Greetings from your guest blogger! I’m Amy Davis, sister of Abigail, faithful reader of Sugar Apple and sometime recipe tester. A couple of weeks ago my husband, Ted, and I attended The Second Annual Attack of the Killer Tomato Festival here in Atlanta and Abigail graciously invited me to blog about it.

The festival was held just up the street from our house at a restaurant called Jct. Kitchenthat’s located in the cool Westside Urban Market. The event was a fundraiser benefiting Georgia Organicsand featured chefs and mixologists from most of Atlanta’s top restaurants, along with a few notable out-of-towners (including one of our favorites, Athens’s Five & Ten) making food and drinks showcasing tomatoes from Georgia farmers. All of the restaurant and much of the outdoor space at the Westside market was given over to the celebration of tomatoes.

We’re lucky in Atlanta to be surrounded by fantastic restaurants and almost all of them were represented. You couldn’t throw a tomato without hitting a Top Chef “cheftestant” (Woodfire Grill’s Kevin Gillespie, Pura Vida’s Hector Santiago) or a James Beard award nominee (Chris Hastings, Linton Hopkins, Hugh Acheson) or semifinalist (Miller Union).

We spent a whole hot afternoon eating and drinking tomatoes. There were tried and true favorites–grilled cheese anyone?–along with unexpected treats like Five Seasons Brewing’s tomato beer. I really liked some of the sweeter dishes, like Pacci’s heirloom tomato sorbet (in a mini cone!) and Livingston Restaurant’s tomato shortcake. Which I guess is not so odd when you remember that the tomato is a fruit, after all. By the time we made it to Craft Atlanta’s pulled pork with tomato molasses on a lettuce wrap, they were out of lettuce. It wasn’t missed; who really needs lettuce when you have pork and molasses? And did I mention the mini corn dog with homemade ketchup (Restaurant Eugene)?

Ted loves avocados almost as much as he loves tomatoes, so his favorite dish was a toss-up between La Tavola’s poached shrimp with avocado and tomatoes and the tomato salad with avocado, radish, cucumbers and green goddess dressing presented by another neighborhood favorite, Bocado(chef Todd Ginsberg). Ted’s favorite drink was Miller Union’s Electric Boogaloo. Mine was The Golden Ticket concocted by Miles Macquerrie of Leon’s Full Service, featuring rum and cynar–an artichoke-based bitters that’s having it’s moment with Atlanta’s bartenders.

Judges were Food & Wine’s Kate Krader, Bon Appetit’s Andrew Knowlton and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Carolyn O’Neil. The judges’ winner for best tasting dish was a grilled cheese keaster (that’s sandwich to you and me) with roof top dried tomatoes, applewood smoked bacon and chipotle dipping sauce served up by Aria’s Gerry Klaskala. It was great…a full on, gooey grilled cheese sandwich with smoky tomato flavor. My favorite dish, Jct. Kitchen’s killer tomato jelly donuts, was voted most creative by the judges. Chef Ford Fry made not-too-sweet donuts with a hint of bacon flavor topped by a wonderful tomato jam.

The only downside to an afternoon spent eating wonderful, locally grown tomatoes prepared by talented and innovative chefs? As Ted said when he made a sandwich for dinner using our sad little grocery store tomato, “this tomato sucks.”

Tomato Choka

Abigail here.  So, my sister got to go to the Attack of the Killer Tomato Festival and all I got was a lousy t-shirt.  Actually, it’s a great t-shirt.  If I couldn’t be there, I’m happy that Amy and Ted got to enjoy my favorite fruit in all its Southern glory.  And I also got this fantastic post…thanks Amy!

Here’s an update on one of my favorite tomato dishes, tomato choka.  This is a Devica recipe so it’s seriously hot.  Feel free to use less hot pepper or to substitute a pepper with less heat, such as a jalapeño.  The first time I posted this recipe I was using summer tomatoes that were so ripe and juicy that my choka was wetter than normal.  Devica now tells me she uses exclusively Italian-style plum tomatoes, which are full of flavor but much less juicy.

