"Caprese" refers to something that comes from or is in the style of Capri, an Italian island off the coast near Naples.
Tourists know the island mostly for its villas, grottos and jutting limestone towers. Culinarily speaking, it's best known for its namesake salad, the insalata caprese -- fresh tomatoes, basil and mozzarella.
The name of the island comes from "capra", the Italian word for "goat". (In English, "caprine" refers to anything having to do with goats.) A real insalata caprese, though, is not made with goat's milk cheese, but with true Mozzarella di Bufala Campana -- buffalo's milk mozzarella made in certain designated areas of Italy -- Naples included.
Recipe: Tomato, Mozzarella And Basil Salad (Cookthink)
Recipe: Tomato, Mozzarella And Basil Relish (Cookthink)
What makes a tomato an heirloom tomato?
What makes a tomato an heirloom tomato?
An heirloom is a thing handed down from generation to generation. Is an heirloom tomato then a tomato plant that's been handed down from generation to generation?
Sort of. An heirloom tomato is an open-pollinated tomato whose seed grows "true to type" -- meaning, if you plant Cherokee Purple seed, you're going to get Cherokee Purple plants. From generation to generation, that seed will stay true (and so, you could argue, the plant gets "passed down"). Some heirloom tomatoes have, in fact, stayed within one family and so are heirlooms in the truest sense of the word. Other heirloom tomatoes circulate widely.
The term "heirloom" was applied to tomatoes (and plants in general) to distinguish traditional varieties (and techniques) from the F1 hybrids of modern seed industry. Seed from an F1 hybrid plant reverts to something in its parentage and so does not stay true from generation to generation. Through years of selection, some hybrids have been "stabilized" or "dehybridized" so that their seeds are true to type.
As Phelan from points out, , so the distinction between "hybrid" and "heirloom" is more about age (old vs. new) and hybridizing technique (classically bred vs. GMO).
Speaking of age, an heirloom is an old thing. How old does a tomato have to be before it's an heirloom? It's debatable. Some say that to be an heirloom, a tomato must have originated before 1940, when the hybrid seed business began to take off. Others insist that you can't put a date on a label that has more to do with technique than time. To get in on the debate about what is and isn't an heirloom, check out Gardenweb's Growing Tomatoes forum.
Recipe: Tomato recipes at Cookthink
Resource: The National Gardening Association has an solid introduction on open pollination versus hybridization. If you're looking for hard-to-find heirloom varieties, try the Seed Savers Exchange.
Story: Gary Ibsen named one of his open-pollinated tomatoes after Julia Child. Read the story here.
Gazpacho, a Spanish chilled soup, makes a quick and healthy dinner on hot summer nights. Learn how to make it by watching this great video by Handmade TV.
Homemade guacamole can be made in a snap. Just watch this video by Handmade TV for easy-to-follow directions.
Adobo sauce is a spicy, dark red Mexican sauce made from ground chiles, herbs, garlic, tomatoes and vinegar. It is also used as a marinade. Chipotle chiles (dried, smoked jalapeño peppers) are often stewed and packed in adobo sauce.
First, slice an "x" across the blossom end of the tomatoes; this will help the skin to peel off in a regular fashion.
Next, plunge the tomatoes into barely boiling water, stem-side down, for 30 seconds.
Turn the tomatoes once so that they heat evenly, allowing the tomato's skin to pull off in large strips.
Using tongs, move the tomatoes to a bowl of ice-water to stop the cooking; the tomatoes will be very hot to the touch, but the interior flesh will not be cooked.
When the tomatoes have cooled -- after 3 to 5 minutes -- remove them from the ice bath, pat them dry with a paper towel and gently peel the cooked skin off along the "x" where the skin has naturally split.
Next, with sharp knife, cut the tomato into quarters and remove the seeds, being sure to cut away the core on the stem end.
Once the seeds and skin have been removed, you're left with tomato flesh petals that can be used to hold dollops of tuna or vegetable salad, or diced and added to soups, salads and sauces.
