Fearless Kitchen

Recipe: Pasta with Olives and Pecorino

I threw this dish together literally at the last minute.  I made it for a Sunday dinner a few weeks ago, on a day when it seemed that literally everything I tried to do became an epic fail.  I was really afraid of not having enough food to feed my guests, and there were more guests than I expected as the weather had been pretty poor in the morning.  I went through my mental inventory and came up with this concoction, which turned out to be a hit. 

Pasta with Olives and Pecorino (serves 12 as a side; approx. $2.06/serving)

1 pound whole wheat penne

5 tablespoons olive oil

8 cloves garlic, sliced

1 lb green Sicilian olives with herbs, pitted

1 ounce grated pecorino

1 tablespoon Aleppo pepper

Equipment:

• Large saucepan for the pasta
• Wide saute pan

1. Boil the pasta according to package instructions, but drain just before you would consider it done.
2. Meanwhile, heat the oil in the saute pan.
3. Add the garlic slices and saute until they are fragrant and just threatening to brown.  Be very careful here - garlic slices burn quickly!
4. Add the olives and Aleppo pepper.  Saute until the olives are heated through.
5. Add the pasta to the saute pan and saute until the pasta is done to your liking.
6. Remove from heat and add the pecorino. 
7. Transfer to a serving vessel and serve hot or warm.

Recipe: Shrimp in Herbed Tomato Sauce

On the one hand, I feel kind of lame posting this as a recipe.  I took some shrimp and some leftovers, threw them together and called it dinner.  It seems so incredibly uninspiring and lame.  "Hey, look, here's some crap that I had lying around, let's eat it!"  On the other hand, well, what's actually wrong with that?  Everyone has leftovers at some point.  Finding a good use for them is better than throwing them out, on a lot of levels.  And it's using my creativity to save money, which is a better use than it usually gets put to. 

So here it is.  The leftovers came from two different sources.  The sauce was from the polenta dish I'd served a couple weeks before, frozen for just such a purpose.  The vegetables were left over from our pizza party.  Add shrimp and olive oil and you're good to go. 

Shrimp in Herbed Tomato Sauce (serves 2; approx. cost per serving not available)

1/2 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined

2 cups leftover tomato sauce (you can use prepared sauce if you don't have any leftovers, but make sure that sugar is not a key ingredient please.  That's just nasty.)

3/4 onion (approx.), thinly sliced

1 green bell pepper, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons olive oil

Equipment:

• Wok or saute pan

1. Heat the oil in the wok.
2. Add the bell peppers and onions.  Saute until tender. 
3. Add the sauce and heat thoroughly.
4. Add the shrimp and cook until just done - be careful not to overcook, as they will be unpalatable.
5. Serve.

Recipe: Sandwich Rolls (Guest Post from Fearless Grill)

Recipe Source (Dough): Reinhart, Peter, The Bread Baker's Apprentice. 10 Speed Press, Berkeley, 2001 pp. 266-267

For a recent Sunday open house, I was going to the supermarket to pick up the ingredients for something I was going to make, when Jess asked me to pick up a bunch of sandwich rolls to go with a spread she was planning to serve. Buying 24 rolls would be kind of expensive, and I realized I hadn't made any bread in a while, so I offered to just make some instead. I looked through some of my books for a good recipe, and was surprised to find that few of my bread books included a recipe for something simple like a hamburger bun. I finally found a bread recipe in Peter Reinhart's book that included instructions for baking rolls instead of full bread loaves. I had received this book for my birthday earlier this summer but hadn't had a chance to make anything from it, so I was excited to give it a try.

I prepared the recipe as written, except I made two batches to get to the 24 rolls we needed. I used

my Cuisinart stand mixer to prepare the bread, rather than kneading by hand. This also gave me the chance to test out a cool feature of our new-ish BlueStar range. Despite being a 30" model (previous owner of our house built a really pretty kitchen, but never actually cooked – we couldn't fit anything bigger without trashing the cabinets and counters), it fits a full commercial sized baking sheet, and we happened to have picked one of those up at the Williams Sonoma outlet store a few weeks earlier. Sure enough, the 24 rolls all fit on the single sheet, which fit perfectly into the oven. Yea!

