When tomatoes are is season, or growing on my vines if I’m lucky, I preserve them in any way I can think of.  I make sauce, tomato soup base and just plain old puree and stack them up in ziptop bags in the freezer.  Sometimes I can whole tomatoes, but now I’ve learned you can freeze them whole for later cooking.  This year, I’ve been looking for a new and different idea, and I set my mind on Bloody Mary mix.  I know many people are very happy with, even prefer, the standard bottled mixes.  But I think once you give a real, homemade version a try, you’ll be hooked.  Packed with fresh, in season tomatoes and lots of flavorful vegetables, it’s a very special treat.  A little warmth from the banana peppers and ginger set this blend apart.

I made a few adjustments to my standard recipe to make it suitable for canning, so a few lucky folks on my list will be getting some for Christmas (let the competition begin).  And how much of treat will fresh tomato Bloody Marys be at a holiday brunch? You can also make this for serving as soon as it’s chilled, or pack it into ziptop bags or freezer jars to store.
Stick with the basic quantity of vegetables, sugar and lemon juice for storage, but feel free to add more hot sauce, Worcestershire, or stir in a spoonful of prepared horseradish.  Remember, you can always add a dash of hot sauce when you’re mixing the drink. To make a Bloody Mary, fill a tall glass with ice, add vodka, top with the mix and stir. Pepper or lemon vodka add a nice twist if you are so inclined.  After storage, the mix may get a bit thick, just thin it out with a little water, it can handle it. I like to garnish a good Bloody Mary with Pickled Asparagus or Dilly Beans, but the traditional celery beautifully complements this mix.

Homemade Bloody Mary Mix

After storage, the mix may be a bit thick. Just thin it with a bit of water, and of course, vodka.

8 pounds plum tomatoes, quartered

3 green peppers, seeds and ribs removed chopped

3carrots, diced

3 ribs celery, diced

1 small onion, diced

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 bunch Italian parsley leaves, torn

1 –inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and chopped

3 small or 1 large banana peppers, seeds removed, chopped

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 1/2 tablespoons salt

Generous grinds of black pepper to taste

½ Tablespoon hot sauce (I like Crystal)

1 tablespoon Worcestershiresauce

Place all the chopped vegetables in large Dutch oven.  Add a splash of water, cover the pot, and cook until the vegetables are mushy, 30 – 40 minutes.  Stir occasionally, breaking up the vegetables with the back of a spoon.  When everything is mushy, leave to cool for a few minutes.

Working in batches, carefully puree the vegetables in a blender.  Fill the blender half full, vent the top and hold it tight covered with a tea towel.  When each batch is done, press it through a fine sieve, extracting as much liquid as possible.  Discard the pulp left behind. If you have a food mill, this is a great time to use it. Return all the extracted liquid to the pot.  Add the sugar, lemon juice, salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce. Bring the mix to a boil and boil for 3 minutes.

You can now cool the mix, pour it into a pitcher, chill it and use it right away, or can it in quart jars for long term storage. You can also cool it, pour it into ziptop freezer bags or freezer jars and freeze it for up to six months.

To can the mix, clean and sterilize the 3 (like to have an extra, just in case) quart jars.  I do this in the dishwasher, timing it so the jars are still warm when I am ready to pour the mix in. While your Bloody Mary mix is cooking, get a boiling water canner or big stockpot of water going.  Here are step-by step instructions for processing in a canner. When the mix is almost ready, pour some boiling water over the lids to your jars to soften the seals and set aside.

I like to ladle the hot mix into a large measuring jug for easy pouring. Fill each of your warm, cleaned jars with the hot mix, leaving a ½ inch head space.  Dry the lids with a clean paper towel and place on the jars.  Screw on the bands, then process the jars for 40 minutes in a boiling water bath.  If you have a bit of extra mix, pour it into a refrigerator container and keep in the fridge for up to a week.

