Creamed Tomatoes on Toast

When I was a kid, we went home for lunch. No school lunches back then. We lived in a little town called Algonac in Michigan. Dad drove us to school in the morning and again after lunch but we walked home, weather permitting of course. It was about a mile. I've often thought since: my poor mother. The entire family (including my dad) came home for lunch. She had to plan three meals a day. And she fussed, too. It wasn't just a bunch of pb and j's on the table. We had hot lunches....and some kind of fruit or pudding. I always remember stewed prunes being served with mac and cheese. Who knows why that one particular lunch stayed in my mind?

So here I am, with just me to worry about, still looking around for innovative luncheon ideas. We tend to get repetitive, don't we? Probably the time element. I even wrote a post about it a while back. But every once in a while, a friend may be coming over, or I feel like rewarding myself and I really want something special. What to make that's fast and delicious??  In the summer when tomatoes are at their best, my favorite company go-to sandwich is a tomato sandwich à la Ina Garten. I like her dressed up version. But for speed (and just for me) I take those lovely, garden-fresh red tomatoes, add some butter lettuce, real mayo and plunk it on some fresh country bread. Heaven, for sure.

Unfortunately, it's officially still winter so I'll save those two sandwiches for summer. Even when we can get lovely tomatoes this time of year, they just don't taste the same as the ones you get in the summer at the farmer's markets. Then I ran across this super recipe in Simon Hopkinson's book, Roast Chicken and Other Stories. I really love this cookbook. Last August it was listed in the top 10 cookbooks by the London Observer.  I've started reading it again, wondering how I missed this gem of a recipe the first time around. 

This dish is simple with tons of flavor. You don't have to have perfect summer tomatoes, either. I love the garlic in the cream. (And watch it, it boils over in a flash.) I used the full 1 1/2 cups of cream called for. Way too much. It was still good, but 1 cup would have been better. As it turns out, I didn't use plum tomatoes either, but bought the nicest tomatoes I could find. The dish was every bit as good as I expected. Lovely on a chilly or rainy Saturday.

Creamed Tomatoes on Toast
From Simon Hopkinson's Roast Chicken and Other Stories

Ingredients:

8 ounces heavy cream (the original recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups)
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
6 ripe plum tomatoes, cut in half lengthwise and cored
Salt and pepper
12 basil or mint leaves, torn into pieces (I used basil)
4 slices of French country bread, grilled or toasted and brushed with a little olive oil

Method:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Simmer the cream with the garlic and reduce by one-third. Put the tomatoes, cut-side uppermost, in an ovenproof dish and season them with salt and pepper. Strain the cream into a bowl and stir in the basil or mint. Lightly season and pour over the tomatoes.

Bake in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until the cream is reduced and is thick and the tops of the tomatoes are slightly blistered. Meanwhile, have ready the toast on 2 plates and spoon a few tomatoes onto each slice. Spoon some residual cream over the top. Serves 2.

Spring Pleasures

You'll never guess what made its initial appearance in my market last weekend. Rhubarb. Yup. It's here. And bright red, which of course means hothouse rhubarb and that's fine with me 'cause I love that deep red color. Over the years, I've droned on ad nauseam about my love for rhubarb, so I hope you're as crazy about it as I am....I've got quite a few recipes to try this spring. (Is it spring where you are yet?) Last spring I made my mother's famous rhubarb pie (pure rhubarb and nothing but) and saved the post in drafts so I'll definitely post that this year. And a crumble. And muffins and maybe even a cobbler. Get ready, my friends, lemon is going to take a back seat for a bit; divine rhubarb is in my kitchen.

I had to begin with this recipe. The color is just so gorgeous and once you make the rhubarb curd, it'll lead to some other lovely recipes. Think about it....rhubarb curd. The mind boggles with ideas. We're all so used to seeing lemon curd, but this is the first time I've ever made a rhubarb curd. It's delicious! It was all I could do to keep from eating it by the spoonful before I made the bars. The cookie crust balances out this bar perfectly. If you have leftover curd, mix it with yogurt over fruit. Top your next custard or pudding with it. How about serving it with panna cotta? I might try that one next.

So enjoy, my friends. Save this recipe for summer or if hothouse rhubarb is already  in your market, make something.....anything....it will make you think spring has sprung!

Bench notes:  I really think a slightly thinner cookie crust is a better idea, so next time I'll go with a larger baking dish. You need to adjust your baking time as a result. Keep a close eye on it. 

And, I like a little more rhubarb with my bar. 1/4 inch was just not enough. (But I did use a tad too much in this batch.) Again, you'll have to adjust your cooking time.

Rhubarb Bars
From Lara  Ferroni, Food Travel Life

Ingredients for rhubarb curd: 

400 grams rhubarb (about 10 to 15 stalks)

1/3 cup sugar

6 egg yolks

3/4 cup sugar  

a pinch of salt

1 teaspoon lemon zest (optional)

50 grams (3 1/2 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into chunks

Ingredients for the crust:
4 ounces butter, room temperature

1 cup (136 grams) all-purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

a pinch of salt

about 1/2 of the Rhubarb curd recipe from above

Powdered sugar for dusting (optional)

Method for the curd:

Wash and chop rhubarb into 1/2 inch chunks. There is no need to peel, but if your stalks are particularly large, you might trim off any tough parts. Stir the rhubarb and 1/4 cup of sugar together and let sit for about 10 minutes. Place in a medium sized pot with about 1/4 cup of water and cook over low heat until you can no longer see whole pieces. Turn off the heat and let cool to room temperature. Blend to a smooth puree if you desire (this will remove any remaining little stringy bits, but it isn’t necessary).