The rolls came out really tasty. We determined this because we each ate 2 or three of them while they were cooling. We were originally going to split one, but that thought lasted for about 30 seconds. Turns out Jess never got around to making the spread, so we just served the rolls plain, and they were a hit with our guests too. I've already made this recipe again, and will continue to use this one in the future. It's really good.

Equipment:

• Stand mixer (optional)

4 3/4 cups bread flour

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/4 cup powdered milk

3 1/4 teaspoons sugar

2 teaspoons instant yeast

1 large egg, slightly beaten, at room temperature

3 1/4 tablespoons butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups water, at room temperature

Sea salt for garnish (optional)

1. Stir together the dry ingredients in the bowl of your stand mixer. Using the paddle attachment, stir in the egg, butter, and water until all the flour is absorbed, and the dough forms a ball. Switch to the dough hook and mix on medium speed for 6-8 minutes. The dough should just stick to the bottom of the bowl. If the dough comes off the bottom, add a bit of water. If it is too wet, add a bit of flour.
2. Let the dough rise at room temperature in a covered, oiled bowl for 1.5 to 2 hours, or until it has doubled in size.
3. Remove the dough from the bowl, and shape it as desired. I split mine into 12 3 oz. pieces to make sandwich – sized rolls. The recipe says you can get 2 one pound loaves, or 18 2 oz. dinner-sized rolls out of this recipe instead.
4. Place the rolls on oiled baking sheets, leaving a little space between each one. Mist the dough lightly with spray oil, and cover. Allow to rest for about 20 minutes
5. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees (350 if you are making full loaves). If desired sprinkle sea salt or some other garnish on the rolls, and place in the oven.
6. Bake the rolls for 15 minutes, or until they are golden-brown. If you make full loaves, cook for 35-45 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown.

Recipe: Bulghur Pilav

Recipe Source: Branca, Laura Ward.  Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant.  Simon and Schuster/Fireside, New York, 1990 p. 82

When we host Sunday dinners, I tend to have a few carbohydrate-heavy dishes on the menu.  The main reason for having these dinners in the first place is that we have a lot of people doing a lot of physical activity, and at least for my husband what he wants under those circumstances is .... well, carbs.  Carb dishes - pasta, rice, bulgur - can be stretched to feed a lot of people and tend to be fairly simple to prepare.  I made this for a Sunday dinner a few weeks ago, and brought the leftovers to a Labor Day cookout the next day.

Bulgur Pilaf (serves 20 as a side; approx. $0.15/serving)

2 onions, chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

4 teaspoons dried basil

1 bay leaf

1 teaspoon dried tarragon

3 cups bulgur

2 cups warm water

Equipment:

• Saucepan with a lid

1. Warm the oil in the saucepan.
2. Saute the onions in the oil for a few minutes. 
3. Add the salt and pepper, basil, bay leaf and tarragon.  Cover and cook over low heat 10 minutes. 
4. Add the bulgur and toast 2 minutes.
5. Add the water, cover and bring to a boil.
6. Reduce heat to very low and let bulgur steam. 
7. Serve warm or at room temperature. 

Recipe: Apple Pie

I feel like I am going to turn into a pastry.  I made a bunch of savory pies over the last few weeks, and I've also made some sweet pies and tarts.  However, once apple season starts, as any American baker can tell you, the demand for apple pie starts up and does not slacken until well past Thanksgiving.  I've made this five times - no joke - since September 1.  If my husband's plaintive sighing and eyelash-batting are any indication, I'm nowhere near done yet.  The funny thing is, I don't actually like apple pie.

Okay, before someone reports me to Homeland Security for un-American sentiment, let me point out that I don't like any pie that doesn't have chocolate in it.  I never have.  I don't hate apple pie.  It's not like, say, cabbage pie.  Or carrot pie.  Or sweet potato pie.  I just don't see what all the fuss is about.  Other people do, though.  It makes people really, really happy for some reason.  So happy that I had to make this five times before I could take a picture of it for the website. 

The first time I made this I made it using Roxbury Russet apples, an heirloom variety from right here in Eastern Massachusetts.  It works fine with other baking apples or Macintosh.  I used an old family recipe for the crusts; you can use your favorite double-crust recipe or even buy them pre-made (I've finally seen pre-made double-crusts in the store.  I'd heard rumors for years.)  The key here, at least for me, is the maple sugar instead of granulated.  If what you have is granulated by all means use it, but the maple gives it a certain something extra, a slightly more rustic and regional flavor.  It also cuts out some more processed sugars, which I'm told is a good thing.

