Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Tomato Porridge

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Today
being Farmers' Market morning
I purchased beautiful fruits
and vegetables
breads, cakes
and flowers


But when I began
to restock the fridge
I saw that I had
once again become swept away
by the bounty
and bought too much...



Left over from the previous week
I had tomatoes...







and sour dough bread








which meant
that for dinner
we would have
Tomato Porridge...








First let's wash and prepare
these Big Reds
(which is the lovely name
of the tomato man's stall)








and chop roughly...









Now saute onion and garlic
'til transparent
add tomatoes, stock, wine
salt and ground pepper
and simmer








At this time
prepare your stale bread
and send husband out
into the dark night
to trim the basil plants









then grate your cheese,
I used Parmesan
as had no Pecorino handy









fortify yourself
if necessary
with a chilled New Zealand Sav Blanc
called toi toi









from the Marlborough region









then add your bread
and simmer 2 minutes only
before you turn off the heat.
Add the cheese and torn basil
and let the soup rest

The recipe says rest for an hour
and eat at room temperature...
But I can't wait that long
and also like it hot...









don't forget
before you serve to add
the Red Wine Vinegar









Ladle then
lace the bowls
with threads of oil...
and now you are ready









for Tomato Porridge



Yum...





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Tuscan Tomato Porridge


3/4 cup olive oil
4 garlic cloves
1 large onion
salt and pepper
2 1/2 cups stale bread
(some breads will porridge up more than others)
8-10 large tomatoes
6 cups stock
1 cup wine
1 cup Pecorino cheese
1/3 cup basil
1/2 teaspoon red wine vinegar


  • Saute onion and garlic
  • Add tomatoes, stock , wine, s&p and simmer 10 minutes
  • Add bread and simmer 2 minutes
  • Remove from heat
  • Add cheese and basil
  • Rest 1 hour (or 10-15 minutes if hungry)
  • Stir in red wine vinegar
  • Serve at room temperature with threads of oil
  • Delicious



Post Script : Written on Sunday evening




*

47 comments:

  1. I so ♡love♡ tomatoes and am so very grateful for this recipe!

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  2. Dear Delwyn,how are you girl? I see that you are vey busy with all kinds of things so I just wanted to send you a warm hug and loads of good love from me and whish you all the best.You are my inspiration. :O)xxx
    Sandra

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  3. I wrote verrrrrrrrrry busy......grrrrr,darn fingerz.....

    :O) sorrrrrry.....

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  4. Hi Tulsa

    I hope you try it - maybe in summer it will be nicer at room temp...It is so easy and a good way to use extra foods.

    Happy days

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  5. Hi there Aleks

    I have been wondering about you lately and watching your music posts come up but been a bit naughty and not stopped to say hi..

    Yes I have kept busy and never bored...The foot is improving thank you and I am getting around more easily - even going to the gym and today for the first time had a waddle down at the river...

    Happy days dear Aleks

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  6. Delwyn...I will be trying your recipe...right now...I only hope to be able to leave this comment...every few moments I get kicked off...kept coming back though...I love trying new dishes.
    Take care
    Wanda

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  7. Good on you Wanda

    I hope you enjoy it as much as we do. We had the last of ours tonight for dinner with home made chicken pie ( I bought at the market)
    and then mango icecream, strawberries and pureed mango poured over... Yummy...

    Happy days

    P.S. What time is it that you are posting ?

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  8. hi delwyn, when i saw the title on this i wondered where this could go. tomato and porridge live in different worlds in my mind but as i followed the recipe through and came to the delicious (well i suspect delicious!) conclusion i not only got it but thought how amazing that would taste. i've got to figure out the new zealand wine part. i can't recall ever having seen any for sale here but then i've not looked that hard . . . . yummmmm. have a peaceful day. steven

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  9. Hi Delwyn, Glad to hear your foot is a lot better.

    Have filed this recipe away - DMJ will love it! Must keep an eye out for the toi toi also, I love an ice cold Sav Blanc!

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  10. Interesting recipe (and name: porridge?). With tomato season gearing up, I've filed this away.

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  11. Hi Delwyn!
    I have to agree with Steven. I thought this was a spoof. Never put the two words tomato and porridge together either! I will definitely give this a try. I see you are healing well. Good news.Like the pics. I will have to see how my camera does with food! LOL

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  12. My mouth is watering! The soup looks delicious; I can almost smell it from here.

