It was time for tomato basics. The ultimate super simple tomato sandwich. Yeah. Then we also made another summer staple: whole wheat fresh tomato pasta, yum yum.
I hate tomato soups, so no gazpacho, no chilled or hot tomato soup, no, absolutely not. I was planning to make sweet corn soup with spicy tomato coulis, but the corn turned out to be not soup worthy, so instead we made carrot soup with tomato coulis. The not so sweet corn, we then sautéed instead. We wrapped up the lunch by tossing a crouton less, faux caesar salad.
The ladies, always have a craving for something sweet……, so me made some zabaglione which we spread on puff pastry that we topped with strawberries for the 10 minute strawberry tart.
Great whole wheat bread (la Brea bakery)
sliced heirloom tomatoes
arugula
aioli (week one – ricotta)
salt, pepper, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar
special equipment: Panini press or toaster
optional: crispy bacon. really not necessary.
Sprinkle tomatoes with salt, and pepper. Splash some olive oil and vinegar on top. Turn on Panini press. Lightly spray or brush some olive oil on the sliced bread. Toast in the press (or conventional toaster) until grill marks appear. Spread both sides liberally with the aioli, put some leaves of arugula on the bottom slice, top with tomatoes and finish with second piece of bread. Serve with home-made pickles.
1 basket cherry tomatoes, or 2 large tomatoes
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons olive oil,
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
salt, pepper, red chili peppers
basil, sliced Julienne
1 cup arugula
1 cup vegetable, such as steamed french green beans, asparagus, cooked corn or zucchini
whole wheat pasta
cooked crumbled chicken sausages – optional
bacon bits – optional
parmesan cheese
In a large bowl, cut tomatoes into large dice. Season with salt, pepper, and hot red chilli peppers. Heat olive oil in a small skillet and cook garlic until just browned. Pour hot oil and cooked garlic over the diced tomatoes. Add balsamic vinegar and basil. Top with cooked vegetable. Let marinade while pasta is cooking. If using, cooked chicken crumbles can be added on top of the tomatoes. Do not toss.
Cook the whole wheat pasta in a large pot of salted water per package instructions. Drain when done, and toss with a small amount of olive oil, and season the pasta with salt and pepper. Toss the seasoned pasta with the tomato mixture, toss in the arugula, and garnish with parmesan cheese.
Carrot soup with roasted tomato coulis
soup
4 large carrots
1 small yellow onion, diced
1 tablespoon butter, 1 tablespoon olive oil
salt pepper to taste
1 cup orange juice
4 cups chicken stock or veggie stock
garnish options: thinned sour cream (or yogurt), agave pepitas (week 2 basil), fresh herbs
roasted tomato coulis, recipe below
Soup
Saute diced onion in the butter olive oil mixture until translucent, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in chopped and peeled carrots and saute an additional 5 minutes, do not burn the onion. Season again. Cover with chicken or vegetable broth, simmer until carrots are soft, about 15 minutes. Puree using an immersion blender or transfer to a blender, puree until smooth. Stir in orange juice, and thin with additional stock or water until desired consistency is reached. Taste for seasoning. Adjust as necessary. Serve with toppings as desired.
3 Roma tomatoes, broiled until charred
salt, pepper to taste
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon (or to taste) adobo sauce from canned chipotle peppers
dash of sugar
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
salt and pepper to taste
Place all ingredients in blender or food processor. Whirl. Blend. Whirl. Taste for seasoning. Done.
To serve:
Spoon soup into soup bowl. Put one tablespoon spicy tomato coulis in the center. Garnish with yoghurt or sour creme squiggle, toasted pepitas and/or fresh herbs.
Why use croutons when you can use yummy radishes and sunflower seeds instead?
1 small head of baby romaine
4 radishes, sliced thin
1/4 toasted and salted sunflower seeds
shaved parmesan to taste
parmesan dressing: please refer to page 83. Celery salad in your well used copy of The Swedish Table.
Toss lettuce with dressing. Top salad with sliced radishes, sunflower seeds and parmesan cheese.
Nothing is better than great summer corn. If you come across some super starchy moist corn, so moist that when you cut the kernels of the cobs, liquid is oozing out of the kernels, quickly make corn soup, per carrot soup directions above (omit oj). Just strain the soup before serving. If the corn is tasty but dry, dry, dry, don’ t bother trying to make soup, not worth the effort. If the corn is fresh enough for a corn salad, just blanch and toss with red onion, some fresh herbs, salt, pepper and a little olive oil and vinegar. Corn salad. Totally delish. If your corn is a few days past prime. Saute.
4 ears of corn, kernels cut of the cobs
1/4 cup diced red onion
1/2 cup diced parsley
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt, pepper, splash of balsamic vinegar
Heat a large skillet, add butter and olive oil. Add onion and cook until translucent, 1 minute, keep the heat high, add corn, in batches if necessary. You are trying to saute and brown the corn, not steam it. Cook for a few minutes until the corn is browned, stir in parsley, season with salt and pepper and splash of vinegar.
Here on the farms, there are frequent unexpected visitors, and often in the last-minute I need to whip up a desert using whatever there is. Which sometimes is not very much. Once not long ago, I had a dining table full of sugar craving guests, and no dessert prepared. I opened the fridge and saw some leftover egg yolks sitting in a bowl. Creme brulee I thought, then, no time. hmm, what to do? I quickly googled “3 egg yolks, dessert, recipe”……and up came……zabaglione!
Ahh. brilliant. The sugar craving guest were scraping their bowls ten minutes later. Zabagli…gone.
3 egg yolks
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup sweet wine such as Marsala, but sherry will do to, or 1/8 cup of orange liquor also works
1 cup of slightly sweetened whipped heavy cream
chocolate shavings
fresh fruit, optional
In a metal bowl, set over simmering water, don’t let the water touch the bottom of the bowl, whisk baby whisk, the egg yolks with the sugar until they begin to thicken, then stir in the alcohol and continue whipping until the mix is thick and light yellow. Let cool for a few minutes and stir in the whipped cream. Place in a servings bowl and shave over some chocolate. Berries are optional.
Strawberry tart with zabaglione
1 Sheet puff pastry
egg wash, 1 tablespoon sugar
Zabaglione cream, above
2 baskets sliced strawberries
powdered sugar
Krishna wanted strawberry tart. What Krishna wants, Krishna gets….., so defrost puff pastry sheet and roll it out a bit. No need to be exact. Place on silpat liner, or parchment paper. Score a 1 inch border all around. Prick in the center. Brush egg wash on the border and sprinkle border with sugar. Bake in preheated 400 degree oven for 20 minutes or until the pastry is browned and cooked. Let cool. Spread the zabaglione over the pastry, but not over the border, lay strawberries decoratively over the top. Done.