After we began growing most of our own salad greens, we quickly grew bored eating our way though a big bottle of store bought dressing and started making our own. Now I either make a little jar of dressing to use throughout the week, or I whisk together a very small amount of vinaigrette—just enough to dress the salad we are eating right then.

I have found that 2 teaspoons of vinegar or lemon/lime juice whisked with 2 tablespoons of oil yields the perfect amount of vinaigrette to dress 5 to 6 cups of loosely packed greens (this is the amount of greens that fits in my salad spinner and is enough for two lunch-sized salads or 4 small-ish sized side salads). To mix things up, I add in finely minced garlic or shallot to the vinaigrette, or I will whisk in dry ground mustard or a dab of prepared Dijon. Sometimes I sprinkle in spices like cumin, coriander or paprika, or a bit of harissa (a pepper paste), or minced fresh herbs. The vinaigrette literally takes about two minutes to make and has a really lively flavor.

The arugula in our winter garden is beginning to look a bit haggard. The largest leaves are too harsh and stringy for salads (though they taste delicious cooked with pasta), but the smaller leaves are still tender enough to eat raw. I’m especially fond of tossing this spicy green with toasted pumpkin seeds and a Mexican cheese called Cojita. The toasted pumpkin seeds bring out arugula’s inherent nutty flavor and the crumbles of salty Cojita set off the tangy apple cider vinaigrette.  The key to making this salad extra delicious is to sprinkle a bit of sea salt over the top and a good grind of pepper right before serving.

Arugula Salad with Toasted Pepitas and Cojita Cheese

All squash seeds are edible, but my favorites are the small seeds from acorn and butternut squash. They are small enough that you can eat them whole, without having to hull them. I toss the seeds in a little oil and roast them in a hot oven until they are toasted and use them in salads. I also buy pepitas, which are hulled pumpkin seeds, and toast them in a pan as described below. Both the pepitas and the toasted squash seeds add a wonderful crunch to salads. If you can’t find Cojita, substitute crumbled feta.

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons pepitas (hulled pumpkin seeds)

2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 small garlic clove, pressed

Sea salt

Freshly ground pepper

5 cups loosely packed arugula, washed and dried

2 tablespoons crumbled Cojita cheese

Instructions:

Place the pepitas in a dry skillet and set it over high heat. Cook, shaking the pan frequently, until the seeds begin to brown and pop, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together the vinegar, oil, and garlic. Add a generous pinch of salt and ground pepper to taste. Add the arugula to the bowl and toss until the leaves are well coated. Scatter the toasted pepitas and the cheese over the greens. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and more cracked pepper. Serve immediately.

Outside of Boring, Oregon, on a rural road that winds past tree farms and fence-lined pastures, sits a rustic wooden barn that houses Red Pig Tools, makers of beautiful, classic garden tools. All of the tools in the Red Pig line are made on the property by blacksmith Bob Denman, who is dedicated to crafting smart, handsome, heirloom quality tools.

In my own garden I only regularly use five tools: a garden fork, spade, 3-tine cultivator, trowel, and bow rake (as well as an old steak knife for harvesting). Though I recently added a Red Pig Hand Plow to the mix, because when I picked it up, it felt weighty in my hand, like it was ready to go to work. The plough comes in both right- and left-handed versions, and Bob designed the sharp curved blade for making furrows, digging small seedling holes, tamping soil and uprooting weeds.

Bob and his wife, Rita, are clearly gardeners because all their tools feature smart design details that only someone who uses them regularly would think to make. For instance, the heads of the hoes are sharp on all three sides, which makes it easy to corner around plants. The tools are also very sturdy because Bob hand-forges the blade and shank of each tool out of steel and then rivets them to the hardwood handles.

The Red Pig Tools retail shop is open Wednesday through Saturday from 10:00 to 6:00 and the tools are also available through the shop’s website. You’ll find pretty much every kind of tool you’ll need!

It’s canning time! To help inspire you to put away a few things for the winter, Anne Bryant created an adorable preserving-themed desktop calendar.

To put the August calendar on your computer’s desktop, all you need to do is choose the size that best fits your monitor and then click on the link below—the file will automatically download to your computer and then you can set it up as your background image.

