don't overlook the basics... tomato sandwiches

Source: instagr.am via Jessica on Pinterest

It almost seems too simple to write about - the tomato sandwich, after all anyone can slap together some finely sliced tomatoes, some mayo and a couple of slices of bread. Perhaps. But sometimes we overlook the fact that sometimes simplest is best. It's hot outside. The sun is scorching, you're hungry but you want something light. You don't really want to cook. You're not in the mood for a salad... Enter the tomato sandwich. Perhaps you like your tomatoes sliced on white bread. Perhaps you like a rustic, chewy whole grained variety. Perhaps you like it toasted. Or not. Whether mayonnaise, cream cheese or a flavored cheese spread like Boursin, toss on a few thinly sliced tomatoes, shredded basil, a dash of salt and pepper and suddenly you have a simple sandwich that's pure delight!

Our tomatoes are sweet and sublime. I think I'm enjoying these tasty fruits morning, noon and night!

Guacamole de los Ninos

My 10 year old is a whiz in the kitchen. He has a knack for what works and what doesn't. Like me, he often prefers not to follow a recipe and go by taste instead. He wanted to make guacamole the other night and so just using the following ingredients he eyeballed what he thought would be the right amounts. I did the chopping, his little brother did the mashing and he did everything else. On a jagged piece of paper I took notes as I am apt to do myself when playing around in the kitchen. I am sure this recipe has been printed with exact proportions but this really did come from the top of his head. I want to add that this was one of the best damn guac recipes I have ever had.

2 Haas avocados, almost to the point of being too ripe
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1/2 small to medium onion - ours was Vidalia
1 lemon, juiced
3 smallish Campari tomatoes
1/8 cup (eyeballed) cilantro
Salt to taste

Directions

Cut the avocado in half. Remove pits and skins. Place meats in a medium, deep, bowl. Finely chop the 2 cloves of garlic and add to the avocado. Juice the lemon and add to the bowl. Cut the tomato, keep the seeds but discard the stem, into small bites, add to bowl. Chop the onion finely and add to the bowl. Finally, mince the cilantro and add to the mixture. Using a potato masher, mash all the ingredients until all are well blended. Add salt to taste and refrigerate for at least two hours to let the flavors all marry and settle. Enjoy with your favorite tortilla chips.

A Perfect Summer Meal: Cornmeal Crusted Chicken, Backyard Summer Salad & Lemon Parmesan Fusilli

This meal happened quite by accident, as all my best ones do. I had several pounds of chicken in the fridge that should have gone in to the freezer. I had taken the kids out of town for a couple of days and totally forgot about the chicken. Until I came home... and noticed that the Sell By Date was that day. We had already eaten dinner but I was not about to lose all that lovely free-range chicken. So I took one of the packages and dumped it into boiling water. I would freeze the cooked chicken to make chicken salad another day. The other batch would get lightly coated with cornmeal and some seasonings, tossed into a skilled with olive oil for a few minutes and then on to a baking sheet for a few more minutes. Even though this would be our dinner the following night I had to try a sample. It was divine. I love to use cornmeal instead of flour. I love the texture it provides.

Cornmeal Crusted Chicken
Ingredients:

Chicken breast, 1 to 2 lbs, trimmed and cut into smaller portions as desired
1/2 cup good quality cornmeal, repeat this ratio as necessary
1 tablespoon seasoning such as Lawry's, Old Bay or your preference
Good quality olive oil
Sea salt and ground pepper to taste

In a skillet heat olive oil until it starts to sizzle, then turn heat to medium high
In a deep bowl add the cornmeal and seasonings and mix well
Dredge the chicken in the cornmeal and place in the pan. Let brown on both sides, about 5 minutes.
Place on baking sheet. Repeat until all chicken has been browned, adding extra olive oil as needed. (If excess cornmeal builds up in pan, wipe clean with paper towel, add more olive oil and start over.
Place baking sheet in a preheated, 375 degree oven, for about 15 minutes to ensure the chicken is adequately cooked. The cornmeal crust should keep the chicken from drying out inside.

