You say tomato, I say tomatillo

This summer has been bittersweet because, while I have been enjoying my time playing on and around the river, I have not been playing on the farm.  I look forward to the day when I once again have my own little plot of dirt to plant obscure veggies.  Until then, I enjoy the benefits of friends' CSA shares and the occasional score at the grocery store.

I stopped in Winco yesterday to avoid senselessly driving out of my way to another store.  Winco usually exhausts me.  I liken my trips to Winco to trips to Walmart.  I have seen one too many obese women proudly flaunting their too-tiny t-shirts and Eeyore sweat pants.  

However, yesterday I was delighted by the selection of produce and a little girl who insisted on showing me her lollipop that was as large as she was.  Her mother and I continued to bump into each other in the dairy aisle, produce corner and checkout lane.  This little person looked at me each time with her enormous doe eyes and pronounced, "Mira!"  I attempted to converse in my broken Spanish asking how old she was and telling her that she was "preciosa!"  I need to brush up on conversational Spanish just so I can chat with darling two year olds in the check out line.

In addition to my new friend, I found some beautiful tomatillos.  If you like salsa verde, you must try this recipe. It is so easy.  I added avocados to the mix and WOWIE!  If I may humbly say, this is the best salsa verde I have eaten.  

Take a field trip to your local Winco.  Brush up on your Spanish.  Befriend a toddler.  Make this salsa.

Lovely little lantern. 

Peel them open to reveal the tomato cousin.

1.5 lbs tomatillos, 1 large onion, four garlic cloves and two jalapenos (seeded)

drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with salt and pepper.

 

Roast for about 20 - 25 minutes in a 425 degree oven.

Blend with a large handful of cilantro and three avocados.

Also, juice of two limes, 3 chopped green onions, 

1/2 tsp salt, pepper, cumin and oregano.

Add some cayenne for additional heat.

Sweet and salty and spectacular!

Sustenance quickly

Summer vacation is sadly coming to an end very soon. This break has most certainly been my favorite aspect of being a graduate student; this is coupled by the fact that I have the greatest boss on the planet who allows me to keep a flexible schedule as I long as my ducks are in a row.

As I've mentioned in previous posts, I am lucky to have a friend who works on the South Fork of the Snake River, and he graciously takes me out in his drift boat from time to time. Lucky really isn't the appropriate word. The South Fork is a world class trout fishery where folks pay thousands to have a guide take them out and point them towards the fish. I get to go for a twelve pack of beer. Charmed seems more fitting. Yes, I've had a charmed summer.

We were greeted by this lady on the most recent float.

Tuli was very interested.

The lodge at sunset. Not a bad view.

Tonight I had great plans to make a grilled cheese sandwich. Sounds relatively simple, I know. This isn't your ordinary grilled cheese -- grilled halloumi cheese and red pepper sandwich -- thank you very much. I couldn't be bothered busting out the food processor, and I've spent most of my afternoon and evening baking a cake for a certain brother-in-law who graduates from the PA program tomorrow. HOORAY!!! I'll talk more about the surprise cake after its unveiling.

Nonetheless, I was hungry and needed some sustenance quickly before I devoured the cake batter. You'll recognize these ingredients from the bruschetta a few posts back. Easy peasy dinner. You can have this prepped, table set and ready to go by the time your pasta is cooked. Plus, when it's hot out, no one wants to spend time over a hot stove.

I am off to bed to ignore a chest cold that has decided to move in. What the hell? Who gets sick in August? I have too much fun to have to be sick before school starts. This heaviness needs to skedaddle. Buenas noches, amigos.

My window basil is thriving surprisingly.

To make the pasta: cook your favorite pasta shape according to the directions, quarter a handful of tomatoes, chop some basil, mince a clove of garlic if that fancies you, drain the pasta, toss with the tomatoes and basil (and garlic if using), 3 tbs tasty olive oil, 1.5 tbs balsamic vinegar, a good grind of black pepper, and a handful of parmesan cheese. Fifteen minute dinner. Beat that Rachel Ray.

So fresh.

And so tasty.

