What to do with that bumper crop of ‘maters you have growing in the garden? I came across this at a little harbor cafe in Crete, and it followed me home. It’s been a family staple ever since, and when served with buttered Sliver Queen corn-on-the-cob and The World’s Best Crab Cakes, just shouts “Summer!” out loud.
Sliced Summer Tomatoes with Feta Cheese
You’ll need:
Garden ripe tomatoes.
Feta cheese.
Fresh basil leaves.
Olive oil- break out the good stuff for this.
Sea salt & pepper.
You’ll do:
Core and slice the ‘maters into 1/4 inch (or whatever) rounds.
Arrange on a platter.
Top with sliced or crumbled Feta, shredded basil.
Drizzle olive oil over all. (squeeze of lemon juice optional)
Sea salt & fresh cracked pepper to taste.
Serve as a starter or side, with fresh crusty bread and a chilled, crisp white vino. A light beer like Stella would be very nice, too.
Hmmm???? Do believe I discovered that same little harborside cafe in Crete ’bout Feb of ’72. Too bad I have no clue how to post a copy of the 35mm print film pictures I took there. Also have no clue as to what all we ate other than it was quite tasty. And for sure not a clue how we were able to walk around after all the shots of ouzo.
How daHell we gonna enjoy the world’s best grilled crab cakes iffen you didn’t post the recipe. Some of the class was prolly napping the last time you posted it. Or they have aged so much since then that they don’t remember what they did with the post-it-note they copied it on.
Gun Bunny’s Southern style ‘mater sammich. 2 pieces of fresh loaf white bread coated with Duke’s Mayo, Helman’s in a pinch, but never Miracle Whip, and never, ever never Kraft. Place a salt and peppered fat slice of a vine ripe better,best, or beef steak boy. Warsh down with a glass of cold sweet iced tea. Repeat as needed.
(In his best Marlon Brando voice) Steellaaaaaa!
Avast there, GB, and hold fast.
Requirements Creep has killed many a Navy program- A-12 and an early Presidential Helo come to my mind. Now you want my Friday’s Recipe post to morph into a Friday’s Menu? Two words.
Ain’t happening.
Still unsure of how I was roped into this boondoggle in the first place.
Just because Ex is kind and sweet enough to spoil you with multiple recipes on her Thursdays Are For Cooking posts has exactly zero affect on me. Good cop- bad cop.
If there is a request for my TWBCC recipe, I’ll be happy to post it.
Next Friday.
“Still unsure how I (got?/was?) roped into this….”
‘Cause you love us and you want us to be happy?
Ex promised you sausage gravy with biscuits?
Something to do in your spare time?
Being a good example to your minime AW1Eds?
Gloating/showing off your culinary skilz?
Standing by, on Station, with a bushel of Silver Queen and a match for the grill.
Nothing like starting off a Friday and the Weekend with Love Notes between the Army and the Navy, i.e. KoB and Ed.
*grin*
gabn
I’m not sure what AW1Ed is imbibing with his coffee this early to confuse our Gunbunny with me, but I do approve of 5th/77th’s tomato sandwich post.
(Playing on “GB” = Gun Bunny & Graybeard…)
A two-fer. I’m being economical.
*grin*
Never been to Crete but I did start doing something like this a while back, when I moved away from Chicago to a much nicer place.
Feta, tomatoes, chopped basil – what’s not to like. Pairs well with a subtle but nose-worthy white wine and olives, good crusty bread, and a sunny day.
I like it with mozz and the basil has to be fresh, not dried.
It’s great on crusty bread or on something like a triscuit as well.
I don’t put olive oil on it, but a drizzle of balsamic vinegar is nice.
But then, I think sliced tomato with a bit of salt and pepper makes a good snack
If you really want to get into it, add a plateful of fresh fruit like strawberries and grapes and maybe some cantaloupe or honeydew, and you have everything you could need for one meal.
Also, if you still have copper-bottomed Revereware (the real stuff, made in Clinton, IL before it went “overseas”) you can clean the copper with half of a lemon and salt. Rub the lemon half once on the copper plating to wet it, then add salt from the salt shaker and get to work scrubbing the tarnish off the copper. Works every time and the pot looks brand new.
That’s only cleaning by abrasive… Barkeeper’s Friend works faster and better with less abrasion. Works well on SS revolvers, too – gets that black ring off the front of the cylinder with minimal effort.
Just as Ret_25X, the ninja family uses FRESH, Mozzarella Cheese with Balsamic Vinegar and Olive Oil and of course, Basil.
We stay away from that Low-Fat Mozzarella.
Gonna now try it with the Feta Cheese.
With a pinch of salt.
*grin*
Thank You for sharing, AW1Ed.
We can’t comment or supply a recipe for tomatoes, but….
