Seared Tomatoes with Bread Topping

At least once a month we plan to cook from some of our favorite cookbooks and share these recipes with you. I have quite a collection and those by Jacques Pepin's are right there at the top of my list. He is one of my favorite cookbook authors as well as TV show host. I enjoy watching him on PBS. He makes cooking look so easy and all of his recipes are healthy as well as delicious.
Today I had some great looking tomatoes that needed to be used. In my search for a recipe I came upon Jacques Pepin’s Simple and Healthy Cooking and selected Seared Tomatoes with Bread Topping. Chef Pepin serves this dish warm, however I ended up serving mine at room temperature and enjoyed it served this way as well.

I substituted a few ingredients in the recipe. Nothing that changed the taste but I wanted to use what I had on hand. I had Roma and small vine tomatoes. Since they were smaller than the medium tomato called for in the recipe I sliced the top off rather than halved them. I also used dried thyme (didn’t have fresh) and added some fresh parsley for a little more green. Be careful of what you add to the recipe because if your crumb ingredients are too moist your crumbs will become gooey and won't work.
 

Seared Tomatoes with Bread Topping

This is a great dish for company since it can be made ahead of time. It's best with ripe, flavorful tomatoes. If you prepare them ahead of time, halve the tomatoes, sear them and sprinkle them with the seasoned bread crumbs up to an hour before. Finish them under a hot broiler just before serving. Yield: 6 servings6 medium tomatoes (2½ pounds)
1 tablespoon plus ½ teaspoon virgin olive oil
2 slices bread
3 scallions (about 2 ounces), washed, trimmed and chopped (1/3 cup)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
2 cloves garlic, peeled, crushed and finely chopped (1 teaspoon)
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Cut the tomatoes in half crosswise. Brush a very large nonstick skillet with 1/2 teaspoon of the oil and place it over high heat. When the oil is hot, add the tomato halves, cut side down, and sear for 5 minutes or until they are browned. Transfer the tomatoes to a large gratin dish, placing them seared side up and side by side in the dish.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Add the bread to the bowl of food processor and process it until crumbed. Add the scallions, thyme, garlic, salt and pepper and pulse until the mixture is combined. Transfer the crumb mixture to a small bowl and toss it lightly with the remaining 1 tablespoon oil. (Do not over mix or it will become gooey.) Sprinkle the bread crumb mixture on top of the tomatoes, don't pack the breadcrumbs down. Bake in the center of the oven for 10 minutes. Turn on the broiler, move the dish to the top shelf of the oven and broil for a few minutes, watching closely, until the crumbs are brown.


Per serving: 90 calories, 3.6 g fat (33% of calories), 0.5 g. saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 238 mg. sodium. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I did.....

Adapted from Jacques Pepin's Simple and Healthy Cooking
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Crabby Crab Cakes

One of my favorite things in the world are crab cakes.  I love them any which way - on their own, in salads, in a sandwich, or even as a replacement for the ham in eggs benedict which I highly recommend.  If they are on the menu, I order them.  I am equally enamored by the sauce that accompanies the crab cake.  The sauce can take a so-so crab cake and send it over the top.  There are many recipes for crab cakes, so I won't proclaim this to be the best recipe for crab cakes, but it does to come close - at least in my book.  These crab cakes are crabby (hence the name); you can really taste the crab as they are only lightly seasoned.   They are moist and substantial.  You can definitely use them as your main meal, but you can also make them small for little appetizers.  They are easy to make and you can mix and form them ahead of time and keep them refrigerated until you are ready to cook them.  However, if you do have any leftovers (doesn't happen often in my house), they are great leftover served warm or cold.

I hate to admit it but I am a sauce person.  You either are or you aren't.  I love a good sauce and probably have a tendency to use too much, but it tastes so good!  I have to say a few words about the sauce I made to go with the crab cakes.  Normally I make a tartar sauce out of mayo, sweet relish, capers and maybe a little mustard.  But a while back, I was visiting my brother and my sister-in-law was making fish sandwiches for us.  She showed me the tartar sauce recipe and I turned my nose up a bit because it had horseradish in it and I'm not a big fan of horseradish (one of the few foods I don't like).  However, she whipped this recipe up and my brother told me how good it was.  My curiosity got the better of me and I tentatively tasted the slightly pink sauce.  He was right.  It was really good.  Needless to say, it is now my favorite tartar sauce recipe.  It is really tangy, not sweet and it goes really well with these crab cakes.

If you're a crab cake fan like I am, give these a try.  I'd love to hear your comments.  Feel free to experiment and add any other seasonings or vegetables to them.  And be sure to use your favorite tartar sauce recipe, or if you don't have one, try this one.  I promise you can't taste the horseradish!

