Feta Bruschetta

Copyright, Doug Kapustin Photography, 2013

Day 6

I don’t know about you, but I love fresh vegetables from the garden in the summertime. My father still has close to 100 tomato plants each year, and he is always so generous to share with family, neighbors, and friends. Growing up, we never wanted for any summer fruits and vegetables because of Daddy’s garden. From squash to tomatoes to onions to watermelon, our cup runneth over. 

Other than delicious thickly sliced garden tomato sandwiches served with mayonnaise, salt, and pepper on white bread, my favorite tomato dish is bruschetta. There are many variations and ways to make a delicious tomato bruschetta, but my preference is to use small tomatoes. For some reason, the flavor seems more intense in these bite-sized vegetables. The combination of fresh basil, lemon juice, salt, olive oil, and the juicy tomatoes is unparalleled. Personally, I think that the flavors are better when I mix different types and colors of grape or cherry tomatoes, including the yellow and red varieties. 

Watching the Food Network recently, I saw my favorite chef, Ina Garten, as she was preparing a variation of bruschetta that uses a feta spread. Although I didn’t search for her exact recipe, I made the dish, working from memory and adding whatever I fancied. I’m sharing my version here with you, and I suspect that it is close enough to Ina’s recipe that the Barefoot Contessa deserves the credit for inspiring my plate. 

Feta Bruschetta

Ingredients:

1 French baguette, sliced in 1-2 inch pieces, at a diagonal 

Good quality Extra Virgin Olive oil for brushing the slices of French bread 

5 cups yellow and red grape and cherry tomatoes, sliced in half

3 cloves minced garlic

¼ cup fresh flat leaf Italian parsley, chopped

½ cup fresh basil, julienned

1 medium red onion, finely chopped 

¼ cup  plus 2 tbs. extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp. red wine vinegar

juice of 1 lemon

salt and pepper to taste

1- 8 oz. block of cream cheese, softened

1- 6 oz. block feta cheese 

2 tbs. plain Greek yogurt

¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro

½ tsp. salt

splash of hot sauce

2 cups toasted pine nuts

Directions:

Brush each slice of baguette with olive oil and toast in preheated 375 degree oven for 7-10 minutes. Remove and set aside or store in container once cooled. 

Combine tomatoes, garlic, onion, parsley, basil, olive oil, vinegar, and lemon juice in large glass bowl. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover and set aside for at least one hour to allow flavors to blend. 

Next, place pine nuts in a sauté pan on medium high heat and toast until lightly browned. This will help to bring out the earthy flavor of the nuts. Allow to cool and store in a container until ready to enjoy. 

Ploughman’s Platter

Day 108

This time of the year, we really enjoy cold meals. On a hot day, there is definitely something more refreshing about food straight from the garden and farm, with minimal cooking involved. Tonight, we opted for a modified ploughman’s platter. Usually, these platters are served for lunch, and they consist of smoked meats, cheeses, vegetables, and fruits. Instead, we

Photos by Taylor Fowler

enjoyed ours for dinner, and we included old-fashioned egg salad, roasted broccoli, mozzarella with basil, and deconstructed tomato bruschetta. Every ingredient was fresh, either grown by us or by sustainable, local sellers.

Since this platter included no new recipes (the mozzarella and broccoli certainly can’t count), you can find the egg salad on Day 48 of this blog (http://yearofinspirations.blogspot.com/search?q=egg+salad). I left out the bacon this time.  The marinated tomato recipe for the bruschetta can be found on Day 6 http://yearofinspirations.blogspot.com/search?q=bruschetta. For this, I baked whole baguettes and each person sliced the bread for himself.

After slicing the mozzarella and gathering fresh basil from my deck herb garden, I drizzled it with balsamic vinegar and olive oil, then sprinkled with salt and pepper. The same went for the roasted broccoli, which I drizzled with olive oil, salt, and pepper, then roasted at 425 degrees for about 20 minutes. I sprinkled lemon juice over the broccoli to finish.

Because this blog entry includes nothing particularly new, I want to give a shout out to really good, high quality olive oil. It’s important. Sure, you should buy the first cold press extra virgin variety, but you also need to be careful which brand you buy. Choose one that has a good reputation for being traceable from the tree to your table. After some research

and reading, I chose to order Olea brand olive oil for the first time this week. I ordered a bottle of their Olea Gold, and it is sublime. It is perfect for dipping and drizzling, and its rich flavor and mildly biting finish are impressive. Check it out at this link, http://www.oleaestates.com/ or find another brand you trust and enjoy. Good olive oil makes more of a difference than you might think.

Happy summer!