Easy, easy dry rub, air dried/marinated in the frig, then grilled.

Always, I’m on the lookout for a new way to do pork tenderloin. I was hosting a big family birthday party recently. Karen brought salmon, and her pistachio cole slaw, Karen’s mom brought a veggie platter, Sara brought a blueberry lemon layer cake and I filled in the rest with this pork and a big huge salad platter (see below).

This recipe for the pork came out of Southern Living a few months ago. Once you prepare the dry rub (brown sugar, smoked paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, dry mustard) you plop the tenderloins into a Ziploc bag with the rub. Toss it around a bit, let it sit for a few minutes, toss again, then the tenderloins are placed on a rack on a sheetpan (I used the smaller one) and they marinate in the refrigerator (yes, open, no covering) for 8-12 hours. What happens in that time is the outside of the pork hardens a bit and absorbs all of the dry rub.

When my family comes I almost always assign the grilling duty to my son Powell, or Sara’s husband John. I think they both worked at it – cooking the salmon and grilling the pork. The pork was grilled for 8-10 minutes I’m guessing (I wasn’t at the grill so don’t have an exact number), turning them occasionally, until the internal temperature reaches 140°F. If you remove the pork then, let it sit a few minutes and it rises to 145°F, which is what you want it to be. As you can see, the two guys cooked it perfectly.

I wish I’d made some kind of salsa or condiment to go with it – like balsamic onion marmalade, green tomatillo salsa, or pineapple salsa, strawberry salsa, tomato jam, parsley sauce, chimichurri perhaps, or mango chutney. It was fine plain, and we had plenty of food, but knowing my family, it would have been nice if I’d had something to go with it. Just sayin’.

There’s the salad platter I served with it. I cut Romaine in quarters (the ones from Trader Joe’s are smaller and manageable). There are nine wedges of Romaine in the center. Then green beans that I dressed with some of the vinaigrette at the last minute, halved hard boiled eggs, cherry tomatoes and some pomegranate seeds sprinkled over it all. I drizzled everything (except the eggs) with my old-favorite, creamy garlic blue cheese vinaigrette (that I made with Gorgonzola this time). There was nothing left on the platter except a few green beans.

What’s GOOD: oh, how easy this was – made the pork rub in the morning, marinated it for 5 minutes, then it chilled in the frig all day. Easy to grill – just don’t let it go too long, remove it at 140°F. Delicious. The smoky flavor comes from the smoked paprika, which was really nice, I thought. It wasn’t overly sweet at all, though on the pieces you ate with the outside edge, you could taste the brown sugar just a bit. Very good. I’d make it again – just with a salsa or sauce with it. The salad platter was SO easy too – I cooked the green beans the day before and made the dressing. The hard boiled eggs were done in my Instant Pot that morning and chilled. It took about 5 minutes to cut the Romaine wedges, dress everything and arrange on the platter. So easy and a pretty presentation to boot!

What’s NOT: hmm. Nothing that I can think of, other than you need to start this in the morning before grilling in the evening.

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So I understand, tri-tip isn’t a cut of meat available everywhere. Maybe you can ask for it at the meat counter?

What is it, you ask? Tri-tip is a triangular cut of beef cut from the bottom of the sirloin. Which means it’s not super tender to begin with. It’s an odd shape – kinda-sorta triangular in shape, hence the name. The narrower end tends to cook too much (because it’s thinner) so you have to cook the meat for the thicker center portion. Which is what we did here.

This was a big dinner I did a year ago – and totally forgot about it – about posting it. I think it was a celebration of my granddaughter Taylor’s graduation from nursing school and the whole family visited. I served this and some other meat (so people could have a choice). I don’t even remember what else I served! Here in SoCal we can buy already marinated tri-tip, but that’s not what I bought – I wanted the un-marinated one so I could use my own. The recipe I’ve had around for a long time – it came from an old Sunset magazine article. And got rave reviews. And I’d give this good reviews too.

The marinade is very easy – soy sauce (I use the low-sodium type), fresh cilantro, liquid smoke, dried oregano, garlic and pepper. See? Simple. I had to dig deeply into my cabinet to FIND the liquid smoke. Likely I’ve had that little bottle for 15 years! The meat marinates for 24 hours – that will guarantee you’ll get tender meat. The tri-tip does contain a few stripes of gristle, so you need to eat around that, but otherwise the cut of meat is easy to cook and because it’s so nice and tender when it’s done, it’s easy to slice into thin strips. I don’t believe this cut of meat has much fat in it – which is why it’s necessary to marinate it.

