My grape tomato plant is out of control. I always get the bulk of my tomato crop in late summer to early fall, and this year is no exception. While my larger tomato varieties haven’t done so well this year, the grape tomatoes seem to want to make up for their counterparts.

This salad came about from the need to use some ripe tomatoes, some lettuce that was on its last day, and some mozzarella in the fridge that didn’t melt very well, but tasted okay when it was cut up. This salad begs for the best olive oil you have, and a splash of aged Balsamic takes it to another level. A sprinkle of whole basil leaves, salt, and pepper finishes things off nicely.

Of course, with the addition of lettuce and balsamic vineger, this salad isn’t your traditional caprese, but it sure does taste great. It would have been even better had I thought to make a few brioche croutons, but I didn’t have that brainiac moment until I was halfway through the salad. Next time, though…after all, I still have many more tomatoes to eat in the coming weeks.

This really isn’t a recipe, but here’s what you do to make this salad:

In a large bowl (I have an old serving bowl that I use for salads), pile high a few cups of torn lettuce leaves. Top with about eight cherry or grape tomatoes, halved, and several cubes of mozzarella cheese. Spinkle a few whole basil leaves over the top. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and season with salt and pepper.

Enjoy. It’s sometimes difficult to believe that something this simple could be so satisfying.

Wow. I just realized that my macarons post was my 100th post. I suppose it’s fitting that I included a more temperamental dessert in a milestone post, rather than the flop I’m posting today. I’m quite embarrassed to post the picture, as everything about the dish turned out that bad. But, flops happen. And I promised to post what I did with the leftovers of Project Chicken, so there was no getting out of this one.

I confess that I usually buy a gourmet spicy peanut sauce from a local specialty shop. The sauce is delicious, the price is decent, and I don’t have to stock 10 bottles of various Asian sauce components in my fridge. I make these sauces so rarely that the ingredients always seem to go bad before I get around to using everything up. The purchased peanut sauce, however, gets used up every time.

Well, this time I made my own sauce, following a recipe I found here. I had all of the ingredients, but I chose to forego the pasta and just do chicken with vegetables. At that point in the week, I really needed to use up that chicken, and having a bunch of leftovers was not ideal, since I wouldn’t be able to eat them anyway.

Um, I didn’t like this sauce. I only tasted peanut butter, and even though I thinned it not once, but twice, and only used some of it, it still was just way too overpowering. I’m curious as to whether anyone has a go-to spicy peanut recipe that actually tastes good…

Spicy Peanut Chicken and Vegetables
adapted from Delish

Leftover shredded chicken (I used about one breast)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons chili sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons minced ginger
One bag of stir-fry vegetables
1 teaspoon oil

In a bowl, whisk together the peanut butter, soy sauce, garlic, chili sauce, and ginger.

Heat oil in a wok or large saute pan (preferrably non-stick) over medium-high heat. Add vegetables and saute until tender. Add chicken and saute for a minute to warm through. Reduce heat to medium-low and add peanut sauce. Thin with water to desired consistency.

*This dish likely would have turned out better with the noodles, as the peanut sauce would have been covering more food, and the noodles would have absorbed a little of the sauce. Then again, I didn’t like the flavor of the sauce, and I don’t think noodles would have helped that.

In some ways, mid-August is one of my favorite times of year. Sure, I complain about it being a little too hot, a little too humid, but that very heat and humidity is so important to area crops, not to mention my own garden. The available local produce is at its peak, which translates into lots of fruit desserts.

And with autumn and winter right around the corner, they usher in a whole new slew of desserts. So I figured, what better time to share with you some of my favorite recipes?

With this e-book, I’ve tried to include something for everyone: you’re find desserts that are vegan, gluten-free, sugar-free, egg-free, and/or dairy-free. All of the gluten-free & sugar-free desserts have been tested by folks who do not follow that type of diet; if they give a sf/gf dessert the thumbs-up, I believe most people will enjoy the treat.

You’ll find desserts that showcase seasonal fruit, as well as heartier desserts that will comfort you when the temperatures drop. Here is what you have to look forward to:

Strawberry Rhubarb Compote* (vegan, dairy-free, egg-free)
Summer Fruit Crumble* (egg-free)
Peach Tarts
Cherry Cheesecake Galette (egg-free)
Poached Pears (vegan, egg-free, dairy-free)
Dulce de Leche Chocolate Chip Cookies
Grandma’s Molasses Cut-Out Cookies
Lemon Tea Cookies (egg-free, vegan if use trans-fat free margarine)
Pinwheels
Peppermint White Chocolate Truffles (egg-free)
Chocolate Mousse with Orange Vanilla Whipped Cream
Sugar-Free Chocolate Mousse (sugar-free & gluten-free)
Chocolate Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Icing (sugar-free & gluten-free)
Blueberry Muffins (sugar-free & gluten-free)
Peanut Butter Silk Pie (sugar-free & gluten-free)

*Both Strawberry Rhubarb Compoteand Summer Fruit Crumble are original recipes that have been featured on My Madison Bistro.

