Asha Gomez, chef-owner of Spice to Table and the late lamented Cardamom Hill, says it was Fat Matt’s Brunswick stew that inspired this dish, a riff on the beef stew her grandmother made in Kerala, India. I’ve adapted this from a recipe published in Atlanta magazine.
This recipe is from Eric Roberts of The Iberian Pig and was demonstrated at the Peachtree Road Farmers Market this summer. A lovely side dish, a lovely snack all by itself.
Charring vegetables is one way Woody Back, executive chef of Roswell’s Table & Main, likes to add flavor to his dishes. When he’s cooking, he’s looking for six components – fat, acid, salt, aromatic, sweet and bitter. The charring provides the bitter in this soup. He demonstrated these recipes at the Morningside Farmers Market and Peachtree Road Farmers Markets this year.
He likes garnishing the soup with crumbles of soft goat cheese, but croutons offer a way to add a little crunch. He’s adamant about his crouton preparation though. No toasting squares of bread in the oven. “That just dries out the bread and gives you something like a rock. Melt butter in a skillet and toast your croutons until the surfaces are golden.” One more tip for crouton making – no little cubes. Just tear small pieces of bread from the loaf for irregular pieces with lots of craggy surfaces to soak up butter and provide a satisfying crunch.
But first, a recipe for those tomatoes. You’ve eaten fresh tomatoes all summer, now start fall with a Tomato Margarita from seriouseats.com. You could do this with your peppers, too. Or combine the peppers and tomatoes. Delish. And so easy.
Yes, you can eat potatoes with your pasta.
This idea comes from Everyday Food magazine. Love that you don’t have to precook the pasta. Makes for a much easier dinner and less heat in the kitchen.
Adapted from a recipe by Angus Brown of Octopus Bar & Lusca and demonstrated at the Peachtree Road Farmers Market.
I am crazy about red rice. There are dozens of red rice recipes. I happen to like this one. If you have fresh tomatoes, just use those instead of the canned variety. Skip the shrimp if you like.
Have we talked about combining tomato and watermelon in a salad before? Fabulous. Add some feta or goat cheese or little mozzarella balls if you like. Basil? Yum.
Chef Cathy Conway is the founder/executive chef of Avalon Catering – completely dedicated to local food. I do not remember how I got this recipe from her, but it’s delicious. I’m just loving dumplings these days.
Do you have some Riverview cornmeal leftover from last year’s boxes? Then you’re all set.
If, unlike me, you haven’t consumed all those yummy Sun Gold tomatoes, then here’s a quick and delicious suggestion. Make a salad and it’s dinner or cut into little squares and serve as a first course for your favorite dinner guests.