ICBC Tomatoes

So one of the secret ingredients recently were tomatoes, and I wanted to do something that was at least a little original. I make plenty of marinara sauce, and I can make a pico de gallo, and I can make a bruschetta, but what's something I've never done? So I of course went straight to FoodGawker and discovered fried green tomatoes. Of course! So genius. I found some green tomatoes at the Sunday St. Philips Farmer's Market last weekend, and I chose an unfried green tomatoes recipe I found via FoodGawker. I actually really liked them. We dipped them in a little ranch, and it was a fun and new side. And my sister who doesn't really like tomatoes said she liked the green ones a lot more.

Unfried Green Tomatoes
2 green tomatoes, sliced
1 cup panko crumbs
1 cup shredded Italian cheese
sprinkle of cayenne
pinch of ground black pepper
dash of salt
1 egg

Slice the tomatoes. Beat the egg. Blend cheese and panko with spices. Dip a slice of tomato into the egg, then the panko and place onto a lightly sprayed cookie sheet. After you finish all the tomato slices, spray them with an olive oil cooking spray. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes. They should be crispy and lightly browned. I dipped the unfried green tomatoes in ranch dressing.

Sarah: Iron Chef Blogger Challenge Bacon

Remember that EPIC fail? (OF COURSE you do! It's right below this post!) I think it would be very correct to say that I have bounced back with a vengeance.

I was excited about this challenge but also a little worried. I rekindled my Pesca-tarinism at the beginning of January, so regular bacon was out of the competition for me. Luckily Brandon and I have discovered a pretty good like of "fake" meat products that has rather yummy tasting bacon.

I usually shy away from Rachel Ray recipes for the simple fact that I cannot afford to stock a pantry like she does. 24 ingredients for make one dinner? YEAH RIGHT.

I got her magazine for about 2 years while living in LA and while I collected and ogled many of the recipes she has put together, I rarely attempted.

This salmon recipe was part of one of her mag's features called "5 Ingredients", and as you have gathered only had 5 ingredients. Well, 6.

Salmon, Bacon and Tomato Packets.

4 Salmon fillets

3 cooked strips of Bacon, broken into small pieces

1/2 cup of Ranch dressing

1/2 cup of Feta cheese ( I don't like Feta, so I used Queso Fresco)

1/2 cup of diced tomatoes

Pepper for seasoning

1. Fire up your grill. It needs to be really hot when you start to cook (I heated mine for like 15 minutes).

2. Grab 4 pieces of tin foil and put one salmon filet on each piece. Fold up the sides of the tin foil so it looks like a box without a lid.

3. Put 2 tablespoons of Ranch dressing on each filet, try to cover evenly. Distribute bacon evenly over filets. Do the same with the cheese.

4. Put the packets on your grill and close the hood. Let cook for 8-11 minutes, until opaque all the way through.

5. Take off grill, top each filet with 2 tbs of tomatoes.

---Review---

I served this with Uncle Ben rice pilaf (the kind that you microwave for 90 seconds in the bag) and roasted asparagus (put asparagus on some tinfoil, douse with some olive oil, season with salt, pepper and Italian seasonings, cover with more tinfoil, put on the grill for about 15 minutes, top with a little more salt and pepper, serve).

To say the least, this fish was delicious. Seriously, I don't even like fish that much and I would eat this everyday.

The recipe was super easy to follow, and everyone (we had my sister and our fried Dan over) loved it.

Make it now.

Wednesday Night Dinner: Sherried Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

I made The Pioneer Woman's Sherried Tomato Soup for dinner this week along with grilled cheese sandwiches. It was delicious. I really love tomato soup and grilled cheese. It's an excellent combo. This photo, by the way, was taken after I dropped my camera in my tomato soup bowl. Well done, Carrie.

Brandon's Scallop and Gnocchi Pasta

Recipe to be added by B tonight!!

Sherried Tomato Soup

1 medium white or yellow onion

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter

Two 14.5 oz. cans diced tomatoes

One 46 oz. bottle or can tomato juice

3 to 6 tablespoons sugar

1 or 2 tablespoons chicken base, or 3 chicken bouillon cubes

Freshly ground black pepper

1 cup sherry

1 1/2 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup chopped flat leaf parsley

1/4 cup chopped basil

1. Dice onion. Melt butter in large pot and cook onion till translucent.

2. Add diced tomatoes and tomato juice.

3. Add 3-6 tablespoons of sugar to combat tomato's acidity (I used 6 because I love love sweet tomato soup).

4. Add chicken base.

5. Add LOTS of ground black pepper. Heat soup till almost boiling and then turn heat off.

6. Add sherry and heavy cream. Stir.

7. Add the herbs. Add more pepper.

---Review---

At first I thought that the sherry was a little too overpowering, and considered suggesting that it be cut down to 1/2 cup in the future. But after letting the soup sit overnight I realized that the sherry is amazing. This soup is amazing. And it is my new favorite.

Being a vegetarian (or at least a recent vegetarian), I don't have any chicken base, so I left that out. Soup came out fine. Also, I sprung for some fresh herbs, which is totally not my style, and I think that it was totally worth it.

My new favorite tomato soup. Even better than Tucson's own Beyond Bread Tomato Basil Soup.

Penne with Two Tomatoes and Mozzarella

6 oz fresh Mozarella, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

coarse Salt and ground Pepper

12 oz Penne Rigate

1 tablespoon Olive Oil

1 pint Cherry or Grape Tomatoes

1/2 cup Sun-Dried Tomatoes, sliced

2 Garlic Cloves, sliced

1/4 cup snipped Chives

1. Place cheese in freezer. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup pasta water; drain pasta and set aside.

2. In pasta pot, heat oil over medium-high. Add cherry tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic and pasta water. Cook until cherry tomatoes soften, 2-4 minutes.

3.  Add pasta, chilled cheese and chives to pot, season with salt and pepper, toss to combine.

---Review---

I used to think that Brandon and I carried all available pastas on our cupboard shelves. I have learned that this is not even a little correct. The closest thing that I had when making this recipe was whole wheat Rotini, which is similar to Penne because... it is also a grain. Not that big of a change, but next time I'll probably use Penne as I think it will better hold onto the garlic.

Speaking of garlic, I would recommend dicing it for this recipe. The slicing really made me feel as if I only got about 3 bites of dinner with garlic in it, which was quite sad for me as I love garlic.

I wasn't really sure what the recipe meant when it said that the tomatoes would soften until the first one popped and squirted it's boiling insides at my face. Keep an eye out, once a couple of the tomatoes start to soften they all do very quickly.

All in all this was a really easy, very tasty recipe. I even enjoyed it cold for lunch today.

Salsa or pico de gallo

I'm a big fan of Mexican food. How can I not be living in Tucson? But I've never made my own salsa. It's not that it's hard or complicated, but I just never have. But my friend Helene is visiting from Chicago, and when planning our weekend menu, we decided to make our own salsa to go with our veggie quesadillas, which I'll be posting after this salsa entry. The salsa was delicious, and a lot fresher than the jarred stuff. I think I might have to start making my own salsa from now on.

Recipe:
diced tomatoes
diced yellow onions
minced garlic
jalapenos, to taste
cilantro
salt, optional
lime juice, optional

Blend together and season to taste.