Slow Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

Last fall I had a bumper crop of tomatoes in my country garden.  I admit, I got a bit carried away in the spring,  and every time I came across an interesting variety of tomatoes, I would plant just one more plant.  i had at least five varieties of red, yellow, orange and purple cherry tomatoes, but my favourite was the very tiny sweet white tomato.  My neighbour's children would eat then like candy off the vine whenever they visited.  Even with the help the children, there were still thousands of cherry tomatoes to be harvested and used before the first frost, so when I had my designers over for our annual barbeque I made this dish.  It became a favourite, and Miyako referenced this tomato dish so many times that I made it specally for her pre-wedding party this spring.  However, the only tomatoes available in early spring in Ontario are either shipped from the southern US, or grown in local greenhouses, and do not have the intensity or sweetness, of tomatoes fresh from the garden in the late summer and fall.  To compensate, I added a bit of sugar and the dish was almost as good.  

slow roasted cherry tomatoes with lemon sailsh

This recipe takes time,  so start at least two and a half hours before serving. I often start the night before, reheating and adding the topping just before serving.  I have cooked this in a cast iron frying pan and a Portuguese clay dish.  Both presented well, however the juices from the tomatoes seeped through the glazed clay dish while cooking and made a huge mess in the oven. I am not sure if the glaze in my dish is defective, or if the acidity of the tomato juice affected the glaze.

• one pint each of red and yellow organic cherry tomatoes

• 1 tablespoon of olive oil

• 2 cloves of garlic chopped

• coarse sea salt and 

• coarsely ground pepper to taste

• 1 tablespoon of unbleached organic sugar if tomatoes are out of season

• fresh grated parmesan cheese, or 

• equal parts grated lemon peel and course salish (smoked sea salt)

Cut tomatoes in half, put olive oil, tomatoes and salt and pepper and sugar if necessary, in bowl and toss.

Spread out in even layer in pan and bake at 225F for one hour. Turn tomatoes over and bake again for another hour, or until most of the liquids have evaporated. Depending on juiciness of tomatoes this can take up to a third hour.  I have on occasion, moved the pan to the stove top to evaporate the last of the juices when facing a time crunch. 

Sprinkle top with parmesan.  Place under broiler and brown.  Alternately, combine grated lemon peel with salish and sprinkle on top. 

  

Roasted Root Vegetables

This past winter, Ian and Allan and the girls came up north to snow shoe for the day. I didn't have time to drive into town for groceries and was able to build this dish from basics in the fridge and pantry.  It is based on a recipe from "Plenty: Vibrant Vegetable Recipes from London's Ottolenghi" by Yotam Ottolenghi. The recipe has evolved since then to it's current state and is a favourite with friends and family. I try to make enough to ensure there are lots of left overs, because it stores very well and is better the next day as the favours blend.  

• 9 shallots, peeled,  I have substituted small onions and added garlic when I was out of shallots
• 3 large carrots, cut into 1 1/2" pieces,
• 3 large parsnips, peeled and quartered and cut into 3" strips
• 2 cups of sweet potatoes cut into 1" cubes
• 1 large celery root, cut into large cubes
• 1 small can of cooked chick peas
• 1 cup of vegetable broth
• olive oil
• 2 cinnamon stick
• 3 bay leaves 
• fresh ground pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon of cumin, smoked hot paprika, and chili flakes
• 1 tablespoon of chopped  fresh ginger
• 3 or 4 star anise depending on size
• kosher salt
• 1/2 cup of mixed dried fruit such as apricots, pitted prunes, and apples, cut into bite size pieces
• 1 preserved lemon
• 1 tablespoon harrissa
• crunchy sea salt
• 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh cilantro

Place shallots, carrots, parsnips and celery root in a large tagine and toss with 3 tablespoons of olive oil and salt and pepper to taste.  Add cinnamon sticks, bay leaves,  star anise and spices. Toss again. Cover and bake for 30 minutes at 350F.