Makes 2 quarts (plus a little extra)

To make a Bloody Mary, fill a tall glass with ice, add 2 ounces vodka (or as much as you like) and top with Bloody Mary Mix and stir. If the mix is thick, add a bit of water to thin it out.

Nothing motivates one to get in the kitchen more than a funeral.  We all seem to harbor that primordial need to comfort with food.  And there are fixed ideas – recipes that we keep in mind, or maybe on a card at the front of the recipe box for easy access.  A hearty, comforting dish that we know how to make and how to make well that we can whip up the instant the call comes.  Turkey Tetrazzini? Chicken Divan?  I am sure it varies region to region.  The popular green bean casserole that I understand is a standard part of the traditional Thanksgiving table in many parts of the country is almost universally known in this part of the world as “funeral beans.”  But I don’t think I have every seen a table at a Southern visitation without Tomato Aspic.  The visitation is the reception, frequently the day before, or immediately after the funeral.  It’s a chance for everyone to talk to the bereaved, share memories of the deceased and really get their feed on.  And, equally importantly, for the ladies in the equation to show off their skills in the kitchen.  Friends and family of the recently departed are in the kitchen, bustling around in their funeral best,  maybe an apron thrown on top, looking for serving pieces and saran wrap, deciding what goes on the table and what goes in the fridge for later,

Tomato aspic is made in a mold. And this can vary from person to person.  My mother has a whole collection of aspic molds, from plain round to fancy.  Party aspic is generally formed in a ring mold, so the center can be mounded up with shrimp, chicken salad, mayonnaise (homemade of course), artichoke hearts… You name it, someone has put in the center of an aspic.  This party tomato aspic is always served on a silver tray, usually resting on a bed of lettuce leaves, with parsley around the edge of the tray.  And it is the rare chance to use the silver aspic server that was a wedding gift, or inherited from a grandmother; a silver handle with a flat, round or slightly pointed surface, sometimes plain, sometimes intricately etched.

Though aspic always appears at funerals, it is not the only time it makes an appearance.  For tomato aspic is the mainstay of the ladies luncheon. For this application, it is sometimes made in little individual molds (two sizes of these also appear in my mother’s collection), served on lettuce with a dollop of homemade mayonnaise on top.  Though more often, a slice of aspic is the centerpiece of a three salad plate, the other two salads vary from chicken salad, tuna salad, fruit salad – you get the picture.

I will be honest here, I am not a huge fan of tomato aspic.  I am a polite Southern girl though, and always eat it when it is put in front of me. And I do feel that for full Southern lady credentials, you have to be able to make an aspic. The recipe below is the version I prefer, tailored to my own tastes, with a nice celery tang and plenty of tomato flavor and a minimum of the truly odd ingredients you sometimes see in old recipes.  Members of my family are aspic eaters and they have always given this a thumbs up. 

Tomato Aspic

5 ¾ cups (46 ounces) tomato juice

3 packets unflavored gelatin

½ medium onion, chopped

½ cup chopped celery leaves

2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 Tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon celery salt

1 teaspoon salt

Lightly brush a 5-cup ring mold or equivalent individual molds with flavorless vegetable oil.  This is a vital step – cooking spray doesn’t work well.

Place 2 cups of the tomato juice in a small bowl and stir in the gelatin to dissolve.  Set aside.

Pour the remaining tomato juice into a large saucepan, add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine.  Bring to a boil, then simmer reduce the heat, cover the pan and simmer for ten minutes.

Strain the juice into a bowl with a pouring spout. Press on the solids to release any juice then discard.  Whisk in the reserved gelatin mixture until thoroughly combined.  Carefully pour into the prepared ring mold, filling as full as possible.

Very carefully transfer the mold to the refrigerator.  When the aspic has cooled, cover the mold with plastic wrap, then chill until firm, at least 8 hours or overnight.

Unmold the aspic onto an elegant tray, and surround with parsley.

