Tomato Crostini with Whipped Feta

May 28, 2015 by Laura Messersmith in Cooking with the Contessa

Each week I follow along with Ina Garten (aka the Barefoot Contessa) and attempt to recreate one of her dishes in my tiny New York City kitchen. The catch? This is my version of cooking school and I’m making these recipes for the first time. I’ll share both my successes and um, challenges, along the way and we’ll see if I can keep up with the Contessa!

Episode: “Eat Like a Local”

The Set-up: Ina and Jeffrey are in Napa looking for inspiration from local foods.

The Menu: Tomato Crostini with Whipped Feta, Buttermilk Fried Chicken, Thyme Roasted Marcona Almonds, Napa Spritz, Basil Gimlet

0:25 – Ina and Jeffrey are starting off the trip with a visit to the St. Helena Farmer’s Market. How did I miss this when we were there last month?!?

1:13 – Ina appears to be relatively incognito, but I can see my fellow superfans in the background just barely resisting the urge to ruin the shot and dart over for a convo with the Contessa.

2:36 – Ina has a master plan for their market visit: see what’s really fresh and delicious and let that guide their lunch menu.

3:07 – The resulting recipe is Tomato Crostini with Whipped Feta, which sounds A-mazing. My stomach is growling already – I should know better than to watch Ina when I’m hungry.

4:18 – Thankfully tomato high-season is just about here, which means I won’t have to wait 6 months to make this…

5:39 – Ina’s combining the cherry tomatoes and dressing, and I just realized this is essentially a milder version of bruschetta topping - red wine vinegar instead of balsamic, shallots instead of red onion. Brilliant.

9:24 – Finishing touches on the crostini – toasted pine nuts and a sprinkle of julienned basil leaves. Now for the taste test verdict from Jeffrey: he deems it “fantastic.”

10:20 – After that ringing endorsement Ina is off to Addendum, where Thomas Keller’s Buttermilk Fried Chicken is available for take out.

11:15 – Ooh, we’re getting a how-to from Chef David Cruz. Step 1: Brine the chicken overnight. Step 2: Double coat the chicken in seasoned flour and buttermilk. Step 3: Fry!

12:59 – This is how you know you’re the Barefoot Contessa: your fried chicken is already to go when you arrive and it’s hand-delivered by the chef. Oooh la la.

13:28 – Ina delivers the Buttermilk Fried Chicken to Jeffrey who declares it “delicious!” Ina tries to trap him by asking if it’s the best chicken he’s ever eaten, but J is too wily for that. He says it is, except for the one she makes. Well played, sir.

17:34 – The Garten’s are shaking things up (I’m so sorry) with a visit from local mixologist Jon Gasparini for their own private cocktail class.

18:45 – The bar he’s setting up is pretty amazing, more than just a folding table with a tablecloth thrown over it.

19:07 – Ina is making herself right at home in their rental house garden – nipping a few figs here and a sprig of thyme there. But let’s be honest, who wouldn’t contribute an herb or two to Ina’s recipes?

20:42 – Onward to the Thyme Roasted Marcona Almonds. I am officially obsessed with Marcona almonds ever since I sat in the backyard at our friends’ place in San Jose with a silver dish of salt & pepper seasoned almonds and a glass of sparkling wine. Perfect.

21:35 – Ina always cooks so simply, but most of her food has an East Coast vibe to it (natch) and these recipes are so Californian. I love the adaptation.

25:46 – Jeffrey, you’ve been working too hard, so I got you a surprise: a stranger slinging cocktails in the backyard!

26:13 – I realize I’ve lost your trust with that pun a few minutes ago, but I was quite prescient because now the Gartens really are shaking up the Napa Spritz!

27:24 – Don’t get me wrong, I love a fancy drink, but gently clapping a piece of organic lavender between your palms to “release the oils” is where I draw the line. You’re on notice Gasparini.

28:07 – Next, the Basil Gimlet, complete with more herb clapping. PS: Jeffrey is adorably precise with his attention to direction. He’s clearly putting all of his focus on doing everything juuuust riiight.

