A Bite To Eat

Keeping It Cool

I love pasta.
But I hate turning on the stove during a heat wave.
However, I feel that I can finally share this secret: I never, ever cook it in a huge pot of water, as instructed by the package directions and famous Italian cooks. I've always considered it a huge waste of good water I must pay for-- either from the tap or from a bottle. And, I'm impatient. I hate waiting for 6 quarts of water to come to a boil. That's why, for many, many years, I've been cooking spaghetti, linguine, elbows, bow ties--you name the shape--in no more than 2 quarts of water. As far as I am concerned, the pasta comes out just fine. Delicious, in fact. It may not be your Italian grandmother's  perfect noodle, but for me and my house--and a well respected food science guy**-- it works. (See link to article, below)

And right now, with one heat wave following another, I continue to enjoy my pasta.

I cook up to half a pound in a 3 quart saucepan with a tight fitting lid--and here's the very important other half of the secret: During the summer months, I turn the heat way down low, cover the pot with a lid, and let it simmer. This way, I can make  pasta salads--or this fabulous tomato dish--without steaming up the whole house. During the height of tomato season, I can toss together--in less than half an hour--this fabulous, no-cook (well, almost no-cook) fresh tomato "sauce". I should also add that I use Barilla brand pasta, because it is so forgiving. It does not easily over cook and won't turn mushy if I need/want to reheat it the day after.

When tomatoes are at their best--late July through September (hopefully), all that's needed is a touch of salt, some minced herbs, and a bit of cheese combined with some of the pasta water leftover from cooking your favorite noodles. And...just to heighten the joy, I toss in some cubed avocado when I can get them on sale. This "sauce" is wonderful over  linguine, thin spaghetti, or the cute little ribbed tubes called "Pipettes" (photo, above).  

Almost-No-Cook Fresh Tomato Sauce

While the pasta is cooking, prep the tomatoes, herbs and cheese, but don't begin warming the garlic until the pasta has finished cooking or there are just 2-3 minutes left on the timer. And save the pasta cooking water. It's a very yummy, important ingredient.

• 1 medium to large tomato per person, or a larger handful of cherry tomatoes per person
• 1 small garlic clove for every 1-2 tomatoes (or to your taste)
• 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil
• Salt & freshly ground pepper to taste
• Splash of red wine vinegar*
• 1-2 soup ladles of pasta cooking water
• Your favorite fresh herbs: basil, parsley, tarragon, dill--these are my favorites and I often used a combination.
• 4 ounces of fresh mozzarella per person, cut or torn into bite-size chunks
• Grated Parmesan
• When they are on sale, and ripe, add some cubed avocado.

When the pasta has just 2-3 minutes left to cook:

Chop tomatoes into chunks/cut cherry tomatoes in half.

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over low heat. Peel the garlic cloves and press through a garlic press or mince very fine and add to the warm oil. Bring to a very gentle sizzle for about 30 seconds to 1 minute--do not let it over cook. Add the tomatoes and remove from the burner immediately. You do not want to cook the tomatoes--just warm them through. Add salt & pepper, herbs, mozzarella, and red wine vinegar.

Now, toss gently.

When the pasta has finished cooking, drain over a bowl so as to save the cooking water. This lovely liquid is an essential ingredient to the sauce. Add 2 ladles of it to the tomato mixture. Toss gently and then give it a taste. Tweak, as your palate dictates, with a bit more vinegar, herbs, salt & pepper, or pasta water.

Ladle the sauce over the cooked pasta and serve with some grated Parmesan.


*A nice red wine vinegar is a beautiful thing...but, have you noticed that the rampant popularity of balsamic vinegar has all but pushed good red wine vinegars off the market shelves?  As much as I enjoy balsamic vinegar, I don't always want the added sweetness, and prefer a quality red wine vinegar for this dish. Carapelli is my favorite supermarket brand, and Colavita is good, too.