This may well be my favorite meal.  At least, it has all the components of a few of my favorite things.  A creamy, rich tomato soup and a biscuit, packed with the flavors of pimento cheese.  A match made in heaven, a pairing perfect for the gloomy cold of January.

First off, the combination of two Southern favorites – the buttermilk biscuit and pimento cheese – is ingenious.  It truly came to me in the most obvious of ways, like those old peanut butter cup commercials.  Standing in front of the open fridge door the night of a holiday brunch party years ago, I spread some pimento cheese on a leftover biscuit, and it hit me that I could save that pesky spreading step and create a one-bite wonder.  So I went to work. I doubt I was the first person to think of this, but that’s how I got here.  These gems are the perfect pairing for a bowl of soup, but it doesn’t end there.  A dab of butter and a little country ham.  A dab of butter and some crispy bacon.  Make that candied bacon and you are on your way to heaven.  I sometimes make these in little cocktail size bites and serve them at parties, either with butter alone, or something yummy tucked inside.  I am sure you will find all sorts of ways to enjoy these.

And tomato soup is perhaps the world’s most perfect food.  All at once a source of memory and comfort yet infinitely malleable and always new.  A good, simple tomato soup recipe is a cornerstone of the kitchen, and this version fits that bill.  It is a cinch to whip up but full of flavor.  The best thing about a recipe like this, about making your own tomato soup, is that you know exactly what’s in it. No extra sodium, no MSG, no unpronounceable preservatives, just good, honest food. Use quality canned tomatoes, preserved at their peak of freshness, with no added salt or unnecessaries, and you can have this soup anytime. I wouldn’t frown on using frozen diced onions to shorten the prep time.  And of course, this is simply seasoned with basil and garlic, but let your mind run wild – any herbs or seasonings that take your fancy.  I personally like a smooth soup, so I use the immersion blender, but if chunky is your thing, go for it.

Pimento Cheese Biscuits

I generally cut these into squares to avoid wasting or re-rolling dough, but if you prefer, you can cut them into rounds as you would a regular biscuit.  Grate the cheese fresh – pre-grated uses an anti-caking agent.

2 cups all-purpose flour, plus a bit for sprinkling

1 Tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon sweet paprika

½ teaspoon garlic powder

¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) butter, cold

½ cup buttermilk, well-shaken and cold, plus a little for brushing

1 egg

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 (4-ounce) jar diced pimentos, drained and patted dry

1 cup grated extra sharp cheddar cheese

Sea salt for sprinkling, I prefer Maldon

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Put the flour, baking powder, salt, paprika and garlic powder in the bowl of a stand mixer and stir together with a fork.  Cut the butter into small cubes and drop them in the flour. Using the paddle attachment, blend the butter and flour on low speed until the butter is the size of small BBs.  You want some butter blended in, but the visible small pieces of butter help make the biscuits fluffy.

Measure the buttermilk in a measuring jug, crack in the egg, add the Worcestershire sauce, and beat it with a fork until the egg is well blended.  Keep the mixer on low, dump in the buttermilk and blend just until everything is moist.  Toss the cheese with a little flour, and do the same to the pimentos. This step keeps the cheese and pimentos from clumping together so they blend throughout the dough.  Drop them both in the mixer and, still on low, beat until everything just starts to come together.

Dump the dough onto a well-floured surface and gently bring it all together, kneading just a few times.  Handle with care and don’t overwork the dough, or the biscuits will get tough.  A few pimentos may stick to the board or fall out, just stick ‘em back in.  Pat the dough into a rectangle about 6 by 10 inches, using the back of a large knife or bench scraper to square off the ends.  Flour the knife or scraper and cut the dough into eight squares.  Place the biscuits on the prepared baking sheet, lightly brush the tops with a little buttermilk and sprinkle with sea salt.

Bake the biscuits for 15 – 20 minutes, until lightly browned and cooked through. Serve warm, or wrap tightly and store in an airtight container, gently reheat before serving.

