Comparing warm, ripe NJ tomatoes from my garden to a tomato eaten out of season is simply impossible. In fact, I can't understand how chefs serve Caprese salads or add tomatoes to sandwiches year round with those dull, flavorless tomatoes?
Summer Tomato Salad with Croutons
For me, ripe summer vegetables should be prepared simply. I created this salad with a variety of vegetables ripe in my garden this summer... assorted heirloom tomatoes are visually appealing and flavorful. I like to season with kosher salt, freshly crushed black pepper, a little EVOO and red vinegar-amazing. I added red onions, fresh basil and hot peppers to create a more robust salad adding freshly baked garlic croutons.
Prep Time: 2o min to assemble and 20 minutes to marinate
Cooking Time: 10 min for the croutons
Yield: 4 portions
Ingredients
1.5 lbs. Heirloom tomatoes, ripe and assorted shapes & colors
Dressing:
2 oz. Red wine vinegar
6 oz. Olive oil
1/2 tsp Kosher Salt
t.t. Black pepper
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
3 oz. Red onions, sliced thinly
2 oz. Chili peppers, sliced thinly
2 oz. Basil, chiffonade
1 Cup. Baked garlic croutons
How to make Summer Heirloom Tomato Salad
Step 1
Wash and dry the tomatoes, decore and cut into small chunks so that all of the different tomato varieties are similar in size. Season with salt and pepper and all to develop flavor for 15 minutes.
Step 2
Whisk all of the ingredients in the dressing together in a stainless steel bowl.
Step 3
Mix the tomatoes with the dressing, add the garlic croutons and toss.
I agreed to be the Chef Advisor for the Gourmet Society at the CIA, an amazing honor to work with some of the best and brightest students. We planned to demonstrate preparing pesto with a mortar and pestle and also with a food processor-then evaluate them both side by side. We all suspected that the food processor would aerate the pesto, possibly the heat generated would be a problem- One student brought in a molcajete, the traditional mortar from Mexico, made from volcanic rock used for grinding spices, making salsas, moles, etc... I'm not sure this was the preferred mortar and pestle to use, these days I often use a marble mortar and pestle and make small batches. The 'mortar and pestle' pesto was much more delicious than the food processor version at the CIA that day.
I was born to sauté... I remember thinking this and smiling when I finally made my way up in the kitchen brigade to the Saucier spot. I loved the pulse of the kitchen, working the saute station with a dozen sauté pans on the flat top, delicious stocks and mother sauces held hot in the steam table and carefully prepared mise en place so I could make delicious meals for the customers... one order or two at the time. Everything was cooked with love and respect.
I remember my days working as chef/manager for food service cafeterias. People loved muffins for breakfast! We used dry muffin mixes or large tubs of various, premade muffin batters; scooped the batter into muffin tins and made dozens of mini, regular and large sizes daily. I love topping the muffins with garnishes like oats, chocolate chips, streusel, nuts etc... Morning Glory was my favorite, I bet I baked thousands of muffins in my five years at Gardner Merchant! I think my 'go to' muffin is a delicious, corn muffin grilled with butter on a plancha-New Jersey diner style!
I remember learning to make an emulsion sauce for called Rouille at Le Cirque. It's one of my favorites! Rouille is a delicious, classic French garlic mayonnaise served with bouillabaisse, a famous, French fish soup. I was taught to use EVOO, saffron, garlic etc... and cooked potato in the recipe. Other famous emulsion sauces include aioli, vinaigrettes, dressings, etc...
Biscotti translates to 'twice baked' and apparently was a popular snack for Roman soldiers since the biscotti lasted for days without getting stale. I read Christopher Columbus had biscotti stored away on his voyage to America... In Tuscany, biscotti and vin santo is considered by many to be a perfect pairing. I enjoyed this combination at a cafe in Florence years ago... I love dipping crunchy biscotti into a cup of strong black coffee.
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The Classical French cooking segment during the CMC exam was extremely difficult for me! Although the format changes slightly from exam to exam, I was required to prepare C onsommé Florial; a baked, Dover Sole course and Roasted Lamb chops with pistachio forcemeat for 10 people-with appropriate sides and sauces. It was probably the hardest day of the 10 day exam for me. I sourced frozen peas (fresh peas were not in season) for the consommé and completely forgot to use them as garnish for my soup! I barely passed that day and managed to totally annoy one of the nicest CMC evaluators... never a smart thing to do! But I still love preparing and eating delicious consommé-great satisfaction when it comes out crystal clear.
I think my favorite cobbler was a recipe I developed with Chef Joshua Mackintosh for an ACF student chef competition. We used raspberries, blueberries, strawberries & dark chocolate chips for the filling. It was delicious. Josh came in second place... hmmm \I'm not sure I agreed with that evaluation! hahaha
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