    And a marlborough sauv blanc? My very favorite. For me the glass of wine while cooking is not about being fortified, but about dancing with the intoxicating wonder of good food, it's about being, as you said, "swept away by bounty."

    Here, here! Bon appetit!

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  13. Oh I've made this before, its superb! Actually thanks for reminding me, its perfect for the dull rainy weather we are having these days...

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  14. Hmmm, I wonder if I could get Gavin and his sweetie to eat this? It sounds heavenly!

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  15. Your tomato porridge sounds wonderful. I'll have to try that with some of the tomatoes from Gerald's garden. I think we've picked the last of the tomatoes. It's now too hot for the blooms to set... maybe in the fall we'll have another crop.

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  16. Delwyn my mouth is watering.

    This looks delicious.

    Love Renee xoxo

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  17. I usually eat my tomatoes fresh, but may have to try this delicious recipe....I, too, have an abundance of tomatoes and basil at the moment in my garden.

    My husband doesn't like cooked tomatoes (except in spaghetti sauces), but I may have to cook this one just for me.

    Thank you for sharing, Delwyn. This hobbled foot of yours might not be so bad for us after all. Just kidding....sort of! (Love the way you photographed each step in the recipe's process!!!) Blessings!

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  18. I love tomato anything! This looks wonderful. My patio tomatoes have just started ripening. I might just have to make this. Mmm.

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  19. Delwyn,

    Masterful post! You've used your blog to clearly explain how to make this dish. I can all but taste and smell your concoction.

    I'm filing this one away for a future dinner.

    Thank you!

    Dan

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  20. MMMMMM! This looks like delectable comfort food to me. I'm always looking for new ideas for tomatoes and basil Your basil looks gorgeous, by the way. This is our worst year ever for basil in our little herb garden. I won't be making any pesto from my own basil this year, I'm afraid.

    I enjoyed your wild goose chase, too!

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  21. I'm glad I saw Marion here because she adores tomatoes! piled up on a dish, growing on the vine, and even tomato poetry! As usual, I loved the little tour of one more area of your home--the granite work stations, the decorative sugar bowl, and the collage on your recipe book--very inventive. Tomato porridge sounds--and looks--delicious! I love sour dough bread, but usually can only find the good stuff in San Francisco. I think therefore challah bread would work (as in French toast). Threads of oil . . . you're going to have to see that new movie Julie and Julia about cooking with Julia Child. Our tomato plants haven't begun to produce yet, but when they do, I'll post a photo! Bon appetit!

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  22. Good morning Steven

    I admit tomato and porridge have a discordant ring when place along side each other, but together in the pot - what a deliquescence !

    You find NZ wines in the US rather cheaply so have a look. Oyster bay is my favourite NZ Sav Blanc.

    Happy summer holi-days

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  23. I was posting about 7:00AM Delwyn when the difficulty happened, maybe 3 or 4 times...I was using the blogger reader...but after just coming here directly, it worked...even around noon there was trouble having other sights open...everthing seems fine now at 6:30PM.

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  24. Hi Alaine,

    This toi toi is at Dan Murphy's at present for under $10 - very fresh and crisp- perhaps not up to Oyster Bay standard but still very palatable (I know nothing about wine at all...)only began drinking when I needed to sample wines for my son's wedding a couple of years ago...I'm still sampling...

    Happy days

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  25. Hi Violet

    You will love it...
    Nice to see you...

    Happy days

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  26. Hi Lorac -Carol

    I am a dillberry not to see that connection!

    The tomatoes are guaranteed to make a good photo and then the green of basil - it couldn't fail...You will have fun...

    Happy days

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  27. Hi there reya

    I hope that you are slowly adjusting to life A.J. It does take time but other doors open too.

    Try the Marlborough Oyster Bay - it is one of the best I have found.

    Happy days

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  28. Hello Priya

    It is a cheerful soup...
    How warm is your dull weather?

    Happy days

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  29. Hi Meri

    Do you have the kids around often for dinner?

    My oldest was 32 on Monday so he and 'wife to be' came around for a meal, but we had a treat and ordered an Indian meal.

    Happy days

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  30. Hi Lizzy

    I see I have more flowers on my little cherry toms in the pot. I should see some fruit soon.

