Roasted Tomatoes

Mmmmm.....nothing better than the smell of roasted garlic in the air.  

Wait, maybe if you added some butter to that.

Oh!  And then, maybe if you stuffed all of that into some tomatoes.....

Oh yes.  We are on to something now....

4 beefsteak tomatoes

4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

1T. butter

(salt & pepper to taste)

-Begin by preheating the oven to 400f.

-Next, slice the tops off of the tomatoes, using a serrated knife for ease.  Using a small melon baller or grapefruit spoon, get out the seeds and the tough core and toss away. 

(If you are smart, you will slice away the good tomato that surrounds each stem and sprinkle that liberally with salt and pepper as a little cook's treat, but at the time, I was a woman on a mission and by the time I thought of using them...well, it was the next morning and they had been sitting out uncovered on the counter all night and weren't very appealing.)

-Very lightly spray a dish with oil and place the tomatoes, cut side up, onto the dish.  Sprinkle with the sliced garlic, salt, and pepper.  

-Divide the butter among them evenly and slip them into the hot oven and let them roast until they go caramelized and a bit wrinkly, about 40-50 minutes.

I would recommend serving this with something that could use a smidgen of sauce because once these tomatoes make it to the plate, you can cut them in two, letting the tomato-y butter run all over whatever is on the plate, be it rice, bulgur wheat, couscous, bread....you get the idea.  

Tomato, Leek, and Feta Bake

There is something special about using a new dish for the first time.  You might not remember the specific event for a lifetime, but for some, at least, it can make that evening's meal just a little bit more special.  This time, I even went the extra mile and made a new recipe to go with my new dish.  How appropriate, no? Well, maybe I am just an odd duck. Either way, I dare you to bake up some tomatoes, leeks, mushrooms, and feta cheese in any old dish and tell me that it isn't fabulous. 

2c. white onion, chopped
3c. leeks, cut into half moons and sliced
1c. mushrooms, cut in slices or quarters
2 cloves garlic, minced
1.5c. stewed tomatoes, drained of their canning liquid
2T. tomato paste
3-4oz. feta cheese, crumbled
(dried oregano, salt, and pepper to taste)

-First things first, preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
-In a very, very large pan saute the onions and leeks together, and once they begin to colour, add the mushrooms and garlic. 
-When this has cooked through, add the tomatoes, tomato paste, and seasonings.
-Carefully tip this hot mixture into a baking dish (~12x8inches), strew with the snow white feta and bake for 20 minutes*.  
-If you find that the top hasn't browned enough for you in this time, drizzle with some olive oil and put under the broiler.
-This will make about 6-8 luscious mounds of caramelized vegetables that I urge you to drizzle with a touch more olive oil upon serving.

*Alternately, you could prepare everything up to the baking, wrap, chill and bake later.  However, if you do this in a ceramic dish, please let it come to room temperature as the sudden temperature change from the chilly icebox to the hot oven could cause cracking or breaking in the dish.

Moussaka

There are certainly several recipes in the world for Moussaka, and as far as I am concerned, there is no wrong way to make Moussaka.  The first time I had this dish, it was prepared lovingly by a dear friend's mother in eastern Europe on a cold evening.  There were layers of potato, minced meat, and eggplant married together with a thick layer of a yogurt-y custard.  This is not that Moussaka.  Sorry to disappoint, but when I saw this recipe, in a Greek cookbook, I was immediately intrigued.  Here was a completely different dish, save for the use of eggplant and my addition of yogurt, but the two were called by the same name. 

It turns out that Moussaka is much like curry in the sense that there is no wrong/right way to make it.  It is more or less a mixture of vegetables and perhaps meat cooked/served with some element of dairy ontop.  It also usually has eggplant as one of the main ingredients. 

My recipe (adapted from the recipe I found in the book, of course) calls to roast the vegetables before layering them into the dish to bake.  It is sort of a 'wet' moussaka, but if you would prefer for yours to be less 'saucy', shall we say, I would recommend roasting the vegetables longer and adding more salt, at this phase.  Also, make sure that the tomatoes are very well drained before layering for the final bake.

2 aubergines

4 zucchini

2 bell peppers, colours of your preference

1 can of diced tomatoes

olive oil

1t. dried oregano

salt and pepper

Greek yogurt, for serving

-Begin by slicing all of the vegetables into .5inch rounds and lay them out on two roasting sheets. 

-Drizzle them with oil and season with salt and turn to coat, making sure that there is only one layer of vegetables on each pan. 

-Roast in a 400 oven until the vegetables have lost enough moisture, anywhere from 20-35 minutes.

-Drain the tomatoes and stir in the oregano.

-Spray a casserole (6x13 inch or there abouts) with oil and begin to layer: first the aubergines, tomatoes, then zucchini and peppers; repeat. 

