What I Learned in Italy #7

Even though there are grocery stores, it is better to purchase cheese, coffee, and flour from the cheese producer, the coffee bean importer, and the guy who grinds the wheat.

It should take at least three hours to complete these tasks due to the distance you must travel through the hillsides of Tuscany and the time you spend visiting with the people you meet at each location.

Roasted Orange Cherry Tomatoes

With the abundance of tomatoes this time of year, I'm always looking for ways to make them last longer. I store these tomatoes in a little olive oil and the (peeled) garlic cloves they are roasted with. They are sweet alone as a snack and make a great addition to pasta.

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
Slice tomatoes in half. To make slicing them fast and easy, see Tomato Tip Below.


Put tomatoes cut side up on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. 
Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Add a couple unpeeled garlic cloves on the pan with the tomatoes.
Roast for up to 3 hours depending on the size of the tomatoes. These were pretty small, more like grape tomatoes, and only took 2 hours. They should be shriveled but still have some juice in them.

Tomato Tip - Slicing Cherry Tomatoes in Half

Place tomatoes in a plastic carry-out lid.

 

Top with another lid (upside-down), gently press on the lid and run your knife through the middle.

Voila'. This works great for grapes, too.

Preparation is Key!

Prep!

Preparation is key to a successful stir fry. I like to have everything lined up and ready to go before I heat the pan. 


This combination was particularly tasty: bok choy, red peppers, sugar snap peas, carrots, green onions, mushrooms, asparagus, bean sprouts, cilantro, and thai basil. The sauce was tamarind, garlic paste, and ginger paste.


Yum.

Grill Marks

Yesterday, my daughter Maya told me she promised a young man that she would make a home-cooked meal for him the night before. Instead, she went to a place that sells prepared food, brought it back to her apartment and put it all in pots and pans to look like she had made it herself.

All was going well until the young man asked her how she got the grill marks on the chicken!

Here's a tip: Don't try to pass off prepared food as home-cooked if you couldn't have made it at home! :)

Embarrassing but True - I Love Bacon

It arrived in an inauspicious USPS Priority Mail cardboard box -- socialized bacon -- bacon for the masses. Bring them your tired, your poor, your vegans! They boast a zero calorie, zero fat, vegetarian, and kosher seasoning that makes everything taste like bacon.

http://www.baconsalt.com/

And yes; I even ordered the bacon lip balm. Mmmmmm.

Life is good.

Here are some links for the fearless:

http://pageslap.wordpress.com/2009/04/05/candied-bacon/

http://foodproof.com/photos/full/bacon-cheese-roll-1290

Here's a tip: If you hate bacon grease splattered all over your cooktop: Lay strips of bacon on a cookie sheet and cook it in the oven. Perfectly cooked and no mess.

Saving Money on Lunch

I was in the kitchen for most of the afternoon. I realized that I'm spending too much money on lunch food at work, so I decided to come up with some interesting, portable lunches. I made a delicious baba ghanoush and this very tasty beet salad.

To a food processor add roasted beets, lemon juice, garlic, a little onion, some cumin, salt & pepper. Pulse several times. Add chick peas and tahini. Pulse a few more times. Chop parsley and walnuts to top the beets. Eat with some warm pita.

Here's a tip: Out of tahini? Add a little peanut butter and a drop or two of sesame oil.

In the past when I've decided to take lunch, I get to mealtime and decide that whatever it is that I brought in ISN'T what I want to eat. I'm hoping that if I bring in several different dishes, I'll have enough variety to keep me out of the restaurants.