Choka is a specialty of Trinidad, where it’s often served for breakfast with soft, white sada roti.  It’s a superb relish to serve alongside grilled fish, chicken or meat.  And a cheddar and choka sandwich is one of my favorite lunches.  No matter how you serve it, you’ll want to give your guests a heads up that it’s hot stuff.

4-5 firm but ripe plum tomatoes
3 cloves of garlic, peeled
1-2 scotch bonnet peppers
1-2 tablespoons of cooking oil
1/2 of a small onion, finely chopped

Put the tomatoes, garlic and peppers on a large piece of aluminum foil and bring the foil up to make a tightly sealed package.  Put the foil package on a barbecue grill or directly on the burner of a gas stove.  You can also cook it under the broiler but you won’t get that slightly smoky flavor that a bit of flame imparts and that I think makes the choka so tasty.

Cook the package, turning occasionally so that all sides get a go on the heat, for about 15 minutes.  You want the vegetables to soften considerably so they’ll be easy to mash.

When the vegetables are soft, peel the skin off the tomato and the pepper and put into a bowl with the garlic.  I like to leave in a little of the skin because I like the flavor and texture it imparts.  Use a potato masher, a fork or a pestle to mash it all up together (Devica uses the end of her wooden rolling pin) and stir it up so the garlic and pepper are evenly distributed throughout.

Add the onion to the bowl, but don’t stir it in, just sprinkle it on top of the tomato mixture.  Heat a little cooking oil in a small pot or a metal ladle over high heat until it’s smoking hot.  Pour the hot oil into the bowl over the onion.  The oil will sizzle when it hits the choka and cook the very onion slightly.  (If you don’t like the taste of uncooked onion, you can give it a quick fry in the oil in the pan before adding it to the choka.)  Add salt to taste and serve.

Good day and Sita Ram!  That’s a Hindu greeting I learned this weekend in Trinidad.  In fact, I learned a lot of things this weekend, most of them having to do with the incredible hospitality of the people of Trinidad.  I’ve always thought Southerners had a lock on first place in that area.  But after the past weekend, I can attest we’ve got some serious competition from the Trinis.  I don’t believe I’ve been welcomed so warmly in my life.  Ever.  Audrey and I were greeted with open arms, hugged by total strangers, chauffeured around the island, shown the sights, fed incredibly well and dressed in Indian clothing.  They were even pleasant in immigration and customs.

We were in Trinidad to celebrate the marriage of Devica’s elder daughter, Karen, to Shiva Sahadeo Nanan.  Karen and Shiva were married on Sunday in Esperance, outside San Fernando.  It was our first Indian wedding and our first Hindu wedding and all I can say is…wow.  Big wow!  The weekend was a mash up of electric colors and beating drums, fragrant with incense and curry, warmed by the glow of true love.

We attended the ladies only Maticor procession and Hardi ceremony on Friday (which was also Karen’s birthday) and then it was lunchtime.  I love lunchtime.  In keeping with Hindu tradition, the immediate family was fasting - no meat, fowl, fish or alcohol until after the wedding.  Lunch was channa, pumpkin, saheena (dasheen and yellow split pea roll), mango talkari, rice, dhal and buss up shut.  It was all accompanied by mother-in-law, a spicy relish of finely diced carrots, caraili (bitter gourd) and scotch bonnet peppers flavored with a good hit of lime juice.  I am now officially addicted to mother-in-law and very upset with Devica for not having shared this fresh, incendiary concoction with me sooner.

There were no plates or utensils on the lunch table.  Instead, lunch was served using soharee leaves for plates (similar in size and shape to banana leaves, but much sturdier) and hands work just as well as forks for getting food where it needs to go.  And recipes?  I have a recipe for buss up shut here.  The ones served in Trinidad, both at this lunch and at the wedding, were much larger, soft and white (no brown patches like we do them at home).  As for the other dishes, Devica returns from Trinidad next week and as soon as she’s recovered, I promise I’ll get working with her on some recipes for posting.