In a double boiler (or a bowl over boiling water), whisk the egg yolks, remaining sugar and salt. Whisk until well combined and warm. Add about 1 cup of the stewed rhubarb and the lemon zest. Keep stirring until the mixture is warm again. Check for taste and add more of the pureed rhubarb until you get the desired flavor and color. Remove from heat and stir in the butter chunks.

If you are not using the curd immediately, let it cool to room temperature and then store refrigerated for up to a week.

This recipe makes more curd than you’ll need for the Rhubarb Bars.

Method for the bars:

Preheat the oven to 350.

Place the butter, flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of a mixer. Start on low speed (to keep the flour from flying everywhere), stir until it resembles course crumbs. Then increase speed slightly and continue to mix until a soft dough forms. It’s kind of magic.

Take the dough and press it into a 9" x 5" baking dish (see bench notes). Let rest at room temperature for about 15 minutes, and then bake until it is lightly golden, about 20 minutes. While the dough is baking, finish preparing the curd.

Pour the enough curd onto the crust to make a layer around 1/4 inch thick (see bench notes), and bake for another 10 minutes, until the curd has set. Cool to room temperature. Refrigerate if desired (it’s easier to slice when chilled, but not necessary). Dust with powdered sugar before slicing if you’d like.

Paper Lemon Cookies

My sister Sharon is, and always has been, crazy for lemon desserts. Aside from lemon meringue pies (our mother and grandmother were absolutely the best pie makers ever) and lemon angel pies, she also loved our Aunt Mar's lemon cookies. Crisp, buttery and lemony, Sharon and I attempted to replicate them, but had no success......we both finally came to the conclusion she left an ingredient out of the recipe when she passed it on.

Our Aunt Mar (who was my father's mother's sister and lived across the street from us our entire childhood) had a serious relationship with lemon flavoring. It found its way into nearly all her desserts. Cookies, cakes, muffins and puddings. Didn't matter what, she added lemon flavoring. Not extract and never real lemons, mind you, but that old fashioned lemon flavoring. I'm not complaining, she was a fine home cook. She made everyone in our family (and probably the entire neighborhood) her famous sponge cake with 7 minute frosting for every birthday. Lemon flavoring in that cake too, along with vanilla. I make it to this day, but use lemon extract. (Can you even buy lemon flavoring any longer?) Aunt Mar's little house even smelled like lemon inside. 

Anyway, our Mother used to bake some meringues, fill them with her version of lemon curd and top them with whipped cream. I also recall something called Lemon Sunshine that consisted of lemons, gelatin, sugar, eggs with the whites beaten and added last. I have the recipe someplace. An airy lemon parfait, sort of.

My sister and I. (I'm the one with skinned knees.)

So recently when Kim from My Kentucky Home posted a recipe for Lemon Meringue Muffins, you better believe I copied it and emailed it to my sister in Michigan immediately.  She's probably made them already. I'll make them for company the end of the month.

As is the way, just because I seem to be thinking lemon everything right now,  I was reading through one of Marion Cunningham's cookbooks and came across this delight: Lemon Paper Cookies. I couldn't resist. Thought I'd try them first before I sent the recipe on to my sister. She's really going to like them and her sewing group will want the recipe for sure. They turned out delicate, lacy AND lemony. Perfect with tea or coffee for an afternoon treat.

Bench notes: The recipe suggested cutting them less than 1/4 thick. I found that next to impossible so settled on 1/4 thick and they turned out perfectly. 
Also, 2 hours in the refrigerator was not enough. It's a very fragile dough. I ended up putting it in the freezer for a bit and then cut my slices quickly with a very sharp, thin knife. Otherwise they tend to break into pieces. But never fear, you can push them together and they still turn out beautifully.


Joyce's Paper Lemon Cookies
From The Supper Book by Marion Cunningham

Ingredients:

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1 1/4 cups sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons grated lemon rind

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 1/2 cups allm purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Optional: raw sugar for sprinkling on top (I did not use)

Method:

Cream the butter and sugar. Add then vanilla, zest and lemon juice. Beat until smooth.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add to the butter/sugar mixture and mix well.

Turn out on a piece of waxed paper and form the dough into a cylinder about 12 inches long 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Wrap tightly and refrigerate 2 hours, or freeze until ready to use.

Preheat oven to 350. Don't grease the cookie sheets. (I used parchment paper)

Cut 1/4 inch slices with a sharp knife and place about 3 inches apart on the cookie sheet. Place unused dough back into the refrigerator. Bake 7-8 minutes, watching carefully the last couple minutes. They should be lightly golden. Allow to cool slightly on the baking sheet, then remove to racks to finish cooling.