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I’ve got the calendar all set up on my computer to help remind me to make pickles this summer! When I was a kid there was usually a great big jar of homemade pickles in the fridge. My mom grew lots of cucumbers in our garden and she pickled them with a recipe that she cut out of the newspaper in the early 1980s. I asked her to send the recipe to me and she copied it out verbatim. The recipe came from a home economics column. We’re not quite sure who the cooking advice columnist was, other than the fact that her name was Polly, but the recipe is a family favorite!

My mom has a crock, but she says you can pack the pickles in jars and pour the brine over them if you don’t have one. She also sometimes added in a hot chile or two.

Polly’s Refrigerator Pickles

Dear Polly:

Do you have a good recipe for pickles—the kind that taste like deli dills? ~ Andy

Dear Andy:

My favorite pickle recipe does indeed taste like the crisp half-sour deli pickles that are so good with a hamburger or a corned beef sandwich—or just about anything else.   These are refrigerator pickles;  I don’t recommend canning them because the short fermentation period and small amount of vinegar in the brine may not contain enough acid to safely preserve the pickles for long storage at room temperature.  Rather, they may be stored in their brine in the refrigerator for several weeks.  The recipe is from that excellent guide to garden-fresh produce, The Victory Garden Cookbook by Marian Morash (Knopf).

Thoroughly clean and halve (or cut into spears) about 2 ½ pound of pickling cucumbers.  Peel and flatten one large clove of garlic (or more if you really like garlic).  Wash six to eight sprigs of fresh dill if you have it.  (If not substitute one-teaspoon dill seeds.)

Place the cucumbers, garlic, dill or dill seeds and 1 teaspoon whole pickling spices in a crock, glass jar, or bowl large enough to allow at least 2 inches of space between the pickles and the top of the container.  Bring ¼ cup vinegar, and 2 ½ quarts of water to a boil.  Boil two minutes.  Pour the brine over the cucumbers and weigh down with a plate and some heavy cups or cans on top.  The brine should be at least one inch above the cucumbers.  Keep the crock at room temperature overnight, then refrigerate either in the crock or in clean jars (fill the jars with the brine and cover until ready to eat).

This formula is so fast and easy to use that you can make several batches during the season.  And refrigerated, the pickles will keep several weeks without becoming very much stronger or more sour.  One bite of the crunchy, tasty pickles will make you a regular pickle maven! ~ Polly

Today I was planning on photographing some small Brussels sprouts tossed with olive oil and mustard and roasted until they turned a deep caramel color. But I forgot to set the timer and ended up carbonizing, rather than caramelizing, the sprouts. I decided to still share the recipe because these sprouts are absolutely addictive when they haven’t been burned to a crisp. If I don’t have sprouts from my garden, I try to buy ones that are still attached to their big, thick stalk. Pulling the sprouts off of the stalk takes a little more preparation time, but I find them to be sweeter and less pungent than those sold individually.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Capers

Serves 2 to 4

Ingredients:

40 medium or 60 small Brussels sprouts, yellow or shriveled outer leaves removed and stems left intact

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

Freshly ground pepper

Sea salt

2 teaspoons capers, drained and rinsed

Minced parsley for garnish

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Slice the brussels sprouts in half lengthwise. In a large bowl whisk together the olive oil and the mustard along with several generous grinds of pepper and a pinch of salt. Add the sprouts to the bowl and toss them until they are thoroughly coated with the olive oil mixture. Pour the sprouts out on to a rimmed baking sheet in a single layer and turn then them all cut side down.

Place in the oven and roast. Shake the pan occasionally but do not turn the sprouts over. Remove from the oven when the sprouts are tender, the outer leaves are browned, and the cut sides are a very deep golden brown, about 20 to 25 minutes for small sprouts and 30 to 35 minutes for medium sized sprouts.

Place the sprouts in a bowl. Stir in the capers and garnish with parsley.

I started growing beets because I love their greens. Beets and Swiss chard happen to be different varieties of the same species, Beta vulgaris. Beet greens look quite similar to chard, but they have a tender texture and a slightly more refined, spinach-like flavor. We eat the greens all the time in winter. I love to fold feta, dill, and sauteed beet greens into a puff pastry tart shell and serve it with a bowl of soup.

It took me awhile to grow to like, and then eventually love, beetroot. My grandmother canned beets when I was young and served them often. To this day I cannot get over how vinegary, clove-y chunks of pickled beet look like they are bleeding all over the plate.

