Spaghettini with Fresh Herby Tomato Sauce and with Chicken

I wouldn't say I'm drowning in tomatoes because I'm using them up as fast as they come ripe.  I've dehydrated masses of Principe Borghese tomatoes, mostly giving them away, but now I'm drying them for our use.  And there are still lots to be had!  Ditto with the Health Kick and Classica tomatoes.  I have frozen packages of roasted tomato sauce waiting in the freezer for winter meals.  Two batches of salsa sit on the shelves to be added to my husband's signature Mexican Chicken dish, not to mention Nachos!

Today I decided to try some of the Principe Borghese tomatoes in a fresh tomato sauce with chicken and served with spaghettini.  And it was delicious!  A suitable recipe was found on the Internet and, of course, I adapted it for our needs.  Any cherry tomatoes will do, but the Principe Borghese were particularly good in the recipe.  I used herbes de Provence as it was handy in the spice rack, but you could make up your own mixture - just use lots!  The recipe I found also called for boneless, skinless chicken breasts, but we generally use thighs.  We prefer the flavour and they cook so much faster.  I've given a recipe for four people, but I actually made it about 2/3 for two of us.

1 1/2 pounds cherry tomatoes
Oil for sautéing - about 6 Tbsp
2 Tbsp herbes de Provence
1 tsp salt - plus a bit more
Freshly ground black pepper
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken
1 small shallot, minced
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

Preheat oven to 400F.  Combine tomatoes, 2 Tbsp oil and herbes de Provence in a large bowl, season with salt and pepper, toss to coat.

Heat 1 Tbsp of oil in a large, heavy ovenproof skillet (I used my Le Creuset casserole, but a cast iron frying pan would work just as well).  Tip in the tomatoes carefully - watch out for splatters!  Sauté until the tomatoes burst - about 5 minutes or so.  Transfer to a bowl.

Season the chicken all over with 1 tsp of salt and the pepper.  Heat 2 Tbsp of oil in the skillet over medium high heat.  Sear the chicken on both sides until golden brown.  Transfer the pan to the oven and roast until cooked through.  Transfer the chicken to a plate and let it rest for 5 minutes.

Add the remaining 1 Tbsp of oil to the skillet.  Heat over medium heat.  Add the minced shallot and cook, stirring until fragrant - about a minute.  Deglaze the pan with the balsamic vinegar, scraping up the browned bits.  Add the tomatoes and bring to a simmer.  Then cut up the chicken and add that just until well heated.  Serve over cooked spaghettini with warmed, crisp bread and a fresh salad.  Ambrosia!

Roasted Tomato Pasta Sauce

We're starting to be overrun with tomatoes!  The Health Kick and Classica tomatoes are heavy with fruit and they're ripening faster than I can deal with them.  Fortunately, they seem to not mind waiting!  I have a big basket of ripe plum tomatoes sitting on the counter and all are still in excellent condition in spite of the fact they've been there for several days now.

I decided to try making a roasted tomato pasta sauce and had all the ingredients for my first trial ready in the garden.  Roasting brings out sweetness and richness in the vegetables and roasting over time helps reduce the moisture content, resulting in a thick sauce.

I used about a dozen or so tomatoes in this first batch, 4 cloves of garlic, one onion and a few small carrots for sweetness to balance out the acid in the tomatoes.  A couple of sprigs of basil were added for the herb.

The tomatoes were quartered, onion peeled and quartered and the carrots added whole.  I smashed the garlic cloves with the flat of a knife to easily remove the dry skin, then roughly chopped them along with the basil.  The veggies and herbs were placed in a large ceramic lasagna pan - but any non-metal pan would do.  Finally I drizzled about 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil over them and tossed to combine.  Oven heated to 350F, the pan was popped in.

I stirred the veggies at 30 minute intervals and at 1 1/2 hours, judged that they were ready to process. At this point, I could have processed the sauce with my food mill, but decided to put the whole shebang in the food processor instead.  I hate to waste anything!

