House of Annie

Fancy Baked Mac and Cheese

The first time I made this baked mac and cheese, I thought the amount of sauce was too much. Being the pake Chinese I was, I added more than the one pound of elbow pasta. I decided I could stretch it out and make a pound and a half.

That was a mistake. My son told me, “Mommy, Aunty Felicia’s mac and cheese is better!” I told him, “Fine! Get her to make it for you from now on!” and went off to sulk.

Well, hellooo? It was my own fault for being cheap by trying to stretch it. I had lost the rich, decadent flavor that was the point of this whole mac and cheese recipe! So the next time around, having learnt my lesson, I stuck to only one pound of pasta (which, by the way, still makes a LOT of mac and cheese).

I did adapt it a little this time but not in a way that makes it less tasty. Instead of gruyere, I used Parmesan (I actually prefer the flavor of Parmesan). And instead of fresh breadcrumb, I used panko (Felicia was the one who gave me that tip) and increased the amount because who doesn’t like a nice breadcrumb topping!

The outcome? Absolutely delicious. My son wolfed it all down and asked for seconds AND thirds! There you go, it’s been given his seal of approval.

(Basking in the warmth of son’s approval).

So if you’re looking for a more fancied up version of Mac and Cheese, do give this recipe a try. This recipe really isn’t too hard. Probably the most time consuming part is the grating of the cheese. Other than that, it’s quite quick to assemble.

(It does involve quite a number of pots, though. That part is no fun when you have to clean up. Thankfully, I have a dishwasher named Nate. ^_^)

Fancy Baked Mac and Cheese

adapted from Ina Garten, Food Network

Ingredients
Kosher salt
1 pound elbow macaroni or cavatappi
1 quart milk
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, divided
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
12 ounces Parmesan (the good kind, please don’t use the pre-grated stuff in the green cylinder), grated (4 cups), original recipe called for Gruyere
8 ounces extra-sharp Cheddar, grated (2 cups)
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 pound fresh tomatoes (4 small)
1 1/2 cups panko bread crumbs (or more, I used almost double), original recipe called for fresh bread crumbs

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Set a large pot of water to boil and make sure to salt it well. When boiled, add the macaroni and cook according to the directions on the package, 6 to 8 minutes. Drain well.
3. Meanwhile, heat the milk in a small saucepan, but don't boil it.
4. Melt 6 tablespoons of butter in a large (4-quart) pot and add the flour. Cook over low heat for 2 minutes, stirring with a whisk. While whisking, add the hot milk and cook for a minute or two more, until thickened and smooth. Turn off the heat, add the Parmesan, Cheddar, 1 tablespoon salt, pepper, and nutmeg.

5. Add the cooked macaroni and stir well. Pour into a 3-quart baking dish.
6. Slice the tomatoes and arrange on top.

7. Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter, combine them with the fresh bread crumbs, and sprinkle on top of the mac and cheese.

8. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbly and the breadcrumb topping is golden brown.

Enjoy!

Cheers, Annie

I am entering this post in the November 13 edition of Presto Pasta Nights, hosted by Sweet and Savory Says it All.

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Pandan Waffles

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The next day, when deciding on what to make with it, I looked to see what I had and saw that I had some onions and some tomatoes. I decided that I would make a braise with tomatoes and onions and use dark soy to give it a rich salty-sweet flavor. Combined with the tomatoes, this made a really nice braise. So simple and yet delicious.

Braised Pork Belly with Tomatoes in Soy Sauce Recipe

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium yellow onion, halved and sliced
1/2 lb (300g) pork belly, cut into bite-sized chunks
3 medium or 5 small roma tomatoes, large dice
8-10 button mushrooms, halved (optional)
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 Tbsp dark soy sauce
2-3 Tbsp soy sauce
dash of white papper
Garnishing: chopped cilantro and halved cherry tomatoes

Method:
1. Heat up oil in a medium-sized heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Stir in garlic and onions and saute till onions are just softened.
2. Add pork chunks and let it brown (move onions and garlic to sides). Stir every so often to ensure pork pieces get evenly browned. Season with a little salt.