Reviews on this have been pretty stellar.  Like I mentioned, I'm no judge, but allow me to  point out that I've never been able to get a picture of a whole pie for you. 

Apple Pie (serves 10; approx. $0.43/serving)

1 double-crust pie crust recipe

5 - 6 apples (be creative here - find a fun varietal if you can.  Granny Smith still work fine if you can't!)

1/3 cup maple sugar, plus more for dusting

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon allspice

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (optional - I left it out of the last round I made)

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1/2 cup apple cider

Milk or egg wash, for brushing

Equipment:

• 9" pie plate
• Pastry brush
• Rolling pin
• Large mixing bowl

1. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.
2. Roll out your pie dough.  I find it easiest to roll it out in a zip-top plastic bag - this gets it to the perfect size for a 9" pie plate. 
3. Peel and slice your apples.  Put them in the mixing bowl.
4. Sprinkle the spices, cornstarch and maple sugar over the apples.  Mix well.
5. Pour the cider over the apple mixture.  Mix well again.
6. Line the bottom of the pie plate with one of the crusts.  Fill with the apple mixture and top with the second crust. 
7. Ventilate the top crust however you see fit.  Crimp to seal the edges.
8. Brush the top of your pie with the milk or egg wash, then sprinkle with a little more maple sugar. 
9. Bake 30 - 40 minutes, or until the crust is clearly done. 
10. Serve hot, warm or cold, plain or with ice cream.  New England tradition encourages cheddar cheese with apple pie, so there's an option for you too. 

Recipe: Cauliflower and Shrimp Curry

Recipe Source: Husain, Shehzad and Rafi Fernandez.  Indian.  Anness Publishing, London, 2003 p. 158.

So, last week I had every intention of making a tasty shrimp bisque to please my husband.  I decided to use the "scoop-your-own-shrimp" option at my local Whole Foods. I didn't want shrimp that had already been peeled, and I thought that I might be able to save some money.  Wrong on both counts.  There is no scale next to the "scoop-your-own-shrimp" station, so I spent significantly more than I intended.  Well, that's life, I thought, and since I can't find head-on shrimp ANYWHERE I can use the extra for the stock.  Once I defrosted the shrimp, I found that they had already been peeled.  I jumped up and down and cursed a lot.  Then I decided to make curry instead.  I had shrimp.  I had cauliflower.  A shrimp and cauliflower curry would be just fabulous.  But why did I think I'd heard of it before....

Oh.  Right.  I made a shrimp and cauliflowercurry way back when I first started this blog.  Okay, so the combination's been done, but really, this recipe is quite different from that one.  And has pictures.  I adapted a plain old curried cauliflower recipe for this one, increasing the spices to accommodate the increased volume of ingredients.  It comes together quickly and is quite tasty, so give it a try some weeknight.

Cauliflower and Shrimp Curry (serves 6; approx. $5.80/serving)

3 lb peeled, deveined shrimp

1 tablespoon chickpea flour

1/2 cup water

1 tablespoon chili powder (and in case you're curious, yes, it was the Chili Powder - Extra Hot one)

1 tablespoon ground coriander

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon mustard powder

1 tablespoon turmeric

1 pinch kosher salt

3 tablespoons olive oil

8 curry leaves

1 cauliflower, cut into florets

1 can coconut milk (14 oz)

Equipment:

• Large wok or saute pan
• Bowl

1. Combine the chickpea flour and a little of the water and mix to make a smooth paste.
2. Add the spices and salt.  Mix well.
3. Add the rest of the water and mix well.
4. Heat the oil in the wok.
5. Add the curry leaves.  Cook until fragrant - believe me, you'll know.
6. Add the spice paste and simmer a few moments.
7. Add the cauliflower and saute a few minutes, until slightly softened. 
8. Add the coconut milk and shrimp.  Cover and cook until done, no more than 7 minutes and probably closer to 4 or 5.
9. Serve hot.

