[1] Tomato cheesecake, a sweet dessert (photos #1, #2 and #3 © Italian Association of Canned Tomatoes Producers).

[2] A close up of the slice of tomato cheesecake.

[3] Canned tomatoes from Italy (we use San Marzano, as does this recipe).

[4] Green Tomato Crumble Pie. Here’s the recipe from Healing Tomato (photo © Healing Tomato).

[5] Tomato sorbet. Here’s the recipe from Andrew Zimmern (photo © Andrew Zimmern).

[6] Tomato soup cupcakes. Here’s the recipe from Country Cleaver (photo © Country Cleaver).

Now that the crop of local summer tomatoes has faded for most of us, we turn our thoughts to canned tomatoes.

The “usual suspects” for these bright red conserved tomatoes include chili, pasta sauce, shakshuka or Spanish omelet, and Sloppy Joes (add your favorites to the list).

But how about tomatoes for dessert? From ice cream and sorbet to cakes and pies, we have a stack of recipes below for sweet tomato desserts.

We’ll start here with this recipe for a charming Tomato Cheesecake, a visual beauty that will also have your family and friends say “tomato what?” when you present it.

You can remind them that the tomato is a fruit, and its natural sugar levels can easily be enhanced into sweetened tomato condiments like chili sauce, conserve and jam and that classic American sweet sauce, ketchup.

Tomato gelato, granita and sorbetto can be widely found in Italy (recipes below), and are included in the recipes below.
 
 
RECIPE: TOMATO CHEESECAKE

This scrumptious recipe was sent to us by the Italian Association of Canned Tomato Producers, a trade association that represents Europe’s finest canned tomato producers, their fruits grown under the Mediterranean sun of Italy.

Ingredients For 6 Servings

In Europe, “biscuit” is the word for a plain cookie in the U.K., like the rectangular biscuits served with tea.

You can substitute digestive biscuits, English tea biscuits, graham crackers or shortbread for the biscuits referred to below. Just don’t use American biscuit dough: It’s a different item entirely.

And while the Social Tea Biscuits made by Nabisco are derivative of English tea biscuits, they don’t make a good crust.

Ready to roll? Cook and bake time is 1 hour 30 minutes.

Note that the tomato jam is slow-cooked for 10 hours. You can make it the day before.
 
For The Biscuit Base

 
For The Filling

 
For The Topping

 
For The Tomato Jam

 
 
Preparation

1. MAKE the biscuit base. the butter with the basil. Then crumble the biscuits and add them to the butter and spread the mixture into a cake tin and leave to solidify.

2. MAKE the filling. Whip the egg yolks with the sugar and a teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil. Whisk the ricotta and add it to the yolks.

3. PLACE the filling on the base and bake in a preheated oven at 350°F for about 20 minutes. Once cooked, leave to cool and proceed with the tomato topping.

4. MAKE the topping. Finely dice the celery and add the tomato passata; cook for 8 minutes. Strain the liquid from the pot (you can keep it for another purpose) and add the water, sugar, salt and gelatin. Boil for a few minutes and then sieve the topping onto the cheesecake and let it cool.

5. MAKE the jam. Put all the ingredients into a baking dish, cover with parchment paper and cook at 210°F for at least 10 hours, thus obtaining tomato jam. The tomato jam is served as a condiment on the plate, or passed from a dish with a spoon.
 
 
MORE TOMATO DESSERTS

There are easy ways to have tomatoes for dessert. Cherry tomatoes, sweet to begin with, fit right in.

 
 
THE HISTORY OF TOMATOES

THE HISTORY OF SAN MARZANO TOMATOES

It often surprises us to hear people who are perfectly dependable cooks say that they can’t cook rice.

We’ve been cooking rice from scratch for many years, and the only time we’ve had a problem is when we didn’t check the time and the bottom rice scorched (which infuses the rest of the rice with a a scorched flavor and aroma).

So if you want to take another pass at cooking perfect, fluffy white* rice, here are some tips. The process goes fairly quickly.

Of course, start by reading the package directions.

Wait: Start by purchasing top-quality rice. Top brands include:

 
As with any agricultural products, quality differences are based first on rootstock/seeds, then terroir, growing conditions and production techniques.
 
 
PREPARING THE RICE PRIOR TO COOKING
 
 
1. Measuring The Rice

Instead of using a measuring cup for uncooked rice, use a scale for accuracy.
 
 
2. Pre-Washing The Uncooked Rice

Instead of placing water in a sieve or strainer† and running tap water over it, pre-wash by measuring the rice into a clean bowl. Pour cold water onto the uncooked rice, quickly stir 2 – 3 times, then discard the water immediately.

This step helps to eliminate the and bran that are quickly absorbed by uncooked rice when you wash it.
 
