Cooks' Corner

[Matt T]

I agree, Tim. Gardening and good grub - what a great combination. Nice that they also throw in a bit of the history and science behind the plants as well. Just the holistic approach so many of us have been looking for in TV programming. Well done BBC.

[meanie]

As it's tomato time here is a quick and easy recipe.

Cut in half between ten and fifteen sweet cherry toms. Put some water on to boil for the pasta. Then in another saucepan add the toms, a splash of good olive oil, a three or four finger pinch of nigella seeds, a wee pinch of salt, a splash of white balsamic (or white wine) vinegar and a pinch of sugar. As the water comes to the boil sweat the toms down (add a spoon of water as needs be if they're drying out but bear in mind that it is more of a pasta dressing than a sauce) until they have broken down. Boil the fresh pasta, drain and fold the toms into the pasta with some crumbled Wensleydale (or a similar "chalky" cheese) and top with chopped fresh herbs or (my favourite) chopped water cress. Good bread on the side with butter. Takes no more than fifteen minutes start to finish.
You can also add if you want some diced chorizo that has been quickly fried or a poached egg (naughty but really disgustingly good!). Or a semi-hard boiled egg quartered.

Basically it is just a quick and easy yet fresh tasting supper when you're in a hurry or are too knackered to bother.

[Lesley Cox]

We had never grown the Sweet One Hundreds before this year but tried half a dozen plants and had a billion (almost) little toms. I ate a handful every time I went past them, three or four times a day. In the finish we made quantities of a sort of passata and bottled it so have plenty to see us through this horrid winter, for pasta, rice, casseroles, on toast or whatever (as Donald Trump would say). I just lve tomatoes.

[Chris Johnson]

We usually grow two varieties each year, a cherry or plum and a beef tomato (my favourite is Black Russian). With this year's appallingly wet and cold spring and summer we have hardly a tomato in sight. I doubt we will have enough for green chutney in the autumn.

[meanie]

I just lve tomatoes.

The same here. My basic foods are tomatoes, chillies, garlic, onions, ginger, mushrooms and obscene quantities of cheese. I'm blessed with mega low cholesterol which I put down to the tommies largely.

[meanie]

We usually grow two varieties each year, a cherry or plum and a beef tomato (my favourite is Black Russian). With this year's appallingly wet and cold spring and summer we have hardly a tomato in sight. I doubt we will have enough for green chutney in the autumn.

That's good to hear - I thought that it was just me!

[David Nicholson]

The same here. My basic foods are tomatoes, chillies, garlic, onions, ginger, mushrooms and obscene quantities of cheese. I'm blessed with mega low cholesterol which I put down to the tommies largely.

I prefer a good pork pie!

[meanie]

I prefer a good pork pie!

Nothing up with that (as long as there is some Colemans English around) but finding a good pork pie is getting harder by the day.

[David Nicholson]

Agreed, they are getting as rare as rocking horse manure. There's still a couple of excellent pork pie makers in Slaithwaite (Slowit) close to the place of my birth. Best time to get them is around 1030 in a morning just as they come out of the oven and the gravy gently scalds your chin as you get your choppers round them. I'm dribbling at the thought of it

[johnw]

Years ago beloved CBC host Vicki Gabereau held an on-air contest for the best tomato (or was it pasta?) sauce.  In any event this was the winner and it is still a standby with us.  Simple enough and still the best.


Vicki Gabereau’s Great Tomato Sauce


Chop 3 very ripe red summer tomatoes (or 6-8 romas chopped or 20 cherry tomatoes halved) removing all white bits.  Heat a generous amount of olive oil in a pan and when hot add the tomatoes and a few chopped sundried tomatoes. Bring to the boil and reduce heat, not too low as you want the sauce to reduce. Add 2-3 finely chopped garlic cloves at halfway point.  Add ¼ cup fresh basil, the basil stems, 2 tablespoons fresh oregano, handful chopped parlsey, sea salt and freshly ground pepper, stir once to incorporate and do not stir again.

Let sit on very, very low for 1 hour.

Toss cooked penne into the sauce and serve with parmesano and toasted pine nuts.

Simple enough and still the best with wonderful depth of flavour.

john

[Lesley Cox]

This sounds great John. I'll be trying it next summer, for sure.

Chris, I haven't grown Black Russian but I do grow Black krim, which sounds Russian to me. I wonder if it's the same or perhaps a derivative? It is very large and a dirty khaki/green colour, turning khaki/red. It has wonderful flavour and the skins are very thin and soft, easily bitten through so I's never peel them for a sauce. Makes a wonderful tart, the toms cut in thick slabs, doused in olive oil, salted and basil thrown on top.

[Chris Johnson]

Chris, I haven't grown Black Russian but I do grow Black krim, which sounds Russian to me. I wonder if it's the same or perhaps a derivative? It is very large and a dirty khaki/green colour, turning khaki/red. It has wonderful flavour and the skins are very thin and soft, easily bitten through so I's never peel them for a sauce. Makes a wonderful tart, the toms cut in thick slabs, doused in olive oil, salted and basil thrown on top.

Lesley - Likewise, I haven't heard of Black Krim. I looked them both up and note they are distinct varieties with heirloom status. I presume there is some shared parentage as they look very similar. In a good year they ripen quite well up here but this isn't one of those years.

[Jupiter]

I've settled on Black Krim as one of my favourite tomatoes here and grow it every year. The flavour is more intense than Black Russian. The only tomato I rate higher than Black Krim is Morado, which is very rare and only a few specialists offer it for sale. Eating a Morado or a well ripened Krim is like drinking fine Australian red wine. Intense and complex.

[shelagh]

Celebrating husband Brian's umptieth birthday yesterday and our daughter had organised this wonderful cake. I thought it might provoke some discussion regarding plant identification.  It came from the same kitchen as the 'Mad Scientist' cake, a very talented lady.

[meanie]

Celebrating husband Brian's umptieth birthday yesterday and our daughter had organised this wonderful cake. I thought it might provoke some discussion regarding plant identification.  It came from the same kitchen as the 'Mad Scientist' cake, a very talented lady.

That is too good to eat!

My latest thing is Keema curry which is a curry made with mince and in my case lots of chick peas as well. The other day I had enough left for one so Sue said why not use it up to make something for two with the bits of veg that were going begging - here's what I did;
I sweated down some halved cherry toms along with some onion, garlic, chillies, mushrooms and some seeds (black cummin, fennel and nigella) whilst some cubed potatoes were boiling. When the spuds were ready I added them to the pan along with some pasatta and some hazelnut dhukka mix. Cook gently for five minutes then add the leftover keema curry, diced peppers and large onion segments (I like crunchy onion in my curry but leave out if you prefer) and simmer for another five minutes. Add some chopped coriander leaves and serve.
What we ended up with was a sort of middle eastern inspired hash but it worked so well that I'll be doing this on a regular basis now.