The soy marinade flavor doesn’t overpower the meat (there’s only 1/4 cup in the marinade) but the soy sauce is the magic power that tenderizes this meat so well. It’s grilled for about – note ABOUT – 10 minutes per side. I think I assigned the grilling duty to someone else as I was busy in the kitchen doing the last minute salad and veggie prep and plating. I know we ate outside. One interesting technique for this was instructions to make small slits in the meat, both top and bottom – so that marinade will reach deeper into the meat.

That dinner may have been the only time I used my patio last summer as I had such a problem with mosquitoes. Oh my gosh, it was awful. We had the regular sized ones, but we also had the no-see-ums, or ankle-biters, as most people call them. They’ve become a new thing in California, probably because of our changing climate. It was an abundant infestation of them last summer, even though – then – we were in a terrible drought. This year they’re anticipating another bad siege of mosquitoes, so I’ve hired a mosquito service. They come every 3 weeks until early November. So far it’s worked well, although they don’t guarantee it’ll completely remove them, I think they said about 90% improvement. So far, so good.

Back to this tri-tip. Use an instant-read thermometer and remove it when the thickest part reaches 125°F. Then just let it rest 5 minutes, lightly covered with foil (otherwise it’ll get cold quickly). Slice and serve immediately. Slicing tri-tip into thin pieces is important – if you do thicker, it’ll be too chewy.

What’s GOOD: loved the flavor – tri-tip has really good, beefy flavor, and the marinade did it’s job of tenderizing the meat. I think the guests ate it all. It’s easy to slice, easy to grill. Great recipe.

What’s NOT: only that you need to start this 24 hours ahead, turning over the meat every few hours so the marinade reaches every crevice.

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Ah, the best laid plans – of taking a picture of the finished kabobs. I guess you just need to trust me that they looked delicious after grilling and with the herby crema drizzled all over the top! And tasted wonderful.

My cousin Gary has a girlfriend. It’s been nine months now, and they finally came south to visit. It happened to be Gary’s birthday too, so I invited members of the family and some friends who’ve known Gary for a long time, to come for an outdoor dinner. It was delightful meeting Susan, and the family was happy to come to celebrate the birthday and to meet this new person in Gary’s life. In addition to the kabobs (which actually had 3 of the food groups – protein, veggies and carbs in them) I made one of my favorite salads. It’s been posted here before – many, many years ago (you realize I’ve been writing this blog for 16 years now). A rice and vegetable salad from the Silver Palate cookbook.It went well with the kabobs. Gary can’t eat wheat, so I catered the menu to meet his GF needs. I had ample salad leftover – some I gave away and I ate some in the ensuing days and enjoyed every single bite. Actually, Gary had told me ahead of time about all the things Susan doesn’t eat. We had a big laugh about it because Susan does eat all of the things Gary thought she didn’t. Like raisins. I asked her, as I was making the salad, if it was okay to put the raisins in the salad and could she move them out or would it ruin the salad for her if I put them in. She looked at me quizzically — I said, “Gary told me you don’t like raisins.” She looked at him, frowning, I believe, and asked why he thought so. Anyway, that was one of several things we laughed over as she has very few things on her no-no list, if any. The salad has raisins – or currants – or golden raisins in it. I prefer currants because they add a speck of dark color to the salad, but I didn’t have any, so used golden raisins instead.

Incidentally, Susan and I had been briefly acquainted some years ago – she wrote a blog called Wild Yeast. She wrote about sourdough and I happened to write a comment – I had no recollection of it – but when she heard that I write a food blog, she remembered it. Her blog is still up and available (though she doesn’t post to it anymore), if you’re at all interested in bread baking in all forms. Susan is retired now, and is quite the birder, which is kind of funny, because Gary’s mom was a birder too. Small world!!

Anyway, back to this recipe. The chicken is marinated in taco seasoning and oil for awhile. You can use breasts in this, but I prefer thighs, especially for grilling. Then you thread the chicken onto skewers with peppers, corn coins and red onions. The skewers are grilled briefly – my son in law John did the grilling  – and did it perfectly. The chicken was nicely cooked through and not at all dry. The kabobs are then drizzled with a simple sour cream “crema” that has Tajin seasoning, some cumin, Cotija cheese, cilantro and lime. Brilliant! Originally I found the recipe on the web, but I changed it some to suit my tastes.

