Grits with Blue Cheese and Oven Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

Not So Southern Grits with Blue Cheese and Oven Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

Last week I had dinner with a consultant friend at Nola's in Clinton, New York (  http://www.nolasinclinton.com/ ).  The highlight of my meal was polenta with blue cheese...just so amazingly good.  Of course, my Southern palette immediately thought...yellow grits!!!  So Friday night I tried my own take on this dish.   Sadly, the only blue cheese available was the already crumbled and not great quality.  But, even with that, the dish was great!  I can't wait to get over to Fresh Market and get some really great blue cheese and create this again, just better.  However, the lesson here is, use what you can find to create dishes that are different, tasty and enjoyed!

3/4 cup yellow grits

2 cups of water

1 tsp. salt

2 tbs. butter

1/4 cup vermont sharp white cheddar cheese

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1 pt. cherry tomatoes, cut in halves

2 tbs. olive oil

1/2 cup blue cheese

1. Place tomatoes on cookie sheet and toss with olive oil.  Roast in preheated oven (400 degrees) for 10 minutes or until tomatoes are browned. Remove from oven.
2. Bring 2 cups of water to boiling, add salt and grits, reduced heat to low cook for 10 minutes, stirring frequently.
3. Add butter and sharp cheddar, cook on low for 5 more minutes, stirring frequently.
4. Pour grits into serving bowl, top with tomatoes and sprinkle with blue cheese.

Tomato Tart

Tomato Tart

Good tomatoes are so plentiful this year.  Most nights we have them in a tossed salad of, my favorite, a tomato caprese salad that I create by layering fresh tomato slices with sliced fresh (or as fresh as I can get it) mozzarella, a little fresh basil, salt and pepper sprinkled between the layers and drizzled with olive oil and a balsamic vinegar reduction.  (an extra recipe for you!)

For this tomato tart I used phyllo pastry dough, tomatoes, and several herbs  I have growing right now. (chives, parsley, oregano, thyme, basil, and tarragon) I used some cherry tomatoes, a couple of heirloom tomatoes and a couple of plain ol' red ones from the local produce market.  All of this is layered over the dough, mozzarella cheese and feta cheese.(along with a hefty potion of garlic).  I recommend serving this with a Greek salad and, at least, one glass of pinot grigio!

Ingredients:

8 sheets of phyllo pastry dough 

1/4 cup of melted butter

3 medium tomatoes, sliced thin

1/2 pint cherry tomatoes, halved

6 oz. mozzarella cheese

6 oz. feta cheese

3 tbs. chopped herbs

3 cloves garlic chopped

red pepper flakes (to taste or optional)

salt and pepper   (to taste)

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

• Place thin slices of tomato and halved cherry tomatoes on paper towel and sprinkle lightly with salt
• Using a 13 x( inch baking sheet, begin with one sheet of phyllo, covering the bottom of the pan, overlapping about 1/2 inch.  Brush this layer with melted butter. Create a second layer and brush with melted butter.  Place in preheated oven for 10 minutes or lightly browned.  Remove from oven a cool for 10 minutes.
• Sprinkle cheeses over cooled phyllo
• Sprinkle garlic over cheese
• Arrange tomatoes on to top cheese.  I put all of the large slices first then arranged cherry tomatoes around them
• Sprinkle chopped herbs over tomatoes, red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper
• Top with parmesan and drizzle with some really good olive oil

Bake for 15 minutes and enjoy!

Tomato Bounty Bake

I know, it;s been a while since I've posted...but tonight I created a dish with tomatoes that I have to share.  My friend, Shelley, brought me a basket full of fresh tomatoes from her garden.  I've always made a really great tomato pie, but I'm walking miles every day and really trying to watch carbs and calories and that pie, with the crust, lots of sharp cheddar and mayonnaise just doesn't fit into my "Get fit Loretta" plan. So I created this dish with roasted tomatoes, caramelized sweet onions, Parmesan cheese and fresh herbs.  Please change ingredient amounts to suit your taste...I think any combination will work!

Ingredients:
8 tomatoes, sliced in 1/4 inch slices
2 large Vadalia onions, slices in 1/4 inch slices
1 tbs. fresh basil
1 tbs. fresh thyme
4 tbs. olive oil Parmesan Romano cheese
1/2 cup shredded

Preheat oven to 400

• Spread 2 tbs. olive oil on cookie sheet
• Place sliced tomatoes in one layer on cookie sheet 
• Place tomatoes in preheated oven and cook for 30 minutes
• Reduce oven temperature to 350
• While the tomatoes are cooking saute onions in remaining olive oil until nicely caramelized
• Remove tomatoes from oven and create a layer of tomatoes
• Salt tomato layer taste and add half of basil and thyme
• Sprinkle 1/4 cup cheese over tomatoes
• Add a layer using all of the caramelized onions
• Sprinkle 1/4 cup cheese over onions
• Place remaining tomatoes over onion layer
• Sprinkle with basil and thyme
• Bake for 20 minutes

Oh No!  Brussel Sprouts!!!

 

 

I grew up having brussel sprouts...green, mushy, balls that were just blah (sorry Mom)!  How many people do you know who say, "I just love me some brussel sprouts"...a weird duck, for sure.  Well...this is our second night in a row having brussel sprouts.  I bought a great bag of them from Sam's Club last week, realized I'd be traveling all week this week and the sprouts needed to be gone.  So last night it was a pretty simple dish:

 

2 Tbsp. olive oil

2 slices of pancetta chopped

20 fresh brussel sprouts, cut in half

salt, pepper and red pepper flakes to taste

 

 

1.  Heat the olive oil in a good heavy skillet on medium high

2.  Add the pancetta to oil and brown

3.  Add brussel sprouts and sauté for 5 minutes

4. Cover and cook over low heat for another 5 minutes

5.  Remove cover, increase heat and stir for another 2 minutes

6.  Serve and enjoy immediately!

 

 

Tonight's brussel sprouts were just a bit different...I thought apples would go well with them and then while I was cooking them I thought... "How about some dried cranberries...and a little brown sugar...and, of course, some butter!"  So here you go...and they were yummy!

