Pan con Tomate aka breakfasty/brunchy/lunchy tomato toast

Pan con Tomate

Pan con Tomate

You know that whole “more than the sum of its parts” thing?

Well, this recipe is just that. It’s almost absurdly simple yet so stinking delicious, easily customizable to any tastes, and perfect for breakfast, brunch, lunch, linner, or even a light dinner.


Pan con Tomate (aka tomato toast)

Serves 2 to 4

4 thick slices ciabatta or sourdough
1 garlic clove, halved
2 large ripe tomatoes, halved
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
Kosher or flakey sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Toppings such as torn basil and/or oregano, anchovy fillets, crumbled cheese (feta, soft goat cheese, or pecorino would be nice), chili flakes, etc.

Lightly toast the bread until golden brown. As soon as the bread is toasted, rub the cut piece of garlic onto the hot toast. This will give subtle garlic flavour to the bread and make for some delicious toast. Set aside on two serving plates.

Using the large holes of your box or cheese grater, grate the cut side of the tomatoes over a bowl. The pulpy flesh of the tomatoes will grate into a fresh tomato sauce leaving the skins behind. Discard the skins.

Stir 1 tablespoon of the olive oil into the grated tomatoes and season well with kosher salt and black pepper. Spoon the saucy tomatoes over the toast and garnish with whatever toppings you’d like. Drizzle over the remaining tablespoon of olive oil, season with salt and pepper, if needed, and serve immediately.

Apple Dijon Pork Tenderloin: My new "holy smokes, company is coming over and I have NO TIME" go-to

Apple Dijon Pork Tenderloin

Apple Dijon Pork Tenderloin

Want to look fancy in a flash?

Well, look no further! This right here is your new secret weapon.

Just a couple of days ago, I busted this little baby out when unexpected but oh-so-welcome guests popped by for a late lunch and it was a hit! I just threw together a big kale salad to serve on the side and, voila! A culinary masterpiece in no time!


Apple Dijon Pork Tenderloin

 Serves 4 to 6

2 pork tenderloins
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 small onions, trimmed, peeled, and sliced into 12 wedges
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon grainy Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 Gala apples*, cored and sliced into 10 to 12 wedges
½ cup dry hard cider, dry white wine, or just regular apple cider
½ cup chicken stock

Preheat oven to 425ºF and set a large cast iron skillet over medium/medium-high heat.

Pat the pork tenderloin dry with paper towel and coat each with vegetable oil. Season liberally with salt and pepper and sear the pork tenderloins until evenly browned all over. Transfer the pork to a plate and add the butter to the pan. Add in the onions, season with a pinch of salt, and allow them to cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix together the Dijon, grainy Dijon, thyme, sage, and cinnamon and brush this mixture all over the pork tenderloins.

Add the apples to the onions and continue to cook for about 5 to 7 minutes just to give them a little colour. Carefully deglaze the pan with the cider or white wine and nestle in the pork.

Roast the pork for 15 to 17 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 145ºF.

When cooked, transfer the pork to a cutting board, cover it with foil, and allow it to rest for 5 to 8 minutes. Place the onions and apples back onto medium heat and add in the chicken stock. Using a wooden spoon, scrape up any browned bits off of the bottom of the pan and allow it to bubble away until the pork has rested.

Slice the pork and serve it alongside those lovely golden brown onions and apples.

*Any other firm, crisp, and sweet apple will work well here. Gala’s are my go-to but Red Princes are also scrumptious in this recipe!

Date Night In: Brown Butter Lobster Tortellini

Brown Butter Lobster Tortellini

Brown Butter Lobster Tortellini

Valentine’s Day.

To be honest, Aaron and I aren’t really all that into it. It’s mushy and romantic, two words that don’t really describe our relationship. It’s also a day where you know that everyone around you in a restaurant is on a date and
that
is
weird.

For us, Valentine’s is usually just a night in with a home cooked meal that seems much fancier than a normal night’s feast but, in reality, is just as easy to whip up.

I mean, any excuse to open a bottle of wine and dig into a big plate of brown butter lobster tortellini mid-week is reason enough for to celebrate, right?


