They took a long time to germinate,then pots of pots of them took over the dining room until the danger of frosts was over, and I've been a watering and a spoiling them ever since.
I'm talking tomatoes..little ones(cherry), mediumsized ones (roma) and some larger ones but I haven't a clue what they are as I did a swap with my mate Keith in our village. I grew most of them at my allotment but kept all the little cherry tomatoes here in the courtyard at home.
Those were the first to ripen...one by one, they took their time..and every morning I looked eagerly outside the kitchen window to check how they were doing.
The allotment tomatoes grew well enough,a few turned orange and red,so I whisked them smartly into the kitchen to be sliced,and have olive oil,black pepper basil leaves thrown over them.
The rest of them have been obstinate little devils - refusing to ripen, like teenagers kicking their heels....and shouting "No! Won't!"
As with teenagers sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind....with a cold frost forecast last week they all were all taken off the tomato plants, before they died.
Since then , I can't see any of my windowsills...the tomatoes are lying in the sunshine there, finally turning colour.They're the ones in pole position for the race to ripen.
I'm having to help the less fortunate ones...I've taken this lot out to bask in the sun today.
I was going to make a rich sauce with some of them today but as it's such a beautiful day here, I've decided to make one last summer tomato tart.
It's a recipe I've loved and cooked for years... by the wonderful Tamsin day Lewis.She makes tartlets but I like to see a big tart...
Tomato , camembert and herb tart
Ingredients
1 tbspn Dijon mustard
A large shortcrust pastry case - prebaked
100gm Gruyere or parmesan cheese
8 -10 firm ripe tomatoes, thinly slcied
1 whole camembert , quatered and thinly sliced
6 tbspn olive oil
2tspn finely chopped fresh thyme
1 tspn fennel seeds
2 garlic cloves
salt, pepper
How to make
1.Heat the oven to 190 C (375)F Gas 5 and put a baking sheet in the oven to pre heat...this will keep the pastry base crisp
2.Spread the mustard thinly over the pastry base then sprinkle with the gruyere or parmesan/Arrange overlapping slices of tomatoes, then a row of slices of camembert, another torow of tomatoesetc
3.Put the oil in a small bowl, add the thym,me, fennel seeds, adn crushed garlic.Brush the tomato and camembert slices and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
4. Bake the tarts on the hot baking sheet until golden and bubbling - it only takes about 25 minutes.
5.Serve hot, warm , or at room temperature...I prefer warm.
One last reminder of summer....
The soundtrack for today's post was going to be something else....but in view of the pounds and pounds of tomatoes here , it's got to be Paul Simon - 50 ways to leave your lover.
Only I'm singing 50 ways to cook tomatoes at the top of my voice alongside the chorus.Go on , try it....it fits!You may get some odd looks who cares? The sun is shining!And this is such a snazzy version.....
I'm talking tomatoes..little ones(cherry), mediumsized ones (roma) and some larger ones but I haven't a clue what they are as I did a swap with my mate Keith in our village. I grew most of them at my allotment but kept all the little cherry tomatoes here in the courtyard at home.
Those were the first to ripen...one by one, they took their time..and every morning I looked eagerly outside the kitchen window to check how they were doing.
The allotment tomatoes grew well enough,a few turned orange and red,so I whisked them smartly into the kitchen to be sliced,and have olive oil,black pepper basil leaves thrown over them.
The rest of them have been obstinate little devils - refusing to ripen, like teenagers kicking their heels....and shouting "No! Won't!"
As with teenagers sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind....with a cold frost forecast last week they all were all taken off the tomato plants, before they died.
Since then , I can't see any of my windowsills...the tomatoes are lying in the sunshine there, finally turning colour.They're the ones in pole position for the race to ripen.
I'm having to help the less fortunate ones...I've taken this lot out to bask in the sun today.
I was going to make a rich sauce with some of them today but as it's such a beautiful day here, I've decided to make one last summer tomato tart.
It's a recipe I've loved and cooked for years... by the wonderful Tamsin day Lewis.She makes tartlets but I like to see a big tart...
Tomato , camembert and herb tart
Ingredients
1 tbspn Dijon mustard
A large shortcrust pastry case - prebaked
100gm Gruyere or parmesan cheese
8 -10 firm ripe tomatoes, thinly slcied
1 whole camembert , quatered and thinly sliced
6 tbspn olive oil
2tspn finely chopped fresh thyme
1 tspn fennel seeds
2 garlic cloves
salt, pepper
How to make
1.Heat the oven to 190 C (375)F Gas 5 and put a baking sheet in the oven to pre heat...this will keep the pastry base crisp
2.Spread the mustard thinly over the pastry base then sprinkle with the gruyere or parmesan/Arrange overlapping slices of tomatoes, then a row of slices of camembert, another torow of tomatoesetc
3.Put the oil in a small bowl, add the thym,me, fennel seeds, adn crushed garlic.Brush the tomato and camembert slices and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
4. Bake the tarts on the hot baking sheet until golden and bubbling - it only takes about 25 minutes.
5.Serve hot, warm , or at room temperature...I prefer warm.
One last reminder of summer....
The soundtrack for today's post was going to be something else....but in view of the pounds and pounds of tomatoes here , it's got to be Paul Simon - 50 ways to leave your lover.
Only I'm singing 50 ways to cook tomatoes at the top of my voice alongside the chorus.Go on , try it....it fits!You may get some odd looks who cares? The sun is shining!And this is such a snazzy version.....