This e-book is available at no charge, but if you like the recipes or would like to help fund the recipe development for future e-books, donations are greatly appreciated.

Click here to download the Madison Bistro Treats E-Book.

Chili in June? When temperatures are below normal by a good ten degrees, slow-cooker chili is a great weeknight meal. It’s effortless, but it also freezes beautifully, so even if you only have one day of cool temperatures, you don’t have to worry that the chili will go to waste. And if, during the middle of summer, you’re blessed with a cool evening, you can always pull that chili out of the freezer!

Making chili in the slow-cooker was one of my first ventures into cooking. After college, I didn’t have many pots, but I did have a slow cooker. I learned that you can make a tasty chili simply by throwing all of the ingredients into the crock (no browning necessary), and letting it do its thing. After all, who doesn’t want to come home to dinner being ready?

I’ve come across a few people who don’t like the idea of leaving a slow-cooker turned on during the day, but really, that’s kind of the point of this little appliance: toss in the food and go. With the advent of the removable crock (that’s dishwasher safe!), utilizing a slow-cooker has never taken less time. Some folks really like the plastic crock liners, but I have some misgivings about them. I used one once, and it leaked, but not from a hole – it seemed more like the liner melted in places. I also do not like the idea of cooking food in plastic – who knows what exactly is leaching out of the liner into your food?

Slow-Cooker Chili

Ingredients
1 lb lean ground round (or ground turkey)
1 large yellow or red onion, cut into medium dice
1 large green pepper, diced
1 small red bell pepper, diced
2 jalapenos, chopped (optional)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 T chili powder
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp oregano
1/8-1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (to taste)
1 T unsweetened cocoa powder
1 14 oz can diced tomatoes (unsalted)
1 14 oz can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
1/4 c salsa
8 oz beef stock
Juice of 1 lime

salt
pepper
3 T chopped cilantro

Garnishes
sour cream
shredded cheddar
sliced green onions
tortilla chips

Instructions
Lightly spray the inside of the crock with cooking spray. Add the beef through the lime juice. Stir a couple of times to break up the beef a little, then cover and cook on low heat for 8-10 hours or high heat for 4-5 hours. During the last hour of cooking time, add the cilantro, and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Serve with garnishes.

This weekend, I decided to make a nice dinner. I saw Mastering the Art of French Cooking sitting on my bookshelf and realized that I don’t utilize this book often enough. I decided see if any of the dishes jumped out at me, and that’s when I found the recipe for Beef Braised in Red Wine, with accompaniments of Brown Braised Onions and Carrots Braised in Butter. Now that sounded like one amazing dinner!

I’m not going to lie. It took some advanced planning and some creativity on my part, as there is no bowl in my kitchen large enough to hold a 4.5 pound roast, a bottle of wine, 3 cups of chopped vegetables, brandy, and olive oil. As luck would have it, I happened to have a rather empty refrigerator, so I had plenty of room for my 7.25 quart dutch oven, the only vessel large enough to hold all of the ingredients, the vessel that would ultimately end up cooking the roast, as well.

It also took me an hour to do all of the prep work the night before, because I followed Julia’s instructions to “lard the meat.” Yes, a chunk of beef marinating overnight, and braising the next day was not enough to ensure a tasty main course. Julia also suggests that you, or your butcher, shove chunks of pig fat throughout the roast to “baste the interior of the meat as it cooks, and make an attractive design when the meat is sliced.” The thought of pig fat marbled throughout my roast didn’t sound very appealing to me – I am the type who cuts away every little portion of fat that she can find in a piece of meat – but the thought of a nice, juicy roast was rather tempting. So I bowed to the master herself, and spent 30 minutes cutting strips of pig fat, cutting slits throughout my roast, and stuffing those slits with the fat.

I also needed to track down veal knuckles, split calf’s feet, and some pork/bacon/ham rind. Ah…okay. The rind was easy – I had some pork rind leftover from the pig fat (well, the fat was attached to rind and a little meat, but it was mostly fat), and my mom had recently given me some leftover ham that happened to have rind attached. Perfect.

