The rains have arrived and I’ve had several people ask me about harvesting this time of year. Hopefully you’ve already picked most your red tomatoes! The rain will definitely cause tomatoes to split and they aren’t as flavorful after being rained on either. If you have them under cover, then you might be able to pick for another week or so but wait until the sun comes out again if you can. On the farm we usually try to wait for a dry day to pick green tomatoes as well. It is important pick these before the late blight attacks the fruit, and definitely before the frost comes. We’ll have lots of green tomato recipes in the website next week, but in the meantime try these from the NY Times.

We’re hoping for another week or so of mild weather to keep ripening sweet peppers. The slugs are beginning to attack the fruit so this week we’ll probably harvest everything that is close to the ground. Before the first frost make sure you pull all the rest of the fruit off, wash it, and then you can store them in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. If you’re swimming in peppers this time of year like we are try this recipe for Marinated Red Peppers from Kelly Meyers blog Front Burner on Culinate. I think it works just as well with yellow and green peppers too.

We also grow several varieties of hot peppers and dry extras to give out during the winter share. Usually the cayenne and habeneros start to ripen sometime in September. We’ll check the plants about once a week and bring any fully ripe fruit inside to dry. Before the first frost we’ll pick all the remaining hot peppers that have started to blush with color and bring them inside to dry. Most of them will slowly add more color during the drying process. Fully dry peppers can be stored in airtight containers or frozen.

About two cups of fresh corn cut off the cob

¼ cup (4 tablespoons) minced shallots or onion

About a pint of cherry tomatoes, whole

A few tablespoons of cooking oil

Salt and herbs to taste (Bittman’s recipe calls for tarragon; I used herbs de Provence; use your favorite.)

Sauté shallots or onions in oil about a minute

Add corn and tomatoes and continue to sauté over fairly high heat for about 5 minutes, stirring or shaking frequently

Season and serve

Variations:

I haven’t tried this yet, but grill corn on the cob first and then cut corn off the cob and proceed as above.

Consider adding small amount of red pepper flakes or minced chiles

Based on a recipe from Mariquita Farm

8 anaheim or poblano chiles
8 pieces of a good melting cheese
1.5-2 pound ripe tomatoes
4 garlic cloves, skinned
1 onion, skinned, quartered
Salt and pepper to taste
4 eggs, separated
Flour

Wash & lightly dry 8 chiles that are about the size of your fist or a bit larger. Put them whole under the broiler and roast, turning with tongs, until wrinkled & dark, but not burnt on most sides. Remove from oven and place in paper bag for 5 minutes. Take them out of the bag & skin them, trying to leave them whole as best you can, then let them cool down.

Tomato sauce: Chop & seed the tomatoes. Saute garlic & onions until soft. Add tomatoes and simmer until it is thick. Taste for salt & pepper.

Slit each chile with a small whole, then attempt to remove some of the seeds, keeping the chile whole if possible. Stuff the roasted chiles with the cheese pieces. Don’t worry if some of your peppers aren’t completely whole, I just wrapped the frayed pieces around the cheese, and you couldn’t tell those chiles from the truly intact ones once they were on the plate.

With the roasted chiles and tomato sauce ready, you can start on the egg whites. Whip egg whites & 2 tablespoons flour until soft peaks are becoming a bit stiffer. Fold in 2 of the egg yolks (you can do as you please with the other two, you won’t need them for this recipe) with a rubber spatula, taking care not to disturb the egg white mass more than necessary.

Dredge stuffed chiles in flour (I put about 1/2 a cup in a saucer for this task), then thoroughly coat with the egg white stuff. Fry in hot oil until golden brown, turning at least once to cook all sides. Serve immediately with a couple of spoons of tomato sauce served over the relleno. Divine!!