Thursday, July 31, 2008

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

It's big, red and round, but I'm not talking about that jolly old elf, I am talking about that wonderful vegetable/fruit-- the tomato! It is that time of year again when the farm is overflowing with these guys in red, orange, yellow, green, even purple! I was so excited to go yesterday because I knew that they were waiting for me! Can you tell I'm excited? Every sentence so far has an exclamation point!



There was a time when I did not regard the tomato so highly. My mom would have to force me to gag them down. Gradually I began to accept them in salads, or cooked with zuchinni, but I wasn't exactly enthusiastic. But once I got married, Ed loved eating them so much that it made me like them. Seeing him enjoy them made something click in my tastebuds and all of a sudden they were delicious! I especially liked eating them with salt, but some dressing- french or italian, would also work. But I should qualify-- the tomatoes I am talking about are the garden variety. Literally, from the garden. In July and August when tomatoes ripen is the time to eat them. In January when the grocery stores sell the garden tomatoe's anemic, mealie cousins I avoid buying them unless a recipe absolutely calls for fresh tomato. But now, now is the time for gorging on tomatoes. And that is what I did. I recently was reading someone's blog where she was raving about a cherry tomato called "sun gold", so I was excited to see them on the u-pick list at the farm. As I went down the rows, I popped them in my mouth almost as fast as I put them in my little container. They are small and incredibly sweet- they may even convince my children to eat tomatoes.
I also got 4 pounds of regular sized tomatoes that I am excited to slice open to eat with salt. Ed and I found this recipe for a BLT last summer from a Spanglish- "The World's Greatest Sandwich", and we have been waiting for tomato season to eat it again. It is soooo good. Seriously, the name fits it. Maybe tonight for dinner...

The World's Greatest Sandwich

3-4 thick slices of bacon
2 slices monterey Jack cheese
2 slices pain de campagne (rustic country loaf), toasted
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
4 slices tomato
2 leaves butter lettuce
1 teaspoon butter
1 egg


1. Cook the bacon until crisp
drain on paper towels and set aside

2. Place the slices of cheese on one slice of the toasted bread
and place in a toaster oven or under a broiler to melt the cheese.

3. Spread the other slice of toast with the mayonnaise,
top with cooked bacon, the sliced tomato and the lettuce.

4. In a nonstick skillet, melt the butter over medium heat.
Fry the egg, turning over briefly when the bottom is set (keep the yolk runny)

5. Slide the finished egg on top of the lettuce.
top with the other slice of toast, melted cheese side down.
place the sandwich on a plate and slice in half, letting the yolk run down the sandwich.

5 comments:

Sullivan's Mom said...

1. that sandwich is our absolute favorite ever! it's thomas keller's and adam sandler makes it in Spanglish - that's where we learned about it.
2. we would have been neighbors 25 years ago - the house is in Cheltenham on your favorite street - Myrtle! Right down the street from your old home.

EEEEMommy said...

Have you tried freezing them? It's easier than canning. I like to remove the peels, dice them into chunks, and sauté in olive oil. You could also add garlic and italian herbs. Then freeze them flat in Ziploc freezer bags. It's fabulous for making spaghetti sauces or adding them to chili and things like that for a fresh from the garden taste in the middle of the winter. Yum!

Daisy said...

oooh- that sounds so good! I will definitely try it, thanks!

Rachel said...

We're just starting to get tomatoes in our garden too. I love it!

chaps said...

delish. love tomatoes too.