Grilled Tomato Bruschetta

Picking up our share last week, I was disappointed to find that we were short on pluots and peaches.  I was immediately buoyed by finding out that we had received extra heirloom tomatoes, and our benevolent CSA coordinator gave me a bunch of bonus heirlooms instead of the stone fruit.  Having been mildly overloaded with peaches, plums, etc. the past month or two, this was a very welcome development.  

I knew right away what I wanted to do with some of these - grilled tomato bruschetta. 

I'm admittedly an admirer of Martha Stewart, or at least her recipes.  I don't really know much about her decorating, empire-building, etc., but she seems to know what she's doing. 

Here's what you'll need for this recipe:

• about 1.5 pounds (heirloom) tomatoes cored and halved
• 2-4 slices of italian bread, sliced THICK
• olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, minced (leftover from last week's CSA)
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup fresh basil (we got CSA basil this week and it is fantastic)

While it is good to have tomatoes of a consistent size, it isn't necessary.  Core and halve tomatoes, then toss with a good amount of salt and pepper with a tablespoon of olive oil.

Heat grill to medium-high, oil the grates, and put the tomatoes on.

Grill for about 5-10 minutes per side, or 5-7 for smaller tomatoes.

Remove from grill to a medium bowl, and allow to cool while you brush the bread on both sides with a generous amount of olive oil.  Add the garlic and red wine vinegar to the tomatoes.

The tomatoes will still give off a fair amount of liquid.  This is OK, just don't spoon ALL of it onto the bread when you finish.  Some of the liquid is good, and will soak into the toasted bread nicely.  As the tomatoes cool, grill the bread for 2 minutes per side.  When the tomatoes are somewhat cooled, cut into smaller pieces with scissors.

When the bread is done, spoon tomato mixture on top and then top with basil.  The flavor is greatly enhanced over regular bruschetta - the heat of the grill caramelizes some of the sugars in the sweet heirlooms, and the grilled bread is crusty on the outside and warm and soft inside.  Fresh basil is also a must.  

I can't recommend this enough.  Enjoy!

Prettier photo from www.marthastewart.com:

Penne with Basil and Heirloom Tomatoes

In trying to refine and improve my postings, I am going to start posting the ingredients and prep on top, which should make the recipes a little more user friendly.  I'm also going to continue using my better camera and actually editing the photos, which should result in better depictions of the finished product:

This recipe features a lot of farm share ingredients: tomatoes, basil, onions, and garlic.  Here is what you'll need for this recipe:

• 2-3 tablespoons olive oil
• 3-4 cloves garlic, slivered
• 2-3 small onions, or 1 large onion, slivered
• 4-6 medium tomatoes, cored and chopped (i used 4 small to medium sized, with about 1/2 pint of cherry tomatoes)
• 1 cup green olives, rinsed and coursely chopped
• 1/3 cup grated parm
• 2-4 mild italian chicken sausages, cooked (optional - omit to make this vegetarian)
• 1 pound whole wheat penne, just slightly undercooked
• 1/2 cup of fresh basil, torn

Get everything prepared and ready to go before you start cooking - it will make the process go much smoother. Think of the 7 P's: proper prep prevents piss-poor performance.  That being said, you can cook the pasta as you make the sauce (just get the water boiling as you chop everything up).

The farm share tomatoes are gorgeous - the assorted cherry tomatoes are very, very sweet and I think the orange ones have a ton of flavor with less acidity than their red brethren.  Anyway, heat the olive oil in a large skillet, and add the garlic.  Cook for about 10 seconds on medium high, then add the onion.  Add about 1/2 a teaspoon of salt, and a few grinds of black pepper.

Cook until onions are softened, but not mushy.  Then add the olives and the sausage (if using).

Saute until sausage is warmed, then add the tomatoes.

Cook until the tomatoes release some liquid, and a little of that liquid cooks off.  Turn the heat down to medium low, and add the penne and stir to combine (you use a large pan/skillet for this).

Add the parm and stir it in - this will thicken the sauce and help the tomato flavor stick to the noodles.  Finally, turn off the heat and stir in the basil.  It should wilt down a good amount.  Taste, and adjust seasoning.  I held back on the salt because of the salt in the sausage and olives, but it was rather flat initially.  A little more salt and pepper really made the flavors of the tomatoes and basil jump out.  I really wouldn't change anything about this, I'm very happy with how it turned out.  I think it would be just as good w/out the sausage.  This would be great with an earthy pinot noir or a chianti.  Enjoy!