Friday evening I went to Shiva’s house to hear the tassa (drums) while Audrey hung out with the girls.  The beating of the tassa seems to be code for “let’s get this party started!”  Saturday was a mad dash to High Street in San Fernando to find Indian clothing to wear to the wedding.  An hour later we were fully outfitted head to toe…from bindis to bangles, shalwar kameez to sandals.

Saturday night was Cooking Night and the parching of the laawa (rice paddy).  The rice was stirred in a pot over a fire until it popped and opened, looking and smelling a little like popcorn.  The parched laawa was then put away to be used at the wedding ceremony.  After the laawa was parched, there was more tassa and dancing.  Afterwards, Audrey stayed for a sleepover with Devica’s daughters and nieces, I went back to the hotel for some sleep (wimp), and everybody else partied till about 4:30 in the morning, somehow managing to look fresh and well-rested the next morning for the wedding.

The wedding took place at the Hindu temple, where the marriage was blessed by the pundit and the Dulaha and Dulahin (bride and groom) became husband and wife.  I cried, of course.  I always cry at weddings.  After the wedding, we drove under ominously dark clouds through the driving rain to Shiva’s house for the reception, where the sun was shining and it was perfectly dry, in more ways than one.  There was plenty of icy bottled water and Chubby soda on offer, but if you needed something a little stronger to carry you through the night, the men had that covered.  Both sides of the street were lined with cars, trunks popped open, coolers full of beer, wine and spirits.  Kind of a Trini wedding tailgate.  There was plenty of tassa (party time!), Indian dancing, toasts to the couple, the cake was cut (a fruitcake I think).  Shiva played the tassa and also sang sweetly to his new bride.

The wedding dinner was another amazing vegetarian spread, including plenty of mother-in-law for us addicts.  Dinner was served on two long tables set under a tent next door at Shiva’s neighbor’s house.  You took a seat at the table, a soharee leaf was placed before you and a crew of servers came around dishing up the dinner.  After eating, we just folded up our leaves and threw them in the trash, leaving the seat for the next hungry guest.  It was a fantastic way to efficiently feed about three or four hundred guests at two tables seating about sixteen people each (basically everybody in the village shows up at the reception to wish the newlyweds well and join the party).  And no washing up!

It was a fantastic party that Audrey and I had to leave much too soon since we had an early flight on Monday morning.  Wish we could have hung with the Trinis and partied all night.  We had an amazing weekend and I have to say thank you again to everyone for their extraordinary hospitality.  Thank you to Karen and Shiva for including us in the celebration of your marriage; I know that you’ll have a long and happy life together.  Your wedding was the experience of a lifetime that Audrey and I will never forget.  Namaste.

* While Devica and I are working on our Indian vegetarian recipes, you might want to check out a few of my blogging friends who write about the foods of Trinidad and Tobago.  Some great reads and recipes can be found at Lifespan of a Chennette, TriniGourmet, Simply Trini Cooking, Caribbean Pot and Macafouchette.

** You can find a good description of the different components of a traditional Trinidadian Hindu wedding here.

The view from the kitchen

This is the first time in several years that we haven’t attended the Sagra della Pappardelle al Cinghiale in Torre Alfina, Italy, and I must admit I’m missing it.  The tables lined up in the piazza, the village children serving the grownups, chicken and wild boar sausages hot off the grill, good local red wine, and the star of the show – pappardelle sauced with wild boar.  But Audrey and I have been vacationing at my parents’ house in North Carolina and family always trumps pasta, even if there’s wild boar involved.  And the view from the kitchen window is superb.

A few days ago I decided if we couldn”t go to the cinghiale, the cinghiale would come to us.  I ordered ten pounds of ground wild boar meat from Marx Foods and set out to recreate the rich, deeply flavored, lightly sauced pappardelle al cinghiale we fell in love with in Italy.  I couldn’t find a recipe that seemed exactly like the dish we had in Torre Alfina.  But, working from memory and in keeping with the “less is more” philosophy so prevalent in Italy, I came up with the following recipe.