29:50 – Two strong cocktails down and the night is young! Why do I think things are about to pop off at the Garten manse? Cheers to Napa!

Final Thoughts:
I’ve been trying to cook more seasonally, but I still always have a recipe in mind when I shop. I need to push myself to be inspired from the ingredients first!

Cocktails are pretty much the hotness these days, although I think the “mixologist” trend might be waning. Probably time to up my game in that department.

Was any one else trying to resist talking like the Californians as they watched this episode?

Lessons Learned:
I can’t pretend that Tomato Crostini with Whipped Feta requires extensive culinary skills - isn't that part of it's beauty? - but I did learn something from making this recipe.

Balance – I mentioned this before, but there are really minimal ingredients in this recipe, yet the flavor is incredible. I’m sometimes tempted to add more and more to my recipes, but cooking something really simple like this reminds me that the right balance of texture – creamy cheese, crunchy bread – and flavor – fresh tomatoes, salty feta

Knife Skills – The variety of produce and the varied sizes that are ideal in this recipe - minced garlic, small diced shallots, a julienne on the basil leaves – make this a great opportunity to practice your knife cuts.

Read the Recipe – Even with minimal ingredients I still forgot to toast the pine nuts and sprinkle them on top. Thankfully, the pine nuts aren’t as essential as say, baking powder in a cake, but a good reminder to double check everything and make sure nothing is missing!

Small Kitchen Friendly?
Almost definitely. This recipe hinges mainly on whether you have a food processor. I used a 6 cup food processor, a liquid measuring cup, measuring spoons, a medium mixing bowl, chef’s knife, serrated utility knife, and medium cutting board. A large wooden spoon and rubber spatula will also be helpful. I cheated a little and used the toaster for the bread, but if you’re doing more than a few pieces then a baking sheet will be a good addition.

The Verdict:
OMG. The ingredients are so minimal, yet the flavors in Tomato Crostini with Whipped Feta are off the charts delicious not that you’d expect anything less from Ina. Definitely get the best grape or cherry tomatoes you can – they’re the star here – and ably supported by the salty tang of the feta. These little crostini are delicious on their own, but are transformed into an amazing meal with the addition of a poached egg and a crumble of bacon. Trust me on this – you definitely want to make this recipe.

French Baked Eggs

March 20, 2015 by Laura Messersmith in Cooking

Isn't it nice when last night's dinner offers a head start on next morning's breakfast? Here in New York, despite being the (alleged) First Day of Spring we are currently “enjoying” a little snow storm to welcome the season. Yay? Tangent alert: Days like this remind me of elementary school when we’d make “out like a lion, in like a lamb” paper plate crafts by curling construction paper manes around our novelty size pencils and gluing cotton balls for wool. Just me?

Anyway, I’m holding out hope that we will finish March with mild weather, but while the lionish weather is still holding firm I’m sticking with comfort food. This baked egg dish could not be easier or more hands off and it has the dual benefit of being what I think of as a “leftover-makeover.”

Case in point: remember the Company Pot Roast from the other week? It was awesome, but once the roast was gone I still had several cups of beautifully seasoned and deeply flavored sauce. I hate wasting food so there was no way I'd throw something so delicious away. Thankfully, I was reminded by an article in Bon Appétit that both Portugal and Italy have versions of a dish where an egg is poached in rich tomato sauce. The leftover bourgiugnon-style sauce seemed like a great way to make a French inspired take on a Mediterranean classic. Just an idea to file away the next time you have extra stores of tomato-based sauce….

French Baked Eggs (yield: 4 servings)

Ingredients:
4 cups Company Pot Roast tomato sauce
4 large eggs
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
8 slices multigrain bread, toasted

Instructions:
Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Divide the tomato sauce equally between four medium ramekins (16 ounce) or other small oven safe dishes. Place the ramekins in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until the sauce it hot and bubbling.

Use a spoon to create a well in the sauce and crack a whole egg into each depression. Return the ramekins to the oven and continue to bake for another 8-10 minutes. Meanwhile, toast the slices of multigrain bread.

