Stewed Okra and Tomatoes
Stewed Okra and Tomatoes is a tasty side dish and a classic of Southern cooking. It always reminds us of the end of summer, when both okra and tomatoes are plentiful. Our Stewed Okra and Tomatoes includes Creole-inspired seasonings, giving it slightly spicy touch. The addition of apple cider vinegar, which goes so well with tomatoes, reduces the “sliminess” of the okra, making it more palatable to those who don’t care for that aspect of cooked okra. Stewed Okra and Tomatoes pairs well with a variety of grilled meat dishes, especially pork. We suggest serving Stewed Okra and Tomatoes with our Fast and Fabulous Pork Chops for a great dinner.
Prep Time: 15 minutes, Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes. Serves 4.
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Il Mezzaluna Pasta Sauce
Il Mezzaluna Pasta Sauce is inspired by a pasta dish at a restaurant in Dublin. We had the fortunate opportunity to visit Dublin several times for business and enjoy Dublin’s lively restaurant scene for dinners. The majority of the restaurants featured very good Irish cuisine and very social pub cuisine; there were also the usual inexpensive Chinese restaurants and pizza joints. We were surprised to find a few Italian restaurants and one stood out to us due to its ungrammatical name: Il Mezzaluna. In Italian, mezzaluna (half-moon) is a feminine noun and its article should be La not Il, which is used for masculine nouns. We also found an unusual pasta sauce on its menu which was tomato-based but featured salami; we’d never encountered this combination before. Being adventurous diners, we tried it and enjoyed it too! So, we present our recreation, from memory, of this sauce, which we call Il Mezzaluna Pasta Sauce. Zesty and robust, enjoy it over your favorite pasta, accompanied by an equally robust dry red wine. Serve our Peaches in Red Wine for dessert and make it an all red wine dinner.
Prep Time: 30 minutes, Total Time: 1 hour. Serves 4.
Support Cook and Eat at Home. Purchase a PDF of the Il Mezzaluna Pasta Sauce recipe for $1.00
Heirloom Tomato Caprese Salad
Heirloom Tomato Caprese Salad is the perfect summer dish. Juicy heirloom tomatoes, bursting with ripeness, join with creamy mozzarella and sweet basil for a light but very flavorful treat. Select a variety of heirloom tomatoes of different colors and sizes for more interest. If you can’t find heirloom tomatoes, use really fresh, ripe beefsteak tomatoes, preferably purchased at a farmers’ market. Use whole milk mozzarella, it will have the moist, creamy texture required and a very good taste. If you can find buffalo mozzarella (mozzarella di bufala) by all means please use it in this recipe for even better taste. Large, ruffled Genovese basil leaves are traditional for this dish; their aromatic perfume and deep green color really bring the right flavor note. We like to combine Genovese basil leaves and some other varieties (small leaf Lemon and Lime basils, Dark Purple Opal basil, Thai Holy basil and Siam Queen basil and a new variety spicy Serrated Leaf basil). The different basil leaves each add their own flavor elements, not to mention additional color and textural elements. Heirloom Tomato Caprese Salad is a delicious light lunch and the perfect summer appetizer, perhaps before Grilled Shrimp Scampi Pasta or Swordfish with Lemon Caper Sauce.
Total Time: 15 minutes. Serves 2.
Support Cook and Eat at Home. Purchase a PDF of the Heirloom Tomato Caprese Salad recipe for $1.00
Ginned Tomato Sauce
Ginned Tomato Sauce brings together the woodsy-herbal elements of dry gin with the sweetness of fresh tomatoes. Relatively quick and easy to make, Ginned Tomato Sauce imbues the tomato sauce with the gin’s flavor elements, yielding a surprisingly tasty yet simple sauce. Ginned Tomato Sauce is best served with a long form pasta like fettuccine, linguine, spaghetti or angel hair but go with your favorite. Begin with a starter of Grilled Asparagus, pair this lively, different sauce with a crisp, dry white wine and offer grated Parmesan and Romano cheeses at the table.
Prepare sophisticated Ginned Tomato Sauce at your house and enjoy a dry martini while you’re cooking it, shaken or stirred is up to you.
Prep Time: 15 minutes, Total Time: 45 minutes. Serves 4.
Support Cook and Eat at Home. Purchase a PDF of the Ginned Tomato Sauce recipe for $1.00
Chicken Thighs with Olives and Tomatoes
Chicken Thighs with Olives and Tomatoes is mildly zesty and very colorful. Chicken thighs are a juicy alternative to chicken breasts and really lend themselves to browning and then simmering in a sauce; using boneless, skinless chicken thighs make this a lot easier to eat.
Prep Time: 15 minutes, Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes. Serves 2.
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Beef with Bell Peppers and Tomatoes
Beef with Bell Peppers and Tomatoes is an unusual American Chinese recipe reconstructed from memory. As a child, Vito’s parents would often take him and his siblings to dine out at the New Moon Chinese Restaurant in Union City, NJ; this dish was among Vito’s favorites on the menu. Vito was fascinated by the use of tomatoes in it, which he can’t recall ever seeing on any Chinese restaurant menu in those days. Beef with Bell Peppers and Tomatoes is different and delicious.
Prep Time: 15 minutes (marinade and slicing beef) plus 30 minutes (vegetables prep), Marinating Time: 1 to 8 hours, Total Active Time: 1 hour, 5 minutes Serves: 4
Support Cook and Eat at Home. Purchase a PDF of the Beef with Bell Peppers and Tomatoes recipe for $1.00
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