Papi's Aji

So in many northern Latin American countries, there is a condiment that's on every table, restaurant or home, no matter what: aji (pronounced "a-hee"). Sometimes it's spicy, sometimes not. But it is always there in a little container with a spoon in it, and it goes on anything and everything.

My Colombian dad always had a bowl of this on our table, and it never went empty, no matter how much I spooned onto my rice (mmmmm).

I thought of it the other day and HAD to make some. It's super easy and super-delish, and very customizable. It's kinda like salsa....but different. There are no tortilla chips involved, though of course you could do that if you're into that kind of thing. ;-)

Dena's Papi's Aji Bogotano 
(aka Aji, Bogota-style)

• 2 ripe tomatoes, chopped
• 3-4 scallions, chopped
• As much cilantro as you like, chopped
• Some glugs of extra virgin olive oil
• A few tablespoons of red wine vinegar

Combine in a bowl and let sit for at least 30 minutes. You want to make sure there's enough vinegar for the acid in the vinegar to make everything yummy, but not so much that it's overpowering.

Spoon it onto your rice, your beans, your platanos fritos, avocado, chicken, beef.... anything savory. Makes a great meat marinade.

Add diced hot pepper (like jalapeno, minus the seeds) or some Tabasco if you like heat, but it will then cease to be Bogota-style. Which is fine and still yummy!

When I was young, I used to just eat rice with aji on top. Makes a fantastic snack, let me tell you. Makes a great bachelor dinner, too, by the way.

This keeps for a few days in your fridge. Make a batch and try it out!

Hubby doesn't like cilantro (did you know that's genetic? Bizarre. So glad I got the gene that makes it taste delicious) so I left it out on the side. MORE FOR ME!

Buen provecho!

Gettin' Ready for Tomato Season

It's 100 degrees here in Eugene today (!) and it is also the time of year when we have to start thinking about tomato season.

All the delicious recipes that are set to the back shelf, that I dream about in the middle of winter, are moved to the front of the queue -- happily and deliciously. I'm one of those people who eat fresh tomatoes only seasonally -- even though you can get "red" tomatoes in the grocery store year-round, there are many reasons not to eat them, including their utter tastelessness and mushy texture.

This great article in the San Francisco Chronicle will help anyone who wants to put tomatoes by for this winter -- something I have long wanted to do and may try to do this summer. Homemade, homegrown tomato sauce in January -- yum! (A great recession special idea, too, by the way.)

And here are some of my favorite recipes for real, honest-to-goodness vine-ripened summer tomatoes:

• Summer Tomato Side Salad
• Mediterranean Melts
• Zoe's Greek Salad

Our tomato plants have just started to tip into the Going-Crazy/Little-Shop-of-Horrors territory. Which means that soon, the many, many green tomatoes hanging on their vines should start to become red, delicious, and little bursts of summer in our mouths!

Can't wait!

Winston's Comfort Food Dinner

My dear friend Winston, who could easily give Martha Stewart a run for her money if he chose to make WJDJR an international brand, made our book club the most delicious meal a couple of weeks ago.

I was so entranced I had to try to replicate it. And I think I didn't do such a bad job! I used cheddar and asiago, but you could use any cheeses that please your palate.

So here for you today I give you:

Winston's Croque Monsieurs, Tomato Bisque, and Roasted Cauliflower
(aka Grilled Cheese, Tomato Soup, and Popcorn Cauliflower)

4 slices crusty bread
Dijon mustard
2 tsp honey
Sliced cheddar cheese
Sliced asiago cheese
2 thin slices tomato
2 medium-thick slices onion
Black forest ham (or whatever deli meat you like)
Olive oil

1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
1 tsp curry powder
Olive oil

Trader Joe's Creamy Tomato Bisque
(Yes, here is where Winston and I diverged: he makes his from scratch. I chose to go with this super-easy and very tasty option instead. He wins, again.)

First, get your cauliflower in the oven. Preheat to 450F. Toss your cauliflower florets with ~ 1.5 tbsp olive oil -- enough to coat, but not thickly or heavily. Add the bit of curry powder and salt and pepper, and spread the florets in a baking dish or pan so they're in a single layer. Pop them in the oven and leave them be for ~40 minutes or so. Keep an eye on them near the end to make sure they don't blacken, but you do want them to get nice and roasted and nutty, so they do need to be in there a good long while.

While cauliflower is roasting, assemble your sandwiches: slather one piece of bread with a thin coat of dijon mustard, and the other with 1 tsp of honey. Then build -- putting cheese on top of the bread, then meats and veggies, then cheese, and top with the other slice.

Heat a cast-iron skillet or grill pan til it is VERY HOT. Really -- let it sit there a while. If you're going to get these puppies to melt properly without burning the bread, your pan has to be hot. (So, please DO NOT use a pan with a non-stick teflon coating.)

