tomatoes

Farro and Vegetables Stuffed Tomatoes

14.10.2013 29 Comments

I can’t say it’s the weather that pushed me to turn the oven on all weekend and bake, roast, braise, etc.. I am not nesting. I am not feeling blue. I just had the urge to crank it full blast in spite of gorgeous skies and a refreshing 85F. Yes. Anything below 95F is refreshing to a Southerner…

I can see hints of Fall peeking here and there. The leaves are slowly changing and the evening bring on a cooler breeze and a sweater. But, we are still in flipflops and tee-shirts during the day. I wore boots once last week and even that was pushing it.

This in-between is actually my favorite part of seasonal transition. I feel I can breathe. The new light cast by the sun is balm to my soul. The cloudless sky, crisp air and lush foliage just get me in the mood for heartier meals and dishes. Even if it’s just me and the old pup back at the house.

With the husband gone back to Charleston for a few weeks, I can’t sensibly make a large coq au vin, pot roast or lasagna without eating the leftovers for days (unless I have friends over every night)(and I have a thimble sized freezer so I can’t portion/freeze/rotate). Instead, I gravitate towards smaller, individual sized portions for most dinners.

My favorite thing to do this time of year and while cooking for one most nights is to make stuffed vegetables. With one simple preparation I can have stuffed onions, tomatoes, zucchini or eggplant comforting me for dinner after a long day on set.

Les Farcis is a cultural institutions in my family. My grandmother was famous for her "petits farcis provencal" filled with ground meat, rice, onions, garlic, lots of basil and thyme. To this day, no one in the family makes them quite like she used to. And no, it’s not because of that elusive and often times nostalgic way to remember a grandmother. She had her own way of mixing ingredients in her own proportions in order to create a heavenly balanced dish.

My mom’s stuffed vegetables were something else too. Especially the big red peppers. Filled to the rim with a variation on her mom’s. I loved stuffed pepper night. They were generously moist, opulent in flavors and big! And I was always intrigued as a child with the idea of putting all of one’s meal ingredients (minus dessert) into one big plump vegetable. I thought there was some genius in that.

I just follow in their footsteps by cooking my own variations of stuffed vegetables. When I find them, I use little round zucchinis, known as eight-ball zucchini and fill them with leftover ratatouille and rice or local sausage I find at the farmers market (recipe here). When I am by myself, anything I throw together and stuff a vegetable remains meat free.

This time around, I used farro instead of rice and added a healthy mixed of eggplant, zucchini, onion and fiery hot peppers. A good dose of parsley and time. A little sprinkle of feta right before they went in the oven and I was in business.

The end result was perfect for sightly cooler nights and a simple dinner at home.

Roasted Tomato Soup & Tomato Parmesan Croutons

28.03.2012 36 Comments

One of the things I always try to have on hand is a batch of soup. Does not matter the kind, but there is always one in the freezer, or one in the refrigerator or one simmering on the stove. This is my cure for everything. From being homesick to missing tooth.

The latter is me today. After a painful molar extraction yesterday, the only thing I wanted to eat last night was soup. Smooth tomato soup. I was too drugged up to even want to thaw the batch I had in the freezer so my dear honey brought me some home from the local eatery.

Today, in between two rounds of painkillers, I am putting this Roasted Tomato Soup on the stove. It is my drug of choice to nourish me while I can’t have solid foods and to calm down the sounds coming from my stomach. A girl’s got to eat and even beaten to a pulp, I will try to make something tasty.

I am really honored to be sharing this recipe with the reader of Joanna at Cup Of Jo today in her "Best Simple Recipes" series, here. I also wrote a bit of my long love story with soup for her readers.

Thank you Joanna for having me!

