Elegant

Quick and Easy Cast-Iron Garlic and Herb Roasted Tomatoes

~ Teresa Blackburn ~ 11 Comments
Same house, same yard, same wee garden space and 16 years later we finally have a lot of home-grown tomatoes. Which just adds to the many mysteries of gardening. One small sweet cherry tomato plant has been like a factory, revealing ripe red jewels every day all summer. This simple how-to-recipe is just one of the many ways we have eaten them.

Nothing roasts tomatoes quite so well as a cast-iron skillet in my opinion. Toss in some of my “oven-roasted garlic” from my last post, tomatoes and herbs and you are ready to roast.

Incredibly yummy on a baguette from Dozen Bakery with the aromatic roasted tomatoes piled on top of a thin slab of room-temp Brie, a sprinkling of sea salt and a chilled glass of vino.
What we didn’t eat, I put into a glass jar, with more fresh herbs and covered with olive oil and put into the freezer for later. I know one day soon when it is chilly, and dark and rainy I will remembered this secreted away jar, pull it out of the freezer, thaw and repeat this meal, or toss with pasta, or add to a pan when I am baking a chicken. Always planning for another day, while living in this one.
Just a bite away.

Do the best you can, share, wear your mask, get vaccinated, live life.

Cast-Iron Garlic and Herb Roasted Tomatoes

For this non-recipe-recipe you will need:

A very good crusty baguette; two pints of cherry tomatoes; a handful of fresh herbs such as thyme, rosemary, oregano and sage; olive oil roasted garlic, or fresh garlic smashed and olive oil; sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, room temperature softened Brie

To do:

,Turn oven to 425 degrees. In a 10 or 12 inch cast iron skillet add the tomatoes, some of the herbs, olive oil with roasted garlic or fresh smashed garlic with olive oil, sea salt and black pepper. Place skillet in the oven and roast for about 20 minutes or until the tomatoes begin to burst and start to char. Remove skillet from oven.

To baguette slices add softened Brie and top with tomato mixture (be sure to scrape up some of the pan drippings as well. Add more fresh herbs if you like, salt and pepper. Enjoy.

You can make this any time of the year using store-bought cherry or grape tomatoes. Best with summer home-grown but needs must!

teresablackburnfoodstyling.com

“Falling in Love…Ines Rosales Tortas with Dark Chocolate & Pistachios”

~ Teresa Blackburn ~ 18 Comments

Ines Rosales tortas

Do you believe it is possible to “fall in love” with an inanimate object? In this case a “food object? Well, it happened to me the first time I bit into an “Ines Rosales Torta” a few years ago. To this day these uniquely crisp sweet olive oil tortas from Seville, Spain are at the top of my indulgent food list. From the style of the packaging to the savory-sweet crispness these tortas appeal to every one of my senses. They are full of rustic charm & rare combinations of flavors.  Originally they made and sold just the Sweet Olive Oil Tortas, but now have flavors such as Seville Orange, Rosemary & Thyme, Cinnamon and Sesame & Sea Salt. Perfect as they are, they are very well suited to a bit of embellishment (previous blog on Ines Rosales).

I had been thinking for a while that a drizzle of really rich dark chocolate & a sprinkle of pistachios would take these tortas to a whole new level of goodness for a special celebration. On New Year’s Eve I pulled out my stash, got out the chocolate & nuts and brought this idea to life.

Ines Rosales Tortas, Chocolate & Pistachios

This is so easy and so elegant.

1. Spread 6 Ines Rosales Tortas out on a sheet pan covered with parchment.

Ines Rosales Tortas

2. Melt 3.5 ounces of good quality dark chocolate (Green & Black’s Organic is a good one) in a saucepan with 3 tablespoons of good butter (Kerrygold is my favorite) over low heat until chocolate is completely melted & silky. Roughly chop pistachios.

melted chocolate & butter

3. Here is what you do. Drizzle chocolate……..

Drizzle Chocolate

…Sprinkle pistachios….

DSC_5661

….take a bite…and fall in love.

Ines Rosales Torta with Chocolate & Pistachios

These large (5 to 6 inches in diameter) round tortas (cracker-like flatbreads) come individually wrapped in printed waxed paper in packages of 6. They are a bit pricey…anywhere from $4.50 to $6.00 per package. I first found them at Whole Foods but you can also purchase them online of course.

Stack of Ines Rosales Tortas