-Drizzle the final layer with a bit of oil and bake in a 350 oven for 20-30 minutes, until it is piping hot.

I got what would normally be 6 servings out of this, but that night it was the main course and was completely devoured by only two people within an hour of being out of the oven.  I served it with Greek yogurt, just to add  a different texture and temperature.  I also heated some pita but if you would prefer a starch, such as rice or bulgur, be my guest. 

For the last side note, I normally use the 'fire roasted' canned tomatoes because I am of the opinion that they have a better flavour.  Obviously, use which ever you feel like, even using fresh tomatoes (either roasting with the other vegetables or sauteing with some olive oil and garlic and onions).  It is Moussaka; make this dish your own, as I and so many others before me have done.

Happy eating.

Tomato & Pea Curry (Pt. III)

For the last bit of curry left, the only thing that I could think of to do with it so as not to make for a boring left-over meal was to use it in a risotto.  I happen to be rather a big fan of risottos, keeping the necessities on hand so that I always have a back up meal.  Once you have the method down, it is such a wonderful thing to have at your disposal, as proved by this, Tomato & Pea Risotto with Portobello mushrooms.  Really the only thing Italian about this dish is the arborio rice, and perhaps the mushroom; however, the curry flavour is so mild that one's pallet won't be confused by it.  I thought to add fresh coriander to the finished product for a bit of green and also that wonderful fresh flavour that coriander is just full of.

(This will make enough for two, or one very hungry/greedy person- not that there is anything wrong with that.)

2/3c. arboio rice

1c. (left over) curry

2c. chicken stock (or other liquid)

2 portobello mushroom caps, sliced

Fresh coriander

-Combine the curry mixture and the chicken stock in a pan and heat through.

-In a separate pan, pour in a spot of oil and the rice and heat through. 

-Continue with the traditional risotto method of gradually adding the liquid (warmed curry & stock) and stirring a bit after each adition.  This should take 30 minutes, give or take a few.

-In yet another pan, (I know!) saute the mushroom caps and add a dash of sherry or sherry vinegar at the end if you have some to hand.

-Stir the cooked mushrooms through the finished risotto, remembering to season, and serve with the fresh coriander.

Thus, I am finished with the Tomato & Pea Curry series!  I hope you enjoyed it!

Tomato & Pea Curry (Pt. I)

I don't usually plan for left overs because it is so rare that we have any so when I had left overs of this curry, I decided to serve it differently each time until I used it all. It ended up lasting for three different meals (two for him, one for me).  There are three different ways that this curry made it's way into our meals this week.  The first, a curry with rice; the second, a sauce with seared fish; the third, made into a risotto.

Rice:

1/4c. yellow onion, chopped

2/3c. coconut milk

1c. water

1c. brown rice

1/2t. brown mustard seeds

1t. lime juice

Curry:
2 (15oz.) cans diced tomatoes in sauce
1/2c. water or chicken/vegetable stock
1/2c. yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1t. turmeric; garam masala; curry powder
1/2t. mustard powder
1.5 c. peas

Fresh coriander for serving

-The rice will take the longest, so start by sauteing the onion in a spot of oil until it begins to color.  Add, then, the rice, mustard seeds, coconut milk, and water.  This will take 30-40 minutes to cook, covered on a low flame.
-Meanwhile, for the curry, let the onions saute in a pot with some oil, adding the garlic in just as they being to color.  Add the spices and when everything has become fragrant, add the tomatoes and liquid and simmer until the rice is finished or about 20-30 minutes.  Add the peas at the end and let them heat through. 
-Add the lime juice to the rice and season both the rice and curry to your tastes before serving.

-Serve the curry over the rice and sprinkle with the fresh coriander.

(Immediately pack up any left overs to use later, if you have any.)

Saturday afternoon snack

Sometimes on a lazy Saturday afternoon, you just need a little pick me up; nothing to heavy but something that is enough to quiet those nagging pangs of hunger a couple of hours before dinner.  I made this for my mother, with left over bread, but by all means, make this with a fresh slice of whatever bread you like, just so long as it isn't the super market sponge variety. 

1 slice of bread
1/2 roma tomato, diced
2T. chevre
dash of oregano
salt, pepper, olive oil

-Drizzle the bread with a spot of oil and toast in the broiler while you chop your tomato and get out the chevre. 
-Combine all of the ingredients, the salt and pepper to taste, and mound on to the slice of now toasted bread and drizzle with just a touch more olive oil.
-Slide under the broiler and let the chevre take on a bit of golden colour and remove.  I wouldn't let this cool down too much, but tomatoes are known to be acidic and thus, retain heat for longer than you might expect. 

I did try slicing this, but it wasn't at all very pretty, and I think that it made it even more difficult to eat.  I wouldn't go pulling out a knife and fork or anything, nor would I wear my favourite white shirt when eating this, just as a precaution.