Roasted Tomato Soup With Tomato Parmesan Croutons
Serves 4-6

Ingredients:
2 pounds fresh tomatoes
4 garlic cloves (skin on)
4 small Vidalia onions, cut in half (or 2 regular onions)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons dried basil
2-4 cups water (depending on how thin/thick you like your soup)
Salt and pepper to taste

For the tomato parmesan croutons:
8 to 12 large cherry tomatoes
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon grated parmesan
Fresh oregano to garnish

Preheat the oven to 400F.
Slice the tomatoes in halves and place them on a baking sheet. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil.
Place the garlic cloves and onion halves on a separate baking sheet and drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
Place both baking sheets in the oven and roast the vegetables until soft, about 20 minutes.
Remove from the oven and let cool.
Peel the skin off the garlic cloves and place with the rest of the vegetables, in a food processor. Add about 2 cups of water and puree until smooth. Add more water to reach your preferred consistency. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper if desired.

For the tomato parmesan croutons:
Turn your oven broiler on high.
Thinly slice the cherry tomatoes (I usually get 3 slices per tomato) and layer on a baking sheet line with parchment paper. Sprinkle evenly with the dried oregano and parmesan. Broil for about 1 minute or until the parmesan starts to get golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool completely.
To serve, place the soup in a large saucepan and re-heat quickly over medium heat right before serving. Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish with the tomato parmesan croutons. Enjoy!

Tomato Goodness & Giveaway Winners

09.03.2012 25 Comments

The skies above the creek are getting black and threatening. On a Friday. It’s warm. It’s just getting pitch black and on the eve of a busy weekend, I am hoping to counteract the atmosphere with some sunshine on our plates!

Let’s me start with a good dose of bonne humeur (good spirit) by announcing the lucky winners of Beatrice’s cookbook, La Tartine Gourmande – Recipe For An Inspired Life:
Congratulations Melissa at I breathe…I am hungry and Heather at DIY Du Jour. Please send me your email your mailing address at mytartelette AT gmail DOT com and I will notify Bea’s publisher.

I don’t have a "real" recipe today, more a little something I put together for lunch the other day. Layers of ricotta seasoned with chopped oregano, salt and pepper and yellow tomatoes. It was refreshing and filling. You can make the layers as tall or as thin as you want. In retrospect I would have let the ricotta drain a little in between layers of cheesecloth to make it a bit firmer. But for an impromptu lunch with my husband, it worked like a charm as it was.

It’s already tomato and asparagus season here. It’s been warm and humid. Perfect to let things grow in the gardens around. We have wild blackberries growing in the marsh behind our house already. A month early…I’m not complaining though. That means refreshing tomato salad and blackberry pies a month early too!

I think my favorite way to enjoy the tiny heirloom tomatoes from our neighbors' garden is simply with some oregano (again…one of my favorites), salt and pepper and a drizzle of really pungent olive oil. Make a little, make a lot…

But always eat with pleasure and joy. Tomatoes this good always bring sunshine on a rainy day!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Heirloom Tomato and Olive Tapenade Tartelettes

23.09.2010 54 Comments

Can’t get enough heirloom tomatoes these days. They were lovely in June. Yes. They are even better now and we are having them every day. If you stay for dinner you might get some lovely slices simply sprinkle with coarse sea salt, olive oil and a sprinkle of chopped basil. If you are around for lunch, I will just hand you a crusty piece of bread to scoop up thick pieces of tomatoes, garlic and basil, all dressed in a simple vinaigrette.

If you come around on Sundays though, you will get them in a tart. Or eight. Depending on how late we got up… For some reason, Sundays have become more domestic because of our schedule. We take the time to prep things for the week, he in his office among his papers to grade and the bills and I, in the kitchen getting foods ready for us or work that week.

No matter what, it almost always end up around the dinner table with a couple of friends. Or a lot. And a bottle of wine. Or many. Living wholeheartedly the moment as it presents itself. And right now, it’s easy with the gorgeous days we are having. It sure is Fall somewhere. Not here. And I am basking in all things Summer for a little while longer.

Sun ripened tomatoes, piment d’Espelette, black olive tapenade all fitting in the palm of my hand in tartelette forms. Easy to take to the dock for a little snacking.

