Recipes for August 30, 2008:

Savory Tomato Bread Pudding (a.k.a. baked tomato casserole)
This recipe is easy to double.
4 Servings

4 slices bread (stale is good), cubed
2 medium tomatoes; chopped
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1½ cup grated Hillacres Pride cheddar or other variety
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup milk
Salt and pepper to taste

Place bread in a greased 1-quart casserole dish. Add tomatoes. Sprinkle parsley and cheese over tomatoes.

In other bowl, beat eggs, milk, salt and pepper. Pour egg mixture over the casserole ingredients and bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.

Homemade Tomato Juice Recipe

Keep in mind that if you are used to canned tomato juices, they contain a lot of salt and citric acid that might make a fresh juice seem bland at first. Add more seasonings to taste. Be sure to save some celery and lemon wedges to garnish your Bloody Marys.

Ingredients
3 pounds very ripe garden tomatoes, cored, roughly chopped
1 1/4 cups chopped celery with leaves
1/3 cup chopped onion
Juice of 1/2 lemon (or to taste)
1 tbsp sugar (or to taste)
1 teaspoon salt
Pinch black pepper
Dashes of Tabasco sauce to taste, about 6-8 drops (to taste)

Put all ingredients into a non-reactive stockpot. Bring to a simmer and cook, uncovered, until most liquids seem released, about 30 minutes.

Push mixture through a sieve or cheese cloth. Discard any large solids. Cool completely.

Store covered in the refrigerator. Lasts about 1 week in the refrigerator. Makes about 1 quart.

Bloody Marys

We asked Market friend Tom Chadwick, a mixologist from Brooklyn, NY, if he had a Bloody Mary recipe. His response:

Traditional bloody mary recipes are like BBQ recipes - everyone's got
one and makes them differently each time. This is pretty standard...

In a pint glass with ice add...

4 oz tomato juice
2 oz vodka
one half lemon
one dash worcestershire sauce
pinch celery salt
pinch white pepper
half tsp. prepared horseradish

Pour contents back and forth with another pint glass a few times. Serve in separate glass with fresh ice.