Black Girl Chef’s Whites

Shades of Summer

Summer produce is such a wonderful thing.  As you may have read in my last post, my neighbors gave me a bounty of fresh tomatoes from their organic garden.  I made a Slow Roasted Organic Tomato Bisque that was delicious.  I decided I needed to share some of the bisque with my neighbors, since it was their sharing that made the bisque possible in the first place.  As I passed a bowl over the back fence (we talk to each other through the 6 foot fence like they used to do on that TV show “Home Improvement”) Kate passed over more big, beautiful ripe tomatoes!  Oh the joy!

I had just bought some ears of sweet corn, and knew that they were destined to be joined with those red, ripe and juicy tomatoes.  But something was missing…yellow corn, red tomatoes, but no green.  I often think up recipes in terms of colors first, not flavors.  Once I have the colors, the flavors are easy to come up with.

Fresh herbs abound in summer and they are green, but which should I use?  Tarragon? That would be very yummy.  Oregano?  That would be tasty too.  Basil?  That’s what I’m talkin’ about!  Sweet basil, fragrant basil, bright green basil.  And my friend Holland had a gazillion basil plants in her backyard for me to go “borrow” from.  So I called Holland and asked if I could come by and get some basil, which she graciously allowed me to do. I now had the shades of summer; bright yellow, deep red and verdant green.

Sweet Corn, Tomato and Basil Salad

4 ears fresh corn, shucked

6 cups chopped fresh organic tomatoes, about 4 large

1 cup whole basil leaves + 1/4 cup basil chiffonade (thinly sliced)

1 medium shallot, roughly chopped

1 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup Yuzu rice vinegar* or white balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

In a large , deep pot of boiling water blanch the corn for about 3-4 minutes. Fresh corn does not take long to cook, so do not overcook it.  Remove the corn from the boiling water and place into a bowl of cold water to stop the cooking and cool the corn.

Meanwhile, place the chopped tomatoes into a large bowl.

Chopped tomatoes

Once the corn has cooled, carefully cut the kernels from the corn cobs.

Cutting corn kernals from cob

Place the kernels into the bowl with the tomatoes while you make the vinaigrette.

In a food processor, place the whole basil leaves, shallot, salt, pepper and yuzu vinegar.

*I used a Yuzu Rice Vinegar, which added a citrus kick to the salad.  A Yuzu is a Japanese citrus fruit, whose rind is very aromatic. You do not have to have a yuzu vinegar, as a white balsamic or champagne vinegar would also work very nicely in the dressing.

Process the mixture until it is very smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides as needed.  Slowly drizzle in the oil while the processor is running, until the vinaigrette becomes thickened and emulsified.

Basil Vinaigrette and Yuzu vinegar

Pour the vinaigrette over the corn and tomatoes, add the basil chiffonade, and gently mix them together.

Mixing corn, tomatoes and vinaigrette

This is a salad that should be eaten right away.  The flavors really shine when it is fresh, but it good the next day also.  The tomatoes will continue to release their juices, so expect any leftovers to be really juicy.  I suggest dipping some crusty bread into the juice.  Don’t want to be wasteful, do we?

Corn, Tomato and Basil Salad

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Freshly Picked Organic Tomatoes

Some of the best things about summer are stone fruits, melons, and freshly picked tomatoes.  I won’t even eat tomatoes in the winter, because they taste like cotton.  And that’s if you’re lucky.

My neighbors Kate and Marc have a great organic garden in their back yard, and recently shared a huge bowl of tomatoes with me.  Unfortunately this was because they had evacuated for the week because of the horrible Station Fire here in Southern California.  My family had also left, but we were back in the house when Marc had to come back for a day.  He shared this incredible bounty with us before heading back out of town to be with his family.

Being a food blogger, the first thing I had to do was take a picture.  Then being a chef I began to think of what to make with all those tomatoes!  Hmmmmm, a lovely and colorful salad? Tomato sauce? Tomato soup?  Ah Ha!  (cue lightbulb above head) A lovely and colorful tomato soup…no make that bisque!  These beauties deserved a little extra, and bisque has that little extra something.

Then the chef took over again, and I decided to expand the flavor profile further by slow roasting the tomatoes with shallots and basil. Once I had that intense flavor base, then I knew I could do these tomatoes justice.

Tomatoes and shallots ready to be roasted

I kept the tomatoes whole, with the exception of the larger roma tomatoes. I sliced and added a very large shallot, sprinkled some dried basil and drizzled some olive oil, and they were ready to go into the oven.

Slow Roasted Tomatoes and Shallots

Two hours later, the tomatoes and shallots were soft and fragrant.  At this point if you were not interested in making bisque, you can serve these tomatoes over cooked chicken or pork, as a bruscetta topping, or even tossed into pasta or a green salad.

Slow Roasted Organic Tomato Bisque

About 4 cups of organic cherry tomatoes or larger tomatoes halved or quartered

1 large shallot, sliced + 1 TB chopped shallot

1 1/2 tsp dried basil, divided

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 cup shredded or diced carrots

1 tsp sea salt, divided

1/4 tsp dried thyme

2 cups vegetable stock

1 cup water

2 cups half & half

1/2 cup dry sherry

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Heat oven to 200 degrees F.  On large sheet pan spread tomatoes, sliced shallot, 1 tsp dried basil and olive oil.  Roast for about 2 hours, until soft and carmelized.

In a large deep pot over medium heat, add the oil from the roasted tomatoes. Saute the chopped shallots, carrots, remaining 1/2 tsp basil, 1/4 tsp thyme and 1/2 tsp sea salt for 3-4 minutes, until softened.  Add the roasted tomatoes and cook for 2 minutes for flavors to meld.

Cooking carrots, shallots and roasted tomatoes

Add the vegetable stock and water, bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer the vegetables for 30 minutes, until very soft.  Carefully transfer the vegetables to a food processor, and puree until very smooth.  If needed, do this in smaller batches.  Wipe out the pot if there are seeds or skins inside, then return the puree to the pot.

Over low heat, stir in the sherry, half & half, remaining 1/2 tsp sea salt and pepper.  Simmer (do not let it boil) bisque for 5 minutes.  Adjust seasoning to your taste if needed.

Roasted Tomato Bisque

I had a bit of a garnish FAIL, as I forgot to pick some fresh basil while at a friends house for a Labor Day BBQ (lots of wine, hot sun, whatever…) But I did manage to get a dollop of sour cream on top, which I recommend for this savory slow roasted organic tomato bisque.

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