After a minute or so in the food processor, I added salt and pepper.  The resulting sauce is thick and delicious!  I can keep it in the fridge for up to 5 days, or freeze it in meal-sized batches.

This is a very versatile sauce and is limited only by your imagination.  For the sweetness, you can add the traditional carrot, or instead try a plum or pear.  I didn't have any ripe peppers for this batch, but that would be an excellent addition for another time.  And herbs can be changed up - try thyme or oregano.  Plum tomatoes aren't vital, and if all you have are lots of beefsteak or cherry tomatoes, by all means use them.  If the sauce is a bit thin, just cook it down a bit after blending.  The end result is the same; a delicious homemade sauce with no preservatives or ingredients you can't pronounce!  And you did it yourself!

Tomatoes! Time for the Dehydrator.

Many years ago I exchanged plants with a friend.  She gave me two tomato plants, one of which was Principe Borghese, a cherry tomato.  I was unfamiliar with it, but having lots of cherry tomatoes that year, I decided to dehydrate them.  I quickly noticed that the Principe Borghese were very productive,  superior quality when dehydrated but were pretty bland fresh.  Reading up on them, I discovered that they were specifically designed for sun dried tomatoes - dehydrating.  My friend was hugely disappointed with them as she wanted a tomato that would dry, freeze and be delicious fresh and Principe Borghese just didn't fill the bill for her.  She never grew them again, but I've been growing them ever since.

Today I picked all the tomatoes that were becoming ripe.  I gathered about a dozen of the Health Kick that were almost ripe and a basketful of Principe Borghese - just from four plants each.  The Health Kick will continue to ripen in the house but there were plenty of cherry tomatoes for dehydrating.

I cut the tomatoes into quarters.  I believe they'll dehydrate fine in half, but in quarters, they dry just that much faster.  I don't bother removing the skins beforehand.  On a cherry tomato that would be just too fiddly and the skins in stews and soups just don't bother us.

Then the cut tomatoes are arranged on a dehydrator tray with lots of space between for air movement.  I got 4 trays from today's harvest and set the dehydrator for 135 degrees F.  They'll take at least a day to dry properly.  You want them good and dry so they don't go mouldy on you.  The finished product gets tucked away in canning jars with the lids screwed down tight.  I've experimented in the past with ziplock bags and vacuum sealed bags but they were never totally satisfactory.  And with glass jars, you have the satisfaction of knowing that you aren't creating more waste with empty plastic bags.  The whole procedure only took an hour, but the satisfaction of knowing that I grew the plants from seed, watched them grow, and then was able to pick and process the fruit to brighten up a winter meal was worth triple the time.  This is why I garden.

Time to Harvest the Garlic

Recent family events have put the garden on hold and there has only been time to water and grab a few items for dinner.  The garlic has been waiting patiently for its turn to be harvested and today I finally had the time.

I've been allowing the ground to dry up which will help the garlic bulbs in their curing process.  The dry ground made it easy to pull up the bulbs which I stacked in 2 piles to keep the varieties separate.  They mostly look a good size - not like last year's production which was a bit on the small size as that bed hadn't received the SeaSoil that this bed did.

Once the garlic had been all pulled up, I separated them into 4 sections and tied them with twine with a loop at the top.  This year I've hung the bundles on the end of the woodshed to dry in the shade.  They'll be out of the sun, but get lots of drying breezes.  It's important not to leave the bulbs drying in the sun, but to get them into shade as soon as possible.  This is the opposite of onions, which you cure in the sun first, then once they have nice papery outer skins, bring them inside to finish curing.  And for both garlic and onions, never wash the dirt off.  Allow it to dry completely for a few weeks and then you can trim off the roots and tops, and then brush away any remaining dirt.

The Three Sisters Garden is growing apace!  Four butternut squash seeds are certainly taking up a lot of room and are even starting to scramble down the bank towards the pond.  I see lots of little squashes forming on the vines.  The corn is tasseling out nicely and flowers are forming on the beans.  The two old wooden beds will definitely have to be replaced this year as the wood is rotting out.  A good project for winter.