Based on my dislike of pickled beets, I avoided eating all beetroot, no matter how it was prepared. Then, a few years ago I tried roasted beets with marcona almond butter at Cafe Juanita.

It was one of the best things I’ve ever eaten. Seriously. That dish reminded me to never wholesale disregard a food. Now that I eat beetroot, I prefer to roast them. Roasting pushes the earthy quality of beets into the background and brings forth a sweeter, caramelized flavor. I often just chop the roasted roots and drizzle them with a bit of olive oil and salt pepper before serving them. I also toss like to toss chunks of roasted beets with vinaigrette and serve them over arugula with chopped Marcona almonds. Lately I’ve been making grilled sandwiches with chevre and very thinly sliced golden beets. Sounds weird, but it is totally delicious!

Roasted Beets

To prevent the beets from bleeding their brightly colored juice everywhere, twist—-don’t cut—off their leaves and snip the long taproot down to a 1-inch long nub. Peeling and chopping beets prior to roasting causes a huge mess. Instead, I roast the beets whole in packets of foil and then peel off their skins.

To do so, tear off a 12 inch length of aluminum foil. Place a single large beet, or a couple of smaller ones, in the middle of the foil. Draw the long sides of the foil up over the beet and then fold them together. Crimp the short edges together to form the sealed packet. Roast different colored beets (i.e. red, ‘Golden’, or ‘Chioggia’) in separate packets.

Place the packets seam side up on a rimmed baking sheet and roast in a 400 degree F oven until the roots are fork tender (about 45 to 60 minutes depending on their size). Remove the beets from the oven and carefully open the steamy packets. Slip the skins off the roots when they are cool enough to handle. Chop or slice the beets. If working with multiple colors of beets always chop or slice ‘Golden’ or ‘Chioggia’ beets first. Set them aside, each in their own bowl, and then prepare the red beets. If serving the different colored beets together, wait until the last moment before assembling the dish.

This is my favorite time of year to cook because the both summer and fall vegetables share space in the garden. We have tomatoes (finally!), eggplant, and peppers ripening, and delicata and acorn squash, carrots, and beets are ready for harvest. The farmer’s market is full of greens, root vegetables, garlic, broccoli and cauliflower, plus cheese, yogurt and fresh pasta. I thought I’d share a couple of recipes that recently piqued my interest. And I’m curious, what do you like to make this time of year?

Brown Butter Tortelli

(Image via 101 cookbooks)

This recipe comes courtesy of the wonderful blog 101 cookbooks. I love it because it is so simple. Just pasta, butter, cheese and arugula. I often add arugula to pasta because I almost always have it in the garden and it’s spicy, nutty flavor plays well with cheese, butter and olive oil. Be sure to click through and read this recipe’s full post. It is full of beautiful pictures of Rome.

Savory Rugelach

(Image via Dana Treat)

Jon and I don’t have a TV. That doesn’t mean we don’t watch TV, we just use our lack of one as an excuse to visit with friends when we want to watch football or Mad Men. I found this recipe for cheese and olive stuffed rugelach on the wonderful Seattle-based blog Dana Treat. I am definitely using our next TV date as an excuse to make these little appetizers. I just started reading Dana’s blog over the summer and it quickly found its way into my RSS feed. Dana is a vegetarian, just like Jon, so her blog is the perfect resource for anyone looking to cook more vegetables.

Vanilla Apple Baked in Puff Pastry

(Image via Fennel and Fern)

The UK garden blog Fennel and Fern features beautiful garden tours, stunning photography, recipes and variety recommendations, which I always read with interest because the UK has a similar climate to the Pacific Northwest. These baked apples are my favorite kind of dessert—simple and not too rich. I cannot wait to make them!

Roasted Radishes

(Image via Leite’s Culinaria)

I’ve written before about my love for radishes and how I think they are unfairly maligned. So, when I came across this recipe for Roasted Radishes on Leite’s Culinaria a few weeks ago, I cursed our dog, Domino, for digging up the radishes I sowed in late August. Luckily most farmer’s market booths boast colorful radishes at this time of year. Roasting almost always makes any vegetable taste better. Radishes, I’m sure, are no exception.

If you listen closely, a collective sigh can be heard from gardeners around the West Coast. We had a royally bad summer. It was cold. It was cloudy. It was horrible tomato weather.

