Creamed Tomatoes on Toast

When I was a kid, we went home for lunch. No school lunches back then. We lived in a little town called Algonac in Michigan. Dad drove us to school in the morning and again after lunch but we walked home, weather permitting of course. It was about a mile. I've often thought since: my poor mother. The entire family (including my dad) came home for lunch. She had to plan three meals a day. And she fussed, too. It wasn't just a bunch of pb and j's on the table. We had hot lunches....and some kind of fruit or pudding. I always remember stewed prunes being served with mac and cheese. Who knows why that one particular lunch stayed in my mind?

So here I am, with just me to worry about, still looking around for innovative luncheon ideas. We tend to get repetitive, don't we? Probably the time element. I even wrote a post about it a while back. But every once in a while, a friend may be coming over, or I feel like rewarding myself and I really want something special. What to make that's fast and delicious??  In the summer when tomatoes are at their best, my favorite company go-to sandwich is a tomato sandwich à la Ina Garten. I like her dressed up version. But for speed (and just for me) I take those lovely, garden-fresh red tomatoes, add some butter lettuce, real mayo and plunk it on some fresh country bread. Heaven, for sure.

Unfortunately, it's officially still winter so I'll save those two sandwiches for summer. Even when we can get lovely tomatoes this time of year, they just don't taste the same as the ones you get in the summer at the farmer's markets. Then I ran across this super recipe in Simon Hopkinson's book, Roast Chicken and Other Stories. I really love this cookbook. Last August it was listed in the top 10 cookbooks by the London Observer.  I've started reading it again, wondering how I missed this gem of a recipe the first time around. 

This dish is simple with tons of flavor. You don't have to have perfect summer tomatoes, either. I love the garlic in the cream. (And watch it, it boils over in a flash.) I used the full 1 1/2 cups of cream called for. Way too much. It was still good, but 1 cup would have been better. As it turns out, I didn't use plum tomatoes either, but bought the nicest tomatoes I could find. The dish was every bit as good as I expected. Lovely on a chilly or rainy Saturday.

Creamed Tomatoes on Toast
From Simon Hopkinson's Roast Chicken and Other Stories

Ingredients:

8 ounces heavy cream (the original recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups)
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
6 ripe plum tomatoes, cut in half lengthwise and cored
Salt and pepper
12 basil or mint leaves, torn into pieces (I used basil)
4 slices of French country bread, grilled or toasted and brushed with a little olive oil

Method:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Simmer the cream with the garlic and reduce by one-third. Put the tomatoes, cut-side uppermost, in an ovenproof dish and season them with salt and pepper. Strain the cream into a bowl and stir in the basil or mint. Lightly season and pour over the tomatoes.

Bake in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until the cream is reduced and is thick and the tops of the tomatoes are slightly blistered. Meanwhile, have ready the toast on 2 plates and spoon a few tomatoes onto each slice. Spoon some residual cream over the top. Serves 2.

Faith's Vegetable Fritters

Even after all these years, I'm still amazed at the amount of time we spend planning and organizing for the holidays when it seems to be over in  a flash.  Children open everything so quickly, even when you try to slow them down. Mine are now adults, so we take turns opening, but you just can't do that when they're younger.  As it was, we barely got them through brunch, they were in such a rush to get back to playing. Food? No time for food.

But then I've always loved the planning part....the organizing, the decorating, the cooking, finding surprises for everyone. No doubt there were times when my kids were really little that the mass confusion pre-Christmas wasn't quite so much fun, but I always remember enjoying the preparations.

We had adults only chez moi this year; my Michigan kids decided to stay north as it's my granddaughter's first year in college and she wanted to be home to see her old high school friends. This was also, at 4 years old,  my grandson's first year to understand what Christmas is all about. I was sorry to miss that. But they have their own traditions to make.

