Archive for the ‘Fruits’ Category

I have a confession to make. I really don’t like tomatoes. Raw tomatoes anyway. I know, I know, it’s sacrilege to not want a soggy, crappy tomato slice inserted into an already delicious and well-rounded sandwich. Nothing is so good as a cherry tomato salad with the raw, blandness that not even the basil and cheese can cover up. There must be something wrong with me right?

Drew Long over at DC Foodies recently pointed out that most tomatoes we know and eat today are bastardized, genetically selected versions of their heirloom brethren. In fact, most fruits like the tomato and peppers looked like deformed abnormalities, twisted with rigor before the days of mass production agriculture we know today. Not surprisingly, most stock bread for mass production is distinctive only for their lack of taste and flavor. So maybe I had just never had a good tomato in my life. It’s possible I suppose, but I wasn’t convinced my mind would be changed.

You know who loves tomatoes? My good friend Doug. When Doug heard of my lack of enthusiasm for his favorite fruit, he and his wife insisted on having me over for dinner (Even though his wife Joan, admits she really doesn’t like tomatoes that much either). Did I mention Doug annually plants a gigantic patch of heirloom tomatoes usually ranging from 10-15 different breeds? No joke. These wonderful people have herbs and veggies growing all over the place. Oh right, also, Doug is an avid wine collector. You see where this is going? Maybe better just to show you..

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Editor’s Note: Please give a warm welcome to AMF’s good friends and newest contributors, Sparkles (Allison) and Master P (Paula). Being the wine drinking, sunloving, danceaholics that they are, I’m really pleased to have them share their culinary adventures and cocktail making hotness.

To be clear, we are not divorced (from each other or otherwise). Excluded from a college boys weekend, unable to convince two other bffs to join us and desperate to leave our respective cities (DC and NYC), we are vacationing just the two of us on the small, quaint island of Anna Maria, Florida. Hence, we feel like divorcees and intend to drink, eat and sun bathe accordingly. 

Once you get on the island, it’s hard to leave (and not a good idea after wine in the afternoon) so we make sure to shop for the whole trip. Brilliantly, we acquire ingredients that can be re-used in innovative ways (ie if you buy enough different cheeses, you are pretty much set for days.)

Cocktail Hour Menu:

Libation – Mojitos with pineapple infused rum and coconut water

Appetizer – Grilled, halved peaches with honey vanilla ricotta

We begin our late afternoon with a cocktail “project.” Located in the fruit aisle, next to the peaches, we found coconuts, silly, fury little guys, just begging to be taken home (despite the obvious question: what does one do with a whole coconut?) Before we do anything, we slice up pineapple and throw it in a bowl and cover it with rum to let the rum seep in. (Snacking on rum soaked pineapple is pretty fantastic, as well.) We then take our coconut into the garage and discover a power drill! We hold the coconut over a bowl and drill! until we pierce through the shell, then add another hole for air flow and drain the coconut juice into a bowl to be thrown into a mojito with rum soaked pineapple, fresh crushed mint, more rum, simple syrup and a little club soda. Perfection!

Onto the appetizers! We preheat the grill on medium heat, then take a peach and half it, pulling out the pit and coat each half in olive oil, then throw them face down on the grill and close the cover. We mix ricotta with honey and a little vanilla while we wait. Once grill marks appear on the peaches, after about 10 minutes, we brush balsamic vinegar on them and then add copious amounts of the ricotta mixture and devour with a fork and knife.  The result is as warm and delish as peach cobbler without as much guilt.  (It is just the appetizer, after all.)

Cocktail Hour Recipes

Mojitos:

2 parts chunks of pineapple
1 healthy pinch mint leaves
1 part simple syrup (1 cup water to 1 cup sugar)
1 part rum
1 part coconut water
Splash club soda

Peaches:

1 peach (pitted)
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon vanilla
Balsamic vinegar mixed with honey for drizzling
Olive oil for brushing

Soon to come:  Chorizo and BlueCheese Brandy Burgers..

Now I know I like to preach fundamentals and technique on a regular basis.  Knife work in my opinion can make a lack luster home cooked meal look really sexy and help deliver that wow factor to complement your flavors.  But also, and again this may just be me, it’s just fun cutting shit up!  Sharp knife, good cutting board and fresh ingredients just make me happy in my kitchen.  Almost more so than the actual cooking process itself.  So take a little time out of your busy Memorial Day schedule and chop up your ingredients.

The thing is, if you fuck up, no worries!  It’s not like you can’t cook/eat/savor your chopping failure.  There’s a couple different ways of julienne your produce, but for today we’ll just cover making apple matchsticks with go fantastically tossed in a fresh salad or as a tasty garnish.

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So now that you’ve hacked up a chicken (assuming you tried out some of the techniques recommended yesterday) you may as well make use of the bird.  What you’ve basically done at this point is butterfly a chicken Tuscan style, so why not grill the whole chicken on a grill with some citris.  What the hell, get yourself a brick or heavy pan and you’ve got the makings for a pretty tasty meal.

1 cup orange juice
1/2 cup lime juice
1/2 lemon juice
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
2 garlic gloves minced
1 whole chicken (butterflied)
1 Tbsp paprika
2 whole lemons
2 bricks wrapped in foil/big ass heavy skillet
salt/pepper

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