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French Fridays with Dorie: Slow-Roasted Tomatoes
This week’s recipe for French Fridays with Dorie has the most benign name: Slow-Roasted Tomatoes. Sounds innocuous, right? It’s peak tomato season, so it sounds like an excellent choice to try this week. The name, though, slow-roasted tomatoes, makes it sound like nothing special. So misleading…
Before
After
Dorie suggests these can be served as a condiment. I used mine in an orzo salad where I usually use sun-dried tomatoes. The slow-roasted tomato morsels give it a different twist – a much brighter summery flavor.
Needless to say, I loved this recipe. It’s a winner in every way. Though cherry tomato season is fleeting, I can imagine that the ever-present grape tomatoes, available year-round, will be transformed by this treatment. That means, I can slow roast tomatoes all year long!
You can find recipe for this and other delicious dishes in Dorie Greenspan’s Around My French Table. I make a new recipe from the book each week along with a wonderful group of intrepid bloggers from French Fridays with Dorie. You can check the LYL (Leave Your Link) post for Slow-Roasted Tomatoes on the FFwD site to see what they thought about this week’s recipe.
Here’s my recipe for orzo salad. I recommend chopping the red onion first and soaking it in cold water in the fridge while you prepare everything else. Drain right before adding to the bowl. It cuts the sharpness of the raw onion. (A little tip I learned from Dorie!)
Orzo Salad
½ lb orzo
½ cup finely chopped red onion
½ cup olives, pitted and coarsely chopped (I used Picholine, use whatever you like. I’ve also made this with Nicoise and Kalamata)
½ cup slow-roasted tomatoes
1½ Tbsp drained capers
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
Salt & pepper to taste
Cook the orzo according the package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water.
Combine orzo, onion, olives, tomatoes, and capers in a large bowl. Whisk together oil and vinegar. Stir dressing into pasta salad and season with salt and pepper to taste. It might not need any salt because of the olives and capers.
French Fridays with Dorie: Salmon and Tomatoes en Papillote
Where does the time go? Already, it’s French Friday again. This week, I’ve returned from my trip to D.C., and I’m back in my own kitchen making Salmon and Tomatoes en Papillote.
I’m starting to realize that one of the great things about this cookbook we’re cooking our way through is that so many of the recipes are more about the techniques than the exact ingredients. This recipe, like many others we’ve already made, is a springboard for a myriad of future combinations.
For Salmon and Tomatoes en Papillote, each fish fillet is oven-steamed in its own foil packet along with a handful of seared grape tomatoes, herbs, and lemon. After a short bake in a very hot oven, dinner is ready. It’s fast enough for a weeknight dinner, but elegant enough to serve to company. I served the fish with couscous, the fastest side dish I know.
Because the fish was wrapped up tight in its little packet, I was worried about the cooking time. I went with 12 minutes for 4 ounce fillets. No need to worry, as the fish was perfect. It was just slightly undercooked when I checked one, but, by the time I transferred the fish to plates and got them onto the table, the fish was cooked through the way I like it.
This could be done with any thick fillets, any variety of herbs, and other quick-cooking vegetables. You can always find grape tomatoes at the supermarket, but the vegetables could change with the seasons as well. Harder vegetables would definitely require a little precook so they are done at the same time as the fish.
My basil plants are a little slow to get going this summer, but I have many other herb plants that are going full force, so I used lemon balm leaves instead. My choice complemented the lemon slices, juice, and zest in the packet. I used sprigs of thyme on top.
You could serve the packet right on the plate and let your eaters open up the surprise inside for themselves. I decided it would be prettier to move the contents to the plate.
I ended up making four fillets, two for dinner and two for leftovers. Leftovers weren’t as good. The extra reheat, though brief, was enough to overcook the fish. Better to make this one just in time to serve.
Knowing the other Doristas, there are going to be some great variations to make note of for the next time I make this for dinner, and there will definitely be a next time. This recipe is a winner! Check out other blogger’ links at French Fridays with Dorie.
We don’t post the French Friday recipes, but you can find it on page 302 of Dorie Greenspan’s Around My French Table. This book is filled with so many recipes you’ll want to add to your repertoire. Check it out at the library, or buy your own copy. You won’t be disappointed.
Next week, we’re making a Cold Berry-Melon Soup. This one takes me completely out of my comfort zone, and I know it won’t fly with the other half of my household. Melon is for breakfast, not soup, so, I’ll stay open-minded and see how it works out for me. Until next Friday, have a great week.
A Plateful of Happiness 