- Pane per le bruschette
- Insalata
- Pomodoro
- Aglio e olio

Tagliate le melanzane a cubettini, salatele e saltatele nel wok. Se vedete che seccano troppo aggiungete un po' di acqua.
Quando sono cotte frullatele nel frullatore.
Bruschettate il pane, passatelo bene con l'aglio crudo, spalmateci sopra la crema di melanzane e guarnite con una bella insalatina, una dadolata di pomodori e un filo d'olio.

Il pesce svenuto che vedete sullo sfondo della foto è il resto della cena. E' un'orata cotta nel forno a microonde, modalità crisp (per chi ha un forno whirpool che io consiglio tantissimissimo), per dieci minuti.

Tell me....does the scent of onions on the grill make your mouth water? Have you ever grilled tomato slices before slipping them into your burger? If you love a good juicy summertime tomato, grab one that's not yet so ripe and slice it thick, spread a little olive oil on it and sprinkle it with salt then lay it on a smoking hot grill. While you're at it, slice a nice Vidalia onion thick too and do the same prep to that, then set it right next to the tomato. Let them smoke and sizzle, then carefully flip them over.

When you find that the scent is driving your taste buds insane at the very thought of how good it will be, and when you see that the onion and tomato have browned nicely, carefully put them on plates to cool, and slip the skin off the tomato. Chop them coarsely, add a little more salt, some fresh ground pepper and another drizzle of your good oil, then scoop it onto a nice slice of bread that you browned on the grill.

Take a bite. If you've got some garden basil, add that too. (green olives with parsley and garlic are optional)

Take another bite. And another.

Forget that you had anything else planned for dinner, 'cause this tastes just like summertime; the sun is warm and the wind is high- white puffy clouds are scooting across the sky and the scent is amazing.

Have another piece, why don't you? Doesn't it taste good??

WARM TOMATO MOZZARELLA BRUSCHETTA

Originally uploaded by hinducow

olives,capers,shallots,balsamic,and basil at X-Bar in Century City.

O cardápio do Josephine é bem variado, tendo saladas, sanduíches, risotos, quiches, sopas, grelhados, et cetera...Minha entrada favorita é a bruschetta de queijo brie com geléia de damasco. O canapé de salmão também é muito bom. A salada Josephine é de folhas, queijo brie e tomate seco, servida com molho de mostarda com mel. A casa apresenta a opção de combinar um grelhado com meia salada, massa ou risoto. Assim recomendo combinar o paillard de filet mignon com o risoto de parmesão e rúcula.

Para beber limonada suiça ou a famosa caipiroska de tangerina. De sobremesa sorvete ou a torta de maçã.

Um ótimo lugar para levar a namorada/esposa ou bater um papo casual com algum colega de trabalho.

2 cups assorted cherry, grape, and teardrop tomatoes, halved
(or quartered if large)
1/2 small red onion, finely chopped
3 tablespoons olive oil plus additional for brushing
3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar 1 large loaf focaccia, halved horizontally (reserve half for another use)
1 garlic clove, peeled, halved

Read about preparation.

Bill & I went to a party yesterday afternoon that started around 2, since we both didn't eat lunch we were quite famished when we got to the party... I started out with a Miller Lite, simply because there was no water!  Bad excuse, I know :)  Then we munched on typical party snacks like bruschetta (had 2 melbas with it), buffalo chicken dip (think I had 3 crackers with it), and bagel slices with cheese dip (had 2 and SO good)... They got the grill going and cooked up some Bubba burgers, hot dogs, and chicken along with delicious homemade salads... Here's what I had:

Bubba burger with cheese + mustard, orzo salad, and pickle:

A short time later, they decided to bring out the desserts, there were so many to choose from, so I decided on half a Rice Krispie treat (for nostalgic reasons) and a ghiradelli brownie... Sorry for the lack of pictures, my memory card on my cell was actually full, so I figured you could visualize!  The desserts are what put me over the edge... I was feeling fine until I ate them and then I suddenly couldn't move - ha... Here are some stand-in pictures:

Bill and I left the party around 5'ish and we had to run some errands... When we got back to Bill's house, we went for a walk despite the looming storm clouds!  It started to rain on us so we darted back to his house in a hurry :D  Around 7:30, we both didn't really have much of an appetite but knew we needed to eat something so we threw together some shrimp, cherry tomatoes, asparagus and penne with garlic, olive oil, basil & black pepper... It was delicious... My serving, topped with Parmesan, was just enough!

