Rinsed tomatoes - these were supposed to be for skinning & freezing

Tomatoes on the counter - these were supposed to be for roasting

Skinned tomatoes for freezing

Oven roasted tomatoes

Oven roasted tomatoes

Oven roasted tomatoes

all that's left of the beans

On Saturday I got 5 pounds of Roma tomatoes at the Farmers Market. I divided them into the ones I was going to blanch and skin and freeze – the less-perfect ones with a few more blemishes – and the ones I was going to quarter and slow roast in the oven. For dinner, I roasted one of Matt’s chickens on the grill, and made corn bread with fresh corn kernels, and Italian green beans cooked with some of the tomatoes, diced fine, and onion. In the confusion, I mixed up the tomatoes, dropping the ones I had planned to roast into the blanching water, which meant I reserved the less-perfect ones for roasting. But everything seems to have worked out just fine. The beans were especially yummy, braised with the tomatoes, and the roasted tomatoes were equally delicious on crackers with aged Gouda for a snack this afternoon. And we’re going to have really good chicken enchiladas some other night this week.

Last weekend I sent my foster daughter off to camp, so Saturday we went to Old Navy, and got her packed. I made some beef and peapods from a recipe that came with the large bag of mixed sugar snaps and snow peas  in my CSA box – I separated the sugar snaps for eating raw, even though the recipe touts their wonderfulness in the beef. I do like cooked sugar snaps, too. On Friday I went to Nicole Gruter’s starving artist telethon, and rolled out a piecrust, filled it, and wove a lattice top. It went ou on live webcam, but I can’t find the recording. The pie we made for the online show was raspberry peach, and I made a blueberry one for “after” – so we had pie and ice cream in lieu of dinner several times over the course of the weekend. Sunday morning I made waffles and bacon, before driving to camp.

Wednesday, to clean out the fridge before heading to Washington DC for the librarians conference, I made zucchini & corn enchiladas, and then threw every other vegetable I had into the stock pot – zucchini trimmings, garlic scapes, the last of the peapods, lettuce & arugula mix (although I did have a big salad for lunch, too), the baby carrots Al didn’t eat ….

These are actually beef; I served the vegetarian, roasted squash & corn, enchiladas from this dish last night

Last night a group of about 14 ate chicken or roasted squash & corn enchiladas, Spanish rice, salad with Cafe Flora ranch dressing, and flan, at the first winter one dish dinner for 2010.

When I headed over to the house my plan was to just take iPhone pictures – but I didn’t even do that. Hence the older shot – last night’s enchiladas were pretty much twins – maybe just a tad less brown around the edges.

I was less-than-pleased with the flan – it could have been creamier. The recipe said bake it for 1 1/2 hours – and the last time I made it, when it came out softer, it was a double batch; more volume, more cooking time. I thought this smaller flan was done at the 1 hour mark, and should have trusted my senses rather than the recipe’s instructions. Still, I don’t think anyone noticed. The enchiladas were just about perfect; the chicken was picked from stock carcasses, so FREE – the sweetness of the squash and corn was just right with the sauce. The dressing was also surprisingly good, and easy: 1/2 cup yogurt, mixed with 1/2 cup mayo, and 1 TBLS each fresh thyme, lemon juice, chopped parsley, and rice vinegar. I think the secret is good yogurt – I used Mountain High Original, which is whole milk – the recipe does allow as how if you’re going to use low-fat, you should drain it to thicken it.

It was a nice group – I think I’m going to try to limit these dinner to 15 – 20, rather than trying to fill the place (33!). It’s easier and quieter for a week day night with a few fewer people.

posted from my iPhone