Love and Olive Oil

Toasted Tomato, Basil, and Goat Cheese Sandwiches

Another perfect summer meal. Full of fresh and bright flavors. This is one of those meals that is so incredibly simple to make, and yet when you’re eating it you feel like a true gourmet. We sliced up the rest of our heirloom tomatoes, using a combination of orange and green zebra tomatoes. With some goat cheese, fresh herbs (we used basil and tarragon), and tart kalamata olives, well, it’s 10am on Sunday morning and I’m craving a repeat.

The recipe calls for grilling the bread, but for us grill-less folk, it works fine toasted in a sauté pan. this is also a great use for the No-Knead Bread we love so much.

Toasted Tomato, Basil, and Goat Cheese Sandwiches

Makes 4 servings. Recipe adapted from Epicurious.

Ingredients
6-8 slices crusty bread
1/2 cup olive oil
5 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon chopped mixed fresh herbs (such as tarragon, thyme, and rosemary)

3/4 cup soft fresh goat cheese (plain, peppered, or herbed)
1 large heirloom tomato, thinly sliced into rounds
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pitted Kalamata olives

Directions
Preheat barbecue or a large sauté pan (medium heat). Combine oil, garlic, and herbs in small bowl. Brush top sides of bread with half of oil mixture.

Toast bread, oiled sides down, until lightly toasted, about 1-3 minutes, until crisp. Remove from heat. Quickly spread toasted sides with goat cheese.

Return to pan. Cook until bottom sides are toasted and the cheese begins to melt, about 3 minutes. Top with tomatoes, olives, and drizzle with remaining herb oil mixture.

Filed Under: Pseudo-Gourmet, Quick, Sandwiches, Vegetarian
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Garden Greens with Yellow Tomatoes and Peaches

I told you something good would come out of those lovely peaches and tomatoes.

I think we’ve been ’stuck’ in winter mode since, well, winter. In fact, last week, we had a friend in town, and decided to cook some of the heaviest, hottest meals in our recipe book. Go figure. After a few days in front of the stove and 95 degrees of sticky heat outside, we finally realized that it was, in fact, summer.

So this week, a new approach. Starting with a salad. With absolutely no heat required. Well, I lie - we needed something ‘with’ the salad, and seeing as we forgot to start the bread the night before, we had to settle for some cornbread muffins (Jiffy - the best .89 you’ll ever spend) - but even with the muffins, still very little heat. Perfect for a hot summer day.

Garden Greens with Yellow Tomatoes and Peaches

Recipe from Bon Appetit.

Ingredients
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons minced shallot
2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
8 cups mixed baby greens (4 to 6 ounces)
4 small vine-ripened yellow tomatoes, cut into wedges
2 small yellow peaches, wiped clean of fuzz, halved, pitted, thinly sliced
goat cheese, crumbled (optional)

Directions
Whisk first 4 ingredients to blend in medium bowl. Season dressing to taste with salt and pepper. Can be made 2 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.

Combine greens, tomatoes, and peaches in large shallow bowl. Toss with enough dressing to coat lightly and serve, topped with crumbled goat cheese.

Filed Under: Healthy, Quick, Salads, Vegetarian
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The Missing Foodies?

With our posting frequency lately you’d assume we were on some new-fangled extreme diet or something.

Well, we’re not. Unless it was a crazy cupcake-only diet or something.

But we do have an excuse (or two… or three), that has kept us away from this blog.

First, summer vacations. Or a lovely (and not as hot as we expected, thank god!) trip to New York for a certain cousin’s wedding, and then a few extra days tacked on for good measure (you can’t go to New York and not factor in at least a few good days perusing the city and all it’s wonders!).

Secondly, old friends. We love visitors. But visitors mean more time spent out on the town and less time spent taking silly pictures of food. Plus we tend to cook our tried and true recipes for guests, which being that they have been tried, you’ve already seen them. Wouldn’t want to bore you now, would we?

Lastly, moving. What? Again, you say? Didn’t those two just move, like, yesterday? Well, actually, it was a year ago, but yes, we’ve moved again. Just across town this time, rather than across the country (I don’t want to do THAT again for a long time!). But we are now enjoying a beautiful new kitchen, closer to town, and just blocks from the Nashville Farmers’ Market. Once we get some more boxes put away, and figure out where to put all of our dishes (the new kitchen is big on light, but short on cabinet space), we’ll surely be posting pictures. The hazy background in the photo above is the most you’re going to get - for now. :)

Speaking of the Farmers’ Market that is now so conveniently close, if you’re ever in Nashville it is surely a sight to see. Though do beware - much of the produce there (um, pineapples?) is the exact same stuff you’d get at Kroger. But look close, and you’ll find an abundance of locally grown produce, including our most recent bounty… 4 varieties heirloom tomatoes (for someone who doesn’t like tomatoes, we sure bought a lot of them), perfectly ripe and delicious Georgia peaches, summer squashes of all shapes and colors, and blackberries the size of, well, bigger than the grape tomatoes that’s for sure.

We were perusing the assortment of tomatoes at the market when a friendly stranger offered his suggestions, pointing out some of his favorites (and guess who can’t remember the names of the ones we got?). We indulged in the massive wrinkly yellow one tonight, along with the peaches, in a recipe I will share tomorrow. The other yellow one, the bitty reds, and the green zebra ones we’re saving for later this week.