Backyard Summer Salad

If you have a tomato garden this is a perfect salad for you. If you happen to grow cucumber and basil, even better!

Ingredients:

1 large cucumber, peeled and trimmed. (I prefer the seedless English cuckes)
1 large tomato, quartered and thinly sliced
1 clove of garlic, very finely chopped
1 handful fresh Basil, Julienned
1/2 onion thinly sliced (I prefer red or Vidalia)
1/4 Grandma's Dressing

Grandma's Dressing:
1 cup of light extra virgin olive oil
1/4 apple cider vinegar
4 tbs. water
2tbs. powdered beef bouillon

In a large bowl add the above ingredients. Let marinate at least 20 minutes prior to serving.



The Lemon Parmesan Fusilli was based upon this recipe... I just guestimated here and added 1 clove of garlic, finely chopped.

Spaghetti with Oven Dried Tomatoes and Olive oil infused with Garlic, Lemon and Basil

We've been eating a lot of pasta here lately. Our grill died. It's cold out and I don't have the energy to cook heavy meals. This dish reminds me of one I would eat in Italy. My grandmother had fabulous help in Agnese. She kept a great house and she was a fabulous cook. Mostly what she cooked came straight from the gardens on the property. But sometimes what we crave is not available or in season. I learned to love canned tomatoes. Especially San Marzano tomatoes. Agnese used a lot of olive oil and garlic and lemon. I tend to use this combination a good bit too. Throw in some basil for good measure because I like it and because it is in my fridge and I don't want it to turn bad and it will if I don't use it in this dish.

I took the San Marzano tomatoes from the can and removed the seeds and drained them the best I could. Then I placed them on a drying rack that I placed on a cookie sheet that I should have lined with aluminum foil... but I didn't.. Oh well.

I sprinkled a very generous amount of sea salt on the tomatoes and set them in the oven for about an hour and a half at 325 degrees. I watched the oven closely. You do not want to burn your tomatoes. After a half hour or so I turned the tomatoes over. The goal is to get your tomatoes to dry out. I wish I had used two cans. Next time I will. These were so delicious!

While the tomatoes were cooking I took a cup of oil and put it in a saucepan over high heat. I tossed in 4 cloves of garlic, some lemon peel and a small handful of basil. When the oil started to bubble I removed it from the heat and let it sit for an hour or so.

When the tomatoes were done I removed them from the oven and chopped them into small pieces. I removed the garlic, lemon peel and basil from the olive oil. I chopped the garlic and set it aside.

When the spaghetti was was done (cooked per directions on box) I drained it and returned it to the pot adding the juice from the lemon and about 1/4 Cup of the olive oil, chopped garlic and tomato. I added some salt and tossed well. Some fresh Parmesan was all it needed for the finishing touch.

This simple pasta simply burst with flavor. Christopher had 3 helpings!

Holy Guacamole!

My nine year old made this. This is seriously the best guacamole I have ever had! I went out to lunch with my husband to a fabulous South American/Pacific Rim restaurant with a guacamole that is sublime. I wanted more and my son always wants to cook. We took a basic guacamole recipe and tweaked it. Rick Bayless, watch out!

Ingredients

• 3 Haas avocados, halved, seeded and peeled
• 1 ½ lime, juiced
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• Freshly ground pepper, to taste
• A good shake of ancho chili powder (or any red chili powder)
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 Roma tomatoes, seeded and dice, or 3 Plum or Campari tomatoes
• 2 tablespoon chopped cilantro
• 1 clove garlic, minced


Directions

Scoop the avocados (discard pit and skin) and place the meats in a large bowl. Squeeze the lime, set aside. Dice the onions and tomatoes, set aside. Using a mortar and pestle or a potato masher mash the avocado, add the lime juice, tomatoes, garlic, onion and cilantro and mix well. Add spices, mix well. Let sit for at least 20 minutes before serving.

