Blackberries, and some veges.

I bought a kilo of "cooking tomatoes" the other day at the supermarket - they were really cheap, only $1.50. Goodness knows why they were called that, because they were the tastiest tomatoes I've had for a long time. Usually I only get cherry tomatoes, because they are the only ones with any flavour, but these were great. Nonetheless, I can't eat a kg of tomatoes before they go yukky, so I cooked some of them.

This is something I've been making for years, the combination of flavours is wonderful. It's very simple; I just sautée some onions and zucchini, then add tomatoes and cook them until all the juice has come out and mostly evaporated. It's nice as a vegetable, or as a pasta sauce, and is fine at room temp in a bento.


While that was cooking I put the blackberries I bought today in a pot with some water and chopped up cooking apples from a friend's tree, and cooked the lot until it was soup-like. Totally disintegrated. This pic is of about the mid point of the process:


The pulp is now in a jelly bag, straining overnight. Tomorrow night I'll measure the juice and make jelly.


Then I made a much less fancy version of this squash gratin, with just boiled buttercup squash (which I think may be the same as kabocha; I know we export a lot of it to Japan, and that they call it something different - it has sweet and quite dry flesh) …



… mashed up with some salt and pepper, grated cheddar, and an egg.


I sprinkled a few toasted sesame seeds over it and baked it in the oven …


… at the same time as I baked these carrot and parsnip chips …


… which are also nice at room temp in bentos.


Not a bad evening's work.