Makes 8 biscuits

Creamy Tomato Soup

The addition of baking soda prevents the soup from curdling.  I prefer good Italian canned San Marzano tomatoes, with no salt or additives.

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 small onion, or 3 shallots, diced

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 Tablespoon tomato paste

28-ounce can diced tomatoes

1 bunch fresh basil, finely chopped

¼ teaspoon baking soda

3 ½ cups whole milk

Salt and pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat, then add the onions and sauté until soft and translucent, but not browning.  Drop in the garlic and sauté for a few minutes more.  Stir in the tomato paste and diced tomatoes and stir.  Add the basil. Stir well, bring to a boil, then lower the heat to a steady simmer.  If you prefer a smooth soup, with an immersion blender, or very carefully in a blender in batches, puree the soup base until smooth.

Mix the baking soda with a splash of milk in a small bowl to form a paste.  Scrape the paste into the soup, then quickly pour in the milk and stir.  The soup will foam up, and that’s fine, it will subside.  Heat the soup to until warm throughout, but do not let it boil.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

The soup will keep covered in the fridge for up to two days, but will not freeze.  Reheat gently but do not boil.

Serves 6 in small bowls, four in big ones

Fresh Tomatoes at Borough Market, London

I love tomato soup, love, love, love it.  All kinds, all flavors, hot or cold, even from a can.  But it’s so easy to make it yourself.  I love to whip up a big pot, and stash away servings in the freezer to have on hand whenever the mood strikes.  In the winter months, I make it with good canned Italian tomatoes, but in the summer when local tomatoes are in abundance I go fresh all the way. 

But I get stuck sometimes – one big pot of soup, lots of servings stashed in the freezer, what flavor?  I may have a taste for tomato and dill now, but in a month, after a long day, when all I want to do is heat up some soup, will I be craving a more Italian flair?  So this idea came to me one day.  Make the simplest base for soup with rich, roasted fresh tomatoes, and then I can flavor it up as I’d like each time I heat up a bowl.

This recipe makes about 6 cups, which works great for me.  I freeze some 2 cup bags and a couple of 1 cup bags.  One cup is a great lunch or on the side with a sandwich, 2 cups makes dinner.  Feel completely free to double the recipe, but you may need to put the tomatoes on two baking sheets and rotate them in the oven.

Tomato Soup Base

This is a very simple soup base to keep in the freezer, then add the flavors that take your fancy.

6 large ripe red tomatoes

1 large yellow onion

1 large shallot

3 cloves of garlic

32 ounces rich chicken stock

Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Halve the tomatoes and scoop out the seeds.  Place the halves cut size up on a baking sheet (lining it with non-stick foil makes the whole thing easier), then drizzle with a little olive oil.  Roast the tomatoes until they are wrinkled and beginning to collapse in on themselves, 40 – 50 minutes depending on the size of your tomatoes.  A little black char on the skin is okay, but don’t let the tomatoes burn.

Meanwhile, dice the onion, shallots and garlic cloves.  Pour 2 – 3 Tablespoons of olive oil into a 5 quart stockpot or Dutch oven.  Add the onions and shallots and sauté over medium heat until soft and translucent, but not browned.  Add the garlic and sauté a few minutes more.  Remove from the heat until the tomatoes are roasted.

Remove the tomatoes from the oven and add to the pot with the onion mixture.  Put the pot back on high heat and break up the tomatoes with the back of a spoon.  Pour in the chicken stock and continue to break up the tomatoes.  Bring the soup to a boil, boil for 4 -5 minutes, then reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for a least half an hour.  During this time, use a stick blender to puree the soup base.  You can also simmer the soup, leave it to cool a bit then carefully puree in a blender in batches.

Taste the soup and season lightly with salt and pepper.  The point of this base is that you can add flavors as you please, so don’t go overboard on seasoning now.

Cool the soup completely, ladle into ziptop freezer bags in the portions you prefer (I usually do some one-portion and two-portion bags).  Freeze.

