Tuesday at the Table

You already know I collect recipes, and of course, hubby is free to peruse them whenever he wants. That's not really his thing though. But there are several recipes he's mighty interested in. I've been hearing about them ever since we first met, and that would be some 30+ years ago. Hubby fondly recalls the sausage, the kuchen, the pfeffernusse that his grandparents would make 'back in the day'. The kuchen (a sweet, yeasty coffeecake), after years of trying recipes, I'm now able to closely replicate; pfeffernusse (a spicy cookie) can be purchased fairly easily. But that sausage recipe had remained elusive. Until last week.

I found this cookbook on my desk at work, dropped off by hubby's, until recently, distant cousin. It was compiled in 1999 by another 'line' of the family. But not only does it have the recipe for the beloved "Peppernuts" and "Grandma's Kuchen", but there in all its glory is "German Sausage." THE sausage. Hubby could not be happier.

Maybe because I had family recipes on the brain this weekend, I decided to make my father-in-law's recipe for roasted tomatoes. You won't find this in the cookbook, but it is on a recipe card, written by me, as dictated by my father-in-law years ago. I only wish he was here to enjoy them with me. Since he's not, I'll share them with you.

Roasted Tomatoes*

1# fresh plum tomatoes, ends trimmed and cut into 1/2" horizontal slices

1/2 tsp. salt

2 cups extra-virgin olive oil

1 garlic clove, peeled and split

1 sprig fresh basil

Heat oven to 250-degrees. Lay tomato slices on greased sheet pan and sprinkle with salt. 

Bake 2 hours, 15 minutes. The tomatoes should be wrinkled and dry around the edges, but the centers still slightly soft. 

(I sometimes flip them half-way through baking.)

Remove with a spatula and drop into a jar filled with the oil. Add the garlic and basil, cover tightly, and refrigerate when cool. Delicious with pasta, on sandwiches, or eaten out of the jar with a fork.

Enjoy!