We settled in to watch a movie, National Treasure 2, and I pulled out some leftover watermelon that my aunt + uncle had sent us home with on 4th of July... It was SO juicy, yummy, and refreshing!

I wish I could tell you how good National Treasure was, but I honestly can't because I fell asleep 10 minutes into the movie... Bill kept waking me up and joking around with me about missing the movie, but no matter how hard I tried to stay awake I kept dozing in and out - ooops!  Guess I was exhausted from the weekend!

At the time, they were fairly small but I assured the staff that, if cared for, the plants would produce some reasonable tomatoes by the time school broke up for the summer holidays.

Well, today was the end of term and the plants are indeed laden with tomatoes with the largest fruit, a Super Marmande, being larger than my clenched fist.

Of course, the tomatoes are still green but the the children have been able to watch the tomato plants grow, flower, set fruit and approach harvesting.

They've been able to pick out suckers, prune unwanted leaves, check the growth by picking out the tips, water the plants, and feed them (with my super-duper liquid feed of rotted seaweed and muck).

When I went in to collect the Wee 'Un today, the nursery staff—who appear to be almost entirely non-gardeners—were keen to find out if I wanted the plants back and, if not, what they could with them.

I was tempted to bring the plants home as they have some very fine tomatoes on them, but I thought the plants would make a good, and different, end of term present so I told the staff they should keep them and enjoy the tomatoes.

Mrs Naysmith, one of the teachers, wanted to know if they should wait for the tomatoes to ripen or if they could use them green.

While I think just picked, sun-ripened tomatoes are absolutely delicious when eaten about 30 seconds after picking and while still warm from the sun, I also think very few people get to enjoy the delights of green tomatoes.

I gave Mrs Naysmith the URL for this blog, and told her I'd put a recipe here for pickled green tomatoes—although it sounds rather more swanky in Italian  when it becomes pomodori verdi marinati.

Pomodori verdi marinati

Ingredients

• 3lb green tomatoes
• Salt (preferably a good sea salt)
• White wine vinegar (the best you can afford)
• 3 large cloves of garlic, peel and finely sliced
• 2 tbsp fennel seeds
• 4 tbsp fresh oregano, chopped (or 2 tbsp dried oregano)
• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 3 green chillies (the larger, moderately hot ones), coarsely sliced
• Extra virgin olive oil (absolutely must be a good quality one)

Method

1. Rinse the tomatoes, slice thinly and pour off the juice into a large bowl as you go.
2. Place the sliced tomatoes in the bowl in layers, sprinkling salt over each layer. Don't skimp on the salt.
3. Place an inverted plate on top of the tomatoes and then a heavy weight on the plate. Leave the tomatoes to marinate for about six hours.
4. Drain the tomatoes. Cover the tomatoes with white wine vinegar, place the plate and weight back on top, and leave to marinate for a further four hours.
5. Drain the tomatoes again.
6. Layer the tomatoes into sterilised jars (wash in hot soapy water, rinse in hot water, dry in the oven at 80C), sprinkling the layers with slices of garlic, a few fennel seeds and a few drops of balsmic vinegar. Spread the chillies evenly through the jar.
7. Pour olive oil into the jars, rocking them from side to side to eliminate air pockets, and the adding more olive oil. Allow half an inch headspace, while ensuring the olive oil is at least an eighth of an inch above the final layer of tomatoes.
8. Screw the lids on hard to ensure a good seal and store in a cool, dark place. The tomatoes can be eaten after a week, but should last for several months.
9. To serve, toast slices of bread on a lightly oiled griddle and then spread a layer of tomatoes on the toast.

