Posted by Caroline Russock, June 17, 2009 at 1:00 PM
In the introduction to Seven Fires, Francis Mallmann talks about the taste of burnt. He says that adding an element dissonance to a dish makes it interesting, and that many chefs are too hung up on harmonious flavors. He uses a tomato to illustrate this point: "A burnt tomato, for example, has a dark crust bordering on bitter, while the inside is soft and gentle in texture and in taste."
This recipe for Burnt Ricotta Salata, Tomatoes, and Olives takes the harmonious combination of ingredients and adds a dissonant element by charring the cheese and chiles. While Mallmann is a fan of burnt flavors, he is careful not to take the charring too far or else it will destroy the nuances of the dish.
Win 'Seven Fires'
As always with our Cook the Book feature, we have five (5) copies of Seven Fires to give away this week. Enter to win here »
Continue reading »
Posted by Caroline Russock, May 13, 2009 at 1:30 PM
Among the many great recipes in Frank Stitt's Bottega Favorita, this one for Lamb Ragu with Artichokes, Oven-Roasted Tomatoes, and Basil immediately struck me as something that I really wanted to eat. It might have something to do with the fact that I am a big fan of braising.
Inexpensive, fatty, and flavorful, lamb shoulder is a perfect candidate for braising. But the lamb isn't the only braised component in this recipe; artichokes are braised on their own with aromatics and white wine, and tomatoes are slow roasted with sugar and vinegar to concentrate their flavor. Three separately slow cooked elements are brought together to make this savory and hearty ragu. Serve it over polenta or pasta, or on its own with some crusty bread. This is another recipe that confirms my personal belief that you cannot go wrong with braising.
Win 'Bottega Favorita'
As always with our Cook the Book feature, we have five (5) copies of Bottega Favorita to give away this week. Enter to win here »
Continue reading »
Posted by Caroline Russock, April 30, 2009 at 1:00 PM
These roasted tomato and pumpkin seed pesto tacos from Mark Miller's Tacos are not exactly standard Mexican fare. They are a combination of Italian, Spanish and Mexican ingredients that happen to work perfectly together. Italian Roma tomatoes, olive oil and arugula are paired with Spanish Manchego cheese and Mexican chiles, pumpkin seeds and tortillas. If you have been craving the flavor of summer tomatoes, these tacos are a great way to get your fix. Slow roasting the Roma tomatoes concentrates their flavor, making even mediocre tomatoes something to get excited about. The pumpkin seed pesto is great served with pasta and grilled meat or fish, just in case you happen to have any left over.
Win Tacos
Happy Cinco de Mayo! As always with our Cook the Book feature, we have a few copies of Tacos to give away-five this week. Enter to win here »
Continue reading »
Posted by Caroline Russock, April 20, 2009 at 2:20 PM
This Cajun pizza from Donald Link's Real Cajun is great just about any time of the day. Bacon, tomatoes, onions, and cheese in a flaky pie shell? I can't think of any time that I wouldn't want to eat this. Serve it with a few eggs and it's breakfast; add a little greens salad—lunch; cut into bite-size pieces and you have delicious hors d'oeuvres. The combination of ingredients lends an almost bacon-cheeseburger-like quality to the final product.
Win Real Cajun
As always with our Cook the Book feature, we have a few copies of Real Cajun to give away-five this week. Enter to win here »
Continue reading »
Posted by Blake Royer, February 19, 2009 at 4:00 PM
Quick-cooking red lentils are a favorite for soups, going from dried-in-the-pantry to tender in 10 or 15 minutes and forming an economical, healthy base full of fiber and protein. Though my very favorite lentils are the du Puy variety (otherwise known as French green lentils), because of their subtle peppery flavor and the way they hold their shape after cooking, they also take awhile to cook. And in a soup, it's not all that important that they stay intact: the lentils that break up during cooking just add to the soup's body.
Lentils can be rather plain-tasting, so it's key to use assertive flavors when cooking them or the result will be an earthy, but plain-tasting sludge. This recipe, adapted from a Bulgarian soup a friend served me recently, relies on a shot of paprika and fresh thyme, which keep the chunky, tomato-y broth interesting. I added a little cayenne as well to raise the stakes. It's a warming soup to guiltlessly fill up on.