I was most pleased with the results and Audrey said it tasted just like the pasta she had in Italy.  High praise indeed and good enough for me.

Pappardelle al Cinghiale

Pappardelle al Cinghiale

This quantity of pasta and sauce will feed a crowd – maybe 20-24 people.  If you’re not feeding the entire village, you’ll probably want to reduce the quantities accordingly.  Because it’s a fairly dry sauce, it’s not one that keeps particularly well so I recommend you make just what you can eat the day it’s made.

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup butter
1 medium onion, peeled and finely minced
1 carrot, scraped and finely minced
1 stalk celery, finely minced
3 pounds ground wild boar
3 cups red wine
1 ½ cups chicken stock
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 pounds pappardelle or other good quality egg pasta (or even better, homemade)
freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano for serving

Heat the olive oil and butter in a heavy pot over medium heat until the butter melts.  Add the onion, carrot and celery and sweat the vegetables slowly until they’re nice and soft, about 10 minutes or so.  Don’t let them brown or your sauce will be bitter.  Add the wild boar and cook, stirring occasionally, until the meat is no longer pink.

Cinghiale

Raise the heat to medium high and add 1 cup of the wine.  Bring the wine to a boil and let it bubble away until the wine is almost evaporated.  Add another cup of wine, half a cup of stock, the tomato paste, salt and pepper and bring the liquid to a simmer.  Turn the heat down to low and cook the sauce very slowly for 1 ½ hours.  Add the rest of the wine and more stock, little by little, as the liquid evaporates.  At the end of the cooking period, you should be left with only a small amount of liquid; you’re looking for a sauce that’s moist but not wet.

When the sauce is ready, cook the pasta until it’s al dente.  Drain, reserving some of the pasta water (I scoop up a cupful in a ceramic mug before I pour the pasta in a colander).  Transfer the pasta to a large serving plate or bowl and toss with the sauce.  Add a little pasta water if needed to thin the sauce and help it coat the pasta evenly.  Sprinkle generously with cheese and serve immediately.  Pasta doesn’t like to wait.  Buon appetito.

My brother provided the antipasti

Apalachicola oysters - an endangered species?

Audrey is a fairly adventurous eater for a 12-year-old, but she still has her culinary no-fly zones.   She gives a big thumbs down on anything young, cute and furry.  Lamb, veal and rabbit are out.  Texture is important.  Crunchy fried stuff is good.  Slime is bad.  We tried to convince her to try the escargot in Paris but she couldn’t make herself go there.  And no oysters please, though we did think we had her on that one recently.

Escargot at Chez Denise in Paris

Bones had bought a few cases of Apalachicolas and he was prepping them for the freezer.  Some he froze in the shell and some were shucked for use in stews, soups, gumbos and the like.  Audrey saw what he was doing and called first dibs on any pearls he might uncover.  This was fine with Bones, so long as she promised to eat any oyster found to contain one of the little organic gems.  Audrey agreed, probably assuming the chances of a pearl were slim.

A pearl!

Well, fancy that.  A pearl!  Audrey was thrilled, though a little puzzled.  “Why is there a hole in it?”  Bones had an answer for that.  “Because it’s a cultured pearl.”    It was fascinating to watch her brain move.  From “wow, a pearl” to “oh no, I’ve got to eat that thing” to “wait a minute, Daddy’s got a funny smile on his face.”  All in about ten seconds.  She must have remembered my craft box full of beads because the next thing Bones knew, she popped him one on the chin and huffed back to her bedroom to contemplate her close call with the slime.  Probably plotting her revenge.   Maybe we should have tried her on these baked oysters first.

Oysters Casino

Oysters Casino

I know oysters are out of season but we buy them by the case when they’re available and keep a supply in the freezer.  Oysters freeze beautifully and they open very easily when still half frozen.  Just take them out of the freezer, let them sit at room temperature for 20 minutes.  Open and stuff.  They’ll still be half frozen and the liquor will stay with the oyster.

