At the end of August last year, I shared a post about the varying ways that I use the overabundance of tomatoes that inevitably flood into my life at the end of summer here in the Northeast. My partner and I have a share with our local CSA Farmshare and during the height of the tomatoes season, we might pick up 8-10 heirlooms, 2-3 quarts of cherry tomatoes, 1-2 quarts of salad tomatoes, and some plum tomatoes every week.
t’s too many tomatoes to eat but we sure do try!
Still, I’ll let you in on a little secret: the only thing in existence better than eating a meal made with fresh tomatoes at the height of tomato season is opening a can of tomatoes preserved in the height of the tomato season in the dead of winter.
With this in mind, one of my harvest rituals is to get together with a few of my coven members and have a canning party. A number of my friends have the same farm share as I do so by our combined powers, we can produce enough tomatoes to make quite the assortment of delectables for the winter ahead.
The secret to having a good canning party is twofold: too many tomatoes to want to cut all by yourself and a fun potion to make and drink for your friends.
Enter my Blueberry Cleanse and Protection Potion because who doesn’t need a little cleanse and protection in your life? This is a riff that I am doing on a cocktail that I shared earlier – this time around we doubled down on that protective energy of blueberry with a blueberry gin/syrup and I used this wonderful Italian Volcano Organic Lime Juice to act as my cleansing agent.
The result was spectacular. A strong blueberry flavor that wasn’t too sweet (despite a lot of blueberry simple syrup) that balanced nicely alongside the bitter lime.
To Make this Cocktail you Will Need:
Blueberry & Lime Cleansing & Protection Potion
- 2 oz. Blueberry Gin or Vodka (We used Short Path Summer Gin)
- 1 oz. lime juice (We used Italian Volcano bottled lime juice)
- 1 oz. Blueberry simple Syrup
- 1-2 dashes of lime bitters (optional)
Combine and shake over ice – remember to add in your intentions during this process. Serve in a martini glass with blueberries and a sprig of garden sage for garnish
This drink is truly fabulous – full to the brim with blueberry flavor but nicely balanced by the sharpness of the Volcano lime juice. The great thing is that you can adjust the ratio of these ingredients to make the drink sweeter or more sour to your tastes!
Now you have friends over, you’ve been covered in tomatoes (I assume) and you need something to eat to keep you motivated and help to soak up all of that liquor.
My new favorite summer dish this season is tomato pie. This recipe was given to me by a friend who has a copy of it from an old newspaper column titled “For Humans Only” (I think it might be from the Boston Globe but am not sure). The OG recipe, which I modified quite a bit, was attributed to somebody named Betsy Burns.
For this pie, you want the freshest tomatoes that you can find. I used some large heirloom tomatoes as they have a lot of substance (are “meatier”) so I thought that they might hold up to the cooking better which seemed to work out. I used two large heirloom tomatoes but this will change depending on a lot of factors.
Tomato Pie
For the Crust: 2 cups all-purpose flour 2-ounce cheese, grated (I used Mexican blend) 1 tbs sugar 1/2 tsp salt, or more to taste 1/2 cup butter, melted 1 cup milk or milk substitute For the Filling: Fresh Tomatoes, sliced thinly and pre-salted Chives Basil, fresh or dried 1/2 cup mayonnaise 3/4 cup cheese (again, I used a Mexican blend)
Preheat your oven to 400f. Combine crust ingredients (be sure not to overmix if using gluten flour) – let sit for 10 minutes. Pack into pie plate then add a layer of tomatoes, chives, and basil. Continue to layer tomatoes, chives, and basil until your pie plate is full. Mix together mayonnaise and cheese and spread on top of tomatoes. Cook for 30 minutes and serve immediately.
There are a lot of ways that I can see to change up this recipe. The original version called for making a crust out of Bisquick + milk, so I suspect that your go-to biscuit recipe would work just fine. I used all-purpose gluten-free flour. If mayonnaise is not your thing, I suspect that chevre would be a worthy substitute (I’ll be trying that soon!).
This recipe comes together super quickly (great for when you are otherwise busy with a canning project), tastes great, and can easily be made gluten-free. Sadly, I was too absorbed in the canning and the eating at this point in my project to take photos but I highly suggest making this dish if you have the time and inclination.