Some relatives were at our house a few weeks ago. We had invited The Italian’s mother and step dad, a cousin and her husband and daughter for an outdoor BBQ. We started with some olives, chips, cheese, salami, Crodino, spumante and wonderful bruschetta. Bruschetta is one of my favorite foods and is best, in my opinion, when you toast the bread on a grill. We rub fresh garlic over the hot toasted bread, drizzle our olive oil (from our olive trees!) over it, sprinkle on some salt and then, if desired, chopped tomatoes with some fresh chopped basil mixed in….mmmmm. Heaven.

I think I could live on just red wine and bruschetta for weeks. I should start a new wine and bruschetta fad diet on the internet. I wonder what results people would have. I am not a big drinker, or dieter for that matter (except for a random 'baby food' diet my friend Sarah and I went on when we were about 10 just because we thought it would be fun to eat baby food. I think we lasted around 12 hours...until the Solid Gold dancers came on TV and we got hungry for real food after dancing up a storm on the couch), but it would be worth a try….red wine, olive oil, tomatoes, garlic and bread are all good for you, right?

After the bruschetta we started in on the meat. Since I have been with The Italian I have never had the in-laws over without his mother bringing something to eat. I try to explain that I’ve got the meal under control, but they always arrive with arms full of bags. Once it was a huge watermelon and veggies, at Christmas it was fish, clams and a live eel (yup!). This time she said she would bring the meat . We had steaks, sausages and pork coming out of our ears. There are always leftovers for 2-3 days after they come over. The steaks aren’t usually thick like Iowa steaks or Italian Fiorentine steaks, but pretty darn tasty on the grill. Our Cocker Spaniel, Lily, was glued to the side of my patio chair making cute, sad eyes at me for a handout. I can never resist her and she ended up with an entire bruschetta and good portion of a steak.

We had some peas with bits of pancetta (ham), onion and oil mixed in as a side dish...

and then it was time for the salad which always comes at the end of the meal here. Cleans the pipes, I guess. I had prepared it in the usual way (no Ranch dressing here…sniff). Olive oil, salt and vinegar. I often add a bit of chopped onion for extra flavor when I don’t have to talk to anyone for the next 24 hours or when I have already ruined the fresh breath factor with garlicky bruschetta. I had not put in too much vinegar in this time because some people don’t like much, so I brought out a bottle in case anyone wanted to add extra.

Now, I use vinegar pretty sparingly so I think I have had the same bottle for at least a couple of years (don’t worry, the expiration date is in 2009, I checked). As I put it on the table I embarrassingly noticed a foreign substance floating around at the base of the bottle. It looked kind of like a brown jellyfish. I was sure the vinegar had gone bad! Before I was able to take it away, my mother-in-law pointed at the mass and said, “Guarda!”  Great, I thought. Too late, she’d seen it. 

Her cousin also noted the mass and they grabbed the bottle for a closer look. I said, “Scusa, che schifo. Vado a buttare.” (Sorry, that’s gross. I’ll go and throw it out).

“No!”  they both exclaimed. They went on to explain that the weird gunk inside my vinegar bottle was a very good thing and very difficult to create. You need to store the bottle at a certain temperature with a certain amount of light, etc., to achieve it and using that ‘stuff’ I could actually create more vinegar. Who knew?! Without even trying I had accomplished something that many only wish they could do. I’m sure now that I’ve got Italian cooking instincts in my Danish-Norwegian genes somewhere. ;)

We then had our Vienetta ice cream, coffee, and limoncello.

After the meal and a bit of rest and talking, my mother-in-law, her cousin and I took a walk in our large yard and once again I heard, "Guarda!". They had spotted bunches of cicoria growing everywhere (a vegetable that I guess grows in the wild). I been stomping on it with the dogs for weeks thinking it was just a weed. We spent the next hour gathering great bagfuls for them to take home.

Sheesh. At the rate I'm learning this stuff, soon I may never have to go to the grocery store again.

INGREDIENTS
2 tomatoes, cubed
1 teaspoon dried basil
4 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove garlic, crushed
seasoning salt to taste
ground black pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS
In a medium bowl, mix tomatoes, dried basil, Parmesan cheese, olive oil, garlic, seasoning salt and ground black pepper. Cover and chill in the refrigerator 8 hours, or overnight, before serving.

