But First Minnesota Blue News:
Barb and Kelton are still walking on air after their win at the Minnesota Duet Championship. Meanwhile, Paul and Scott must deal with the after effects of having their diva buttons pressed. For example, Barb insists that her vocal chords and toes are connected to the same nerve center, so consequently the best way to prepare for a gig is to receive a fresh pedicure. Kelton (aka “il Divo”) insists that there be no brown M&Ms in the candy dish backstage, because they’re bad luck. Paul has had to remind him that at Minnesota Blue gigs there is no backstage stating “Dude, we play coffeehouses and pizza joints.” So it looks like it will take some time to transition into the life of Minnesota Duet Champions.
Don’t forget, we’re playing this weekend at Minnetonka Orchards on Sat and Sun, September 19-20 from noon until 5:00 PM. Here is a map to where it is located.
Now, on to the subject at hand: Tomatoes
It’s time for the annual meditation on tomatoes. Of course, gardeners are now swimming in the glut of summer’s bounty. I don’t mind – tomatoes are as good as fat and sugar, and they’re actually healthy for you. Did you know that the tomato is a member of the Deadly Nightshade family of plants? Yep, they’re dark and dangerous
Tomatoes: Dark and Dangerous
so there’s a reason for the wickedly sensual tomato experience and why it causes panic when they might go to waste. It’s the perfect food for Minnesotans: while visually mundane the taste buds receive an externally undetectable wild rumpus (remember, as Minnesotans we must never telegraph sensual delight). So, the question is how to turn tomatoes into tomato-ade, or errr…I mean something delicious. Here’s how we went about it this year.
Round One: Pico de Gallo
Few recipes celebrate fresh tomatoes like pico de gallo (PEAK-O DAY GUY-O) and with fresh garden ingredients it’s as good as it gets. Thank the folks south of the border for this one (Arriba, mamacita!). There’s lots of foolproof variations on this classic as long as you don’t forget to put in the tomatoes. With a bag of chips you’ll find it extremely difficult to eat just one. I made it three times in one week this fall.
Round Two: Panzanella
I call this human catnip – guaranteed to make you purr if you’re a tomato lover. In short it’s a bread and tomato salad whose flavor is driven by basil, onion, and red wine vinaigrette.
Some advice about bread for panzanella: courser bread like ciabatta holds up better in the dressing. Old, dry bread is best, but you can also put it on the grill for some added flavor before cubing it. For those that don’t know, if you live in the Minneapolis area the New French Bakery is an excellent artisan bread bakery that has an outlet store in South Minneapolis. You can get some great deals there on bread including take-and-bake baguettes for as low as a buck apiece at times. We stock up and store them in the chest freezer.
Digressing some more: another excellent sleeper bakery is the Trung Nam French Bakery on University Avenue in St. Paul. They have excellent baguettes, but their unparalleled attraction are their croissants which merit their own post. More later.
Round Three: Dry ‘em
If you don’t have the fancy equipment, just dry them in the oven. Sun-dried tomatoes are very expensive and there are a bazillion recipes that call for them. In the bleak of winter you can conjure up those warm summer memories with a hot, tomatoey pasta dish.
Tomato Genocide: Vegetable rights groups around the world are uniting to end the violence.
Round Four: Neapolitan Pizza
Introducing the amazing San Marzano tomato which is the official tomato of authentic Neapolitan Pizza. It’s a plum style tomato but unlike the near flavorless and juice-challenged roma you buy at the supermarket these are juicy and flavorful.
One local authority on this type of pizza is the restaurant Punch who has a historical overview of this pizza-making tradition. A great place to eat by the way, but you can have some homemade fun making your own without the wood-fired oven. We threw ours on the gas grill right on the rack. It was an experiment and it didn’t brown the top very well (perhaps there is some way to do that) but the underside of the crust was excellent.
The cool thing about Neapolitan Pizza is that it uses fresh tomatoes and not a tomato sauce so all you have to do is slice and seed (so it’s not too juicy) and throw it on the pie.
Here’s a recipe for a Margherita Pizza, a simple Neapolitan style pizza. This one calls for a store-bought pizza crust (we’re keeping it simple). Of course, the perfect pizza crust can be a life-long pursuit. Here’s one man’s journey for the ultimate crust.
There you have it folks. If you have more tomato ideas, be sure to chime in on the comments of this post.