Recipe: Pizza Party (Guest Post from Fearless Grill)

 Recipe Source (Dough): Reinhart, Peter, The Bread Baker's Apprentice.10 Speed Press, Berkeley, 2001 pp. 207-212, as found on 101cookbooks.com at

http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/001199.html

 

You might not realize it, but the Big Green Egg, in addition to being a great smoker and grill, also works great as a 'brick' oven for breads, pies, and yes, pizza. We've posted BGE pizza recipes here before, but I had an idea for something different. What if, rather than just making one or two pizzas for ourselves, we provided dough, sauce, and toppings at a party, and let the guests make their own pizzas? This sounded like a lot of fun, and practical too, since it is easy to get or make dough and sauce in quantity, and the pizzas only take 7-10 minutes to cook. We tried this idea out while at a historical reenactment camping event this summer (Yes, I know, pizza isn't period to the middle ages. I don't care. It tastes good.) and it was a big hit. Not only was the pizza tasty, but the 10 or so people involved all pitched in to help make the pizzas, and we hung out, drank beer, and had a great night while munching on each of the pies that came out of the Egg. While that was fun, I decided to buy, rather than make dough while camping, and so I decided to replicate this experience at one of our recent Sunday open houses.

Though I liked the pizza dough recipe that we've used in the past, I decided to branch out and try something new, so I turned to the Internet and searched for 'best pizza dough', and was referred to Heidi Swanson's review of Peter Reinhart's pizza recipe on her site, 101 Cookbooks. This looked like a good recipe, and since I was planning in advance, I had the time to try the technique of letting the dough to rest overnight, which Peter claims to enhance the flavor. Heidi's write up made this sound really good, so I decided to give it a try. I realized as I was writing this up that I had received Peter's book for my birthday back in July, and recently tried another of his recipes as well (to be posted at a later date…).

I used our Cuisinart Stand Mixer to whip up two batches of the pizza dough, enough to make 12 pizzas, and as per the instructions, kept them cold overnight. We grabbed some toppings, including a mix of mozzarella and Romano cheeses, pepperoni, peppers, onions, mushrooms, black olives, and probably some other things I can't remember. When it came time to cook, I set up the Egg while our guests busily rolled out the dough, and added their choice of sauce, cheese, and toppings to their pie. We did this sequentially, so one pie was being made while the previous one cooked, and we cut each one into small pieces when finished so everyone could keep eating the whole time. This kept people engaged while still giving them time to hang out and enjoy the party. Everyone had a really good time, and said they would like to try this again. The dough worked really well, and the guests liked it, so I'd consider that a success too. Combining that with the fact that you can make it ahead of time and freeze it, I'm definitely going to use the dough recipe again. One note though – while the recipe said this makes 6 pizza crusts, we found that the 6 oz. size wasn't quite big enough to make a pizza to fit our 14" stone. We solved this problem by breaking up one dough ball per batch and combining it with the others to make five rather than six.

• Stand mixer (optional)
• Big Green Egg or other high temperature oven
• Pizza peel or large, flat cookie sheet
• Parchment paper or cornmeal
• Rolling pin

For the Dough (makes six 6-ounce pizza crusts)

4 1/2 cups bread flour

1 3/4 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon instant yeast

1/4 cup olive oil

1 3/4 cups ice cold water

Your choice of pizza sauce and toppings

1. At least the night before cooking, stir together the flour, salt, and yeast in the bowl of your stand mixer. Using the paddle attachment, stir in the oil and cold water until all the flour is absorbed. Switch to the dough hook and mix on medium speed for 5-7 minutes. The dough should be smooth and sticky, just sticking to the bottom of the bowl. If the dough comes off the bottom, add a bit of water. If it is too wet, add a bit of flour.
2. Sprinkle your counter or a piece of baking parchment with flour. Cut the dough into 6 equal pieces. Sprinkle flour over the dough and shape into a ball. Either place the balls on an oiled sheet pan, or lightly coat each ball with oil and put into a zippered freezer bag, which is what I did. Place into the refrigerator overnight.
3. 2 hours before you are ready to make the pizza, take the appropriate number of dough balls out of the refrigerator. Put the dough onto a floured flat surface, coat your hands with flour, and press the dough into flat discs about 1/2 inch thick, and 5 inches across. Mist the dough with spray oil, cover loosely with plastic wrap, and let rest for two hours.
4. Prepare your oven, heating to 550-600 degrees Fahrenheit or higher if possible. Note that most indoor ovens can't hit and hold this temperature comfortably. Set as high as you can, and adjust the baking time as needed. In my large Big Green Egg, I set up for indirect cooking, using my plate setter legs down. I put the three little green ceramic feet that come with the Egg on top of the plate setter, then put my pizza stone on top of that. I let the stone heat up with the Egg to minimize the chance of a cold stone cracking when put into a warm oven. Although the Egg can get hotter than 600 degrees, I try not to go higher when cooking indirect, as the plate setter directs the air around the sides of the Egg, and can fry the gasket at very high temps. It also consumes a lot of charcoal to cook really hot for long periods of time.
5. Shape the dough using your method of choice. I'm lousy at tossing pizza crusts, so I used a rolling pin. Place the rolled out dough on your pizza peel or cookie sheet, first sprinkling the peel with cornmeal to allow the dough to slide.
6. While the dough is on the peel, coat lightly with your pizza sauce, and add cheese and toppings. Note that you don't need too much of any of these, and putting too much on the pizza can interfere with the proper baking of the crust.
7. Slide your pizza onto the stone, and bake for 7-10 minutes, or until the crust is browned, the cheese has melted and caramelized, and your toppings look properly cooked. When ready slide the finished pizza onto a cookie sheet or another peel, and put your next pizza in. Cut into small pieces and serve immediately.