Continue reading »
Posted by Michele Humes, February 6, 2009 at 1:25 PM
In Rick Tramonto's Italian take on shakshouka, eggs are cracked straight into the spicy tomato sauce that gives them their devilish name, and baked until set but tender. With a grating of Parmesan and plenty of toast for dipping, it's the perfect brunch or light supper dish.
Though the recipe doesn't call for it, I'm tempted to add some browned Italian sausage to the tomato sauce, to make the dish just a little heartier.
Win 'Osteria'
In addition to excerpting a recipe each day this week, we're giving away five (5) copies of Osteria. Enter to win here »
Continue reading »
Posted by Kerry Saretsky, December 18, 2008 at 6:15 PM
Put some holiday color on your plate, too, with Red and Green Recipes.
This recipe is a mess of contradictions. Of course, there is the red of the burst roasted cherry tomatoes and the medium rare seared steak, and its color-wheel-opposite green of the spinach penne and the basil-spinach pistou. It is also enormously comforting, but the cream and the filet render it quite refined. It fills you up with heartiness in the winter, and yet the hint of basil and the tomatoes are a wistful reminder of sun-bathed summer.
Pistou is a French version, not surprisingly, of pesto. Usually, the nuts are omitted, but sometimes tomatoes are added, and all different variations occur. This one omits the cheese and is an amalgamation of garlic, spinach, basil, pine nuts, and olive oil. Combined with the steak, this dinner is so packed with iron that I would serve it at an intimate holiday dinner with Popeye at the head of the table. The green of the pasta and the pistou is studded with the red of the tomatoes and the steak—just like a Christmas tree. All you have to do at the table is shower Pecorino Romano all over the top, and you’ll be serving a white Christmas for dinner.
Continue reading »
Posted by Kristen Swensson, December 15, 2008 at 11:00 AM
I conducted an informal survey on my blog last week, asking readers what kind of inexpensive, healthy recipes they’d like to see more of in the future. Overwhelmingly, they asked for easy main dishes that make good leftovers/office lunches. Convenience and nutrition don’t usually hang out at the same parties, so keeping this up for the long-term could be a challenge.
So far, though, it’s been a hoot. Last week alone, I found a few noteworthy recipes, including a solid Bean Burrito concoction that juuuust skirts Sandra Lee territory, and a fairly simple skillet meal from Cooking Light called Couscous with Chickpeas, Tomatoes, and Edamame. My boyfriend, a burrito connoisseur par excellence, preferred the former dish, while I was nuts about the latter.
First, it’s tasty: spicy and vibrant, with a nice crunch provided by the edamame. Second, it has protein and fiber out the wazoo. Third, it’s delicious hot, cold, right after you eat it, three days later, as a main dish, and/or as a side dish. Finally, the recipe makes enough to feed me, my boyfriend, and our entire city block for a good decade. (Meaning: it’s a lot.)
Moving forward, if anyone has ideas about simple dinners with good leftover potential? I’m all ears. And to use my most-hated office terminology, thanks in advance.
Continue reading »
Posted by Joy Manning, November 25, 2008 at 11:30 AM
Philadelphia food writers Joy Manning and Tara Mataraza Desmond drop by each week with Meat Lite, which celebrates meat in moderation. Meat Lite was inspired by the book coauthored by the two, Almost Meatless, due out in spring 2009.
"This one resembles my sauce." —Joy Manning. Photograph from Martin Kingsley on Flickr
Growing up, there were always two pots of red sauce simmering on my grandmother's stove for family dinners. One was red gravy—tomatoes slow-cooked with fried meatballs and a marrow-rich beef bone—and the other was meatless marinara, a thin and mostly flavorless sauce intended for my mother, my sister, and me. The vegetarians.
In the pre-dinner bustle, as my sister filled the glasses with ice and my mother grated the Parmesan, I always stole a hunk of Italian bread and dipped it in that meaty gravy. (If I avoided any actual meat bits, I reasoned, it was still vegetarian.) Today, I still like a meat-infused sauce, but I skip the beef bone and traditional pile of meatballs and opt for a half pound of hot Italian sausage. Plenty of mushrooms amplify the meaty flavor and homemade chicken stock provides body and depth. I’ve been serving this sauce over homemade fresh spaghetti lately, but it’s got a million applications. It freezes very well.