In the spirit of looking on the bright side, I’d like to think that this crummy season gives us the opportunity to try some new green tomato recipes. I asked for your ideas and you guys really came through, submitting recipes for everything from chutney, to sweet and savory pies, to green tomato jam, to fried tomatoes and “unfried” tomatoes.

So don’t throw all those rock hard tomatoes in the compost pile. Pick them and get creative. Who knows? Maybe you’ll find a recipe you love so much, you won’t miss ripe tomatoes. Thanks to everyone who submitted both their own recipes and published recipes. Let the cooking begin!

Celina loves the Squash, Bean and Cheese Enchiladas With Green Tomato Sauce from the Oregonian newspaper.

Sonia makes green tomato pickles with this recipe, but she substitutes green tomatoes for the cucumbers.

Monika likes this Green Tomato and Red Onion Relish recipe so much that she doesn’t even buy or make regular relish anymore.

Jessica recommends sauteing chopped green tomatoes with radishes and balsamic dressing and using the mix as a salad topping.

Sandy pointed out that the Ball Blue Book of Canning has a salsa verde recipe that calls for green tomatoes rather than tomatillos.

Flower thought that Green Tomato and Corn Salsa sounds good, and I totally agree. Probably because anything salsa related piques my interest.

This recipes sounds like a good excuse to make a batch of corn bread—Nicole has tried making Green Tomato Soup with Country Ham and reports that it is good, but she doesn’t blend it because she likes a chunkier consistency.

The word on the street is that the green gazpacho recipe in Molly Katzen’s “The Enchanted Broccoli Forest” cookbook is good. I haven’t tried it, but I do love the broccoli forest recipe. It’s such a classic.

Amy wants to try the No Sugar, Salsa-Like Green Tomato Relish recipe. It has apples, cider vinegar, onions, and peppers in it. Yum!

Terry pointed out that Lynn Rosetto Kasper had a great column in the Seattle Times with a bunch of green tomato recipes. The slow-grilled ribs basted with green tomato jam sound totally tasty.

Kathy from Texas found that the Food Network has a lot recipe ideas for green tomatoes, including Emeril Lagasse’s Hot-n-Spicy Green Tomato Soup, Paula Deen had both a Green Tomato Pie and a Green Tomato Cake with Brown Butter Icing. Seriously, leaves it to Paula Deen to somehow combine brown butter and green tomatoes! I think I’m definitely going to try that recipe.

My friend Amanda also makes green tomato pie, she doesn’t really use a recipe….but kind of eye-balls it. The basic ingredients are a whole pile of green tomatoes, sugar, cinnamon, lemon juice and pie crust. She says it kind of tastes like very lemony apple pie!

Elizabeth’s Green Tomato Chutney

This recipe was shared by Elizabeth of La Vida Desconocida

For those of us living in less-than-hot climates where we’re often left with tons of green tomatoes at the end of the season and no pleasing recipe to do away with them, I present to you: Green Tomato Chutney. Yum. The first time I made it I used a variety of cherry, Roma, and bigger variety tomatoes, so literally any green tomato you have can participate in this delicious sauce.

Here is the recipe, more or less. All the ingredients are based on how many tomatoes you use but luckily it is not an exact science.

Green tomatoes (as many as you have – I used about 2 lbs in this one), diced (no need to de-skin)

1-2 green apples, diced (depending on how many tomatoes you’re using)

Chopped onion (1 medium or large)

Raisins (1/2 cup or so)

Apple cider vinegar (about 2 cups, or until the liquid covers most of the ingredients)

Brown sugar (about 1 cup)

Fresh chopped or zested ginger (not too much – about a teaspoon)

Salt and pepper to taste

Start by “caramelizing” the onions in a bit of sugar and a splash of vinegar for about 10 minutes. Then toss everything else in, cover and simmer until it tasted delicious (about an hour). You need a good amount of vinegar, which should turn syrupy and thick with the sugar. If it’s too liquidy you can simmer with the lid off and then let stand, uncovered, for the first 20 minutes while it cools.

This is delicious served hot or cold with sausages and any grain, especially wheat berries or farro. Also, you can jar it since it doesn’t have any butter or oil in it!

Fried Green Tomatoes

This recipes was shared by Deb.