Once the kabobs are cooked, have everything ready to serve since the meat and veggies will cool off quickly. Sara had brought home made angel food cake for the birthday dessert. Altogether lovely meal.

What’s GOOD: the kabobs are delicious – the marinade makes it, along with the crema drizzle. It makes a very appealing presentation and altogether succulent combination of flavors in your mouth.

What’s NOT: only that you need to prep all the kabob ingredients ahead of time. Not hard, just takes a bit of planning. You could prep the kabobs altogether several hours ahead – and the sauce too. Loved the flavor of the chicken and the drizzle “makes” it.

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What do you think about tri-tip? Like it? Not? Too gristly? Flavor? 

A post from Carolyn.  I’ve not ever been a big fan of tri-tip. Too tough, usually. The flavor was always good – good, strong, beefy flavor; but the texture was chewy; usually too chewy for my taste. I mean, I love-me a good ribeye. That’s my fav. But I was feeding a crowd and served grilled Italian sausage and this tri-tip. My friend Dianne fixed this beef a few weeks ago when she invited Taylor and me to dinner, and I really liked it. It happened that the slices I had contained next to no fat or gristle. Not so much when I made it myself (above). But the flavor was great. I liked the marinade. The tri-tip happened to be on sale at one of my local markets . . . now I suppose I could have gotten one that wasn’t trimmed as well . . . I don’t know.

You do need to trim the meat of visible fat and gristle. And there’s a piece of silver skin on one side that also needs to be removed. That takes a bit of hand labor. But worth the effort. Marinate the meat for 24 hours if time permits. This recipe came from an ancient Sunset Magazine and is still available online. Dianne had a copy of the faded page from the magazine as she’s been making this for a bunch of years.

As I type this, I’m serving it again this week to a different gathering – my granddaughter’s nursing school graduation party. I’m expecting 18 people – some family and a bunch of my friends who have gotten to know (and love) Taylor since she’s lived with me. It’s been hot-hot here in our neck of the woods, so we may be eating inside (I don’t know where I’ll seat 18 people – it’ll take some ingenuity). I’m doing another coil of sausage (see cooked sausage coil at left), this tri-tip and also a full slab of slow-roasted salmon with a garlic vinaigrette on top. Then with tons of sides and salads. And daughter Sara is bringing a cheesecake (lemon strawberry is what Taylor requested). A few people are bringing something to help out.

So I read, tri-tip isn’t a cut of meat available in all areas of our country. A lot here in California. But in other places, they’ve never heard of it. It’s from the bottom sirloin and has a triangular shape with a long tapered end, hence tri – – tip(s). Most people dry roast it but it can also be marinated and grilled like a steak. That’s what we did. My son barbecued the meat for me as I was busy in the kitchen. He also grilled a complete round (coil) of Italian sausage with Mozzarella cheese in it. SO SO good. We have a good Italian restaurant in Newport Beach (Sabatino’s) that has a butcher department attached to the restaurant. The coil was $42 – probably about 2 1/2 pounds. Not sure, I didn’t weigh it.

Back to this tri-tip. It’s marinated in a very simple solution – reduced sodium soy sauce, dried oregano, garlic, a jot of liquid smoke, pepper and a bunch of fresh cilantro. But first, you cut some long 1/2″ deep slits in the roast so the marinade can get into the crevices. Next time I’ll poke it all over with a fork, too. Into a plastic bag it’ll go, and several times over the 24 hours turn the bag over and over. There really isn’t much marinade, so you need to continue to flip it over in the frig numerous times. Let is sit out for 30 minutes or so, then it goes onto a medium-high grill for about 10 minutes per side, or until it gets to 125°F in the center, to get that meat a lovely medium-rare. It needs to rest for about 5 minutes (foil-covered) then you slice it SUPER-THIN across the grain. If people prefer more well done, the tapered end will be more well cooked. I served it with an ancho chili dip/sauce (posting in a few days).

What’s GOOD: Good, beefy flavor, needs marinating so don’t skimp on the 24-hour time. Cut into super-thin slices, it’s a very nice steak type entrée. Some people prefer a more chewy beef texture – this is it. Love the flavor from the marinade. The meat would like a sauce to go with it.

What’s NOT: making time for the marinating is about it. Don’t expect this to taste like ribeye, though, because it’s far from it. If you don’t live in California you might have trouble getting the cut of meat – you’d have to ask a butcher to cut it.