This recipe found at AllRecipes: Best Bruschetta Ever

I love this time of year. By now I've been eating gorgeous seasonal asparagus for about 6 weeks. I should be getting sick of it but I never do. The end of the asparagus season would be depressing, if it were not for the start of the broad bean season with an overlap of a couple of weeks to facilitate gorgeous salads, or, for indulging in any number of dishes with broad beans in the starring role, as I did here.

I was at Marylebone Farmer's Market at the weekend, rushing as always to get there before it closes at 2pm, and I was quite delighted to find that, as part of Marylebone Summer Village Fayre, it would be open until 5pm. There was the added bonus of new stallholders, albeit just for one week, including the Garlic Farm from the Isle of Wight with their amazing arrays of garlics and garlic products, including elephant garlic and green garlic.

Now green garlic is something that I haven't had before. I know! What kind of foodie am I? I had read about it though, and was very keen to try it, so I was very happy to have the opportunity to purchase. I also bought some of the early season broad beans from another stall.

I thought I'd do a twist on a broad bean bruschetta that I do regularly, including green garlic this time and keeping it vegetarian. I would often include ham or anchovies, natural partners for the broad bean, but I wanted to experiment and try something where the green garlic and broad beans would dominate.

This doesn't require a recipe, just a conversation - honestly, follow your tastebuds.

I used a half a kilo of broad beans in the pod, double podded and boiled briefly until tender, then plunged into iced water to stop them cooking and preserve that gorgeous colour and flavour. I then added a couple of teaspoons of chopped fresh mint, the juice of half a lemon, about twice that of a good extra virgin olive oil. Then add about 2 inches of the stalk of green garlic (substitute 1 clove normal garlic or a shallot), outer husk removed and the rest finely chopped, a couple of tablespoons of grated mature manchego (as mature as ou can get - substitute pecorino or parmesan). Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. That's your bruscheta topping done.

I sliced some baguette diagonally to about half a cm in width. Toast lightly on each side, spread your broad bean mix liberally on top and drizzle some of your extra virgin olive oil over it, topping it with shavings of the manchego.

This is perfect summer food. Enjoy!

BRUSCHETTA WITH WILD MUSHROOM, TOMATO, MADEIRA & ASIAGO TOPPING

1/2 baguette
3-4 minced shallots
1 lb mixed wild mushrooms (cremini, shitake, oyster), chopped
2 t tomato paste
¼ cup madiera wine, divided
olive oil, salt, pepper
½ cup shredded asiago cheese

1. Sweat the shallots in oil with salt over medium high heat. add the chopped mushroom, pinch of salt, cracked black pepper, and sweat until mushrooms give up their liquid.
2. Add tomato paste and stir through to coat. saute for 2-3 minutes.
3. Add half the madiera off heat and deglaze the pan. cook off the madiera.
4. Taste, repeat deglazing if needed. if the madiera has cooked off and left it’s flavor, you’re done here.
5. Slice baguette into rounds, drizzle with olive oil, salt, and pepper and half toast the baguette in a 375 degree oven until just crispy in the center.
6. Remove from the oven and top each slice with approx 2-3 t of the mushroom topping then top with shredded asiago.
7. Bake off at 400 degrees until cheese is melted.
8. Serve immediately.

Bar Don’Ana Forneria e Grill – Av. Vereador José Diniz, 3560 – Campo Belo

Taken at 8:52 a.m. Posting a little late due to the untimely death of my laptop.

Exercise:

80 Calories burned

Food:

English muffin with egg and bacon, potatoes, glass of tomato juice (from Todd's Restaurant, Ryan Airfield)
Klondike Krunch bar ice cream
Tomato sandwich and four Wheat Thin "mini bruchettas"

Bruschetteria Nonna Papera [Trevi Fountain]
Vicolo dei Modelli, 60
Tel: 06 67 83 510
12:00-3:30pm
6pm - 10:30pm
Closed Thurs
In a hard-to-find alley near the Trevi fountain, the specialty here is hot bruschetta: Thick slices of grilled bread slathered with tomato, cheese and toppings such as radicchio and wild mushrooms. This is a simple, friendly place with wooden tables and chairs,  a television set that is always on when we visit and walls papered with postcards from devoted customers.