Makes 6 cups

Variations:

There is no end to how you use this base to make your favorite flavored tomato soup.  How much of the added ingredients you use will depend on how large a serving of soup you are making.  These directions are for 2 cups of base.

Italian Tomato Soup

Place the thawed soup base in a saucepan with another clove of finely chopped garlic, a handful of chopped basil leaves and a few Tablespoons of chopped fresh oregano. Bring the soup to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for 10 – 15 minutes.  Season to taste

Fennel and Tomato Soup

Finely dice some fennel bulb and a little of the feathery fronds.  Saute over medium heat until soft.  Add a splash of pernod or white vermouth, then the thawed tomato soup base.   Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer.

Tomato Dill Soup with Vodka

Place the thawed soup base in a saucepan, then stir in a nice handful of chopped fresh dill.  Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes or so.  Stir in a splash of vodka, then season to taste.

Tomato Curry Soup

Saute the finely chopped white of a green onion in a little oil.  Sprinkle over curry powder to taste and stir until fragrant.  Add the thawed tomato soup base, bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and stir in 2 Tablespoons coconut milk.  Heat through, and serve topped with shredded coconut, chopped cashews, chopped cilantro and chopped green onion tops.

I love community cookbooks. The great and broad recipe collections gathered together by Junior Leagues, Junior Auxiliaries, symphony groups, historic homes, garden clubs.  I have a large and ever-growing collection of these treasures.  Some of them are quite professional nowadays, with editors and trained photographers.  But I particularly love the old-school cookbooks, from the Forties, Fifties and Sixties.  Spiral-bound, ragged covers, hand-drawn illustrations and spelling mistakes. These to me are like a glimpse into the life and kitchens of the ladies of a community, how they fed their families and how they entertained.  Little added notes like “good for a ladies lunch” or “feeds a crowd” or my favorite “the menfolk will eat this up.”  Often, the recipes themselves lack detail or clear instructions – you can tell the person who submitted it just jotted down how she makes it, and it seems so second nature to her it doesn’t occur to explain in at any length.  I’ve gotten pretty good at teasing out these recipes. I’ve tried some over and over that just never worked and others, with a little help, are standards in my repertoire.  And isn’t it amazing how recipes seem to resonate around the world?  I have old cookbooks from Detroit, from New Jersey and all over this region and the same recipes keep popping up – with the same unusual ingredients and colorful names.

Of course, my favorite community cookbooks are the ones from the communities I feel connected too.  There are many great ones here in Memphis, and part of what I enjoy about these books is that they are familiar to so many friends and families.  How often have I been at a party and someone comments on a dish and the hostess says, “oh you know, it’s that recipe from Heart and Soul” with that assumption that everyone owns the cookbook.  Or asked a friend how she makes a dish and the answer is “I just use the recipe in Party Potpourri”.  Some recipes do transcend ownership of the actual book.  Everyone just knows a certain recipe and how it’s made – and can recognize it immediately when it’s served.  I love that.

One recipe that has always been in my consciousness is Fire and Ice Tomatoes.  How it got in my mind, I can’t imagine, because as I child I would never have eaten anything resembling a raw tomato.  The original recipe, to the best of my knowledge, is from The James K. Polk Cookbook, produced by the James K. Polk Memorial Auxiliary of Columbia, Tennessee in 1978.  Columbia is the town my mother grew up in, and President Polk had a home there that is now a historical site.  My aunt served on the committee that produced the wonderful Provisions and Politics: Recipes Honoring First Lady Sarah Childress Polk, a follow up to the original Polk cookbook published in 2003.  The book is a collection of new and fresh recipes, with a few old favorites thrown in.  When she started with the project, my first question was “it will include Fire and Ice Tomatoes, right?”  Both my mother and my aunt had no idea what I was talking about – they had to be reminded of the recipe.  So how it became a part of my recipe memory bank, I will never know.  But I do know that it is good.  And it’s the perfect weekend recipe – not that it takes a weekend to prepare, but once you’ve made it, it can sit in it’s container in the fridge to be served up and snacked on all weekend.  These make a great side to a grilled meal, a refreshing accompainemt to a lunch time sandwich, or an elegant first course salad.