7 Layer Taco Dip

(This one is for Ann!)

This is my Mother-in-Law's recipe and has become a staple at BBQs and casual parties.
It's delish and so easy to make, and you can change the shape and decorate it to be anything you want. We often turn this into a football during for the Superbowl.

Ingredients:

31 oz can of refried beans
1 1/2 pints of sour cream
1 1/2 jars (8 oz) Picante sauce or a good salsa
2 small cans of black olives, sliced or chopped (we used a third for the garnish)
1 bunch of scallions, chopped
4 tomatoes, diced
2 avocados, diced, optional
8 oz cheddar cheese, shredded

Layer in order of ingredients, from top to bottom, serve with a good quality tortilla chip and enjoy!

This can be made in advance and store in the refrigerator. Remove from fridge for about a half an hour prior to serving so the dip is not too cold. It tastes best at room temperature.

That's Amore!

Practically everyone likes pizza. There's good pizza. Great pizza and mediocre pizza. There's Chicago deep dish pizza, (Icky, imo, lol!) New York pizza which has the chewiest outer crust and makes the perfect pizza "fold." There is also something, in this area, called "New Haven Style" which I didn't take too seriously at first... I mean hailing from Manhattan and all, I had to ask myself, is there really any other kind of pizza? But this New Haven stuff is really pretty good. Pepe's Pizza in New Haven, and now in Fairfield is deliciously reminiscent of the pizzas I have eaten in Italy... brick oven flavor, thin crispy crust.... Mmmmmm! And, if you live anywhere in Connecticut and you are lucky enough to experience The Big Green Pizza Truck, well then, you'll have died and gone to Heaven!

But since most of you live no where near CT... and since many of you have to deal with crappy fast food pizza like Pizza Hut, or worse... Domino's... and you may even have a pizzeria in town, but many so called Pizzerias have only so-so pizzas. You have got to try to make your own. It's so easy and so divine! And it's a great family activity.

The kids made a typical red pizza using a good marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese. They also added some olives, green and black and sausages that I cooked up quickly. It was deelish!

I wanted to try something a bit different this time... something with a Greek flair. I thought about the ingredients in a Greek salad... the olives, peppers, artichoke hearts, feta... Mmmm, so I did just that. My only mistake was using the green olives instead of black ones. This was a little too salty for even me!

I used a little mozzarella, just enough to barely cover the dough. Then I added a generous amount of crumbled feta, peppers, artichoke hearts, olives, a few chic peas and since there was a little left over sausage I tossed that on too!

Daddy was skeptical, but after the very first bite there was no stopping him!

If you have access to a good quality pizza dough at your supermarket this will work just fine. (You may want to try a few to see which you like the best.) If you don't pizza dough is simple to make.

Basic Pizza Dough

1 cup of warm water

1 package of active dry yeast

2.5 to 3 cups of flour

2 tbs, olive oil

1/2 tsp, salt

Combine the water, yeast, and 1 1/2 cups of the flour in a large bowl. Mix well. Add the oil, salt, and remaining flour. With large wooden spoon or your hands mix the ingredients together until the dough holds its shape. You may not need the entire amount of flour so add the last half gradually. Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. If the dough becomes sticky, sprinkle a bit more flour over it. Likewise, if the dough seems too dry add a few drops of water until you get the texture desired. Transfer the dough to a slightly oiled 2-quart bowl, then cover your bowl with a dish towel and let sit for about an hour or so, until the dough doubles in size.

When the dough has risen, place it on a lightly floured surface, divide it into two or more parts and roll them into balls. Cover them with a towel and let rest for 15 minutes. The dough is ready to be shaped, topped and cooked.

Shape your dough carefully and slowly. Manipulating it too much will result in dough that will not be supple and pliable.

Place your dough on to a lightly greased cookie sheet or pizza pan and shape as desired. Add the desired toppings.

