tomato time

raw zucchini, tomatoes, red onion, bocconcini, bacon, basil

My dad has been bringing me the most luscious tomatoes. Alas I know, while being overwhelmed with the amount of produce flowing from his garden, the time for eating tomatoes that taste like tomatoes lasts precious little.

My ode to tomatoes. Thank you, Dad.

now THAT'S a tomato

This lovely, warm Grilled Eggplant appetizer :

If I had kept my tomato in the fridge, this would have been yuck. But it is verdict : Yummy because the tomato was flavorful and juicy from being left on the windowsill. Cut the tomato into thick slices and sprinkle with sea salt. Let them sit on the counter while you prepare the eggplant.

Right : the eggplant. You're thinking about how sketchy it is to get eggplant right, but here's my trick : make a little vinaigrette with any leftover pieces of tomato (diced) and fresh herbs and toss the eggplant slices in this vinaigrette before putting them on a very hot grill. Let them char on each side for a few minutes, and then finish them on a tray in a low oven (275-300F), drizzled with a bit of olive oil (if you like), until you are ready to assemble the plate. 

Then, creatively layer the sliced tomato and eggplant, and top it with some cheese love and fresh basil. If you have any vinaigrette left over, drizzle that over the top, too.

grilled eggplant stacked with tomato and fresh farmer's cheese

This pizza :

Use your favorite recipe to make pizza dough or buy a good quality premade dough.

Something really simple that I often do, that gives an additional layer of flavor is to pour about a half cup of good olive oil into a small container, add some peppercorns, a small crushed clove of garlic (those little ones from the middle work great!), and thyme. Let it infuse while you prepare your recipe. Before adding the toppings, brush the pizza dough with this oil.

The zucchini, about 1 medium, is julienned and sprinkled over the slices of my dad's fresh tomato that make up the first layer of topping. If you like, you can toss it first with a little of that oil and a tsp of fresh lemon zest.

Take some time to caramelize a sliced red onion. It adds a richness and sweetness to the pizza, that contrasts well with the bacon. I don't use a lot of bacon but there are two kinds: Canadian bacon, which is very low in fat and calories (20 calories/slice!), and crisped-up turkey bacon (35 cals).

And then there's the cheese ... mmm, cheese. To keep it light, I usually mix fresh farmer's cheese with a little parmesan and use it like goat's cheese on the pizza. Farmer's cheese is great because it tastes rich, like ricotta, but only has 40 calories per 2 tablespoons. But, is IS pizza after all ... Fresh mozzarella bocconcini, just a couple, shredded over the top, make the pizza creamy and indulgent. 

I grilled my pizza on a pre-heated pizza pan for about 20 minutes. Verdict : Yummy.

pizza on the grill

Expectation

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a wish

So I started a tradition for my birthday last year, to take a "bared" photo ... this is me, just out of the shower, real and unmade. This is me, a year older. I am not a person who likes pictures of herself. (Ask my family, all photos seem to "disappear"). It's a tough thing to do. You've seen me fail three times at the 365 project. But, every so often, I think it is a good exercise in not taking myself too seriously, which I do more often than not. It's a good exercise in growing comfortable with getting older. Not that I'm comfortable with it. Just sayin'.

I'm not exactly what I want to be, nor where I want to be.  I can look back at that photo from a year ago, though, and say to myself ... that is where I came from ... and here I am now, at another starting point, and it's not a bad place to begin again.

In about two weeks, I am making a fresh start, moving from one country to another, back home. I have no idea what is going to happen. I know what I wish for.

And, since it is my birthday, I do get a wish. I will share that wish with you.

I wish that in a year from now, I will take this birthday photo again, and see the same hope in my face, see that love in my eyes realized, see the worries that wrinkle my forehead and cause shadows under my eyes gone, and not be the only one in the photo. I want to take that photo with people around me who love me.

It's a good wish, I think.

grilled octopus (demystified)

The octopus dish I grew up eating was served as a traditional cold salad on Christmas Eve, and was among my favorites of my Mom's dishes. Meaty, lemony chunks of boiled octopus tossed simply with celery and olive oil. We would pick at it in the kitchen (ok, we picked at everything she made) while she was at the stove with her back turned to us. Even my young nieces picked at it. Cold octopus. Seriously.

I encountered a small octopus at the fish store this weekend, brought the little critter home ... and as it was probably the last nice weather for days, decided mmhhmm, definitely grilling it. Definitely enough to share!

But how to grill an octopus? Hmmm. Good one. There are a wide range of conflicting recipes out there in cyberspace ... the main drama being whether to boil it (or not) before grilling. That is the question. Some very tempting recipes simply threaded marinated octopus pieces on skewers and grilled them briefly. I say tempting because the alternative is to beat the crap out of the thing, or freeze it, and boil it for hours, standing over it, babying it, testing it with a knife every five minutes. Not exactly what you want to be doing all afternoon on a sunny day.

Octopus is suprisingly expensive, at least here in Germany. While I could get whole fish, like loup de mer or dorade, for 5.99 a kilo, octopus was a whopping 15.99 a kilo. So obviously I didn't want to ruin it. I searched for solid advice and finally decided ... yea, you have to boil it.

I found this old but good article on the NY Times website: Embracing the Octopus. It included a variety of lovely recipes, including one for Grilled Octopus. I used the recipe as a guide for boiling the octopus, changing it to reflect my own flavor profiles and experience. They boil the octopus with a head of garlic cut in half, a whole lemon halved, bay leaf, thyme, and peppercorns.

My 1 kg, or 2.2 lb, octopus took a little over an hour before I felt it was tender; it was iffy business; however, Rick Moonen gives you a good tip -- treat the octopus like a boiled potato. Test it with the tip of a thin, sharp knife and when it gives little resistance, you can take it out and drain it. Slice the legs off, keeping them whole, and cut the body into large chunks (don't bother with the head though).

From there, I squeeze all the cooked garlic cloves (why waste soft, sweet garlic!?) into a bowl, with 2 ripe tomatoes, the juice of 2 lemons, 4 celery stalks and their leaves, sea salt and pepper, a shot of good olive oil, and a few chili flakes. Marinate for about 35 minutes or until ready to grill. Reserve the marinade and grill the octopus pieces over high heat for about 3 - 5 minutes, turning periodically, until slightly charred. Put the grilled pieces back into the bowl with the celery/tomato/garlic/etc mixture. Cover and let rest for about 5 minutes. Tender and yummy.

egg white cauliflower omelette

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