Slow Roasted Roma Tomatoes

This is one of my favorite ways to use tomatoes when they are not at their end of summer sweetest. When I find them on sale, I always buy a several pounds with this in mind. Slow roasting brings out all the sugars and concentrates the flavor into a delicious smoky morsel....use on salads, in pastas or eat them plain with a little chopped basil and balsamic vinegar.

Directions: Wash tomatoes and cut in half, squeezing out the seeds. Lay them on a baking sheet and sprinkle with olive oil, sea salt and pepper. Bake at 275 for 2-3 hours, depending on their size. They should shrink and get a bit carmelized. Yum!

Tomorrow I will post a recipe that incorporates said morsels...stay tuned!

Go FIGure

Mmmm... I think we are at the height of fig season because they are everywhere right now. I even found a new park this week that had HUGE fig trees with sticky fig residue everywhere. Too bad the branches were so high that I couldn't reach them. I also couldn't resist buying a couple baskets at the Farmer's Market this week. Here are a few ways I decided to use them:

Fresh Figs - With walnuts and Cambazola (creamy blue cheese). Simplicity at it's finest.

Oven-Dried Figs - This was kind of a mistake, but it turned out pretty good! I was going to pre-bake some figs to put on a pizza or tart. So I put them in the toaster oven at about 300 degrees......and TOTALLY forgot about them. Over 2 hours later, I got these dry sweet chewy morsels. A blessing in disguise!
I know, I know, that's a fire hazard waiting to happen. It's just that they didn't really emit an odor and I was completely engrossed in catching up with some housework and a little Olympics on the TIVO. If you are planning a hike in the hills, these would be a great natural sweet snack to bring along. It makes me think of trying to find a food dehydrater.


Fig & Ginger Chutney - Aside from a little chopping, chutneys are easy to make and they are so versatile. Serve it on grilled meat. Pour it over a wedge of brie with crackers. Make a crostini appetizer with some goat cheese and chutney. I love the sweet-sour-spicy combination!

1 pint figs, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

1 T. grated ginger

3 T. apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup minced onion

4 oz tomato sauce

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp. lemon zest

1/8 tsp. cinnamon

salt/pepper

Mix everything together in a non-reactive bowl and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Transfer to sauce pan and simmer for about and hour, or until all the flavors have mellowed. Best to eat the next day.