 
3. Draining The Rice

Use a fine mesh strainer to sieve the water out of the bowl of pre-washed rice. Make sure the unclean water is thoroughly strained out.
 
 
4. Cleansing The Rice

Very gently and slowly, stir the wet, drained, uncooked rice in the strainer (do not add water). The friction between the rice grains will naturally remove any impurities that are left from the pre-wash.

The gentle, slow process will prevent rice grains rice from breaking. Broken grains can cause the cooked rice to become very soggy.
 
 
5. Washing The Rice

Now it’s time to run water through the rice. Then gently stir it a few times.

[1] Jasmine rice has long, slender grains and a hint of jasmine fragrance (photo © Hannah Kaminsky | Bittersweet Blog).

[2] A bowl of fluffy jasmine rice with asparagus (photo © Lundberg Family Farms).

[3] A bowl of cooked short-grain rice, which is the type used in Japanese restaurants. The short grain variety is more glutinous, making it stickier. That means that a forkful of it will hold together, without falling off the fork—or chopsticks (photo © Sushi Inoue | NYC).

Washing is the first step toward producing perfect rice. It is more than just running water through the rice and draining.

This type of washing allows the rice to absorb the water better. Impurities and debris prevent heat from distributing properly, causing unevenly cooked rice and/or overly sticky rice.
 
 
6. Cooking The Rice

Cook according to package directions. You should end up with beautiful, fluffy rice.

And don’t turn your back and let the rice scorch!

This happens because all the water in the pot has been absorbed by the rice before the stated end of the cooking time (maybe the heat was higher than a simmer?).

Because there is no water left in the pot, the heat scorches, then burns, the rice on the bottom.
 
 
The History of Rice

The Different Types Of Rice

____________________

*Different types of rice have different cooking requirements.

†A strainer is a type of sieve typically used to separate a solid from a liquid. The word “sift” derives from sieve.
  

[1] Avocado toast and hummus with hot sauce (photo © Hope Hummus).

[2] “Three Shades Of Avocado Toast,” avocado, hummus and tahini (photo Food Deco | Instagram).

[3] For a special occasion: lobster avocado toast (photo © Ocean Prime Restaurant).

[4] Avocado toast with deviled hamachi collar (substitute smoked fish) and sliced radishes (photo © Kindred Restaurant | Davidson, North Carolina).

[5] Scooped balls of avocado (use a melon baller) on a rice cracker, with broccoli florets, beet microgreens and spices (photo Food Deco | Instagram)

[6] Another rice base: This recipe uses a rectangle of brown rice instead (photo © Think Rice).

Avocado toast first appeared on menus nationwide at hip coffee shop with Millennial clientele.

From there, it began to replace breakfast and lunch choices among other demographics.

Last weekend, we attended a birthday brunch at a restaurant. The honoree and all of her grandmother friends ordered…avocado toast, topped with a fried egg.

The rest of us ordered the Chicken & Waffles, Eggs Benedict and Tuna Niçoise.

In fact, since the first mashed avocado appeared on whole grain toast, the [recip3e] itself has been expanded. Here’s some of what you can find in restaurants nationwide—and make for yourself at home.

Thanks to Flavor & The Menu for the original article.
 
 
ENHANCED AVOCADO TOAST

To start, you can slice the avocado or mash it. You can use your choice of bread, from crusty rustic to multigrain, rice crackers to…bagels.

Check out photo #5, which uses rice crackers instead of bread, and photo #6, which substitutes crispy squares of pan-fried brown rice for the toast (here’s the recipe).

You can choose from a buffet of garnishes:

 
From there, consider these directions:

1. PUT AN EGG ON IT

Perhaps the first enhancement to a slice of avocado toast was an egg: boiled, hard boiled and sliced, fried, poached or scrambled. It adds protein, and lets the topped toast transition to brunch or lunch.

For a special occasion, consider duck or quail eggs.
 
 
2. GO MEDITERRANEAN

Avocado blends beautifully with Mediterranean flavors Alternate or layer mashed avocado with hummus

Add some local cheese: crumbled feta or grilled halloumi, for example. Maybe even a honey drizzle?

For accents: dukkah, harissa, lemon zest, sumac, tahini drizzle, za’atar.
 
 
3. ADD SOME “CREAMY”

Top the avocado with something creamy: crème fraîche, Greek yogurt, sour cream.

To that, you can add crumbled cheese (see the list above).

For an extra touch, add a favorite flavor to the yogurt or sour cream: curry, dill, garlic.

Or blend it with basil or sundried tomato pesto. For the holiday season, add some pumpkin purée.
 
 
4. VEGGIE TIME (FRUITS, TOO!)

Top the vegetable (avocado) with more vegetables—whatever you like. chefs are looking to avocado toast as a fitting platform. The sky’s the limit, where the build out can simply star a bevy of fresh produce or can star complex and intriguing flavors and textures—all pulled from the veg-centric universe.

