the continued adventures of attempting to cook : caprese
Once, a long time ago, when I was young, my father decided I needed to learn how to sit at a formal dinner. I remember very little of this experience -- I remember that I was halfway-decent at it before the training, but that I spend very little time at formal dinners.
More importantly, I remember being fed caprese -- or however you spell that italian salad mixture of tomatoes and mozarella. I remember that it was tasty, and that I in fact ate it again at my next 'fancy' dinner ( I happened to tag along to buisness dinner with my dad, at an italian restaurant. I was the only female in the group, and I did not participate in the conversation in the least. But the food was good ).
Anyway, I have been meaning to make this tasty and simple meal for a long time, and today I finally broke down while I was going through the cheese section at the local grocery store, and grabbed the mozarella.
Number one thing I learned : I cannot tell fabulous mozarella from regular mozarella. I MIGHT be able to tell the difference while eating it, but I don't really have that much experience. I went with a brand name that made good cheese sticks.
Second thing I learned : I'm only vaguely able to ID good tomatoes. This does not matter, because I later learned that 'normal' american beefsteak tomatoes are supposed to be the worst type to use in caprese. Tough-- I think it tastes fine, and the nearest Whole Foods is nowhere nearby.
Third thing I learned : Olive oil comes in varieties? Seriously? That MANY varieties? I expected regular and extra virgin, tops. But there's flavored, and light flavored, and ' there was no penetration' virgin and... really, it's too many choices. I went for extra virgin store brand ( which turned out to be both the best and worse choice. Extra virgin in the right choice, but they suggest getting the best you can buy, which probably isn't store brand. Tough -- it tastes fine
Mind, I wasn't positive on the ingredients -- I knew there was tomatoes, and basil, and mozarella, and I was pretty sure there was olive oil ( some people apparently use vinegar, but this is considered cheating and horrible and stupid by the Italians), and was worried there was something else. I was tempted to call my step mother and ask, but I don't have her direct number, and wasn't willing to call my dad to ask ( I try not to call my dad during the day unless it's an emergency / very important. Therefore, when I call during the day, he knows I'm not just calling to chat and almost always picks up, even if he's in a meeting ).
So I get home, and research, and luckily had (almost) all the ingredients. I do not own sea salt , but I own coarse kosher salt and that's good enough.
I suck at cutting tomatoes. Or more accurately, I suck at cutting mozarella in a manner that matches the tomatoes, and I take a few moments of thought and experiment to cut tomatoes. Being Jewish, and the mozarella loaf-shaped, I finally just gave in to my baser urges and ripped it apart, which would be fine except I had lovely cut tomatoes and the two don't match. For my second attempt, I mutilated both the tomatoes and mozarella and this was good.
Olive oil, salt, basil ( they sell leaves at the grocers, and though I'm sure a true Italian would finely mince them with style and grace, I mutilated those as well. ) , tomatoes and mozarella. Simple and yummy.
More importantly, I remember being fed caprese -- or however you spell that italian salad mixture of tomatoes and mozarella. I remember that it was tasty, and that I in fact ate it again at my next 'fancy' dinner ( I happened to tag along to buisness dinner with my dad, at an italian restaurant. I was the only female in the group, and I did not participate in the conversation in the least. But the food was good ).
Anyway, I have been meaning to make this tasty and simple meal for a long time, and today I finally broke down while I was going through the cheese section at the local grocery store, and grabbed the mozarella.
Number one thing I learned : I cannot tell fabulous mozarella from regular mozarella. I MIGHT be able to tell the difference while eating it, but I don't really have that much experience. I went with a brand name that made good cheese sticks.
Second thing I learned : I'm only vaguely able to ID good tomatoes. This does not matter, because I later learned that 'normal' american beefsteak tomatoes are supposed to be the worst type to use in caprese. Tough-- I think it tastes fine, and the nearest Whole Foods is nowhere nearby.
Third thing I learned : Olive oil comes in varieties? Seriously? That MANY varieties? I expected regular and extra virgin, tops. But there's flavored, and light flavored, and ' there was no penetration' virgin and... really, it's too many choices. I went for extra virgin store brand ( which turned out to be both the best and worse choice. Extra virgin in the right choice, but they suggest getting the best you can buy, which probably isn't store brand. Tough -- it tastes fine
Mind, I wasn't positive on the ingredients -- I knew there was tomatoes, and basil, and mozarella, and I was pretty sure there was olive oil ( some people apparently use vinegar, but this is considered cheating and horrible and stupid by the Italians), and was worried there was something else. I was tempted to call my step mother and ask, but I don't have her direct number, and wasn't willing to call my dad to ask ( I try not to call my dad during the day unless it's an emergency / very important. Therefore, when I call during the day, he knows I'm not just calling to chat and almost always picks up, even if he's in a meeting ).
So I get home, and research, and luckily had (almost) all the ingredients. I do not own sea salt , but I own coarse kosher salt and that's good enough.
I suck at cutting tomatoes. Or more accurately, I suck at cutting mozarella in a manner that matches the tomatoes, and I take a few moments of thought and experiment to cut tomatoes. Being Jewish, and the mozarella loaf-shaped, I finally just gave in to my baser urges and ripped it apart, which would be fine except I had lovely cut tomatoes and the two don't match. For my second attempt, I mutilated both the tomatoes and mozarella and this was good.
Olive oil, salt, basil ( they sell leaves at the grocers, and though I'm sure a true Italian would finely mince them with style and grace, I mutilated those as well. ) , tomatoes and mozarella. Simple and yummy.