When you have just suffered a day of unbearable heat, and your house is still stagnant with the day’s humid air, sometimes the last thing you feel like doing is increasing the temperature in your house by flaring up the stove.  Often during these nights you can’t even tell whether or not you are truly hungry, even though your grumpy mood insists that you are.  Well such was the case when I concocted this delightful sandwich.

I decided one pot, one burner was my max, so I picked up a piece of beautiful of fresh sockeye salmon from The New Deal fish market here in Cambridge.  I kept thinking about what to serve with the salmon when a thought occurred – why not just make a delicious sandwich to encase the entire dinner and call it a night?  Sounded simple enough.

If you are just going to have one thing for dinner, you want it to satisfy, so good quality ingredients are key.  Lucky for me it was Monday, the day of the farmer’s market that is less than a block from our house (I know, we are lucky, lucky, lucky and very grateful!).  I picked up a nice crusty sourdough loaf, some fresh tomatoes, and a nice bunch of fresh basil that I thought I would use to whip up a basil mayonnaise.  I was ready for dinner!

This sandwich turned out to be simple but so unbelievably satisfying.  If you are having guests, perhaps just a simple salad might compliment this sandwich nicely.  We were cooking for two, and loved the idea of eating the whole darn meal with our ten fingers, and I must say, that wasn’t a bad way to do it.  Total prep time was around 20 minutes and one pot made the dish load very manageable.  A successful cure for the sticky hot, summertime Monday blues!

Ingredients:

• 1/3 lb. of fresh salmon per person
• Good quality crusty sourdough bread
• 1/4 cup of mayonnaise per two people
• 1 lemon
• 1 large ripe tomato
• 2 tablespoons of fresh basil,chopped
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon canola or vegetable oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

Pat your salmon very dry, especially if you like to eat the crispy skin, and season it with salt and pepper.  In a cast iron skillet, melt the butter and add the oil.  Place the salmon skin-side down in the skillet, and leave it alone until you can see that the salmon is cooked about halfway through and the fish moves freely from the pan, about 4 minutes, depending on thickness.  If it sticks, do not fight it, just give it another minute or so.  Then, flip it and cook another three or four minutes until it is just shy of done.  It will finish cooking as it rests.  It may take a bit longer if it is a thick piece of salmon.  Remove from the skillet and set aside to rest.  Squeeze half of the lemon over the salmon to keep it moist and to add acidity.

In a small bowl, mix the mayonnaise, basil, and about a teaspoon of lemon juice.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Set aside for assembly.

To assemble the  sandwiches, cut the bread to about 1/2 inch thick slices.  If you insist on toasting it, be my guest, but down blame me when the sandwiches innards end up all on your lap.  Add a generous layer of the basil mayonnaise, the salmon (skin removed if you prefer), and nice, thick tomato slices.  Cut in half to make them easier to eat, and enjoy!

Ketchup has always held a special place in my culinary eye.  As a kid, I put the stuff on literally everything – even chicken, steak and pork chops – rather than just the standard french fries and burgers (which I of course enjoyed also).  These days, I’ve cut way back on my ketchup consumption, but I still like it on the standard stuff.  In fact one of the times I really enjoy it is at breakfast time on eggs and omelets.

Don’t get me wrong, I do think the Heinz company makes a great product – their ketchup really hasn’t wavered in quality over the many years – they’ve stayed very consistent which is great.  I’ve always been tempted to make my own ketchup and when I found Jamie Oliver’s recipe in a recent cookbook, I thought hey, why not give it a shot.  My recipe is a lot like Jamie’s, with a few variations.

Being winter time, I unfortunately had to opt for standard grape tomatoes, instead of those awesome multi-colored heirloom tomatoes that will enable you to create cool looking yellow and green (or even purple) ketchups. This variation turned out really well, though I may have added a little bit too much vinegar.  The straining of the sauce through a sieve is a critical step in the cooking process, as it gives the condiment that great clean sheen and smooth texture.  Do this multiple times if you can.  Here’s how to make your own ketchup happen:

• Around 2 cups of cherry tomatoes (best quality you can find) or the equivalent amount of awesome heirloom tomatoes – halved or chopped
• 2 medium sun dried tomatoes – soaked for at least 45 minutes in hot water, then chopped finely
• 1/2 bulb fennel – chopped
• 1 large onion – roughly chopped
• 1 Tbsp. coriander seeds
• 1 large celery stick – cubed
• 1 large clove garlic – diced
• 1 Tbsp. ginger – peeled and chopped
• 1 tsp. dried basil flakes
• 1 tsp. red chili flakes (more if you want it spicier)
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 – 3/4 cup apple cider vinegar – start with 1/2 cup and add more to your taste
• Salt
• 1 Tbsp. white pepper
• 1/4 cup olive oil

Start by prepping your vegetables.  Once your onion, fennel, celery, garlic and ginger are ready to go, add them to a heavy bottomed pot such as a dutch oven and add the olive oil ahead of time.  Add in the coriander seeds,  pepper flakes, basil, sun dried tomatoes, salt and white pepper and cook the combination slowly over medium/low heat.  Soften the vegetables, stirring often for somewhere in the range of 20-30 minutes.  Be sure not to brown the vegetables at all if you can help it.

