Lake Lure Cottage Kitchen

What a wonderful way to use fresh tomatoes from the garden! Unfortunately my tomatoes are not ripe yet, so I had to rely on plum tomatoes I purchased from the store. But as soon as mine turn from green to red they will be going into this casserole. The recipe comes from Ina Garten and is one of the Barefoot Blogger recipes of the month chosen by Josie of Pink Parsley Catering. I actually saw the episode of The Barefoot Contessa when she made this and knew it would be something that I would try, so thank you Josie for picking it.

There is another tomato casserole that I blogged about that comes from Mama Dip’s , an institution in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Although I love that casserole, it is almost dessert like in it’s sweetness. This casserole has just the right balance of acidic tomatoes, sugar and Parmesan cheese. The sourdough bread cubes I used in it absorbed all of the tomato juices and balanced the dish well.

Both Mama Dip and Ina Garten have a philosophy about food. Start with food that is real and food that is in season. Then prepare it simply so that the goodness that is inherent in it shines through. I am sending this post to the Two for Tuesdays blog hop. Hop on over and see all of the wonderful healthy recipes that the participants have provided this week. And check out what the other Barefoot Bloggers did with this wonderful scalloped tomato casserole.

SCALLOPED TOMATOES

Ingredients
Good olive oil
2 cups (1/2 inch diced) bread from a French boule (I used Sourdough)
16 plum tomatoes, cut 1/2-inch dice (about 2 1/2 pounds)
1 tablespoon minced garlic (3 cloves)
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt (I used 1 teaspoon)
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup julienned basil leaves, lightly packed
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large (12 inch) saute pan over medium heat. Add the bread cubes and stir to coat with the oil. Cook over medium to medium-high heat for 5 minutes, stirring often, until the cubes are evenly browned.

Meanwhile, combine the tomatoes, garlic, sugar, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. When the bread cubes are done, add the tomato mixture and continue to cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes. Off the heat, stir in the basil.

Pour the tomato mixture into a shallow baking dish. Sprinkle evenly with the Parmesan cheese and drizzle with 2 tablespoon of olive oil. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes until the top is browned and the tomatoes are bubbly. Serve hot of warm.

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I read the New York Times online every Wednesday. Specifically, I read the Food and Wine section. Mark Bittman always has interesting recipes. They are healthy, consciously raised, and real foodstuff. Many of us are trying to eat sanely. We are trying to avoid overly processed and chemically altered food. I try on my blog to offer recipes that use ingredients that are fresh, seasonal and as local as possible. But I usually try not to state the obvious so as not to come off as preachy. But starting next Tuesday I am joining a group of fellow bloggers who are spreading the word about real food. This was brought to my attention by Girlichef. This is how she explains it.

“This Tuesday marks the start of the Two for Tuesdays! Blog Hop Carnival. Two for Tuesdays is the brainchild of Alex from A Moderate Life. It began on her site as a day to link up one (or two) of your blog posts that featured REAL FOOD. Recipes, anecdotes, stories, photos, reviews…anything your blogged about featuring REAL food. What is REAL food, you ask? Think: slow food, traditional food, hand-prepared food, nourishing food…food that is NOT processed….food that doesn’t come from a package…food that your great-grandmother would have made &/or eaten. REAL food is homemade. REAL food is from scratch. REAL food has recognizable ingredients. REAL food is made from traditional ingredients. REAL food is food you make with your own hands…from food grown, milled, raised by you or by people (not machines). Think family farmer. Think farmer’s market. Think garden. Think local grain mill. Think REAL.”

So, although this is not Tuesday, I wanted to join the group. My first recipe is this wonderful pasta dish from Mark Bittman. It is serendipitous that this recipe appeared this Wednesday in the New York Times because my garden was producing the first of the snow peas we planted and it is overrun with lettuce. I have fixed so many salads that I was looking for something different to do with it. What better way to use piles of lettuce than to wilt it into a pasta dish! So I present to you a recipe fresh from my garden using an artisanal pasta and Prosciutto. Even if you don’t have a garden, Farmer’s Markets now have fresh lettuce and snow peas or peas in the pod. This was an excellent dish using very few ingredients, but using only the best.

PASTA WITH PEAS, PROSCIUTTO AND LETTUCE

I know I am going to be sick of squash before the summer is over. You’ve heard the stories of neighbors of gardeners locking their cars and screened in porches so that said gardeners can’t unload huge squash on them. There are cookbooks devoted to nothing else but uses for summer squash. I even have a recipe somewhere for a chocolate zucchini cake (which is excellent by the way). So forgive me if I get excited about my first squash casserole of the season. This is a great recipe! I have adapted it from a recipe I saw in Food & Wine. I have called it a Southwestern squash casserole only because it has cornmeal in it and that was what David said it tatsted like when he tried it. Next time I make it, I might add some cumin, hot spices and vary the cheeses. But as it is, it is excellent. It starts with yellow squash, zucchini and a sweet red pepper and onion.

The squash and zucchini were crisply fresh from the garden and the red pepper added a lot of color. The flour and cornmeal thickened the milk and eggs and made a custard in which the vegetables were suspended. The Parmesan and Gruyere cheese added richness. I will be making this again. . . . . and again. . . . and again this summer.

I served the squash with Balsamic glazed pork chops. Recipe to follow.

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Blogging has many benefits. Among them is meeting other bloggers. Add to that meeting other bloggers and being asked to dinner. Last summer I met fellow blogger Penny of Comforts of Home and Lavender Hill Studio. You can read about our get together here. Not only do we share a name, but we are both from Michigan originally and now live very close to each other. Penny and her husband live in Asheville and have been working on remodeling their new home. I have been following her progress on her blog and was so excited when she emailed and invited my husband and me to dinner. Her house is even more beautiful in person. She is a very talented decorator and her home is warm and welcoming. She is also an excellent cook.

Our dinner was Cornish Hens with Pancetta, fresh asparagus, and roasted baby new potatoes. The cornish hens were absolutely delicious and the presentation was stunning. They were stuffed under the skin with mascarpone cheese and pancetta was draped over the top. They were succulent and flavorful. My picture below does not do them justice. Here’s the thing about being a blogger. There are no etiquette rules for our obsession with snapping pictures of food. I usually have to take several pictures to get just the right angle and lighting. It just didn’t seem right to be standing in Penny’s dining room, shooting picture after picture while everyone was waiting to eat. So I shot just one. It will have to do. The other two pictures are courtesy of Penny. She is a blogger. She understands.

You can’t get much better than that. I love Penny’s plates too.

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There is a wonderful tailgate market in the historic town of Flat Rock not far from our home. Local farmers, herbalists, flower vendors, wild mushroom collectors and meat and seafood purveyors convene in a picturesque shady dell behind the local bakery and antique shop to sell their specialities. The market is held every Thursday from 3:00 to 6:00. This early in the season it is prudent to get there by 3:00.

All of the Spring vegetables go quickly. Unfortunately we did not arrive until after 4:00 and there was very little left. But what we did find were beautiful shrimp caught off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida. The seafood vendor said that he normally gets his fresh seafood from the Carolina coast, but that it was too early for that. The shrimp were beautiful and very large. We decided to do a simple pasta dish with them. I love lemon with my seafood pasta dishes. It lightens and brightens the heaviness of the pasta. And since I used whole wheat spaghetti in this recipe it was necessary. The recipe does not call for mushrooms, but I already had some sauteed mushrooms from another meal, so feel free to add them if you like. We loved this so much that it will be repeated often.

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