I’ve been enjoying a whole lot of simple meals lately and I got to say that when the schedule gets as packed as it has, they fuel me and keep me going until late in the night. I am not only talking about time cutting efficiency but flavors so clean you can taste the vitamins in every bite.

So yes, it’s still a whole lot of summer here. Radishes as crisp and pink as if you had just picked them. They can give you some lip back though. These are feisty spicy little things, ehehe!

I like them as simple as that. A touch of butter, a sprinkle of coarse sea salt as I dig into a tartelette. Or two. When I have enough of that spicy kick, I roast them in the oven with some thyme and a drizzle of olive oil and they become soft and demure as can be. Interesting how the simple act of roasting them can change their nature.

The tarts take virtually no time to assemble if you have the dough prepared ahead of time but it’s always possible to use already made dough (probably won’t be gluten free though). Tapenade is something quite specific to the South of France but it relatively easy to find online or make from scratch.

Heirloom Tomato Tarts:

Makes 8

For the crust:
5 tablespoons (70gr) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon piment d’Espelette (or pinch red pepper flakes)
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
3 egg yolks
pinch salt
1/2 cup (80gr) brown rice flour
1/2 cup (60gr) millet flour
1/4 cup (30gr) sorghum flour
1/4 cup (40gr) potato flour
(or 1.5 cups of all purpose flour if not using gf flours)
1/2 teaspoon xantham gum

For the filling:
1/3 cup to 1/2 cup black olive tapenade
6-8 heirloom tomatoes, cut into thin slices
chopped basil (as much or as little as you want)
salt and pepper
olive oil
Feta cheese (about 1/3 cup) – optional

Prepare the crust:
In a mixer, whip together the butter, piment and mustard on medium speed until light and airy. Add the egg yolks, one at a time and beating well after each addition. Mix until incorporated. Add all the different flours, and the xantham gum and mix briefly. Dump the whole mixture onto a lightly floured (use more rice flour) board and gather the dough into a smooth ball. Flatten the dough into a disk, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour.
When the dough is nice and cold, roll it out on a lightly floured board or in between two sheets of plastic to fit your preferred mini tartelette pans (or you can use one 10-inch pie pan). If the dough tears while you roll or/and transfer into the pans, just patch it with your fingertips. Refrigerate 30 minutes.
You can freeze the dough for up to 3 months and prepare it up to 4 days in advance

Assemble:
Preheat oven to 350F and position a rack in the center.
Spoon a little or a lot of olive tapenade in the bottom of each tart shell and top with overlapping slices of tomatoes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and some basil.
Bake for about 20-30 minutes or until the shells are cooked through.
Drizzle with olive oil right before serving. Sprinkle with feta cheese if desired.

Roasted Tomato & Vegetable Soup With Tasso Ham

17.08.2010 34 Comments

As I have said before, summers here are hot and muggy. Very. And usually hot, muggy and wet in the late afternoon when thunder rolls in and we get caught by quick rain showers. Except these past few days. Rain has been around pretty much from sunset ’til dawn.

And we love it. Our backyard loves it. Our pecan tree is digging it. Bailey is literally jumping in and out of the creek to catch rain drops. On the other hand, Tippy gives me this look of "Hey! Can you do something about this rain? Really cramping my style now" every time we go for a walk. I suspect though that he enjoys the towel drying time afterwards.

The sun will trick you into forgetting your umbrella. The heat will convince you that you don’t need to take your rain coat. We have gotten soaked more than once lately and we really just laugh it off. It actually feels good. Being neither hot or cold feels darn appropriate after our temperatures were steadily hovering between 100F-110F down here. Sunny with a side of rain? We’re in!

The only problem with this weather is what it does to our eating habits. Braising, stewing, roasting are very much kept to a minimum. We love to be reminded that seasons are here for a reason and to take full advantages of the changes and new rituals they bring about. Thus, we are grilling and enjoying cold or warm fares a lot. Our favorite lentil salad is now served cold. Cooked and cooled rice gets a boost from freshly chopped basil and some feta chunks.