Most cooks  bake the oysters on a bed of rock salt or kosher salt to keep them steady.  I almost always forget to buy extra salt and just arrange them on the tray so that they don’t tip out all their lovely oyster liquor.  It works just fine.

3 dozen oysters
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/4 pound prosciutto, finely chopped
2 small shallots, peeled and finely minced
1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped
1 cup fresh white breadcrumbs
a few shakes of Tabasco
3 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Preheat the oven to 450°.  Open the oysters and place them on a baking tray (on a bed of salt, or not). 

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat and add the prosciutto, red pepper and shallot.  Cook without browning until soft and fragrant, about 10 minutes.  Remove from the heat and stir in the breadcrumbs, Tabasco and parsley.

Spoon the mixture over the oysters and sprinkle with the grated cheese.  Bake until the breadcrumbs and cheese are starting to brown, about 8-10 minutes.  Serve immediately.  How many does this serve?  You’d have to give Audrey expensive jewelry to eat one.  Bones could eat a dozen, easy, and still have room for a hearty dinner.  I can eat half a dozen.  How hungry are you?

Bubbles is interested...

By the time you read this, I should be in the air somewhere between Tortola and Greensboro, North Carolina.  I’m going home to spend some time with my folks and pick up Audrey from camp.  I’m not sure when I’ll next have internet access so I’m experimenting with the advance scheduling feature on my site.  Here’s hoping it works!

I won’t make it down to the lowcountry this year so no trips to the Gay Fish Company on St. Helena Island for shrimp fresh off the boat.  But my dad has a good source in Winston-Salem (Sea Products, Inc.) so I won’t suffer from lack of Carolina summer shrimp.  I like shrimp just about any way you cook it but my favorite has got to be the simple, old-fashioned Southern shrimp boil.  Last time I boiled shrimp was for Bobby Gray’s birthday party and it turned out really well, even with the frozen shrimp we get here.

Southern-Style Boiled Shrimp

If you really want to get all Southern about it, take your shrimp feast outside.  Cover a picnic table with old newspapers.  Drain the shrimp and dump them in a pile in the middle of the table.  Dig in with your fingers and toss the shells on the ground.  Make sure there’s cocktail sauce, saltine crackers and plenty of ice cold beer.  Damn, life doesn’t get much better than that.

2 quarts water
1 beer (any lager will do)
2 teaspoons celery seeds
2 tablespoons salt
2 teaspoons hot Hungarian paprika
1 teaspoon regular paprika
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
2 bay leaves
1 lemon, sliced
1 small onion, peeled and sliced
2 whole garlic cloves, peeled
4 pounds medium shrimp in the shell (31-35 or 21-30 count)

Put everything but the shrimp in a large pot and bring it to a boil.  Boil the spiced water for five minutes and then add the shrimp.  Cover the pot and immediately remove it from the heat.  Let the shrimp steep in the water until they’re cooked through to your liking, about 15-20 minutes.  Drain the shrimp, discard the whole spices and the lemon, onion and garlic.  The shrimp can be served either at room temperature or chilled.

My 4 pounds of shrimp fed 30 guests as one of several appetizers in advance of a hearty meal.  But if the shrimp is focal point of your dinner and you’re feeding a crowd of shrimp-loving Southerners, plan on a pound of shrimp per person.

Cocktail Sauce

This sauce is about as old-school Southern as it gets and we also love it with oysters on the half shell.  You can go really retro and arrange half a dozen peeled shrimp, some cocktail sauce and a wedge of lemon in a martini glass.  Serve with martinis (the alcoholic variety) and party like it’s 1969.

1 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon prepared horseradish
1/4 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
juice of half a lemon

Mix all the ingredients together in a small bowl.  Taste and adjust for seasoning.  I like my cocktail sauce quite highly seasoned and often add a little more lemon and horseradish.  Makes about 1 1/2 cups.