Tag Archives: tomatoes

Guest Post: Hungry Games: Glorious Gazpacho, Perfect for Summer!

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One of the wonderful things about DC in the summer is the abundance of farmers markets. You could probably find one every day of the week if you tried—Dupont Circle, Adams Morgan, Mount Pleasant, etc. The locally grown summer produce is phenomenal! My mouth waters just thinking about biting into a sweet, juicy heirloom tomato or a crisp, refreshing cucumber…

The other day, a dear friend of mine, Babar, spontaneously called me and invited me over to cook dinner with him. He had just gone to his local farmers market and was inspired by a sign next to the heirloom tomatoes that read “Great for Gazpacho.” Having never made gazpacho before, he decided it was something he wanted to conquer, and fortunately for this girl, he wanted me to partake (I had never made gazpacho before either).

We used Ina Garten’s recipe found on foodnetwork.com, with a few modifications. And, with all due respect for the Barefoot Contessa, I think we may have improved on her recipe by subbing in heirloom tomatoes for the plum tomatoes she calls for. Made from fresh farmers market produce, our gazpacho was the absolute ultimate! (That was a super random reference to one of my favorite summertime films, Gidget, which you should probably watch if you haven’t already.)

Ingredients:

  • 1 hothouse cucumber, halved and seeded, but not peeled (We did not seed our cucumbers…just chopped them up.)
  • 2 red bell peppers, cored and seeded (We used green and yellow bell peppers.)
  • 4 plum tomatoes (We used heirloom tomatoes—a brilliant substitution. I would say 1 heirloom tomato = 2 plum tomatoes.)
  • 1 red onion
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 3 cups tomato juice
  • ¼ cup white wine vinegar (We did not have white wine vinegar, so we used red wine vinegar instead.)
  • ¼ cup good olive oil
  • ½ tablespoon kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • (We doubled the recipe and added 3 jalapeno peppers, removing the seeds.)

Directions

Roughly chop the cucumbers, bell peppers, tomatoes, and red onions into 1-inch cubes.

Put each vegetable separately into a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse until it is coarsely chopped. Do not overprocess!

After each vegetable is processed, combine them in a large bowl and add the garlic, tomato juice, vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper.

Mix well and chill before serving. The longer the gazpacho sits, the more the flavors develop.

On the printout of the recipe we were using, someone had written a note that lime was a nice garnish for the soup. It seemed like it would be, so we cut up some lime to drizzle over the gazpacho—mind blown! Thank you Babar for introducing me to the world of farm fresh gazpacho. Who knew it was so easy to make (no actual cooking involved) and so delightful to eat?!

Stoddard’s Fine Food and Ale, Downtown Crossing, Boston

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Stoddard’s Fine Food and Ale is a speakeasy which serves pub fare and is located at Temple Place (the Newbury Street in the 1800′s). I have heard through the grapevine it’s a great after work place in Downtown Crossing and has great craft beer and beer on tap selection. My friend mentioned about Stoddard’s when we were dining at Rafiki Bistro and instructed I try their mussels.

The bar area is spacious, has outdoor street lighting and a cozy atmosphere. The tin lined ceiling was quite intricate and I found it interesting that Stoddard’s used to sell fine cutlery and was a retail operation selling and assortment of items from sewing machines to bait.

The front dining area features vintage undergarments and corsets once sold at Stoddard’s.

We enjoyed some Rapscallion Honey and other uniquely named beers. Indeed, Stoddard’s has a vast selection of beers.

I am a huge fan of fondues, especially beer based fondues (love Cleary’s). Stoddard’s Aged Gouda and Cask Ale Fondue made with local cask-conditioned ale was served with house made pretzels & crudité ($10). The fondue was perfect with the soft and chewy pretzels, as well with the apple, however with the zucchini and broccoli, the flavor of the fondue was too hoppy and distinctly bitter.

The Iceberg wedge was lightly grilled and slathered with bleu cheese and roasted sweet tomatoes ($8). The salad was nothing spectacular, but my friend thought it was good.

The P.E.I. mussels were amazing. The light and creamy curry sauce was nicely spiced and really enhanced the ocean flavor of the fresh mussels. I would definitely order these again and was glad my friend suggested them to me, especially paired with the house made french fries. The bread should have been a nicely toasted and buttered crostini versus the soft bread, which seemed like an after thought versus contributing ingredient. The thick slices of bread lacked texture and flavor which made me want to set them aside.

The house cut fries with aioli ($6) were nicely crisp on the exterior, tender on the interior and seasoned well. We definitely finished these off and even ate the little potato bits.