But what to do about the knuckles and the feet? Well, I took the easy way out. Whether correctly or not, I figured the reason they were in the recipe was for the bone, so I simply picked up a beef soup bone for the bargain price of a dollar. The bone should lend flavor, as well as help gelatinize the braising mixture.

After the roast marinated overnight and throughout the morning, with several turns of the meat to make sure all of it was exposed to the goodness of the marinade, it was time to drain the roast and dry the surface so I could brown it. If I thought the smell of the marinade was great, it was nothing compared to the scent of the roast as it was browning. With all of my windows open, I half expected neighbors to start showing up; they are a little curious, after all.

But they left me to cook in peace. Once the roast was browned all around, it was time to add back the marinade and reduce.

Again, the perfume emanating from that pan was simply divine. I could smell the scent of the wine and brandy mixed, the herbs, the bay leaves, and the vegetables. I wondered how such a simple dish – a rump roast – could have me looking forward to dinner in a way that I haven’t done in quite some time.

The really nice thing about this roast is that once it’s in the oven, there’s very little that needs to be done. Sure, I would take it out every 30-45 minutes to turn it over in the braising liquid, but I had plenty of time to clean up the little mess I made, time to sit and read for awhile, and then time to get the vegetables ready. For the first time, probably ever during the cooking process, I managed to have a kitchen that lacked a single dish in the sink.

That would all soon change.

The real fun came in the last hour of cooking the roast, as I started on the onions, and then the carrots. The dishes were starting to pile up as I ran out of room in the dishwasher, and as soon as the roast came out of the oven, the real Sara was back in the kitchen: pots, pans, and dishes were scattered everywhere!

I removed the roast to a glass baking dish to sit under foil while I worked on the sauce. I had to strain the braising liquid through a sieve (to catch all of the vegetables, herbs, and chunks of ham and bacon rind floating around) and reduce the sauce. My dutch oven, now a filthy mess, was relegated to the sink. The vegetables from the sieve had to be dumped into a “garbage bowl” to cool before I could dispose of them. I had carrots on top of the stove, the onions were moved to a small saucepan with a pat of butter (per Julia, I wasn’t the one to come up with the idea to toss them in even more butter), and the saute pan that I cooked the onions in was added to the growing pile in the sink.

There was no available space in my kitchen. In other words, everything was perfectly normal. And yes, it was all worth it.

Recipe: Beef Braised in Red Wine
Bœuf à la Mode
adapted from Mastering the Art of French Cooking

Ingredients for the Marinade
1 c thinly sliced carrots
1 c thinly sliced celery
1 c thinly sliced onions
2 unpeeled cloves garlic, halved
1 T thyme
2 bay leaves
1/4 c minced parsley
2 whole cloves
4.5-5 lb beef rump roast, trimmed
1 T salt
1/4 tsp pepper
5 c young red wine (I used Côtes du Rhône)
1/3 c brandy
1/2 c olive oil

Instructions for Marinating the Roast
Place half the vegetables, herbs, and cloves in the bottom of a very large bowl (I had to use my dutch oven). Rub the meat with salt and pepper and place over the vegetables. Sprinkle the remaining herbs and vegetables over the meat. Pour the wine, brandy, and oil over the meat. Cover and marinate for 6 hours at room temperature or 12-24 hours in the fridge. Turn and baste the meat every hour.

Half an hour before cooking, drain the meat on a rack. Just before browning, dry it thoroughly with paper towels; it will not brown if it is damp.

Ingredients for browning and braising the beef
Dutch oven (large enough to hold the roast and braise – I used a 7.25 quart oven)
4-6 T canola oil or rendered pig fat (I used a combination)
Beef soup bone
4 oz fresh pork rind and ham rind
5 c beef bouillon or stock

1 T arrowroot or cornstarch mixed with 2 T Madeira or port, if needed

Carrots Braised in Butter
Brown Braised Onions

Instructions for browning and braising
Preheat oven to 350*F.

Add canola oil/pig fat to the Dutch oven and heat over medium-high heat until smoking; brown meat on all sides. This takes about 15 minutes; pour out the fat.

Pour in the wine marinade; boil it down rapidly until it is reduced by half. Add the beef soup bone and rinds, and pour in enough bouillon or stock to come two thirds of the way up the beef. Bring to a simmer, skim, cover tightly and set in the lower third of the preheated oven.

Regulate heat so liquid remains at a gentle simmer for 2.5 to 3 hours, and turn the meat several times during its braising. The beef is done when a sharp fork will easily pierce it.

