Hot Tomato Sunday Brunch Salad

At church on Sunday, we started the service with a hymn-sing.  People in the congregation request their favorites, and we sing a few verses!  It's pretty fun.  In the second service there was a little boy, maybe 3 or 4 years old, and he had his hand up to make a request even before anyone announced the hymn-sing.  He was the first to be called on, and he said in this loud, clear voice,

"SEVEN-ZEWO-THWEE!"

Which, in our hymnal, is Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.  Oh my gosh.  It was so cute.

When I got home I was starving, and I've been doing everything I can think of with tomatoes.  I will beseech you once again, please eat some tomatoes.  They're incredible.  Eat your fill of tomatoes now, and then IGNORE THEM IN THE WINTER!  They'll look at you, all fake-red and tasteless from the grocery aisle, and you'll be tempted, but if you remember what summer tomatoes taste like, you'll go sailing by!  So eat some tomatoes.

Here is another way to eat a tomato a day until they're gone.

Hot Tomato Sunday Brunch Salad

Chop one gigantic heirloom tomato into bite-size chunks.  Heat some oil in a skillet over medium-low heat, and then toss the tomatoes into the pan for a while with some salt and pepper.  Meanwhile, mix a few tablespoons of cream cheese with a few grates of lemon zest, a tablespoon of capers, and an assortment of fresh herbs: mint, parsley, basil, chives, whatever you've got.  Place the hot tomatoes into a bowl, and dot the top with the herbed cream cheese.  Slice some smoked salmon into thin slivers and lay them on top of the cheese.  Top with a fried egg and garnish with chopped chives.  Serve with a piece of buttered wheat toast.

Fried Eggs on Toast

That visible sizzle on the edges?  That's butter.

This weekend was all about getting acquainted with my new apartment, especially the kitchen, deck, and back yard.  I am a little bit in love with this new place.  It has so much character, and it already feels homey, even though we don't have a couch and the living room and second bedroom are filled with boxes.  It takes three keys to get in, because there are three doors in the front.  We have a private entryway, which I know I will appreciate in a whole new way in the winter when our gigantic, ugly boots are caked with salt and snow and need a separate place to live.  It's OK, boots.  You can live in the entryway. 

Not surprisingly, my favorite place in the apartment is the kitchen.  It's in the back, and it is huge.  There was an abandoned kitchen table in the basement that we were told we could have, and it fits right in the middle.  Above the cupboards are these airy gallery spaces that are lit with little spotlights.  There's a back door that opens onto a deck, which I can't wait to decorate with lanterns and lights.  Every single meal that I have eaten at home since we moved in has been out on the deck.  Then there's a little yard that gets tons of sun.  All day on Saturday, as I was setting up the kitchen, I kept peeping out the door to note where the sun was shining, and I can say with near-certainty that tomatoes will be very, very happy back there.  (Here I pause to daydream about juicy, fresh-from-the-garden tomatoes...)

The first meals I'm cooking in this kitchen have a weightiness about them.  They feel like an audition, like a first date.  Sunday morning, I woke up and walked into the kitchen, where my shiny sink smiled brightly at me, and I thought about what to make for breakfast.  Muffins, I thought.  I had a muffin last week with oatmeal, carrots, and raisins, and I wanted to try to recreate it.  Then I remembered I ran out of raisins before we moved.  Also, I was pretty hungry, and not feeling ready to use the oven.  That feels like a second or third date kind of meal.  So I settled on a simple stovetop breakfast: Fried Eggs on Toast. 



Right this way to deck and yard paradise!


This is the ultimate simple meal, and with a big cup of fresh coffee, it was exactly what I wanted on Sunday morning, to take out on the deck and eat while reading A Homemade Life, by Molly Wizenberg. Molly writes the blog Orangette, which is one of my favorites.  I love the way she writes.  She is a fellow food-loving redhead, and as I read I feel that she is a kindred spirit.   Like this quote, from the chapter "Summer of Change":

"At the end of the day, when I was exhausted and fed up and unsure of everything, food was a certainty.  It was what I thought about, what I cared about, what I wrote about, what got me out of bed in the morning.  (I mean that.  I get up for the sole purpose of eating breakfast.  I don't know why else you would.)"