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This may be my new favorite way to fix fish.

A post from Carolyn. A few weeks ago I was watching Ina Garten’s new TV show, Be My Guest (I think that’s what it’s called), and she had Julianna Margulies visit her, in Ina’s lovely Long Island kitchen. I’ve been such a fan of Julianna Margulies since she was on The Good Wife. So sorry that show ended. I didn’t know that Julianna loves to cook, and she prepared halibut for Ina.

Julianna explained that this is her signature company dinner entrée. With that kind of a recommendation, I knew before she started that it would be something I’d prepare. They had the most beautiful 1-inch thick halibut steaks, probably the kind you can’t get unless you go to a fish market or caught the fish yourself and asked for 1-inch thick slices. My Costco has fresh halibut right now, so that was the impetus for making it. And let me tell you, this preparation is so very EASY! The down side is that halibut is ferociously expensive. I bought a small piece (that I was able to get 4 small servings out of) and after making this, I vacuum-sealed the other three portions – with a little plastic wrap packet of the herb butter stuck on top of the halibut.

First you make up an herb butter. What I had (fresh) was sage and chives (both survived last winter and continue to provide this summer) and Italian parsley. You also add garlic to the mix.

There at left you can see the various components. Sage leaves have such a different texture to them.

The butter needs to be at room temp and you carefully chop up the herbs and garlic and add it to the butter. With a bit of lemon zest too. Mix it well and set it aside. If time permits, do this an hour or so before you’re ready to begin cooking the halibut.

The halibut is salted and peppered before starting. And a note of caution – the rest of your meal needs to be completely ready to go and serve. You’ll have no time for other kitchen prep once you start the halibut. The stovetop grill pan is heated to high/medium-high and you drizzle a bit of EVOO on it before laying on the halibut steaks. At that point set a timer. My halibut steaks were about 3/4″ thick (not the 1-inch called for) so I knew they would cook in less time. Do set a timer – I know I said this before – but it’s worth repeating. The recipe indicates you melt the herb butter at this point – I didn’t, as the herb butter was so soft it was almost melted in the bowl! Once the fish is turned over (it should have a beautiful golden glow on it) you turn OFF the heat and slather on, or pour most of the herb butter on top of the halibut. If you used the soft butter, it melts in seconds. Cover the pan with a lid or a piece of foil and set a timer again. This time you set it for 3 minutes (if your steaks are 1″ thick). I set mine for 2 minutes. Everything else was ready to plate, so I slid the halibut off onto a plate (or heated platter if you’re doing several) and poured what little herb butter was in the pan itself (my grill pan does have a handle) and the remainder I had set aside. It melted immediately. Sprinkle with lemon zest, the little curl-type. Serve.

What’s GOOD: oh my, so good. But then, I love the lovely big flakes of fish that come from halibut. The fish was beautiful to look at and serve, (the lemon zest on top adds a lot – that happened to be something Ina added to the recipe) and so tender and moist. This cooking method is genius. I’d serve this to guests anytime. Just know you’ll be making a big dent in your wallet to buy several hunks of 1″ halibut steaks.

What’s NOT: only that you want to make this with halibut (or maybe sea bass). All expensive. I’ll try it with cod too – it might be nice.

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A post from Karen. Between late spring and early summer our farmer’s market briefly provides a delectable treat if you know how to use it. Green flower shoots of garlic, referred to as garlic ramps or garlic scapes. Farmers remove these flowers so the hard neck garlic plant can put more energy into producing larger bulbs of garlic. And instead of tossing them into the compost pile, they are much better served in our kitchens in any number of delectable ways.

I like to create a Pesto that I can then use in a number of ways. Do taste test a bit of raw Garlic Scape before you begin. They can really vary in how sharp or mellow their flavor is. You can adjust how much oil, salt and spices (Za’atar) you use accordingly. Pouring olive oil (a thin layer) over the top of the finished pesto helps to “seal” the pesto to prevent spoiling.

An example of how I used the pesto – try some Copper River king salmon filets. We slathered on some of the pesto to coat the top of the fish which was set on a cedar plank. I sprinkled some red pepper flakes, and a little additional salt and fresh ground pepper on top. My DH (Powell) did his magic with it on the BBQ and pulled it off when it was 120°. The finished salmon temp will continue to rise a few more degrees as it rests, before serving. I topped it with a few red onions I had pickled for about 20 minutes in rice wine vinegar and enjoyed this combo too.