Fire and Ice Tomatoes

The original recipe says these tomatoes will keep in the fridge up to 3 days, but I happily keep them up to five. 

6 large ripe, red tomatoes

1 yellow onion

1 green bell pepper

¾ cup white wine vinegar

¼ cup cold water

1 ½ teaspoons mustard seed

1 ½ teaspoons sugar

1 ½ teaspoons celery salt

½ teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Cut the tomatoes into eight wedges each and place in a 9 by 13 inch glass or ceramic dish.  Finely dice the onion and sprinkle over the tomatoes.  Core, seed and remove the ribs of the bell pepper and cut into thin strips (if the pepper is long, cut the strips in half).  Scatter the peppers over the tomatoes and onions.

In a saucepan, combine the vinegar, water, mustard seeds, sugar, celery salt, salt and peppers.  Bring to a boil, stirring, and boil for one minute.  Immediately pour the hot vinegar mixture over the tomatoes, then stir gently to combine. Leave the tomatoes to cool slightly, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.  Leave to marinate for several hours, stirring occasionally.

Serve on its own as a salad or a side dish or atop some lettuce leaves.  You can pull out some of the tomato wedges and cut them into smaller pieces, stir in some of the dressing and vegetables and use this like a salsa as well.

Serves 6 to 8

Adapted from Provisions and Politics: Recipes Honoring Sarah Childress Polk

A few years ago, in the hot, hot summer, we had a big storm that knocked out power for over two weeks.  They say it was a wind storm, but we all called it Hurricane Elvis.  As it was summer, many people were away on vacation, had vacations planned, or just left town during the power outage.  But I was a busy little event planner and had a wedding and a private event to plan and execute, so no leaving town for me.  I lived in my hot, hot house with no lights and no air conditioning for the duration.  My parents had two giant trees fall on their house, then breezily left for a planned trip overseas with the parting words “we expect the trees to be gone when we get back.”  So despite the catastrophe, I was a busy little bee.

As it happened, this was the first year I had planted a garden in my newly constructed raised beds.  I had carefully tended my tomato plants, and wouldn’t you know they all produced a bumper crop of gorgeous red tomatoes right during the storm. Now, I can only eat so many raw sliced tomatoes and I had way more than I could ever finish.  Everyone I knew had left town, so there was no one to share them with.  Under other circumstances, I would have made vats and vats of sauce and soup and frozen my bounty for the long winter.  My gas stove worked, but of course I had no refrigeration and it was just too darn hot to slave over the burners.  So the tomatoes wilted on the vine.  After that, I decided planting tomatoes just wasn’t worth it.

But this year, I have re-entered the wannabe gardener world.  My lettuce is magnificent, my radishes a triumph, and I am awaiting the zucchini.  And I have planted tomatoes.  I watch them carefully – one variety plant has already got some little green babies on it, the other plants are flowering.  So barring any natural disasters, I hope to have another grand crop.  But it is not here yet.  So in the meantime, I am using the ripe, red cherry variety for my tomato fix.  I find they are pretty tasty throughout the year, and pretty darn cute too.

Caprese Tart

I use a rectangular tart tin, but a round tin will work just as well. It may take more or less tomatoes.