Summer time and the livin's easy

I watched Julie and Julia the other night -- the movie about the blogger who cooks her way through Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. While I enjoyed the movie, I loved the book. Such is the case with most crossovers, but the movie is charming and witty and made me crave the following recipe.

There is a scene where Julie and her husband are chowing down on dinner and she comes to the realization that she has thoughts . . . she can write . . . she could write a blog. It's funny. What I love about this scene, specifically, is what they are having for dinner. It is such a Hailey dinner -- bruschetta and wine. I eat meals like that most nights; however, mine look more like this: wine with bruschetta and a side of popcorn with string cheese for dessert. Classy.

I had to have bruschetta in order to get the craving out of my mind. Craving satiated . . . for now. As soon as tomatoes ripen I'll be eating this dinner at least every other day.

Take this bruschetta to your next party -- your friends will want to make out with you it's so good. You've been forewarned.

I like seedy bread just the opposite of how I like my boyfriends: not seedy. Any baguette, sourdough, focaccia or crusty bread will do.

This was my dinner so I used a larger loaf -- for appetizer portions, choose a smaller bread.

What sets my bruschetta apart: I broil the bread for about a minute or two on each side (watch it as it burns quickly). Once it's toasty, I take a garlic clove and rub it all over the bread. THEN I brush the slices with olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt. Don't forget the salt or your bruschetta will just be bruschetta. With the salt, your friends will want to suck face.

Quarter a container of cherry tomatoes. Soon, friends, these will be in season and then EUPHORIA!

My happy basil plant. I really enjoy the flavor of basil so I added about 15 leaves, which I chiffonaded (not sure if that is a verb?).

My favorite duo: olive oil and balsamic vinegar. About 3 tbs of olive oil and 1 tbs of vinegar to the diced tomatoes, the basil, I added about a tbs of minced shallot and salt and pepper to taste.

Spoon over the crusty bread and pucker up.

Bye, bye tomatoes

One of the things I miss most about living in Salt Lake is my garden. For those of you saw it in year's past, it was a thing of beauty. An enormous, prolific and utterly awesome thing of beauty. One summer, I had 18 tomato plants. Yep, your eyes did not deceive you. 18 plants! I didn't waste my time with Early Girls or Big Boys; I planted heirloom beauties like Green Zebra, Brandywine, Black Krim, Cherokee Purple. To say I had an obsession over my garden is to say humans need oxygen to breath. I loved it. And I miss it.

So when my friend Christie started bringing tomatoes to the office from her Heber garden, I started hoarding all of her offerings. I could hear her coming down the stairs with bags of tomatoes, and I would quickly snake them all. Sorry office-mates. I have a disease. In fact, the name of this blog was almost TomatoEnvy. Here's an homage to the last of the season's tomatoes. Until next year.

Roasted Tomato Tart

Look mom, I made my own crust! Store-bought is fine, too.

Crust:

1 1/4 cup all purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 sugar

1 stick butter, right out of the fridge

3 tbs water

In a food processor, add flour, salt and sugar. Pulse to mix. Gradually add slices of the butter. Finally, add the water, one tablespoon at a time. Continue to pulse until dough forms a ball. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least half an hour. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Remove the dough from the fridge and start working into a disk. Place the dough into a pie pan and evenly press up the sides of the pan. Once evenly distributed, use the tines of a fork to poke holes into the dough. Bake 30-34 or until crust is golden. Set aside.

Filling:

10-15 plum tomatoes, sliced

1 cup goat cheese

2 tbs dijon mustard

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp basil

1 tsp oregano

3 large eggs

1/2 cup half and half

handful Italian parsley, minced

parmesan cheese

salt and pepper

Evenly spread mustard over the pie crust and sprinkle with goat cheese. Layer tomatoes around crust, overlapping as you go. In a large bowl, mix eggs, herbs, half and half, salt and pepper. Pour evenly over tomatoes. Top tart with parmesan cheese, minced garlic and parsley. Bake 1 hour or until the custard has set.

This would be a wonderful brunch or dinner meal. I ate the leftovers with an over-easy egg, and it was fantastic!