Continue reading »
Posted by Blake Royer, October 14, 2008 at 4:30 PM
As summer vegetable season draws to a close, I'm finding late-season produce still available at the market, and it needs a little more attention in the kitchen.
Tomatoes aren't quite as glorious raw with a little basil. At this point, their flavor needs some heat and coaxing to emerge, perhaps as a tomato sauce. String beans, as well, are a bit tougher and need stewing. When I bought two kilos of yellow string beans recently, which were a bit old and tough, I turned to an Italian recipe made just for them.
Green beans with tomato sauce is a relatively common pairing in Italy. I started with a recipe from Lidia Bastianich's Italian-American Kitchen, but also turned to The Silver Spoon and liked the idea of adding chopped onion, a few olives, and leftover basil. The emerging dish was no groundbreaker, but it was classic and comforting and a good honest use of my beans.
Continue reading »
Posted by Nick Kindelsperger, October 6, 2008 at 4:45 PM
The secret to the dish is the ghee, a clarified butter that is rich, nutty, and addicting. It's also, unfortunately, the one step that takes the longest. I have seen it sold in big jugs at Indian supermarkets, but I can't vouch for whether they are good substitutes. I suppose you could just use butter and the curry would still be flavorful. But making the ghee couldn't be simpler, and because it leaves the milk solids behind, it has a long shelf life.
This dish also continues my love affair with cauliflower, a mysterious vegetable that I had always passed on the vegetable tray. But when cooked it develops these haunting flavors which marry well with the spicy curry powder and the ghee. The chickpeas break apart toward the end of the meal, thickening the sauce and giving this meatless dish some heft. Thanks go to Tyler Florence for this one.
Continue reading »
Posted by Ed Levine, October 5, 2008 at 8:00 AM
I adapted this simple, appealing recipe from my friend Susan Spungen's terrific, underrated book Recipes: A Collection for the Modern Cook (I know, I know, it's a terrible name). Where I live we're at the tail end of the cherry tomato season, so if you live in a similar climate, you're going to have to hit your local farmers' market this weekend. Multiseason Roma tomatoes just don't cut it in this dish.
If the cherry tomato season has passed you by, grape tomatoes are an acceptable if inferior substitute. The proper ingredients are worth scurrying for, because this is one of those intensely flavorful dishes that is simultaneously hearty and light.
Continue reading »
Posted by Kristen Swensson, September 29, 2008 at 10:55 AM
On Mondays, Kristen Swensson of Cheap, Healthy, Good swings by these parts to share a healthy and delicious recipe with us. Today, a new dressing for eggplant.
One of the great drawbacks to dieting is the repetition of foods. Often, dieters discover what works for them and become afraid to change their routines, locking themselves in a vicious cycle of yogurt, popcorn, breakfast cereal, brown rice, steamed vegetables, and chicken breast. Eating this way can be monumentally boring, and it’s easy to see why a person who values their sanity might avoid weight loss programs altogether.
Yet, if you’ve got the time and inclination, wholesome meals can be just as exciting as those dripping in butter and bacon. Take Black Bean and Tomato Quinoa, f’r instance. Hailing from the July 2007 issue of Gourmet Magazine and clocking in at less than 400 calories per (massive) serving, it gives healthy food a good name.
Perhaps it’s the lime dressing, which infuses the dish with flavor without overwhelming it in goo. It could be the quinoa, which has a distinctive nutty taste far superior to white rice and its lamer brethren. Or, maybe it’s the tomatoes, black beans, and scallions, which reminded one friend of "the insides of a really good burrito."
Whatever it is, it’ll make you forget uninspired diet food. So will the $4 price tag and the 10 grams of fiber per serving (meaning, not only will your colon thank you, but the colon of the guy sitting next to you will be pretty impressed, too). All in all, not too shabby for a nutritious meal.
Continue reading »
Posted by Blake Royer, September 11, 2008 at 4:15 PM
When the summer comes to an end, there is always a surfeit of tomatoes. Whether you head to the farmer's market and try to nab the sun-softened leftovers at the end of the day for cheap—or you grow your own and the fruits finally turning ripe all at once, as in my case—this recipe for roasted tomato sauce from The River Cottage Cookbook is a great way to take advantage. It's especially kind to tomatoes a little past their prime and growing slightly mealy.
