartz and six incredible women I've gotten to know by writing with her. We are heading there tomorrow, like bees to a hive, to connect, write and laugh for forty-eight glorious hours. I'm so lucky! 

I'm considering taking the weekend off from Em-i-lis so that I can leave my laptop at home and simply be present there. If I'm radio silent until Sunday night, that's why. 

Thank you to everyone who read my essay on Mamalode today and showered me with love and support about it. Love you back! And I'm so glad it resonated with you.