Next, add the tomatoes into the mix, stirring to incorporate.  Add around 1 cup of water into the pot as well and bring the liquid to a boil (turning the heat up a bit).  Reduce the liquid a good amount (by about half).

Next add the mixture to a food processor or blender and puree for a minute or two until all of the chunks have been reduced to almost nothing.  Add the puree to a medium fine sieve and strain through the sieve into a clean pot – do this a couple of times at least to get the right texture.  Bring the heat back (on low) and add in the vinegar and brown sugar, stirring to incorporate.  Cook down as you wish to the right texture and consistency.  That’s it!  Can this sauce as you wish and enjoy the tomato goodness.

Summer has come and gone and as usual, I’m wishing for more of the nice weather and great fresh, simple ingredients and recipes.  Fall season is here though, and with it brings the awesome earthy, organic flavors of squash, apples and mushrooms.  I gotta say, it might be my favorite season of the food calendar.  The nights get shorter, the beer gets darker and so does the food.  Bring it on!

Our local farmer’s market is still hanging on to some of the last fruits of the summer though, as there was still an abundance of summer squash, as well as some late season tomatoes, which I’m happy for as I try to wrap my head around doing some canning for the winter.  This recipe really was thrown together at the last minute and the final product was good, so I’ve decided to post it – if for nothing else then as another good idea on using summer squash – an ingredient that I find sort of difficult to innovate dishes around.  When in doubt – make a pasta, it is really hard to screw up.

The dish is sort of similar to one of Aimee’s classic pasta recipes like Linguine with Little Neck Clams and Chorizo Sausage or Pork, Spinach and Feta Ragu with Vodka Sauce. The one thing that differentiates this dish from the rest is some of the ingredients, the fact that it doesn’t include any meat (hence the ‘Primavera’ aspect of it) and the combination of summer and fall flavors.

I also added some Marscarpone cheese to the dish to finish it, as it added a layer of creaminess to the dish, something I like with veggie pastas.  The other tip I want to share is a method of finishing a pasta, something I will always do now (especially after reading Bill Buford’s book ‘Heat’).  This method entails actually under-cooking your pasta somewhat in the pot, then removing it and finishing it in another pan with a tablespoon or two of your pasta water.  This really creates an awesome binder between the flavors that are in play and will make any pasta better, I promise.  The pasta itself will finish cooking and your final result will be perfect!  Here’s how it went:

For the tomato sauce first:

• 1/2 a large white onion (1/2 for the sauce, 1/2 for the veggie portion)
• 1 medium carrot – shredded on large holes of a box grater
• 3-4 cloves garlic
• 1/2 cup good (at least decent) red wine
• 1 1/2 cup crushed tomatoes
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 – 1 Tbsp. red pepper flakes (optional and add based on your own heat preferences)
• 1 tsp. fresh oregano (optional)
• Salt and fresh pepper
• 3 Tbsp. olive oil

Start the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat and add the onion and carrot and season with salt.  Sweat the onion and carrot and let them cook for 5-10 minutes.  Add the garlic, oregano, a little more salt and red pepper flakes and continue to cook for another 5 minutes or so.  Add in the wine and let it reduce by half to 3/4.  At this point, you should start the rest of your dish!!!  Add in the tomatoes and the bay leaf with a little more salt and pepper, reduce the heat to low, add a little water and keep the sauce at a slow simmer while you cook the rest of the dish:

• 2 medium summer squash or 4-5 small round summer squash – shredded on a box grater
• 1 bunch red kale (or green) – chopped
• 1 small head fennel – sliced lengthwise
• 1/2 a large onion (large dice)
• Small bunch of basil, 1/3 to 1/2 a cup – roughly chopped
• 1/2 – 3/4 cup almonds – whole and chopped, then toasted in a small pan over low heat until golden brown
• 1/2 cup good dry white wine
• 1/3 – 1/2 cup mascarpone cheese (or cream cheese, ricotta, feta…)
• 1 lb. whole wheat spaghetti
• Salt and pepper
• 2 Tbsp. Butter
• 1 tbsp. olive oil

Start a large pot of boiling water.  In another large skillet (aside from the sauce) over medium/low heat, add the butter and olive oil.  When they’ve come up to temperature, add the onions and fennel and cook them for around 10 minutes, until they begin to caramelize.  Add in the kale and combine it with the other veggies – it should wilt a little as it cooks down.  Before adding the squash, turn up the heat on the pan a bit and make some room for it on one side of the pan.  Add it in and let it brown a little bit before mixing it together with the rest of the veg.  Finally, add the basil and cook to combine.

