ROASTED GRAPE (Cherry, or Campari) TOMATOES

Ya know; sometimes the simplest dishes are my favorite.  Roasted Grape Tomatoes is one of those dishes.  I'm gonna call it, minimal effort for maximum flavor.  Roasting the tomatoes gives the tomatoes a richer, deeper and sweeter tomato flavor, that doesn’t even compare to a raw tomato. 

 

This is one dish that everyone should have in their repertoire, because it’s so gosh darned easy to make and totally versatile.  I like to use Campari tomatoes when I serve this for a side dish; it goes great with poultry, beef, pork, ham and seafood.  I use the smaller grape or cherry tomatoes, to toss into pasta, or to serve over fish, shrimp, or scallops.  When I made the  tomato dish this particular day, it was to use as a condiment on a Greek Minute Steak Sandwich, which turned out amazingly good (look for it soon)!  Roasted Grape Tomatoes would be great on a burger; even as an appetizer on crostada or crostini.  See, I told you, you need to know this recipe, look at everything you can do with it!

Here's what you do.

Pre heat the oven to 375 degrees.

A Pyrex pie plate is the perfect size to roast a pint of tomatoes.  To the tomatoes add a couple of cloves of sliced garlic and a tablespoon of fresh thyme.  Oregano would also be yummy.

Drizzle about a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil over the tomatoes.

Season with about 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper.

Roast in a hot oven for 15 to 20 minutes, just until the skins of the tomatoes begin to burst.

I removed the garlic from the tomatoes because it had released its flavor into the oil and juices; you can leave the garlic if you choose.  Roasted Grape Tomatoes can be served at any temperature, with a multitude of uses.

ROASTED GRAPE (Cherry, or Campari) TOMATOES

Serves 2-4

1              pint      Grape, cherry, or Campari tomatoes

2              cloves   Garlic, sliced

1              Tbsp.     Fresh thyme

1              Tbsp.     Olive oil

¼             tsp.       Salt

¼             tsp.       Pepper

  1.        Pre heat oven to 375 degrees.

  2.       Toss all the ingredients together in Pyrex pie plate, or an 8 x 8 baking dish; be sure the tomatoes are well coated.

  3.       Roast in the hot oven for 15 to 20 minutes, until the skin on the tomatoes begins to burst.

The tomatoes taste great at any temperature.  Serve Roasted Grape Tomatoes as a side dish, a condiment in a sandwich or burger, toss them into pasta, pour the tomatoes over fish, serve over crostada, or crostini.

*Note, the Campari tomatoes work great for a side dish, but are too large to work well as a condiment, stick with the cherry or grape tomatoes.

SWEET AND SPICY PEPPER VINEGAR

*Update:  I have to apologize to those of you who left the kind comments yesterday; I must have accidentally pushed delete instead of publish and I lost all of your messages.  I love to hear from you and value what you say.  Please continue to leave comments, I promise that I will be more careful from now on!

I’m a little late getting to my blog today; I’ve been in the bathroom most of the morning.  Too much information?  Sorry!  

It’s been quite a weekend:  

The Fiscal Cliff has been resolved; to which I have mixed feelings.  I’m glad to not hear about it anymore, but really don't think we have the answer to our debt problems solved (Canada paid off their debt by adding a federal sales tax ,GST).  

The NHL lockout is over!  Yesterday morning Billy woke me up with a big kiss on my cheek and just said, “Game on.”  There was no mistaking what he meant.  Billy will be going back to work!  After months of seeing A LOT of each other, we will now be seeing little of each other as the schedule will be jammed pack while the league tries to make up for lost time.  I’ll miss my husband.

The reason that I was in the bathroom all morning…We got a new cat yesterday!

We have two other cats, so to integrate her into the house hold we will keep her in the bathroom for a few days.  We lost our cat, Herbie the Love Bug on Thanksgiving and the house has been too dang quiet without him.  Lucy (the queen) hasn’t missed him at all, but Sweet Pea (the baby) and Herbie were playmates, so she misses him.  

 

We haven’t named our newest baby yet, we will when we know her a little better.  We know that she purrs a lot and that she loves her chin rubbed, but that’s about it.

Finally, I made an easy Sweet and Spicy Pepper Vinegar.  I actually made a Caribbean inspired meal with Vegetarian Collard Greens and Roasted Plantains and this pepper vinegar was the delicious condiment that made everything just perfect.  This pepper vinegar is made easily because there is no cooking, just mix everything together and put it in the fridge.  The peppers that are used in the islands to make pepper vinegar are really spicy and the Islanders, accustomed to spice in there foods will just douse their meal with the vinegar.  For my Gringo version of pepper vinegar I used a combination of bell peppers and habaneros for sweet and heat.  I also used a little shallot and orange zest just because it’s yummy!

 

Here’s what you need.

Bell pepper, habanero pepper, orange zest, honey and apple cider vinegar.

You will also need a shallot, which was an after thought.

 

I’m a bit of a wimp so I removed the seeds from the habanero, but if you can take the heat, don’t remove the seeds. 

I did end up wanting more heat so I added a pinch of crushed red chili flakes.  You can always add more heat, but you can't remove it.

 

Dice the bell peppers small.  A combination of red and orange bell peppers is pretty. 

Mince the habanero pepper finely. 

 

 Mince a small shallot.

 

Fresh grated orange zest adds citrus flavor to the pepper vinegar.

Use your favorite honey.

 

Put all the ingredients in a medium bowl and pour the apple cider vinegar over the top.

 

Refrigerate for at least a couple of hours to allow the flavors to come together.  Overnight is even better.  The vinegar acts as a preservative, so this will keep for a couple weeks in the refrigerator; beyond that I can’t tell you because we use it all up by then.

I plan on using this vinegar in several recipes this next week, because I love it so.  I promise that I will keep you posted.

Yields about 2 cups

1                            Sweet bell pepper, red, orange, yellow, or a combination; small dice

1                            Habanero (scotch bonnet) pepper, seeds removed (if desired) and minced

2              Tbsp.       Small shallot, minced (about 1 small shallot)

½             tsp.        Grated orange zest

¼             cup         Honey

½             cup         Apple cider vinegar

  1.        Combine all the ingredients in a medium bowl; give it a stir to combine.

  2.       Refrigerate for at least a couple of hours (24 hours is best) to allow the flavors to come together.

  3.       Store in a clean container in the refrigerator.  This pepper vinegar will last for a couple of weeks in the refrigerator.

*Note, if the vinegar is not spicy enough, add a pinch of red chili flakes.