Things are exploding!

We are in the middle of a little heat wave.  People in regions that are used to hot summers will laugh but 32C is pretty hot here on the coast!  The garden, however, is loving it.  I'm out there watering twice a day just to make sure that everything is happy.  This year I've abandoned my watering systems in favour of hand watering.  Now that I have more time to devote to the garden, it makes sense to pay more attention to what actually needs the water.  Early in the morning when the garden is still in the shade seems to be the best time with a selective top-up in the evening.

Copra Onions

I think these must be the best onions we've ever grown.  It's only the first part of July and already they're bulking up nicely with no sign of slowing down.  This bed had tomatoes in it last year, received lots of SeaSoil and had a good dusting of homemade fertilizer before the seedlings were transplanted.  We only lost 2 seedlings and none of the plants show signs of going to seed, which is the result of a cool, wet spring. So far this year, we've been fortunate.

Corn and beans!

The Three Sisters Garden is a veritable jungle!  There are only 4 squash plants in the beds this year and all are positioned to sprawl out of the bed - which they are definitely doing.  I see lots of little Waltham Butternut Squash forming.  The Fortex Beans are scrambling up the corn stalks and they're a much better choice than the Italian heritage beans, having smaller leaves.  Hopefully they won't break the corn stalks.  The Italian heritage beans are starting to form flowers, so it won't be long now before we can have beans for supper!

Sweet Millions

The tomatoes are also very happy with the heat.  Sweet Millions has fruit starting to change colour.

Classica Tomato

All of the tomatoes have heavy crops and I can see some busy times ahead processing the bounty.  Both Classica and Health Kick have lots of tomatoes and while both are bush varieties, Classica seems to be a bit more compact and the fruit are more elongated.

Cantaloupe

I placed a piece of fencing behind the cantaloupe which is growing in the compost bin.  This way, the vines will climb up the fencing and the fruit will be much easier to find and keep clean.  Here, too, small fuzzy balls are starting to take shape.

I pulled out the snow peas yesterday and we carefully removed the zig zag fence so as not to damage the sunflowers.  Several were staked as I'm not sure how stable they will be now that the fence has been removed.  Then I transplanted 2 of the peppers to this bed and today seeded kale for a fall crop.  If the wood bugs leave the seedlings alone, I'll transplant them to the small bed that had Seiglinde Potatoes in it.  When the garlic has been pulled - in a week or so - I'll plant a fall crop of snow peas in their place.

I may not enjoy the hot, hot days, but the garden certainly does!

It's All About The Food

I have to start with a small back-story.  Many, many years ago I attended a friend's "kitchen-themed" shower.  I’d spent a lot of time over my present, picking out a collection of things I knew a new housewife would need – seasonings, baking powder, baking soda – things in that vein.  When she opened my present, the bride-to-be glanced at me with a smile on her face and said fondly, “Ah, practical Pat!”  At the time I was a bit insulted, but now I know that’s exactly me.

Concrete raised beds can grow a lot of food

When we first bought this property and started landscaping the grounds, it was esthetics I was concerned about.  My husband and I were both working and with the travelling time, there wasn’t much left for gardening.  I planted perennials and shrubbery.  Eventually we began thinking more about providing some of our own food and quickly learned that our rocky property wasn’t ideal for vegetable gardening.  Concrete raised beds became our way to get around the negatives of our property and the multitude of cedar trees in the forests surrounding us.  Lots of information on how we built these beds can be found on this blog. 

Some of our own potatoes - German Butter and Pacific Russet

As time has gone by, growing our own food has become the focus of our gardening.  We are fortunate to have access to lots of irrigation water – an extremely precious commodity on the Gulf Islands – but it has made clearer where our priorities lie.  Landscaping has shrunk to what shrubbery can survive without watering.  The majority of our efforts have gone into practicality – what we can eat.