The original recipe is simple: just roast the halved tomatoes in the oven with chopped garlic and olive oil, then pass the result through a sieve or food mill. In an act of supreme laziness, I didn't bother chopping the garlic cloves, and I blended everything in the end, including skins and seeds. It didn't seem to matter—I enriched it with a few tablespoons of butter and served it with fusilli. The pasta was as rich and thick as macaroni and cheese.
Continue reading »
Posted by Nick Kindelsperger, September 2, 2008 at 5:15 PM
Although I'm a little surprised to say this, my new favorite BLT is made with fried green tomatoes. I got the idea from someone I had just met. We were sitting at a bar, and after a few drinks it sounded just strange enough that it might actually work. When I started searching, I realized that many, many people had thought of this before. Some tried to spruce up the recipe, adding all kinds of herbs and such. I just wanted to replace the T with FGT. I decided to find the best way to fry a green tomato and go from there.
The recipe for the fried green tomatoes came from the Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook. The green tomatoes are dredged in flour and cornmeal, dipped into a milk-and-egg mixture, and redredged before taking a dip in the fryer. They come out crisp on the outside and creamy on the inside. It's a great contrast, and in a sandwich that relies on the interplay of different textures, it's a welcome treat.
Continue reading »
Posted by Nick Kindelsperger, August 29, 2008 at 4:30 PM
With a concept as simple as bread and tomatoes, a recipe seems almost worthless. But this one from Saveur stands out, if only for the garlic-infused bread. It's not an overwhelming stale garlic bread flavor—just a hint that perfumes this dish. Combine with great tomatoes and you really don't need much else in the world.
Real summer tomatoes are the heart and soul of this dish, so don't mess with supermarket ones. They'll just get neglected in the bowl. My one recommendation is to make far more than you think you'll need. The wife and I could have easily doubled this and eaten nothing else for dinner. Embrace this summer dish. 'Tis the season.
Continue reading »
Posted by Adam Kuban, August 29, 2008 at 2:45 PM
After getting an email about this recipe from Mark H. (aka Famdoc in the comments), I took the liberty of translating it from the French. If you're fluent in française, do click to the original, as my translation may be a bit shaky. ;)
In place of the oregano, Mark recommends using a handful of various fresh herbs from the garden (or market): basil, thyme, oregano and rosemary.
For the dough:
30 g yeast
300 g flour
15 cl milk
10 cl olive oil
A pinch of salt
For the toppings:
1 kg cherry tomatoes
10 g dried oregano
5 cl olive oil
Basil, to taste
100 g Niçoise olives
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1. Dissolve yeast in a little warmed milk. In a large bowl, mix the yeast with the flour, 15 cl milk, the olive oil, and the salt. When the dough becomes flexible, spread it out it in an oiled pan about 30 centimeters (12 inches) in diameter.
2. Let rise 2 hours at room temperature. Preheat oven to 210°C (410°F). Wash, équeutez???, wipe, and cut tomatoes in half.
3. Lay out tomatoes in a rosette on the dough. Salt and pepper the tomatoes, and sprinkle the oregano over. Then give it a nice pour of olive oil. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes. Remove from oven, let cool a bit, and serve after adding the olives and basil.
Posted by Robin Bellinger, August 25, 2008 at 11:30 AM
When the dining hall became unbearable in college, I would treat myself to a fresh tomato, mozzarella, and basil sandwich at my favorite bakery. This combination fueled my most desperate studying, even in the dead of winter. At the time, I hadn’t heard of “seasonal” or “local," so I didn’t notice if the tomatoes were imperfect or the basil didn’t taste quite right with snow on the ground.
Since then, I've voluntarily submitted to a much stricter set of guidelines about what to eat and when, which means that I’m on something of a tomato bender right now. Recently, I decided to recreate my old favorite sandwich. If you’re squeamish about squishy bread, then don’t make this in the morning and eat it at lunchtime but for me, dressing-soaked bread is a plus.
