We are finally seeing some delicious tomatoes this summer, and here are some of my favorite preparations. It doesn't get much better than a juicy ripe tomato, with a touch of salt and pepper. When I was a kid I remember picking tomatoes from my grandparents garden and biting into them like an apple, with just a sprinkle of salt, and that was blissful. I also remember my grandma violently squeezing the tomatoes at the market when the prices got too high, but that's another story. However, add a bit of grassy olive oil, mozzarella, and basil oil, and magic happens. I like to peel the tomatoes for a more delicate texture. it's about as simple as it gets but never gets old.
Another one of my favorites is the Chef Keller inspired tomato sorbet on tomato tartare with garlic tuile. I'm not a huge fan of the amount of sugar he uses, plus I'm kinda old fashioned and like great ingredients to shine without a lot of tampering. So the sorbet is concentrated with ripe tomato flavor, lightly seasoned tomato tartare, and the tuile is amazing and ties it all together with a few drops of balsamic reduction. I've made this dish, or variations of it, many times and it's always a crowd favorite. The sorbet is also great with my rendering of a greek salad with cucumber sorbet, red wine vinaigrette gelee, black olives, red onion, and frozen olive oil shavings. I wish I had the photography skills to capture all of my creations, and I have a great nikon to do so, but all too often I forget to get it out and snap a pic with my iphone or whatever is near. So this is what you get (my apologies in advance). We can't all be Heidi Swanson.
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