3. Add tomatoes and the rest of the seasonings. Stir to combine well. Once ingredients come to a boil, lower heat and let simmer for 30-45 minutes or until pork is tender. If using mushrooms, add it now.

4. Taste and adjust seasonings. The dish should taste salty and slightly tart-sweet from the tomatoes.
5. Plate up and garnish with cherry tomatoes and cilantro.

There you have it, a quick weekday meal.

Enjoy!

Cheers, Annie

Hungry for more porky dishes? Click below:

Ultimate Rib Showdown

Pork and Daikon Soup with Red Dates and Carrots

Tau Yu Bak (Pork Braised in Soy Sauce)

Homemade Breakfast Sausage

Braised Char Siew (or Non-bake Char Siew)

The Last Supper

Fortunately, we still had a few things we had left over from our kitchen, including a couple of pork tenderloins, some soy sauce, a few lemons, a head of garlic, and a box of fettuccine. Combined with a few more ingredients from our Pastor's kitchen, and we had the makings of an easy House of Annie (almost) home-cooked meal.

I marinated the pork tenderloins in a mixture of soy sauce, sesame oil, sesame seeds, sugar, lemon zest and lemon slices from one lemon. They all went together in a ziplock bag and sat in the fridge for about 6 hours.  Annie roasted them in the oven at 425*F for 20 minutes.  After resting for a few minutes, I sliced them on the bias.

While the tenderloins were roasting, Annie cooked the fettuccine in salted water until they were al dente.  In the meantime, she sliced half a head's worth of garlic cloves.  She heated a half cup of vegetable oil in a saucepan then added the garlic slices to the oil.  After adding the garlic slices, she turned the heat down low and gently cooked the garlic until golden brown (careful not to burn them!).

One of our friends kindly gave us a few beefsteak tomatoes from her garden. Annie diced them up and added them to the saucepan. She seasoned with some soy sauce, salt and pepper, and a pinch of chili pepper flakes and simmered the whole sauce till the tomatoes had melded with the garlic oil, about 7-10 minutes.  Finally, she tossed in the drained fettucine and stirred to combine.

Pork Tenderloin with Fettuccine

This meal was seriously easy and seriously good.  Some fresh herbs would have made it perfect, but you can't always have perfection.

Since we used someone's homegrown tomatoes in this dinner, I am entering this post in the next Grow Your Own roundup, hosted by MomGateway. 

This meal was probably the last Annie-cooked meal we'll have for a while.  We fly out for Kuala Lumpur next week. Then it'll be another whirlwind of meeting (and eating!) with the family there.  Then sometime after that, we fly out to the city of Kuching in Sarawak, East Malaysia, to settle in before I start my new job there.

What's this about Kuching?  This is a new development!  Read more about it on my Xanga blog.

Aloha,  Nate

This will probably be the last House of Annie post for a while, until we figure out our broadband issues. We definitely are not going away for good! To make sure you don't miss our next post from Malaysia, be sure to subscribe to receive our posts in your RSS reader or your Inbox.

The Pitch

I actually pitched this idea for an Ultimate Backyard Lu’au for the inaugural Foodbuzz 24, 24, 24 back in September 2008, but Foodbuzz chose Michelle the Accidental Scientist (who we met at dinner in Hawai’i) to feature her excellent ‘Aha ‘Aina instead. So when I pitched the idea again for the May 2009 24, 24, 24, I wasn’t sure we’d be successful.

Fortunately, Foodbuzz selected us, and we couldn’t be more thrilled! Our previous “24, 24, 24” meals were smaller in comparison. The Cioppino Hot Pot dinner was only 6 adults plus our 2 kids. The Ultimate Rib Showdown fed 10 adults and 2 kids. This lu’au was a big party, with 16 adults and 16 kids!