Today’s climate situation has made that even more important.  British Columbia, Canada has come to rely too much on other areas of the continent to provide our food.  Now that those areas are experiencing weather hardships – drought, unseasonable cold, unseasonable hot and floods – it’s more than ever vital that we get back to supporting ourselves.  Unfortunately, a lot of extremely valuable farmland has been turned into housing and has now vanished.  At one time, British Columbians produced the vast majority of what they needed.  Now only a tiny portion comes from home with the rest being imported from the United States.  How are we ever to get back to being self-supporting?

Lettuces and swiss chard not only taste good - they look good, too!

We think it’s important to take on some of this burden ourselves.  We need to either grow our own if possible, or support those locally who can.  On our little island, a excellent little market garden, jollity FARMS,  has been created in the last few years.  Right now they are selling subscribed boxes to locals and the excess produce at the farm a couple of days a week.  They not only sell vegetables, they also sell bread and meat that they produce as well.  If we weren’t growing our own, I would definitely be subscribing!

So how can we help ourselves? 

A cascade of Sweet Million cherry tomtoes

Start by growing what is most useful to you.  Do you eat a lot of salads?  Lettuces and green onions take up very little space and look attractive.  A small investment yields a big return.

Herbs in pots on the deck

Use up every little space.  Pots on a deck can grow vegetables and herbs.  These days, plants are developed especially for container gardening.  Tomatoes are even grown in hanging baskets! A friend sent me a picture of a square planter that had a colourful variety of lettuces in it.  Very pretty and very practical!

A variety of pepper plants

Grow what works for you.  Can’t grow spinach?  Wood bugs eat mine as soon as a seedling pokes its head out of the ground.  Try swiss chard instead.  Or start the seedlings elsewhere and transplant as soon as they can withstand the bug onslaught.

Cantaloupe!

Think outside the box.  A friend found some large rope-handled plastic tubs on sale for a terrific price.  She drilled holes in the bottom and is growing a wonderful crop of potatoes in them.  We turn half of our 2-bin compost box over to something each year.  This year it’s cantaloupe again, and we’ve used it for tomatoes and squash in the past.

Copra onions take up one full raised bed

Think about winter storage.  We grow our full year’s worth of onions in one raised bed.  Same for garlic.  Some crops can be left in the ground and harvested as you need them.  I leave my leeks out and use them until spring.  Other friends leave potatoes and carrots in the ground – which you can in our mild climate.  I imagine they probably stay in much better condition that way.  Perhaps a mulch on top would help, too.

This year's Three Sisters Garden

Remember to put back what you take out.  Intensive gardening can be hard on the soil.  You need good quality compost and organic fertilizer of some sort to replenish the nutrition.  This year I’m also applying a liquid fish fertilizer to my crops and have already noticed a difference.  My Three Sisters Garden also fulfills this as the beans put nitrogen back into the soil.  The vegetation gets chopped up and composted at the end of the season.  We also collect leaves in the fall, which are run through our shredder and then used as mulch.

I apologize for the long lecture, but this subject is very important to me.  We need to rely less on others to feed ourselves.  If we don’t, the end results could be catastrophic.

Grilled Zucchini

I'm always looking for new ways to deal with zucchini.  I only have 2 plants but they are huge and I can see that once again, my limited ingenuity will be taxed.  Tonight's dinner was again from the garden with the exception of the steak.  It was my husband's turn to cook and he marinated a steak to grill on the barbecue.  He baked a couple of freshly harvested Pacific Russet potatoes and steamed snow peas to go with it.  I had a nice-sized zucchini and thought I'd try an oil-seasoning mix on them, which turned out quite tasty.  Even my husband, who is definitely not a zucchini lover, agreed that they were - well - okay!

Grilled Zucchini

Mix together very finely minced garlic, salt and cajun seasoning with olive oil.  Slice a medium-sized zucchini lengthwise into even "planks" and let the zucchini sit in the oil mixture while the barbecue heats up.  Grill the zucchini for about 5 minutes per side, until soft.

I made up the oil mixture several hours before dinner so that the garlic and spices could thoroughly infuse the oil.  My husband brushed the potatoes with some of this oil before he baked them since we like to eat the potato skins - and very nice they were too!