Heirloom Tomatoes

As i mentioned i am now obsessed with Heirloom tomatoes - i had previously avoided them because, well they looked kinda gross. I never understood the obsession, but now i get it! The ones i got at the Montgomery Inn were amazing - i made a few things with them, including a great lunch.

Deconstructed LMT

(lettuce, mozzarella and tomato)

Heirloom tomato capreses salad

Ribs on Father's Day

Being the super-traditional family mine is - we picked up some ribs from the Beaches Rib Fest on Father's day, reheated them and ate them in the back yard of my sister's new place. Well, that's simplifying - my sister also made some slow cooker ribs, a salad and there was a cheese tray. I was instructed to bring a salad, so i thought since the tomatoes looked so lovely that i would make a caprese salad.

In my wisdom i thought i would try to reduce some balsamic, which i did very effectively - alas it does not transport well and was pretty hard by the time i got there. There Cherry Almond Tart turned out pretty good though

Reducing the Balsamic

Caprese Salad

My plate

The Spread

Sort of Caprese Lunch Salad

This is going to be a lazy post - i have a very busy day, and just realized i hadn't used these pictures that i had of a really good lunch i made while up in Mono. This was a take to work lunch which i didn't end up eating the day i had intended and it sat for another day which i think made it even better.

I found some pearl bococcini in my mom's fridge - which are so addictive. They are quite firm, so letting them sit in the dressing for an extra day only made them better. I like cheese in salads sometimes - and as you've probably guessed i'm a big fan of the Caprese style salad - this on was my rip off.

I simply cut some tomatoes in half added the pearl bococcini and some shredded basil. I dressed it in a bit of olive oil and a generous amount of balsamic. I added some finely sliced red onions and served the salad over a mix of arugula and spinach.

Nice lunch!

Above:

Close up of the salad

Packed lunch

Ingredients

Sometimes it only takes a Sandwich

In general i'm not the biggest bread lover, but that said a good sandwich can really be a enjoyable easy meal. One of the problems i have with sandwiches is that i eat so little bread that buying a loaf really doesn't make a lot of sense for me. I know a lot of people freeze their bread, but i can always tell if bread has been frozen, it just doesn't taste right. I usually buy the Future Bakery's half marble rye loaf as its a smaller amount, and for some reason it never seems to go stale or moldy.

The toasted tomato is a family classic - and in the summer a nice ripe tomato with just real mayo and pepper - DAMN! I will still make these in the winter occasionally - i usually let the tomato ripen in the front window - just like the avocados i feel like this is more natural somehow.

I also just sandwiches to use up leftovers. When i make frittata i usually heat up one of the leftover slices and throw it between a couple pieces of bread - good stuff! Fish sandwiches are also good, but i don't usually have much leftover when i make fish - though i guess you could adapt the talapia double meal for this.

When eric cooked the carponara for me, i made the caprese salad - there were a few slices left over, and i the next day they were the perfect fodder for a sandwich - and luckily i still had some leftover Ace Bakery baguette - a very base. The balsamic and oil had really permiated the tomato and buffalo motzerella. I also think basil is nice in a sandwich.



Above:

Fried egg - truck stop classic
Toasted Tomato - a classic
Caprese salad as a sandwich
Leftover fritata sandwich
Simple tomato, avocado and cheddar cheese

Carbonara - Eric Moe, Guest Chef

In honour of Robbie Burns Day, my guest chef Eric offered to make me one of his favorite meals - Carbonara. I had never had this dish, and now that i was happily on the pork train, i thought what better a time. Apparently there is some controversy about how to make this dish, some puritans dispute the use of cream and the techniques. I had utter faith in my chef's version of the recipe, pure or not! This dish is also refereed to as the "coal miner's spaghetti" or "dinner"- and it was amazing!!!

The preparation and ingredients of the meal were fascinating in themselves, in some ways its sort of a bacon and eggs pasta. (i'm sure the puritans are cringing right now). Eric fried up the panchetta with onions and garlic, and made a mixture of eggs, cream, Parmesan and black pepper that gave the pasta the richness. Once the pasta was cooked and drained, he added it to the pork and onions, tossed it, then added the egg mixture. I understand this is where the controversy comes from - some people the cream is a sin, but Eric knows i like rich food. The egg mixture cooks a little from the heat and coats the pasta. It is served with a heap of Parmesan. Yum!!!!

It was really nice having someone cook me dinner, though i might have irritated my guest chef by shoving my camera in the food constantly, it was a great meal. The pictures aren't great, in part because of the speed of the cooking, my newness with the camera and lighting issues, but i hope it represents what a good meal it was. I thought since the pasta was quite rich i would make a couple lighter sides to balance the meal out. I purchased some buffalo mozzarella and made a Caprese salad along with some brushcetta. Of course we had a wine - i chose one of my VQA favorites - East Dell Black Cab. Its a Pinot Noir Cab blend that offset the richness of the dish.


Above:

Caprese Salad
Carbonara
Chopping up the pork
The ingredients
Bruschetta