FIFTEEN : TOMATO PARTY

PLENTY

SEPTEMBER 12 2012

FIFTEEN : TOMATO PARTY

It's a par-tay in the hizzle and everyone's invited! Yep, even you green tomato. And two kinds of couscous are on the guest list. Now, somebody turn up those bangin' beats while I get to work!

 Mr. O wants to keep this party interesting by including tomatoes in various states of cooked-ness "to maximize the 'tomatoey' effect with diverse flavors and textures". I like this idea as tomatoes offer such different profiles when raw vs roasted vs dried. I am also going to take him up on his offer to "choose whatever tomato selection you can get" instead of sticking exactly to those listed in the recipe.

I recently dried a bunch of cherry tomatoes so those are definitely going in. And I think I'll roast some of the Early Girls while keeping the Green Zebras and San Marzanos raw. Good plan!

garden fresh!

Early Girls sliced and ready to roast with a sprinkle of sugar

"roasting" tomatoes on the grill

First hurdle... my darn oven is broken. So I'll improvise by "roasting" tomatoes in foil on the grill. Seems to be working fine, just hope they don't burn. Now to the couscouses (or couscoui?). I didn't really want to deal with finding Sardinian fregola so opted for the Israeli couscous as the second version. Each are cooked separately and left to cool. 

Supposedly this recipe makes 4 servings... but this is turning out to be a whole lot of couscous. Again Mr. O's proportions seems to be wack-o! Oh well. Tomatoes are roasted and time to toss everything together. Combine the couscouses with all varieties of tomato and chopped herbs. The juices from the tomatoes contribute the only dressing on the salad, which worries me a little. But, one bite reveals their offering to be more than enough flavor and moisture. 

I really, really like the textural interest created by the two couscous varieties. And the tomato flavor is pronounced without taking over everything, allowing the herbs to sing. My biggest complaint is with the roasted tomatoes. They are so huge (Mr. O simply having me quarter them before roasting) and make for a gloppy bite when one of them is forked up. Next time, I would probably seed and roughly chop them then saute lightly until just caramelized before stirring into the salad.

Overall yummy though! Good thing I like it as I'll be eating left-overs for a while...

FOURTEEN : ZUCCHINI & HAZELNUT SALAD

PLENTY

AUGUST 30 2012

FOURTEEN : ZUCCHINI & HAZELNUT SALAD

ZUCCHINI!!! I love you and I hate you at the same time! How many ways can we eat thee without going insane? How about grilled in a lovely salad w/ basil and toasted hazelnuts. OKAY!

garden basil!

garden zucchini!

THREE & FOUR : TWO-COURSE AL FRESCO DINNER

PLENTY

JUNE 14 2012

THREE : ASPARAGUS VICHYSSOISE

FOUR : CARAMELIZED ENDIVE WITH GRUYERE

On warm summery evenings, nothing makes me happier than a simple, healthy dinner leisurely enjoyed in the fading sunlight while the pets frolic and a gentle breeze rustles the growing garden. My drive home from work flies by as I dream of the hot grill, fresh green salad and glass of wine in my future. More often than not, my schemes necessitate a stop at New Seasons to turn them into a reality. Today I saw fish, whole, charred and crispy, served with a simple side. Maybe even multiple courses... start with a refreshing cold soup, perhaps.

ONE : AVOCADO, QUINOA AND FAVA BEAN SALAD

PLENTY

JUNE 01 2012

I love growing radishes. With almost zero time or effort, they transform a barren patch of rain-soaked mud into a leafy and productive garden. As soon as their first little leaves peek out of still cold soil, my green thumb shakes off the long, dreary winter and begins to glow with anticipation of the bountiful season to come. It is finally spring!

SEVENTY-THREE & SEVENTY-FOUR : SARDINES TWO WAYS

DECEMBER 13 2011

SEVENTY-THREE : SARDINE, BLOOD ORANGE & PUNTARELLE SALAD
SEVENTY-FOUR : GRILLED CURED SARDINES

Here fishy, fishy! I love me the fishiest of the fishes and these sardines fall squarely into that category. Mackerel is another oily, super-fishy, fabulous one that I love, love, love!

These babies had been curing since Friday in a lovely blend of olive oil, lemon, garlic, parsley. When I started the curing process, I had planned to enjoy them Sunday as a nice, light lunch. But we were both sooooo stuffed after feasting the night before that lunch never really happened. So tonight, I pulled them out of their oil bath and got to work. Truly, the painful part of these recipes is the curing process. Once that's done, everything else come together very quickly.

FORTY-TWO : GRILLED SQUID

SEPTEMBER 21 2011

I love squid. My usual approach is to stuff their little bodies with sausage and simmer in tomato sauce for an hour or so until tender and luscious. Yum! This is a new one for me, flash grilling them until just cooked. The recipe had one problem. It is intended to feed "about a dozen".  I had hoped to save it for a party or gathering, but it had basically come down to now-or-never as it's in the Summertime Grilling section and I want to avoid standing over the BBQ in the dark and rain.

And today was the day... no plans after work and it's a hot, sunny afternoon. I did my best to cut all the ingredients by about 1/3, giving us each a healthy portion. Luckily our neighborhood New Seasons cleans their squid so I didn't have to "Pull off the head, squeezing it just above the eyes... Cut off the eyes and discard. Squeeze out the beak... just like you pop the head off a dandelion." Blech!

TWENTY-FIVE : GRILLED VEGETABLES

JULY 17 2011

This one is pretty much just like it sounds... slice some veggies and grill them. And it's sooooo good!! In the summer, I regularly toss veggies with olive oil and throw them on the grill until lightly charred. It's the best solution I've found for my annual zucchini overload. So I barely felt like I was following a recipe at all. 

But follow it I did. I tossed 2 sliced eggplants, 2 sliced zucchini, 1 sliced red onion and 2 quartered bell peppers with minced garlic, salt and... wait for it... 1 cup of olive oil (!!).

TWO : FRANKIES CORN SALAD

JUNE 5 2011

Tonight we BBQ'd at a friend's and it was the perfect opportunity to make a Frankies recipe! I settled on the grilled corn salad from the "Grilling" appendix. But, there were a few challenges to my plan because before the BBQ I was going on some distillery tours, by bike, and wouldn't be coming back home.

I decided to prep the ingredients I had at home, stop at the store on the way to the BBQ to buy corn and tomatoes, then grill the corn and assemble the salad once we got there. In advance I made the dressing and packed a little container with chopped mint and sliced red onion which then came along with me on my bike.