You can either make this with fresh homemade bread, or fresh store bought bread . I like to bake my own bread, so I made this with fresh homemade bread. Whatever. You just need a slice of bread [ preferably wholeheat] to put the topping on. This topping for the bruschetta is teeny tiny chopped bell pepper, eggplant and cherry tomato. You can either make one big slice of bread with this amount and have it for lunch, or make 12 mini bruschettas for appetizers! Its a really cheap appetizer/snack to make, -good for parties and gatherings, specially if you are making everything from scratch [secret message: dont be bored to bake your own bread!] Either way you need :

For the topping
-1/2 orange bell pepper chopped in tiny pieces
-1/2 yellow bell pepper chopped in tiny pieces
-1/3 eggplant chopped in tiny pieces
-14 cherry tomatoes chopped in tiny pieces
-1tbsp olive oil
-2tbsp balsamic vinegar
-1/2 tsp salt
-1/4-1/2 tsp dried parsley
-1/4-1/2 tsp dried basil
-a pinch of oregano
-1/4tsp garlic powder

For the brushetta
-wholewheat bread
-1tbsp olive oil
-1 clove of garlic halved

On a pan add 1tbsp olive oil and add peppers and eggplant. Add balsamic vinegar and saute. Now throw in spices and lower heat. Cook tossing for 5-7 minutes. Remove from heat, move in a bowl and add chopped tomatoes and stir[do not cook the tomatoes].
Preheat oven for broiling.Now take slices of bread, brush with olive oil and rub the garlic on them. Place in the oven and broil until golden. Take out of the oven and top with the veggies. Better Serve while bread is warm.

Its delicious!

Nebenbei wollte ich erwähnen, dass ich heute zum ersten Mal selbst Bruschetta gemacht. Bei den ersten beiden versuchen habe ich aber das Öl vergessen. Ich glaube ich habe die richtige Mischung aber jetzt ganz gut gefunden!

Summer is upon us, at least here is Texas. That means the grills and pits are primed for another season of mostly meaty delights. As you might have gathered from previous post I adore slow smoked meats and and seared cuts off the grill in a big way. Oh sure, we might throw on some corn or peppers on the grill to go with the meat fest but so often the vegetables get ignored once the grill is lit. I have been as guilty as any but I now have two sister-in-laws that are (Gasp!) Vegetarians. So I better change my ways if I know what's good for me!

I have recently been enamored with Arugula. I had a spectacular salad of Baby Arugula, Goat Cheese, and Spiced Pecans at the Belmont. Since then Arugula has been high on my list of greens with it's peppery bite and delicate texture. So next time I have the sister-in-laws over for dinner I think I'll try this great looking recipe from Epicurious' grill guide, Bruschetta with Arugula, Smoked Mozzarella and Tomatoes.

Bruschetta with Arugula, Smoked Mozzarella and Tomatoes

I smothered chopped red and yellow peppers in herbs and canola oil and roasted the pieces for about 15 minutes. I added the roasted peppers, and some chopped cherry tomatoes, to Vegetable Giardino pasta sauce from La Bottega Nicastro, and simmered the mix for 15 minutes. I poured it over fresh gniocchi, which is so easy to cook that I won't describe it. Served with another batch of bruschetta (which didn't turn out so well because I couldn't find any f*cking basil in this whole city and so subbed with oregano).

Because it was a special dinner I also picked up some vegan cakes from Perfection Satisfaction Promise, right on the outskirts of the University of Ottawa campus.

Clockwise from carrot: carrot cake, lemon poppyseed cake, chocolate cake, peanutbutter-chocolate cheeseake. Very pri$ey but well worth the investment! We ended up nibbling on these over a couple days.

-Maureen

A friend and I went to The Grove Wine Bar / Kitchen for a leisurely lunch today. It's a new wine bar/restaurant just west of the corner of 360 and Bee Caves, on Bee Caves. It has an awesome patio with huge tress shading the entire thing--hence the name The Grove. Even today when we hit 100 degrees outside, it was comfortable to sit on the patio. There's even a waterfall to block out the road noise.

