Heirloom Tomatoes with Basil and Goat Cheese on a Crostini

Agridude - Garden HarvestOne of my favorite appetizers is using our heirloom tomatoes and basil from the garden and make a modified bruschetta with goat cheese.  You will need a loaf of french bread or sour dough, some heirloom tomatoes, basil, and goat cheese.  It’s a pretty easy recipe.  You cut the bread into small slices and butter each side and bake at 400 for 4-5 on each side. Read More

Brining 101

As stated before I am a Chef at Muffuletta In The Park.  At the restaurant we use a brine for all our pork and chicken.  We do this to add flavor and moisture to the meat.  The fun of a brine is that you can add any herbs or spices you want from the garden.  This recipe is a good starting point.  I recommend that you keep the meat in the brine for a minimum of 4 hours.  We do 24 hours at the restaurant.  Enjoy!!  Cooking brings family and friends together. Read More

Caprese Salad with Tomatoes from the Garden

Agridude - Crnkovic Yugoslavian TomatoLast Friday, I pulled the first tomato from our Crnkovich Yugoslavian plant.  Rareseeds.com describes the tomato as ‘A really productive, big, pink tomato from former Yugoslavia. This variety was brought to the USA by Yasha Crnkovic. Gardeners rave about its rich-tasting fruit that can grow over 1 lb. This variety can produce all summer and well into the fall, being quite vigorous. The fruit are fairly smooth and very attractive for such a large tomato.’  It is the larger of the 3 in the picture on the right.  The other two are some cherry tomatoes that I picked as well. Read More