Bruschetta Bread

One day last week, I was faced with the following conundrum: what could I fix that would use up the last 1/3 of a loaf of Italian bread, a handful of grape tomatoes that were on the verge of becoming wrinkly, and a basil plant that is threatening to take over our back yard?

Bruschetta! Or my version of it anyway! What's great about it (and also makes it hard to write down) is that these measurements don't have to be exact - just use what you have on hand.

Bruschetta Bread

Pesto:

4 cups fresh basil, loosely packed

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

5-6 cloves garlic

3/4 cup olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Italian bread or something equivalent

2 cups diced tomatoes (I used a combination of the grape tomatoes plus a couple of Better Boys from our garden)

1 cup or so of mozzarella, depending on how cheesy you want it

3 tbs. butter, melted

Put the ingredients for the pesto, except parmesan cheese, into a food processor. Blend well, but the goal is not to liquify it. Put into bowl and stir in parmesan cheese. Set aside (I actually like to set this aside for 1/2 hour or so to allow flavors to blend, but that is not necessary)

Brush the slices of Italian bread with the butter. Then spread pesto on each slice (the amount depends on personal preference). Top with diced tomatoes and then mozzarella.

Place on baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted (sometimes I put in the broiler to speed things up).

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Green Tomatoes "Recipe"

After my post last week on my love of green tomatoes, a few of you asked for my recipe. Well, I don't have a recipe per se, but I do have a method, so I'll share that now.

First, I cut up some lovely green tomatoes into slices about 1/4 inch or so thick (I'm not big on or talented at exact cutting). Then I lay them all out and sprinkle them with either seasoning salt or Creole seasoning to taste. I flip them over and sprinkle the other side.

Then I put some flour on a plate (how much flour depends on how many tomatoes you're doing). I dredge each slice in flour and set them aside.

Then, I heat up about 1/4 inch of olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat.

After the oil is hot, I dredge each tomato slice in the flour AGAIN right before I put it in the oil (sometimes I sprinkle some of whatever seasoning I'm using into the flour for this second dredging...sometimes I don't. Whatever floats your boat). Then I lay the tomatoes in a single layer in the oil and flip them once the first side gets a nice brown crust on it. Take the tomatoes out of the oil when both sides are nicely browned and put on a paper towel lined plate. Depending on how many tomatoes you're doing and the size of your skillet, you may have to do several batches.

Then, because you're impatient like me, eat your first fried green tomato when it's waaaaay too hot and chew it with your mouth open to get some cool air in there because you couldn't possibly swallow something that hot.

And that's my method. I'm sure someone else has a better one, but this works for me!

I Love Fried Green Tomatoes

All I want to say today is that I love fried green tomatoes. They make me happy.

I also want to say thank you to Mr. 31's little brother for knocking down a bunch of green tomatoes with a basketball. Mr. 31 is more into letting the tomatoes go red than eating them green.