Wednesday, July 13, 2005

Summer 2005

Let's see, what am I mad about today? Not tomatoes and pasta.
I'm kinda particular about the tomatoes I grow myself. I don't want to cook them; I want to taste their pure, fresh-picked essence. But I get tired of eating platter after platter of raw tomato wedges dusted with sea salt and drizzled with good oil.
So today I did a riff on a funny old dish I first read about in Nora Ephron's 1983 book, "Heartburn" (a thinly disguised account of her failed marriage to Carl Bernstein -- with recipes).
This is a wonderful hybrid: sorta pasta salad, sorta spaghetti with tomato sauce. The tomatoes are uncooked, but are allowed to meld with basil and minced garlic at room temperature for about an hour before they are dumped onto hot noodles (which themselves then cool off a bit). Perfect for a summer patio lunch.

Raw Tomato-Basil Sauce for Spaghetti
1 generous cup chopped tomatoes
1 smallish-medium clove garlic, minced
2 basil leaves, nicely cut up
1/2 tsp. salt
A couple grinds of black pepper
1 tsp. red wine vinegar
2 tsp. olive oil

Allow to meld. Serve over two modest portions of spaghetti.

So, what am I mad about? Aw, I'm bummed that Firefox is not all I was led to believe -- it has flaws. I'll just have to use Safari for most of my browsing, and Firefox only for Blogger (and I understand Safari is on the brink of being user-friendly with Blogger; whew).

5 comments:

Guy said...

Yay for not cooking loverly maters to death! Cooking with Amy has a similar theme going on. And I have some very perfectly ripe specimens in my kitchen (not in the fridge).
Gee, a hunk of software doesn't live up to its reputation. Damned software. I use 2 different browsers on a daily basis.
I'm mad that I have wild salmon in my fridge and I had to eat dinner at a child's birthday party. Nyah.

Biggles

cookiecrumb said...

Hi Doc!
Yipes, 'maters in the fridge? I had to get very um, demonstrative with my mom about not putting my babies in her ice box.
Hope you get to the salmon soonishly. I described your love of salmon grease to beloved husband and co-cook, but he sorta didn't "get" it. Well -- I certainly do. Mm.
~cc

Guy said...

Okay, Meathenge Labs can help.

Have him strip down buck naked, stand out in the front yard. Position your largest loudspeaker towards him and play Baby Elephant Walk, make him go.
He'll get it.
This is what Meathenge Labs has to offer.

Biggles

cookiecrumb said...

LOL!
Boop-a-doop-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-wop!

Amy Sherman said...

Cool! We must have a psychic blogger connection! Nice post.