Ingredients:

3 or 4 medium size green tomatoes, they should be a milky green color, on the verge of turning orangey/pink, but still very firm
1/4 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
6-8 fresh basil leaves, snipped or chopped finely
– about 1 Tbsp dried and crumbled basil
oil for frying – canola or olive, but the pan needs to be very hot and the olive oil may ’smoke’. About 1/4 cup, of either.

Procedure:

Wash and core the green tomatoes, slice about 3/4 inch thick. Cover the bottom of the pan with the oil for frying, and heat till a drop of water dropped into the oil, spatters and hisses. The oil needs to be very hot in order that the tomoato slices do not get mushy as they cook. Combine cornmeal and parmesan cheese, mixing well, and dredge or coat the tomato slices on both sides (a plastic bag works well). Drop tomato slices into hot oil, turn after about 3 minutes, to brown the other side. Serve immediately.

Unfried Green Tomatoes

This recipe was shared by Jenny Fox of the Svelte Gourmet. She also recommends substituting these unfried tomatoes for eggplant in an eggplant parmesan recipe!

Serves 4

2 large green tomatoes

1 egg

1 cup Parmesan cheese (shredded, NOT grated)

1 cup panko breadcrumbs

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

Pinch cayenne pepper

Olive oil or cooking spray

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mist a baking sheet with olive oil or cooking spray. Slice tomatoes between 1/8 and 1/4 inch thick. Beat egg. Combine Parmesan cheese, panko and spices. Dip each tomato slice in the egg, then into the breading mixture, pressing to coat both sides. Place breaded slices in a single layer on the baking sheet. Mist tops with olive oil or cooking spray and bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown and crispy. No need to flip them.

Green Tomato Mincemeat

From Deb.

An old-fashioned favorite, without the suet. Requires about 2 hours of slow simmering and 25 minutes in a water bath canner, but can also be frozen, once cooled.

Ingredients:

6 pounds green tomatoes

2 pounds tart apples

2 cups raisins

4 cups brown sugar

2 cups strong brewed coffee

1 lemon, grated rind and juice

2 tsp grated orange peel

1/2 cup vinegar

1 tsp ground nutmeg

1 tsp ground allspice

Procedure:

Wash and core the tomatoes and apples, removing any blemishes and cutting into quarters. Add raisins and coarsely chop or process in a food processor. Place in a large, heavy bottomed kettle or pot, add the remaining ingredients and simmer over low heat for about 2 hours. Be sure to stir often or it will scortch. Pack into hot pint jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace, seal and process in boiling water bath canner for 25 minutes. Allow to cool, undisturbed for 24 hours, check for seal and then store.

Serving Size:

8 to 10 pint jars

Green Tomato and Sausage Pie

This recipe comes from Grace.

Who doesn’t like pie? And everything tastes better with bacon. I always make GREEN TOMATO AND SAUSAGE PIE. The recipe probably came from Cook’s Illustrated many years back, and has survived some modifications. Here is how I make it:

1 9″ pie crust (recipe below)

1 lb breakfast sausage, chorizo or bacon

6-12 cubed Green Tomatoes or Tomatillos (i.e. goes well with chorizo, etc.)

2 cups sliced mushrooms, any kind

1 medium onion, diced

3 T flour

1.5 cups grated swiss cheese (or jalapeno-cheddar, etc.)

Make Pie Crust (double it and freeze half for later …)

1.5 cups flour

1 T sugar

0.5 tsp salt

0.5 cup frozen unsalted butter (1 stick)

3 T cold water

Mix dry ingredients

Grate butter with a cheese-grater (refrigerator-cold works too, but frozen butter results in flakier crust)

Gently mix butter into flour with cold spoon

Add cold water and gently roll into a ball and flatten.

You can chill for 30 min at this point, or just roll out.

Place in pie-plate and pre-bake at 350^F for 20 min [Cover with foil and weigh down with dried rice, beans or pie-weights].

Make Pie Filling

Brown sausage (cook completely) and set aside.

Saute onions in 1-2T remaining sausage grease.

Add mushrooms and cook down, set aside.

Cook tomatoes and let some of the water evaporate.

Add the flour to thicken the tomato juice, then add the mushrooms, onion, and sausage together.

Put the sausage-tomato-mushroom filling into the pre-baked pie-crust and cover with cheese (or put half the cheese into the hot pie crust, layer on the filling, and add more cheese to the top).