Week 11 Haul

I just got back from a week home in Michigan, luckily in time to pick up this week's share.  Unfortunately, I totally missed last week's; the friends with whom we share our share got our half.  

This week's stuff looks fantastic - we've finally started getting substantial amounts of tomatoes.  I'm going to try to up my game with photography for this site... Tonight marks the start of using my digital SLR instead of my point and shoot.  I don't have a macro lens, but I'm hoping one of the lenses I have will work well enough:

Here we go, clockwise from bottom left: Japanese eggplant, donut peaches, white peaches, other peaches, plums, mixed beans, apples, red and orange tomatoes, garlic, onions, huge zucchini, grape tomatoes, thai basil, basil, bell peppers, sweet frying peppers, and a red serrano pepper (usually these are green, but I grabbed the red one...I assume it is riper and sweeter than the green ones).

And, because they are so weird looking and perfectly named, a close up of our donut peaches:

I really haven't figured out what to do with these, save eating them straight.  That seems to be working, though.  I'm open to any other suggestions.  

Not sure what will come of everything this week, but I think think peppers stuffed with turkey sausage and shredded zucchini, grilled peaches (new apartment has grills on the roof), and something featuring these tomatoes prominently.  

Using Eggplant - Eggplant Parm!

If you can't tell by now, way too many of my recipes come from Saveur.  This is true of this entry, eggplant parmesan.  I more or less followed the recipe.  I'm really not a big eggplant fan, but breaded fried, and covered in tomato sauce loaded with fresh mint and basil?  Yes, please.  For the record, this recipe uses CSA eggplant, mint, basil, and garlic.

Starting with a medium to large eggplant, peel and cut into 1/3 to 1/2 inch slices.  Prepare a flour/eggwash/breadcrumbs station - it is good to have some room to spread out here.

I'm pretty glad to have moved into a new apartment a week ago with a much larger kitchen... We'll see if my postings get more ambitious accordingly.  Flour --> eggwash --> breadcrumb all of the eggplant slices.  I used panko breadcrumbs, which worked nicely.  Heat 1/4 cup of olive oil in a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat until very hot but not smoking, and cook the eggplant in batches, not crowding the skillet.  Give it about 2.5-3 minutes per side.

Cool on a cooling rack over paper towel.  While this is going on, cook the sauce as specified in the recipe.  I made the sauce as called for, but with a small handful of fresh CSA basil and mint added in at the end, stirred in right before it comes off the head.  Put a thin layer of sauce on the bottom of a large pyrex baking dish, then  layer the browned eggplant slices on top of the sauce.  Cover the eggplant with more sauce, then some greated parmesan-reggiano, and finally with grated provolone or mozzarella, whichever you like \

Bake for 20 minutes at 375 or until cheese is melted and a little browned and sauce is bubbling, let cool for a couple minutes, and serve with pasta and a salad.

Shakshuka!!!

A dish I enjoyed making even before my trip to Israel is shakshuka, which is eggs poached in tomato sauce.  Terrible renditions of this showed up at kibbutz dining halls for breakfast pretty often while I was there, with the eggs cooked solid over flavorless tomato sauce.  As bad as this sounds, when it is well made, there aren't any egg dishes I like more.

The one great rendition I had was at Dr. Shakshuka, an institution in Jaffa - the port city adjacent to Tel Aviv.  We had about 90 minutes of free time, and while it might have been well spent wandering the shuk looking for souveniers, I spent it having one of the best meals I've ever had with some great people.  We ordered the special, which we thought was going to be shakshuka and some salads.  This was the case for the first 45 minutes or so; perfectly cooked, runny eggs sitting on top of flavorful tomato sauce with big chunks of fresh tomato served with huge loaves of crusty bread, followed half a dozen different fresh salads.  One had a great lemon dressing over mixed greens, another was like a slightly less spicy kimchi.  I wish I had the right lens on my camera to have taken some good photos.

Anyway, the eggs and salads were followed by like 5 different meat and fish courses, which we weren't exactly expecting.  They were all very different, and all very delicious.  There was a beef stuffed cabbage dish, a delicately poached (I think) piece of white fish over a spicy red sauce, and what seemed kind of like a mixed grill with homemade merguez sausages.

