Hill Creek Farm

Pruden’s Purple is my favorite beefsteak heirloom tomato.

Personally, I think it tastes better than the much-admired Brandywine (I have grown both).  In fact, I met William Woys Weaver,  when he was a guest on WHYY’s Radio Times and we got into an arguement about whether Brandywine (Will) or Pruden’s Purple (me) was the better tasting tomato.  Marty told us to “Take it off the air,” we did and we’ve been collegues ever since.

Pruden’s Purple is actually a deep pink, has fruit that weighs around a pound and is a “potato-leafed.”  The Web reports that it’s earlier than many other beefsteaks, somewhat diesease-resistant for a beefsteak and bears fruit in cooler temperatures when other tomatoes have petered out.

But most of us grow it because it tastes wonderful!  We’ll have Pruden’s Purple from now until frost, available for purchase.

Last, year, I found a recipe for Hungarian Lesco that was so good, I decided to grow Hungarian Yellow Wax peppers this year so that I could make an even better sauce.

This recipe is similar to the one that I use.  Mark Bittman weights in here on Lesco.  It’s a tasty way to use peppers, tomatoes and garlic in a “base sauce” that perks up anything else you might have in the frig.  Last year, I cooked up quart containers of Lesco and put them in the chest freezer so that we could “eat summer” throughout the fall and winter.

If you’d like to make Lesco, we’ve got plenty of authentic peppers to make this dish — email me for details!