Bake at 400^F for 20 minutes

Eat hot, or freeze for later.

Green Tomato Relish

Cari reports that this relish recipe from Whole Foods Cooking (Goldbeck, Nikki & David) is tried and true.

Ingredients:

3 pounds green tomatoes, chopped (about 7 cups)

2 medium onions, chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)

1 large green bell pepper, chopped (about 3/4 cup)

1 cup cider vinegar

6 Tablespoons honey

1 teaspoon celery seed

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Chop vegetables by hand or in a processor. Combine with remaining ingredients in a 3-quart pot and bring to a boil.

Simmer uncovered, for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Ladle into warm, sterilized half-pint or pint jars, leaving 1/4 to 1/2 inch headspace.

Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

Makes 4 1/2 pints

Green Tomato Sauce

Cari hasn’t tried this recipe, but notes that is from the same cookbook as the relish recipe above and that she has 54 tomato plants, no cloche and freezer space, so she is willing to try any green tomato recipe!

1 medium onion, cut up

1 clove garlic

1 hot chili pepper

1 1/2 pounds green tomatoes, cut up (about 5 cups)

1/4 cup parsley

2 fresh basil leaves

1 teaspoon salt

Combine all ingredients in a processor fitted with a steel blade or in a blender. It may be necessary to do batches in a blender. Puree until evenly mixed but still somewhat chunky.

A little water may need to be added if using a blender.

Transfer to a pot and bring to a quick boil.

Use what you need and freeze the rest, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.

Tomatoes straight off the vine are undeniably good, but tomatoes slowly roasted with olive oil, herbs, and salt are crazy good. I can eat an entire pan of them by myself in one sitting. They are that delicious.

The goal of slow roasting tomatoes is to concentrate the natural sweetness of the fruit, without drying them out. I roast mine at 225 degrees F until they have shrunk in size by at least a third (usually about 5 hours) and are wrinkled, soft as a pillow, and have a jam-like consistency. Paste tomatoes like ‘Principe Borghese’, ‘Striped Roman’ and ‘Amish Paste’ and salad tomatoes like ‘Jaune Flamme’ and ‘Stupice’ work best for roasting because they are small and have relatively dry flesh. You can roast cherry tomatoes, but they do better at higher temperatures because they are so juicy. I usually slice them in half, toss them in olive oil, and roast them at 425 degrees F for about 10 minutes and then pour them over pasta. Big, beefy tomatoes like ‘Brandywine’ and ‘Japanese Black Trifle’ are better served raw. I’ve only harvested three ripe tomatoes so far this year, and they were all sungolds (I know, pathetic!). So I’ve been buying tomatoes at the farmers market while I wait, fingers crossed, for the rest of my very green tomatoes to ripen.

Slow Roasted Tomatoes

Slow roasted tomatoes are incredibly versatile, you can include them in a mezze platter, toss them with pasta, cut them into chunks and add them to whole grain salads, layer them on sandwiches, place them on top of toast, and eat them straight off the pan. I also like to toss them with a clove of chopped garlic that has been softened in warm olive oil and a couple tablespoons of balsamic vinegar and let them marinate in a shallow dish for a few hours. They also freeze really well and are such a treat in the winter.

Just keep in mind that they are called slow roasted tomatoes and they can take 6 hours or longer to reduce, so plan your timing accordingly.

Ingredients:

Tomatoes (about 15 ‘Jaune Flamme’, which are slightly larger than a ping pong ball, will fill a regular rimmed baking sheet)

Olive oil

Sea salt

Freshly ground pepper

2 teaspoons fresh thyme, minced (optional)

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 225 degrees F.

Wash the tomatoes and slice them in half lengthwise (from stem end to the bottom). Arrange the tomatoes in rows on a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle a generous amount of olive oil (about 3 tablespoons) over the tops of the tomatoes. With your hands, rub the olive oil all over the tomatoes, making sure they are completely coated. You don’t want to leave any spots bare, as they will dry out and get crispy in the oven. Sprinkle salt and the thyme (if using) over the tomatoes, plus a good grind of pepper.

Slide the tray into the oven and let the tomatoes slowly reduce. Check on them about once an hour, if they start to dry out, drizzle on a little more olive oil. Pull them from the oven when they are very soft, wrinkled around the edges, and have a jam-like consistency in the middle. The timing will depend on the size and juiciness of the tomatoes, but it usually takes between 4 and 6 hours.

