I gave a dinner party as a 50th birthday gift to a friend and a few weeks ago she took me up on the offer. I insisted that she invite a few extra people so that more people would be eating..I mean if one is cooking, better a crowd. The menu went back and forth a little. I wanted to do a whole fish, but the friend’s husband couldn’t handle seeing it. I tried Lobsters, that was a no no as well. I settled on brochettes…now, I had done those for her before, but somehow they hadn’t been memorable enough…so I did a repeat. The entire menu is as follows:
Mini Croque Monsieur
Cucumbers with Celery Root and Radish Remoulade
Cold Zucchini Soup
Beef, Mushroom, Bacon, Lemon, Brochettes
Chicken with Tequila Brochettes
Salad of Kasha with Raw Vegetables
Tomato Crumble
Green Salad with Simple Dressing
Warm Peach Cake
Fruit Soup
Ice Cream
I prepped everything at home and transported to her house, with very little to cook there…I have learned a thing or two in the past six months watching my chefs do prep for cocktail parties!! I adored her friends…they got into the food, they asked questions and they made comments, which is what I like. I mean how am I going to know what works and what doesn’t?
So…the hit of the evening was the tomato crumble….I will admit that I have adapted this recipe from one I had many years ago and I think I now make it better than the restaurant where I first had it in Normandy….tomatoes are about at their peak now, but you can also make this in the winter. What my guests didn’t know, but will now, is that you must not scrimp on ingredients. You must use really good cheese, really good butter and take the time to seed the tomatoes..fresh basil is also really important. So, not to scare you….but here you go Eydie!
TOMATO CRUMBLE
Ingredients:
- 6 large tomatoes
- 4 soup spoons olive oil
- 1 large bunch of basil
- 1/2 cup fresh ground parmesean
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1/4 cup fresh breadcrumbs (if you don’t make them yourself, just make sure they are unseasoned)
- 1/2 cup salted butter (100 grams) and make sure it is soft, so leave out on counter or melt if you are in a time crunch
What to do:
- in a small mixer, combine the basil and two spoons of the olive oil and make a “pesto”
- core the tomatoes, and cut in half and take out all the seeds, cut them in cubes, and put them in a saucepan with a little oil and butter so they release their water.. this takes just a few minutes
- put the tomatoes in a gratin dish and let them sit while you prepare the crumble. Periodically, get rid of the liquid in the dish. You can save this for cooking, or even drinking, but try to do it several times so that you get rid of the maximum of liquid that accumulates in the gratin dish
- when you are satisfied that there is little liquid left, spread the pesto over the tomatoes
- combine the butter, flour, breadcrumbs and parmesan in a bowl to make the crumble. I use my hands so that everything is really well combined.
- salt and pepper the tomatoes and the basil, and then spread the crumble on top
- put some olive oil drizzled on top and put in an oven at around 350° for roughly 15-20 minutes.
- you want the top to be golden and then serve.
Remember that tomatoes are hot when cooked, so be careful. I love this and it is even great, just as a main course, with a salad and dessert…better than dessert.
Write and tell me what you think..and Eydie, sorry this took so long to get to you….but I needed inspiration..and I seem to have found it again.
Must recommend a few things I have recently rented that are really good. The first one that is long…but worth it is called Glorious 39 and if it was in the theaters, I missed it. It has Ramola Garai, Bill Nighy, Julie Christie and that addorable Eddie Redmayne and many more. Directed by Stephen Poliakoff..so you know it excellent….just my kind of drama, pre- World War II as the main era, but starts in present time…..get the popcorn!
The other series is called Shakespeare Retold and it has four plays all done in present time and with a wonderful cast, you will know most of them if you are a British TV fan…and they are so funny. If you just watched Rufus Sewell on Masterpiece Theater as that detective Zen, then you are going to love him in the Taming of the Shrew ……Much ado about Nothing was also spectacular as was Macbeth…my least favorite was Midsummer’s Night Dream, but that is not one of my favorites anyway….
