Tomato Sandwich

Tom Robbins wrote a story saying how if he was on death row and he could request anything he wanted for his last meal, it would be a tomato sandwich.* (Man after my own heart.) One with white wonder bread, mayonnaise, and the best summer tomatoes. When you get it right, a tomato sandwich is unbelievably good. The tomatoes are the star and the tomato juice mixes with the mayo and oozes into the bread and it's amazing. Luckily, today, I had a whole bunch of ripe, colorful, bursting-with-flavor tomatoes (from the garden, of course), some good white bread, and some quickly whipped up basil mayo. Yum! This might have to be my lunch from now until my tomato plants die.

Quick Basil Mayo:
Ingredients:
A small handful basil leaves, finely chopped
Squeeze of lemon juice
1/2 tsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp mayo
pinch of salt

Directions:
Mix it all together, add more salt if necessary.

*Tom Robbins is one of my favorite authors and this was from "Wild Ducks Flying Backward."

Prosciutto-Wrapped Peaches with Basil

It's summer and it's hot - apps that involve no cooking really appeal to me. This recipe from Epicurious looked so fresh and summery. I tried it out this week and it was great! Jamie loved them, and they couldn't have been easier. Kind of a fun switch from prosciutto with melon. The vinegar, sugar, cumin mixture adds a nice, subtle zing and the salty prosciutto and sweet peach go well together - and basil makes it all taste fresh and summery.

I think it would also probably be great thrown on the grill for a minute with some pecorino, but for now this is great and involves no cooking.

For 2 (1/2 peach per person, so just get more if you have more people!)
Ingredients:
1 yellow peach, core removed and cut into 8 pieces
4 pieces of prosciutto, cut in half lengthwise
8 basil leaves
1/4 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp red wine vinegar
big pinch cumin

Directions:
Mix the vinegar, sugar, and cumin and toss the peach slices with it in a bowl. Let them sit about 10 minutes. Wrap each peach slice with a strip of prosciutto, put a piece of basil on top, and secure with a toothpick. Done!

week 20

My tomato forest is incredible. I've been eating tomatoes non-stop and it's just the best. Look at that beautiful salad.

What I have learned: don't plant lemon tomatoes. They look cool, but they taste like nothing and aren't very meaty. Do plant Japanese Black Trifele - delicious, rich, sweet, and tart.

Homemade Garganelli with Fresh Garden Tomato Sauce

So another fabulous shower gift (that probably only I would register for) was a gnocchi board. (Thanks, Alice!) While I'm super excited to make gnocchi, I wanted to try garganelli. It's a time consuming, penne style pasta that really appealed to me. I was waiting for Jamie to come home Sunday afternoon, so I thought I would take advantage of my fresh tomatoes and time to spare and try it. Yum! Any fresh pasta is great, but these are really pretty noodles. Certainly a treat. In contrast, the tomato sauce is one of the easiest sauces - feel free to make it with any other regular old pasta. This is also not a traditional garganelli sauce, but it's summer, it's what I had, and it's delicious.

Fresh Garden Tomato Sauce
Ingredients:
1 small bowls worth of super ripe, fresh tomatoes
1/4 cup good olive oil
1-2 tsp salt
2 cloves of garlic, minced

Mozza's Pane Pomodoro with Burrata, Prosciutto, Pickled Shallots, and Tomato Vinaigrette

My friend Siobhan gave me this great cookbook for a recent wedding shower (thanks Al, Kara, and Nat for throwing it! And Sha for this great book!) and all of the pictures and recipes looked amazing. Yesterday I flipped through to try to find a good tomato recipe to use up some of my wonderful garden tomatoes from this week. I settled on this one because it sounded so tasty. It takes a lot of little things, but it's worth it! Also, the tomato vinaigrette is amaaaaazing. I just tastes like concentrated tomato. It's the best. And you can't go wrong with burrata. Yum yum. Can't wait to make some more for lunch!

Serves 2 as a main, 4 as an appetizer

For the Shallots
Ingredients:
1/2 pound shallots
1 cup red wine vinegar (she calls for champagne vinegar but I didn't have any)
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon fennel seeds

Week 19

The garden is great! It's putting out tomatoes like crazy. They are beautiful and colorful and tart and sweet and just amazing. I had my first purple carrot, a cucumber, some great herbs (used for the clams)... Everything looks fab. I had pounds of tomatoes and have been thinking of new ways to use them. (Pane pomodoro coming up next...)

The first basket of tomatoes (the top one was the second)

Grilled Clams with Herb Butter

These are incredible, and so easy! I made them as a little hors d'oeuvres for a BBQ this past weekend, but I think they were the star. I am looking forward to being back out in Southampton (with a grill) again next weekend so I can make them again! My friend Alice doesn't cook, so to gauge difficulty levels - she said even she could do this. Very simple and so, so tasty!

Ingredients:
A big handful of fresh herbs (I used basil, dill, tarragon, parsley, chives, and thyme from my garden)
1 tsp lemon zest
1/2 stick of butter, softened
big pinch of salt and pepper
2 dozen clams

Directions:
Finely chop up the herbs. Mash into the butter with lemon zest, salt, and pepper. Form into a log on a piece of Saran wrap and put in the fridge for an hour or more so it hardens. (Probably fine to do it right before and not refrigerate too.)