Remove from oven and add sweet potatoes,  vegetable broth,  chick peas, dried fruit  and ginger.  Cook for another 30 minutes.  Remove from oven, add chopped preserve lemon rind, and harrissa and mix well.  Sprinkle with coarse salt and chopped cilantro.

I often serve this over quinoa, made with preserved lemons and dried currents, particularly when there are vegetarians in the crowd.

My experimentation with Moroccan cooking began when my brother Jordan gave me a tagine for Christmas a few years ago.  I tried the few recipes that came with the tagine and was hooked and so began my search for recipes that I could cook in this fabulous new vessel.    I started with lamb tagines, and then vegetable tagines and only recently, after my friend Ruth made me a fabulous dinner of chicken with preserved lemons and olives when I visited her in Nice this past Christmas, did I start to experiment with this most traditional of Mediterranean dishes.  

I made this dish recently for a pre-wedding event I hosted, in a tagine and have also used a slow cooker on week nights when entertaining.  Ruth made her dish in a large enamelled French cast iron pot with a tight lid.  

Moroccan Chicken with Preserved Lemons and Olives

serves 6                                                                               Preheat oven to 350F

• 6 chicken legs, excess fat removed
• kosher salt
• 3 tablespoons of olive oil
• 5 cups of yellow onions, coarsely sliced
• 2 tablespoons of dried coriander
• 2 teaspoons of ground pepper
• 2 teaspoons of finely chopped ginger
• 1 teaspoon of saffron threads
• 1/2 teaspoon of ground turmeric
• 5 bay leaves
• 1/2 cups of chicken stock
• 6 quarters of preserved lemon rind  (note below)
• 1/4 cup o f pitted cracked green olives and 1/4cup of dried black olives
• 1/4 cup of dried currants
• 2 tablespoons of honey

Salt chicken legs and brown in 1/2 the olive oil.  Set aside. Drain off excess chicken fat and add the remaining olive oil.  Add onions to pan and sauté until a golden colour, add a pinch of salt and the spices and stir for about a minute.

Put the onion mixture in bottom of tagine  and place chicken on top.  Add chicken stock, 

Add lemon, olives currents and bay leaves. Drizzle honey over top. Cover and cook for 2hours in the tagine or 5 hours on low in the slow cooker. 

Serve with couscous

Preserved Lemons

I have had difficulty finding preserved lemons in all but the most expensive specialty stores, and consequently began preserving lemons myself.  Something that sounds exotic and unapproachable is remarkably easy to prepare with ingredients that are available at every grocery store.   I began by using predominately salt, until Ruth showed me the lemons from a friends garden she had preserved last fall using mostly olive oil.   When I returned home, I immediately started exploring options for preserving lemons and now have settled on a method that combines salt, lemon juice and sometimes spices, topped up with olive oil.  

I put about a half inch of kosher salt in the bottom of a sterilized large mouthed one quart bottle.  After cutting the lemons almost through from top to bottom in quarters, while still leaving attached at bottom, pack each lemon with salt and put in bottle.  Push the lemons down adding thin layers of salt between the lemons.  When the bottle is full, force a more few lemon quarters into the bottle.  Then add fresh squeezed lemon juice to fill all the voids in the bottle.  Top up with lemon juice once the juice has settled.   Put the lid on the jar and turn the bottle upside down a few times, then loosen the lid a bit and leave to ferment.  Every day for a week, turn the bottle over a few times.  Don't forget to tighten the lid before turning and loosen again to allow the gases from fermentation to escape.  If necessary top up with lemon juice to keep the bottle full.  The bottle may ooze a bit for the first week or two as the lemons ferment.  The lemons will be ready in a month. Top up with olive oil, to seal the bottle, to prevent the top layer of lemons from oxidizing.  If you are keeping the lemons more than a few months, storing in a dark place will preserve the colour.  The preserved lemons keep upwards of a year.

I often put a cinnamon stick, some cloves, pepper corns and a few star anise in the bottle with the lemons at the beginning of the process.  My other favourite combination is bay leaves, rosemary and thyme.