When the whites have turned opaque and firm, but the yolk is still soft remove from the oven. Divide the grated parmesan cheese, fresh thyme leaves, kosher salt, and pepper evenly and sprinkle over the top of each ramekin.

Eggs continue to cook once removed from the oven, so serve immediately while the yolks are still runny with slices of toasted multigrain bread for dipping.

Inspired by and partially adapted from Eggs in Purgatory by Nigella Lawson and Portuguese Baked Eggs by Bon Appétit

Small Kitchen Friendly?
Yes, indeed. I used four 16-ounce, oven-safe ramekins, a liquid measuring cup, measuring spoons, microplane grater, a large spoon, bread knife, and medium cutting board. That’s it!

The Verdict:
I was initially suspicious when I first heard of this dish. The combination of tomato sauce and eggs just seemed bizarre, and when I decided to re-use the sauce from the Company Pot Roast I was afraid we’d try it and immediately have to call for pizza. I want to be modest, but it was delicious and both Mike and I dove right in cleaning our proverbial plates. I advise leaving the yolks uncooked and mixing them around with the tomato, it’s awesome. Don’t skimp on the toast – you’ll need it!

Cream of Fresh Tomato Soup

December 17, 2014 by Laura Messersmith in Cooking with the Contessa

Episode: “Herb Hall of Fame”

The Set-up: Ina is writing an article about cooking with her three favorite green herbs: basil, chives, and parsley.

The Menu: Cream of Fresh Tomato Soup, Pasta with Pecorino and Pepper, Chive Risotto Cakes

0:31 – We’re starting off this episode about fresh herbs in Ina’s garden where she has the most massive terracotta pot of basil. “Such a luxury, indeed.”

1:12 – First recipe up: Cream of Fresh Tomato Soup which Ina says is a “classic culinary combination” tomatoes & basil.

2:46 – In this soup, Ina is using red onion and carrots with tops because their sweetness will emphasize the sweetness of the tomatoes.

3:25 – I’m noticing here that Ina isn’t de-seeding her tomatoes, just dicing them as-is – I wonder if it makes a difference…?

4:03 – Oooh, nice - this is a 2 for 1 soup that can be served either hot or cold.

5:22 – Now Ina is giving us a run-down of some of her other favorite basil-centric dishes: caprese salad, green goddess dressing, roasted pepper & goat cheese sandwiches, under the skin of a roasted chicken breast, or even as a table decoration.

6:17 – Now onto the processing, uh, process, compliments of the food mill. It seems to filter out some of the tomato skins and other fibrous parts, so maybe that’s why she didn’t bother to de-seed the tomatoes earlier.

7:45 – Soup’s on! We get a quick julienning lesson and then Ina plates her soup. [cooking nerd alert] I hate to be a stickler for accuracy, but what she actually demonstrated is chiffonade.

11:18 – We’re back in the garden to raid the chive border and Ina reminisces about her grandmother making chive cream cheese. Mmmm.

12:30 – Now on to the Chive Risotto Cakes which I am excited to see prepared. So far so good – chives, greek yogurt, Italian fontina.

13:50 – This is the tricky part in my mind: the risotto. Even after making it twice (here and here) I’m still a little nervous about it.

14:01 – The risotto has been mixed into the cheese and it kinda reminds me of a rice casserole, which sounds like I’m being mean, but I swear it’s more of a reassuring feeling.

15:36 – The risotto cakes have chilled for a few hours and now Ina is forming the cakes and coating them in panko for frying.

19:42 – I just realized that these risotto cakes are pretty close to an arancini, just without the filling. A gateway rice ball if you will.

20:15 – Ina and I have the same approach to meals – don’t know what else to serve with something? How about salad leaves with vinaigrette?

21:20 Ina’s friend Cathy arrives right on cue to taste test the risotto cakes, excellent timing because they look so good.

