Tomatoes

It is tomato time, as all you gardeners well know. The gardens are overflowing with beautiful fruit.
There are tomato festivals everywhere, and so many different kinds of tomatoes to eat.
Red, green, striped, cherry, pear, yellow and even a purple one.

The bigger question is, what to do with this bounty? Here are some of our suggestions:

• Sun-dried tomatoes to freeze and use all winter, in soups, stews, polenta and on pizzas. We have a small dehydrator and it only takes about 24 hours on low temperature to have a finished product. We will be serving dried tomatoes with goat cheese as snacks.

• Yellow tomato gazpacho for a cooling refreshment. We will be serving this at our Suisun Valley Harvest festival August 28. The finishing touch will be avocado crema and a hint of something hot for the adventurous taster.

• Red gazpacho for the more traditional look and taste, combined with cucumbers, peppers and lots of salt and olive oil this is a classic Spanish dish. Serve with toasted bread for the perfect evening meal. This is a make ahead and let it sit overnight to make the flavors better. Serve with sliced avocado as a topping.

• A simple composed salad of tomatoes, cucumbers, mozzarella cheese and olives.

• Tomato sauce cooked down to a beautiful thick paste and then frozen for use the entire year.

• Tomato tart, a luscious tart with a pastry crust, fresh ricotta, and layers of lovely tomatoes. Baked early in the morning and served at dinner tonight.

• Pure delicious tomatoes with salt just warm from the garden. Better yet take the salt and a knife and go to the garden and eat a tomato while you admire your bounty.

• Sandwiches of thick tomato slices, garlic, cucumbers homemade bread and homemade mayonnaise.

Here is my recipe for homemade mayonnaise. Easy as pie to make and very delicious. Only 5-10 minutes to make this silky and luscious mayo. Leccino adds a lovely fragrance, and Mission will make it quite bold.
If at the end you add two stalks of cooked asparagus, it makes the mayo brilliant green.
Kids and adults will love the color. Fun with food is our motto!

HOMEMADE MAYONNAISE

INGREDIENTS:

1 large egg yolk, at room temperature

1/2 teaspoon mustard Dijon is good but you can use any favorite mustard

3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, Leccino or Mission Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 teaspoon white-wine vinegar

1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice or more to taste

1/4 teaspoon white pepper, finely ground

METHOD:

• Whisk together the room temperature egg yolk, the mustard, and the 1/4 teaspoon salt, and combine well
• Add about 1/4 cup oil very slowly, whisking constantly until mixture begins to thicken.
• Whisk in the vinegar and the lemon juice
• Add the remaining 1/2 cup oil in a very slow, thin stream, whisking constantly until well blended
• Continue vigorously whisking until smooth, and all the oil is incorporated
• Whisk in salt and white pepper to taste.

This makes about a cup. This can also be made in a blender, but it is more fun to whisk this in a bowl.
The vinegar and the lemon juice add the balance and the acidity to the finished mayo. Eat tomatoes fresh from the garden. Healthy, delicious with super good olive oil- it is a perfect treat!