Friday, July 17, 2009

Fabulous Recipe Fire & Ice Tomatoes

Sorry I have been so quiet lately. I have been dealing with the rapid decline and subsequent death of my dear dog Zoey (that's her picture at left, 13 years ago when she was just 6 weeks old, which is when we rescued her). If you've ever been through the heartbreak of having to put a pet to sleep, you know what I'm talking about. I am, however, slowly coming back to life and will try to post more regularly.

Fire & Ice Tomatoes

The other day I got some garden fresh tomatoes grown by nephew Richard, his beautiful wife Tracy, and my great-niece Madison. These tomatoes are to die for! Of course, I started searching for recipes to make with them (not that I didn't eat some, as is, with just a little salt), and came upon an old favorite I picked up on a long ago travel writer's press trip through Tennessee. Below is the recipe and story behind it.

This recipe comes to us from Vicki and Lee Morgan of the Bailey House Bed and Breakfast and Tearoom in Dayton, Tennessee. Unfortunately, the Bailey House is no longer operating, but we keep this recipe for history's sake -- and because Vicki Morgan is a darn good cook and her recipes are delicious. The building that was, for a short time, a historic inn named The Bailey House, had an important role in history. It was a boarding house and home of John Thomas Scopes, of the Scopes Evolution (Monkey) trial fame. The courthouse where that historic case took place is in close walking distance of what used to be the Bailey House.

The better your tomatoes, the better this dish will be. Its tantalizing sweet and spicy flavor combo is a real winner. This salad packs well for picnics or brown bag lunches.

While the Morgans usually serve this dish as a salad, I also find the lightly pickled tomatoes, onions and bell peppers make great sandwich and burger toppings.

Serves 10

6 large ripe tomatoes, sliced
1 large bell pepper, sliced
1 large onion, sliced
3/4 cup vinegar
2 teaspoons salt
6 teaspoons sugar
1/4 cup water
1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon cayenne

Combine veggies in a large bowl. Bring vinegar, sugar, salt, water and cayenne to a boil and boil for 1 minute. Pour boiled mixture over veggies. Cover and refrigerate for 24 hours. Serve chilled.

2 comments:

Judy said...

Sorry for your loss. I had to put our beloved dog, Cookie,to sleep soon after we moved to NC. It was so hard,and I cried my eyes out. No one else in the family could bear to even go with me, so my neighbor accompanied me.
While you were "gone" I made your pizza crust and liked it a lot. I couldn't roll it as thin as I wanted to though. I may try it again to see if I can get it thinner. The flavor of the dough was very nice. I like the addition of semolina.

Anonymous said...

I'm so very sorry to hear about Zoey. What an adorable picture of her at her very young age with so much life and love ahead of her. They certainly are one of the family and I hope those around you are understanding of your loss.

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