To make tomato concassé, place fresh tomatoes in boiling water for a few seconds to loosen the skins, then peel them, remove as many seeds as possible, and squeeze out the juice. Then dice them as finely as possible. Serve this intensely-flavored bisque with a good red wine and sourdough bread. Read Dave DeWitt’s entire spicy spring soup article here.

Ingredients

8 cups sun-dried tomatoes
Water to cover
2 5-inch sprigs young sage
2 6-inch sprigs fresh rosemary
1 small bunch thyme
1 small bunch Italian parsley
1 lemon, cut into 1/2-inch slices
4 teaspoons olive oil
1 medium red onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 serrano chiles, seeds and stems removed, minced
1/2 cup red wine
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
2 cups tomato concassé
Melted butter for garnish

Instructions

Add the sun-dried tomatoes to a large pot and cover with water. Turn the heat to medium. In a piece of cheesecloth, wrap the sage, rosemary, thyme, and parsley together and tie to make a bouquet garni. Add it to the water. Cover, reduce the heat, and simmer for 2 hours, adding water if necessary.

Heat the oil in a skillet and sauté the onion until soft and translucent. Add the garlic and lightly sauté. Reserve.

In a small saucepan, boil together the red wine and balsamic vinegar until it is reduced to 1/8 cup. Reserve.

When the sun-dried tomato mixture is done, remove the bouquet garni and the lemon slices. Add the reserved onion-garlic mixture, the reduced liquid, and the tomato concasée. Simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes.

Remove from the heat and puree until smooth, then strain. To serve the bisque hot, add a dollop of sweet butter and swirl across the surface. To serve cold, top with a dollop of citrus créme fraiche.

Note that there are hundreds of olive varieties, some might work better than others. Results may vary, so start with small quantities. And as with any produce that you plan to preserve, use only fresh, ripe  and spotless fruit. Read the entire article from Harald Zoschke on the Burn! Blog here.

Ingredients

1 lb. fresh olives
8 oz. sea salt
1 tbsp. fennel seeds
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 tsp. dried oregano
2 tsp. coarse sea salt or kosher salt
1 tbsp. olive oil

Instructions

Rinse the olives. We didn’t blanch our olives, but if you prefer, submerge olives in 90C (195F) hot water for 5-10 minutes.
Put a clean cheesecloth or kitchen towel in a strainer, fill in the olives and mix with 8 oz. of salt. Cover with cloth and let sit at a cool place for 20 days, mixing through every other day.
Rinse the olives, pat dry and place on a baking sheet. Drizzle with oil, sprinkle with some fennel seeds and coarse salt. Bake in the oven for 30-45 minutes at 100C (210F).
Let cool and put olives in a glass jar. Add fennel seeds, salt, pepper flakes, dried oregano and olive oil. Close jar and shake well until olives are coated evenly.
Store cool and dark, the olives should stay fresh for about 6 months. Use either as a snack, or in recipes like spicy pasta sauce or on pizza (pits removed).