Slow Roasted Tomato Soup

We have an abundance of fresh tomatoes popping up in our garden. My large heirloom tomatoes are not doing well, but the cherry tomatoes are sort of like weeds, they're everywhere! With bowls upon bowls of cherry tomatoes, I decided to make a roasted tomato soup. I found this recipe at Alexandra's Kitchen. She has gorgeous pictures of this soup and a new website if you would like to see what she is currently working on. This is simple, delicious and easily tweaked for your own tastes.

Ingredients
Tomatoes - large or small
onion, cut into quarters or eighths
head of garlic, broken and peeled
baby carrots
olive oil
salt (I prefer kosher)
black pepper
dried thyme
chicken stock or broth
coriander
loaf of french bread


Directions
If using cherry tomatoes you may leave whole but quarter your large tomatoes. Remove as many seeds as you can, as the seeds are bitter. With cherry tomatoes, you can cut a small hole in the top of the tomato and gently push on the bottom of the tomato to remove seeds easily.

The ingredient quantities are based on your supply and personal tastes. Spread tomatoes on sheet pan (I had enough tomatoes to fill two sheet pans). Add onion cut into quarters or eighths and cloves of garlics. Add a handful of baby carrots to each pan of tomatoes. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, thyme and drizzle with olive oil. Toss to coat everything in oil.

Roast veggies in the oven at 300 degrees for 3 hours until everything is brown and caramelly. Dump contents of the sheet pan into a large pot, add about 2 cups of chicken broth or stock, approximately 2-3 tsp of coriander and 2-3 slices of dried french bread broken into small pieces (you can slice it and dry it on the counter or for quicker drying you can lightly toast it in the oven or in a toaster).

Using an immersion blender, blend everything together. Taste and adjust for your personal preference. Add salt, more coriander, black pepper, fresh basil, etc. You can leave a little chunky or make it smooth.

Last night, I served this with a spoonful of sour cream and a piece of toasted french bread. However, I like it with a bit of basil pesto stirred in, as well. My husband enjoys a little heavy cream in his to mellow the tomato flavor. And what isn't enhanced by some shaved Parmesan?

Once I purchase a new camera, I'll take pictures of the process to show you how easy this is and how delicious it looks!

Herbed Salmon Fillets

2 tbls lemon juice
1 tbls Worcestershire sauce
6 (4 oz.) salmon fillets
2 tbls bread crumbs
2 tbls grated Romano cheese
2 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp dried oregano
½ tsp dried tarragon
½ tsp dried marjoram
Cooking spray
1 tbls butter

Combine lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce in a small bowl. Place fillets in an 11-x7-x2-inch baking dish; pour lemon juice mixture over fillets. Cover and marinate in refrigerator 1 hour.

Combine bread crumbs and next 5 ingredients in a small bowl; set aside.
Remove fillets from marinade; discard marinade.

Coat a large non-stick skillet with cooking spray; add butter. Place over medium-high heat until butter melts. Add fillets, and cook 1 to 2 minutes per side or until lightly browned.

Transfer fillets to an 11-x7-x2-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle bread crumb mixture evenly over fillets. Bake, uncovered, at 400 degrees for 15 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork.
Transfer to serving dishes accompanied by your favorite side (I served ours with fettuccine alfredo).

Hawaiian Turkey Burgers

1/2 CUP RED OR GREEN BELL PEPPER, CHOPPED
1 TEASPOON FRESH GINGER ROOT, CHOPPED
1/2 CUP THINLY SLICED GREEN ONIONS
1 POUND GROUND TURKEY
1/2 CUP DRY BREAD CRUMBS
1 CAN (8 OUNCES) PINEAPPLE SLICES, RESERVING JUICE
1/2 TEASPOON SALT
1 CUP TERIYAKI SAUCE
4 HAMBURGER BUNS

FINELY CHOP RED PEPPER AND GINGER ROOT. IN A BOWL, COMBINE RED PEPPER, GINGER ROOT, GREEN ONIONS, GROUND TURKEY, BREAD CRUMBS, 1/4 CUP PINEAPPLE JUICE AND SALT, MIX GENTLY BUT THOROUGHLY. FORM MEAT MIXTURE INTO FOUR 1/2 INCH THICK PATTIES. GRILL OVER MEDIUM COALS 10-12 MINUTES OR UNTIL MEAT IS NO LONGER PINK AND INTERNAL TEMPERATURE REACHES 165 DEGREE F. TURN BURGERS ONCE DURING COOKING. BASTE WITH TERIYAKI SAUCE USING PASTRY BRUSH THE LAST 2 MINUTES OF GRILLING. GRILL PINEAPPLE SLICES 5 MINUTES, BASTING WITH TERIYAKI SAUCE GRILL BUNS TO WARM, SERVE BURGERS ON BUNS, TOP WITH PINEAPPLE SLICE.