While the beef is being braised, prepare the carrots and onions, set aside until needed.

When the meat is tender, remove it to a platter. Trim off any loose fat and cover with foil to keep it warm while finishing the sauce.

Skim the fat off the braising juices, and strain them through a sieve into a saucepan, pressing the liquid through the vegetables. Simmer for a minute or two, skimming, then boil rapidly until reduced to about 3.5 cups of liquid. Taste for seasoning, correct if necessary. The sauce should be lightly thickened. If it’s too thin, beat in the starch and wine mixture and simmer for 3 minutes.

Carve the meat and arrange on a platter with the vegetables and a few sprigs of parsley, spoon some sauce over the meat.

Oh. My. God.

Those were the words going through my mind as I took my first bite of these onions. Unable to speak, I let out a long “Mmmmmmm.” And perhaps a little moan. Yes, these are really that good.

Actually, they’re better. If you’re familiar with the term Food Porn, well, these qualify. If I were to pick my final meal, brown braised onions would be a part of it. Instead, I will eat them now, and eat them often. Even if you don’t usually like onions, I would be large sums of money that you’ll like these.

I’ve wanted to make these for awhile, but the thought of peeling all of those onions put me off. But since Julia recommended this particular dish as a side to Beef Braised in Red Wine, I decided to go ahead and peel all of those little suckers. It was completely worth it, and I will be making these again…and again…and again.

Brown Braised Onions
Oignons Glacés à Brun
from Mastering the Art of French Cooking

Ingredients
18-24 peeled white onions, about 1 inch in diameter
1 1/2 T butter
1 1/2 T canola oil
1/2 c brown stock or beef bouillon
salt and pepper to taste
Herb bouquet: 4 parsley sprigs, 2 thyme sprigs, 1 small bayleaf, tied together with twine

Instructions
Heat butter and oil in 9-10 inch sauté pan over medium heat. When bubbling, add the onions and sauté for about 10 minutes, rolling the onions around the pan so they will brown as evenly as possible. Be careful not to break their skins, but don’t expect to brown them uniformly.

When browned, pour in the liquid, season to taste, and add the herb bouquet. Cover and simmer slowrly for 40-50 minutes until the onions are perfectly tender but retain their shape, and the liquid has evaporated. Remove the herb bouquet.

Roll the hot onions around in a tablespoon of softened butter, if desired. Sprinkle with parsley.

I stumbled across this recipe last week. I’ve always loved roasted tomatoes, and I’ve frequently taken advantage of roasting to make various varieties of tomato soup in the winter; the roasting process makes even a winter tomato not just palatable, but quite tasty.

Roasting tomatoes at a high temperature tends to render them a pile of mush, so I was quite intrigued by the concept of slow-roasting at a very low temperature. The results are quite spectacular; all of the sweetness you’d expect is there, but they still hold their shape beautifully, enabling you to conduct endless experiments with them. I can tell you already that you’ll enjoy them in panini, salads, on burgers, or simply a plateful as breakfast.

Having just planted my garden this weekend (with my mom’s help), I’m gleefully awaiting the fruits of my tomato plants. And yes, this year we planted a Roma tomato plant, with this recipe in mind.

Molly’s Slow-Roasted Tomatoes
from Orangette

Ripe tomatoes, preferably Roma
Olive oil
Sea salt
Ground coriander

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F.

Wash the tomatoes, cut off the stem end, and halve them lengthwise. Pour a bit of olive oil into a small bowl, dip a pastry brush into it, and brush the tomato halves lightly with oil. Place skin side down on a large baking sheet and sprinkle with sea salt and just a little ground coriander.

Bake the tomatoes until they shrink to about 1/3 of their original size but are still soft and juicy, 4 to 6 hours. Remove the baking sheet from the oven, and allow the tomatoes to cool to room temperature. Place them in an airtight container, and store them in the refrigerator.

Beef stew might seem like a strange dish for April. But you see, we’ve been hit by sleet/snowstorms the past two weekends, and the temperature is all over the place. It feels more like autumn than spring. If the lack of mums and the presence of hyacinths and tulips poking through the dirt didn’t give the seasons away, I just might be convinced that winter’s on its way.

Regardless of season, cold, nasty weather motivates me to make a meal that warms from the inside out. What better comfort is there than beef stew when there’s snow on the ground?

I’m sure you’re shocked that I’ve used another Barefoot Contessa recipe, but when you’re making something new, and you want to be sure it will turn out fabulous, turn to Ina. You can really tell that she thoroughly tests her recipes, because everything is absolutely delicious and fit for company.

