Can do: Two chefs spent the end of summer just like your grandma did

If you've been to Hungry Pigeon lately, you may have seen farmers delivering crates of corn, peaches, and tomatoes to chefs Scott Schroeder and Pat O'Malley. It's been happening several times a day in their Queen Village restaurant and cafe. Their menu leans hard on pristine produce, with many vegan and vegetable-heavy dishes, and the harvest is in overdrive now.

But the chefs recently decided to start buying a lot more vegetables than they need for any given week. And in between the boxes of fresh-picked produce, you might also see them hauling in Ball canning jars in bulk.

Last month, Schroeder and O'Malley starting saving the season's abundance the way many of our grandparents did - by putting up the good stuff now to bring bright bursts of summer to their tables this winter.

"Part of living in a climate like ours here is, for almost half the year - what do you do if you want local produce? Most people just go to the supermarket and buy whatever from all over the world," says Schroeder. Restaurateurs generally do their version of that, placing produce orders with larger suppliers who source ingredients from all over the world. But the Hungry Pigeon chefs want to keep things as local as possible, not just in the growing season, but during all 12 months of the year.

That means they're investing in fruits and vegetables now. Schroeder says that although the restaurant's food costs are higher than usual at the moment, he will save in the winter when they buy less. It's a good-value proposition, according to the chef, because when tomatoes are abundant they are cheaper per pound than imported out-of-season tomatoes or even higher-end canned versions.

And that doesn't even account for the value of having local, ripe tomatoes at your fingertips in February. So far, they've put up 100 quarts of tomatoes, mostly from Rineer Family Farms.

But don't mistake this for some fancy, chef-y preservation project - there are no added spices, herbs, or other ingredients. "We are canning them whole and barely processing them," Schroeder says. They are heated only long enough to ensure food safety. Stored in glass jars, these tomatoes will not take on the metallic taste you sometimes get with a can.

The preserving idea stemmed, in part, from Schroeder's memories of his grandmother canning tomatoes from her own garden in the Detroit area. She gave the bright-red pints and quarts away as holiday gifts. "When you opened one, it was magic," Schroeder says.

Taylor Koch, the line cook who has done most of the canning at Hungry Pigeon this summer, has similar remembrances. Her grandfather grew and canned a bumper crop of tomatoes each year in his Port Richmond container garden.

"She's become our jarring master," Schroeder says as Koch lifts hot jars from their water bath. They're filled with tomatoes almost to the brim. "You don't want air," she says. "Air is not your friend."

O'Malley, who handles the pastry side of the menu, has been focused on fruit, canning more than 150 pounds of peaches in the last few weeks. Many are preserved whole. Others have become the jam that's served at breakfast or used to fill pastries. And there are other surprising uses: "The syrup from a jar of peaches is a great cocktail ingredient," he says.

In addition to tomatoes and peaches, the chefs plan to preserve some corn this year. And looking to 2017, they hope to can plenty of local cucumbers next time around.

A wall of freshly jarred tomatoes certainly looks like it would carry the restaurant six months or so, but Schroeder says they will run out before winter is through. "There's no way we could can enough tomatoes," he says. Every square inch in a professional kitchen is valuable, and the shelf they have reserved for their handiwork is all the space they can spare for this project.

Schroeder has some ideas about how he'll use these summer tomatoes in five or six months. He thinks they will make for flavorful pasta dishes and soups, especially. He may use them as a base for shakshuka, the Middle Eastern brunch dish that braises eggs in tomato sauce, or in a warming bowl of stewed white beans. But he plans to stick to his usual method of letting the season inspire him to create the locally grown comfort food that has made the restaurant such a fast favorite.

For now, you can enjoy the fresh tomatoes of the season (while they last) several ways at Hungry Pigeon, including as a raw-tomato-and-mayonnaise sandwich, which some culinary authorities consider the purest expression of summer tomatoes. But you might want to add a reminder to your calendar to revisit the restaurant in January. "We're not opening the canned tomatoes until after Christmas," Schroeder says.

He knows how much we'll all need a ripe reminder of summer by then.

StartText

Makes one quart jar

EndTextStartText

3 pounds whole, halved, or quartered tomatoes (per quart jar)

Citric acid or bottled lemon juice

Salt, optional

Quart glass preserving jar with lid and band

EndTextStartText

1. Prepare boiling water canner (a large pan with removable racks made for canning). Heat jar(s) in simmering water until ready for use. Do not boil. Wash lid(s) in warm soapy water and set bands aside.

2. Wash tomatoes. Dip in boiling water 30 to 60 seconds or until skins start to loosen and crack. Immediately dip in cold water. Slip off skins. Remove cores and any bruised or discolored portions. Leave whole, halve, or quarter them.

3. Add ½ teaspoon citric acid or 2 tablespoons bottled lemon juice to each hot quart jar.

4. Pack raw tomatoes into hot jars leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Press tomatoes into the jar until the spaces between them fill with juice, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Add 1 teaspoon salt to each quart jar, 1/2-teaspoon to each pint jar, if desired. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if necessary, by adding tomatoes. Wipe rim. Center hot lid on jar. Apply band and adjust until fit is fingertip tight. Place jar in boiling water canner. Repeat until all jars are filled.

5. Process filled jars in a boiling water canner for 85 minutes for both pints and quarts, adjusting for altitude. Remove jars and cool. Check lids for seal after 24 hours. Lid should not flex up and down when center is pressed.

- From freshpreserving.com (Ball Canning website)

Per serving (based on 8, without added salt): 32 calories, 2 grams protein, 7 grams carbohydrates, 5 grams sugar, trace fat, no cholesterol, 9 milligrams sodium, 2 grams dietary fiber.EndText

StartText

Makes 4 servings

EndTextStartText

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for serving

1 large white onion, diced

1 red pepper, diced

1 green pepper, diced

1 jalapeno, sliced in thick rings

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 tablespoon sweet paprika

1 teaspoon whole caraway seed

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 quart canned whole tomatoes, rough chopped

4 ounces dry muscadet

1/2 cup water

8 eggs

6 ounces feta cheese, crumbled

Mint leaves, for garnishing

Pita or other bread

Za'atar spice

EndTextStartText

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Add the extra-virgin olive oil to a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onions, peppers, and jalapeno and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add cumin, sweet paprika, and whole caraway seeds and garlic. Stir constantly for 60 seconds, then add tomatoes, muscadet, and water. Simmer covered for 30 minutes. Add salt to taste.

2. Divide the sauce evenly between 4 smaller baking dishes and crack 2 eggs into each. Bake until the whites are just cooked through and the yolks are runny, about 8 minutes.

3. Just before serving, divide the feta cheese evenly over each, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with mint leaves. Serve with grilled bread or pita and za'atar.

- Adapted from Hungry Pigeon

Per serving: 490 calories, 20 grams protein, 19 grams carbohydrates, 11 grams sugar, 37 grams fat, 365 milligrams cholesterol, 615 milligrams sodium, 5 grams dietary fiber.EndText