For those who like to cook under pressure…
Fresh Mozzarella Cheese.
Ingredients
1 gallon whole or 2% milk (see notes about milk brands to use)
3/4 cup water (divided)
1/4 teaspoon lipase (optional, see note)
2 teaspoons citric acid
1/4 teaspoon single strength liquid animal rennet
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
Instructions
To 3 small cups, add 1/4 cup of coolish water to each. In 1 of the cups add the lipase and stir to combine (it won’t dissolve completely). To another cup add citric acid and stir to combine. To the final cup, add the animal rennet and stir to combine.
Pour milk into the pot of the Instant Pot and clip a thermometer on to the side (or have one close by so you can closely watch the milk temperatures). Press yogurt and adjust until it says “boil”.
Warm milk to 55°F.
When milk reaches 55° F, use a whisk and stir while pouring in lipase mixture. Continue to whisk briskly while pouring in citric acid mixture
Continue to heat milk until it reaches 88°F; press cancel to turn off the Instant Pot.
Gently stir in rennet mixture using a slow up and down motion with the whisk, about 30 seconds. Place a lid on the pot for 5-10 minutes, until there is a clear separation of the whey, otherwise known as a “clean break”. The whey should be clear and yellow. If it is still whitish or milky looking, put the lid on and wait another 5 minutes.
Using a long knife, spatula, or off set icing spatula (basically something long enough to reach to the end of the pot) Cut the curds by making 4 or 5 vertical cuts from the top to the bottom of the pot. Then repeat this process on the other side to make a checkered pattern on the top.
Press yogurt, adjust to “boil”, and lightly stir the curds until the temperature reaches 105°F. The temperature will vary slightly depending on where your thermometer is in the curds and whey, so just move your thermometer around and take the pot off the heat once it reaches an average of 105°F. Cover the pot and let sit 1 minute.
Using a slotted spoon, scoop large curds into a strainer (the Euro Cuisine yogurt strainers work great for this) and press lightly to remove some whey. Tear 3 pieces of plastic wrap (large enough to wrap 3 balls of your final mozzarella) and set them to the side (don’t stack them on to of each other!)
Transfer curds to a microwave safe pyrex bowl and microwave curds for 1 minute.
Tip: This next step will need some food safe gloves because the cheese is about to get quite hot!
Gently fold the the cheese over and over then drain the released whey. Microwave for another 35 seconds, gently fold cheese over and over, drain released whey. One last time – microwave for another 35 seconds, drain excess whey, sprinkle with 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, and continue to fold and knead until cheese becomes smooth, shiny, and stretches like taffy (this is my favorite part!).
Working quickly so the cheese doesn’t cool and become unstretchable, break cheese into 3 pieces and create a tight, smooth ball shape with each.
You can eat it hot at this point (so good!) or shape it and chill it for later. It will store in the fridge for 1-2 weeks.
Tip: While the cheese is hot, it will not maintain the shape very well. I like to wrap it tightly in a piece of plastic wrap and twist the plastic wrap to create a tight ball. Once the mozzarella cools, it will maintain this round shape. You can also try dipping the hot mozzarella in ice water for a 10 seconds, but I feel like the plastic wrap works better.
Notes
The mozzarella is the best when eaten warm right after it’s made. Chilling the mozzarella will change its texture a bit, but it is still delicious! Cube it up for skewers, slice it up for topping pizza or grilled cheese sandwiches, or partially freeze it, then shred it. If you have extra, I have frozen the cheese successfully. In fact, I insist that it melts and oozes better after it has been frozen and thawed!
Brand of milk matters here and it took me a lot of fails to realize that. Make sure the milk you use is not ultra-pasteurized. What I learned in this process was that some milk brands aren’t labeled “ultra-pasteurized” but have still been heated too high for this recipe to work. If your curds are turning out delicate and more like cottage cheese after being heated, I would suspect it’s your milk.
As I mentioned above, lipase is optional. I feel like it makes a softer more flavorful cheese, but you can definitely make it without.
The “yogurt” setting on the IP is a much more controlled and gentle way of heating the milk and less likely to scorch it.
I live near some farms and made friends at a City Council meeting with a few. They are willing to trade, barter or even take a few bucks for non-pasteurized milk with the promise I don’t tell them where I got it from, and use it the same day. Fresh from the udder. I have been offered goat’s milk, but haven’t tried that yet. (They are just trying to be careful from the food police.)
The non-pasteurized milk makes a difference, but at the very least, you have to stay away from ultra-pasteurized milk. It just doesn’t work.
That looks like the toppings on a NY Grandmas pizza except fresh mozzarella cheese is used. Am going over to Publix and buy the stuff to make a plate full. Made me so hungry that I could have ate the south end of a north bound steer.