My NY daughter was here, so this year we kicked back and took our time enjoying every minute. Not always easy....my Florida son works nights in the ER, so he comes right from work for our gift-opening and brunch, and he's exhausted. Then he goes home, sleeps and comes back around 6 for dinner. Not always the case. He's always here for Santa, but if he has to work that night, he misses Christmas dinner. Luckily, this year he got Christmas Day off. I am so grateful to all our emergency services people who are working holidays, while we enjoy ourselves. The ER, no matter the day or time, must deal with patients who are hurting, panicked and worried. I am in awe of people like my son David and so proud of him. 

Fortunately, this year, we were able to reward him with our traditional Christmas brunch, our love for him (and each other) always there in the background and then, later that evening, a lovely dinner....together.

Now that the wrappings are all stowed away, we are perusing our new books, trying to figure out various electronics, admiring new clothes and polishing off leftovers, I often feel the need for quick and light dinners the week following Christmas. Company is still here and we do have to eat, after all. Faith from An Edible Mosaic came up with the perfect answer. It seems like a summer dish, but you can adapt the recipe no matter where you live. I increased the corn (use frozen corn if you need to) and use any veggies you want, but it was perfect just the way Faith made it. 

Thank you Faith! I've been making it on a regular basis!

Vegetable Fritters
Ever so slightly adapted from An Edible Mosaic

 Ingredients:
1 medium zucchini, diced small (about 2 c diced)
2-3 ears cooked corn, cut of the cob (about 1 cup corn or more and you can use frozen)
3 spring onions (white and green parts), thinly sliced (reserve 2 TB of the thinly sliced green parts)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 large eggs, beaten
1/2 cup sour cream (or use low-fat)
1/4 cup plain yogurt ( I use Fage, and low-fat if you prefer)
1/4 tsp seasoning salt
Canola oil ( I used a tiny bit of butter and olive oil)


Method:
Preheat the oven to 200F.
In a small bowl, toss together the zucchini, corn, spring onions, flour, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper. Stir in the beaten eggs just until combined.
Pour enough oil into a large skillet to generously coat the bottom. Heat the skillet over medium to medium-high heat, then drop the vegetable batter by the rounded tablespoonful into the hot oil and cook until golden brown on both sides, flipping once (about 5 minutes per side). Turn the heat down if the fritters start to brown too quickly.
Once the fritters are cooked, transfer them to a paper towel-lined plate to drain any excess oil, then transfer them to a baking sheet and keep them in warm the oven until all the fritters are made. Repeat this process until all the batter is gone.
In a small bowl, combine the sour cream, yogurt, seasoned salt, and 1 TB sliced spring onion greens.
Serve the fritters garnished with the sour cream mixture and the remaining 1 TB of sliced spring onion greens.
Serves 4 as a side dish or 2 as a main.

Hot Browns and Hats (plus a giveaway winner!)

Derby Day is always such fun...whether you are a diehard racetrack aficionado or just like to people watch and peruse the extraordinary hats. I've only been once, but the excitment is something I'll never forget. Now I never miss it...even though it's only on the big screen.

Everyone knows about the mint julep, but how many of you know about Kentucky Hot Browns?

There's a hotel in Louisville called The Brown Hotel. During the 20's it would draw as many as 1,200 guests for its' dinner dance. In the wee hours of the morning, the guests would grow tired of dancing and would want a little something to eat. They were getting bored with ham and eggs, so Chef Fred Schmidt set out to create something new to tempt his guests' palates. His unique creation was an open-faced turkey sandwich with bacon and a delicate Mornay sauce. Enter The Hot Brown!

Now a Louisville tradition, the Hot Brown has been featured in Southern Living Magazine, The Los Angeles Times, NBC's Today Show, The Wall Street Journal, as well as being included in many cookbooks. So if you want to be part of a Derby tradition, here's the original recipe, right from The Brown Hotel.