When the weather turns to rain as it has these past few days, all we really want is to sit down in front of a warm bowl of soup. B’s favorite, tomato soup, quickly became mine too when I started making it from scratch with some basil and cream. As years went on I replaced the cream with eggplant which gave the same creamy results as well as a boost of nutrients and flavor.

This time, I picked up loads of local San Marzano tomatoes at the market, as well as some zebra eggplant, baby Vidalia and garlic, roasted them all together one evening and pureed them the next day into a soup. I served it at room temperature with some homegrown basil and a splash of tea seed oil (gift).

We have a wonderful pork purveyor at the market, Meathouse, operated by Jason and his wife Katie who always have freshly made Butifarra, Italian and andouille sausages, fresh cut applewood smoked bacon, and one of our favorites, freshly smoked and perfectly seasoned tasso ham. It is perfect with the creamy soup and you could substitute thick cut bacon if it’s easier. I think it took us every bit of restraint not to polish off the entire pot on our own.

Before I head out, congratulations to J M. Smith from Do It All for winning the Threadless tee-shirt and BlogAid Cookbook! Send me your mailing address at mytartelette [at] gmail [dot] com. Thank you!

Roasted Tomato and Vegetable Soup With Tasso Ham

Serves 4-6

2 pounds fresh tomatoes
2 small zebra eggplants or one medium regular eggplant
1 head of garlic, cut in half
4 small vidalia onions, cut in half
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
2-4 cups water
salt and pepper to taste
fresh basil
olive oil or tea seed oil, avocado, walnut or pumpkin (optional)
1/2 cup diced tasso ham or thick cut/slab bacon, cooked and drained

Preheat the oven to 450F.
Slice the tomatoes and eggplants and place them on a baking sheet. Drizzle with 1-2 tablespoons olive oil. Place the garlic and onions on a separate baking sheet and drizzle with 1-2 teaspoons olive oil (if you have room left in the first pan, skip that step and add the garlic and onion to the tomatoes and eggplant). Season with salt and pepper to taste. Place both baking sheets in the oven and roast the veggies until golden brown, about 30 minutes.
Remove from the oven and let cool.
Peel the garlic off its skins and place with the rest of the vegetables, saving a few tomato slices for garnish, in a food processor. Add about 1 to 2 cups of water and puree until smooth. Add enough water to reach your preferred consistency. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper if desired.
Ladle into bowls and garnish with reserved tomato slices, drizzle of your favorite oil and some basil. Add some tasso ham as desired and serve.

Parmesan Roasted Asparagus, Tomatoes and Eggs

20.06.2010 48 Comments

I have a friend. Her name is Lorna. She writes The Cookbook Chronicles. She is drop dead gorgeous. Kindness and intelligence dance with every word she says. She is generous and humble. Humor and good disposition seem to like her. I have no idea if she is high or low maintenance but if she is the latter, I want to know how she does it. She’s got taste and she’s got gumption. And she wrote a book. A quirky, funky, well written, beautifully photographed cookbook, The Newlywed Kitchen. No wonder Henri asked her out and then asked for her hand in marriage. Smart man.

Lorna and Henri are newlyweds. They both love food. This is not a loose statement. They met on a food forum. In Lorna’s words "Our relationship was founded on our mutual love of food and our desire to nourish one another’s stomachs as well as our spirits." It could sound superficial and barely enough to hold a couple together but as she chronicled the making and writing of the book, you could tell that they were like the vast majority of couples. They love to share with others, spend time learning and give back what they know. Lorna did it with "The Newlywed Kitchen".

I am not a newlywed and yet I, we, thoroughly enjoyed the book. It does not pretend to be the "essential guide to cooking as a couple", instead it focuses on clean, simple recipes that can be at the foundation of any new couple repertoire. Narratives of other well known couples are dispersed throughout the book and add a charming and quaint little thing to it. I caught myself chuckling along as I was reading with that familiar feeling of "been there done that" of kitchen mishaps and victories. Pictures of newlyweds throughout the book are a little too quaint at times but they’re here to illustrate a point: there is plenty in this book to bring people together in many different ways.