 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

 

3 tbsp. olive oil

4 slices pancetta, chopped (I think bacon would be great!)

6 Granny Smith apples peeled, cored and quartered

30 brussel sprouts, halved

a handful of dried cranberries

2 tbsp. brown sugar

2tbsp. butter

Salt and pepper to taste

 

Heat olive oil in a heavy skillet and saute' pancetta.  Add apples and cook, stirring frequently for 5 minutes.  Add brussel sprouts and sauté for another five minutes.  Add dried cranberries and sprinkle brown sugar all over...place in oven and cook for 10 minutes uncovered.  Remove from oven, add butter and cover until ready to serve.

 

 

 



Southern Summer Vegetable Dinner

Tonight we had a summer vegetable dinner.  this summer has been very different for my family. late in June my husband, Wayne, was diagnosed with acute leukemia and started chemo treatments immediately.  Thank goodness he was pretty healthy and was able to have an aggressive chemotherapy treatment.  He's in remission but is receiving chemo monthly to kill those nasty embryonic varmints that slipped through the initial treatment.  He'll finish up with this in November.  One month after Wayne was diagnosed our son, Tom, was seriously injured while riding his bike...hit and run driver.  he's going to be fine but it's going to take a few month of therapy to get back close to normal...understand that normal for Tom is riding his bile 3000 miles in a year...getting to that normal will be longer. So, as part of my therapy, I spent most of the afternoon working with vegetables from the local farmer's market and created a wonderful vegetable dinner.  Here are recipes for two of our favorites.

Southern Overcooked Mushy Yellow Squash and Onions

Ingredients:

4 slices bacon

2 large sweet onions, sliced in rounds

2 pounds yellow squash, sliced in rounds

salt and pepper

water

• Fry bacon in a large skillet and remove from pan
• Add onions to bacon drippings and cook until translucent (hot pan)
• Add yellow squash, with a teaspon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper to pan with a cup of water and cook over high heat, stirring frequently for about 10 minutes
• Reduce heat to medium and continue cooking squash for about 30 minutes, stirring frequently.
• When you can no longer determine that the squash was cut in rounds and when it appears mushy,  it's done
• Taste to see if you need more salt and pepper
• Serve Hot!

Tomato Pie

1 frozen deep dish pie shell (yes, already made!)

4 really big tomatoes...still firm

1 large sweet onion, sliced in 1/4 inch rings

fresh basil leaves, chopped

1 cup sharp cheddar, shredded

1 cup Swiss cheese, shredded

1 cup mayonnaise

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

• Follow directions to prebake pie shell and cool
• Boil water in a pot large enough to hold tomatoes, put tomatoes in the boiling water for 3 minutes and remove, now you can easily peel and core the tomatoes, slice them in 1/4 inch slices, sprinlkle salt over them and drain for 15 minutes
• Layer tomatoes and onions in the pie shell and sprinkle chopped basil over each layer
• Combine cheeses and mayonnaise and use this to top the pie
• Bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees
• Remove from oven and allow to sit for 10 minutes
• Slice and serve

Frozen Strawberry Yogurt Pie

Strawberry Yogurt Pie

I have made Strawberry Yogurt Pie for years but tonight made it a little differently.   I usually just combine strawberry and Cool Whip and put it in a graham cracker crust, freeze it and slice to serve.  it's always a hit, especially in the summer time...it's a really cool, refreshing dessert!  but today I decided to try slightly different ingredients.  now that Greek yogurt is available everywhere...and it's so rich, creamy and high in protein...I tried it, combined with frozen sweetened strawberries, Cool Whip and froze it in a graham cracker crust...have to say it was better...creamier and richer!  Those of you who know me know that I did not measure...so here's the basic recipe...make it your own! (and correct my mistakes!)

Ingredients:

3 cups plain Greek yogurt

1 container of frozen sweetened strawberries

1 small container of Cool Whip

2 graham cracker crusts

fresh strawberries

mint leaves

1. Combine yogurt and frozen strawberries
2. Fold in Cool Whip
3. Divide and fill pie crusts
4. Put in freezer for two hours
5. Slice and serve (garnish with fresh fruit and mint leaves)

Lemon Salmon

Dinner Tonight was salmon...some friends' posts on Facebook indicated that that is a favorite fish for lots of folks.  I purchased a really nice salmon filet, some beautiful lemons and some very healthy looking asparagus.   I don't know about you, but the one thing I dislike the most about cooking is cleaning up the mess I make.  So, for this meal, I decided there would be no cleanup!   First I lined my pan with aluminum foil to hold the fish.  then I trimmed the asparagus and arranged it around the the salmon and threw on some cherry tomatoes.  Wa La!  A whole meal in a pan,  with no clean-up guaranteed,  and it was delicious!

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Ingredients

1 salmon filet

1 large lemon, thinly sliced

1 pound asparagus

2 cups cherry tomatoes

salt and pepper

olive oil

Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil.  Place salmon on pan and salt and pepper filet to taste.  Place lemon slices on top of filet.  Arrange asparagus around filet and top asparagus with cherry tomatoes.  Drizzle fish and vegetables with olive oil.   Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes.