Michael's Best Ever Tomato Sandwich

 

         

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Michael's Best Ever Tomato Sandwich

Source: Michael Hopkins who shared a video by Jim Behymer on TikTok

ripe, in season, and flavorful tomatoes, cored and sliced

good bread

butter

mayonnaise

salted and roasted sunflower seeds (I've used unsalted and they taste good, too)

generous amounts of fresh basil and/or fresh dill

salt and pepper

Heat a griddle or skillet on your stove-top to medium to medium-high heat.

Spread the tomatoes on a tray or cutting bard and season well with freshly ground pepper and salt on both sides. 

When griddle is hot, butter both sides of your bread and brown both sides on your griddle.

Spread each slice of bread with a good mayonnaise. Sprinkle one slice with sunflower seeds until well covered. 

Place tomato slices on top of the sunflower seeds until the sandwich is covered by tomato. 

Top with a large handful of fresh basil and dill. (I confess I haven't had enough dill to use it this season.) I've had an abundance of basil so I have been generous with these sandwiches. I recommend putting on as much as your sandwich will hold.

Nonny's Spaghetti with Meat Sauce

This recipe comes from my mother-in-law. Because spaghetti isn't my favorite, Michael has cooked it the most in our family, and the kids know to ask Dad when they want spaghetti! It's becoming a multigenerational recipe, as our teenagers are learning how to make it.  

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Nonny's Spaghetti with Meat Sauce

1 pd meat (typically ground beef but can use sausage, or mix)
2 24 oz bottles spaghetti sauce, your choice
2 med cloves garlic, minced
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
1 large onion, chopped
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
2 T Italian seasoning
1 teas salt

Start the pasta water, and when it's boiling, cook the spaghetti. While the water is coming to a boil, brown the meat over medium heat. Salt and pepper the meat to taste after you place it in the pan, and then add the onions and garlic. Cook until meat is no longer pink. Add the sauces, diced tomatoes, and herbs and simmer for a few minutes. Then enjoy over your pasta!

Spaetzle

I love this more than any other kind of noodle or pasta but it does require some specialized equipment or a technique American's are generally unaccustomed to. If you are willing to try something unusual you'll find an easy noodle that is better than store-bought.

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Spaetzle

From seriouseats.com

Serves 4

1 c AP flour

1/2 c semolina flour

1 teas kosher salt, plus more for cooking water

1 teas finely minced fresh thyme and/or fresh sage

1 large pinch freshly ground black pepper

2 eggs

1/3-1/2 c milk

Place the flours in a mixing bowl and add the salt, herbs, and pepper. Whisk together. Measure milk and whisk the eggs into it while in the measuring cup. Pour into the dry ingredients. Use a fork to gently stir together. If it is so thick it's difficult to work with add a little more milk, up to 1/2 c in total. You should have a dough that is very sticky but not too wet.

Let it rest for 15 minutes.

Bring a large pot of water to boil over high heat. Just before cooking stir in salt.

There are a number of options for getting this dough into boiling water. I use a spaetzle press I purchased in Germany. These are available online but a bit pricey. You can use a dedicated potato ricer. (A press doesn't need to be a uni-tasker in the kitchen. I use mine for making spaghetti ice and for ricing potatoes when making mashed potatoes.) Press the dough through the hopper a large spoonful at a time right into the water, using a  table knife to cut the noodle batter about an inch long. The noodles will rise to the top of the water.  Allow them to cook for another couple of minutes. Scoop the spaetzle out of the water with a spider and place in a bowl. Repeat the process until all the dough is cooked. (You can also shock the noodles in ice water.) You can add butter or oil to keep the spaetzle from sticking to each other, although this isn't usually a huge problem for me.

Another method for spaetzle utilizes this a sheet of metal with holes that sets on top of the pot. I haven't tried it but it looks like it would work fine.

I've read of using a colander or the large holes of a cheese grater. 

Yet another method is to place the dough on the edge of a cutting board and cut bits of the dough off into the water. This might take some practice but it is doable. Here's a YouTube video for an example.

Once the spaetzle is cooked, add some butter, if desired, and taste for seasonings.  Top with finely chopped parsley. Serve as a side with brats, roasted meats, or goulash. 

Orange, Shallot, Olive, and Feta Salad

I see recipes for salads similar to this most winters. Except for the dressing, I've just thrown salad ingredients together with no requirement for amounts. 