Anyway, great shakshuka is attainable with basic pantry ingredients and it makes an excellent brunch, lunch, or dinner that is a nice departure from the norm.  It's also vegetarian, cheap, and easy to make.  I use a non-stick 12-inch skillet with a lid for this.

I really just follow this recipe exactly, so I'll go light on details. Basically, sautee onions (1 small chopped) and hot peppers (3 farm share - 2 jalepenos and 1 serrano) until softened, then add 1 tablespoon paprika and 1 teaspoon cumin.

Cook another couple minutes, until garlic is softened.  Open a 28 oz can of whole tomatoes, and crush them a little with your hand as you add them to the pan.

Allow to cook down for about 20 minutes, then crack as many eggs as you would like in an even distribution over the tomato sauce.  Cover, and cook over medium for 4-5 minutes or until the whites are cooked.  Spoon sauce over edges of whites as they finish cooking.

While not super-traditional, or so I understand, top with a tablespoon or two of chopped parsley and about 1/4 cup of crumbled feta if so inclined.

Serve with warmed pita or crusty bread, and enjoy!

Peach Pork Chops with Tomato/Cucumber Pearl Couscous

I really like using sweet fruits in savory applications, and to me, fresh peaches seem to cry out to be paired with pork.  I picked up 4 thin cut (or "quick fry") pork chops, seasoned them with salt and pepper, and seared them in a heavy, hot skillet (avoid both non-stick and cast iron for this) for about 3 minutes per side (or until cooked through).  Set aside, and tent with foil.

Deglaze skillet with wine of your choosing (I used about 1/2 a cup of a rose I had open and around), and add 1/2 a red onion and 1/2 a bell pepper (both chopped) with a couple cloves or garlic and chile of your choosing if you like a little heat (both finely chopped).  I used a red fresno, the most versatile hot chile to cook with, in my opinion.  Cook over medium heat until everything is softened. 

As the onions and peppers cook, drop 3 peaches into boiling water for about 20-30 seconds, and then remove to an ice-water bath.  The skins of the peaches should run right off.  Remove them, cut in half to remove pits, and chop into about 3/4 inch cubes give or take.  Add to the skillet once the onions and peppers are softened, but not mushy.  

Cook until peaches soften up a little, then finish with a small splash of red wine vinegar to liven up the flavors a little.  Spoon over chops and serve -

The couscous is about as simple as it gets:

• cook some pearl couscous, and allow to cool
• chop up peeled and seeded cucumbers (we had lots of CSA ones around)
• chop tomatoes
• finely chop some parsley and mint
• toss couscous with herbs, vegetables, and a couple tablespoons of olive oil
• add lemon juice, salt, and pepper to taste

Serve at room temp or chilled (can be made ahead of time).  This goes really well with just about anything, and it is very light and summary.  It is basically tabooleh flavors with pearl couscous.  Enjoy!

Spice Rubbed Flap Steak with Za'atar Summer Squash and Pereg Mix Rice

On my last day in Israel, I had about two and a half hours of free time to explore Ben Yahuda Street and the Shuk (market).  I spent a good deal of time trying to find gifts for my family and girlfriend, but I was able to do a little shopping for myself.  I came across a beautiful, small spice vendor in the shuk, with huge mounds of fragrant, colorful spices.  I picked up some hot paprika and za'atar, but also some bulk dried fruit and vegetable mixtures to put in rice.  They are made by Pereg Gourmet Spices, and you can actually buy them online here.

I also got a spicy rub for grilled meat, but I don't know exactly what it is.  It's a rich red color, kind of smokey and spicy, and it was actually too course to use without grinding it up some more in my spice/coffee grinder (I recommend having a cheap blade coffee grinder dedicated to grinding whole spices) -

I rubbed this on a piece of locally sourced (somewhere in VA...I should pay closer attention) flap steak from WF, and broiled about 4 minutes per side.

The rice was just a couple cups of basmati rice cooked with a couple cups of the mix.  It's a pretty simple way to make rice a lot more interesting. 

I also roasted some CSA zucchini and squash and seasoned it with just salt, pepper, and a little za'atar.  Everything turned out well - I'm glad I picked up the rice mix (even if I can apparently order it in the U.S. and not have to worry about getting back through customs), and I will definitely keep my eyes open for flap steak going forward.  It is along the lines of hanger or skirt steak,and pretty similarly priced.