Bruschetta

Lancaster County, PA, has the best produce.  You can disagree with me (and honestly, that is TOTALLY fine), but where I grew up, you can't beat the locally grown fruit and veggies.  There is just something about that soil and the green thumbs in the area that make magic in the marketplace.  Seriously, go visit it in the summer.  Watch out for the Amish buggies.

I love bruschetta because it is the perfect dish to showcase beautiful, ripe tomatoes.  I'm not sure when I was first exposed to it, but just looking at the picture below is making my mouth water, and I just had this dish. For as long as I can remember, my grandparents grew tomatoes in the backyard, and come summertime we had tomatoes with everything that my grandmother put on the plate.  I realize that we are well into fall, and tomatoes may not be as beautiful as they were, but we are still able to get decent ones out here in California.

Of course, I realize that there are about a million recipes out here on the interwebs for how to make a bomb bruschetta, but give mine a shot.  It stays nice and crunchy on the edges of the bread, and supple on the inside.  Try to use the best ingredients that you can for this dish, because it's all about bringing out the natural flavors of each of the elements.  Buon appetito!

Bruschetta

Ingredients:

1 baguette, cut on the diagonal 1/2" thick

1 cup balsamic vinegar

3/4 cup mayonnaise (I use the kind that has an olive oil base, but use whatever kind you want.)

2 crushed garlic cloves

1 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil

8 roma tomatoes, sliced

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

A handful of fresh basil, shredded

12 oz. fresh mozzarella, sliced

1. Add the balsamic vinegar to a small sauce pan and bring to a boil over medium-low heat; simmer until the vinegar has become syrupy, then remove from the heat to cool
2. Preheat the oven to 350°F
3. While the vinegar is reducing, whisk the mayonnaise, garlic, and olive oil together in a small bowl
4. Season the tomato slices with salt and pepper
5. Spread the garlic mayonnaise on the baguette slices and place the slices on a baking sheet
6. Layer the baguette slices with a slice of tomato, a few pieces of basil, and top with a slice of mozzarella
7. Generously brush the top of the mozzarella with the balsamic reduction
8. Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes, or until the mozzarella has melted

Arabian Spinach... and then Kraft Mac and Cheese...

Ok, so this blog is not only about my triumphs in the kitchen, but also about my failures. Nick and I have been trying to keep to a schedule of one vegetarian meal a week, because of the price of meat in California (it's not atrocious, it's just higher than Pennsylvania). We've had a few wins, but tonight can't be classified as such. I tried out a recipe from "Vegetarian Cooking and Vegetable Classics" called Arabian Spinach, which I figured we would both like. I will post the recipe for those of you that are interested, but I will say that it was a bit bland. If you have any ideas for additional spices or things to try, please share! I suggest bacon, or even just bacon fat for flavor.

After we each ate our bowls of spinach, we were still hungry. So I went to an old staple of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese... don't judge me. Actually, it wasn't even Kraft. It was Target's brand, but we all know it's the exact same thing. After I began boiling the pasta, I realized that our milk had gone sour. Damn. So I decided to use 2 tbs. of heavy whipping cream left over from the Asian Honey Ginger Peanuts I made the other day. The creativity doesn't stop there, because I then went crazy and added a dolup of bacon fat to go with the 2 tbs of butter in the recipe. As unhealthy as it sounds, it was ridiculously AMAZING. While I do not recommend doing this every time you find yourself returning to your college days, it is definitely worth trying once.

Arabian Spinach
Serves 4

1 onion, sliced thin
2 tablespoons olive or sunflower oil (I tried the sunflower oil since I had it on hand)
2 garlic cloves, crushed
14 oz. spinach, washed and shredded
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
15 oz. can of chick-peas (garbanzo), drained
knob of butter (I used 2 tablespoons)
salt and pepper to taste
(I also added paprika)

1. In a large frying pan or wok, fry the onion in the oil for about 5 minutes until soft. Add the garlic and cumin, then fry for another minute.
2. Add the spinach, a bit at a time, stirring it until it begins to wilt. (It will all fit if you do it in stages, I promise.)
3. Stir in the chick-peas, butter, and seasoning. Reheat until just bubbling and serve hot.