The Preparation

With that many people coming, and many different dishes being served, we had to get started prepping early. The first thing we did was call one of our guests, Melissa (who is a great baker), to prepare the chocolate haupia pie for us. One less dish for us to worry about!

Ultimate Backyard Lu’au: Chocolate Haupia Pie

We have a friend who is part of a CSA – Community Supported Agriculture. Every week, they get a box of vegetables from Live Earth Farm. Since they were going on vacation, they asked us to pick up their share for a couple of weeks (thanks, J!!!). On Thursday, we picked up their share – it was a huge amount of vegetables! Right before the party started, Annie took some of the lettuce and other veggies and made a fresh green salad.

After picking up the CSA share, we went to the San Carlos Farmer’s Market to pick up some salmon and ahi from our favorite fishmonger, Pat from Mission Fresh Fish. I salted the salmon fillets that night, and Annie diced them up on Friday night. On Saturday morning we diced up the tomatoes and onions to complete the lomi salmon dish.

Ultimate Backyard Lu’au: Lomi Salmon

I marinated some chicken thighs and drumsticks on Friday night, using a “huli chicken” marinade. On Saturday afternoon, I fired up my Weber Smokey Mountain cooker and grilled / smoked them similar to our Smoked Shoyu Chicken recipe, except this time I left the water pan out so the chicken could get some direct flame action.

Ultimate Backyard Lu’au: Huli Chicken

We also made the oven kalua pig late Friday night / Saturday morning. I shredded the pork after it came out of the oven, and reserved the cooking juices. In the afternoon, we combined the pork with chopped cabbage to complete the Kalua Pig with Cabbage.

Ultimate Backyard Lu’au: Kalua Pig with Cabbage

Saturday morning I cut the ahi into cubes. In the afternoon, we went looking for the ogo (seaweed) for the ahi limu poke. Unfortunately, no store around here had fresh ogo, so we had to settle for dried ogo as part of a packaged poke mix from Marukai Market in Cupertino. After reconstituting the ogo in water, I chopped it up and mixed it together with the ahi and the other seasonings

Ultimate Backyard Lu’au: Ahi Limu Poke

By the way, we will blog all the recipes in future posts. So you’ll want to bookmark this page and come back to it to view the links to each dish.

The Pa’ina (Party)

We set the time for 5:00, but the only guests to actually arrive on-time were our ha’ole (Caucasian) friends Melissa and Patrick. Everyone else came on Hawaiian time ;-) I was a little concerned because the hot foods weren’t going to stay hot for long (the weather outside was sunny but cool).

While we waited, some of the kids entertained themselves by drawing on the patio floor with chalk.

Abigail and Brandon

Eventually, everyone did show up so I put on some Hapa in the CD player and we started dinner. Most of our guests never had Hawaiian food before, so I briefly explained each dish. At least no one had any qualms about eating raw fish.

The huli chicken was the first to run out. It was very good! I should have prepared more, but there wasn’t that much more room on the smoker anyway.

Another popular dish was the lomi salmon. People kept going back for second and third helpings. The ahi limu poke was also a winner. Even though it had some chili pepper in it, our friend Winnie (who can’t take spicy foods) couldn’t stop eating it.

The funny thing about the kalua pig dish was, we initially didn’t have enough cabbage to balance out the pork. So we had to have one of our friends bring another head of cabbage to add to it. We also used the kale that came from the Live Earth Farm CSA share. That kale brought an enjoyable, deep earthiness to the dish

Pineapples, Pudding and Pies

Even though we were quite happy with the main courses, we still had desserts to enjoy. Winnie brought a couple of pineapples filled with chunks of pineapple, strawberries and papaya.

Ultimate Backyard Lu’au: Tropical Fruit in Pineapple Bowl

Besides the aforementioned Chocolate Haupia Pie, our friend Melissa also made a Tropical Bread Pudding that everyone could not get enough of. I was fortunate that Annie saved the last bit of bread pudding for me (which I am enjoying as I write this post!). Unfortunately, she did not take pics of the baking process so I guess we will have to make the recipe again (oh, the hardships we endure… ;-) ).

