Have you visited your neighborhood farmers market lately? Chris is joined by Mary Ackley of Little Wild Things City Farm, Megan Day of FRESHFARM Markets, and Marty Jolin of Twin Springs Fruit Farm to discuss everything from farmers’ markets to farming disasters. They share how they got interested in farming, how to roast vegetables, and why you should stop by your local market.
Live in DC? Use this tool to find out where your nearest farmers market is, as well as opening hours.
After picking up some produce, try out our “Can Do” recipe of this week: Slow-Roasted Grape Tomatoes.
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Episode 9 “Can Do” Recipe: Slow-Roasted Grape Tomatoes
Lots of grape tomatoes
Extra-virgin olive oil
Maldon sea salt flakes
Sugar
Preheat your oven to 275 or 300 degrees F. Slice your tomatoes in half lengthwise and place them, cut side up, on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper or a Silpat. You really want to squeeze as many tomatoes as you can onto your sheet pan; no doubt, they’ll get eaten!
Sprinkle your tomato halves with a dusting of sea salt and drizzle with olive oil. Place the pan on the middle shelf of your preheated oven, and then plan to be around for a while! They cook long and slow.
90 minutes in, remove them from the oven and sprinkle them with dusting of sugar. We use one of Just Simply… Cuisine’s building blocks for this: vanilla sugar. You don’t have to, but if you have it on hand, go for it. It gives another dimension to the taste. (To make vanilla sugar, bury scraped or whole vanilla beans into a jar of white sugar and seal tightly with the lid. Leave for 1-2 weeks to infuse the sugar with vanilla aroma and flavor. Use in place of granulated sugar wherever you can!)
Put the tomatoes back in the oven and roast for another half hour, until the tomatoes are shriveled and dark red. In the oven, the excess moisture evaporates and the tomatoes will have a delicious concentrated aroma. Now they’re ready! If you want to store them, just put them in an airtight container in your fridge. They even taste delicious chilled.
To serve:
You can use them on your favorite sandwich, in eggs and omelettes, mix them with grilled roasted veggies, top a pizza with them, or just eat them with cheese and crackers. They’re so delicious! Enjoy!