Crabby Crab Cakes

2/3 cup mayonnaise

5 egg yolks

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup chopped, fresh parsley

2 1/2 cups saltine crackers

2 1bs. lump crab meat

Mix all the ingredients together.  Mix lightly so you keep some large chunks of crab in each cake.  Form into 4oz. patties or smaller ones if you like.  Put in the refrigerator for at least one hour or in freezer if you're in a hurry for 20 minutes.  When ready to cook, lightly coat each cake with flour (remove any excess).  Fry the cakes in a mixture of olive oil (about 3-4 tablespoons) and butter (1/2 stick) until golden brown. As you can see from my picture above my butter had started to turn brown.  No problem it will only add more flavor.  Serve with tartar sauce.  Makes 12 cakes.

Tartar Sauce (by Sunny Anderson)  

1 cup mayonnaise

1 lemon, juiced

3 teaspoons prepared horseradish

2 teaspoons hot sauce

2 teaspoons dill relish

pinch of salt and pepper

Mix all the ingredients together and refrigerate until use.

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Grilled Mediterranean Panzanella

My sister-in-law's (Emily) birthday is this week, so last weekend we decided to throw her a birthday barbecue.  Emily knows how to throw a good party.  She was the one that surprised me on my 40th birthday by decorating our house with streamers and balloons.  She planned and organized my bridal shower which was a huge hit.  She is extremely organized and thrifty and this was my attempt to do something special for her.

Whenever I have Emily and family over I see it as a culinary challenge because their food repertoire is limited, in the sense that they like plain, lightly seasoned food, plus there are two little adorable munchkins in attendance, a 9 and 4 year old.  Being who I am, I work hard to come up with a menu that I know they'll like.  When it comes to feeding and entertaining people, I don't do anything halfway as my husband knows.  I usually cook too much food (which he enjoys the rest of the week) and even though I don't consider myself a perfectionist, I expect everything to be perfect.  After the many parties that we've hosted, my husband knows the drill.  Stand at attention and wait for commands.  I couldn't do it without him!    

This was the menu for the evening.  The appetizers included homemade parmesan cheese sticks, chips and onion dip (Emily and kids favorite), fresh fruit (pineapple and strawberries), pigs in a blanket - I knew the kids would like these, Almond Punch - to which the adults could add their preferred alcohol.  For dinner I served this panzanella, a Basil Corn Salad and marinated chicken - stay tuned for these recipes in the following weeks.  The birthday cake was a Texas Sheet Cake with M&Ms on top, served with a scoop of Cookies and Cream ice cream.  I knew it was a success when at 10pm the kids left saying, "Mommy, I am so full."       

 

Panzanella is an Italian bread salad or sometimes called "leftover salad" popular in the summer months. It includes day to week old sliced bread, fresh tomatoes, basil, olive oil and vinegar but can be made with any of your favorite ingredients.  The original recipe came from Ina Garten but I have made a few changes to the ingredients. 

Grilled Mediterranean Panzanella (adapted from Ina Garten)

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons champagne vinegar

Salt and Pepper

1 large ripe tomato or 1 pack of cherry tomatoes, cut in half

10 large basil leaves, chopped

3 tablespoons capers, drained and rinsed

1 red onion, sliced into 2 inch pieces

1 red pepper, seeded, cut into 2 inch pieces

1 yellow pepper, seeded, cut into 2 inch pieces

1 jar of marinated artichokes, drained - can substitute regular canned or frozen artichokes

1/2 loaf of french or country loaf bread or about 6-8 slices

Olive oil

Mix cut onion and peppers with 1 tablespoon olive oil and salt and pepper.  Place on a hot grill or grill pan.  Grill on low for about 10 minutes, turning after 5 minutes.  Remove from grill and cover with aluminum foil. Cut sliced bread into 1 inch cubes and toss with 2 tablespoons of olive oil.  Place on grill and toast them until golden brown.

In a small bowl, mix Dijon, garlic, vinegar and 1/4 cup of olive oil.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

In a large mixing bowl, add capers, artichokes, tomatoes, grilled veggies, basil and bread.  Right before serving add the dressing and toss well.   Serves 6-8

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Soy Sauce Chicken

It's easy to get in a chicken rut.  I know - I've been there.  Chicken to me doesn't have much flavor so it's all about the seasoning and cooking technique.  For a long time, I shied away from cooking chicken because I always overcooked it.  I still do.  But I'm getting better.  I do have a solution though.  This easy recipe gives you flavor, juiciness and yummy leftovers. 