Our friend Felicia (who made the Pavlova for us for the Ultimate Rib Showdown) made a Strawberry Cream Freeze pie with Oreo cookie crust. It was seriously good. I did not have a chance to take a picture before it was all gone. (Sounds like another assignment, Felicia! ;-) )

As the evening got cooler, everyone headed inside to continue the party in the warmth of the house.

Hawaiian Etiquette: Leave Your Shoes Outside

We gabbed about this and that while the kids entertained themselves with Wii Sports. The night wore on and people started packing up and leaving. I was pretty fried once the last family left.

Post Mortem

In hindsight, there are a few things I would do differently:

• start cooking the kalua pig earlier so I won’t be up so late shredding pork
• marinate more chicken and get another charcoal grill to grill them
• not eat so much so I would have enough room for dessert

I can’t thank our friends enough for coming and sharing this lu’au experience. Especially those who took the time to make desserts for us – you really took a load off our minds and made preparing for the lu’au much easier! I also must thank Foodbuzz for helping make it all happen!

As for you, dear Reader, I thank you for sticking with me on such a long post. I hope that it will encourage you to make your own backyard lu’au and bring a little Hawai’i to your neck of the woods.

Aloha, Nate

If you liked this post, won’t you bookmark it and share it with your friends on social networking sites like StumbleUpon, Facebook, or Twitter?

Links to Hawaiian Lu’au Food recipes

Kalua Pig with Cabbage Recipe

Lomi Lomi Salmon Recipe

Ahi Limu Poke Recipe

Huli Chicken Recipe

Chocolate Haupia Pie Recipe

I had already been making pasta dishes that I learned from Fine Cooking Magazine based on their “Cooking Without Recipes” article titled “How to Make a Light, Creamy Pasta Sauce” (Fine Cooking, Issue number 50). So I had the right building blocks to figure out how to make Penne Portobello myself.

For the pasta, I’ve used penne as well as farfalle. You are totally free to interchange them as you please or use any other shape of pasta.

Quick and Easy Pasta Recipe

This recipe is a quick and easy dish. From start to finish, I can normally whip up this meal in half an hour or less. Basically, while your pot of water is boiling for the pasta, you can be prepping all the ingredients and when you put the pasta in to boil, you can start to cook the sauce. Once the pasta is done, all you have to do is incorporate the pasta in the sauce and add a little cream and that's it, you're ready to eat! Easy huh?

And the ingredients that go in the sauce is really up to you. In this one, I am going to use mushrooms and (because I do like lots of veggies), I also add onions, bell peppers, asparagus, sundried tomatoes, and spinach. I find that any combination of these veggies (other vegetables I've used include zucchini, peas, cauliflower and fresh tomatoes) make a really yummy pasta.

You can also vary your protein. I normally try to go with two different types of meat to complement the rest of the ingredients. Sometimes, I will throw in some bulk Italian sausage (about 1/2 lb) and some kielbasa sausage or bacon. At other times, I've just used chicken and sausage or made it a seafood dish by adding shrimp. When I use shrimp though, I keep it more simple—just a veggie or two and let the shrimp be the star. Play around and find your favorites!

Linguine with Pancetta, Zucchini, Shallots, and Homegrown Cherry Tomatoes

The Trick to Tasty Pasta

The trick to making your pasta sauce taste really yummy is to give it a nice liquid ingredient. I always keep a bottle each of dry and sweet vermouth in my pantry (they last a lot longer than a bottle of opened wine as they are fortified) and they really add a delicious flavor component to the finished dish as well as in helping to scrape up all the nice brown bits while cooking. Other liquids you can choose to add include chicken stock, marsala wine, brandy, vodka, and clam juice. After adding your liquids, you do want to reduce it to really give it a punch.

