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Archive for June, 2010

28 Jun Baked Tomatoes with Garlic, Basil Cornbread Crumbs

Yep, the whole reason I made last week’s cornbread was so I could make this recipe, also pilfered from the Gluten-Free Goddess: Baked Tomatoes with Cornbread Crumbs. Think summer, think small sweet bursts of lusciousness in your mouth. Now, add the body of olive oil, and the spice of fresh garlic, and the crunch of cornbread crumbs…. These baked tomatoes have a satisfying depth while remaining light and fresh. Frankly, they’re addictive and I challenge you to actually share this with three other people (it’s supposed to serve four). I say if you feel guilty about saving it all for yourself, just find someone you really, really like, grab a fork each and dive in. You’ll be transported to tomato heaven immediately, so there won’t be any need for conversation.

Baked Tomatoes with Garlic Basil Cornbread Crumbs

1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes

1 slice leftover cornbread

3 cloves garlic

2 t dried basil

generous pinch salt

1-2 T olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

fresh basil leaves, if available

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Halve one clove of garlic and use it to rub inside of baking dish (~9 inch pie pan will do), then bottom of dish with a little olive oil. Save the clove of garlic.

Slice tomatoes length-wise and set aside. (This would look absolutely beautiful with a pint of mixed heirloom cherry or grape tomatoes – with the varying shades of reds, yellows and greens.)

In a food processor, toss in garlic and pulse until minced, but not too finely minced. Add cornbread (cut it into chunks first) and pulse until it breaks down into an even crumb. Add dried basil, salt and 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and pulse to incorporate.

Place a single layer of tomatoes in bottom of baking dish, snuggling the halves in tightly with each other. Spoon cornbread mixture over tomatoes, then top with remaining tomatoes in a final layer (you can also toss the tomatoes and cornbread mixture together, then dump it into the baking dish, but this layered arrangement offers a nicer presentation). Drizzle a little olive oil on top. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until tomatoes are tender (I recommend checking in around 20-23 minutes to prevent from burning the cornbread mixture – mine was done at 23 minutes with the cornbread taking on a nice golden crunch, but two more minutes and that could’ve been the wrong side of burnt).

It’s sweet and garlicky (which, of course, you can tone down as desired). I served the tomatoes over a bed of sauteed beet greens and pear, which provided a nice even background and made the savory, succulence of the tomatoes pop even more. Hmmm… I think I need to go make another batch.

24 Jun Corn Bread … Straight Up Golden Deliciousness

Hmm… corn bread. Moist, light, slightly grainy, kissed by honey and… no gluten. Yep. No gluten. More and more people are realizing they have a gluten sensitivity or an outright allergy (Cliff Notes: gluten is found in certain grains, including: all forms of wheat, spelt, rye, barley, bulgar). Thankfully, creative cooksters, such as the Gluten-Free Goddess, are working hard to convert old gluten-fill favorites into safe treats for people avoiding the nasty protein. This corn bread is one such made-over delight. Now to be totally honest, I cheated. If you’re interested in reducing the gluten in your diet, instead of stocking your cupboards with eight kinds of flours and starches to mix and match to achieve a wheat flour-like consistency, more and more companies are selling mixes that you can treat like good old all-purpose white wheat flour. Don’t get me wrong, I love experimenting with alternative flours (my fave right now is coconut flour), but these mixes are super helpful for those of us with kitchen ADD (i.e. who loose interest and/or patience after the eight-ingredient mark).

Anyway… I found the base recipe for this corn bread over at the Gluten-Free Goddess’ site. My big changes were to use a baking mix (instead of the separate flours, starches, etc. that she prescribes), real eggs (her version was vegan with an egg replacement), and honey (instead of brown sugar). There are three things I love best about this recipe: (1) it’s insanely easy to throw together, (2) you can take it in different directions (sweeter = use coconut oil, add vanilla and more honey; more savory = add herbs, chiles, chili powder, etc) and (3) it’s really, really moist and yummy.