The Legendary Hot Brown Recipe

Ingredients:  (Makes two hot browns)

2 ounces butter
2 ounces flour
1 quart heavy cream
1/2 cup Pecorino Romano cheese, plus 1 tablespoon for garnish
Salt and pepper to taste
14 ounces sliced roasted turkey breast
2-4 slices of Texas Toast (To make your own, a recipe follows)
4 slices of crisp bacon
2 Roma Tomatoes, sliced in half
Paprika, parsley, tomato for garnish


Method:

In a two-quart saucepan, melt butter and slowly whisk in flour until combined and forms a roux. Continue to cook roux for two minutes over medium-low heat, stirring frequently. Whisk whipping cream into the roux and cook over medium heat until the cream begins to simmer, about 2-3 minutes. Remove sauce from heat and slowly whisk in Pecorino Romano cheese until the Mornay sauce is smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste.
For each Hot Brown, place one or two slices of toast in an oven safe dish and cover with 7 ounces of turkey.

Place the tomatos on top of turkey and toast. Next, pour the Mornay sauce to completely cover the dish.

Sprinkle with additional Pecorino Romano cheese. Place entire dish under a broiler until cheese begins to brown and bubble and is heated through. Remove from broiler, cross two pieces of crispy bacon on top, sprinkle with paprika and parsley, and serve immediately.

I can find Texas Toast in my market.

But if you can't here's how to make your own: start with some good bread; smash a couple cloves of garlic and mix them with some butter. Spread on the bread, sprinkle with salt and pepper and then toast it.

And now something just for the ladies. I collected some photos of fun and fabulous Derby Day hats. Pick out your favorite! Which one would you love to wear?

Last, but not least,  The Mother's Day Giveaway: The lucky winner is: Faith from An Edible Mosaic. Congratulations! Please email me your address at bsmithw@gmail.com so I can get your cookbook in the mail ASAP!


Hat photo source: http://www.deescrafts.com/hats/

Just Bag It

At lunchtime, I've been brown-bagging lunch (in a reusable bag, of course!) for most of my professional career. There's so much environmental waste with takeout food (think food container, plastic utensils wrapped in more plastic, then put in a paper bag often inside a plastic bag). Bring your own reusable silverware, plate, glass and mug to work, and prove Kermit wrong: it is easy being green.

What's equally as wasteful: our hard-earned money. Check out the AARP's Lunch Savings Calculator. If you spend, for instance, $6.50 daily for a lunch and drink, and a bagged lunch is $3, you could save $70 a month. After four years, that's nearly $4,000!

The key to bringing lunch: variety, variety, variety. For cookbooks, I head to the library, but mainly, I take to the web.

VegCooking's Two-Week Sample Vegan Menus is filled with ideas for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
*Just in time for Thanksgving, try a Tofurky Sandwich with lettuce, tomato, and Vegenaise, pretzels, and an apple. Why should you skip turkey? Here's why.
*Why have a meat chili, when you can have a healthier and humane alternative? Try ready-made vegan chili (i.e., Boca frozen chili; Yves and Lightlife refrigerated chili; or Hormel canned chili), tortilla chips, and fresh avocado drizzled with lime juice.
*Creamy pasta salad with artichoke hearts, crusty Italian bread and fresh fruit sound like perfect picnic fare.
*No mercury in this lunch. Try a Veggie "Tuna" Salad, pita bread or crackers, and fresh-cut vegetables. Check out 10 Reasons Not to Eat Tuna.

Thanks VegCooking!

Explore out ChooseVeg's vegan lunch recipes. No vegan show on the Food Network? No problem. Watch videos for eggless egg salad, carrot soup, ratatouille, and much more. Don't forget an occasional treat: chocolate chip cookies, the perfect lunchbox edition.

Soup's on! But not at $5 for a bowl. Make an entire pot for about the same price or less. Visit out About.com's Vegetarian Soups and Vegetarian Chili Recipes.

Wraps=rip-off when you buy them at the deli. I've seen them for as high as $7. I start with a whole wheat wrap, add hummus, organic lettuce, and avocado or roasted red peppers. Ditto for salad. Who wants to pay $8 for some lettuce and toppings?

