I just can’t get enough of the dry-farmed Early Girl tomatoes.  You can have it in a classic Caprese or top it on top of a good slice of crostini to make a light dinner.

Chef’s tip: To chiffonade basil, stack the leaves.  Roll tightly into a compact cylinder.  Using a sharp knife, slice thinly horizontally across the roll.  Fluff up the basil.

1 loaf sour battard, cut into 8 thick slices
The best EVOO you have
2 cloves garlic

2 lbs Early Girl tomatoes, preferably from Two Dog Farm
Your favorite sea salt
1 lb Goia burrata
16 basil leaves, chiffonade
Freshly ground black pepper

To make the crostini:
1.  Slice bread into 3/8 inch thick pieces. Place bread slices on a sheet pan, brush one side with olive oil.
2.  Bake in a 375F oven for 7-10 minutes until golden brown. Immediately rub with a piece of garlic.
To make the caprese salad:
3.  Squeeze tomatoes of excess juice.  Cut into small dice.
4. Toss with salt and some extra virgin olive oil.
Assembling:
5. Spoon tomatoes over the crostini.  Sprinkle on basil.  Top with a generous portion of burrata.
6. Finish with more olive oil, salt and pepper.

Serves: 4

Tags: finger foods, Vegetarian.

Deconstructed or perhaps re-constructed.  Merging the guac and salsa together in one tall timbale but isolating the flavors of the cilantro so that it stands out on its own.

Chef’s tip: Zesting is done best with microplane. To make your own lime-infused olive oil, warm the olive oil to about 175F. Add in the lime zest, cool and let it sit for an hour. Strain.  To seed the tomatoes, cut a tomato into half and just gently squeeze out the seeds.

1 Tablespoon lime zest
1/3 cup lime-infused olive oil (or EVOO)
1 cup cilantro, leaves and stems, packed
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 avocado, pitted, diced
1 Tablespoon lime juice
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

3 ripe tomatoes, seeded
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon cumin, ground
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 Tablespoon lime juice
1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon coriander seeds, toasted, crushed coarsely
A few turns of sea salt

Directions
1. To make the cilantro vinaigrette: Zest the lime with a microplane zester. Combine zest with the cilantro and lime-infused olive oil. Blend together till smooth.  Add salt.
2. To make the avocado mash: Dice and gently mash avocado with the lime juice and salt with a fork, leaving some chunkiness texture in it.
3. Seed the tomatoes, chop into fine dice.  Toss tomatoes with garlic, cumin, salt, lime juice and olive oil.
4. Assemble: Using a tall cake ring, fill the lower part of the ring with the avocado. Top with the tomato mix. Drizzle around the sides with the vinaigrette. Sprinkle with crushed coriander seeds and a few turns of the sea salt. Serve with tortilla chips.

Serves: 4

Tags: finger foods, Latin.

Shrimp and banana – not your typical pairing.  But in this case, the flavor profiles of the shrimp and banana work really well together!  Although, I have to admit — put anything into a fryer and it will taste yummy!

Chef’s tip:  When deep frying, fry small batches at a time to keep the temperature at a constant high of 375.  The more spring rolls you crowd into the fryer, the quicker the temperature will drop (the law of thermodynamics!), thus, the soggier your spring rolls will be.  And always, always use a fry thermometer.

Filling:
1 lb raw shrimp, shelled and deveined, cut into ½ inch cubes
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 ripe bananas, peeled, halved lengthwise from top to bottom, then cut into a 1/2-inch dice
½ cup canned bamboo shoots, rinsed thoruoghly and minced
½ cup water chestnuts, drained and chopped
½ cup scallions, green and white, chopped finely
½ cup cilantro, chopped finely
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoon Chinese rice wine or pale dry sherry
1 teaspoon kosher salt
A pinch of white pepper

24 square spring roll wrappers – 6 x 6 inch
1 large egg beaten with 2 Tablespoons water (egg wash)
6 cups canola oil for frying

Sauce:
½ cup sake
2 Tablespoons mirin
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
2 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 Thai chilies, seeds optional, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1 Tablespoon finely chopped cilantro stems

Preparing the filling:
1.    Cut half the shrimp into 1/2 in cubes, and mince the rest. Mix shrimp with sugar, cornstarch and sesame oil.
2.    In a medium bowl, toss together the remaining filling ingredients. Divide into 24 portions.
Assembly:
3.    Cut off 2 inches off the corner of the stack of spring roll wrappers –  the one end pointed towards you.  Cover wrappers with a damp tea towel.
4.    Take one wrapper and place the cut end closest to you.  Brush uncut ends with egg wash. Place 2-3 Tablespoons of the shrimp mixture closer to the cut end. Fold the left and right side over the filling.  Holding the sides in place, fold the bottom flap up and roll the roll up into a cylinder.  Place spring rolls, on its seam, on a baking sheet that is slightly floured with cornstarch.  Repeat folding the remaining rolls.
Frying the spring rolls:
5.    Heat canola oil till 375F.  Drop several spring rolls into the oil and fry till golden brown, about 5 minutes each.  Immediately drain on a wire rack over a baking sheet.
Preparing the dipping sauce:
6.    Mix all the sauce ingredients together in a bowl and set aside.  Serve with hot spring rolls.

Serves: 24 portions

Tags: Cantonese, Chinese, dim sum, finger foods, springrolls, street foods.