To make a regular red pizza add marinara sauce spoonfuls at a time, just enough to lightly cover the dough, working it out to the edges. Then add the cheese and whatever topping your heart desires!

Such toppings can include but are not limited to:
olives, peppers, roasted peppers, onions, mushrooms, meatballs (crumbled), sausages, anchovies... anything your heart desires!

To make the Greek Inspired Pizza:

Add a light coating of mozzarella cheese to cover the dough, then add a generous amount of crumbled feta cheese, followed by artichoke hearts (canned and quartered), olives, garbanzo beans, a thinly sliced pepperoncinis.

Once the pizza toppings have been added place pizza in the oven (one at a time is best for taste and texture) and cook at 350 degrees for about 10 -15 minutes, depending on the size. Look for a golden crust as well as bubbling and golden cheese.

Enjoy!

Summer Pasta

On a warm summer night you want something refreshing with fresh summer ingredients. On a warm summer night you don't want to fuss too much in the kitchen. Much like my Vine Ripened Tomato Sauce, this recipe requires minimal cooking, just what's necessary to cook the pasta!

You'll need:

6 medium to large tomatoes, cut into bite size pieces
1 jar of canned black olives, pitted and cut in half or the equivalent of fresh pitted kalamata (found in salad bars)

1 good sized handful of fresh basil, julienned

2-3 medium cloves of garlic, chopped
1 container of crumbled feta cheese

a generous shake of Lawry's seasoned salt
freshly ground pepper

1 lb tricolore radiatore (or whichever shape you desire)

1 lb small cheese filled tortellini

1/4 - 1/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

In a medium sized bowl place tomatoes, oil, basil, garlic and seasonings and let marinate in room temperature for about 2 hours, about 30 minutes prior to serving add the feta and olives, let sit.

In a large sauce pan bring water to a boil and cook pasta. (If they have different cooking times, you might want to start one before the other.)

When pasta is ready, drain and then rinse under cold water to bring to room temperature. Drain well.

In a large bowl add pasta then tomato sauce and mix well. Season with additional sea salt and freshly ground pepper if necessary.

Bacon, Lettuce & Tomato Salad

I love a good BLT sandwich. When done right with crispy bacon and fresh juicy tomatoes there is nothing like it. So I wondered how I could take these ingredients and turn them into a salad. With tomatoes lining up on my counter, so fresh they are on the verge of turning, I needed to come up with a recipe that would use them all up. (The next batch gets picked tomorrow.)

I thought about making this Panzanella-like. Panzanella is a traditional bread salad served in the Umbria and Tuscany regions of Italy. It is essentially large pieces of stale rustic bread, tomatoes, cucumbers and vinaigrette, though I have had it various ways. Panzanella can get soggy. So I decided to make croutons from my stale bread. Worked like a charm!

This salad was a hit across the board -- even my non tomato eater ate gobbled it up (though passed the red bits off to his brother!)

Ingredients:
1 package, 3 heads romaine lettuce trimmed, washed and cut into strips

4 large tomatoes (or 1 per person) trimmed and cut into bite sized chunks

10 strips of bacon, do not crumble as you want big pieces to bite into

3/4 of a baguette or 4 stale dinner rolls, cut in to bite sized pieces

6 scallions, chopped, using both green and white parts

Olive Oil, about 2 tbs for the pan

Salt and garlic powder of seasoned salt

To prepare your croutons, pour olive oil into a pan and heat over a medium high flame. When hot add the bread and coat each piece well with the olive oil. Add seasonings to taste. Brown each side and when golden brown remove from pan and place on a plate on a piece of paper towel. Cool entirely before adding to salad.



I like to cut my lettuce. I cut it in small strips as it is manageable for the children. They have an awfully hard time with large leaves of lettuce. Place lettuce in salad bowl. Add chopped scallions, and tomatoes. Mix well. When croutons have cooled, add croutons. When bacon has cooked, let cool before breaking it into large, bite sized pieces.