Right at the end is when you add the cream (and not too much--about 1/2 cup is plenty) to enrich the sauce and give it some body. It won't make the sauce so thick and heavy the way a lot of cream sauces are in restaurants but it will give your pasta a more luxuriant mouth feel.

Finally, don't forget to toss all the ingredients together and add final touches like grated cheese or leafy herbs to add one more layer of flavor to your final pasta dish.

Penne with Sausage, Spinach and Mushrooms

How to Boil Pasta

One word on boiling pasta. Growing up, my mom used to boil pasta in a medium sized pot and add a pinch of salt and a teaspoon of oil. I didn't know any better for a long time and did the same. After watching Food TV and also reading cookbooks, I've come to realize that how you cook your pasta is KEY to how the whole dish will taste.

If you plan to cook the whole pound of pasta, you will need:

• a big pot of water (4 quarts).
• to salt liberally (at least 2 Tbsp--I never bother to measure, I just taste my water, if it tastes like the sea, you've salted it enough).
• to forget the oil. Oil does nothing for the pasta.
• to stir the pasta several times through the cooking time-this helps ensure the pasta doesn't clump together.

And when it's cooked through (follow cooking times on the package but also bite into it to make sure it's cooked through), save a cup of the water and drain. Do NOT rinse in cold water. The saved water can be added if the pasta starts to clump a little (I use this more when I'm making spaghetti or other noodle pasta, I don't need it as much with farfalle).

Save a Cup of Pasta Water

Brighten Up the Flavors

One final trick—soy sauce. Yes, soy sauce. Right at the end, I always add a bit of soy sauce to my sauce. You won’t notice it but it will brighten up all the other flavors because of its umami. If your sauce still doesn’t come alive after that, you can do my second trick and add a bit of lemon juice. That always works for me. But try the soy sauce trick first. You’ll be amazed.

Farfalle with Mushrooms and Sausage in a Light Cream Sauce

adapted from Fine Cooking Magazine

Ingredients
1 lb farfalle (bowtie) pasta (I’m partial to Barilla brand pasta)
4 qts water
2 Tbsp salt

2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 lb bulk sweet Italian sausage or 1/3 lb bacon, sliced to cubes
1/2 lb polska kielbasa, large diced
1 onion, diced
1 cup asparagus, sliced on a diagonal (about 8 spears)
2 cups sliced mushrooms (I used baby bellas this time but you can use white button or portobellos or even shiitakes if you want)
1 bell pepper (any color you like), diced
2 large handfuls of spinach (about 1 bunch or 2 cups baby spinach)
1/4 cup chopped sundried tomatoes (the ones packed in olive oil), make sure to get some of that oil into the pasta too (it adds a lot of flavor)
1 tsp Italian seasoning (or combination of your choice of dried herbs)
1/2 cup dry vermouth (sweet vermouth will work too)
1/2 cup low-salt chicken broth
1/2 cup heavy cream
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste and don’t forget the dash of soy sauce (about 1 Tbsp)
Garnish: grated Parmesan and chopped parsley

Method:
1. Bring water to boil in large pot. Add salt and throw in pasta. Give it a stir every so often while cooking. Follow timing on your pasta box. Check to make sure pasta is done. Drain pasta and do not rinse in cold water.
2. While water is boiling, prep ingredients and start cooking. Add pasta to cook as you continue to make your sauce.
3. In a large stainless steel pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add bacon or Italian sausage and sauté till bacon is slightly crisp or sausage is halfway done. Add kielbasa sausages and continue to cook till lightly browned.
4. Throw in diced onion and sauté till onions are soft. Add Italian seasoning and salt and pepper to taste.
5. Toss in the asparagus, mushrooms and peppers. Sauté for 1-2 minutes till mushrooms start to wilt.
6. Add sundried tomatoes.
7. Add vermouth and chicken broth. Bring to boil and then simmer till reduced by about half.
8. Throw in the spinach now and let it wilt in the sauce.
9. Add cooked pasta to sauce and toss around to coat pasta. Add in heavy cream and additional flavorings (like soy sauce or lemon juice) and toss. Taste and adjust seasonings.