**I was delighted when Harold McGee, the noted food science writer, validated this method for cooking pasta in his February 24, 2009 column for the NYTimes.

She Is Top o' The Heap when it comes to food writers

When I decided i wanted to learn to cook something other than meat loaf and mashed potatoes, i happened across Laurie Colwin's columns in Gourmet magazine. Here was someone "real" writing passionately and humorously about food and life. i immediately went to the library and scoured past issues of the magazine for all of her previous columns.

i loved her column because it was like reading the letter from a best friend who knows how to satisfy a person's hunger. i wanted to be in the kitchen with her. Just being herself in words, she captured my imagination, made me laugh, taught me what cooking and eating was all about. i am not over stating things when i say that finding Laurie changed my life.

Laurie left far too soon. And those of us who devoured her columns treasure our copies of her two cookbooks. Michelle Auerbach Brode says it better than i can:

"Everyone I know and everyone who reviews Laurie Colwin's food books says the same two things. The first is that her books live on our bedside tables. The second is that we read her over and over, especially when depressed. What does this say about Laurie Colwin? That she is one of the best friends I have ever met in a book. She makes life feel appealing, warm, intimate, real, and brave. And that is just her food writing, not even her novels.

She is the friend who at a party hears that there is good food description in Anna Karenina. She borrows it from the host of the party, gets in a cab, leaves the party and goes home to read it. How could you not want this woman on your nightstand. She is so human. I would want her number programmed into my phone.

I have always thought that question "If you could invite three literary figures to dinner..." was silly. I really wish I could invite Laurie Colwin to dinner. I miss her. I think about her. She takes up a big space in the part of my brain that stores examples of how to live."

You can read the rest of her essay at The New Homemaker

Laurie's tomato pie is one of my all time favorite recipes came from her book, More Home Cooking.
i make her tomato pie at least six or eight times every summer. Laurie wrote all of her recipes in narrative form...so that's how i present it here (and a translated version following). Yes, it's absolutely worth it to turn on the oven in the middle of August for this scrumptious pie.   

TOMATO PIE from Laurie Colwin

I have never yet encountered tomatoes in any form unloved by me. Often at night I find myself ruminating about two previously mysterious tomato dishes, which I was brazen enough to get the recipes for. One is Tomato Pie and is a staple of a tea shop call Chaiwalla, owned by Mary O'Brien, in Salisbury, Connecticut. According to Mary, the original recipe was found in a cookbook put out by the nearby Hotchkiss School, but she has changed it sufficiently to claim it as her own. The pie has a double biscuit-dough crust, made by blending 2 cups flour, 1 stick butter, 4 teaspoons baking powder, and approximately 3/4 cup milk, either by hand or in a food processor. You roll out half the dough on a floured surface and line a 9-inch pie plate with it. Then you add the tomatoes. Mary makes this pie year round and uses first-quality canned tomatoes, but at this time of year 2 pounds peeled fresh tomatoes are fine, too. Drain well and slice thin two 28-ounce can plum tomatoes, then lay the slices over the crust and scatter them with chopped basil, chives, or scallions, depending on their availability and your mood. Grate 1-1/2 cups sharp Cheddar and sprinkle 1 cup of it on top of the tomatoes. Then over this drizzle 1/3 cup mayonnaise that has been thinned with 2 tablespoons lemon juice, and top everything with the rest of the grated Cheddar. Roll out the remaining dough, fit it over the filling, and pinch the edges of the dough together to seal them. Cut several steam vents in the top crust and bake the pie at 400 degrees for about 25 minutes. The secret of this pie, according to Mary, is to reheat it before serving, which among other things ensures that the cheese is soft and gooey. She usually bakes it early in the morning , then reheats it in the evening in a 350 degree oven until it is hot.

It is hard to describe how delicious this is, especially on a hot day with a glass of magnificent iced tea in a beautiful setting, but it would doubtless be just as scrumptious on a cold day in your warm kitchen with a cup of coffee."

