Am I the only one who finds a forgotten package of grape tomatoes in their vegetable crisper?That happened to me just after New Years. I had purchased too many veggies and I found my tomatoes just getting a few wrinkles. I salvaged them by cooking them with our lovely virgin Sicilian olive oil and garlic, onions and herbs and topped a pizza I was making from scratch. Delicious! These tomatoes would go perfectly alongside grilled fish or chicken.

My second dish was using several sole fillets. I made a bechamel sauce to snuggle the fish in and topped this with some grated Gruyere cheese. Easy and delicious. Both dishes are worth making.

Enjoy a great long weekend. I hope the weather warms up. On Monday, I saw our wee hummingbird sipping his syrup with snowflakes gently falling around him. Where is our ‘global warming’? Have a great week!

DON’T WASTE THOSE GRAPE TOMATOES 


INGREDIENTS:

• 2 packages of grape tomatoes, sliced in 1/2 or 1/3 depending on their size
• 4 tbsp. of Sharyn’s Pantry virgin Sicilian olive oil
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 whole garlic bulb, separated, peeled and sliced thinly
• 2 tbsp. rubbed basil
• 2 tbsp. granulated garlic powder
• 2 tsp. smoked paprika
• 4 tbsp. turbinado sugar (or use brown sugar)
• 1 tsp. Kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp. ground black pepper

METHOD:

1. Heat the olive oil in a saute pan. Add the sliced grape tomatoes and the diced onion and sliced garlic. Cook this for a few minutes.
2. Add in all of the seasonings and continue to cook until the tomatoes thicken a bit. I cooked mine for about 15 minutes. I tasted as I went along. But try not to eat it all as it cooks. This is delicious! ENJOY!

SOLE AU GRATIN


INGREDIENTS:

• 3 sole fillets
• 4 tbsp. butter
• 1 spanish onion (or 2 regular onions, diced)
• 4 tbsp. flour
• 2 to 2- 1/2 cups milk (I use 1/2 cup skim milk powder and add warm water to get 2 cups or 2- 1/2 cups milk)
• 1/2 tsp. Kosher salt and 1/4 tsp. ground white pepper
• a pinch of ground nutmeg and a pinch of cayenne pepper
• grated Gruyere cheese (1/2 cup to 1 cup)

METHOD:

1. Make the bechamel sauce: -Melt the butter in a saute pan. Add the diced onion and cook this for a couple of minutes.
2. Stir in the flour and cook, stirring with a whisk for a couple of minutes. Add the warm milk and cook, stirring until thickened. Stir in the Kosher salt, pepper, cayenne and nutmeg.

NOTE: You want the sauce to have the thickness of a thick cream soup, not too thin and not too thick. If necessary, add more milk to achieve the proper consistency. -Cook for about 3 minutes longer. Stir constantly. -Place the fish fillets in a greased shallow baking dish. Pour the bechamel sauce over top of them. -Grate the Gruyere cheese and sprinkle it over top of the sauce. Place the dish in a 350 degree F. oven and bake for about 25 minutes, until the fish is cooked and the cheese turns golden. -I served this with steamed broccoli, cauliflower and a baked potato. It would be awesome with the sauteed grape tomatoes. ENJOY!

SHARYN THOMPSON, Owner of SHARYN’S PANTRY – a family-run business for 35 years. 
 812 Pitt St, Unit 6, Cornwall, Ont 613-936-1998 OPEN: Monday to Saturday – 9 to 5