To make the dressing you'll need a medium sized mixing bowl, cruet or old jar. Combine ingredients in the following order and mix well until all the ingredients are blended. Pour on salad and toss just prior to serving.

For the dressing:

1/3 cup of canola oil
1/3 cup of cider vinegar
2 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tbs. water
1/2 cup of light Mayonnaise
You may have some dressing left over, as I used about 3/4 of what I had made.

This is a salad that needs to be consumed immediately after being made.

Serves 4 adults as a main meal. Serves 8 as a small salad.

Vine Ripened Tomato Sauce with Gremeli

Summertime is a great time of the year to eat. I love to eat vegetables right out of the garden or picked from local farms or picked up a farm stand. Tomatoes are perfection this time of year. And those of you who grow them might have so many that you are looking for more ways to use them. This recipe is sure to please!

A lovely dish to cool you off on a hot summer day!

I first had this recipe about 20 years ago. My friend Jennifer made it for me and my friend Cathy. It was summertime and I was visiting my friend Cathy at her home in Greenwich. The recipe was so simple and quickly became one of my summertime favorites. You can make it was linguine or angel hair pasta, which I believe is how we ate it, but I used Gremeli as it is an easier shape for the kids to manage.

Ingredients:

Tomatoes, large, vine ripened (others will work well too) 1 per person
1 small handful of thyme
1 heaping handful of fresh basil leaves
2 - 4 cloves of garlic (depending on your taste)

Lawry's Seasoned Salt OR -- 2 good shakes
Jane's Crazy Mixed up Salt
Olive Oil, approx 1/8th of a cup, plus more to drizzle
Sea Salt, to taste
Freshly ground pepper, to taste
Freshly shaved or shredded Parmesan cheese, for serving

Directions:

1. In a medium or large sauce pan bring water to boil

2.While water is boiling score the bottom of each tomato with an X

3.Place in boiling water for NO MORE than 1 minute. This is called blanching. You want to remove the skin but not cook the tomato. You will see the skin start to peel off. Remove and place on a cool surface and repeat until all tomatoes have been blanched.

4. Once tomatoes have cooled, peel skin. Should peel easily using just your fingers.

(See picture below of tomatoes as soon as they come out of the hot water.)

5. After you peel the tomatoes into bite sized bits, discard the seeds and toss the chopped tomatoes into a medium sized bowl, then with your hands give the tomatoes a squeeze, breaking the bits up further. Set aside.

6. Chop up garlic, basil and thyme

and add all three ingredients to the tomatoes.

8. Mix well, add olive oil, seasonings and set aside to marinate for at least 2 hours.

9. Just prior to serving cook your pasta per directions on package. Drain and rinse under cool water to bring to room temperature. Drain pasta of all excess water.

10. In a large bowl add pasta, drizzle with about a tablespoon of olive oil and mix well.

11. Using a slatted spoon remove all tomatoes and set aside.

12. Add juices and mix well and taste... adjust seasonings as desired

Don't worry about it being too "soupy" the cheese will absorb some of the moisture or serve with a nice crusty baguette and use the bread to sop up all the good stuff!

Grape Tomato Salad & Goat Cheese for Bruschetta

I think this will become my new stand-by. It was simple, fast, portable and delish!

The busy weekend ended with a bang. We met up with a couple friends for a late afternoon get together at the beach. We brought sandwiches for the kiddos, wine, drink and appetizers for the older set.

I wanted something yummy, relatively healthy and portable. So I made tomato bruschetta of sorts. I cut up (about 2 cups) of grape tomatoes -- sliced them as thinly as possible, and marinated them in about 2 tbs. of olive oil, sea salt, 2 tbs, of minced basil and thyme. I let it all marinate in a plastic container for a couple of hours. (Same plastic container I brought to the beach to cut down on dishes!)

From the bakery we picked up a fresh Baguette that they sliced for us.

In a ramekin I put some herbed goat cheese.