22:53 – Now we’re on a little field trip to see an herb garden that Cathy helped design(?) plant(?) which gives the two ladies a chance to brainstorm all the ways Ina uses fresh herbs.

23:29 – I assume Cathy has permission to raid the garden for parsley, because she hands a huge bunch to Ina for her Pasta with Pecorino and Pepper recipe right before they leave. Run!

26:13 – Ina is full of tongue twisters today: Pasta with Pecorino and Pepper (and parsley.) She says parsley is the unsung hero of the herb garden, which seems about right.

27:34 – Ina is all about the hard Italian cheeses today, first Fontina, now Pecorino.

28:48 – The pasta is done cooking and now Ina is maling the sauce right in the pot – cream, butter, halved cherry tomatoes, parsley (!), pepper, and a big handful of pecorino.

29:56 – Ina finishes up her article over a bowl of pasta and compares it to completing a homework assignment, but getting to eat the research.

Final Thoughts:
I have a hard time narrowing down my favorite herbs – rosemary, thyme, tarragon – they’re all so good!

Using fresh herbs is such an easy way to elevate your cooking, Ina’s right when she says they have much better flavor than the dried versions.

Question: what would Ina say if I just “borrowed” and handful or two of her basil. NBD, right?

Lessons Learned:
Cream of Fresh Tomato Soup is really an easy recipe - the main skills you’ll need are chopping the tomatoes and the vegetables, and measuring the seasonings. I used Roma tomatoes, sometimes called plum tomatoes, and de-seeded them before chopping. It’s kind of a messy job, but as Ina always says, “clean hands are a cook’s best tool,” so I quartered them length-wise then ran my index finger along the ribs to scoop out the seeds. Our blender can definitely handle them and pretty much anything else we throw at it, but for some reason I prefer to leave them out.

I know I’ve mentioned before that I find vegetable prep meditative, so I tend to take my time when I’m cutting produce, usually because I’m being overly attentive to keeping the sizes consistent. This is a great recipe to practice with – large dice (tomatoes & carrots), small dice (red onion), mince (garlic), chiffonade (basil). It will be helpful to your cooking in general, but with this recipe in particular it’s not such a big deal because eventually everything will be pureed anyway.

Small Kitchen Friendly?
Yes, assuming you have access to blender, immersion blender, or food mill. I used a high-powered blender, a 5 qt. French oven, medium mixing bowl (for prep and during the blending process), a medium cutting board, a chef’s knife, a liquid measuring cup, measuring spoons, a wooden spatula and a rubber spatula.

The Verdict:
Cream of Fresh Tomato Soup will make you question everything you thought you knew about tomato soup. Okay, so maybe that’s a little dramatic and this might seem like a lot of effort, but imagine making a beautifully smooth restaurant-quality soup that has deep tomato flavor. It’s such a great recipe for chilly winter days, but still light enough for warmer months. I love serving this with a simple garnish of olive oil and basil and accompany it with crostini or a toasty grilled cheese. Yum!

Farmers Market Tomato and Ricotta Tart

August 18, 2014 by Laura Messersmith in Cooking

These days I’m pretty much always thinking about cooking – what to make next, what are we in the mood for, what new skill should I attempt, can I make that restaurant dish at home? After a deluge of inspiration - the Heirloom Tomato Tart with Ricotta and Basil from Williams-Sonoma, which was preceded in my Pinterest feed by this beautiful pin of Tomatoes on Garlic Toast. Then, the current issue of Bon Appétit which features a beautiful dish by Yotam Ottolenghi, and finally my brand new copy of the Smitten Kitchen cookbook arrived. I’ll give you one guess on the image gracing the cover: Tomato Scallion Shortcakes with Whipped Goat Cheese (pg. 65).

I decided to take this deluge of brightly colored tomato-based photos as a sign. Perhaps I should get with the program and make something that highlights the beautiful tomatoes in season right at this very moment? Worse culinary ideas have happened and with all those experts to guide me I couldn’t make too big a mess.