    Has it been hotter than usual for you?

    You have found a good man there Lizzy - active and interested in getting out and keeping fit.

    Happy days

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  31. Hi Renee

    Do you have trouble with any foods conflicting with medications? Do you have to be careful with your diet?

    Have a great day today
    Happy days

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  32. Hello Marion - aka Tomato girl...

    Perfect match... Toms and basil... and you have both...It would make a nice summer evening dinner...

    Oh, and say TOM AHHHHH TOES...the Australian way...



    Yes hobbling has had some benefits...I agree....I have had to place my attentions and energies in different directions ...

    Happy days

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  33. Hi Willow

    It's that wine that gives it the added flavour, I think...because it is really a simple little recipe...

    Happy days

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  34. Hi Dan

    I hope you do - it's a very easy meal, whipped up in no time...

    Happy days

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  35. G'day from Melbourne. No chef can ever have too many tomatoes!

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  36. Hi Angela

    My husband is so tender with my new basil plants - he just slowly nips off leaves individually whereas I chop off entire stems... The little plants are extremely healthy - I seem to replant it yearly as it grows too fast and woody here in the heat. Occasionally a grasshopper (think 6-9 " long) will come by and shred the plants , but that is rare.

    Happy days

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  37. Hi Margaret
    you and I have a knack of seeing things in each others homes that aren't there.

    Now tell me where is the sugar bowl?????

    You can use any bread at all. Softer bread breaks up completely and gives a real porridge effect.

    I love cooking movies - I am thinking of a couple of Chinese ones I have seen...I especially love foreign movies. Do you?

    My friend gave me a French one to watch where a young girl was doing beautiful embroidery for a living - I can't remember the name- I love the foreign films for their simple plots, their raw expression of feeling and naturalness.
    There is a lovely one, maybe called 'The Grocer', where a young man returns to visit his ailing father and has to run the grocery store...The country is gorgeous and the story endearing.

    Happy days

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  38. Good morning David

    Welcome to Noosa. It is nice to meet you. I will come by your place later for coffee...

    Thanks for the visit...
    Happy days

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  39. Yumm, yummmmm. Sounds great, cold or hot. I'll look for that wine too.

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  40. Hi Rosaria

    Good wholesome Tuscan tucker...

    I suggest you look for Oyster Bay too...another good Marlborough wine.

    Happy days

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  41. Your Delwyns Recipe book has musical lyrics that start with the words, " And I Don't..... " which begs the question about what you don't ... don't add too much salt? don't add more than half a bottle of alcohol?... don't stand still while cooking, rather dance an Irish jig while stirring?... don't wash behind your ears? ... so many questions, so much cooking.

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  42. Hi Alden

    When I collaged that cover I had fun tearing the lyric up and thought that this snippet was just perfect for someone with a mind like yours who would have to take the phrase one step further...

    ...and also I'm a bit of a recalcitrant character...and it appealed to me...


    Happy days

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  43. Hello there! Came over from Margarets PAN pipes, she had a quote from Wind in the willows that caused me to wander freely about....

    Hello to you from the kitchen here at Slug's Rest.

    Mr. Slug would consider a healthy dollop of sour cream atop his serving of porridge...would that be considered wrong for this soup? Love, Mrs. Slug

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  44. Hello there babbler

    welcome to down under in Queensland and it is very nice to meet you.

    I know where you are coming from with the sour cream proposal - I have another simple tomato soup that I will post, that does have the dollop on the top but for this one my immediate reaction was no. I suggest that you make the soup - taste and then do as you see fit. The wine and cheese gives it quite a distinct flavour that perhaps doesn't need the sour cream.

    I will come a'visiting soon

    til then,

    Happy days

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  45. Hi Delwyn,
    Thanks for your post! It reminded me of how much I like this dish. I like it so much, I even had this has a first course at our wedding reception (many moons ago, now).
    Jamie Oliver makes one whic uses canned tomoatoes when you cant find decent fresh ones, but im sure ts nowhere near as good!
    http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/vegetarian-recipes/bread-and-tomato-soup-pappa-al-pomodoro#

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  46. Hello there Jen

    How are things with you?

    How interesting warm or hot?

    I will compare Jamie's brew - thanks for the link and I hope we see more of you...

    Happy days

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  47. Wow! It looks great and it must tasted great too:)

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