In My Kitchen May 2023

This May, we had an abundance of cherry tomatoes from a friend who had overgrown her vegetable patch. Because there was too much to eat all at once, I dried some in the dehydrator, which is one of my favorite ways to preserve tomatoes. Prior to purchasing a dehydrator, I would frequently dry tomatoes in the oven, which is also an excellent method of drying tomatoes. 

Also, slow roasted some cherry tomatoes in olive oil, garlic, balsamic vinegar, and fresh thyme for a couple of hours to make a “confit of tomatoes”. Confit of tomatoes do not keep as long as dried tomatoes but  both are delicious in salads, pasta, or as a topping for grilled fish fillets or bruschetta. 

For the bruschetta, toasted slices of sourdough bread were spread with homemade walnut pesto (plenty of basil growing in the garden), and topped with a few confit tomatoes. I was growing some micro greens (broccoli seeds) at the time so scattered a few over…perfect as a snack or serving to family and friends when entertaining. Dried tomatoes, confit tomatoes, pesto, and sourdough bread (which I had in the freezer) can all be made ahead of time and delicious pantry goods to have in your kitchen. 

Although I’ve never baked hot cross buns and don’t particularly enjoy them, I chose Emiko Davies recipe, Rosemary and Sultana Buns from her cookbook Florentine. Although they are now available year-round in bakeries all over Florence, they were traditionally made on the Thursday before Easter. They were not overly sweet and at their freshest on the day of baking, like with most bread products. 

You can see the dough balls rising on some fancy parchment paper that I found at Zara Home. The parchment paper is attractive enough to serve baked items on as a doily, decorative parchment paper is not something I’ve noticed so thought it was nice to have some. 

This appealing hummus alternative is made with peas, tahini, and za’atar and so easy to make. A lovely recipe from Ottolenghi’s test kitchen cookbook “Shelf Love” that is very delicious. I’ve prepared this recipe numerous times for family and friends, and everyone always enjoys it. Additionally, when served on the stylish stoneware plate from Nom Living, the pea dip looks wonderful.

And worth mentioning, my food processor is one of my favorite kitchen tools because it makes some food preparation much simpler.

Nothing tastes better than the flavor of fresh cold-pressed juice with no added sugar or additives. Although I don’t juice every day, I do make fresh juices on a regular basis. And if you own a juicer, you probably know that there are numerous parts (mine has eight) to clean; this has never been an issue for me, but I am aware that it is for some. So…I’m the only one in our house who uses the juicing machine. And if there isn’t any fresh juice at home…my daughter buys her favorite brand of freshly pressed juices sold in some supermarkets on the Island. I keep certain glass containers (like the one on the left) because of their convenient size for storing freshly made juices at home—a small amount of recycling. The quantity of pulp left over after fresh juicing is my sole complaint…I occasionally try to include the carrot and beet pulp into a recipe for bread or muffins. However, this is not always the case, and the pulp is thrown in the trash instead. Do you have any helpful suggestions for reusing pulp if you make fresh juice at home?

This post is part of a monthly gathering of “In My Kitchen” bloggers who love sharing their kitchen treasures, please check out the link below. The “In My Kitchen” host is Sherry and her blog is at Sherryspickings where you will find a list of other IMK participants.