Scalloped Tomatoes

This recipe is so good. The better the tomato, the better the dish. I found it in the Barefooted Contessa's newest cookbook, The Way It Is. It is a great dish to add to the summer recipes.

Ingredients:

Good olive oil

2 cups (1/2 inch diced) bread from a French boule, crusts removed

16 plum tomatoes, cut into 1/2 inch dices (about 2 1/2 pounds)

1 TBSP minced garlic (3 cloves)

2 TBSP sugar

2 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp freshly ground black peppers

1/2 cup julienned basil leaves, lightly packed

1 cup freshly grated Parmesan Cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Heat 3 TBSP of olive oil in a large (12 inch) saute pan over medium heat. Add the bread cubes and stir to coat with the oil. Cook over medium to medium-high heat for 5 minutes, stirring often, until the cubes are evenly browned.

Meanwhile, combine the tomatoes, garlic, sugar, salt and pepper in a large bowl. When the bread cubes are done, add the tomato mixture and continue to cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes. Off the heat, stir in the basil.

Pour the tomato mixture into a shallow (6 to 8 cups) baking dish. Sprinkle evenly with the Parmesan cheese and drizzle with 2 TBSP of olive oil. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes until the top is browned and the tomatoes are bubbly. Serve hot or warm.

NOTES: I minimized the sugar to half the amount. I think it depends on your tomatoes. Some tomatoes are sweeter than others. I did not use plum tomatoes, but I had some wonderful Beefsteak tomatoes that I used. It was really, really tasty.

Washington Cooking and Entertainment Show Recipe

Michelle and I went to see Bobby Flay on Saturday morning at the Washington Cooking and Entertainment show. He made this great set of recipes. Our mouths were watering for it, but not the one he made. So I thought I would share it with you all as well. This recipe can be found on their website at: http://dc2010.metrocooking.com/media/recipes. But his recipes are as follows:

CAST IRON ROASTED VEGETABLES

Ingredients

1 small butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into large dice

3 carrots, peeled and cut into large dice

12 shallots, peeled

2 poblano chiles, cut into large dice

Canola oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Chopped cilantro

Directions

Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Combine squash, carrots, shallots, and poblano chiles in a large cast iron pan, toss with a few tablespoons of the oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast in oven until golden brown and just cooked through, 35 to 40 minutes. Remove from oven and stir in the cilantro and season with more salt, if needed.

ROASTED BUTTERFLIED CHICKEN WITH CHIPOTLE HONEY GLAZE

Ingredients

1 3 ½ to 4 lb chicken, rinsed, patted dry and butterflied

½ cup honey

1 Tbsp chipotle puree

1 Tbsp Dijon mustard

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Canola oil

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 550 degrees F. Whisk together the honey, chipotle, mustard, salt and pepper. Set aside for to allow the flavors to meld.

2. Brush the chicken with oil on both sides and season with salt and pepper. Transfer to a baking sheet and roast, skin side up until the skin begins to turn light golden brown, about 25 minutes. Brush with the glaze and continue roasting until an instant read thermometer inserted into the breast, registers 158 degrees F, about 15 to 20 minutes longer. Brush liberally with the glaze during the last 10 minutes of roasting.

3. Remove from the oven, transfer to a cutting board and let rest 15 minutes before carving.

MASHED YUKON GOLD POTATOES WITH GREEN CHILI QUESO SAUCE

Ingredients

3 lbs Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into large dice

Kosher salt

2 Tbsp unsalted butter

2 Tbsp flour

2 cups hot milk

1 ¼ lbs Monterey Jack cheese, coarsely grated

½ cup Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, grated

Freshly ground black pepper

2 poblano chiles, roasted, peeled, seeded and finely diced

1 stick unsalted butter

1 ½ - 2 cups heavy cream, heated

Chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Directions

1. Put potatoes in a large pot, cover by a few inches with cold water and add 2 tablespoons of salt. Bring to a boil, cover and cook until a paring knife inserted in the center meets no resistance.

2. While the potatoes are cooking, heat the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Whisk in the hot milk, increase the heat to high and cook until thickened and flour taste is cooked out, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in the Monterey Jack cheese until smooth and melted. Stir in the Parmigiano Reggiano and poblano chiles and season with salt and pepper.

3. Drain the potatoes well. Put through a ricer set over a bowl, Return the riced potatoes to the pot on the stove over low heat, add the butter and 1 ½ cups of warm cream and using a wooden spoon, gently stir the potatoes while folding in the butter and cream, season with salt and pepper. Transfer to a large bowl, make a well in the middle of the potatoes and fill with the cheese sauce, garnish with the cilantro.

Roasted Vidalia Onions

Last night I made dinner for some friends. I saw this recipe somewhere a long time ago and it looked great. So I wanted to try it out. It went well with the main dish (Balsamic BBQ Chicken) that I decided to make it. Well it was delicious. Very, very, very good. There was NONE left for me to enjoy today. good thing I saved an onion. Quick, simple and delicious-- always a good combo when you cook.

4 Vidalia or other sweet onions, each peeled and cut into 8 wedges (about 2 pounds)
Olive oil
1 teaspoon dried thyme
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees

2. Arrange onion wedges on a jelly-roll pan coated with oil; sprinkle with thyme, salt, and pepper. Bake at 450 degrees for 20 minutes. Turn onion wedges over; bake an additional 20 minutes or until onions are tender.

3. Spoon onions into a serving dish, and drizzle with vinegar.

Roasted Potatoes

One of my all time favorite recipes is Oven Roasted Potatoes. It is super simple and taste wonderful.

Ingredients:

baby yukon gold or baby red potatoes (in one package from the grocery store)

extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)

salt

pepper

fresh rosemary

Preheat oven to 425'

cut potatoes in half (really large ones, quarter)

place EVOO at bottom of baking sheet. We use stoneware, so it may cook slightly different on a normal baking sheet. but well worth the stoneware. Then place salt, pepper, and fresh rosemary (pull from stem, but don't cut) on bottom of sheet above the EVOO. Then place potatoes cut side down.

Place in oven for 30-45 minutes or so. When done, the cut side will be golden brown and a fork will easily fork into potato.

Serve with meat, chicken or whatever else you choose.

I really love rustic cooking and this is as rustic as you get. 5 ingredients, one baking sheet, simple, pure and delicious. Could you really ask for anything more? I personally prefer baby yukon gold potatoes, but either one is delicious. It is also very impressive with meat dishes if you put the potatoes at the bottom then the meat at the top. Plus if you really want to be easy you could put roughly chopped carrots with the potatoes for a colorful variation.

Bold Oven Fried Sweet Potato Wedges

Sometimes you just need a little more kick than brown sugar can offer. The spices may seem like a quirky combination, but they work well together. I serve these as an "appetizer" because they're usually gone by the time the rest of the meal is ready.

Bold Oven Fried Sweet Potato Wedges

2 lbs sweet potato
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp salt
½ tsp ground cumin
½ tsp ground cinnamon
2 Tbsp canola oil

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Coat a cookie sheet with cooking spray.

2. Cut potatoes in half, lengthwise. Place each potato half, cut-side down, on cutting board; cut into 1-inch thick wedges.

3. Combine chili powder, thyme, salt, cumin and cinnamon in a small bowl.

4. In a separate bowl, toss together potatoes, oil, and spice mixture until well-coated. Arrange on pan in a single layer. Roast until potatoes are tender and browned, 20-25 minutes.