Turns out this stranger is a chef. Go figure. We’ll have to stop by his restaurant and see what he does with these all these crazy-looking vegetables (fruits?).

Filed Under: Ramblings
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Asian Pork and Mushroom Burger Wraps

Yes, I realize posts have been rather sparse lately, and chances are they will remain so through the bulk of July. Why you ask? Well, something big and exciting, the likes of which I’ll post about shortly. But it has been keeping us more than occupied, and while we have still been cooking, I just haven’t had the time nor energy to write about it.

But I do have a few recipes backlogged, which tends to happen when things get busy. This one in particular, which came from the newest issue of Bon Appetit, was quite stunning. Asian Pork Burger Wraps - wrapped in butter lettuce rather than a bun, which made it a fun combination between a burger and a lettuce wrap (go figure).

I was drawn to this issue’s feature on summer burger recipes because of the photographs. You can see an example of the aforementioned asian pork burgers. The ‘deconstructed’ burger photos were all too familiar (and Jeremy - you will know exactly what I am talking about here!), because of an assignment I had in a drawing class in college. The project was ‘exploding food’, where we drew a food item in the process of exploding into it’s various parts and ingredients. An informational diagram of sorts, much like a blueprint tells you how to build a house, the drawings tell you how to build the food. While I chose to do an ice cream sundae, the example for the project was of a burger.

Maybe I could have skipped the long winded description and just shown more pictures?

From Bon Appetit:

Drawing from CDES333:

(I can’t believe I still had this drawing saved on my computer!)

Anyways, I think Chris Ficken (the awesome professor of aforementioned drawing class) would approve of this recipe, or at least it’s presentation!

Asian Pork and Mushroom Burger Wraps

Makes 6 servings. Recipe from Bon Appetit.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons canola oil or peanut oil
2 tablespoons minced lemongrass (from bottom 3 inches of about 4 stalks)
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 ounces fresh shiitake mushrooms, stemmed, caps chopped
1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt, divided
1 3/4 pounds ground pork shoulder (Boston butt)
2 tablespoons soy sauce, divided
3 teaspoons Asian sesame oil, divided
3/4 teaspoon cracked black pepper
1/2 cup hoisin sauce*
1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
1 tablespoon unseasoned rice vinegar
1 teaspoon hot chili sauce (such as sriracha)*
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
2 heads of Bibb lettuce, cored, leaves separated
1 cup matchstick-size strips red bell pepper
1 cup matchstick-size strips peeled carrot
1/3 cup fresh cilantro leaves

Directions
Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add lemongrass and garlic; sauté 2 minutes. Add mushrooms. Sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt; sauté until mushrooms are tender, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat; cool in skillet.

Place pork in large bowl. Mix in 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 teaspoon sesame oil, cracked pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt, then fold in mushroom mixture. Using 2 generous tablespoonfuls for each, shape into 18 patties, each about 2 1/4 inches in diameter; arrange on plastic-lined baking sheet.

Whisk hoisin sauce, ginger, vinegar, chili sauce, and remaining 1 tablespoon soy sauce and 2 teaspoons sesame oil in small bowl for sauce. DO AHEAD: Burgers and sauce can be made 6 hours ahead. Cover separately; chill.

Spray grill rack with nonstick spray. Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat ). Grill burgers until cooked through, about 3 minutes per side. Or heat a few tablespoons oil in a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Cook burgers until browned and cooked through, about 3-4 minutes per side.

Arrange burgers on platter; set out sauce. Place lettuce, bell pepper, carrot, and cilantro in separate bowls. Serve, allowing guests to wrap burgers in lettuce and add sauce and vegetables as desired.

Filed Under: Asian, Main Dishes, Meat, Sandwiches
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Thai Green Tofu Curry

We love Thai curries - but have become a bit tired of the standard red curry we’ve made quite often. Green curry (that actually comes out looking more putrid-yellow rather than green), is a nice change of pace. A bit less spicy than red curry, we found we wanted more flavor after the first time making this recipe. So we nearly tripled the curry paste the recipe calls for. Since it is not as spicy, you get plenty more flavor while not setting your mouth on fire. Always a good thing. :)

The recipe originally called for chicken breast meat, but we subbed in tofu instead. We also added some fresh green bean pieces and some shiitake mushrooms, which do wonderful things for the overall flavor.

It’s a quick meal too, which is never a bad thing.

Thai Green Tofu Curry

Makes 4 servings. Recipe from Bon Appetit.

Ingredients
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
3/4 cup sliced shallots (about 5 large)
1-2 tablespoons Thai green curry paste
1 14-ounce can unsweetened coconut milk
2 teaspoons fish sauce (such as nam pla or nuoc nam)
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 container firm tofu, drained well and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 lb. green beans, trimmed and cut into 1″ pieces
5-6 dried shiitake mushrooms, rehydrated and quartered
1 large red bell pepper, cut into strips
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil plus sprigs for garnish
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice plus wedges for garnish

Directions
Pre-cook the green beans until bright green and still very crispy.

Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Add shallots and curry paste; stir until shallots soften, about 2 minutes. Add coconut milk, fish sauce, and brown sugar; bring to boil. Add tofu, green beans, mushrooms, and bell pepper; stir until heated through. Stir in chopped basil and lime juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Divide curry among bowls or serve over jasmine rice. Garnish with basil sprigs and lime wedges.

Filed Under: Almost Vegetarian, Asian, Dairy-free, Quick, Soups
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