Homemade Roasted Tomato Sauce

I found myself with some tomatoes on my counter this morning and I thought I should make some roasted tomato sauce for my freezer. Such a simple task; the house smelled like heaven. And all of this by 7 am.

There is no measuring to this recipe, I am just using what I had in the house. First, preheat your oven to 375°- 400°. Next, spray a pan that has a rim with cooking spray. I am using the bottom of my broiler pan. Then I rough cut tomatoes. No need to peel the little buggers. Cut into pieces about the size of an egg. Add some onion and garlic. And no need to peel the garlic either! I also added a half a red pepper that was about to go bad. Drizzle with a little olive oil and toss with your hands. Place into the preheated oven and let them roast away. I like to stir them after 45 minutes or so. And I roast them until the tomatoes are melted away and the edges start to brown. Or in this case 'black.' This may take up to an hour and a half. The mixture will be thick and gooey. Allow to cool. If your garlic still has its papery skin, pop it out. Place everything into a blender and puree. Sometimes I add a little water to make a looser sauce.
To freeze the mixture, I like to put it into an ice cube tray and tap the tray in the counter to get the mixture to settle evenly. Place into the freezer for a couple of hours. When it is frozen solid, pop them out and store in a Ziploc bag. Each cube is about 1/4 cup. (I use an ice cream scoop to fill the ice cube tray)
And now I have Roasted Tomato Sauce in my freezer. Some times, when I have zucchini or mushrooms, I add them to the party. But don't tell my husband... he does not like zucchini or mushrooms. This recipe is very versatile. Feel free to season with herbs, salt and pepper, or leave out the onion/ garlic. Make the sauce the way you want.

We have plenty of tomatoes for u-pick. The cost is 90¢ a pound. We have red and yellow brandywine, old German, early girl, big boy beef steak, roma and patio varieties. And we have peppers too... bell, sweet Romanian, jalapeno and anaheim for 25¢ each.

And our Fall blueberries are ready! They are so sweet and yummy. The price is $1.85 a pound for u-pick.

Have a good weekend.

Diane

Closing early this Saturday (August 13, 2011) and the tomatoes are ready

We are hosting a private event Saturday afternoon... so we will be closing at noon. We will be open for regular hours on Friday and Sunday.

And look at what I picked in the hoop house today! 28 pounds of tomatoes! These are going to our local school, Sauvie Island Academy, for their back-to-school BBQ. The school will be opening as a charter school this Fall and the community is excited to bring some stability to our neighborhood school.

We have plenty of tomatoes for you to pick this weekend. The price is 90¢ a pound. We have early girl, red and yellow brandywine and romas ready to go. And we still have a few boysenberries for u-pick. We are finished for the year with raspberries, marionberries, currants and blackberries.

Diane

PS That big tomato in the first photo weighed in at 1 1/2 pounds! It is the largest yellow brandywine to date.

Muffins

I recently defrosted my freezer, hoping I could take a berry inventory while I cleaned. I found an over abundance of blueberries so I thought I should make blueberry muffins...and help reduce the number of bags of blueberries I was hoarding. I found my most favorite muffin recipe, the one from my Aunt Verna. And I made miniature muffins because they are so cute! Just adjust the baking time down to 12 to 15 minutes. I watched them like a hawk while they baked. Partly because they smell so good but mostly because I am not patient. Half of my muffins had three blueberries on top and the other half had a cherry. Yummy!



Now... let's get to that recipe.

Blueberry Muffins
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup oatmeal
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/4 tea. baking powder
1/2 tea. salt
1/4 tea. baking soda
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1 cup blueberries, marionberries, cherries or a combination
sugar and cinnamon mixture

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the orange juice and the oatmeal; stir well and sit aside. In another bowl, combine the flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda. In a small bowl, mix the oil and the egg. Add the flour mixture into the OJ/ oat mixture. This will be very dry. Stir in the oil/ egg mixture and stir just until mixed. Add fruit of choice and fill 12 regular lined or sprayed muffin cups 2/3 full. Sprinkle tops with sugar and cinnamon mixture. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until a tooth pick comes out clean. Allow to cool before eating. (That's the hard part!)