Feel like a 2nd grader again. Who doesn't love PB&J? There's even a restaurant, Peanut Butter & Co. Sandwich Shop, in New York City devoted to the timely classic. Pack your pb&J of choice (I prefer grape). Serve with carrots, potato chips, and non-dairy milk, like you get at the shop.

Now I wonder what people would say if I showed up to work with this?

Ina's Little Tomato Tarts

No doubt you’ve all seen this recipe in Ina Garten’s latest cookbook. Hope I am not repeating something you have already tried, but in my humble opinion, she is the best of the Food Network chefs and her latest cookbook showcases some lovely new recipe ideas. I just happen to like her style- her food- her ideas. She’s fun to watch, has a nifty sense of humor and often puts a new twist on her old recipes, although I don’t see her repeat things too often. One to drool over example: her sticky buns ( a previous post) - which she used to make the old fashioned way with yeast- Ina now uses puff pastry and I’m here to tell you these are FABULOUS and EASY. And FATTENING. Oh my.

Sticky buns aside, (although just writing about them makes me want to make some) I had some company for lunch recently and thought her little Tomato Tart recipe would be the perfect answer- I could get them all ready to go, stick them in the refrigerator and pop them into the oven when we were ready to eat. Don’t you get tired of salads all the time? With a little fruit on the side, this tart wraps things up in a clever, delicious and fun luncheon package.

Have you noticed that Ina is using a lot of puff pastry dough lately? And I read recently on somebody’s blog NOT to buy Pepperidge Farm puff pastry but to go to Whole Foods and get Dufour Classic Puff Pastry. Never dreamed I would actually find it, but there it was, in the freezer area. I really didn’t think it would make a big difference, but it was fabulous- as good as if you made it from scratch. I think for special occasions I will use it but for everyday and family cooking I will use the Pepperidge Farm puff pastry; nothing really wrong with it.

I am not a huge fan of onions for lunch, even caramelized, so I substituted shallots- which I think are milder and work just as well in this recipe and cook faster too. I bet you’re sick of my talking about Ina’s recipes, but when I find one I use a lot and it receives raves from everyone, I really want to make sure you give it a try.

Tomato Goat Cheese Tarts
(Adapted from Ina Garten)

Ingredients:
1 package (17.3 ounces/2 sheets) puff pastry, defrosted
Good olive oil
2-3 cups thinly sliced shallots
3 large garlic cloves, cut into thin slivers
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons dry white wine
2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme leaves
4 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan, plus 2 ounces shaved with a vegetable peeler
4 ounces garlic-and-herb goat cheese (recommended: Montrachet)
1 large tomato, cut into 4 (1/4-inch-thick) slices
3 tablespoons julienned basil leaves

Method:
Unfold a sheet of puff pastry on a lightly floured surface and roll it lightly to an 11 by 11-inch square. Using a 6-inch wide saucer or other round object as a guide, cut 2 circles from the sheet of puff pastry, discarding the scraps. Repeat with the second pastry sheet to make 4 circles in all. Place the pastry circles on 2 sheet pans lined with parchment paper and refrigerate until ready to use.
Preheat the oven to 425°.
Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil and add the shallots and garlic. Saute, stirring frequently, until the shallots are limp and there is almost no moisture remaining in the skillet. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, the wine, and thyme and continue to cook for another 10 minutes, until the shallots are lightly browned. Set aside.
Using a sharp paring knife, score a 1/4-inch-wide border around each pastry circle. Prick the pastry inside the score lines with the tines of a fork and sprinkle a tablespoon of grated Parmesan on each round, staying inside the scored border.
Place 1/4 of the shallot mixture on each circle, again staying within the scored edge. Crumble 1 ounce of goat cheese on top of the shallots. Place a slice of tomato in the center of each tart. Brush the tomato lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with basil, salt, and pepper. Finally, scatter 4 or 5 shards of Parmesan on each tart. (I was overly generous here.)

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the pastry is golden brown. The bottom sheet pan may need an extra few minutes in the oven. Serve hot or warm.

