Summer Time Tomatoes
It’s been a while since I posted,
over a year in fact. I’ve been busy with a career, a family, and just plain
life. On top of not having the time I have been lacking inspiration. Food is my
life. I work with it everyday, sometimes to the point of not being interested.
When I am not working, however, I love to cook and more importantly: EAT.
I found inspiration last week in
the bounty of tomatoes my husband pulled from the garden. He had been bringing
in a handful or two of cherry tomatoes every few days or so then one day he
brought in the mother load. I had no idea what was going on in the back yard!!!
He then left town for a week for work telling me that he wanted me to save him
some for when he came back. A few have endured but most were getting past their
prime. I shared a few with my family, I was throwing them in salads, making
omelets stuffed with them and just cutting them up to eat with some salt and
pepper at every meal. I still had too much for me to eat!
I was trying to think of something
fun to do with them. I could make sauce to freeze, I could make ketchup but
then I remembered a truly memorable meal I had about a year ago at the Southern
Food Ways Alliance Symposium in Oxford, Mississippi.
Not only is it one of the most fun,
food filled weekends of the year it brings to the forefront some fantastic
chefs. Each year there is a focus on what the Symposium is about and last year
was Women at Work. One of the meals was prepared by Chef Vivian Howard and was
the one that sticks in my mind. She is
the part owner of the restaurant The Chef and the Farmer with her husband in
Eastern North Carolina. In that meal that she prepared there were two
unbelievably delicious dishes. Simple, not fancy at all, just made with high
quality ingredients and with so much care you could taste it.
The two dishes she made that I
can’t ever stop thinking about were her mother’s (Scarlett) Chicken and Rice
and her Tomato Pie. I got online and began searching, not very hopeful that I
would find the recipes but maybe a way to contact her directly to get them.
Luckily in my search I discovered that she has a show on PBS called A Chef’s
Life where she explores Southern food with a focus on farm to table. I began
looking at the episodes and there they were out of the 13 episodes I found the
Tomato Pie and the Chicken and Rice recipes. I quickly set to making both and
although it never tastes the same as when someone else makes it for you they
both were pretty darn close!
Here are some pictures of the
Tomato Pie and some links to the two recipes.
Enjoy!
V