Me either.

My Dad got me that mug for Christmas.  He rocks.

Fried Eggs on Toast

As many eggs and slices of toast as there are people.
Butter, salt, and pepper.

Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat and add the butter (just shy of a tablespoon per egg, don't be stingy), tilting the pan to melt and distribute.  Crack an egg and place it gently in the pan, so the white doesn't spread out too much.  Repeat with remaining eggs.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Depending on how well-done you like your eggs, fry for 1-2 minutes per side.  I like them over medium on toast, because the yolk is still a little runny, but not so runny that it makes a mess (and you don't get to eat it unless you want to lick the plate).  Put each egg on a slice of toast, and serve with apple slices, strong coffee, and a good book.

Frittata Primavera

I've been wanting to try my hand at frittata for a while now.  I am a big fan of eggs.  They're so versatile, tasty, filling, and healthy.  I came across a good-looking recipe in Mark Bittman's Food Matters (a book I will eventually read cover to cover), and last night I finally decided to give it a go.  I love that the recipe is flexible; you can basically use any combination of veggies, meat (or not), and cheese (or not) that you feel like (or have on hand), so it's a very simple and obvious choice for a busy weeknight.  On this particular weeknight, I was busy because I met my adorable and fashionable friend after work for a glass of wine and some shoe shopping.  After a glass of delicious California Cab and having acquired these little beauties,

Oh how I love these!!!

I took my tired and hungry self home, grabbed an armload of veggies from the fridge, and started slicing.

I heated some olive oil and butter in a skillet, and added:

Half a Vidalia onion,

Some sliced red cabbage (why is this called "red?"  It is clearly purple.),

5 stalks of green garlic, sliced,

10 stalks of asparagus, purple and green,

A few leaves of spinach, ribboned,

and 3 eggs, salt and pepper, and about 3/4 cup of jack cheese with basil.

This is after about 10 minutes of undisturbed time on a very low flame, and 3 minutes under the broiler.
Does it look amazing to you?  I'm hungry again just looking at it.

Dinner is served!  Frittata, a piece of toasted Italian bread, and a tiny glass of Chardonnay.

Though it's only 3 eggs, it is a LOT of food.  Especially just for little old me.  So I saved half of it for lunch today.  So healthy, so springy, so delicious!  Buon appetito!

More-Vegetable-Than-Egg Frittata
adapted slightly from Mark Bittman's Food Matters

2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 onion, peeled and sliced
salt and freshly ground pepper
4 to 6 cups of chopped or sliced raw of cooked vegetables, drained of excess moisture if necessary
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, or 1 teaspoon chopped fresh tarragon or mint leaves (optional)
2 or 3 eggs
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, optional

Put a tablespoon of the olive oil in a skillet and turn the heat to medium.  When the oil is hot, add the onion and cook, sprinkling with salt and pepper, until it's soft, about 3 minutes.  Add the vegetables, raise the heat, and cook, stirring occasionally, until they soften, anywhere from a couple of minutes for greens to 15 minutes for sliced potatoes.  (I added each vegetable separately, as I sliced, so that I could eat faster.  Just slice and add the longer-cooking-time veggies first.)  Adjust the heat so the vegetables brown a little without scorching.  (If you're starting with precooked vegetables, add them to the onions and give a couple of good stirs before proceeding.)

When the vegetables are nearly done, turn the heat to low and add the basil.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until the pan is almost dry, up to another 5 minutes for wetter ingredients like tomatoes or mushrooms.  Add cooked meat, if desired, just before adding the eggs.

Meanwhile, beat the eggs with some salt and pepper, along with the cheese if you're using it.  Pour over the vegetables, using a spoon if necessary to distribute them evenly.  Cook, undisturbed, until the eggs are barely set, 10 minutes or so.  (You can set them further by putting the pan in a 350 degree oven for a few minutes, or running it until the broiler for a minute or two.)  Cut into wedges and serve hot, warm, or at room temperature. 

P.S. The shoes are from Banana Republic.  Just in case you need them too.  ;)