Brown Butter Lobster Tortellini

Serves 2

 1 batch Basic Pasta Dough or 25–30 wonton wrappers
2 fresh (or frozen and thawed) 175g lobster tails
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1–2 cloves garlic, finely minced
½ lemon, zested and juiced
Pinch red chili flakes
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh tarragon
2/3 cup smooth ricotta cheese
1 egg yolk
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

For the sauce and serving
3–4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
½ lemon, zested and juiced
Kosher salt
Fresh tarragon and parsley, finely chopped
Pecorino Romano cheese

Prepare a batch of Basic Pasta Dough, cover, and set aside (or set out your wonton wrappers, cover, and set aside).

Remove the lobster meat from the shells by cutting down the centre of each tail with a pair of kitchen shears, splitting the shell open, and extracting all of the meat. Chop the meat into small pieces and set aside.

In a medium non-stick skillet, melt the butter and cook until it starts to turn lightly golden brown. Add in the chopped lobster meat as well as the finely minced garlic, season with salt and pepper, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes or until the lobster meat is just cooked through. Add in the lemon zest, lemon juice, chili flakes, and herbs and transfer the meat to a bowl. Set aside to cool slightly.

When cooled, stir in the ricotta cheese and egg yolk and season well with salt and pepper.

To form the tortellini, roll out the pasta dough into very thin sheets.  Using a 4-inch round cutter, cut out as many circles as possible (you can also use a knife to cut 4-inch squares).  Place a rounded teaspoon of the lobster filling into the middle of each pasta shape.  Dip your finger in a bowl of water and run it along the edge to moisten.  Fold the dough over to form a half moon (or triangles) around the filling, press well to seal, then draw the two corners of the half moon together to form a little tortellini shape.  Press tightly to join the two corners together and place your formed tortellini onto a flour dusted baking sheet, leaving room between each shape. 

For the brown butter sauce, add the butter to a large stainless steel sauté pan and set it over medium heat. Allow the butter to melt and brown, stirring occasionally. As soon as the butter is golden, add in the black pepper and halved cherry tomatoes and cook for 1 to 2 minutes or just until the tomatoes start to soften up. Add in the lemon zest and juice and remove the pan from the heat.

Cook the tortellini in a large pot of boiling salted water, stirring occasionally, for about 3 minutes for fresh pasta or 2 minutes for wonton wrappers or until the tortellini bob up to the surface and is cooked to your liking.

When the tortellini is cooked, transfer them directly to the brown butter and toss to combine. Add in a few tablespoons of the pasta cooking liquid and give the tortellini a toss so that it is thoroughly coated with the brown butter sauce. Season with a pinch of kosher salt, toss in some fresh herbs and serve, topped with a scattering of Pecorino Romano.

The Sauce Fiend Chronicles: kinda classic Pesto

Basil, Parsley, & Arugula Pesto

Basil, Parsley, & Arugula Pesto

Pesto is one of those things I make when I’m feeling rather Bilbo Baggins-esque.  You know that scene, in the book and the movie, where Bilbo is running about trying to find snacks for Gandalf?  A zillion things on his mind, from birthday parties to food to, you know, Isildur’s Bane aka the One Ring?

 …I feel all thin, sort of stretched, if you know what I mean:
like butter that has been scraped over too much bread.

 Ok, ok, maybe not everyone has pretty much all of LOTR memorized but you get it, right?!  When you’re so busy that your brain is pretty much constantly out to lunch and your to-do list seems insurmountable?  It’s those days that I reach for the food processor and whip up a batch of pesto.

The wonderful thing about this sauce is that it takes about 5 minutes to throw together and every bite is as fresh as summer giving you an extra pep in your step that is so needed in those oh-so busy times.


Basil, Parsley & Arugula Pesto

Serves 4, with some leftover for lunch

2 cups loosely packed basil
1 cup loosely packed parsley
2 cups loosely packed arugula
½ cup grated pecorino cheese
3 tablespoons walnuts
1 - 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 ½ teaspoons lemon zest
3 tablespoons lemon juice
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
500g dry pasta

Place all of the ingredients other than the dry pasta in the bowl of a food processor or in a blender and pulse until well combined.  Set this aside and cook the pasta in heavily salted boiling water until al dente.

When the pasta is cooked, scoop about a cup of the starchy water from the pot and drain the rest.  Transfer the pasta back into the pot and pour on the pesto.  Stir until everything is evenly coated, adding about ½ cup or more of the reserved cooking liquid to thin the pesto out as needed.

Serve topped with a few shavings of pecorino, a sprinkling of salt and pepper, and a squidge of lemon juice to brighten everything up.