Some of the recipes are kicked up classics like the "Four Cheese Mac-and-Cheese", the "Chicken Pot Pie with Cheddar Thyme Crust". Some are best saved for your first dinner cooking for the in-laws, "Holiday Rib Roast Wtih Thyme Gravy", "Chicken Piccata with Mushrooms and Leeks". Others are made for lazy Sunday mornings in newlywed Bliss like the "Topsy Turvy Apple French Toast", the "Smoked Salmon Frittata". And who would not want to cozy up with their better half with some "Chocolate Mudslide Cookies", "Nutella Doughnuts" or some "Lemon Sour Cream Pound Cake"?

I just made myself hungry…

My better half does not cook. He barely boils water. We have shared custody of the grill. I don’t even know if he’s any good at it, he’s just not interested. And as he says "I married a chef, why would I even consider crossing the line? You don’t come in the garage and bleed the break of the MG now do you?". Touche. So you might wonder how this cookbook fared with us…

It did exactly what it was intended to do for a couple like us regarding food: I’d hold the book in one hand, pencil in the other and ask him whether "Grandma’s Italian Meatballs" sounded good for dinner or would he rather have the "Fall Apart Pot Roast"? Should I take the "Red Velvet Cake" or the "Strawberry Rhubarb Pie" to a dinner party with friends? My man may not cook or enjoy cooking but he loves to eat and knows his food, making it a pleasure and never a chore for me to cook everyday.

Finding a recipe to illustrate this review was a no brainer (I picked two actually and will write about the other one next week – with a little surprise you guys reading). The "Parmesan Roasted Asparagus, Tomatoes and Eggs" is exactly the kind of dish I like to fix us for lunch on Saturdays when we come back from the market or on Sundays when we set out to "not have a schedule". It’s simple, it’s fresh, it comes together fast and needs nothing but maybe a glass of wine and a piece of bread.

It’s the kind of meal we enjoy as a couple. It fits us and it felt even more special when we sat down to ingredients we had just picked up at the market from people who loved food as much as we do.

Let’s make lunch this week "French Word A Week" feature: "dejeuner". One of our favorite activity and time of the day. (click on the word to hear the pronunciation).

Check out Jen at Use Real Butter making Grandma’s Italian Meatballs from Lorna’s book. I also love this review of the book from Becky at Chef Reinvented (and don’t forget to click on the video link – adorable).

Parmesan Roasted Asparagus, Tomatoes and Eggs, courtesy and copyright Lorna Yee for "The Newlywed Kitchen"

Serves 2

1 pound asparagus
1 cup grape or cherry tomatoes
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1/4 cup grated Parmesan or pecorino (I used shredded)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly grounded black pepper
2 large eggs
3 spoonfuls pesto (optional)

Preheat the oven to 425F.
Wash the asparagus. Break the bottom stems off and discard. Toss the asparagus spears and tomatoes in 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, then place them on a parchment paper or Silpat lined baking sheet. Sprinkle with the Parmesan, salt and pepper. Roast the vegetables for 12=14 minutes, or until tender and cooked through..
Meanwhile, fry the two eggs in the remaining oil, seasoning them with salt and pepper to taste. Place an egg in each portion of the cooked vegetable and top with a dab of pesto if desired.

Disclosure: I received a free copy from The Newlywed Kitchen from Sasquatch Books.

Savory Greens, Tomatoes & Goat Cheese Tarts

27.04.2010 61 Comments

It’s no secret that I love tarts. Obviously with a nickname like Tartelette. Oh you thought it was just the name of this site didn’t you? Well, not entirely. My family gave me the moniker of Tartelette when my age was still in the single digit category. I love tarts. Sweet or savory. Square or round. Rectangular or triangular (have yet to make that one!). The sky is the limit when you make a tart. I just happen to like them all…

And it really bugs me that I can’t register the domain "tartelette" but have to put "my" in front because someone grabbed it already (and is just sitting on it). This is not "my tartelette" ya’ll, it’s yours, it’s everybody’s. It’s a place to come satisfy all your senses, your eyes, your tastebuds, your brain. Read a little, smile a lot. I don’t know. I hope it feels as much of an open invitation to come sit at my table as I hope to convey.