Continue reading »
Posted by Nick Kindelsperger, August 21, 2008 at 5:00 PM
Since I was covered in tomatoes from the farmers' market and needed an interesting way to use them, I immediately jumped on a tomato curry recipe from Nigel Slater's The Kitchen Diaries. I decided to add chicken, and without consulting the recipe any further, got started with the few ingredients necessary. Not until I chopped up the tomatoes did I realize they were supposed to sit in the sauce like the main dish—I was supposed to leave them whole. Why else would the recipe call for fresh and canned tomatoes?
Rather than toss my wooden spoon on the floor, I kept on cooking. Since it was now my mishap of a recipe, I started playing around by adding more heat and a sprinkle of garam marsala at the end for extra depth. After all the mistakes, I sat down to a pretty stellar tomato curry.
Like many Indian-inspired dishes, this one has more ingredients than the average quick, simple Dinner Tonight recipe. But four of them are spices, and most—onions, garlic, dried red chillies, and canned tomatoes—are just pantry staples. The dish can be finished in about 45 minutes. All in all, a pretty successful failure.
Continue reading »
Posted by Ed Levine, August 17, 2008 at 12:00 PM
This week's Cartoon Kitchen features Serious Eats' cartoonist in residence Larry Gonick's spin on what to do with tomatoes, which are, of course, in season right now. —Ed Levine
Posted by Nick Kindelsperger, July 28, 2008 at 4:15 PM
I picked this one out from Lidia's Italy, a book with some wonderful recipes. Most of her pasta dishes are bare bones, and this one is no exception. It's kind of a tomato sauce, but only cooked for five-ish minutes, leaving the tomatoes bright and sugary. The arugula adds a little bitterness, and the red pepper flakes provide a nice bit of heat.
I couldn't find any cavatelli (the preferred pasta for this creation), strascinate (the second pick), or even humble orecchiette (which I really should have been able to find). So I used this shell-shaped pasta called conchiglie rigate—a shape that was new to me. But it more than worked. It trapped the sauce, surprising some bites with unexpected flavor.
Continue reading »
Posted by Blake Royer, July 15, 2008 at 4:30 PM
My favorite kind of tomato sauce is a raw one. Despite the supposed romance of long-simmered tomatoes cooked down over the course of hours with herbs, garlic, and spices, I usually lack time or energy for that. When it's summer and fresh tomatoes have all the flavor you could want, cooking them somehow seems criminal.
All the tomatoes need is a quick blanch to help peel off the skins, then a half-hour bath in fruity olive oil, garlic, and slivered basil (plus liberal amounts of salt). The longer you can marinate the better, but the flavors mingle well (and I start to get hungry) after thirty minutes. Afterwards, small chunks of fresh mozzarella go in—when the whole thing is tossed with hot pasta, the cheese turns gooey in the heat.
Continue reading »
Posted by Lucy Baker, July 8, 2008 at 3:00 PM
I look forward to floral, plump, perfectly ripe summer tomatoes all year long. And now that the season is finally here, I'm not about to let a little Salmonella scare stop me from enjoying them. Are you?
For this week's Magazine Recipe Review I prepared the Tomato Bread Salad with Olives and Mint from the July/August issue of Everyday Food. It was delicious—you should try it. Trust me. And just to quell your fears, here is a list from the FDA of all the tomato-producing places that have not been associated with the outbreak.
This easy salad came together in minutes and made for an incredibly satisfying lunch. The key is to use the best quality ingredients you can find. To that end, I replaced the hoagie roll with a hunk of ciabatta (I thought it would hold up better against all the juices), and broke out the good olive oil. Don't skimp on the pepper, and definitely use freshly ground. The intense, contrasting flavors are what make this dish so interesting: the briny olives against the refreshing mint, and the juicy tomatoes alongside the crusty bread. The light lemon vinaigrette adds a bit of tang and ties everything together perfectly.
Continue reading »
Posted by Ed Levine, July 6, 2008 at 12:00 PM
This week's Cartoon Kitchen features Serious Eats' cartoonist in residence Larry Gonick's spin on tomato fondue. In these days of salmonella-contaminated tomatoes, however, just be sure to make yours with those that are considered safe. —Ed Levine
Posted by Blake Royer, June 17, 2008 at 4:30 PM
Tomato season is achingly close, but it's not here yet—not in New York, at least. I've resisted the temptation to eat fresh tomatoes for months, except maybe a cherry variety once in awhile. Soon I'll be chopping up the ones in my garden, tossing them in a bowl with olive oil, garlic and basil leaves, and waiting around for everything to marinate. Mix it all with pasta and call it a day.
