Tomatoes in all their glory

Enveloped by blue sky and sunshine that manages to make everything glow brighter and greener, Seattle summers are magical. You walk out the door and can't help but smile.

This summer has been a big fat tease. A week or two here and there, us Seattlelites were blessed with the former. We did all the things we never really get to do (at least appropriately). We played volleyball on the beach, swam in lakes, tested our toes in the Sound, and unabashedly showed off our porcelain sun deprived skin in bathing suits and tanks.

And as summer slips through our fingertips into Fall, I want to share with you some recipes. Recipes I should have shared with you a lot earlier, BUT it's not too late. Last weekend I went to my local farmers market and was in complete awe of the produce. I frantically rushed around with my tote bag checking everything out and then checking it out again. I was in a hurry for a wedding so I didn't get a chance to buy everything that I wanted, but I did buy a couple of nectarines. These nectarines. These nectarines. I took a bite and my shoulders slumped, my eyes rolled back. Damn that was a good nectarine. Juicy and concentrated, it sang. It was quite good paired with Mt. Townsend Creamery's Cirrus cheese as well.



I felt much of the same way about those nectarines that I felt about the tomatoes I bought a month earlier. You have no idea you have been eating mediocre tomatoes (or nectarines, or any produce for that matter) until you slip your teeth into a piece of produce that has been carefully planted and cultivated.

I bought beefsteak tomatoes from Billy's in the market and I would be plenty happy eating them alone with a little kosher salt and pepper, but I saw a simple preparation in Sunset magazine and had the additional ingredients.

Thick slices of fruity tomatoes are dressed with fresh oregano, crumbled feta, olive oil, balsamic, and finished with salt and pepper. The fruitiness of the tomatoes lingers with ease with the salt from the feta, acid from the balsamic, and smoky oregano. I sat down with my pretty plate, took a bite, and proclaimed "Mmmmmmmm..." to no one but myself. This is what a tomato tastes like. Lovely and brilliant.



Tomato and Feta Salad
Sunset magazine

Arrange sliced tomatoes on a platter and top with chopped or small leaves of fresh oregano and crumbled feta. Drizzle olive oil and balsamic vinegar on top and season with salt and pepper.

Eating and Drinking Club

I am in the midst of a short rib hangover.

Let me tell you a little story about a book club that started with lovely intentions. Pages were committed, wine was drank, and dinners were made. This only lasted so long. Then we slowly realized we were subjected to each others' choices of books. Going on good faith I chose a book where a man eventually cut his own penis off (it's safe to say I was a little embarrassed at choosing a total downer) and another friend chose a book that lingered into Lifetime channel territory. So with busy lives---this was discussed---and mismatched literary preferences---this was not so much discussed---the book aspect slowly dissipated. For a while we called it "book club," maybe to make ourselves feel better. But now I call it eating-and-drinking club, and why lie, this is just fine with me.



In keeping with some of our "book club" traditions, we rotate dinners and this night was my turn. Our dear friend, and fellow "book club" member, is a vegetarian/pescatarian and is on her honeymoon with one lucky fella, so she could not make it. So when menu planning I thought meat. I don't eat that much meat during the week and it felt like a supreme time to not only cook meat, but something I had never done before. I've heard many a times that you shouldn't experiment with recipes on guests---I have never adhered to this, in fact I practice the total opposite. Guests are my excuse to spend a little bit more and indulge in a recipe that is a bit more extravagant. This has worked out pretty well for me.

So, with my turn upon me and red meat on my mind, I decided to make short ribs. I cook a lot, but I hadn't ever cooked short ribs. Like I mentioned previously, my lovely momma buys me a cookbook for pretty much any significant celebration in my life. And after drooling over one of her cookbooks, The 150 Best American Recipes, I was happy to rip open gift wrap at the next "significant celebration" and find a copy laying beneath.

Flipping through, I stopped at a deeply rich photograph of braised shorts ribs. Caramelized and resting in their own juices they looked perfect for a special night and quite possibly Seattle's seeping into Fall (sigh).

I might take back that sigh if these short ribs equal Fall, because they were so, so, so good! For three hours the short ribs braised in a "Chinese style" liquid of star anise, soy, sherry, ginger, garlic, scallions, and a few more ingredients. Can I just say that braising is pure torture. Wafting through out the house is the smell of sweet salty meat punctuated by spicy star anise and you have to continue with your normal every day tasks for hours while the meat tenderizes and releases itself from the bone.




We all sat and groaned for about five minutes while we shoveled short ribs and mashed potatoes in our mouths. They were heavenly.