Recipe: Chocolate Tiramisu Tart

Recipe Source: Atkinson, Catherine with Mary Banks, Christine France and Christine McFadden.  The Chocolate and Coffee Bible.  Anness Publishing, London, 2007 p. 153

This is yet another treat I made for a Sunday open house, and let me tell you that this picture doesn't do it justice.  Between the clear serving platter and the wood underneath, the final product looks misshapen, lumpen, like a five year old put it together out of Play-Doh and mud.  In reality, it looked very much (although not exactly) like the picture in the book, and the taste was everything I hoped it would be.  Despite the fiddly-looking list of ingredients, the hardest part about this dessert was finding enough space in my fridge for it to chill until ready. 

The main change that I made was in the liqueur I used.  The original recipe called for coffee-flavored liqueur.  I didn't have any of the usual suspects in that area on hand, but what I did have was a coffee and tequila liqueur from Patron.  I like it, my husband LOVES it, and I had barely enough to finish the recipe.  If you can find it, grab it.  If not, a normal coffee liqueur like Kahlua should suffice, or even plain dark rum in a pinch.

Of course, now that I've decided to submit this to Cooking for Kids, I'm just noticing that this is a slightly boozy tart.  You can substitute coffee extract for the liquor, if you need to, although the vast bulk of the alcohol is cooked out and there isn't enough left in the topping to be a problem for most people. 

As I mentioned, I'm sending this over to Hema at Salt to Taste for the Cooking for Kidsblogging event.  The event was founded by Sharmi from Neivedyam, and this month's theme is chocolate.  I have yet to meet the child, of any age, who does not like tiramisu! 

Chocolate Tiramisu Tart (serves 10; approx. $1.53/serving)

1/2 cup butter

1 tablespoon coffee-flavored liqueur

6 ounces flour

1 ounce cocoa powder, plus more for dusting

1 ounce confectioner's sugar

1 pinch kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1 tablespoon light corn syrup

4 ounces dark chocolate chunks

2 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces

2 tablespoons coffee-flavored liqueur

1 cup whipping cream

12 ounces mascarpone

3 tablespoons confectioner's sugar

3 tablespoons cold black coffee

3 tablespoons coffee-flavored liqueur

Equipment:

• 9" springform pan, greased
• 2 saucepans
• Bowl
• Stand mixer

1. Preheat your oven to 375.
2. In one saucepan, melt the butter with the first tablespoon liqueur.
3. Remove from heat and sift in the flour, cocoa powder and 1 ounce confectioners' sugar.
4. Add the vanilla extract and combine well.
5. Press the dough into the springform pan.  It will probably seem like there is nowhere near enough dough, since the dough may not come all the way up the sides.  As you can see from the picture, that's fine.  This would probably be a step that a young child would enjoy helping with.
6. Prick the bottom and sides of the dough with a fork and bake 8 - 10 minutes.
7. In the second saucepan, combine the cream and corn syrup.  Bring to a boil.
8. Remove from heat and add the chocolate, stirring constantly until melted.
9. Beat in the 2 tablespoons butter and the 2 tablespoons liqueur.
10. Pour into the pastry case.  Cool completely then chill.
11. To prepare the topping, whip the cream in the bowl of the stand mixer until soft peaks form.
12. In the other bowl, beat the mascarpone until soft.
13. Add the confectioner's sugar to the cheese and beat until smooth and creamy. 
14. Add the cold coffee and liqueur.
15. Gently fold in the whipped cream. 
16. Spoon the topping on top of the chocolate layer in the pastry case.  Level the surface, dust with cocoa powder, and chill until you're ready to serve. 

