Kitchen work

I spent most of my morning yesterday laid up in bed with a killer migraine headache... but when it finally let go of me, I tried really hard to make up for my lost time. 

The garden has devolved into an unruly mess, typical of what happens here around September.  The tomato plants were pretty much done producing... a few little green fruits left on them, but nothing that would be ready to pluck before frost comes.  Plus, stinkbugs were enjoying them a bit too much for my comfort.  So, I pulled 'em all out and into the compost they went.  The sudden absence of all of that disheveled greenery revealed the five gigantic basil plants that I've been neglecting over the past two weeks.  I pulled two of them, and plucked their lovely fragrant leaves. 

 

I always make a lot of pesto with our basil harvests, frozen in small portions for pasta, pizza, and other endeavors.  But I really wanted to make something that showcased the amazing flavor of the basil when it is this fresh.  So I improvised a tomato-basil soup that turned out pretty damn delicious.

 

I typically don't make my own pasta sauce or soup because of that labor intensive prep.  Every recipe calls for skinning and removing the seeds from the tomatoes, then putting them through a food mill (which I don't have).  However, yesterday I decided I was just gonna try my own thing. 

 

So I chopped up some onions and garlic and sauteed them in olive oil, then tossed in handfuls of the basil and sauteed them as well.  I cored and quartered enough tomatoes to fill the pot (seeds, skins and all), tossed in some veggie soup base, thyme, black and white pepper, and a little can of tomato paste.  I cooked it all down until soft, removed it from the heat, pureed and tasted it.  I thought it needed a bit more zip, so I added a splash of lemon juice and some garlic salt, a splash of milk, more black pepper, a teaspoon of sugar.  Then another few handfuls of fresh basil added in and pureed with the stick blender.  Served with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese. 

 

It was incredible.  The addition of the skin and seeds of the tomatoes give it a hearty, chunkier texture than the super-smooth tomato soups found in the store... but I like it better that way!  It turns out that sometimes taking a shortcut works out nicely!  There is still a big bowl of basil and two more plants out there, so I think this afternoon will be spent making lots more pesto.

 

I also made a new sourdough starter.  Mine died ages ago after we moved, and I never got around to replacing it.  I forgot how delicious, and beautiful, homemade sourdough bread can be.  This first batch has just a hint of sour, being made from such a young culture... but I can't wait to see how it evolves and deepens as the culture grows in complexity.

Up until this point, I have not put up any sweet corn in the freezer.  We love adding corn to our favorite Mexican dishes, my sweet corn bread, soups and stews... and the crap you can get in the frozen section of the supermarket doesn't taste like anything.  So having a good supply of fresh, delicious, local sweet corn to carry us through winter is a big deal.  When I went to a local farm market yesterday, the fella behind the counter made me an offer I couldn't refuse for 100 ears of their beautiful corn.  As a result, I doomed myself to an evening of husking, blanching, and cutting!  By the time I was finished it was near midnight.  This morning was dedicated to bagging up 18 quarts of kernels with my Foodsaver for the freezer, plus a quart or two more for fresh eating over the next day or two.