Farfalle with Asparagus, Spinach, Mushrooms and Sausage

Plate up and garnish with parmesan cheese and parsley. Sometimes, the pasta is so flavorful already that I omit this step.

If you want to spice up your pasta, feel free to add some dried red chili flakes or Tabasco to your sauce.

Enjoy!

Cheers, Annie

This article was entered into the Presto Pasta Nights roundup, hosted this week by Ben of What's Cooking

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Annie and I met Michael at the FoodBuzz Featured Publisher's dinner at Gochi Japanese Fusion Tapas back in June.  When I first saw his name, I totally geeked out.  "You're Cooking for Engineers! I can't believe it!"  (For those of you who don't know, Cooking for Engineers is a food blog that started in 2004, ages ago in Internet time.  It features well researched recipes and reviews, presented in a way that appeals to analytical minds which makes him very popular with the engineer crowd.)

Who's coming to our house?

Michael is a font of knowledge about food blogging and eating well.  We're just blogging babies compared to him.  But he's a humble guy, very engaging, and eager to share.  Annie talked his ear off at dinner about her homegrown tomatoes.  By the end of the night, she had invited him to our house for a tomato tasting.

"Wait, Cooking for Engineers is coming to our house, to eat our tomatoes?"  I hoped we would be able to impress him.

Last month, Michael pinged me to see when we could get together.  I said that our tomatoes weren't all coming in yet, but later in September they would.  Last week, our backyard tomato harvest peaked.  We arranged for Michael and his wife to come over on Friday.

All in all, we had over 20 different varieties of heirloom tomatoes to share:

The Rundown

Before we started, Annie gave Michael and his wife a rundown of what tomatoes to start with (the lighter colored ones, followed by the reds, pinks and finally blacks).  Then she had them take a taste of the Chianti Rose.

"Oh, this is a good tomato.  Lots of flavor. Better than anything we've had recently."

Annie informed them that Chianti Rose is indeed a good tasting tomato, but that particular one came from our neighbor, who had over-watered his tomatoes.  (I mentioned that in our Lazy Heirloom Tomato Gazpacho post.  Remember Tip #5: to concentrate your tomato's flavor, you have to restrict watering.) Over-watered tomatoes, while still tasting good, lack punch.

Next, Annie told them to try out one of her tomatoes.  "Oh, my God!  You're right! The flavors are so much more pronounced!" And on and on it went. With each successive tomato, Michael and his wife were wowed by the nuances of flavor going from sweet to tart to even smoky.

Esther tasting tomatoes

Picking Favorites

When he reached back to pick up another piece of Chianti Rose, his wife slapped his hand. "What are you doing? That's the tasteless one!"  "Oh yeah, you're right." He popped it in his mouth anyway. "Oh, it's so bland now, compared to all the others.  It's like a palate cleanser."

They tried keeping tasting notes but gave up early on. They tried choosing favorites, but since each tomato tastes so different from the others, there was no way to choose.  "Taste is subjective," says Annie. "Everyone has a different opinion about which tomato is best."

(As for me, I liked Green Giant, Orange Russian 117, Indian Stripe, and Virginia Sweets.  But don't ask me to choose a single favorite!)

Not Just Tomatoes

Of course, we wouldn't have invited Michael and his wife over for just tomatoes.  We served them a dinner of roasted potatoes, Annie's grilled kapakahi-marinated chicken (that's for another post), and a chopped Greek salad using some of our Sungold, Red Pear and Green Grape cherry tomatoes.

Chopped Greek Salad

The Chopped Greek Salad recipe came from the same Fine Cooking magazine issue as the Chopped Mexican Salad.  We didn't have garlic croutons or arugula, so we made do with Romaine.  The dressing was spectacular and worthy of a do-over.