1 sheet puff pastry, room temperature

45 round cherry tomatoes

1 ball fresh mozzarella cheese

2 bunches (about 1 ounce each) fresh basil

2 Tablespoons freshly grated parmesan cheese

2 Tablespoons pine nuts

1 cup whole milk ricotta cheese

1 egg

Salt and pepper to taste

Olive oil for drizzling

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Wash the tomatoes and pat them dry.  Using a small, sharp paring knife, gently cut out the core of each tomato, scraping the inside lightly to remove seeds.  I find a sturdy ¼ teaspoon measuring spoon helps with this job.  Be carefully not to cut through the flesh or squash the tomato.  You want to create a little cavity for the mozzarella to fit in.  Place each tomato cut side down on a few layers of paper towels to drain for 20 – 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, on a lightly floured surface, roll out the puff pastry to fit into a removable bottom 10 inch round or an 11 by 7 inch rectangular tin. Gently fit the pastry into the tin, using a small ball of pastry to press the dough into the corners and sides. Poke all over with the tines of fork

In a food processor (I like the mini one for this), pulse one bunch of basil leaves a few times until roughly chopped.  Add the parmesan and pine nuts and pulse a few more times to chop the nuts.  Add the ricotta and egg, a grind of pepper and a pinch of salt and process to a smooth paste, scraping down the sides of the bowl at least once.  Using a small offset spatula (or the back of a big spoon), spread the filling in an even layer over the bottom of the pastry.  Set aside.

Cut the mozzarella into small cubes to fit in the tomato cavities.  Lightly press on cube of mozzarella into each tomato. If some seeds or juice squish out of the tomatoes, carefully wipe it away.  Place the filled tomatoes in rows in the prepared tart, pressing lightly into the filling. Sprinkle pepper and salt lightly over the tomatoes.

Very gently brush the top of the tart with extra virgin olive oil and place in the oven.  While the tart is baking, cut about 6 of the remaining basil leaves into a chiffonade (Stack the leaves up, roll them like a cigar, then cut very thin ribbons with a sharp knife or scissors).  When the tart has been in the oven 15 minutes, remove it and sprinkle the basil over the top.  Return to the oven and cook a further 15 – 20 minutes until the tomatoes are shriveled and the mozzarella is melted.

Leave to cool for 15 minutes before slicing and serving.  Sprinkle additional basil chiffonade on top if desired.

Serves 6 – 8

So, now you have, I am sure, studied the primer for making good Buttermilk Biscuits.  And you’d like to know all the many ways you can serve your beautiful creations. Here are two of my favorites.  I once had some friends by for a biscuit bar, serving baskets full of homemade biscuits, homemade preserves, tomato gravy, sausage gravy and lots of good butter.  I even made chocolate gravy, but I am saving that for another time.

Tomato Gravy for Biscuits

½ pound bacon

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 (14 ½ ounce) can finely diced tomatoes

3 cups tomato juice

Ground black pepper

Cut the bacon into small pieces and fry in a large skillet until crispy.  Remove the bacon to a paper-towel lined plate, then drain off all put 2 Tablespoons of bacon grease.  Fry the onion in the drippings until soft, then add the canned tomatoes and the tomato juice, scraping up any browned bacon bits from the bottom of the pan.   Season with some good grinds of black pepper.

Bring the gravy to a boil over medium high heat, then reduce the heat and simmer until the gravy thickens and reduces, about 15 – 20 minutes.  Stir in the reserved bacon. You can save some of the bacon pieces to sprinkle over the gravy if you like.  Spoon over hot, split biscuits.

Sausage Gravy for Biscuits

I like my gravy really peppery, so I go to town with the grinder.  Depending on the sausage, you may need very little or no salt.

½ pound breakfast sausage

¼ cup flour

2 ½ cups milk

Salt and ground black pepper

Crumble the sausage into a large skillet and cook until no longer pink in the middle and nice and browned.  Break the sausage into small chunks as you cook it.  Remove the sausage to a paper towel lined plate with a slotted spoon, leaving the dripping behind.  There should be about 2 Tablespoons of dripping left in the pan.  If not, add a little oil to make that amount and heat up. Sprinkle over the flour and cook, stirring and scraping, for about 2 minutes until the flour is lightly browned.  Slowly whisk in the milk, continuing to scrape the bottom of the pan.  Cook, whisking frequently, until the gravy is thick.  Stir the sausage back in and heat through, seasoning with salt and black pepper to taste. Serve over hot, split biscuits.