In which we go a little tomato crazy....

A few ideas on what to do with a glut of tomatoes, be they cherry, small like Sweet Million, or larger like Shirley or Gardener's Delight...

1. A light tomato soup. I was reluctant to make this, as I'm not a massive soup fan and even less of a tomato soup fan. However, it ended up quite well, as I was basing this on a Bloody Mary mix, (it sounded fun to me) even if I say so myself. Roast a roasting tin's worth of tomatoes in the oven until blackened. Meanwhile, sweat a diced onion, a couple of cloves of garlic, crushed and maybe 2-3 sticks of chopped celery in a little olive oil. (NB peel your celery otherwise the stringy bits are horrible). Add some basil stalks and leaves, then tip in your roasted tomatoes and 500ml chicken stock. I cooked it up a bit (I sound like Katharine Hepburn 'we gotta cook it up George') then stirred in a tbsp-ish of horseradish and some Tabasco and some chopped celery leaves. I then whizzed it up with a hand-blender and seasoned. You might want a squeeze of lemon juice or more spice - taste as you go. I then dolloped in creme fraiche for thickening it a little before serving.

This is by no means a thick soup, (and it occurs to me that it would be gorgeous chilled with or without creme fraiche), and you might want some bread - or better perhaps - a toasted cheese sandwich with it....

2. Ketchup. reduce 3kg of tomatoes down to 3 bottles... I am the anti-Jesus. I'm not going to copy it out here, but suffice to say, having perused a few recipes in the collection and ummed and err-ed between Hugh and Jamie, I went for Jamie's recipe in Jamie at Home (which is a good book), but left out the ginger as I felt it wasn't a flavour I wanted in my ketchup. Also, it's worth bearing in mind, although I did double the recipe, it took (and I know this because it was my birthday and this is how I spent it - god damn my dedication) near on 5 hours to make in total. Admittedly, the work involved is pretty minor as you're mostly reducing it down to concentrate flavours, but still it's a pot that needs watching.

3. Pasta sauce. I've given up - for the time being - sweating them in a pan with garlic and oil, as I got bored of the flavour. I now just roast them with lots of seasoning and rosemary and a drizzle of red wine vinegar, then when done to a turn, tipping them over the pasta as they are and drizzling with oil. I notice Nigel last week on t'telly did his with (aargh tinned) black olives and capers - I also like chopped melted anchovies, roasted garlic, lots of basil, etc, etc. Gently torn apart buffalo mozzarella goes well.

4. Roasting them around anything else - tonight grey mullet with cockles, tomatoes, garlic - sort of bouillabaisse flavours....

PS: roasting cockles in a tin like this with everything else makes them more savoury and punchier than you ever might expect. Not one for the faint of heart, but good.

5. Tomato salad - any which way you like, but a sprinkling of chilli flakes does wonders.

6. Green tomatoes - slice thickly, coat in cornmeal/polenta and fry till crisp. What about for breakfast with bacon?

A taste of Thai for a rainy night

Monsoon rains and all this soggy dampness make me long for something zingy and refreshing to cheer up my tastebuds. Thai really fits the bill when this hits and I think tamarind and lime has to rate as one of my favourite flavour combinations of all time.

First catch your plate - it has to be large. I had some pork mince hanging around (or rather, it was the only thing I could see in the freezer, most other things obscured by a massive side of smoked salmon and 2 frozen lobsters - a haul from Costco courtesy of lobster-lover and bargain-hunter MCD - don't ask). I added some chopped spring onions and lime zest, salt and pepper and fashioned it into small patties, like flattened meatballs.

I made a dressing from Thai fish sauce, lime juice, more chopped spring onions, sugar and chilli - it's hard to be accurate about quantities as it's down to personal taste, but start off with a tsp of each and work from there.

I peeled courgette ribbons and dropped them on a plate with some chopped mint, torn basil and a few halved cherry tomatoes. Then blanched some green beans (this wasn't at all using up veggies from the garden...). I carefully separated some lettuce leaves, keeping the whole and added them to the plate. The patties were seared until golden brown on each side and cooked through then I squeezed over a little lime juice and some salt.

Each patty was then wrapped in a lettuce leaf with some of the herby vegetable mixture, using the lettuce like a tortilla. I spooned some of the dressing over the patty and devoured. Hot pork, crunchy cool vegetables and a spicy, sour, salty dressing. The beans benefited from a little of the dressing too, or you could keep them plain or not have them at all, depending on whether you're relying on someone to pick them at more regular intervals...