Browsing Tag

tomato

Michael Chiarello’s Tomato with Warm Goat Cheese and Herb Salad

After meeting Michael Chiarello and his adorable wife Eileen in Aspen, and attending his Farm to Fork talk, my pre existing respect for him has quadrupled. Not only is he dedicated to local, sustainable food, but he is one of the more down to earth, real, caring celebrity chefs I’ve ever met. My partners in crime, Danny from Foodie Aspen, Chef John from Food Wishes, Average Betty, and Jen from Daily Blender and I all had a chance to chat with him while sipping cocktails at the Best New Chefs Dinner at the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen. “What did you think of our talk?” he asked me, and “what else did you do today, how were the other demos?” Similar to chatting with a family member, he really wanted to hear about my day, I loved that. Last night while watching Top Chef Masters, I was very torn between rooting for local Boulder chef Lachlan Patterson from Frasca and Michael, it was a tough call!

No spoilers here in case you haven’t caught up, but here is a simple appetizer or vegetarian main dish from Michael Chiarello, a delicious tomato and warm goat cheese recipe served with an herbed salad.

Tomato Steak with Baked Goat Cheese and Herb Salad
Recipe courtesy Michael Chiarello

Ingredients

* 1/4 cup fine dried bread crumbs
* Gray salt
* Freshly ground black pepper
* 1 large egg
* 4 rounds fresh goat cheese, about 2 ounces each
* 4 thick, ripe beefsteak tomato slices
* 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for the salad
* 2 cups lightly packed mixed tender fresh herb leaves such as basil, chervil, tarragon, Italian flat-leaf parsley, chives (1-inch lengths), or young cress
* Red wine vinegar

Directions

In a small, shallow bowl, mix the bread crumbs with salt and pepper, to taste. In another small, shallow bowl, beat the egg just until blended. Dip each goat cheese round in the egg, and then in bread crumbs, patting the crumbs in place. Cover and refrigerate the coated cheese rounds for about 15 minutes.

Center the tomato slices on 4 salad plates and season with salt and pepper.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over moderately high heat and pour in 2 tablespoons olive oil. When the oil is almost smoking, add the cheese rounds. Cook until lightly browned, about 45 seconds. Turn them over and cook on the other side until the cheese just feels quivery, about 45 seconds longer, depending on the thickness of the rounds. Place a cheese round on each tomato slice.

In a bowl, toss the herbs with a light drizzle of olive oil, a splash of red wine vinegar, and salt and pepper, to taste. Mound the herbs on top of the cheese, dividing them evenly. Serve immediately.

Michael’s Notes: This salad looks best when the tomato slice and the goat cheese slice are about the same size. So if you can only find goat cheese in small logs, you may want to serve 2 goat cheese rounds to each diner and perch them on slices of smaller tomatoes.

More from Michael: Care to whip up Chef Chiarellos fast food Fish Balls, Shaved Brussels Sprouts and Asparagus Salad, or Goat Milk Basil Gelato with Balsamic Strawberries as seen on the show? Bravo just posted these today!

Italian Recipes

Viva Italy! Spinach and ricotta ravioli with mozzarella cheese and tomatoes

Our friends at ItalianFoodNet sent us this mouth watering recipe and video link via email. Oh my.

You must watch this video! It’s in Italian with English subtitles and it’s so fun, and Chef Allesandro is quite handsome we must say :). He makes a mouth watering spinach and ricotta cheese ravioli with buffalo mozzarella cheese, pachino tomatoes, onion, garlic, Parmesan and sage. A simple authentic Italian meal for dinner, what could be better?

Ravioli with Mozzarella Cheese and Tomatoes (Ravioli ricotta e spinaci con mozzarella e pachino)
Courtesy of ItalianFoodNet
Serves 4

Ingredients
500 gr (17.64 oz) Ricotta and Spinach Ravioli (pre prepared ravioli, either packaged or homemade)
200 gr (7.05 oz) Buffalo’s Milk Mozzarella
15 – 20 Pachino Tomatoes or Cherry Tomatoes
½ Onion
Garlic
Grated Parmesan cheese
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Fresh sage

Slice the onion, quarter the tomatoes and dice the Buffalo mozzarella
Pour the olive oil into a frying pan, add onion, 1 garlic clove then add some fresh sage leaves and let it brown
Add the tomatoes, season with salt and after 2 – 3 minutes add ½ ladle of cooking water.

Cook ravioli into boiling salted water. Once cooked, using a slotted spoon, drain and transfer them to the pan, add a handful of mozzarella, sprinkle with grated Parmesan and sauté. Transfer ravioli to a serving dish, top with mozzarella, sprinkle with grated Parmesan, drizzle with olive oil and serve.

Photo © ItalianFoodNet

Seafood Recipes

Chef Mario Batali’s savory grilled sea scallops alla caprese

Sea scallops alla caprese
Mario Batali
Serves 6

Scoring the scallops before grilling makes them open up like a flower, and the contrast between the golden brown surface and white interior is striking. The trick here is to cook the scallops 90 percent on the first side, until very well seared, then just give them a quick finish on the other side.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 pounds mixed great heirloom tomatoes
• 24 fresh basil leaves
• 3 medium red onions, cut into 1-inch-thick slices
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 5 to 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 12 giant diver scallops (about 2 ounces each)
• 2 tablespoons Maldon salt or other coarse sea salt
• 1 lemon, cut in half

DIRECTIONS

Preheat a gas grill or prepare a fire in a charcoal grill. Place a piastra on the grill to preheat.

Slice the tomatoes creatively (leave very small ones whole, or halve them) and lay out on a platter. Tear the basil leaves over the tomatoes, strewing them about. Set aside.

Season the onion slices on both sides with salt and pepper. Place them on the hot dry piastra and cook, unmoved, for 7 to 10 minutes, until well charred on the first side. Using tongs, carefully turn the slices over and cook for 7 to 10 minutes on the second side, until well charred and softened. Transfer to a plate and let cool slightly, then separate the onion slices into smaller rings and scatter them over the tomatoes. Drizzle the whole mess with 3 to 4 tablespoons of the olive oil.

While the onions cook, carve a checkerboard pattern about 1/4 inch deep into one side of each scallop. Season them all over with salt and pepper, toss them in a bowl with the remaining 2 tablespoons oil, and stir gently to coat.

Place the scallops on the dry clean piastra, design side down, and cook for 5 to 7 minutes, unmoved, until almost cooked (they should be opaque almost all the way through). Flip them over and sear for just 30 seconds, then remove and arrange on the tomato salad.

Sprinkle the tomatoes with the Maldon salt, squeeze the lemon halves over the scallops and tomatoes, and serve.