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Orange, Shallot, Olive, and Feta Salad

Serves 2

2 teas orange juice concentrate or 2 T orange juice

2 T olive oil

1 teas red wine vinegar

pinch of salt

1/4 teas pepper

For the dressing, place the above ingredients in a jar and top with a tight lid. Shake until all is emulsified. Drizzle over plates with a mixture of the following ingredients as you like.

A mix of navel, Cara Cara or blood oranges, peeled and sliced

Kalamata olives, halved

shallots or red onions, slived very thinly

crumbled feta

Add other ingredients that you enjoy such as sliced fennel bulbs, chopped cilantro and/or chopped pistachios, if desired.

Chai Tea Concentrate

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Chai Tea Concentrate

Source:  Gimmesomeoven

Yields 4 cups

12 cardamom pods, gently crushed or split

8 whole black peppercorns

8 whole cloves

2-4 inch piece of ginger, sliced

4 c water

4 cinnamon sticks

3 whole allspice

2 star anise

1/8 t ground nutmeg

1/2-1 vanilla bean, sliced down the middle 

2 T brown sugar or maple syrup, or to taste

Over medium-high heat bring all ingredient to a boil . Cover and reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to steep for 5-10 minutes longer. (At this point you may add 4 bags black tea or 4 teaspoons loose black tea and steep 5 minutes.) Pour through a strainer and use the liquid as a concentrate mixing  equal parts concentrate with water or milk to make chai tea. Concentrate can be refrigerated for up to a week.

Note:

If the current high price of vanilla beans is too high, skip the bean and add 2 teaspoons vanilla extract to the concentrate after it has cooled.  

Chimichurri

We have written elsewhere about my dad's preparation of taco dip on Christmas Eve every year when I was growing up. Last year my family varied from the specific tradition but kept to its spirit by having Michael prepare dinner on Christmas Eve, and we had ribs and chicken wings. He did the lion's share of the Christmas shopping this time, though, so maybe he would preferred a break! 

This year, he decided on steak, which we were lucky to grab at a Costco that was as crowded as I have ever seen it. The line went from the front of the store all the way to the milk before snaking back on itself all the way to the rotisserie chicken. For Michael's birthday we make steak at home, and in recent years this has included chimichurri, a South American condiment. We have cobbled together various chimichurris, but this year I kept notes and we now have a standard.

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Chimichurri

2 garlic cloves, peeled and trimmed
2 T red wine vinegar
1/2 c olive oil
roughly 1 c cilantro, cut from the end of a bunch
roughly 1/2 c parsley, cut from the end of a bunch
3/4 teas dried oregano
1 teas kosher salt
pepper to taste

Process all ingredients in a food processor until smooth, about 30 seconds. 

Kókópancakes

 

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Kókópancakes

Adapted from: Alton Brown

Yields: about 10 (I usually double since these are easy to freeze and use later)

2 eggs

3/4 c milk

1/2 c water

1 c flour. all-purpose or a mix including some whole wheat

3 T butter, melted

1-2 T sugar, if you want sweet crepes

1 teas vanilla, ditto

Place the eggs, milk and water into a blender and mix until well combined. The add the flour, butter and extra ingredients, if you are using them. Run blender until all is well mixed and smooth.. You may need to use a scraper to push flour off the sides of the blender. AB recommends letting this sit in the fridge for 60 minutes for greater ease of cooking (less tearing), but Kókó and her daddy often don't wait to cook.

Heat a crepe pan or a small nonstick skillet (or best of all, a ponnukokupanna, an Icelandic pancake pan), over medium heat for at least 5 minutes. Butter the pan and use a teaspoon full of batter to test whether the pan is hot enough. It should take 30-60 seconds to cook on one side and fewer than that to cook the second side. Use a quarter cup measure to pour the batter in the pan, pick it up and turn and swirl so the batter slides into a thin covering of the bottom of the pan. When the edges dry slide a thin spatula under and flip the pancake carefully so the other side can cook. AB says he always plans on the first pancake being for the dog so don't get discouraged if your first few are not "beautiful". They will taste good. You can butter your pan between pancakes but I don't always do so. In addition, I prefer vegetable oil to butter. I think butter tastes better, of course, but for me oil is easier to work with. 

These can be treated as crepes but also as pancakes and you can use any topping including macerated fruit or berries. My favorite involves lemon juice and vanilla sugar. Other family members are fans of Nutella, powdered sugar, or cinnamon sugar, often all mixed together!