Thursday, November 3, 2011

Summer jewels - tomatoes

I know it has been forever… it is not that I stopped cooking, quite the opposite, I have been cooking non-stop from August until last week, because the markets were flourishing with produce. Without a doubt, however, tomato is the jewel of August harvest (perhaps a ruby:))
Beef steak, heirloom, champagne, green, stripped, Roma – each of these varieties is dramatically different from the other. Once, a Brooklyn farmer told me he does not eat tomatoes until there in a full bloom to get the best of the best. So before, you turn into tasteless watery winter grocery store tomatoes, try these recipes to seal the sweet, tangy, meaty, and bright flavors of summer fruits. 

Honey roasted tomatoes with basil olive oil
stems from a bunch of basil leaves
2 tbsp. olive oil
Pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
2 tbsp. local honey
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Pre-heat the oven to 250°.
Arrange tomato halves cut side up on an aluminum foil—lined baking sheet. Whisk together remaining ingredients in a bowl and then drizzle over tomatoes. Bake until tomatoes are half-dried and concentrated, 3–4 hours.
Serve on top of the pizza, in salads, tossed with pasta.

Fiery tomato sauce
3 ounces rich olive oil
2 garlic cloves
¼ tsp. red pepper flakes
10 Roma tomatoes, halved lengthwise
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

In a small sauce pan combine olive oil, garlic, and pepper flakes. Over a very low fire, heat up the olive oil mixture. Once the oil is hot, turn off the heat and let the oil cool for about 1 hour.

Strain the oil discarding pepper flakes and garlic. Pre-heat the oven to 400. Arrange tomato halves cut side up on an aluminum foil—lined baking sheet. Drizzle with the infused olive oil, sprinkle over with salt and pepper

Roast for 1 hour or until tomatoes “collapse”. Transfer tomatoes and all the juices into a bowl (for immersion blender) or a blender. Blend the tomatoes until the sauce is smooth. Adjust salt and pepper to your liking.