I knew I wanted this recipe to be a light and summery tart, featuring tomatoes (and cheese). I referred to both the W-S recipe and to the crust from the Smitten Kitchen Cookbook recipe for Wild Mushroom Tart (pg. 95), but then went on to make something new – partially out of necessity (like when the pantry is missing cornmeal and uncooked polenta is substituted) and partially to satisfy my own taste.

The ‘fanciness’ of the presentation is deceptive, so I hope you won’t be intimidated like I was when I first saw W-S’s tart. But, if you’re a perfectionist or feeling stressed here’s a tip: after the tomatoes are sliced practice layering on the cutting board or a piece of foil before trying to arrange them on the tart. It helped my confidence and reassured me that even if I didn’t make a precise, mathematically balanced kaleidoscope of slices it would still look lovely. And, in the end, I think it did, so there’s that.

I hope you try this soon while the tomatoes in the farmers market (or grocery store) are still amazing – I’d love to see your results!

Farmers Market Tomato and Ricotta Tart (serves 6-8)

Tart Shell Ingredients:

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/4 cup polenta or finely ground cornmeal
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, diced in small cubes
1 tablespoon room temperature butter
1 large egg

Filling Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups whole milk ricotta cheese
2 1/2 ounces plain goat cheese, softened
1 cup parmesan cheese, finely grated
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3/4 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
1 pint small-medium heirloom, grape or cherry tomatoes, washed and dried

Directions

In a medium bowl mix together flour, polenta or cornmeal, and salt. Using a pastry cutter or fork work the diced butter into the dry ingredients until the butter is in very small pieces and the mixture is just starting to come together. Add the egg and mix in with a fork until the dough forms a rough ball. The mixture will be fairly dry, resembling shortbread.

Turn the dough into an ungreased 9” tart pan with a removable bottom and using the floured, flat side of a measuring cup press into the bottom and along the sides of the pan in an even layer. Even the edges with a butter knife, or by flattening with the measuring cup.

Place the unbaked tart shell in the freezer for 20-30 minutes until the dough is firm to the touch. While tart shell is chilling, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Remove the shell from freezer and place on a baking sheet. Using a brush or clean hands, spread the room temperature butter on a sheet of aluminum foil large enough to cover the tart shell with some overhang. Smooth the buttered side of the foil along the bottom of the tart shell and up the sides.

Bake the foil covered tart shell for 10 minutes. Carefully remove the foil from the shell and using a fork, prick the bottom of the shell – this will allow any air to release. Replace the uncovered tart shell in the oven and bake for an additional 5 to 8 minutes until it is lightly golden and crisp. Set tart shell aside on a baking rack and allow to cool completely.

While the tart shell is cooling, assemble the ricotta filling. In a medium bowl, whisk together the ricotta and softened goat cheese until smooth, then stir in the finely grated parmesan, kosher salt, pepper, and fresh thyme. Cut the tomatoes – a serrated knife will work best – into 1/4 to 1/8” slices.

Once the tart shell is completely cooled, spoon the ricotta mixture into the shell and smooth with a spatula or knife. Layer the sliced tomatoes on top of the cheese in any pattern or arrangement you like – this is a moment to be creative! Sprinkle with a few fresh thyme leaves, salt and pepper.

Serve just as it is or with a spoonful of pesto sauce.

Small Kitchen Friendly:

Yes, definitely. I used one medium bowl (used twice and washed between the dough and filling steps), one 9” tart pan, one baking sheet, a pastry cutter, one medium cutting board, one serrated knife, a microplane grater, a rubber spatula, and measuring cups and spoons. A butter knife and a dinner fork round out the tools.

The Verdict:

Mike and I had this on sunny, August Sunday afternoon and were really happy with the taste of these classic flavor combinations presented in a slightly different format. Mike particularly liked the flavor and texture of the polenta/cornmeal crust as a contrast to the creaminess of the cheese filling. And, since I had a little pesto in the freezer from a few weeks ago I defrosted it and we drizzled a little on top – yum. A success I’d say, since we’re already brainstorming variations with other seasonal vegetables. I foresee something involving caramelized onions in our future…