Late Summer

Tomatoes with Goma Dare

A blustery day. Tipping the summer scales into fall. The evidence of fall is mounting as the presence of summer fades. Fall’s rainbow of colors in rusts, rubies, auburns, marigold and goldenrods have become the primary palette. The garden is slowing and preparing to slumber while the encore of tomatoes, zucchini’s, eggplants and corn take center stage. My kitchen reflects the season with a freezer full of summer’s bounty. Shelves stocked with dried plums, plum cordials, and garden teas. There’s plum jam in the fridge next to the tray of foraged mushrooms and next to that, smoked salmon from last week’s catch. 

Aside from jam making, dehydrating the last of the herbs, and the bounty of mushrooms I’ve been finding in the woods, I have been happily using some of the mushrooms I find; the ones with too many bugs or the ones I can’t eat, to use to make dyes and pigments. It’s about as close to a scientist as I want to get but with the inspiration and guidance from Julie Beeler, author of The Mushrooms Color Atlas, I am having so much fun capturing pigments from Lobster mushrooms, porcini, dyer’s polypore and many more. I’m planning on using the pigments to make paint, then I’ll use the paint to illustrate the menu I’ve created for a mushroom feast to celebrate the release of, Field Notes from a Fungi Forager, coming out next month. 

To read/listen:

I’m busy trying to hit my book goal for the year so my listening has been devoted to audiobooks. I just finished, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, which I really loved. I’ve also been reading/listening to/and actively doing, The Artist’s Way. I’ve been wanting to talk to you all about this all summer - have you done it? I have tried several times throughout my life to complete this program and I am so proud to say that in just four short days I will have written my morning pages for 3 months. I am behind in the reading but I am absolutely calling it a win. 

I’ve also been reading the newest book by John Philip Newell called, The Great Search and as I mentioned above I have been reading and being inspired by, The Mushroom Color Atlas.

To eat:

It’s very nearly the end of tomato season around here so you may need to jump on this one very quickly but I couldn’t let tomato season go by without giving you this gift of a recipe. I’ve made it for a few events recently and people have absolutely loved it. The last event I did I made it into a tomato toast. Every summer I need to have that quintessential tomato sandwich. For me that typically is tomatoes, sliced thick, on white bread with a hefty slather of mayonnaise. This is another great option. This recipe comes from my latest cookbook, Rooted Kitchen. Which is on super sale on Amazon right now. I’d also LOVE it if you already have a copy if you wouldn’t mind taking a moment to leave a kind review on Amazon. Even if you didn’t purchase it there you can still leave a review. Reviews help bring more eyes to the book and help those who are on the fence make that decision. This book carries such an important message that I hope more and more people will find and connect with. 

Tomatoes with Goma Dare

From Rooted Kitchen

Serves 4

If this book is to be a real reflection of my seasonal eating life then I can’t just include one tomato salad. Here heaps of heirloom tomatoes rest on a bed of Goma Dare – an intensely flavored sesame sauce traditionally served with shabu shabu (Japanese hot pot). 

This simple salad makes a lovely side dish that comes together in minutes. Or slather the sauce of a toasted piece of sourdough and add sliced heirloom tomatoes to make an unforgettable tomato toast. 

1/4 cup / 30g plus 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds, for serving 

1 cup / 5g bonito flakes

1/2 cup / 130g tahini

1/4 cup / 60g rice wine vinegar

2 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce 

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

2 tablespoons white miso

2 tablespoons toasted sesame seed oil

2 pounds/ 910g , heirloom tomatoes, sliced or cut into wedges 

Flake salt, for serving 

In a food processor, blend together 1/4 cup / 30g toasted sesame seeds and bonito until finely ground. Add the tahini, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, white miso, and toasted sesame oil then blend to completely combine. Scrape down the sides of the bowl then blend again. Taste and adjust seasoning to your liking. 

Add the Goma Dare to a large platter then add tomatoes on top. Finish with flake salt and remaining 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds. 

A few more words:

There are a couple more things I’d like to share and point your attention to. First I’ve been updating my site if you’re curious to poke around there. I’m trying to keep my events page updated and am very eagerly hoping that soon I’ll have a few things to add to the online shop so I can open those doors. 

In the next couple of days I will be starting a 100 days project on my Instagram (and maybe Threds as well). I’ll be doing 100 days of Rooted Living. These will consist of brief (can be done in 5 - 10 minutes) invitations to connect to the earth. As I mentioned above throughout the summer I have been working my way through The Artist’s Way and I have found such growth in doing a daily practice. It takes some serious dedication and discipline but I have seen how much benefit comes in putting in that work and so I wanted to take the idea of a daily practice and put it towards living into a rooted way of existing. If you’re interesting I can created a round up of the invitations if you don’t use social media.

Finally, as I mentioned in my last post my new book, Field Notes from a Fungi Forager, comes out next month. It’s available for preorder now. Preorders are extremely helpful for the success of any book. It’s one of the best ways to support an author. They signal interest which in turn excites the bookstores to order more copies and the media to take notice. There are links on my site for many places where you can order but basically you can preorder wherever books are sold. The support means the world to me!

Thank you, as always, for reading and for being here.