In the meantime, this recipe for spaghetti with tomato and orange juice from The Top One Hundred Pasta Sauces, traditionally called spaghetti al pomodoro e arancia, has a unique, summery take on canned-based tomato sauce. Adding a little sugar to cut the acidity of tomatoes is common in cooking, but this was the first time I've read about using sweet juicing oranges instead of sugar. The citrus notes round out the flavors and make the pasta feel summery and fresh, rather than dull and canned. It also gives it a natural sweetness.
Continue reading »
Posted by Lucy Baker, June 17, 2008 at 3:45 PM
The olive and I have a loving and long standing relationship, but recently I've been having a little affair—a summer fling, if you will—with the caper. What started as a passing sprinkle atop a lox-laden bagel has become a downright infatuation: at the restaurant where I waitress I don't steal bread from the basket, or biscotti from the jar by the dessert wines; I sneak caper berries from the antipasti station.
Just what is a caper, anyway? Capers are the premature buds of a perennial bush native to the Mediterranean. Once picked, they are cured in a combination of salt and vinegar. Their briny flavor is similar to that of olives and anchovies, and the three ingredients are often used together in dishes such as puttanesca. If allowed to mature on the bush, caper buds grow into caper berries, which are much larger—about the size of cocktail olives—and can be served as a meze or antipasto on their own.
Given my obsession with these tiny morsels, I couldn't pass up the recipe for Grilled Chicken Thighs with Roasted Grape Tomatoes in the June issue of Cooking Light. The chicken thighs are marinated in a simple combination of olive oil, lemon, and garlic. Once grilled, they are served with a mound of roasted tomatoes stirred with parsley, more lemon, and a generous spoonful of capers. The results are fantastic: the smoky, meaty flavor of the chicken thighs (don't be tempted to substitute breasts!) is tempered by the sweet tomatoes and the tart, salty capers.
While I will prepare this dish again exactly as is, the tomato mixture would be equally good paired with a hearty fish, such as tuna.
Continue reading »
Posted by Adam Kuban, April 16, 2008 at 1:45 PM
Adapted from The River Cottage Cookbook by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.
Ingredients
2 pounds ripe, full-flavored tomatoes, cut in half
2 to 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Procedure
Preheat oven to 350°F. Meanwhile, arrange the tomato halves, tightly packed but not on top of each other, in an ovenproof dish. Mix the garlic with the olive oil; drizzle it evenly over tomatoes. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Roast in oven for 35 to 45 minutes, until tomatoes are soft and pulpy and slightly charred. Rub through a sieve; discard the seeds and skins.
Can Be Used In
Beet Soup with Feta
Posted by Robyn Lee, April 8, 2008 at 6:00 PM
One Polaroid photo of a pair of tomatoes may not be that interesting, but arrange 15 Polaroid photos in a 3x5 grid and those tomatoes look much cooler. Check out more photography by Mike Slack. [via swissmiss]
Posted by Adam Kuban, March 5, 2008 at 6:30 PM
Today's recipe from this week's featured cookbook, Panini Express, veers away from the ham of the last two days and heads straight to vegetarian territory with Artichoke, Oven-Roasted Tomato, and Goat Cheese Panini. Although tomatoes aren't in season as I write this, oven-roasting those you do find this time of year can help concentrate their flavor, sweetening them enough to play against the other flavors in this pressed sandwich.
But that's not what we did. We didn't have four or five hours to roast tomatoes today, so we subbed in jarred sun-dried tomatoes. We also didn't want to buy an entire bunch of basil just for one tablespoon's worth, so we subbed in some greens we had growing in the office AeroGarden.
Win 'Panini Express'
If you're just now tuning in, you should note that we're giving away five (5) copies of this book here on Serious Eats this week. More details on that here.
Continue reading »
Posted by Adam Kuban, March 5, 2008 at 5:45 PM
- makes 10 tomato halves -
Oven-roasting tomatoes concentrates their flavors and is a good technique for pepping up the less-than-ideal tomatoes of winter. Oven-roasted tomatoes are juicier and softer than jarred or bottled sun-dried versions.