Honey-Kissed Corn Bread

1 1/4 C all purpose gluten-free baking mix

1 C cornmeal (to keep this gluten-free, look for a brand that certifies the cornmeal is also gluten-free)

1 t baking soda

1 1/2 t baking powder

1 t salt

2 eggs

1/2 C grapeseed or olive oil

1 C warm water

1/2 C honey

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly oil a loaf pan. Mix together dry ingredients. Lightly beat eggs and oil, then add honey and water and stir until well-incorporated. Add wet ingredients to dry, mixing lightly and adding more flour or water (by tablespoon) as necessary to achieve the right consistency (not too watery, but not too dry and lumpy). Pour into prepared pan. Bake 25-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. In my oven it only took 25 minutes to get to a nice golden brown. The bread was perfectly moist, with just a little crumble.

Easy-peasy. Now, just wait to see what I do with the leftovers…. Stay tuned!

17 Jun Play With Your Food: Massaged Kale Salad

San Francisco’s been having summer. In June. No, seriously, 80 degree temperatures IN. JUNE. It feels a little too good to be true, but I’m running with it and making lots of cooling, energizing salads, including… Massaged Kale Salad! I’ve been wanting to try this for a long time and I’m so glad I finally did. Basically, after playing with your food for a few minutes, you get to eat an awesome salad. There’s something about massaging the kale that both tenderizes the leaves and takes the edge off the green’s natural bitterness, pretty much as well as cooking it. The difference is that instead of having a steaming bowl of savory sauteed goodness, you’re left with a fresh, bright, lively salad with bursts of spice from the onion, sweetness from the dried fruit, and depth from the toasted nuts. Plus, did I mention that you get to play with your food?

Massaged Kale Salad

1 bunch kale

1 t salt

1/4 medium-small red onion, thinly sliced or diced

1/3 chopped toasted almonds or nuts of choice

1/3 C raisins, currants or dried fruit of choice

1/2 large avocado, diced

1/4 C olive oil

2 T apple cider vinegar

Soak kale in water to loosen any dirt. Wash individual leaves as you de-stem them (pull leaf away from thickest parts of stem). Shake dry. Chiffonade leaves (stack, roll and slice into thin ribbons) and put in a large bowl. Sprinkle salt over kale and, using hands, massage kale for 3-4 minutes. After about a minute you’ll notice a big difference in the leaves – they’ll start to soften and turn a dark green almost as though you were steaming them. When done, drain off any liquid that collects on bottom of bowl (may or may not happen) and set kale aside.

Heat a small sauce pan, toss in whole nuts and toast until nuts start to brown slightly. Shake pan on occasion to brown nuts evenly and to keep from burning them – which is SO easy to do. I used almonds because that’s what I had on hand. However, walnuts, pecans or even sunflower seeds would be great in this salad too. Remove nuts from pan and give them a rough chop on your cutting board. Add nuts to bowl of kale.

Add diced avocado, onions and raisins to bowl (again, raisins, currants, or your fave dried fruit cut into raisin-sized pieces will all be fine – just use whatever you have on hand). Pour olive oil and apple cider vinegar evenly over bowl of goodies, then toss the whole thing with tongs until all ingredients are thoroughly mixed. (If you don’t have a set of tongs, for heaven’s sake, go get one. They are so handy in general and great for tossing salads – much easier than using salad serving utensils or a wooden spoon, in my experience).

There are three things I really love about this salad — oh, make that four, no five!

1. It’s so yummy.

2. It’s so versatile (have an apple or a pear lying around? Toss that in. Some left over blue cheese, goat cheese, feta or gorgonzola? Sure, why not!).

3. It’s so easy – it can’t take more than 15 minutes to make unless the phone rings and you get sucked into a conversation with a long-lost friend.

4. It’s fun to get your hands into the kale and squeeze the bejesus out of it – I bet a kid would love to help make dinner if they could play with the food and not get into trouble for it.

5. It tastes even better one or two days later, which makes it a perfect left-over for lunches (on day three, toss in something new, like that apple or feta, to freshen it up).