Dreaming of Summer's Meat and Three

I'm starting to reminisce on last year's summer garden.  We had such great luck with tomatoes and peppers that I could just cry about it every time I'm in the produce section of the local markets.  Tomatoes aren't fit for consumption until after July 4th; I only eat grape tomatoes from the grocery store to carry me through the winter.  Sure, I use canned tomato products for soups and chillies and such, but I turn my nose up to any tomato larger than a grape after the season ends in the fall.

You'll know you're almost to the Farmer's Daughter when you see this beehive.

Last year we had the sprawlinest yellow pear tomato vines you ever did see.  We didn't stake, cage and trellis our plants at all the right times...and when we got those vines off of the dirt...it was on.  Those yellow pears could have easily trapped passing garden enthusiasts, if they stayed in one spot too long.

We picked those plants up at the Farmer's Daughter on 17, along with some black cherry tomatoes that had already been started by people with more patience than I have.  Being an heirloom, I didn't have high expectations for the black cherry, so I didn't leave her enough room.  She was gorgeous, a sight to behold.  She also produced fruit well into the fall.

Black cherry tomatoes in my McCarty pottery bowl from Merigold, MS.

Jalapenos and Hungarian wax peppers.

During the summer, there are so many wonderful sides, the main course doesn't have to me so, well, main.   I have a simple recipe for you that you can use when your seasonal fruits and vegetables take up a lot of room on your plate.  Get ready for Perfect Pan Roasted Chicken Thighs!  You'll need a cast iron skillet, skin-on chicken thighs, salt, pepper and oil...and a day where setting your oven to 475 F for about 18 minutes of cook time won't put you flat out on the kitchen floor.  In addition to the directions in this recipe, I trim down the excess chicken skin; there will be plenty left for the fat to render.  

Also, I highly recommend buying some handle mitts.  Cast iron is heavy, and I can never get a safe grip using a tea towel and my small hands.  I tend to burn oven mitts, so slipping a mitt on the handle works better for me.  If you don't have your family's cast iron, Le Creuset's enameled cast iron will put you in the poor house, but you'll still want to make a spot in your bed for your precious cookware...it's that awesome.  In the list of items-to-grab-on-your-way-out-of-your-burning-house, your Le Creuset will be in your top ten.  (T.J. Maxx sometimes sells this brand, but the sticker is still shocking, if you are not independently wealthy.)  If you frequent Cracker Barrel, they usually carry Lodge cast iron in their store shop, but I haven't tried that brand yet.