In a small separate pan over medium/low heat, add in the almonds and brown them until golden, then take them off the heat.  When the water comes up to a boil, add a few pinches of salt and the pasta, stir and cook until it’s JUST al dente and kill the heat but don’t drain it!

Meanwhile, when the veggies are cooked to a desired doneness, add in the wine and cook off until there’s very little left.  At this point, add in the tomato sauce that you made in the separate pan to the veggies and cook together for a few minutes.  Remove the bay leaf and adjust the seasonings to your liking.  Add in the marscarpone and mix together.

So now you should be ready to combine the sauce and the pasta.  The way I do this is in a separate pan (the one I used for the sauce).  Simply ladle around a cup of the sauce into the pan once it’s gotten hot, and grab a bunch of pasta with tongs and add it to the pan and combine it with the sauce.  Next, add in around 1-2 tablespoons of the water you cooked the pasta in to the pan and mix together.  Serve the pasta on a dish of your choice and top with grated Parmesan.  Buon appetito!

Finally.  BLT season is here!  Easily one of my favorite food seasons (along with stone fruit season, green garlic season, etc…).  I freely admit that for the last four days I have eaten a BLT at least twice a day.  Now obviously, most people can figure out how to make a BLT.  I thought I would share some personal opinions (and a few facts) that might make your BLT just a little bit better.

First, a set in stone fact.  DON’T REFRIGERATE TOMATOES.  Just like stone fruits, pears, etc… refrigeration does bad things to great product. Here I give you fact from the author of the bible (a.k.a. Harold McGee, author of “On Food and Cooking” Scribner 2004 revised edition).

“Tomatoes came originally from a warm climate and should be stored at room temperature. Their fresh flavor readily suffers from refrigeration. Tomatoes at the mature-green stage are especially sensitive to chilling at temperatures below about 55ºF, and suffer damage to their membranes that results in minimal flavor development, blotchy coloration, and a soft, mealy texture when they are brought back to room temperature. Fully ripe tomatoes are less sensitive, but lose flavor due to the loss of flavor producing enzyme activity. Some of this activity can come back, so refrigerated tomatoes should be allowed to recover at room temperature for a day or two before eating.”

Basically, just don’t do it.

Next up, I like to marinate tomatoes for at least half an hour before eating them (though marinating for a few hours, certainly isn’t going to hurt). I typically peel my tomatoes. To do this, cut a very shallow, small X on the bottom of the tomato, just deep enough to break the skin. Put the tomato in boiling water for five to ten seconds depending on ripeness. Remove the tomato and let it cool for a minute or two. The skin where you made the X should be peeled back slightly. Use a pairing knife, pull the skin away from the flesh.

Cut your tomatoes into slices or wedges, whichever you prefer, and sprinkle with chopped shallot, basil, pepper, and some good olive oil.  I would do the same thing for most dishes using raw tomato.  In the picture, I used Fino Verde basil, which has very small leaves, and Tasmanian pepper (an extremely floral pepper that can be obtained through Le Sanctuaire http://www.le-sanctuaire.com/)  Another idea would be to use garlic oil. To make this, submerge peeled garlic cloves in olive oil and cook in a 250ºF oven until the garlic is soft.  You now have garlic confit and garlic flavored oil.

Now, the bacon.  The only trick with this one is finding the best.  I am partial to Benton’s from Tennessee, but if there is a good local pork producer, it is hard to go wrong.

Lettuce.  Boston Bibb is a good lettuce for BLTs, but I like something with a little more spice.  My favorite is mustard greens.  Dark purple and vibran green with an intense mustard flavor.  You probably wouldn’t want to eat a salad made solely of these as they are so spicy, but on a sandwich they’re great.  In second place is a very spicy wild arugula.

Like the bacon, the bread is all about finding a great product, except being local is even more important.  We all know how quickly bread can transform from sublime to mundane.  Search out a local bakery and look for a soft crusted bread.  When you are making a dish with only three or four ingredients it is imperative that you use the best.  With such a tight focus, any mediocre product is going to stand out.

Dressing.  Now this one is open for debate.  My two current favorite spreads for my BLT are guacamole or Kewpie mayo.  I know I use the stuff in half my recipes but it is because it is so damn good.  Pick some up already.  And lose that “Ewwwwww” face.  Seriously, it’s delicious.