On our picnic table I set everything out and people could make their own Bruschetta!

Had we not been at the beach, I would have toasted up the bread to make crostini... and had I used a plain goat cheese I would have added 1 or 2 cloves of minced garlic to the tomatoes.

I also brought along some of the fresh strawberries we picked the other day and the Ricotta Creme to dip the strawberries into. Yum-Yum!

Garden Fresh Gazpacho

I adore gazpacho. We eat it all the time when the weather is warm. I've been making it for years and sometimes I change the recipe a bit to suit my mood. My boys won't eat gazpacho. They tell me it's gross. Christopher can't stand tomatoes. But he loves salsa. (Not sure if he's made the tomato connection there or not, but I am not going to be the one to fill him in!) Christopher did try some and told me that it tasted just like salsa. So Daddy and I ate our soup with a batch of fresh-from-the-baker sour dough and some spiced butter. It was divine. And the boys ate theirs with some baked tortilla chips. It was quite good that way too. I had to try it for myself!

For this batch I used:

4 large tomatoes (good ones please! and cut into quarters)

1 large onion that I minced in the food processor

1 large red pepper, cut into medium sized chunks

1 large cucumber cut into medium sized chunks (I left the skin on)
2 cups of Mister T's Bloody Mary Mix (this adds great flavor! V-8 can be used instead.)
2 tbs. olive oil
2 tbs. cider vinegar
1 hefty dash of garlic powder

Place all your veggies in the food processor and blend until you get your desired consistency.

Can be served immediately or chilled and served at a later time. The water will separate from the vegetables and this is normal. One good stir will fix things.

Serving suggestion, a nice dollop of sour cream or creme fraiche and some fresh cilantro or dill as a garnish.

Hmm... wonder what would happen if I puree it complete and add a touch of vodka to it?!

To make the Spiced Butter:

1 stick of butter

1/2 cup of olive oil
2 cloves of garlic
a dash of cayenne pepper or paprika

Place all the ingredients in a mini food processor and pulse until well blended. Serve in ramekins with fresh bread.

Grilled Vegetable Gazpacho

Gazpacho is a cold, tomato-based soup that was popularized in the Andalusian area of Spain. It is now synonymous with Spanish cuisine. I love gazpacho and we gobble tons of it up in the summer months. I decided to try my hand at a grilled veggie version and I was pleasantly surprised with the results. Grilling the vegetables adds a certain sweetness (from the caramelization) to the soup. It has a more delicate bouquet.

1 medium onion sliced -- not too thinly!

1 red pepper, sliced

1 orange pepper, sliced

1 yellow pepper, sliced

4 tomatoes, *blanched, peeled and quartered

1 English cucumber (or 2 regular cucumbers) peeled and cut into chunks

Juice of 1 lemon

2 cloves of garlic, minced

sea salt, to taste

crushed red pepper, a couple shakes!

* Place onions on grill (this also works well on a good nonstick fry pan with a little non-stick cooking spray) and cook until lightly browned. When sufficiently browned set aside in a bowl.

* Repeat above with all the peppers.

* Meanwhile, make a small X in the bottom of each tomato and place in boiling water for 30-60 seconds, remove and peel skin. (You will see the skin start to pull away where you have made your X. This process of quickly steeping the tomatoes in boiling water is called blanching.) Cut the tomatoes in to large cubes or quarters, and place in food processor

* Place cucumber, minced garlic, lemon juice, salt and red pepper in food processor.

* As grilled veggies start to cool down place in food processor. Once all the ingredients have been placed in the food processor start to blend until you reach your desired consistency.

Chill for at least an hour before serving. Water will separate and this is totally normal. Just carefully stir the soup. Garnish with sour cream and a cilantro leave or fresh croutons. This is a great soup to have if you are minding your mid section!

(Forgive me for not posting a photo of the soup but I had accidentally deleted the two I took with the camera and unfortunately did this the day after we made the soup and there was nary a drop left to be found anywhere!)