Chopped Greek Salad Dressing

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup red- or white-wine vinegar (or fresh lemon juice)
2 Tablespoons finely chopped shallots
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano
1 teaspoon mashed oil-packed anchovies (2 to 4 fillets)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

(I would have done a gapzacho but it was too late for that.  We sent Michael and his wife home with the remains of the tomato tasting plus a few select tomatoes, to make his own gazpacho using our Lazy Heirloom Tomato Gazpacho recipe.)

Later that evening, Michael sent me an email:

Thanks for having me and my wife over. You've really opened my eyes about how GOOD tomatoes can be. Now I don't think I can eat "normal" tomatoes again.

The pleasure is ours! We had such a great time that we're already thinking about the next time we can have them over. I think this is the best part about food blogging: getting to meet other food bloggers who share our passion for food.  Just like our dinner with the Hawaii FoodBuzz Featured Publishers, these meals shared together make the food all that much tastier.

This post was entered in the Grow Your Own #17 roundup created by Andrea of Andrea's Recipes and hosted by Chez Us.

If you liked this post, won't you subscribe to receive all our latest posts in your email Inbox or RSS reader?  It's easy and free!

Aloha, Nate

Related Posts:

Getting Buzzed at TomatoFest

Lazy Heirloom Tomato Gazpacho

Chopped Mexican Salad

Getting Buzzed at Tokkuri Tei (Honolulu)

Annie's Top 5 Tomato Growing Tips

When I first started getting into tomatoes, I bought seedlings from the Santa Clara County Master Gardeners' Spring Plant Sale and got others from the store.  But once the bug hit me, I decided to try growing my own tomatoes from seed.  One of the first online stores I visited was Gary Ibsen's Tomatofest site.  I was enthralled by the many varieties he offered and the beautiful pictures that accompanied the description of each variety. 

Yellow and Red Ruffled Heirloom Tomatoes @TomatoFest

So I did order some seeds from TomatoFest.com, and I must say I was very impressed by the service they provided.  See, in my order of 6 varieties, they made a mistake and sent the one wrong variety.  When I emailed Gary to let him know I had received one I did not order, he was very prompt to reply and in less than a week, I not only had my correct variety but also 3 other tomato varieties to make up for the mistake.  On top of that, he said I could keep the variety that was sent by accident (that's 4 extra that I got for free--woohoo!).  Now, that's customer service :-) !

Anyhow, when we got to Tomatofest, I was very excited to look at the Tomato Tasting Tent which had over 350 different heirloom tomato varieties on offer.  I actually did my homework before the event itself by visiting the Tomatofest site and looking at all the varieties they had to offer.  I wrote down the ones that I was most interested to try so that I would not end up being numbed by trying to taste them all. 

Tomato Tasting Table @TomatoFest

Nate and I stepped into the tasting tent after we had made our rounds eating all the foods from the chef's tents.  This part was truly fun for me.  I got to talk to others in line who were just as crazy about tomatoes as I was. Where else would you be able to talk about tomatoes and not have people roll their eyes after 5 minutes? 

The tasting tent lived up to my expectations BIG TIME.  It was a sea of color.  There was basically a square space in which tables upon tables were laid out with every conceivable shape, color, and size of tomatoes.  In the center, volunteers were busy cutting up more samples or filling up plates when they ran low.  Every variety had its name written in front of it and some varieties actually had two different sample plates if they were provided by two different farms from different areas (as tomatoes can taste different depending on the terroir). 

Tomato Tasting Table @TomatoFest

I also got to talk to some people who didn't really know too much about the different varieties but were glad for advice on which ones to try. (I would not recommend trying all in one fell swoop.  That would be tomatoing-out in a BIG way!)