Once it's hot hot hot, drizzle some olive oil in there and make sure it coats the surface, but that it's not too thick. Place your sandwiches in the pan and cover if you like. Then just leave them be for a bit.

If you're me, pour soup into a pan and heat over medium-low heat. If you're Winston, make creamy tomato bisque from scratch just because you can.

Check on your sandwiches every so often to gauge the cheese-meltiness factor. Once the bottom layer of cheese has started to melt well, you want to flip them over and get the other side of cheese melting and the other slice of bread nice and toasty.

Once your sandwiches have achieved "grilled cheese" status and your cauliflower is done, serve with a mug of soup. And be in absolute comfort food heaven.

Zoe's Greek Salad

So I just got back from visiting my best friend, Zoe, in her hometown of Boston. And while I was there, she made a salad for us to have with dinner one evening.

Now, this may sound like a not big deal. But let me tell you, friends: I have never seen Zoe cook anything other than...popcorn. And I love that about her! It is part of her very considerable charm.

We went grocery shopping (Whole Foods) and talked about how to pick a good tomato and why it's so important to buy them organic. And bought the rest of the fixins for Zoe's masterpiece salad.



It was delicious and it was also a delight to watch Zoe in the kitchen. I have to admit I felt a little like a proud mama hen watching.

So next time you need a light, summery salad that is super easy to put together to go along with your lunch or dinner, Zoe's Greek Salad is a great choice!*




Zoe's Greek Salad

- 2 ripe, summery-smelling, slightly tender to the touch organic tomatoes
- 1 large English cucumber (the kind without seeds, usually comes shrink-wrapped in plastic)
- Feta cheese, diced and crumbled
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Salt & pepper to taste

Dice the tomato, cucumber, and feta into similar sizes. Toss with the olive oil and salt and pepper and ENJOY.


* I know I sound like a commercial. But I'm really so proud! And thrilled that she is letting me feature it on this blog.

Mediterranean Melts

God these are good. Every time my husband sees them on the menu plan for the week, he looks forward to their day. They're easy to make, too.

Mediterranean Melts

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 thick slices whole grain crusty bread
1 lb frozen artichoke hearts
5-6 cloves garlic, sliced
2 ripe tomatoes, chopped
olive tapenade
gruyere or fontina cheese (or something similarly creamy and nutty)

Toast bread slices. Meanwhile, defrost artichoke hearts and chop tomatoes and garlic.

Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in large skillet over medium-high heat and when it shimmers, add garlic. After about 1 minute, add defrosted artichoke hearts. Mix them to coat with olive oil and garlic, and then leave them to get golden. Stir to get them cooking on their other sides, too, but don't let the garlic get too toasty. When the artichoke hearts are sufficiently golden but the garlic's not toasted yet, remove and set aside.

Add remaining tbsp olive oil to skillet and add tomatoes. Let them simmer a bit so they become sauce-like and absorb the garlic flavors from the artichoke hearts.

Meanwhile, spread olive tapenade on each slice of bread. Then top with artichoke-garlic mixture, tomatoes, and a slice of cheese.

Put under broiler for as long as it takes to melt cheese, depending on your oven. Keep an eye on them -- you don't want them to burn!

Then take a bite of gooey heaven. Delicious.

Tomato Side Salad: The Taste of Summer

I am one of those people who cannot eat fresh tomatoes nine months out of the year. I just would rather not eat them at all than eat the (scarily toxic) things that pass for tomatoes for most of the year. And I rarely eat them when I'm at a restaurant, unless I know they've obtained them locally.

But the three months when tomatoes are in season? Pure heaven. Nothing signals, embodies, and imbues one's being with the essence of summer like a vine-ripened fresh tomato. Seriously.

And I recently discovered the best tomatoes I have EVER eaten, even better than the ones my husband grew in our garden when we had a yard two years ago. Even he agrees! If you live anywhere near the Bay Area, do yourself a huge favor and make sure you taste one of these before the season's over. Their taste may very well last me through to next season. Each bite tastes like the essence of ripe summer tomatoes intensified by 100. I'm not kidding. They really are that good.

Inspired by these amazing tomatoes, I took a hint from one of my favorite food blogs and made my Tomato Side Salad to go with the burgers I made last Sunday night. Grass-fed beef from only 50 miles away and tomatoes from 75 miles away -- a summer Sunday dinner doesn't get better.

Dena's Tomato Side Salad

As many dry-farmed Early Girl tomatoes as you are in the mood for, sliced

1 sweet Italian onion, sliced paper-thin

salt and pepper to taste

Arrange the onion over the tomatoes and add plenty of salt and pepper. Eat and be blissful.