A whole lot of tomatoes

About a month ago, I made an early morning rash decision.  I committed to finding something to do with all of these.

In case you cannot tell, that is a 25 lb case of roma tomatoes plus an additional 3 lbs of romas that came in my weekly CSA share that week.

What was I going to do with 28 lbs of romas in the short time before they spoiled in my kitchen??

I decided to follow this recipe from Food in Jars which makes the process sound so easy.   I am a novice canner for sure so I went into this challenge somewhat blind and relatively unequipped with the appropriate gear.  My "canning pot" (aka my spaghetti pot) only held 3-4 pint jars at a time.  Since the sterilization step required 85 minutes in boiling and each jar only held about 5 peeled romas, this was going to take awhile.

But less than a week later, I had magically turned my box into these.  I can't remember exactly how many pint jars I ended up with (15-20, I think). I canned the romas as whole unpeeled tomatoes.  It was actually pretty easy, albiet time consuming.

My coworker Michelle also purchased her own 25 lbs of roma joy and she told me about another great recipe for romas - slow-roasted/oven-dried tomatoes.  In this case, all you do is cut them in half, brush lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.  Then you roast them on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet for 8-12 hrs at 250°F.  The length of time depends on your preference and how dried/chewy you want them.  Michelle opted to do it overnight while she slept.  I did it on a Sunday during the day so I could check their progress. These slow roasted beauties are amazing as is and we ate them right out of the fridge, but when you turn them into pesto, they become divine!

Slow-roasted tomato pesto
Adapted from A Homemade Life, Molly Wizenberg

3 c. slow-roasted/oven dried tomatoes (Molly says this is about 36 halves)
1/2 c. olive oil
1 t. lemon juice
1/4 t. salt
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and trimmed
2 c. packed basil leaves
1/2. c. parm. cheese

Using a food processor, blend the olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and garlic until the garlic is finely chopped.  Add the basil leaves and continue until smooth.  Add the tomatoes and then the cheese.  Adjust seasonings to your taste.  At this point, you will have a thick paste that can spread on bread or crackers with cheese and is amazing.  We wanted to have it over pasta, so following Molly's recs, I thinned it out with some pasta water and additional olive oil.  YUMMY!

a cooking journal

Welcome . . . I've been thinking about creating a food blog for awhile now.  I have always loved cooking and well lately, I've been taking to the next level.  I'm Kate . . . my blog profile name "Not so Stuck in Bed McGee" comes from the blog I created a few years ago while on bed rest expecting twins.  I still have that blog now and use it as a photo journal/memory book of my kids to share with my family and friends.  A little bit more about me . . . I'm in my early to mid 30s (yikes), have two kids (boy/girl twins who are 2.5), and a very supportive husband.  Not only is he a great father and partner, but he loves my cooking!

My first recipe to share is what I cooked yesterday.  It was the best kind of dinner . . . crock pot style.  Ready when I walked in the door, only needing a few minutes of sauce thickening a la corn starch and a pot of pasta.  My husband was waiting in the kitchen as I walked in the door with a huge smile on his face proclaiming that "he was more excited for this dinner than he'd been in a long while."  The kitchen smelled fantastic and after eating it, he told me that it was the best meal I'd made him in years.  I'm not sure I agree as I've loved some of the other things I've made, but I would agree that I hit this one out of the park, if I do say so myself.  Enjoy and let me know what you think . . .
  
Chicken Marsala in the crock pot
Adapted from Betty Crocker
Makes 4 servings 

2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 T. canola oil
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
salt and pepper
2 jars (4 oz each) sliced mushrooms, no salt added, drained
3/4 c. sweet Marsala table wine (I used Holland House from my local grocery store)
1 c. water
1/4 c. cornstarch

1. Grease crock pot (4-5 quart).  Place chopped garlic and oil in the bottom.  Add the chicken on top sprinkled on both sides with salt and pepper.   Top chicken with mushrooms and wine.
2. Cover, cook on low heat seating for 5-6 hours
3. When done, mix cornstarch and water in a small bowl or measuring cup.  Remove chicken from crock pot and add in liquid mixture.  Increase settings to high, cover and cook until sauce has thickened (about 5 minutes).  Return chicken to pot and cook on high until chicken is hot and sauce is thick, about 5 minutes.
4. The recipe called for finishing the dish with 3 T chopped fresh parsley.  I am sure this would have been a delicious addition, but we didn't have any and I didn't feel like anything was missing.  

We ate this over pasta, but the Betty Crocker recipe recommended white rice and my husband thinks that it would be great over biscuits.  So really whatever you are craving will work.  The texture of the chicken was amazing.  I am thinking that is an easy recipe to tweek and plan to try substituting the marsala wine for a mix of white wine/lemon juice next time around.