Mary’s Elegant Tomato and Mozzarella Dish “My Friends Recipes”

From West End Farmers’ Market — Blog by West End Farmers' Market

August 12, 2009

Hello,

Even though these next few blogs are dedicated to quick and easy recipes I have inherited from my friends, I am going to sneak a small paragraph for a request. There is a “Best Farmers Market” competition sponsored by Local Harvest and Care2.com. Although the West End Farmers Market may not ever surpass the California markets with 5000 votes, we could get enough votes to be the best market in Virginia. I strongly urge you to vote as soon as possible for our market at http://www.care2.com/farmersmarket/search/?state=VA. The market could win money or cloth shopping bags to give out to customers. Thanks.

Back to my friends quick and easy recipes. This recipe is a favorite of my sister Mary. It is elegant, tasty, you can display it two ways – one for a party platter and one for dinner, and it will take you less than 15 minutes to make. When people taste it, they will oooh and aaahh and tell you what a terrific cook you are!

Ingredients for 4 People

2 – fresh from your local farmers market, juicy, medium sized tomatoes, any kind, heirloom, red, yellow, etc.

2 – balls of Mozzarella cheese equally approximately one pound of cheese. Buy the good cheese, cheap mozzarella lacks the richness necessary to make this recipe work.

Kosher or Sea Salt – granulated. Possibly 2 tablespoons, season to taste. Again, use good salt, table salt lacks the popping melting quality of granular sea or kosher salt.

Ground Pepper – to taste

3 basil leaves – cut up or dried basil - one to two tablespoons

Olive Oil – Extra Virgin is better. It has a slight peppery bite that adds flavor to the mix.

For a Party:
Slice the tomatoes; not to fat, not to thin, about 1/8 of an inch.

Arrange the slices on a large platter or plate

Slice the Mozzarella: This is trickier than it sounds because the cheese is soft. Experiment with how thin you can make the slices. There is a natural limit and the slices should be about the same size as the tomatoes. They will probably be lopsided and some fatter, some thinner, don’t worry.

Place the Mozzarella slices on top of the tomatoes, covering them, but not overlapping the edges of the tomato. Don’t worry if you have to put two slices of cheese on one tomato. It will still look and taste great.

Sprinkle the tomato/cheese stack with the sea or kosher salt. Make sure each piece has a nice amount. When you put this stack in your mouth, the salt should provide an elegant counterpoint to the sweetness of the tomato and the fresh creaminess of the cheese.

Sparingly grind pepper over the stacks – just a little, just enough to give it a tiny bite.

Drizzle Olive Oil over the tomato/cheese stack. Do not drown them; just make sure each one has some olive oil on it.

Chop up the basil leaves and scatter over the platter or shake dried basil over the platter. Not to much, a little bit of seasoning goes a long way with this dish.

You are done! Take it to the party, put it out for appetizers – people will devour them, I promise

For Dinner:
Just chop the tomatoes into bite-sized chunks and the same with the mozzarella. Place both in a bowl together. Sprinkle with sea or kosher salt, and a little pepper and toss so each piece has a little seasoning. Pour olive oil into the bowl with the basil and toss again to mix. Serve as a salad with dinner. In a bowl in can be harder to make sure each piece is coated with olive oil, salt and basil, so do a few tastings before setting it on the table.

As Julia Child used to say Bon Appetit!

My Friends’ Recipes

From West End Farmers’ Market — Blog by West End Farmers' Market

August 6, 2009

I am the associate market manager for the West End Farmers Market in Alexandria, Virginia. When the market opened near my house three summers ago, I found myself there pretty much every week, so the next summer I volunteered and this year I help Julie run the market.

I help run this market because I really love it. I love the way it looks on bright Sunday mornings, the shadows and light of the vendor’s tents nestled up against the green manicured perfection of Ben Brenman Park. I thoroughly enjoy the chance to meet my friends, my neighbors, and acquaintances and chat for a bit – it is like the world’s best brunch party. I adore the smells that assault my senses as I walk through the market, fresh orange juice at Fresh Joseph’s, hot coffee brewing at Williams stand, the yeasty aroma of fresh-baked breads, the heady smell of onions, tomatoes, garlic, peaches, and other fresh fruits and vegetables when I step under a vendor’s tent. For me the West End Farmers Market is an experience that never fails to deliver.

I also love the promise of those colorful, fresh veggies and fruits, tantalizingly laid out, just waiting for some clever cook to create a scrumptious dish. This is an ironic statement because - that cook, the one dedicated to daily preparation of gourmet dishes – that’s not me. I do enjoy a good meal, love cooking for parties, having dinner guests and even occasionally creating those multi-course gourmet meals. I like being creative and will scour the internet and my cookbooks for the perfect recipe: but I always choose one that does not include seven hours of prep time, overnight anything, deglazing, deep-frying or seventeen exotic ingredients. I am dedicated to dishes that are exquisitely tasty, and quick and easy. That is my motto; quick, easy and tasty.

Over the years, I have acquired a goodly number of quick and easy recipes, covering every contingency, including spontaneous entertaining. I try new recipes all the time, but if I want to pull off a real coup, I haul out the tried and true dishes. Most of these have been given to me by my friends.

This particular blog and several following are dedicated to other people who, like me, enjoy their food, quick, easy and tasty. The recipes I am going to share with you are ones that my friends and acquaintances have, in turn, generously passed on to me.

Some of the recipes I am going to share with you have become signature dishes – the ones I consistently create for parties, potlucks and shared meals, including this one for grilled vegetables.