I firmly believe that caramelized onions make almost any savory food taste better. You really can’t go wrong with onions cooked into a near jam-like state. I smear caramelized onions over toast, scatter them across puff pastry tarts and bake them into frittatas. They would totally be a staple ingredient in my kitchen, if only they didn’t take so long to make.

For this month’s Tigress Can Jam I had to can something with alliums in it. I could have used shallots, garlic, leeks, or chives, but when I came across a recipe for a caramelized onion relish that could be canned, I was sold. Yesterday, in under an hour, I made a batch of the relish, spooned it into jars, and popped them into a hot water bath. Now I have caramelized onions on demand!  I can spread them on a grilled cheese sandwich, stir them into soup, or put a little mound on a slice of apple with a sliver of white cheddar whenever I like. And that is a very good thing.

Caramelized Red Onion Relish

Adapted from Small Batch Preserving: Over 300 Delicious Recipes by Ellie Topp and Margaret Howard

I just happened to have a sprig of wonderfully fragrant, fresh bay leaves on hand, so I added them into the recipe along with a few sprigs of thyme. The herbs really complement the sweetness of the onions and the astringency of the wine.

Ingredients:

2 large red onions, peeled and very thinly sliced

1/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

1 cup dry red wine (I used a Shiraz)

3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

3 fresh bay leaves (optional)

1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves (optional)

Salt and pepper to taste (about 1/8 teaspoon each)

Instructions:

Stir the onions and brown sugar together in a large, heavy bottomed enamel pot. Cook, uncovered, over medium heat until the onions are very soft and deep brown in color (about 25 minutes). If the onions stick while cooking, stir in 1/4 cup of water and stir vigorously, scraping up any brown bits on the bottom of the pan.

Add the wine, vinegar, and herbs. Turn the heat to high and bring the onions to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer until most of the liquid has evaporated, about 15 minutes. Stir frequently to prevent sticking. Remove the relish from the heat, pick out the bay leaves and season with salt and pepper. Pack the relish into hot half pint jars, seal, and process for 10 minutes.

For step-by-step information on the canning process, please refer to the Small-Batch Preserving book or Well Preserved by Mary Ann Dragan. When canning low acid foods like onions it is especially important to use the right amount of acid  (vinegar, lemon juice, wine) and process the jars for the recommended time.

Crunchy, with just a bit of a bite, these pickled carrots make for a super tasty and healthy afternoon nibble. And they look especially pretty piled up on a bright white dish. I love the pickled carrots and jalapenos that our local taco truck serves up, so for this month’s Tigress Can Jam*, I decided to try and do something similar. I found a pickled carrot recipe that called for peppers in my Small Batch Preserving cookbook. I fiddled with the original recipe a bit by adding in half a habanero pepper for spice and switched up the regular oregano for the more pungent Mexican oregano.

My only regret? I should have packed more carrots into the jars!

Spicy Pickled Carrots

Adapted from Small Batch Preserving by Ellie Topp and Margaret Howard

You’ll need:

¼ cup sweet red pepper, finely chopped

½ small habanero pepper, finely chopped

1 tablespoon Mexican oregano

¼ tsp chile flakes

2 large cloves of garlic, sliced into quarters

1 pound carrots, cut into three-inch matchsticks

1 ½ cups white vinegar

1/3 cup water

½ cup cane sugar

1 teaspoon pickling salt

Instructions:

Bring a canner full of water to a boil. Sterilize two pint-sized jars by boiling them for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, mix the red pepper, habanero, Mexican oregano, and chile flakes together.

Combine the vinegar, water, sugar, and salt in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove the hot jars from the canner. Divide the pepper mixture and garlic between the two jars. Tightly pack each jar with carrots, making sure to leave ½ inch between the top of the carrots and the rim of the jar. Pour the hot vinegar over the carrots, leaving ½ inch of head space. Wipe the rims of the jars, top them with lids, and screw on the rings.

Process the jars for 15 minutes (start timing after the water in the canner returns to a boil).

* I am participating in the 12-month-long Tigress Can Jam challenge. Each month I (and over 100 other bloggers) will be canning a specific vegetable or fruit. Last month the challenge was citrus. I made a really fabulous Honey Lemon Jelly and I can’t wait to find out what is in store for March!