Thin sliced with my extra Mozzarella House Ovoline, a little olive oil, salt and pepper…Basically the above Caprese salad without the tomatoes and basil- the cheese is a wonderful way to bring out the radish flavor while keeping the bite at bay, which, if you don’t prefer the bite, is appreciated.
I talked about the lovely poblanos and the trick to get the skin off. One thing I forgot to mention (and do here) is the quick steam after the roast. Pop your peppers between two plates so they steam gently, and that will make the removable skin even more easy to remove. I wanted to put in another plug for the tomato sage combo! Here’s the yummy melon basil tomato salad of the week, courtesy of the recipe from the book Six Seasons, brought to my attention by Fellow Springdellian Anna G. Tomato (heirlooms cut into wedges, halved cherry tomatoes), melon, salt and pepper to taste, Burrata, ribbons of basil, pickled peppers (I used Mad Hatter Hots in place of Chile peppers), red or white wine vinegar, and a delicious result! My melon was a little overripe and my burrata was so fresh it fell apart in the salad, but no regrets, this was darn tasty.My oldest son aspires to be a chef. I explained a basic Caprese salad to him, gave him the knife, and he did this. Nice job, buddy!This tomato cream sauce was so incredibly delicious and impromptu. I don’t have time to write up the full recipe at the moment, so start here for kind of a reference. Replace the canned tomatoes for the real-deal, and the dried herbs with 3 times the fresh stuff if you have it. Let the tomatoes go longer than the recommended 5 minutes, (the longer the better, as the liquid evaporates and you’re left with a concentrated tomato goodness that’s unparalleled). Skip the butter and add a little extra cream as you see fit, let it reduce to taste before shutting off the heat. It’s amazing. The peppers I didn’t get to yet blushed on the counter I’ll roast them up and tossed them in the freezer. It’s a super simple go-to when you have an abundance. Halve them or quarter them and roast them at high heat on a cookie sheet. Let them cool while covered (similar to the poblanos above) and toss them in a freezer bag, skins and all (the skins slip off even easier after thawing). Who needs the jarred ones when you can enjoy these? If you are overrun with peppers, try this, your Winter self will thank you!You can tell it was a busy week, as my photos are either non-existent or out of focus, my brats sat on the table too long waiting for a photo while I finished mashing the potatoes, etc… You know how it goes. Gotta love real-time food blogging! Even though these brats took a minute to cool, they were amazing. Mexican Street Corn, my first try in progress. Not pictured is the green stuff (cilantro or lime). I’ll work on this more before posting a recipe, but thankfully there are plenty out there to try! Quick shout-out for the Spring ‘DellMonico steak!
Thanks for bearing with the down and dirty version of the “Tell” this week, trying to keep it real and real-time! See you back here shortly to present the 11th pickup of the season. Meanwhile, please check in as always with recipes you’ve tried and loved, questions about recipes you want to try, or just a “Help Jess, my counter is overflowing with XYZ veggie!” Think of me as the facilitator of our veggie support group, we’re all in this local food movement together!