TO BROIL, SPRAY BROILER PAN WITH VEGETABLE OIL SPRAY. BROIL 4-6 INCHES FROM HEAT 10-12 MINUTES OR UNTIL MEAT IS NO LONGER PINK. BASTE WITH TERRIYAKI SAUCE BEFORE TURNING FIRST TIME, BASTE TOP AFTER REMOVING FROM THE OVEN.

SLOW ROASTED CAROLINA PULLED PORK

This is Amandas Aunt Junes recipe. It is really a great meal.
The slaw is a must for great BBQ. It must be a North Carolina thing because you don't see it (or at least I haven't) anywhere else.
I hope you enjoy.


SLOW ROASTED CAROLINA PULLED PORK

1 – 8 1/2 LB. PICNIC PORK SHOULDER (WITH BONE) BOSTON BUTT
1/4 CUP BETTER THAN BASIC BARBECUE RUB

PUT PICNIC PORK SHOULDER IN A LARGE ROASTING PAN. RUB ALL OVER WITH BETTER THAN BASIC BARBECUE RUB AND LET STAND AT ROOM TEMPERATURE FOR 1 HOUR.

PREHEAT OVEN TO 300 DEGREE AND INSERT A MEAT THERMOMETER INTO THICKEST PART OF ROAST. COVER PORK SHOULDER AND PAN SNUGLY WITH FOIL AND COOK UNTIL TEMPERATURE OF PORK REACHES 180 DEGREE ABOUT 5 HOURS.

REMOVE PORK FROM OVEN AND LET STAND UNTIL COOL ENOUGH TO HANDLE. RESERVE ANY PAN JUICES.

REMOVE AND DISCARD PORK SKIN. USING 2 LARGE FORKS, SHRED MEAT AND THEN TRANSFER PULLED PORK TO A LARGE POT. POUR RESERVED PAN JUICES INTO POT ALL OVER PULLED PORK.


BETTER THAN BASIC BARBECUE RUB

IN A SMALL BOWL, STIR TOGETHER
1/2 CUP SUGAR,
6 TBSP. KOSHER SALT,
1/4 CUP SWEET PAPRIKA,
2 TBS. HOT PAPRIKA,
2 TBS.CHILI POWER,
1 TBS. DRY MUSTARD,
1/2 TSP. CAYENNE AND
1/2 TSP. BLACK PEPPER

BLEND WELL. STORE IN A GLASS JAR UP FOR TO 6 MONTHS. ( I USE McCORMICK GRILL MATES PORK RUB).


BARBECUE SLAW

3/4 TSP. SALT,
1/4 TSP. RED PEPPER,
1 TSP. BLACK PEPPER,
6 1/2 TBSP. SUGAR,
2 LBS. CABBAGE (1 MED. HEAD),SHREDDED
1/4 C. KETCHUP,
3 TBSP. CIDER VINEGAR.

MIX TOGETHER SALT, RED PEPPER, BLACK PEPPER AND SUGAR. TOSS WITH THE CABBAGE. ADD KETCHUP AND VINEGAR AND TOSS AGAIN.

Layered Fruit Salad

I know I'm being a slacker with my recipe posts lately but it's the summer and I'm barely cooking these days. However, I've been using some delicious recipes and felt I should be sharing them so you can get great reviews at your summer parties, too.

I made this fruit salad for 2 cook outs in the month of July and it was a hit at both. Once again, my father-in-law is dieting so I wanted to make a fruit salad he could eat but allow other people to dress it up a bit if they weren't watching the scale. So here is my layered fruit salad:

Seasonal fruits and berries of your choice cut into bite size pieces
I used different fruits for each salad, but cantaloupe was a favorite in both

Creamy topping
8oz cream cheese softened
2 cups vanilla, low-fat yogurt
1 tsp almond extract
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tblsp brown sugar

Crunchy Topping
2 1/2 cups crispy rice cereal
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place the cereal and nuts onto a baking pan. Stir in the brown sugar and butter. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until toasty. Stir occasionally. Set aside to cool.

Mix cream cheese, yogurt, brown sugar and flavorings in food processor until thoroughly combined. (I was never able to get it completely lump free, but was not a big deal).