Yorkshire Pudding and Sausage

My mother loved going to the Original Pancake House for one simple reason: her craving for a Dutch Baby. I took her there for lunch at least once a week and I bet Dad took her once a week for dinner. Her appetite as she got older was negligible, but she could put an entire Dutch Baby away- no problem- and I promise you they are colossal. I never understood how she did it. Some people like apples, fruit jams or even syrup on top, but purists like my mother just want confectioner’s sugar and a fresh lemon to squeeze over everything. The batter is about as simple as it gets… equal parts flour and milk with eggs, whipped smooth but not too fluffy. It's then poured into a cast iron skillet over melted butter and stuck into a hot oven.

Another twist on this recipe is the English version called Yorkshire Pudding. Everyone knows about Yorkshire Pudding; the British love it with their roast beef. It’s basically the same batter as a Dutch Baby- eggs, milk and flour. The British use the roast beef pan drippings for flavor. Then after the roast is cooked and while you are letting it settle, you have your batter ready, pour it over the roast beef drippings, stick it in a hot oven and voila! You have Yorkshire Pudding. If gravy was made with some of the drippings, you can also pour gravy on top. It is delicious.

Basically, the same batter is used for popovers. Doesn’t everyone love a popover? Neiman Marcus is famous for serving one with every meal- always accompanied by strawberry butter. It’s worth having lunch there just to enjoy one of their popovers.

I have a recipe from an old cookbook entitled No-Fail Popovers where you put the batter in a cold oven then turn the heat on. It works too. I used to serve them for luncheons. Everyone was so impressed. If your oven has a glass insert, your kids will have fun watching the popovers puff up.

The very same batter that is used in both popovers and Yorkshire Pudding is also used in a Dutch Baby; but as I previously mentioned, butter is used in the pan instead of beef pan drippings. Rather than a savory, it is a sweet. Mother loved popovers too (she couldn’t wait to have one at Neiman Marcus) but for some reason she never made them at home.

I bring all this up because frequently Mother did cook something which she referred to as Yorkshire Pudding and Sausage. I have no idea where she found the recipe, but it obviously was a favorite with her- it sure was with the rest of us. In fact, it's a treat for all Yorkshire Pudding and popover lovers. In fact, if you are British you have another name for this particular dish: Toad in the Hole.

Mother’ s recipe uses sausage (the “toads”) for flavor. I prefer bulk sausage but have used links as well; I just don’t think links are as flavorful- or perhaps they don’t produce as much in the drippings department. Or perhaps I am buying the wrong kind. However I think links are prettier to the eye - as in the photo below. (I even tried bacon once instead of sausage- no doubt I didn't have sausage in the fridge and must have been longing to make the dish- but I didn’t like it nearly as well.) I can think of any number of things you could add to this recipe if you want to be inventive- scallions, mushrooms- but I have always loved it exactly the way it was served to me as a child- with sausages and a touch of Worcestershire sauce for flavor. One more tip: if you have one of those fabulous cast iron skillets, use it- it’s perfect for this dish, but I have made it in other pans with no problem.

I have never tried to make a Dutch Baby with this recipe, eliminating the sausage and Worcestershire and using butter instead of pan drippings. Oddly enough, considering how she loved them, neither did my mother. But I see no reason why you couldn’t try it if you love Dutch Babies as much as Mother did. As far as I am concerned, Yorkshire Pudding and Sausage should be served for dinner while Dutch Babies are a breakfast or lunch dish.
I bet you have all the ingredients in your refrigerator so if you are looking for an easy dinner, try it tonight. I have to confess, this is way up there on my comfort food list!

Yorkshire Pudding and Sausage

Ingredients:
3 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
salt
bulk sausage- whichever brand you prefer, or links

Method:
Preheat oven to 400°.
Slice the sausage and fry in a large oven proof frying pan. Leave a generous coating of the sausage oil in the pan along with the sausage.
Beat the eggs with milk and flour until smooth. Add the Worcestershire sauce and a dash of salt. Pour everything over the sausage and place in the oven. Bake for about 25 minutes; keep checking. It will puff up like a popover. Serves 4.