I like lots of flavor in my food so any recipe that seems to jump out at me as something that is going to make my mouth sing - is a keeper in my book.  This is one of my mom's recipes from when we grew up.  She got this recipe from a Chinese cooking class that she took 35 years ago while we lived in Spain.  She has a collection of these recipes that we cherish as they are all delicious and relatively easy to make.  In my never endless quest to find good easy chicken recipes, I happened to come across this recipe the other day.  I knew when my mouth started watering that I should make it.  I had some chicken thighs on hand so used them for this dish but you can use any kind of chicken - bone in, breast.   

By the way, for my picture above I forgot to sprinkle the green onions on top which would have made it really nice looking and tasting...

Soy Sauce Chicken

1 lb. chicken pieces (any kind - I used skinless, boneless thighs this time)

1 1/2 cups soy sauce

1 1/2 cups water

2 tablespoons gin

5 slices ginger (1/8 inch thick)

1/2 cup sugar or honey

2-3 green onions, sliced diagonal

Clean chicken and remove any excess fat.  Mix next 5 ingredients in frying pan and place chicken in it. Bring to a boil and reduce heat and cook for 30 minutes (for thighs).  If bone in chicken cook for 40 minutes.  Turn chicken half way through cooking.  Remove chicken from sauce when cooked through.  Leave 2/3 cup of sauce in pan and add 2-3 tablespoons of sugar or honey.  Bring to a boil, stirring until dissolved, about 5 minutes.  Arrange chicken on platter with green onion and pour sauce over top.  Remaining sauce can be kept refrigerated for 2 weeks.

Asian Marinated Flank Steak with Almond Rice

Since I'm married to a meat and potatoes man, red meat shows up on our menu quite often.  That's probably not a good thing but I like to keep my hubby happy so a girl does what she has to do. You can tell I am really suffering here.  A good steak is a treat though.  For me, it's about flavor and tenderness - and these two don't show up together very often in a steak.  Usually you have one but not the other unless you spend a large sum of money at a fancy steakhouse and even then you're not guaranteed a good steak, just an expensive meal.  There is a quick fix solution though that comes in handy any time of the week.  For those nights when I want a steak but don't want to spend a fortune or a lot of time cooking, I reach into my freezer for a flank steak.  It makes a quick and tasty weeknight or weekend meal. 

A flank steak is what I call an everyday meat.  It's not a fancy steak like a fillet Mignon or a rib-eye so I tend to think of having it more often, especially during the week.  It's very affordable and cooks up really quickly.  A flank steak is cut from the abdominal muscles of the cow and is usually long, lean and flat.  It can be tough since it's not very fatty so it's best prepared medium to medium well and then sliced thinly against the grain.  The grain on this cut of meat is very easy to see and usually runs downs the long side of the meat.  This cut of meat is also great to cut up for stir-fries.  I grilled the recipe below but you could always cook it inside on any type of grill pan.  My menu for this steak, when I made it, included Almond Rice and a Mint Sauce that I served along side the flank steak.  These are all optional of course but take the flavor level up a few notches.

Asian Marinated Flank Steak

2 lb. Flank Steak

1/4 cup canola oil

1/4 cup soy sauce

4 tablespoons garlic, minced

2 tablespoons ginger, grated

1 tablespoon sesame oil

2 tablespoon honey

3 tablespoon chili garlic sauce (find in the Asian aisle at the grocery store)

Place meat in a gallon zip lock bag.  Mix all ingredients together in a separate bowl and add to the meat.  Marinate as long as possible - the longer the better.  I did mine for two days but even a couple of hours is good.  Before cooking your meat, wipe some of the marinade off the meat so it doesn't burn.  Preheat a grill to high or place a grill pan over high heat. Pierce the steak all over with a fork and season with salt and pepper. Grill the steak, 4 to 5 minutes per side for medium-rare, 6 to 7 minutes per side for medium, turning once. Transfer to a cutting board, cover loosely with foil and let rest for 5 minutes.  Thinly slice the steak against the grain.

Mint Sauce

3 cups mint, washed

2 cloves garlic

1 tablespoon vinegar (any kind will work but I used Champagne)

1 tablespoon honey

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/4 cup olive oil

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1/2 tsp salt

Add all ingredients into a blender and blend until a smooth sauce.  Adjust for seasoning.  Makes about 1/2 cup of sauce. 

Almond Rice

1 cup long grain rice

1 3/4 cup chicken broth

2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped (can you parsley if you prefer)

1/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted (in a dry saute pan, roast for about 5 minutes or until fragrant)

1 tablespoon butter

2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

Bring chicken broth to a boil.  Add rice and 1 teaspoon salt, reduce heat to a simmer and cover.  Cook 20 minutes.  When done, leave covered and remove from heat for 10 minutes.  Add cilantro, almonds, butter, and remaining 1 teaspoon of salt and pepper.  Serves 4.