When preparing fruit, be sure to coat apples and pears in a little lemon juice or pineapple juice to prevent browning and add sliced bananas just before serving.

To serve place cut up fruit into individual serving bowl, top with cream then sprinkle with crunchy granola like topping.

NOTE: I used a plain puffed rice cereal for one batch of the crunchy topping and although it was tasty, the airy cereal soaked up a lot of butter. I would suggest sticking with the crispy rice (such as Rice Krispies brand).

1 Pan Cubed Steak Meal

My mother-in-law bought some cubed steak and threw it in the freezer. I decided to give it a whirl...not a cut of meat I would normally purchase, but I figured it can't be that hard to use, right? I also had a zucchini our neighbor brought over from his garden and I definitely did not want to waste homegrown goodness!

Growing up in the south we breaded and fried everything. I ate lots of cubed steak growing up....dusted in flour, salt and pepper then cooked in a pan full of butter or vegetable oil until tender and soaked in oil. And then it gets even better when you make a pan gravy from the drippings and pour right on top of that fried cube steak, YUMMY! But not so good for my waist line so that is the real reason I don't purchase cubed steak.

My father-in-law is on the Scarsdale Diet and since I do the cooking around our house I decided to find a diet friendly way to prepare this meat....he's a meat eater, BIG fan of meat so this meal pleased his tummy.

2 portions of cubed steak (my package was about .8 lbs)
small onion, sliced into rings
zucchini, diced in 1 inch cubes
Worcestershire sauce
Dijon mustard
salt and pepper, to taste
cooking spray

I lightly sprayed the bottom of a non-stick fry pan with a touch of cooking spray, heated the pan to medium high and seasoned both sides of the meat with salt and pepper. Placed my meat into the hot pan and browned each side (only browned, you're not trying to cook it through). Once brown, remove steak from your pan and place on a plate that can collect the juices that will pool while the meat rests.

After removing the steak from the pan, add onions and zucchini and season to taste with salt and pepper. Since we're not using a fat to cook the veggies, you will need to add some water to keep your pan and food from becoming a charred mess. While your veggies are cooking, slather 1 tsp Dijon mustard on each steak (this will help to evenly distribute the mustard when you add the steak back to the pan). Cook until onions and zucchini are just becoming tender.

Place steak in the pan and add all juices from the plate. Add 2tsp Worcestershire sauce to the pan and cook until veggies and meat are cooked through (5 minutes or so depending on thickness of steak). You may continue to add water here to ensure even mixture of sauce.

I served this with a side salad and it made a quick, easy and tasty dinner! I was happy to find another diet dish to add to my favorites menu.

Flank Steak

The flank steak is probably my most favorite cut of beef. It is super lean, always tender (when cooked and sliced properly) and can be cooked inside the oven or outside on the grill. The flank steak comes from the belly muscle of a cow; it should have a bright red color and lean as this is a well-exercised part of the cow. You should always cut across the grain when serving! Your flank steak should be rectangular in shape so cut down at an angle on the short side of the meat to ensure easy chewing. You should be able see the long lines in this cut of meat. Do not cut along those lines, cut perpendicular to them on diagonal. You can also help tenderize it by using an acid in a marinade (vinegar, lemon juice, tomato, pineapple).

Speaking of marinades, here is my favorite marinade for flank steak, of course I do not follow this recipe exactly so here is how I use the recipe.

• 1/4 cup olive oil

• 1/3 cup soy sauce

• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar

• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

• 1 1/2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

• 1 heaping tablespoon Dijon mustard

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

• 1 1/2 pounds flank steak

1. In a medium bowl, mix the oil, soy sauce, vinegar, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, garlic, and ground black pepper. Place meat in a shallow glass dish. Pour marinade over the steak, turning meat to coat thoroughly. Cover, and refrigerate for 6 hours.

2. Preheat grill for medium-high heat.

3. Oil the grill grate. Place steaks on the grill, and discard the marinade. Grill meat for 7-10 minutes per side, or to desired doneness.

For increased tenderness and less marinating time I vacuum seal about half the marinade with the steak and only need to marinade about 3 hours. If marinading in a zip bag or covered container use the full 6 hours and consider as much as 8 hours. You can also broil this in the oven when grilling is not an option.

Thinly sliced flank steak makes an excellent protein for salad, fajitas and our favorite is to coarse chop and put in two tortillas with monterey jack and cheddar cheeses and carmelized onions, cook in frying pan on both sides to crisp tortillas and melt cheese...YUM!