If you've never tried a green-when-ripe tomato, you absolutely must, they are some of the tastiest tomatoes I've ever had. Green Giant and Green Grape would be two examples of very sweet, amazing tasting tomatoes in the green shades. Somehow the green color always turns people off. Don't be afraid -- GO GREEN!  ;-)

Green Zebra Tomato @TomatoFest

We actually took a break halfway through to cleanse our palates with some wines before coming back to sample the second half of the tables. Of all the ones I tasted that day, Chocolate Stripes was the winner for me.  Apparently, other people felt the same way.  The evidence is revealed by how few pieces were left on the tasting plate:

Chocolate Stripes Tomato @TomatoFest

This Chocolate Stripes tomato was robust in flavor, with sweet notes and complex undertones.  The whole tomato was a beauty too--a medium globe that was a dark, chocolaty red with green stripes. Both Gary Ibsen and Sunset Magazine's Jim McAusland agree - black tomatoes have the richest, most complex flavors.

Japanese Black Trifele Tomato @TomatoFest

Green Grape (which I'm also growing this year) was also very flavorful, sweet but with a nice acidic finish that gives it a real punch.  Other varieties that I thought were worthy of mention include Mandarin Cross, Chinese Tea, Lahman Pink, Blue Ridge Mountain, Cindy's West Virginia, Green Giant,  and Marizol Gold.

You Say Tomato, I Say Toh-Mah-Tow

One thing I do want to note about flavor.  Don't discount a tomato just because it didn't taste that great the first time you try it.  I actually made a point to taste samples of the varieties that I was growing in my own garden to do a comparison.  I found that many of the tomatoes I am growing in my own garden taste better than the ones at the TomatoFest tasting tent.  Other varieties tasted way better than what I was growing.  The difference in flavors could be due to many factors including soil conditions, watering, temperature, etc.

Besides taste, some tomatoes were just beautiful to look at.  Varieties like Costoluto Genovese and Tim's Black Ruffles are defined by the ridges that line the whole tomato giving them an almost pumpkin-like look.  Some of these can be very tasty but I have found most ruffled tomatoes to be drier on the inside and some even have cavities like a bell pepper.  These varieties are especially good for stuffing.

Tim's Black Ruffles Tomato @TomatoFest

Heirloom tomatoes are not boring.  There are uniquely colored tomatoes (bicoloreds, white, green, purple, and black to name a few), striped tomatoes, fuzzy tomatoes (looks like a peach, tastes like a tomato), and odd-shaped tomatoes (heart-shaped, pepper-shaped, pear-shaped).  All these traits are amazing to me and makes me exclaim in wonder at the beauty of each tomato variety.

Then there are the sizes.  I was tickled by one called Spoon which was sooo tiny that I could imagine needing a spoon to eat them.  I also would hate to be the one to have to harvest these babies--they were the size of tiny peas.

Spoon Tomatoes @TomatoFest

And other tomato varieties were so large, you'd need both hands to hold them. 

Burraker's Favorite Tomato @TomatoFest

The biggest one in my garden this year (and also very flavorful) is Grandfather Ashlock, weighing in at a whopping 1lb 7oz!

If I had had more time, I would probably have gone around the whole square a second time to try those I missed in my first pass.  But unfortunately, the time flew by and as 4pm neared, my stomach was still so full of tomato that I could not go back to try more even though I really wanted to.

It's All About the Love (Apples)

Today, as I write this, I wish I had been able to try them all to do justice to each variety.  I admired every one and I'm truly grateful that Gary Ibsen has put out a festival that allows people to realize that tasting tomatoes is much like wine tasting.  Each variety has its own distinct flavor with different nuances and tones.  Each is unique, asserting themselves differently to different people.   My love affair with tomatoes continues and Tomatofest is an event that feeds my addiction even more.

Even though Gary announced his retirement from TomatoFest, he is planning to pass the torch on to a worthy manager.  TomatoFest will live on, and we certainly hope to be able to attend again and again!

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Cheers, Annie

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Love (Apple) At First Bite

Annie's Top Five Tomato Growing Tips