tomatoes provençal {ffwd}
This week was scorching hot. I did turn on the oven a few times, to bake a savory tart, to bake a sable breton galette base for freshly picked strawberries, and to toast ramen noodles and almonds for a refreshing napa cabbage salad. I also turned on the oven to roast tomatoes provençal which is this week’s recipe pick for French Fridays with Dorie.
Local tomatoes are not yet available in the markets, though greenhouse ones are just starting to show their rosy faces. We can also get decent hydroponic ones grown in Maine, which is what I chose.
This is a definitely a recipe to file away for peak tomato season. This fabulous side screams summer when the aromas waft through the kitchen. Other than the need to turn on the oven on a hot summer day, there is no challenge involved. You clip a handful of mixed herbs from the back door herb garden. That meant rosemary, winter savory, thyme, marjoram, and chives for me. The herbs are chopped with some garlic and spooned onto tomato halves which are drizzled with olive oil and roasted until they are soft and fragrant.
Not only do the tomatoes provençal smell like summer, they taste like too. They rounded out our “peek of summer” meal. We ate a greens tart made with greens from our CSA share (plus the tops from the beets and radishes too) and some Georgia corn and tomatoes provençal. Yum!
This weekend, we enjoyed a visit from one of my dearest childhood friends and her family. We’ve been fortunate to be able to rendezvous with them at our Maine cottage every couple of years when they come East to visit family. It is such a treat to reconnect, catch up on our current lives, and reminisce about our shared youthful adventures. There is nothing like a longtime friend.
Check out what the other Doristas thought of the tomatoes here. If you’d like to try making these scrumptious tomatoes for yourself, you don’t really need a recipe. If you feel like you must have one, you can find it in Dorie Greenspan’s book Around My French Table or on-line at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
guacamole with tomatoes and bell peppers {ffwd}
Is it still Friday? I’m sneaking my post in just under the wire… I have an excuse. I just got home last night from a two-week vacation in Southern California and spent the day doing the things you do when you get home from a trip: collecting the mail, laundry, grocery shopping, etc.
I didn’t make this week’s French Fridays dish before I left, and when I woke up this morning, the cupboard was bare. It’s a good thing that this week’s selection, guacamole with tomatoes and bell peppers, was a cinch to put together.
Dorie says that the French are crazy about guacamole, though they seldom make it themselves. I can share their passion. It is so easy to make, though, that I’m not sure I’d be buying it already prepared.
Guacamole is a staple on the snack/appetizer rotation at my house. We make several different variations. The simplest is an avocado mashed up with a few generous spoonfuls of salsa. We are also partial to mango guacamole when Ataulfo mangoes are in season. A couple of years ago, Howard got a molcajete, which makes a gorgeous presentation when making guacamole from scratch (i.e. no jarred salsa).
The guacamole that Dorie makes in her French kitchen uses all the expected ingredients: avocado, lime, red onion, jalapeno, cilantro, and tomatoes. The surprise additions are the lime zest, diced red pepper, and a splash of hot sauce. Dorie also offers two texture options: smooth or chunky. Our usual guac is chunky, so I wanted to try out smooth for a change. The smooth version is made with a mortar and pestle, but I pulled out the molcajete. By the way, I used just one LARGE avocado but didn’t reduce any of the other ingredients.
It’s a winner! We both loved the flavor and the texture. As you can see, we ate the whole thing. (It was lunch, not just an appetizer.) Without a doubt, smooth guacamole with tomatoes and bell peppers will now be taking its turn in our guacamole rotation.
All Gone!
I want to share a little about my vacation because I’m unlikely to get around to an entire post about it. This was my first trip to Southern California as a tourist. Previously, I’d been for a few business trips in the not very recent past, but was never there long enough to see anything other than the airport, the office, and the hotel.
We visited Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, and San Diego. I would describe myself as an intense traveler, not allowing for much downtime. We made the most of our time in new places. Highlights include: Lotusland (near Santa Barbara), a unique and delightful garden created by a very eccentric woman; a vintage car show in Beverly Hills, tours of the Gamble House in Pasadena and Disney Hall in Los Angeles, and the San Diego Zoo. We were fortunate to connect with so many people. We visited with cousins, reconnected with college friends and former co-workers, and had lunch with the SoCal Doristas (sans Trevor). It was the perfect balance of visiting friends and family and taking in the sights and sites. And, now I’m happy to be home.
Lunch in Santa Monica with my Dorista pals! (L-R: Susan Lester, me, and Christy Majors)
To see what the other Doristas did with their guacamoles, check their links here. To try it yourself, you can find the recipe here or in Dorie Greenspan’s book Around My French Table.
A Plateful of Happiness 