Ciao Cafe: Food, Drink and All That Jazz..

Pickled Tomatoes

When I say the word pickles, the only thought that comes to mind is either a sweet or dill brined cucumber and rightful so. Pickles have been a staple in american deli’s for a hundred years now. Whether gherkin, dill or sweet, they always add pop to your meal.

I had an amazing sandwich a few months back at a local gastropub that used pickled tomatoes in their BLT. BOOM. Talk about a pop of flavor. It had all the flavor of the bacon and homemade bread but with a wonderful acidic element that gave this sandwich its unique character. I had to try and pickle my own.

Now pickling other vegetables is nothing new and outside of the US and Canada, a pickle still referrers to the canning process and not the cucumber variety. I wanted to try something new but where to start? So many questions to consider.. What brine to use? What type of tomato would work best? I pretty much went into this experiment with little to no knowledge or previous experience. What I settled on was an apple cider vinegar based brine that I would hold a combination of vine tomatoes and tomatillos. I wanted to see which one would not only take in the best flavor, but also structurally hold up over the next few month. What I discovered was that both varieties handled the brine well, having a wonderful flavor. The tomatillos however, kept their firmness much better than the vine tomatoes.

Overall, I would consider this first run a huge success. My mind is running wild with new veggies to brine.

In a small pot combine:
1.5 cups apple cider vinegar
1.5 cups filtered water
2 tbls salt
2 tbls sugar
4-8 garlic cloves, sliced
Pinch coriander
4-6 peppercorns

Bring the mixture to a boil for 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat, allow to cool to room temperature.

Pour the brine into your jars over the tomatoes. It’s enough for about 3, maybe 4 pints depending on how much evaporated and how many tomatoes are stuffed into your jar.

Cover the jar with a sterilized lid and screw your ring on. Put them in the refrigerator and let them sit for at least 24 hours to soak up the goodness. They will last a long time refrigerated, a few months. That is if you don’t eat them all first.

Lamill

Blue Bottle

Handsom

(Source: coffeedoneright)

Smoked salmon, flat bread pizza. Sex in the mouth.

I am a huge fan of making pizzas at home with Naan bread. A common mistake people make when trying their hand at pizza at home is using fresh or frozen dough. In a perfect world, fresh dough provides the finest canvas for the Italian/American staple. Unfortunately, home ovens do not provide the proper amount of radiant heat necessary to create the coveted charred crust.

I used to work for a popular restaurant that specialized in brick oven pizza. It’s a science getting the crust right while balancing property heated toppings. This usually took place in three regions within the oven’s space. The fire created an oven with an excess of 800-900 degrees and managing the distance from the flame insured that the final product was crisp and heated throughout… something that is very difficult in the typical 400-500 degree home oven.

With that said, there is a great alternative in Naan bread. This oven-baked, leavened bread provides the right about of depth, flavor and structure necessary for a quality, at-home ‘zza. Since the bread is already baked, there is no risk of a soggy, uncooked center. An amazing jumping off point is a simple Margherita, with simply crushed tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and sweet basil. Ultimately, the varieties are endless.

Smoked Salmon Pizza

Naad bread
Neufchatel cheese (light layer on the bread)
One package smoked salmon
Red onion
Crushed tomatoes
Capers
Fresh basil
Crushed black pepper
Parsley