Beef Bourguignon
adapted from Barefoot in Paris

Ingredients
1 tablespoon good olive oil
8 ounces bacon, diced
2 1/2 pounds chuck beef cut into 1-inch cubes
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 pound carrots, sliced diagonally into 1-inch chunks
2 yellow onions, sliced
2 teaspoons chopped garlic (2 cloves)
1/2 cup brandy
1 (750 ml.) bottle dry red wine
16 oz beef broth
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
4 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature, divided
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 pound frozen whole onions
1 pound fresh mushrooms stems discarded, caps thickly sliced

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F.

Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven. Add the bacon and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the bacon is lightly browned. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon to a large plate.

Dry the beef cubes with paper towels and then sprinkle them with salt and pepper. In batches in single layers, sear the beef in the hot oil for 3 to 5 minutes, turning to brown on all sides. Remove the seared cubes to the plate with the bacon and continue searing until all the beef is browned. Set aside.

Toss the carrots, onions, 1 tablespoon of salt and 2 teaspoons of pepper in the fat in the pan and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions are lightly browned. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Add the brandy, stand back, and ignite with a match to burn off the alcohol. Put the meat and bacon back into the pot with the juices. Add the bottle of wine plus enough beef broth to almost cover the meat. Add the tomato paste and thyme. Bring to a simmer, cover the pot with a tight-fitting lid and place it in the oven for about 1 1/4 hours or until the meat and vegetables are very tender when pierced with a fork.

Combine 2 tablespoons of butter and the flour with a fork and stir into the stew. Add the frozen onions. Saute the mushrooms in 2 tablespoons of butter for 10 minutes until lightly browned and then add to the stew. Bring the stew to a boil on top of the stove, then lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Season to taste.

Serve with crusty bread or garlic mashed potatoes.

The peanut butter swirl brownies from that same episode have already been featured, and I figured it was time to give a nod to the eggplant gratin. It’s classic bistro food, and with the bubbling marinara and browned cheese, it will surely rank highly on your list of comfort foods, as well.

Eggplant Gratin
recipe from Barefoot in Paris

Ingredients
Good olive oil, for frying
3/4 pound eggplant, unpeeled, sliced 1/2-inch thick
1/4 cup ricotta cheese
1 large egg
1/4 cup half-and-half
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup good bottled marinara sauce

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Heat about 1/8-inch of olive oil in a very large frying pan over medium heat. When the oil is almost smoking, add several slices of eggplant and cook, turning once, until they are evenly browned on both sides and cooked through, about 5 minutes. Be careful, it splatters! Transfer the cooked eggplant slices to paper towels to drain. Add more oil, heat, and add more eggplant until all the slices are cooked.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix together the ricotta, egg, half-and-half, 1/4 cup of the Parmesan, 1/8 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper.

In each of 2 individual gratin dishes, place a layer of eggplant slices, then sprinkle with Parmesan, salt and pepper and spoon 1/2 of the marinara sauce. Next, add a second layer of eggplant, more salt and pepper, half the ricotta mixture, and finally 1 tablespoon of grated Parmesan on top.

Place the gratins on a baking sheet and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the custard sets and the top is browned. Serve warm.

This is another one of those meals that I’m almost embarrassed to post. However, fifteen minutes after I turned on the oven and the stove, I was sitting down and enjoying my dinner. This really is the epitome of a quick weeknight meal, and it’s just perfect for those nights that you’re exhausted and hungry. This is faster than takeout or delivery, and it doesn’t result in a lot of dishes (which automatically gives it high marks in my book).

Fast & Easy Chicken Parmesan
Serves 1

1 chicken breast
Good bottled marinara
Shredded mozzarella
Shredded Parmesan
Salt
Pepper
Olive oil

1. Heat the broiler and heat a non-stick, oven-proof skillet over medium high heat.

2. Slice the chicken breast in half lengthwise with a very sharp knife (alternatively, you could pound the chicken breast so it’s very thin, but this method is simply faster). Season both sides with salt and pepper.

3. When pan is very hot, drizzle with a little olive oil and add the two halves of chicken. Flip the breasts over when the underside has a nice brown color, about 2 minutes. When the second side has also browned (about another two minutes), add two spoonfuls of marinara to each breast and top with the mozzarella and parmesan.

4. Throw the pan under the broiler and broil until the cheese melts. Remove from the oven and allow to sit for about a minute or so. Remember – the pan handle is HOT!