Special offer

A Delicious Taste of Summer...Before Summer is Over!

By
Home Stager with Stage It In A Day!

Even though technically we're past summer, you can still enjoy the wonderful flavors of ripe, juicy tomatoes.  I've lived in Moorpark, CA for 15 years now.  Every summer, I can't wait until our Tierra Rejada Farms rolls out their delicious, homegrown tomatoes. 

Our first summer here, one of the farmers introduced us to a funny looking tomato.  He told us it was an heirloom tomato that no one was buying because of its ugly duckling look.  He gave us a taste and we were in love!  For the last several years, heirloom tomatoes have been rediscovered and are all the rage in restaurants and bestsellers at the Tierra Rejada Farm and its sister location Underwood Family Farms.  Yes, they're not the perfect round shape of the supermarket varieties (which often taste like cardboard), but for what they lack in the looks department, they more than make up in the taste department.

At the Tierra Rejada Farm, you can purchase these either at the on-site stand, or you can venture out to the fields and pick your own at a discounted rate.  There are a myriad of other fruits, vegetables and herbs you can pick yourselves.  This is a wonderful family activity and instills the valuable notion of eating locally and supporting your local farmers. 

One of our family summertime favorite recipes is Gazpacho.  Gazpacho is a chilled tomato soup originating from Spain.  We spent many a wonderful day at the beach in Southern Spain beating the heat with this delectable soup!  With access to these marvelous heirloom tomatoes for the next few weeks, I suggest you give this healthy and delicious soup a try.  Here is my take on Gazpacho:

2 ½ pounds ripe tomatoes

1 red pepper, seeded, quartered

1 large cucumber, peeled or 3 Persian cucumbers (no need to peel), cut into 2" pieces

1 sweet onion (such as Vidalia, Walla Walla or Maui), quartered

3 large garlic cloves, minced

2-3 cups tomato juice (if ripe tomatoes are really juicy, you probably only need 2 cups)

1/3 cup sherry vinegar

1 tsp hot sauce (Tabasco), optional

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

1 slice bread, crusts removed, soaked in water and squeezed dry.

Salt & pepper to taste

Place cored and quartered tomatoes and the soaked bread into a food processor.  Process with twelve 1 second pulses; transfer to a large bowl.

Place red pepper in processor and pulse again for twelve 1 second pulses. Transfer to the bowl.

Repeat the twelve pulse process with the cucumber and then followed by the onion. Transfer to the bowl.

To the bowl, add the minced garlic, tomato juice, sherry vinegar, hot sauce, olive oil and salt and pepper to taste.  Add additional sherry vinegar to taste as well.  Add 8 ice cubes to mixture and then cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours and up to 2 days.

Garnish with:

Croutons

Additional tomato, pepper, cucumber and onion finely chopped.

Additional olive oil if desired.

Tierra Rejada Farm: 3370 Sunset Valley Rd., Moorpark, CA

Underwood Family Farm: 5696 Los Angeles Ave., Somis, CA

Comments (1)

Annie Pinsker-Brown
Stage to Sell - LA Home Staging - Los Angeles, CA
Stage to Sell, Los Angeles Home Stager

Yum! I love heirloom tomatoes. My neighbor grew some this summer and brought them over. I also buy the mini-ones at Trader Joe's. Thanks for the recipe!

Oct 30, 2009 09:07 AM