After making Laurie's pie a dozen or more times, i wrote it up in typical cookbook fashion (with a couple of my notes/additions) to pass along to friends. i eat this as soon as it has cooled off enough to slice...and i like it even at room temperature a couple of hours later when i'm feeling a bit peckish again.


Crust:
2 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter
Approximately 2/3 cup milk (less if it's a very humid day)

Filling:
1/3 cup Hellmann's mayonnaise
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 pounds fresh tomatoes
3-4 tablespoons chopped basil, chives or scallions or a mixture of all 4
1 1/2 cups grated sharp Cheddar cheese

In a bowl mix flour and baking powder together. Cut butter into flour with a pastry blender until it resembles coarse oatmeal. Stir in milk a little at a time until dough forms a ball. Knead gently only until dough is completely blended. Roll out half the dough on a floured surface and line a 9-inch pie plate with it.

In a small bowl, mix mayonnaise with lemon juice. Blanch the tomatoes in a large pot of boiling water for 20-30 seconds and transfer immediately to a sink full of cool water. Peel and slice very thin. Cover
the bottom of the crust with two layers of tomato slices. Sprinkle 1/3 of the herbs across tomatoes. Add another layer of tomato slices, sprinkle with 1/3 of the herbs and 1/2 the grated Cheddar. Drizzle with 1/2 of the mayonnaise mixture. Layer the rest of the tomato slices on top and scatter remaining herbs over the last layer. Top with remaining Cheddar and mayonnaise mixture.

Roll out the remaining dough, fit it over the filling, pinch the edges of the dough together to seal them. Cut several steam holes in the top crust and bake the pie at 400 degrees for about 25 minutes, or until crust is golden and filling is just bubbling.

Love it or Hate it

It is tomato and peach season around here
and i must admit that i am deeply conflicted.
i love tomatoes but i hate the hot weather that yields the best tasting tomatoes.
We've enjoyed nice cool temps and plenty of rain these last few weeks
which means the tomatoes are pretty good
but not great. i confess that i'm lovin' the weather and still eating and enjoying the tomatoes.

The peaches are so-so as well
but then our farms are not noted for fine peaches.
In previous years i've been known to drive all day
to pick up several bushels of peaches from the area between Chambersburg and Gettysburg, Pennsylvania where they grow extraordinarily fabulous peaches.
But that was the olden days and this is now.
With gas prices what they are
i can no longer justify such an indulgence.
i will buy "imported" peaches if necessary for the following recipe.

i was served this dish several years ago by my friend Anna
and i loved it.
However
i feel compelled to let you know that when friends tried it last week
they were less than thrilled.
You may be put off by the mere mention of peaches and tomatoes in the same dish...as were some of the wary tasters...or not. If you decide to give it a try, please let me know what you think.

Tomorrow i will post a tomato recipe that has thrilled the taste buds of all that i've served it to...so be sure you come back soon.

MINTED PEACH AND TOMATO SALAD
My friend Anna Murphy’s version of a recipe she found in Martha's (you know, Stewart) magazine.

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
one-quarter teaspoon salt (or to taste)
one-half teaspoon freshly ground pepper

4 large peaches (about one and one-half pounds)
3 large tomatoes (about 2 pounds)
one and one-half cups cherry tomatoes (about 2 pounds)
2 small inner celery stalks, sliced
1 large shallot, minced
one-quarter cup mint leaves, chopped, plus sprigs for garnish
one-quarter cup basil leaves, coarsely chopped (this was Anna's addition. Martha did not have basil in her recipe)

Whisk together olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, half of the salt and one-quarter teaspoon pepper in a small bowl. Set aside.

Peel, then halve and pit the peaches. Cut halves into cubes. Remove core from large tomatoes and cut into cubes. Cut cherry tomatoes in half.

Place peaches, tomatoes, celery, shallot, mint and basil in a bowl. Sprinkle with remaining salt and pepper and pour dressing over, toss gently and garnish.
Serves 8 to 10