Recipe: Classic French dish gets a veggie makeover
Cherry tomatoes peek through the herbs sprinkled over this savory clafoutis.
(Photos: Kathy Morrison)
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Gardening is full of surprises. This year one of mine came from the vigorous plant that I thought would give me ping-pong ball-size cherry tomatoes. Instead, they're the size of large peas, or maybe small marbles. And the plant is huge, taller than me, so there are tons of them.
Well, they're cute, but too small for a BLT, that's for sure.
So what to do with this wealth of tiny tomatoes? I was inspired by the very word "cherry." Sweet cherries are great in the French dessert called clafoutis. How about a savory clafoutis featuring this micro crop?
As it turns out, a savory clafoutis is a great brunch dish or appetizer that holds beautifully at room temperature. Not weepy, like a quiche can be, or eggy like a frittata. I used plenty of herbs and just a bit of cheese, but feel free to add more on top if you like.
Herbs and cheese go into the clafoutis along with tomatoes,
milk, flour and eggs.
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Savory cherry tomato clafoutis
Serves 6
Ingredients:
1/2 cup half-and-half or whole milk
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese, divided
2 tablespoons grated mozzarella cheese (or fontina, Gruyere or cheddar)
3 tablespoons chopped mixed herbs such as parsley, basil, chives and thyme, divided
2-1/2 tablespoons butter, melted, plus more for greasing the pan
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Fresh grated black pepper, to taste
4 large eggs, room temperature
1/4 cup all-purpose flour (Wondra if you have it; it blends well)
About 2 cups small cherry tomatoes, stemmed
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Instructions:
Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Butter a 9-1/2-inch or 10-inch pie plate or baking dish. Whisk together in a large bowl the milk, 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon Parmesan, the mozzarella (or substitute), 2 tablespoons of the herbs, the melted butter, salt, pepper and the eggs.
Then whisk in the flour; it's OK if the mixture is a bit lumpy.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Gently sprinkle the tomatoes over the batter so they're evenly distributed. Then sprinkle the remaining 1 tablespoon Parmesan over the top. (Add more cheese of your choice here if you really like cheese and tomatoes.)
Bake for 20 minutes, or when the edges are golden brown and the center is set. Remove from the oven to cool and sprinkle the remaining herbs over the top.
Serve warm or at room temperature.
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Garden Checklist for week of Jan. 19
Dress warmly in layers – and get to work:
* Apply horticultural oil to fruit trees to control scale, mites and aphids. Oils need 24 hours of dry weather after application to be effective.
* This is also the time to spray a copper-based oil to peach and nectarine trees to fight leaf curl. The safest effective fungicides available for backyard trees are copper soap -- aka copper octanoate -- or copper ammonium, a fixed copper fungicide. Apply either of these copper products with 1% horticultural oil to increase effectiveness.
* Prune, prune, prune. Now is the time to cut back most deciduous trees and shrubs. The exceptions are spring-flowering shrubs such as lilacs.
* Now is the time to prune fruit trees. Clean up leaves and debris around the trees to prevent the spread of disease. (The exceptions are apricot and cherry trees, which are susceptible to a fungus that causes dieback if pruned now. Save those until summer.)
* Prune roses, even if they’re still trying to bloom. Strip off any remaining leaves, so the bush will be able to put out new growth in early spring.
* Clean up leaves and debris around your newly pruned roses and shrubs. Put down fresh mulch or bark to keep roots cozy.
* When forced bulbs sprout, move them to a cool, bright window. Give them a quarter turn each day so the stems will grow straight.
* Browse through seed catalogs and start making plans for spring and summer.
* Divide daylilies, Shasta daisies and other perennials.
* Cut back and divide chrysanthemums.
* Plant bare-root roses, trees and shrubs.
* Transplant pansies, violas, calendulas, English daisies, snapdragons and fairy primroses.
* In the vegetable garden, plant fava beans, head lettuce, mustard, onion sets, radicchio and radishes.
* Plant bare-root asparagus and root divisions of rhubarb.
* In the bulb department, plant callas, anemones, ranunculus and gladioli for bloom from late spring into summer.
* Plant blooming azaleas, camellias and rhododendrons. If you’re shopping for these beautiful landscape plants, you can now find them in full flower at local nurseries.
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