Recipe: Green Beans in Olive Oil

Recipe Source: Ward, Susan.  Lebanese Cooking.  Hackberry Press, Dallas, 1992 p. 31

I made this for a Labor Day party, the same barbeque that got the Pomodori Pulcinella.  That was a fun day.  The weather was great, the company was wonderful, and I got to spend a lot of time with my favorite small children in the world.  (If you knew them, they'd be your favorites too.  Trust me.)  In my head, the dish will always remind me of that day. 

It's a very simple dish, so simple that I didn't make a whole lot of changes.  I did double it, as well as increasing the garlic, decreasing the olive oil, and using fresh tomatoes instead of canned.  (I probably used a lot more than 14 ounces of them, too.)  I also omitted the chili pepper and cayenne, which I know is wildly inauthentic.  Our hosts don't do spicy food, and it seems incredibly rude to bring something to someone else's house that they won't enjoy. 

Green Beans in Olive Oil (serves 12; approx. $0.39/serving)

2 lb green beans, trimmed

5 tablespoons olive oil

2 onions, finely chopped

8 garlic cloves, crushed

10 plum tomatoes, chopped

2 tablespoons paprika

Pinch kosher salt

Equipment:

• Large saucepan
• Colander
• Large wok or saute pan

1. Fill the large saucepan with water and bring it to a boil.
2. Add the green beans and blanch quickly, no more than 5 minutes.  Drain and rinse thoroughly with cold water.
3. Heat the oil in the wok and add the onion.  Season with the kosher salt and cook until the onions are just softened and not colored. 
4. Add the garlic.  Cook another 2 minutes.
5. Add the tomatoes and the blanched green beans. 
6. Sprinkle the paprika over the mixture, then turn out into a serving vessel and serve.  This may be served at room temperature or cold, if desired, making it ideal for parties and potlucks.

Recipe: Pomodori Pulcinella

Recipe Source: Wright, Clifford A.  Little Foods of the Mediterranean.  Harvard Common Press, Boston, 2003 pp. 247-8.

Tomatoes are not cheap this year.  Not unless, that is, you have an amazingly prolific garden.  Seriously.  We thought it was completely dead when we left for our August non-vacation.  When we got back, it was overflowing.  The Spouse looked at me and said, "Start thinking of tomato recipes."  They're late, and they're not all pretty, but they're tasty and free.  (Furthermore, I know exactly where they came from.)  I made this recipe for a Labor Day barbeque we attended.  They were not particularly well received.  I wondered why for a while, and then it was pointed out to me.  My handwriting is not the best, especially vertically.  When I wrote out the name of the recipe, the "l" and the "c" were too close together, so that someone just glancing at the menu would see, "Pomodori Pukinella."  When that's already in your head, the sauce on top looks less than appealing.  So if you serve this, be sure to use good penmanship. 

I didn't make many changes, because the recipe is so simple that there are very few changes to make.  I doubled the recipe, and I omitted the carrot (because I dislike carrots.)  I also increased the amount of garlic while decreasing the amount of oil, and forgot to add the basil chiffonade at the end.  It was actually a pretty tasty dish, and for those of you who are still getting heat, it won't heat up your kitchen. 

Pomodori Pulcinella (serves 12; approx. $0.71/serving if you're using your own tomatoes)

8 large, round tomatoes, sliced

2 celery stalks, chopped

8 small green bell peppers, seeded and coarsely chopped

3 garlic cloves

4 tablespoons olive oil

Pinch kosher salt

1 teaspoon dried oregano

Equipment:

• Food processor
• Large bowl

1. Arrange the tomatoes on your serving platter.
2. Combine the remaining ingredients in your food processor.  If yours is like mine, you'll have to do this in batches, which is fine and why I told you to get a large bowl.
3. Spoon the sauce over the tomatoes.
4. Serve.