The Summery Harvests Of September

Even though it's September there is still tomatoes and greens to be harvested. With them come delicious recipes that utilize the produce of this still summery season. Have them now while  the weather is still balmy and the gardens are still lush. Enjoy these tastes of late summer.

Melissa Clark and David Tanis realized this and made  the early September harvests the subject of their individual columns in yesterday's New York Times Food section. Ms Clark's A Good Appetite  featured the perennial star of the season, tomatoes. She creates a  mash up of three great tomato sandwiches. She deftly blends a BLT with  teas sandwiches  and throws in a heavy dose of the famed Catalan sandwich pan con tomate.The sandwich's base comes from the last. She takes rustic country bread. toasts it and then rubs it with raw garlic and the tomato's pulpy inside.Drizzle olive oil and lightly sprinkle sea salt on it.The tea sandwich part is when strands of tangy white onion is added. Layers of bacon and mayo are added , this is the BLT part of it.It's a messy , yummy sandwich that's literally finger licking good , according to Ms. Clark.Variations abound  with subbing the onions with cucumber and giving it a more Iberian spin by using thinly sliced Serrano ham instead of the  bacon.

David Tanis devoted his a City Kitchen Column to that flavorful French vegetable soup, pistou..This is a Genovese influenced soup from the French Provencale town of Nice. A kind of pesto is made, called pistou and it's exactly the same as its' Northern Italian cousin. Basil ,garlic and Parmigiano cheese is ground  and the olive oil is added to it. since this is a bean soup, there should be  a good mix of them, Use shelling bean from the vibrantly colored  cranberry to the large  , meaty cannellini These should be cooked independently from the soup base. The base itself is a kind of potato stock that also has sautéed onions and more beans, this time romano and yellow wax beans You can add squash and zucchini too, but you can also vary this   with adding a quartered ripe tomato or two.along with cubes f pumpkin of you have any in early bloom. Rice or pasta can be added but it's not necessarily.Afrter cooking  the soup is ladled into bowls and then a spoonful of pistou is added. Serve with toasted baguette slices dipped in oil, or if you want the pistou itself.

The summer is still giving us bounteous harvests. Take advantage of them by making a delicious tomato sandwich  mashup  or a bright green Provencale. soup. Both are perfect to eat during these still balmy days.