 
You can pickle just about any vegetable. Asparagus, baby corn, beets, carrots, green beans (“dilly beans”), mushrooms, okra, pearl onions, sliced onions, snap peas, tomatoes and turnips, for example.

Pickled fruits also enhance avocado: apples, Asian vegetables (bean sprouts, bok choy, etc.), pears, rhubarb and stone fruits (cherries, nectarines, peaches, plums).

Here’s how to make 2-hour pickled fruits and vegetables.
 
 
MORE AVOCADO TOAST (AND FRIENDS OF AVOCADO TOAST) RECIPES

Although a relatively new trend in the U.S. (we first noticed it about six years ago), avocado toast has been “commonplace for a long time,” according to Wikipedia.

 
Surely, some conquistador, or more likely one of the nuns who followed in the early 16th century (the nuns created fusion European-Aztec cuisine, adapting New World ingredients to Old World cooking styles), first put sliced avocado on a piece of toasted European bread. But the record is mute on that.

According to an article in The Washington Post, chef Bill Granger of Sydney, Australia may have been the first person to put avocado toast on a menu, in 1993. Another Australian chef believes that the combination of avocado and toast emerged in Queensland, Australia in the mid-1970s.

Now, Millennials call it “smashed avo.”

In 1999, Nigel Slater published a recipe for an avocado “bruschetta” in London’s newspaper, The Guardian.

Even earlier, in 1962, a New York Times article showcased an “unusual” sandwich of avocado on toast.

And even earlier than that, in 1937, The New Yorker published an article, “Avocado, or the Future of Eating,” in which the protagonist eats “avocado sandwich on whole wheat and a lime rickey.” [source]

But credit social media with launching this low-key breakfast and snack into stardom, with an endless number of photos making it a must-have for avocado lovers.

September is National Potato Month (August 19th is National Potato Day). While we’ll share recipes later in the month, today we have a safety message.

You’ve probably never heard of getting glycoalkaloid toxicity from potatoes.

The effects are mostly gastrointestinal. They are often delayed 8 to 10 hours after consuming a bad potato.

The poisonous ingredient is solanine*, which is very toxic even in small amounts (here’s more information).

The compound mostly resides in the stem and leaves, as well as in green potatoes and new sprouts (eyes, or buds).

You can avoid it by only buying potatoes as you need them, storing them in a cool and dry place—not in the refrigerator.

Potatoes will naturally sprout around 120-150 days after harvesting. To keep them fresh for as long as possible:

[1] If the potato is still firm, cut away the eyes with a paring knife (photo © Best Food Facts).

[2] Remove the eyes under running water (photo © National Capital Poison Center).

[3] Just buy what you need. You don’t know how long ago the potatoes were harvested; after 120 days they can begin to sprout (photo © Potatoes USA).

 
 
POTATO HISTORY

Potatoes are native to the Andes Mountains of Peru. Here’s the history of our beloved spuds and the different types of potatoes.

_______________
*Solanine is found in species of the Nightshade family (Solanaceae), within the genus Solanum. This includes the potato (Solanum tuberosum), the tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), and the eggplant (Solanum melongena). Bell and chile peppers are a different genus in the Nightshade family. However, solanine is limited to the potato.

Solanine can occur naturally in any part of the plant, including the leaves, fruit and tubers. It has pesticidal properties, and it is one of the plant’s natural defenses.

[1] Different colors of beets and carrots (photo © The Chef’s Garden).

[2] Purple brussels sprouts (photo © Frieda’s Specialty Produce).

[3] Cauliflower in the conventional white, plus orange and purple. In the front is romanesco, a variation of cauliflower that has spikes (photo © Nourish The Roots).

[4] Green beans don’t have to be green photo © The Pines Restaurant | Brooklyn).

[5] Red butterhead lettuce is just one of several red leaf lettuces (photo © Good Eggs).

[6] Colored radishes (photo © The Chef’s Garden)

September is National Fruits & Vegetables Month. You know that fruits come in a rainbow of colors, but how about veggies?

Sure, you can find multicolored baby carrots, bell peppers, chiles and heirloom tomatoes.

But there’s much more to look for.

So today’s tip is: Keep an eye out and treat yourself to whatever is new and different.

Grocers know that customers want new options, so even if there’s no farmers market near you, keep looking.

It’s not just about fun; there are nutritional benefits as well. Colored foods tend to be more antioxidant rich than pale and white foods.

For example, orange cauliflower contains high levels of beta-carotene; purple cauliflower contains anthocyanin, an antioxidant that gives purple color to a variety of foods, including red cabbage and red onions. Green cauliflower just happens to have more protein than the other colors.

Some of the veggies below are natural mutations (as was red grapefruit and many other foods); some are cross-bred. None are GMO.

 
Isn’t nature grand?