Other uses – change up your Caprese salad with a scoop of garlic ramp pesto as a base for your dressing. Add a generous amount to your next batch of Colcannon (Irish mashed potatoes). I had three dear friends who don’t normally eat mashed potatoes go back for seconds and thirds of these! Melt a spoonful in your skillet before making scrambled eggs or sautéed veggies. Use as a base for gremolata or green Chimichurri sauce. I’d love to hear what you come up with!

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Do you ever wish you could make something that is just bursting with lemon flavor? And garlic too? Throw in rosemary as well?

A post from Carolyn. Since I didn’t name this recipe, I guess I really shouldn’t re-name it; even so, it would be difficult to do, because these three flavors (lemon, garlic, rosemary) are just all there. Equally so. I think the lemon is predominant, however.

My friend Dianne made this chicken for the luncheon I told you about in my last post (for the classic rice pilaf – that went with this chicken). She told me that a few years ago her grown kids and grandkids were visiting and her daughter said “what’s for dinner,” and Dianne suggested they try one of the recipes from Zov’s (a local restaurant). It’s since become a favorite in her family and whenever they visit, it’s a regular on the menu. The recipe comes from Zov’s cookbook, Zov: Recipes and Memories from the Heart. It was published in 2005, (also updated in 2008) but it’s still available. Zov is Armenian by heritage and her recipes certainly reflect the Mediterranean and beyond culture and cuisine.

So, the recipe uses boneless, skinless chicken breast halves. Dianne pounds them to an even thickness (so you get even cooking on the grill). Then they’re marinated for about 24 hours. The recipe indicates you can marinate them a shorter period, or even longer, but Dianne likes the 24 hours as a regular benchmark. They are patted dry with paper towels, then grilled swiftly over a medium-high grill heat. Then she carefully slices them on the diagonal (so you get slightly wider slices than when cutting straight down). Put them onto a heated platter (because they cool very quickly) and serve immediately. Do put some fresh rosemary and a wedge or two of lemon on the platter when serving  – it looks so pretty.

Dianne made more than enough of this, so when we were divvying up the leftovers, she generously let me have a bunch. My granddaughter Taylor and I had two dinner meals with the leftovers, and still had more for some evening dinner salads with the chopped up cold chicken on top.

What’s GOOD: the flavors are, as I mentioned, just bursting through. Does that tell you enough – the lemon, the garlic and the rosemary. Absolutely delicious. So worth making.

What’s NOT: only that you must plan ahead at least 24 hours to get the most out of the marinating.

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Looking for an easy weeknight salmon? Try it.

This recipe was so easy to prepare – the salmon just needed 30-90 minutes to hang out in a marinade. (Don’t marinate overnight or the acidity in the marinade will “cook” the fish, something you don’t want.) And the marinade was very easy to make too: bourbon, some orange juice, soy sauce, a tad of brown sugar, green onions, chives, garlic and lemon juice. Easy peasy. My file says I put this recipe in my file in 1999, from Cooking Light.

It was a cold night (well, cold is relative; here in California anything under about 50 is cold for us, and it was about that temp. I didn’t want to fire up the grill outside, so I made this in my toaster oven on the broil setting. Very easy.

After draining the fish, I put it on a piece of foil and onto a small baking pan that fits in the toaster oven. I preheated the oven for about 10 minutes and stuck the pan in there. The fillet I had wasn’t all that thick, so first I did 4 minutes, then removed it, turned the salmon fillet over and broiled it another 2 minutes. Done. You can brush the fish with the marinade during the broiling or grilling process. If your salmon is thicker, it might take another minute on each side.

Onto a heated plate it went. The green onions and chives were sprinkled on top and I added some cilantro too as a garnish, although cilantro wasn’t in the original recipe.  I had the cilantro out to go with the green beans you can see in the photo.

What’s GOOD: how easy this was. You do need to marinate the salmon for an hour or so, but am sure it would be fine with less time if you don’t have it. The fish was so moist and flaky. Loved it. Liked the pretty garnish too. I try to keep cilantro in my frig all the time. I had green onions, and I found some chives in my garden. Altogether delicious.

What’s NOT: only that you should marinate it for 30-90 minutes. Otherwise, this salmon is very easy to do. I can’t say that I could taste the bourbon as the other citrus juices seem to be the predominant flavor.

