Balcony Harvest
Our house is under contract and I remain cautiously optimistic that the sale will go through with a closing date projected for September 7th. So, our search for property in Palisade has begun in earnest. In Palisade, the Peaches are being harvested and the grapes are at their veraison stages which means harvest time for them is just around the corner. For me, the girls’ balcony has proven to be quite a useful garden space compacted as it is and my harvesting has also begun.
This week I started picking my cherry tomatoes, grown from seeds I planted last spring and currently residing in a hanging basket off the balcony. Because of the move, I planted my balcony lettuce crop late in the season, however these leafy greens haven’t let me down as I gathered my first salad yesterday! Both my fig trees are also producing fruit, the larger tree giving me a second crop this year while the smaller one is producing fruit for the first time! Fresh figs right off the tree are like tasting little burst of flavorful goodness in each bite.
I’ve got a bumper crop of cherry tomatoes that I’m saving to take with me when I visit my friend Laurie in Palisade. Once there, we will roast them in her oven with a bit of garlic and enjoy with a crostini and if I’m lucky some of Laurie’s homemade feta cheese spread. The combination of the creamy, salty cheese with the roast tomatoes and a glass of crisp unoaked Chardonnay is heavenly! Restoration vineyards or Colterris winery would be my go-to for the Chardonnay. I’m including the Roasted Tomato recipe in this post and if I can get Laurie to write out the recipe for the cheese spread, I will include it in a future post.
Roasted Cherry Tomato Caprese
(Serves four)
Ingredients
2 pints cherry tomatoes
4 springs of thyme
4 garlic cloves, smashed
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
8 oz fresh buffalo or cow mozzarella (about one ball), room temperature torn into large pieces (we replace the mozzarella with Laurie’s Feta cheese spread)
Flaky sea salt
Country-style bread brushed with oil and toasted in the oven (aka crostini)
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Toss tomatoes, thyme, garlic, and oil on a rimmed baking sheet to coat and season lightly with kosher salt. Spread out in a single layer and roast until tomatoes are bursting and lightly browned, 40-45 minutes (I’ve found that in Colorado that is a bit too long, so I’ve dialed it back to 30-35 minutes otherwise the tomatoes tend to burn. It’s also best to keep an eye on them once they are in the oven just to play it safe!). Let cool. I would also recommend spraying your baking sheet with a coat of Pam and then toss the tomatoes, otherwise you will be scrubbing that baking sheet for a while as the roasted tomatoes in my experience have proven to be a challenge to get off after the cooking is complete!
If you want to stay true to the recipe then the next step would be to arrange mozzarella on a platter and spoon warm tomato mixture with juices over, and sprinkle with sea salt. If you have the fortune of having Laurie’s Feta cheese spread, then you place the roasted tomatoes in a bowl and serve them along with the Feta. With either version, serve with the olive-oil toasted bread for soaking up all those extra lovely juices.
You can roast the tomatoes one day a head if you like, cover and chill; then gentle reheat them before serving.
Bon Appetit!
