Celebrating tomato days

There’s nothing better  on a hot summer day than biting into a fresh tomato. I highly recommend it.

July through September is the best time to eat fresh tomatoes. They might be sold year round, but they just won’t have the same kick, in say, December. That’s probably because in winter you’re eating tomatoes trucked considerable distances to the supermarket.

A sweet fresh tomato is good for your soul and for your health. But I recently found out that cooked tomatoes are actually better for you than raw ones. When you cook them, tomatoes release a phytochemical called lycopene (which is what gives them their color) that makes them super powerful at fighting heart disease and many different kinds of cancer.

When you make a tomato sauce or toss together a stew for dinner, you’re actually boosting the health benefits of your meal by adding cooked tomatoes.

On the downside, cooking tomatoes may lower the vitamin C content, and vitamin C is one of the most powerful antioxidants you can get from food.

So here’s an idea: Eat a lot of tomatoes, raw and cooked. It’s OK to sit down with a bowl of spaghetti every now and then and let the phytochemicals do their work. And it’s great to eat a tomato over the sink, letting it drip like a fresh peach. Tomatoes are, after all, a fruit.

Which is one reason why they lend themselves so well to cobbler. Yep, tomato cobbler is fantastic. To make it, roast two pounds or so of cherry or grape tomatoes at 225 degrees for about an hour; sprinkle some thyme or basil on them first, and a little bit of sugar, some good olive oil and some coarse salt and fresh pepper. When they’re roasted and fragrant, take them out of the oven. Drain some of the juices off if they’re really swimming in liquid. And then top the roasting pan with a good biscuit dough, like this one adapted from Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa.

                                                             Cobbler dough for tomatoes

2 cups plus a handful of all-purpose flour;  1 tablespoon baking powder;  

1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt;  12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) cold butter;   

1/2 cup cold buttermilk, shaken;  1 cold extra-large egg;  1 cup grated extra-sharp cheddar;  Snipped chives;  1 tablespoon milk

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Combine two cups flour,  baking powder and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse a few times to mix them, then add the butter and process until the you have pea-sized bits.

Combine the buttermilk and egg in a glass measuring cup, turn on the food processor and add them to the flour/butter mixture.

Mix only until moistened.

Toss together the cheddar and chives with a  small handful of flour, and add to the mixture in the food processor. Mix only until roughly combined.

Dump out the dough and knead lightly about six times. Add in lumps to the top of the tomatoes, so it creates a cobbled effect.  Brush with the milk.

This recipe makes enough dough for a very large baking pan. If you have too much, you can also make biscuits with the leftovers.

Bake until golden brown. Serve hot or warm.