From Canned to Frozen

Taking the leap from canned peas to frozen spinach. I guess I'm covering every old-school vegetable preservation method, save for drying. But sadly, Tomatoes Florentine lacks the transformational power of Chicken Clemenceau. Don't get me wrong. They taste just fine, they're good even, and don't taste like frozen spinach at all. And if I had frozen spinach laying about, which I don't usually, this would definitely be a go-to recipe. The tomato part was also nice, especially since tomatoes this time of year are usually awful, and I don't buy them. So I guess what I'm saying is that this is a nice recipe for crap vegetables.


Tomatoes Florentine
Masson's


1 medium -sized onion, chopped fine
1/2 stick butter
1/2 pound frozen spinach
salt and pepper
4 medium-sized tomatoes
Grated Romano cheese

1. Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat, and when it begins to foam, add onion. Saute until onions begin to brown, 6 or 7 minutes.


2. Microwave spinach following the instructions on the package. Add to onions and cook for one minute, mixing well. Season with salt and pepper.




3.Cut top off of the tomatoes and scoop out to one half of depth, making sure not to puncture the skin along the sides of the tomatoes.



4. Fill the cavity with spinach and onion mixture.



5. Top with grated cheese


6. bake 20-25 minutes at 375 degrees. Serves 4.




Hmmm...the whole time I was cooking this I kept wondering what they would taste like with nicer tomatoes, and baby spinach that was wilted in a little bit of bacon grease. I couldn't figure out if there would be too much water in the spinach so they'd get soggy when baked or not. Its worth a try.

I sort of liked the whole baked tomato thing, so I thought I'd try the other recipe in the cookbook which looks really interesting....

Okra Evangeline
Brennan's

1 lb. fresh okra, sliced
2 sticks butter
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped ham
1 cup fluffy cooked rice
salt and pepper
4 medium-sized (preferably Creole) Tomatoes

Smother sliced okra in melted butter with onion and ham. When cooked through add fluffy cooked rice. Season to taste and stuff into hollowed out tomatoes. Bake 10 minutes at 400 degrees. Serves 4

This looks way more like a Cajun recipe than a Creole one, so I'm really interested in how they'll turn out.