Use This Recipe In
Artichoke, Oven-Roasted Tomato, and Goat Cheese Panini
Continue reading »
Posted by Ed Levine, December 22, 2007 at 5:35 PM
Edna Lewis' food to me was the essence of soul and comfort, and this simple Sunday supper of Baked Tomatoes with Crusty Bread reflects her elegant, simple aesthetic perfectly. I guarantee when you serve this dish to friends and loved ones there will be nary a crust left. Though Edna envisioned it as a side dish, it can also feed four hungry folks as a main course accompanied by a substantial salad. Or serve it as a side dish with roast pork.
Continue reading »
Posted by Adam Kuban, October 31, 2007 at 1:30 PM
When we paged through Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian
earlier in the week, we knew we had to save this recipe for today. If you selected a pumpkin with eating in mind rather than carving, you should be good to go.
Continue reading »
Posted by Mario Batali, October 5, 2007 at 11:00 AM
My take on marinara sauce (actually the sauce of the seafarers) is a basic tomato sauce. In some places it just means garlic oil and parsley, and in others it is as elaborate as tomatoes, peppers, and lots of herbs.
I use it as a building block in lots of dishes as well as just a simple quick pasta sauce that can be transformed in a thousand ways. If you add chile flakes, you have arrabbiata; if you add anchovies, chile flakes, olives, and capers, you have puttanesca—both only for pasta and so on and so forth.
I have seen places in the States serve fish or meat with the preceding two Italian phrases and am embarrassed for the chefs who have not traveled to Italy. Anyway, this is my recipe, and it is as simple as opening a can. The key here is San Marzano tomatoes from Italy—not from Chile and not from California.
Continue reading »
Posted by Dorie Greenspan, September 27, 2007 at 4:45 PM
It took me three years to admit it, but the rather large patch in my garden that we created specifically for tomatoes was dug in the wrong place! The plants just don't get enough sun, which explains why I'm harvesting the first truly ripe tomatoes now, at the end of September.
The tomatoes were awfully slow to turn red—so slow that most of them were eaten by the chipmunks, raccoons, deer and moles, who get to spend more time in the garden than I do—but, on a good day, that made them seem so much more precious. To celebrate our first harvest, we ate sliced tomatoes for breakfast, lunch and dinner (I even had a tomato sandwich one day) and I made these pretty tomato tartlets as a starter for an outdoor dinner.
The tartlets are built on a base of puff pastry (homemade or storebought), which is baked between two cookie sheets in order to keep it from doing what it was created to do—puff. I know, I know, it's an act against the pastry's nature, but what you get is perfect: a layer of pastry that is shatter-at-a-touch flaky, but flat enough to serve as a palette for a pile of delicious ingredients.
Continue reading »
Posted by Nick Kindelsperger, September 17, 2007 at 4:00 PM
Most of the okra I put down is pickled, which means A) I don’t have it that often and B) I haven’t the slightest idea what to do with it raw.
I know about its powerful thickening properties and that it is used a lot in Southern cooking. So I when I brought home a nice bag of the stuff from the farmers' market, I pulled out my 1985 edition of the Courier-Journal Kentucky Cookbook (it’s a long story), and looked for some recipes for this interesting vegetable.
The one I found is apparently from 1946 and written by a woman (hopefully) named Cissy Gregg. She says: "The combination of okra, tomatoes and corn either charms people to the point where they'll roll their eyes around in their heads at the very thought of it, or it brings forth a grimace." Count me in the former group.
Continue reading »
Posted by Mario Batali, September 11, 2007 at 12:00 PM
Editor's note: We're thrilled to introduce our bureau chief of all things Italian on Serious Eats, Mario Batali. Mario will be weighing in regularly on, well, anything he cares to weigh in on. We're excited to have Mario on the site, mostly because he loves to eat and cook as much as we do, and because he adheres to the Serious Eats bywords—Passionate, Inclusive, Discerning—in all of his far-flung endeavors. —Ed Levine
Nothing, nothing, sounds better than a plate of spaghetti al pomodoro in the month of September.
Did I say nothing? I meant nothing!