We would definitely return to Stoddard’s and try the burger, steak frites and lobster hush puppies. The tub style sink was fun to use and a unique design touch.

Stoddard's Fine Food And Ale on Urbanspoon

Soy Cheddar and Salsa Omelette

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Adapted from Canadian Living

Makes 2 omelettes

  • 4 egg whites
  • 1/2 pinch salt
  • 1/2 pinch pepper
  • 2 tsp butter or Earth Balance
  • 1/4 cup shredded soy cheddar cheese

Salsa

  • 3/4 cup cherry tomatoes, quartered
  • 1/8 cup  chopped onion
  • 1 tsp chopped fresh coriander or fresh parsley
  • 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1/2 tbsp white wine vinegar
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • 1/8 tsp pepper

In bowl, combine tomatoes, onion, coriander, oil, vinegar, salt and pepper; set aside.

In bowl, whisk together eggs, 1 tbsp water, salt and pepper just until blended but not frothy.

In 8-inch  nonstick skillet, melt 1/2 tsp  of the butter over medium heat. Pour half of the egg mixture into skillet; cook until almost set, gently lifting edge with spatula to allow any uncooked eggs to flow underneath, about 3 minutes.

Sprinkle 2 tbsp of the cheese over salsa and spoon 1/4 cup of the salsa onto half of the omelette. Fold uncovered half over top; cook for 2 minutes. Slide onto plate. Repeat with remaining ingredients. Serve with remaining salsa.

Eggplant Parmesan

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Lightly breaded eggplant parmesean doused in tomato sauce and mozzerella cheese is always a welcome entree. It is vegetarian friendly and exceptionally satisfying.

Adapted from AllRecipes and Smitten Kitchen

  • 2 medium eggplants, peeled and thinly sliced into 1/2 inch rounds
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1 1/2 cups plain bread crumbs
  • 2 cups tomato sauce, divided
  • 1 (16 ounce) package shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
  • 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
  1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C).
  2. Place sliced eggplant in a colander and sprinkle salt over eggplant and let stand 10 minutes; rinse salt and pat dry. Dip eggplant in egg then in bread crumbs. In a hot pan with a tablespoon of olive oil fry the  breaded eggplant, about 5-7 minutes on each side.
  3. Add 1 cup tomato sauce to 9×13 baking dish, half of the eggplant, mozzarella and parmesean cheese; repeat layering process finishing with the cheeses.
  4. Bake for 30 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool 5 minutes before slicing and serving.

A Tale of Two Lasagnas- Hearty Meat and Vegetarian

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Lasagna is a popular comfort food we like to make now that fall is around the corner. We decided to do a vegetarian version and a meat version. The meat version is very hearty and smaller servings would be best. The savory vegetarian version is a bit lighter because we love portobello mushrooms. For a quick shortcut, we made the onion-scallion mixture together and divided it between the two different lasagnas. Same with the ricotta mixture.

Vegetable Lasagna

Meat Lasagna

Makes 12 servings per lasagna

  • 1 (16 oz) package lasagna noodles
  • 1 lb portobello mushrooms, diced
  • 1 1/2 lbs ground beef
  • 3/4 C green bell peppers, diced
  • 3/4 C Vidalia onion, chopped
  • 1/2 C scallions, finely chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 4 T vegetable oil
  • 1 jar vegetable pasta sauce
  • 1 jar meat pasta sauce
  • 1 (15 oz) container part-skim ricotta cheese
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 C Parmesan cheese
  • 4 C shredded mozzarella cheese

Cook the lasagna noodles in a large pot of boiling water for 10 minutes, or until al dente. Rinse with cold water, and drain.

In a large saucepan, cook and stir mushrooms, green peppers, onion, and garlic in oil. Stir in pasta sauce and basil; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes. In another large saucepan, cook and stir ground beef, onion, green peppers.

Mix together ricotta, 2 cups mozzarella cheese, and eggs.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spread 1 cup tomato sauce into the bottom of each greased 9×13 inch baking dish. Layer 1/2 each, lasagna noodles, ricotta mix, sauce, and Parmesan cheese. Repeat layering using vegetable or meat mixtures, and top with remaining 2 cups mozzarella cheese.

Bake, uncovered, for 40 minutes. Let stand 15 minutes before serving.

Ricotta Mixture

Browning the beef to make the meat sauce

First layer for each lasagna

Final layer for each lasagna

Vegetable Lasagna

Meat Lasagna