But back to the wine ... We tried two flights, one chardonnay (for a hot summer day) and one mixed reds (because we both like reds better). The menu promises that the wines will be very different from each other and very delicious, and it did not disappoint. The menu--which is amazingly expansive--also features a really nice range of prices. One of the best wines we tried was a mere $4.75 a glass!

... and the food ... to die for. (As it should be, co-owner Reed Clemons is a veritable fixture on the Austin restaurant scene, albeit most before my time--Mezzaluna, Bitter End Bistro & Brewery, the B-Side bar, the Granite Cafe, and Capitol Brasserie) We started with some bruschetta. There's a list of nine different combos and you pick three. It's hard to choose, but you absolutely MUST get the grilled asparagus, Crescenza cheese, and proscuitto one. I don't even like proscuitto. The cheese is ridiculously amazing, and further research revealed that it's not often imported into the States--so exclusive! Anyway, the bread is superb, chewy in the middle with a crust, crunchy crust (is that redundant?).

We also ordered some mussels, though neither of us is particularly a mussel connoisseur. We saw the dish on so many other people's tables we thought we must try it. The mussels were a lovely texture, and sat in a just-right white wine, garlic, and basil sauce. We also tried the crabcakes, and while they were definitely good, they just didn't stand out as much as the rest of our dishes.

The rest of our dishes?! Because we also ordered a pizza. The Popeye and Olive Oyl, a spinach and tomato pizza with crunchy bacon on top. The dough was chewy and just flavorful enough, the pizza not too cheesy--it was pretty much perfect. All of the ingredients seemed very fresh, not just on the pizza. I'd even bring my super-health-conscious mom here and I bet she'd be able to find things that made her happy to eat. She might even love it.

In summary: delicious food, relaxing, happy atmosphere, great wine selection. The food is fairly pricey ($11.50 for a medium pizza, $9.50 for the bruschetta, $14 for the crab cake salad, $9.50 for the mussels), but for a great date or a lunch with someone you need to impress, it's definitely worth it.

After all, it sent both me and my friend into food comas. "I took a nap after our lunch," he said, "it turned into me sleeping for three hours." The food is THAT good.

 !!!

* * * Bruschetta mit Tomaten * * * 

 
Die Tomaten habe ich in kleine Würfel geschnitten, (natürlich wurden die Kerne und das

Glibber entfernt).  Die Marinade besteht aus, groben Meersalz, weißen Balsamico, Pfeffer aus

der Mühle, eine halbe Chillichote in Ringe geschnitten, mit Kernen), Rucola, Basilikum,

und frische Oreganoblättchen, Knoblauch fein gehackt, werden mit den Tomatenwürfeln

vermengt und mindestens eine Stunde ziehen lassen.
  Danach wurde das Brot wurde geröstet,    anschließend mit Olivenöl getränkt.
Etwas   Rucolasalat mit fein gehobelten Grana Padano,   ergänzen gut mein Sommermenü. Buon appetito!

Recipe from How It All Vegan:

• 2 cups fresh tomatoes, chopped
• 1 cup fresh basil, chopped
• 1/4 small red onion, minced
• 1/8 tsp black pepper
• 3 cloves garlic, grated or finely chopped
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 French baguette, halved and sliced
• 2 tbsp flax oil

Preheat over to 400F.  In a small bowl combine tomato, basil, onion, and pepper, and mix well. Set aside. In a small bowl, still together the garlic and olive oil. With a knife, spread garlic mixture over each slice and arrange bread on baking sheet. Place in oven and bake until lightly toasted (5-7 min). Place bread on serving tray and spoon tomato mixture on top. Drizzle with flax oil befor serving. Serve immediately.

This is one of my favourite new recipes! Yum! What I like best about this recipe (which I christen an enormous success!) is how alluring the ingredients smelled during preparation. This would be a good recipe to "make" when you omni friends/relatives are visiting. "Oh my god, what are you making?  It's smells amazing." "Oh, I'm just doing a little vegan cooking..." It's also super easy and cheap, and the product is very photogenic. As you can tell, it also pairs well with red wine!

Aside: onions make my cat Sasha cry. She likes to hang around the kitchen looking for attention, and aften some prolonged onion-chopping, little tears pour out of her eyes. Collective AWWW.

Sasha when she's not crying:

-Maureen