bon appetit for dinner

Tomato & Cheddar Tart

I was at my parent's house this past weekend. That means many things, most importantly: an available kitchen stocked with every cooking ingredient, utensil, spice and spatula color imaginable. 

On the kitchen counter, there were about 1,342 tomatoes. All shapes, varities and sizes. They were perfect, but not going to last many more days. Something had to be done.

Sharon (yes-chef Sharon) & Jasmine was coming to stay with us for a night, so I anticipated doing something with the tomatoes in honor of their arrival. When I heard the back door open, Sharon bounded into the kitchen with a handful of what look like the most beautiful heirloom tomatoes. They were from Chino Farms. Well, no wonder.

So, that was it. I had to do something, and it had to be quick. My mom had her copy of bon appetit lying around on the kitchen table. Flipping through the pages, I found a lot of delicious recipes. With my busy schedule and lack of an attention span, most of these recipes looked like a project I was not ready to tackle. BUT, I soon found what they termed a "Tomato and Cheddar Pie." Sounded awfully rich, but this would do.

Didn't matter. It was D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S.

Not to mention, Alice Waters would have been proud.

Ingredients

Crust

• 2 cups quinoa flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2" cubes
• 1 cup low-fat buttermilk

Filling

• 2 pounds large ripe organic tomatoes, cored and cut into 1/4" slices
• 2 1/2 cups coarsely grated extra-sharp cheddar (8-9 ounces)
• 1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan (1/2 ounce)
• 1 scallion, trimmed, chopped
• 3 chives, chopped 
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
• 1 tablespoon red wine or apple cider vinegar
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 tablespoons cornmeal

• Use a 9"-diameter glass or ceramic pie dish

Preparation

Crust

• Whisk first 4 ingredients in a medium bowl. Using your fingertips, rub in butter until coarse meal forms and some small lumps remain. Stir in buttermilk and knead gently with your hands until dough forms. Wrap dough in plastic and chill for 1 hour.

Filling

• Lay tomatoes in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with 2 layers of paper towels. Place another 2 layers of paper towels on top of tomatoes. Let stand for 30 minutes to drain.
• Preheat oven to 425°. Roll out dough between 2 sheets of plastic wrap to an 11" round. Remove top layer of plastic wrap. Invert dough onto pie dish. Carefully peel off plastic wrap.
• Toss both cheeses in a medium bowl until evenly incorporated. Reserve 1/4 cup of cheese mixture. Whisk scallion, mayonnaise, dill, vinegar, sugar, salt, and pepper in a small bowl.
• Sprinkle cornmeal evenly over bottom of crust, then top with 1/2 cup cheese mixture. Arrange 1/3 of tomatoes over cheese, overlapping as needed. Spread half of mayonnaise mixture (about 1/3 cup) over. Repeat layering with 1 cup of cheese mixture, 1/2 of remaining tomato slices, and remaining mayonnaise mixture. Sprinkle remaining 1 cup cheese mixture over, then remaining tomato slices. Sprinkle with reserved 1/4 cup cheese mixture. Fold overhanging crust up and over edges of tomato slices.
• Bake pie until crust is golden and cheese is golden brown, 35-40 minutes (check crust halfway and tent with foil if it's getting too dark). Let pie cool at least 1 hour and up to 3 hours before slicing and serving.

Read More http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2011/08/tomato-and-cheddar-pie#ixzz1To6xFqOa

Summertime Feasts

CLAMS!!

This past week, I spent some time in upstate New York with my family. Not only was I excited to relax at the lake with my book, I was stoked to be spending the week with two amazing chefs.  One of which was my mother, of course, and the other was Sharon, one of my mom's best friends.

 Upon arriving at the lake, we endeavored to plan some delicious home-cooked meals. For one of the nights, we decided to make barbequed clams with a lemon butter sauce. I had never barbequed shellfish before, let alone thought about barbequing a live animal, so this was going to get interesting.

I was in charge of removing the clams (gently- so as not to spill the salt water inside of them) off the grill when they began to open up their little shells. Sharon brushed the lemon butter sauce inside each shell. My mom supervised, wine in hand, whilst Jasmine looked at all of us with culinary aversion. 

Barbequed clams were not her cup of tea.

But they were ours!!! So much so, that we ended up making them again 2 days later

 

....MmmmmmMMMMmmmm

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 How to Get it Done:

Ingredients:
30 - 40 Clams Or Mussels Or 24 Oysters, well scrubbed 4 Tbsp (1⁄2 stick) Butter 1 Tbsp Minced Garlic 1⁄4 tsp Worcestershire Sauce, or more to taste
Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice To Taste

Directions:
1. Prepare a grill; the heat should be medium-high and the rack about 4 inches from the fire. When the grill is hot, put the shellfish directly on the grill, or put them in a basket and put the basket on the grill.
2. Melt the butter in a small saucepan on part of the grill not exposed to direct heat (a shelf works well here if your grill has one); add the garlic, Worcestershire sauce and lemon juice and let the mixture warm for a couple of minutes.
3. As the clams open — some will take a minute or two; others will take longer — transfer them to a platter, and move the more stubborn ones to hotter parts of the fire. Try to keep the liquid in the shells of those that open, but don't worry if you lose some. When they're all cooked, drizzle the “barbecue” sauce over them and serve immediately.

Metrics:
Yield: 4 to 6 servings
Prep Time: About 15 minutes

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