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Another recipe from Sara.

Some weeks ago I spent the day with daughter Sara and her family. In her backyard. Social distanced. It was a beautiful sunny Southern California day – the kind that makes you glad you live in California. Sara had made two new dishes – I’ve already posted the Italian Meatball Sub Sandwiches (which were SO good). For dessert she made this lemon pound cake. She’d baked it the evening before, and her family went so NUTS over it, they ate the whole thing. So the next morning she had to bake another one. Her words: this is the best pound cake I’ve ever made. What it is, is VERY lemony. It’s a pound cake – dense like a pound cake is, but so tender. SO tender.

The  cake comprises the usual ingredients – eggs, butter and sugar, but what was different was cake flour. Which always makes baked goods lighter in texture. That’s not to say it’s like a normal cake – no. It’s a pound cake, meaning more dense. And it is all lemon – there’s 1/4 CUP of lemon zest in this pound cake. I wonder if there’s ever too much lemon zest in things?

Do use ripe, but not overly ripe peaches. And get everything in place when you begin the grilling. Have the serving platter or dishes handy. Grill the pound cake so you get pretty grill marks, remove them, then start on the peaches. If you have a big grill, put the pound cake on the unheated side while you do the peaches. That way the pound cake will stay warm. This could be served with ice cream (vanilla) or whipped cream.

Years ago I posted a recipe for grilled pound cake with grilled peaches, but the cake didn’t have the lemon in it. That makes this recipe much more interesting to me. Everybody loved it.

What’s GOOD: what bring summer to mind any more than fresh, juicy peaches? The pound cake would be good any time of  year, but the lemon aspect of this is off the charts delicious. And the combination of pound cake and peaches is sublime.

What’s NOT: can’t think of anything. Great for an outdoor barbecue.

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That’s a photo BEFORE roasting. SO good afterwards. See that photo below.

You’ve heard me mention my best friend Cherrie. She’s an avid cook, and prepares fabulous meals for herself and her husband Bud on a daily basis. Even before the pandemic, they rarely went out to eat. During the pandemic she’s been preparing a monstrous dish of some kind about once a week, dividing it up into four boxes and taking it to four friends – all of them don’t like to cook. One afternoon each week she and Bud go on a driving trip to deliver the meals to these four friends. Who have come to depend on their weekly delivery! She doesn’t stop at my house because she knows that I DO cook.

Some weeks ago she tried this recipe for Roasted Tomatoes from Ina Garten. I think Cherrie served them with some nice, soft fresh mozzarella cheese and made a salad. Then she began incorporating them in several of her casserole dishes she was making for friends. Then they bought a 25 pound box of Roma tomatoes to make even more of them. She was swimming in Roma tomatoes! They would be wonderful chopped up into pasta, if you’re inclined. Anyway, Cherrie was raving to me about these tomatoes. So I decided I’d best try them myself.

My neighbor did buy 12 Roma (plum) tomatoes for me a week ago, and I had some fresh thyme from my veggie delivery box. I had garlic, EVOO and balsamic. That’s all it needs except for some salt and pepper. Ina’s original recipe didn’t call for thyme, so you can eliminate that if you’d prefer. The tomatoes are halved (and I clipped out the little stem part), placed on parchment , cut side up on a sheet pan, then you begin the layering – salt, pepper, EVOO, garlic and then the thyme laid gently on the top. Roast in the oven until the tomatoes have slumped. The recipe said 20-25 minutes, but mine didn’t “slump” until about 50 minutes, probably because they were quite large tomatoes. Once roasted and cooled slight, gently strip the thyme sprigs off onto the tomatoes and discard those twigs.

Many nights I’ve been eating just vegetables: broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, Brussels sprouts, asparagus, onions in some manner, summer squashes and mushrooms. Sometimes in combination, but usually on their own. That night I made green beans, with onions and bacon, and put a couple of these tomatoes on my plate. I didn’t take a picture of that . . . sorry.

What’s GOOD: well, what can I tell you . . . one of those tomatoes popped into your mouth is like eating candy. Truly. I think they’d be best at room temp or warmed. They’d be good with fresh mozzarella. Or chopped up and served alongside a burger or steak. Or chicken. Chopped up with green onions and lime juice, they’d be good on a piece of grilled fish.

What’s NOT: nothing other than you do need to use Roma (plum) tomatoes. I suppose you could try it with other varieties, even cherry tomatoes.

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