A Good Use for Cherry Tomatoes

Most of my big tomatoes have died now. The plants still producing lots of fruit are the several varieties of cherry and grape tomatoes. I like to just pop them in my mouth unadorned, but here's a good recipe to use up a lot of them. I have both red and yellow ones. Amixture always looks pretty in a dish.

Fresh Tomato Risotto

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup chopped onions
Salt
Freshly ground white pepper
Freshly ground black pepper
6 cups water or vegetable broth
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
1 pound (2 cups) Arborio rice
1/2 pound assorted baby tomatoes, stemmed and cut in half
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
3 tablespoons chopped green onions

In a large sauté pan, over medium heat, heat the oil. Add the onions. Season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring. Sauté until the onions are slightly soft, about 3 minutes. Add the water and garlic. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat to medium, and simmer for about 6 minutes. Add the rice and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the tomatoes and continue to simmer, stirring constantly, until the mixture is creamy and bubbly, about 8 minutes. Stir in the butter, cream, cheese and green onions. Simmer for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat. Spoon the risotto into serving bowls or plates and serve.

An Old Kentucky Recipe

I don't grow green beans any more. My husband and daughter aren't enthusiastic green bean eaters, and I don't want to take up a lot of garden space growing something that only I will enjoy. Maybe next year I'll grow some beans in an EarthBox. My husband always liked the way my mother cooked beans - cooked for a long time with a ham hock. Of course, I'm not going to cook beans with meat. Here's a recipe from an old cookbook I have of Kentucky recipes. It is delicious. Making a roux for 1 pound of green beans seems like a lot of work for one dish. I usually make a cup of oil and cup of flour and save the roux for other dishes like gumbo. The browner the roux the better the dish, but don't burn it.

Green Beans with Brown Gravy
1 lb. green beans
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoon flour
1/2 teaspoon sugar
2 cups hot water
medium onion diced
salt and pepper to taste

In a heavy pan heat olive oil over low heat. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly, until the roux is a dark brown. This takes almost an hour. Add diced onion and cook until soft. Slowly stir in hot water and cook until thickened. Add green beans and cook about thirty minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.

Green Beans with Corn
This is a variation of the above recipe. After the green beans have cooked fifteen minutes add one cup fresh sweet corn cut from the cob. We usually have Silver Queen corn here and love it.

Old Stone Inn Stuffed Eggplant
The Old Stone Inn near Simpsonville, Kentucky has been in business since the eighteenth century.
1 large eggplant
salt and pepper to taste
teaspoon sugar
1 finely minced onion
4 tablespoons butter
2 eggs, well beaten
2 tablespoons catsup
teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 c chopped pecans
1/2 cup bread crumbs

Cut the eggplant in half lengthwise Place on baking sheet, brush with oil and bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. Carefully remove flesh from the eggplants to a large mixing bowl, keeping the shell intact. Saute onion in 2 tablespoons butter. Add onions, eggs, Worcestershire sauce and pecans and mix well.
Fill the eggplant shells, then sprinkle each with 1/4 cup of breadcrumbs. Dot each half with remaining two tablespoons butter. Bake 30 minutes at 400 degrees.

If you eat meat you can use ham or shrimp in place of the pecans. My mother liked to use leftover country ham.

Nothing could be more Kentucky than Benedictine Sandwich Spread. It has nothing to do with monks or liqueurs, except the green color I guess. It is named after the Louisville caterer Jeannie Benedict. Kentuckians have been loving this for at least seventy-five years. You can buy it in the grocery stores in Louisville, but homemade is better.

Benedictine Spread
2 eight ounce packages cream cheese
grated pulp of 1 medium cucumber, drained
grated onion
1/2 teaspoon salt
mayonnaise
2 or 3 drops green food coloring
dash Tabasco
In the food processor blend the cream cheese, cucumber pulp, onion juice, Tabasco, salt and enough mayonnaise to make a smooth spread. Add a few drops of green coloring to make the spread pale green. Don't use too much. This spread makes great finger sandwiches for receptions.