Braised Beef Short Ribs Chinese Style

By Leslie Revsin, The 150 Best American Recipes and Come for Dinner

1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup fino sherry, dry white wine, or dry vermouth
2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
1 1/3 cups drained and coarsely chopped canned plum tomatoes
2/3 cups water
4 star anise
6-6 1/2 pounds beef short ribs on the bone, cut into 3-inch lengths
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil, plus more if needed
6 garlic cloves, crushed and peeled
6 scallions, cut into two inch pieces
1 1-inch piece fresh ginger about the diameter of a quarter, cut into 8 slices
2 tablespoons thinly sliced scallions, cut on the diagonal, for garnish

Serves 6

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and set rack in the middle level.

Stir the soy sauce, sherry (or wine or vermouth), brown sugar, and tomatoes together in a bowl. Stir in the water and star anise. Set aside.

Dry the ribs with paper towels and season very lightly with salt and generously with pepper. Heat the oil in a large heavy flameproof casserole (I used my Le Creuset) over medium-high heat. (The casserole should be large enough to hold all the ribs in no more than two layers). When the oil is hot, add the ribs in batches (do not crowd) and brown on all sides. Remove them as they're browned, adding more oil, if necessary.

When all the ribs are browned, pour off the fat and reduce the heat to low. Add the garlic, scallions pieces, and ginger, alternately tossing and pressing them against the pot for 1 minute to bring out their flavors. Return the ribs to the pot and pour the soy sauce mixture over them. Bring the liquid to simmer and cover. Transfer the ribs to a serving platter. Discard the ginger and star anise and pour the remaining sauce into a large heat-proof glass measuring cup. Let stand for about 5 minutes, then spoon off and discard any fat that has risen to the surface. Reheat the sauce, season generously with pepper, and pour the ribs. Garnish with the thinly sliced scallions and serve hot.

A model who eats damn well.

The first cookbook I ever got was Fanny at Chez Panisse. I was eight and my mom had gotten it for me for Christmas, 1992 to be exact. I remember turning the long pages carefully, examining the painted illustrations of a girl, who like me was around 8 or 10 with white blonde hair. The font was large and the short stories dreamy. I still look at it and read it every once and awhile, transporting myself to Fanny's childhood full of heirloom lettuces, restaurant characters, and a mother who revolutionized food. It's laughable, but I would say I'm more jealous of Fanny now, than I was when I was eight.

From there a tradition was born. Since then, my mom has gotten me a cookbook for every birthday and Christmas. I have a lot of cookbooks. I am ashamed to say that there are a handful that I have never cooked out of. I feel some sort of blasphemy in this. Someone spent so much time crafting, choosing recipes, testing, and tasting food all for me. And somehow, with so many cookbooks and the internet, I have been sucked into this terrible habit of being completely picky among so many options. It is a habit I am looking to break.

Among the gifts, I always know which one is the cookbook. Heavy and rectangular, it screams “big beautiful book of recipes; open me; make glorious meals from me!” But when I ripped off the paper from one of these rectangular beauties, my heart slightly dropped when I saw Padma Lakshmi on the cover. Now don't get me wrong, I loved Padma at the time. She was the host of one of my favorite shows, she's painfully gorgeous, and from one of the most intriguing countries in the world. But my first thought was, “What does some skinny model-tv-host know about food?!”

Apparently A LOT.



I can not begin to explain what a crush I have on this cookbook. Lakshmi's combinations of flavors are otherworldly and unusual. Hovering over her book during the first couple of recipes I found myself many times, eyebrows raised, dumping spoonfuls of this-and-that, thinking “really?” Yes really, capers and mango chutney do go together. So do prunes and tomatoes. Lakshmi has a gift of breaking down foods to pure taste components and I guess that's why her cookbook is named what it is.

A couple of hot nights ago, I decided to make her hot and sour fruit chaat as a starter. Crunchy, refreshing cucumbers and red bell peppers mingle with tart, crispy granny smith apples and black plums. The thinly sliced fruit and vegetables are brought together by a minty dressing spiked with cumin, cayenne, and citrus, resulting in a balancing act of spicy, tart, and cool crunch. It was delicious.



Hot and Sour Fruit Chaat
from Tangy, Tart, Hot & Sweet, by Padma Lakshmi

This chaat calls for pomegranate seeds, but because they are out of season and difficult to find right now, I made it without. Despite this, the "salad" will have your lips sweating and your taste buds singing.

1 Granny Smith apple, cored, peeled and sliced into thin crescents
2 large firm black plums, pitted and sliced thinly
1 English cucumber, unpeeled and sliced into thin rounds
1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into long, thin strands
1 cup fresh pomegranate seeds (optional)
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint
1 tablespoon concentrated yuzu juice (I used lime juice instead)
1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lime juice
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon black cumin (I used regular cumin)
coarsely ground sea salt

Arrange the apple and plums. I alternated them in a fan design and then placed the cucumbers and bell peppers in the center. Sprinkle with fresh mint.

Combine all the other ingredients, except for the salt, in a bowl and whisk together.

Drizzle the dressing over the chaat and sprinkle with coarse sea salt.