The myth of summer tomatoes will continue, but real cooks know that the maximum flavor raver for the golden love apples' peak of perfection is in fact September and even October. A walk through nearly any farmers' market in the northern hemisphere will prove me correct, as one jaunt this last weekend through the Union Square Greenmarket did. There are literally three dozen different types of magnificent tomatoes available in assorted hues, with fantasy names from Green Zebras and Brandywines to Black Russians, Wrinkly Ligurians, Ox Hearts and Cherokee Purples.
Continue reading »
Posted by Adam Kuban, August 24, 2007 at 6:00 PM
And so the time has come to say goodbye to Vegetable Harvest, this week's featured book. Our final recipe from Patricia Well's potager-inspired cookbook is one that shouldn't tax you too much on the penultimate weekend of summer; it calls for only three ingredients and a blender.
Continue reading »
Posted by Adam Kuban, August 22, 2007 at 8:30 PM
Speaking of corn, today's Cook the Book recipe makes good use of the vegetable—along with two of the season's other usual suspects, tomatoes and cucumbers. The contrast of colors is as pleasing to the eye as it is to the palate.
The recipe, of course, is from Patricia Wells's Vegetable Harvest.
Continue reading »
Posted by Nick Kindelsperger, August 22, 2007 at 4:00 PM
The hardest part about the stuffed vegetable recipes that I’ve tried is that whatever I happen to mix together—no matter how thoughtful the combination—has to come to together perfectly at the same time. Which, as I’ve found out the hard way, is nearly impossible when you combine meats, vegetables, and cheeses. I’ve had to precook multiple different items, combine them at various stages of doneness, and hope for the best.
Fortunately, this one is different. It’s the first time I’ve been able to really pour over the vegetable section of Larousse Gastronomique. The vast number of recipes contained within scared me away for a while. But this simple little appetizer is the perfect introduction. It helped that we started with some superb farmer’s market tomatoes, but it’s that egg that is ingenious.
Continue reading »
Posted by Ed Levine, May 3, 2007 at 6:45 PM
Like a lot of people my age, the Silver Palate Cookbook became my go-to cookbook when I first started cooking for friends and girlfriends. In fact, the first brunch I ever cooked for my wife featured two recipes from the Silver Palate. Julee Rosso's and Sheila Lukins's recipes are simultaneously sophisticated and down to earth, and—here's the best part—they always work.
This was one of the most popular summer salad recipes from the original Silver Palate.
Continue reading »
Posted by SaraBir, September 12, 2006 at 1:19 PM
My friend Bryan asked me for suggestions for utilizing the abundant crop of tomatoes in his backyard (he lives in California, where tomatoes lazily ripen into the early fall). I told him to can them, but not everyone has the energy or equipment to do that. In the meantime, you can always eat lots of fresh tomatoes. It’s your last summer fling.
This pasta dish came about from my last visit to my parents’ house. They had corn on the cob, beautiful beefsteak tomatoes, and fresh basil in dire need of use, so I threw them all together for a simple but flavorful pasta dish. Juicy tomatoes help make the sauce for the pasta, so don’t use plum tomatoes for this. If you don’t have fresh corn, use frozen, which is often superior to out-of-season fresh corn.
Ingredients
(Serves 4)
1/2 pound uncooked pasta (spaghetti, linguine, or fettuccini)
3 to 4 large, ripe tomatoes, cored (the more tomatoes the better)
2 to 3 cups fresh or frozen corn kernels (thawed if frozen)
2 cloves garlic, very thinly sliced crosswise
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 bunch (three cups loosely packed) basil, thinly sliced
4 to 6 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
Procedure
1. Put a large pot of salted water on to boil and cook the pasta according to package directions.
2. Meanwhile, chop the tomatoes. Place in a large bowl and set aside.
Toast the corn in a heavy, dry medium skillet over medium-high, stirring occasionally, heat until you see charred spots on the corn, 2 to 3 minutes. Add toasted corn to tomatoes.
3. In a small skillet, heat the garlic and olive oil over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the garlic is a light golden-brown (do not allow to burn). Pour over corn-tomato mixture. Stir in the basil and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
4. When the pasta is al dente, drain it quickly, allowing some of the cooking water to cling. Add pasta to tomato-corn mixture, toss with the feta cheese, and season to taste with more salt and pepper.
Note: You can substitute Parmesan cheese for the feta, if you wish.