My friend Jane Miller taught me this recipe. Jane lives in Berkeley California, and we have known each other for twenty years. From Jane I learned the graciousness of welcoming spontaneous visitors with a pot of tea or a glass of wine and comfortable munchies. Her house was always a haven of warmth and generosity. She made this recipe two years ago for an outdoor birthday party and I promptly brought it home to Virginia and made it my own. Everyone thinks I am a culinary genius when they taste this, but really, it is Jane’s genius.

This recipe takes about twenty minutes to grill in my oven, but my oven is crazy weird. It only took Jane a little over 10 minutes in her oven. I usually start and finish this in about fortyfive minutes.

Ingredients for 1 bowl of Grilled Vegetables that will feed 4 to 6 people:
Seasonal vegetables including:

3 potatoes
4 carrots
1 onion – red or white
2-3 squash medium
2-3 zucchini
1 Broccoli
1 Cauliflower
½ Eggplant
1 -2 Peppers – red, green, or yellow

Sea Salt or rock salt to taste
Old Bay Crab Seasoning to taste
Ground pepper to taste
2 - 3 tbs Olive Oil

Choose no more than four different vegetables for this dish and three will do just fine. Potatoes and onions provide a nice solid base to build the rest of the recipe around.

Preheat the oven to high broil

Cut the vegetables into approximately one inch chunks and place in large bowl. Pour the olive oil into the bowl and mix the vegetables in the oil until well coated.

Lay the Vegetables out on a cookie tray, lined with foil, one layer deep only and not too close together.

Sprinkle the rock or sea salt over the vegetables. Don’t be stingy, it is the salt that makes the vegetables hum with goodness.

Shake pepper over the vegetables sparingly

Shake Old Bay Crab Seasoning liberally over the vegetables.

Place on the top shelf of the oven, so they can get brown on top. Check after about seven to ten minutes and turn vegetables over. Don’t worry about getting all the vegetables, it will all taste really good anyway you do it.

Take out when you can stick a fork in the potatoes or the vegetables are nice and hot with some browning taking place. The vegetables can still be crispy – it is not important to thoroughly cook anything but the potatoes.

Place in a bowl and serve hot, warm or cold. They always taste good. The salt and seasonings, combined with the vegetables, should make your tastebuds hum with pleasure. If you have under-salted or seasoned, just add some, if you have over-seasoned, eat it anyway and make the dish better the next time.

Do you have a recipe that you got from a friend? Share it here on my blog! Send me your best quick, easy and tasty recipes that have been handed on to you by your friends.

West End Farmers Market Opening

From West End Farmers’ Market — Blog by West End Farmers' Market

April 19, 2009

At dawn on Sunday May 3, the West End Farmers Market vendors will set up their tents and tables in the south parking lot of Ben Brenman Park for the first day of the 2009 summer season. Two divisions of the Alexandria Library System ‘The Ready, Set, Grow’ program and the ‘All Alexandria Reads’ program will be participating in celebrating the opening. The library will bring a storyteller to entertain the children, while the grown-ups indulge in the pleasures of the palate. An acoustic musician will be playing at the other end of the market. In between will be a scrumptious array of local food.

All winter my friends and I have been waiting for spring, when the market would re-open and our favorite farmers would set out fresh-picked local vegetables and fruits. We have been longing to select from colorful mounds of deep red radishes, beets and rhubarb, crisp-green Bok Choy, Shallots, pearlescent Chinese Cabbages, early lettuces, and dark-green collard greens and spinach. This year we will be able to buy micro-greens from a new vendor, Heather Caudle of Wisteria Gardens. Alma Diaz of Westmoreland Berry Farms and Barry Argento of Papa’s Orchard to thrill us with eye-popping rows of delicious and colorful strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, and winter apples and pears. Julie, the other market manager and I will be handing out recipes so you can try new ways to prepare spring vegetables and fruits.

At Tommy Tompkins tent, we will be able to purchase a variety of hand-made cheeses, including an exquisite cave cheese, sinfully good goat’s cheese, and an excellent sharp cheddar. He also offers yogurt, and delicious handmade jams and jellies, pickles and relishes. Next to Tommy is another new vendor, Vicki Fedor, owner of North Gate Vineyard, who will be offering the perfect complement to Tommy’s cheese - Virginia-made wine.

West End residents will be able to round out their Sunday picnic lunch of cheese, fruit, veggies and wine with freshly-baked breads. Choose from multiple vendors offering a variety of crunchy baguettes, soft rolls, sweet pastries, muffins and buttery scones. Customers who cannot resist the tempting smell of fresh scones and muffins, can enjoy their treat on the surrounding picnic benches and linger over gourmet coffee and freshly squeezed orange juice from the market.

Free-range, grass fed beef and chickens, as well as free-range eggs are also offered by market vendors. One of our new vendors will be offering freshly roasted fair-trade coffee and another local honey from their own hives. Don’t just buy yourself a good meal; make sure your dog has a treat as well. Last year Lisa’s handmade dog treats were a market bestseller. If you need a little gourmet mustard, vinaigrettes or sauces to complete your meal, make sure you stop by Gourmet on the Go. To complete a perfect spring day, you can take home large bouquets of cut flowers from Billie the Flower Guy.

Julie Bryant the other market manager and I, as well as the city of Alexandria would like to invite each of you to come celebrate good food, community and fine Sunday mornings. By purchasing locally grown produce and food, you can eat well, buy green, have a great time while supporting small farmers and our regional economy. What better way to spend a Sunday morning!

The West End Farmers Market, located in the south parking lot of Ben Brenman Park, next to the Cameron Station community, is open every Sunday from 9AM to 1PM. If you are riding by on the bike path, park your bike with the market manager and take your time shopping. If you are driving, there is plenty of parking in the adjacent parking lots and on the street.

See you soon!