Cook the Book: Tomatoes All Dressed Up for Summer
We all know the old saying, "you can't judge a book by it's cover." I was wondering if this principle applies to cookbooks. Do the books with the most beautiful covers and photos necessarily have the best recipes? Canal House Cooking has the best of both worlds, wonderful recipes and some of the most beautiful food photography that I've ever seen. Nearly every recipe is crave-inducingly illustrated. Be warned: these photos will send you into fits of "I need to eat this right now!"
The photo that accompanied the recipe for Tomatoes All Dressed Up for Summer nearly took my breath away. There are few more satisfying summer treats then a prefect tomato sandwich, but add a few herbs and a bit of mayo, and you've got something really special. Authors Christopher Hirsheimer and Melissa Hamilton say that "these tomatoes are so sensual, you might think that they should be eaten behind closed doors." One look at these glistening tomatoes and you'll understand why.
Win 'Canal House Cooking, Vol. No. 1'
As always with our Cook the Book feature, we have five (5) copies of Canal House Cooking, Vol. No. 1 to give away this week. Enter to win here »
Tomatoes All Dressed Up for Summer
- serves 4 to 6 -
Adapted from The Canal House by Christopher Hirsheimer and Melissa Hamilton.
Ingredients
8-12 slices crusty bread
1 clove garlic, peeled
1/2 cup really good extra virgin olive oil
4-6 tomatoes, cored and thickly sliced
1/2 cup mayonnaise
Salt and pepper
Small handful fresh chives, chopped
Small handful of fresh parsley leaves, chopped
Procedure
1. Toast the slices of bread. While the toast is still warm, rub one side of each slice with the garlic, rubbing more or less firmly depending on how much flavor you're after. Drizzle the toast with some of the olive oil and sprinkle with some salt.
2. "Butter" the tomato slices with the mayonnaise and arrange them on a serving platter. Drizzle the tomatoes with the remaining oil, season well with salt and pepper, and scatter the fresh herbs on top. You can place the tomatoes on top of the toasts or just serve the toasts on the side.
Add a comment:
Previewing your comment:
HTML Hints
Some HTML is OK: <a href="URL">link</a>, <strong>strong</strong>, <em>em</em>
Comment Guidelines
Post whatever you want, just keep it seriously about eats, seriously. We reserve the right to delete off-topic or inflammatory comments. Learn more at our Comment Policy page.
If you see something not so nice, please, report an inappropriate comment.
2 Comments:
I love great food photography. I put out some of my best photographed cook books as pretty coffee table fodder. Forget ocean vistas let me see that Cheesecake one more time :D
Seina at 1:17PM on 07/21/09
"Do the books with the most beautiful covers and photos necessarily have the best recipes?"
Certainly not. Julia Child's French cooking books will win no graphic design awards.
Though it is certain that increased talent in the areas of graphic design, photography, writing and more liberal applications of recipe design mean that we have a much larger base from which to select books than, probably, ever before.
But I'll still take Childs, or Pepin, or that Belgian chef who I can't find any info about, over "coffee-table kitsch."
TikiPundit at 10:50PM on 07/22/09