That’s probably why we love to have friends come visit. Stay for a while or just in passing. We live in such a gorgeous city. We love to walk the old cobblestone streets with them, have dinner on the patio or go to the dock to get some crabs for dinner. You can’t help being in a good mood with all this sun year round and beauty of the city. We may not have all the stores and convenience of a big city but we are truly spoiled by the richness of the history and the spirit of the people.

I think Tami felt that when she visited us a couple of weeks ago. She came to relax after some grueling days at work and we had also made plans to contribute on a project together. I’d say our friends have varied personalities and lives but one common trait is that they all love food and they all love to eat good food. So you can bet that in the midst of working hard and playing harder, Tami and I made sure to eat fresh and satisfying foods to keep us going.

She came at the right time too! I had just made a couple of batches of gluten free puff pastry, to find the combination of flours we liked best and to make sure that the results were consistent each time. I had plenty of leftover dough but no real desire for anything sweet. I ended up blind baking and freezing three tart shells instead. At least, if I did not use them right then and there, I’d have them ready to whip up a quick quiche or tart for a light lunch or an impromptu gathering.

Tami and I shared a tart filled with a light custard filling and topped with fresh dandelion greens (she’s hand modeling for me too!, heirloom tomatoes and goat cheese. We devoured it. Almost all of it. I saved a couple of slices for B. and he wanted more. He made me promise to make more. Soon. So I did.

The second one I made shortly after was filled with a simple salad of arugula, goat cheese and cherry tomatoes tossed in a simple vinaigrette. Score once again. I literally could have eaten it all by myself but the pleasure of sharing with Bill just to see his face light up as mine did was priceless. Gosh it was good! The world goes rounder with tarts. That is all…

Check out Shauna’s Rough Puff Pastry that she just posted here. Such determination…

Props:
Someone asked me where I found the wooden spoon shown with these cakes. It’s a picnic set that my mom got on Sprout Home but Anthropologie announced today they now carried them (price gauging them too).
– vintage knives: etsy & antique store
– enamel plate & Bowl: Pottery Barn
– cutting board: World Market
– glasses: Pier 1 (on sale for $1)

Tomatoes, Goat Cheese and Dandelion Greens Tart:

Serves 4

For the crust:
– 1/2 a recipe for gluten free puff pastry

Filling:
1 egg
3/4 cup whole milk
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 cup heirloom tomatoes, halved
2 cups chopped dandelion greens (or other strong greens)
3/4 cup goat cheese, crumbled
2 tablespoons to 1/4 cup vinaigrette (depends how soaked you like your salad)

Prepare the crust:
Preheat oven to 350F.
On a lightly floured board, roll out the dough to 1/4-inch thick and line it into a 9 or 10-inch round tart pan or rectangular, etc… Place the tart on a baking sheet and line it with a piece of parchment paper on top and fill with dried beans or ceramic weights. Bake for 15 minutes. Let cool.

For the filling:
In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg and the milk until well combined. Add the salt, pepper and mustard and whisk to incorporate. Pour the filling inside the shell and bake for 10-12 minutes. Let cool completely.
Mix all the tomatoes, greens and goat cheese in a large bowl. Toss with as little or as much vinaigrette as you like and spoon the salad on top of the tart. It’s ready! C’est pret!

Arugula, Tomatoes and Goat Cheese Tart:

Serves 4

For the crust:
1/2 recipe gluten free puff pastry

For the filling:
2 cups arugula
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
3/4 cup goat cheese, crumbled
2 tablespoons to 1/4 cup vinaigrette (same as above)

Prepare the crust:
Follow the step in the previous tart recipe.

Prepare the filling:
Toss all the ingredients together as you would a salad and spread on top of the cooled tart shell.