My grandmaman's green tomato ketchup

By the end of August, I am eying my garden tomatoes.  How many green tomatoes?  How much green tomato ketchup can I make this year?

This ketchup is traditional French Canadian deliciousness served with tourtière or with meat dishes.  Store bought, when you can find it, will never be as good as homemade.  

If you double the recipe, you'll have enough for gift giving.

To make four 250 ml jars

Black Bean Soup- À la Cubana

As winter begins to settle in outside, my thoughts turn to warm summer breezes and hot beaches.  Cuba!  This vegetarian bean soup is many layered with flavour: peppers, spices and sofrito.  You'll love it!

It seems that many cultures have a black bean soup to call their own.  I have made Mexican, Creole and just plain old generic black bean soup.  Love them all!

I have based my version of the soup on a recipe from Leite's Culinary.  A website, I would highly recommend for its great recipes and helpful reviews.

To serve six.

Jamaican Pumpkin Soup- à la canadienne

I love soups- especially as I sit in my living room, watching the snow fall, in November.  A little too much snow, too soon.  I can look forward to the sweet smells of soup simmering on the stove.

If you cannot find Jamaican pumpkin, feel free to improvise- regular pumpkin or other orange squash.  Same for the white yam- carrots, regular yam or sweet potato.

You can also roast the squashes in the oven to make it easier to peel and dice.  Just wrap in foil and place in a hot oven for 45 minutes to an hour.

To serve about six...

Caribbean Goat Curry

Many, many years ago I remember having goat curry at a tiny West Indian restaurant in Ottawa.  It was delicious- lots of flavourful, tender meat.  This first taste of goat stayed with me and I was really happy to include goat on my Caribbean dinner menu.

This recipe is adapted from one found on the NYTimes Cooking website.  If you can't find goat (try a West Indian or African grocer) you could use lamb.

To make 5-6 portions