Tomato Tuesday: Gluten-free Tomato Tart

Today, July 24th, 2012, bloggers are donating their posts to the fight for slave-free tomatoes.  Check out participating bloggers here.   A special thanks to Nicole, of The Giving Table, for putting this call to action together!

This event was created by The Giving Table to support the International Justice Mission‘s summer campaign- Recipe for Change.  IMJ is a human rights agency committed to fighting modern day slavery and exploitation around the world.  Forced labor is happening on U.S. tomato fields.  Check out Tomatoland if you’d like an inside story (a great book!).

This summer, IMJ has partnered with The Coalition of Immokalee Workers and The Fair Food Standards Council to sponsor a campaign to raise awareness about the treatment of workers on U.S. tomato fields.  In addition, the campaign is asking CEO’s of large supermarket chains to endorse The Fair Food Program, ensuring that tomatoes sold in their stores are slave-free.

The Coalition of Immokalee Workers is a community-based organization of migrant workers that advocates for rights of farmworkers in Immokalee, FL.  The program was developed to protect Florida’s tomato pickers from exploitation.  The corporations that join the Fair Food Program agree to pay a small price increase for harvested tomatoes (1.5 cents more per pound) and shift purchases to Florida tomato growers who abide by the higher standards.  The 3 supermarket chains targeted this summer are: Ahold (Giant, Peapod, Martin’s, Albert), Publix, and Kroger.

Where can you find slave-free tomatoes?
CSA’s
Farmer’s Markets (DC’s FreshFarm Markets)
Whole Foods
Trader Joe’s

Please join Evi and Sam in signing the petition- Recipe for Change Letter.

Gluten-Free Tomato Tart
Adapted from: Anja’s Food 4 Thought & Simply Whole Kitchen

The best tomatoes for this tart are the juiciest, and most colorful one’s.  Find a heirloom variety at your local farmer’s market and slice them.  If there are any leftover tomato slices, enjoy them with some fresh mozzarella, salt, pepper and olive oil!

Crust:
3/4 cup buckwheat flour
1/2 cup almond flour
3 tbsp whole-grain oat flour
1/2 tsp salt
4 oz cold butter, cut into cubes
1 tbsp ice cold water
1 egg, lightly beaten

Filling:
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 onion, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
6 oz Gruyere cheese, shredded
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 large tomato, thinly sliced
1/4 cup basil, finely chopped

In a food processor combine buckwheat flour, almond flour, whole grain oat flour, and salt.  Once it’s mixed well, add in the butter and pulse under the mixture is crumbly.  Next, add in the water and egg.  Keep pulsing until the mixture turns into a ball (it might be a bit sticky).  Shape it into a disk, then wrap it with parchment paper, keep in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350ºF.  With cooking spray, grease a 9-inch tart pan.

Roll out the dough, and press all of it into the tart pan.  Bake it for 15 minutes.  Allow to cool off for at least 20 minutes.

To make the filling, heat olive oil in a saute pan.  Once the olive oil is hot, add in the onion.  Cook it until it is translucent, then add in the garlic.  Stir in the onion, garlic and cheese in a large bowl, season with salt and pepper.  Then pour the mixture into the cooled-off tart.  Arrange the tomato slices on top of the tart.

Preheat the oven to 350ºF.  Bake the tart for 20 minutes, or until the cheese melts.  Allow to cool off before sprinkling basil over the top.  Divide into pieces, share with friends!

Want to learn more about this topic?  Check out some of these books and articles:
Tomatoland: How Modern Industrial Agriculture Destroyed Our Most Alluring Fruit (Barry Estabrook)
Join Michael Pollan in Ending Slavery of Tomato Workers
Did a Slave Grow Your Tomato?
Slavery in the Tomato Fields

Baltimore & a Cherry-Chocolate Birthday Cake

Two of my close friends from Iowa (go Hawks!) also live on the East Coast.  Beth lives in Baltimore, and Becky lives in Boston (lots of B’s).  When Sam and I went up to Boston in April we visited Becky and her husband Gary, thanks to them we stopped by the Sam Adams Brewery and checked out some great food in Boston!

This past weekend we had a little reunion in Baltimore to run the Baltimore Women’s Classic 5K with Beth.  Coincidentally, last week Becky turned another year older, so I thought this would be a great excuse to make a birthday cake!  Of course, I had to find one that was easy to carry on public transportation (the bad part about not having a car!).

Before I get to the cake, which was delicious, I want to tell you about some of the places we checked out while in Baltimore:

Friday night dinner was at Mother’s Federal Hill Grille.  I’ve been here before, and always enjoy the relaxed atmosphere and great food.  Definitely a place to grab a quick burger or a couple of beers.  From my many visits to Baltimore I’ve noticed that there are always people there, but it’s never too crowded!

If you yelp “brunch” in Baltimore, the top restaurant will be Miss Shirley’s Cafe.  And it’s definitely a place everyone should check out just once.  The menu is very creative, as you will find out in just a second!

This was the Key Lime Cheesecake Stuffed French Toast.  Very decadent and can satisfy someone’s craving for key lime pie, although they are nowhere near Key West!

This was the Soft-Shell “BLT” Benedict: poached eggs, corn-meal encrusted soft shell crab, tomato, lettuce and bacon on sourdough rounds with Old Bay.  I did take a bite of this, and definitely enjoyed it!  The only complaint we had was that it was served on iceberg lettuce- it would be nice if there was something a bit more nutritional.

One of us also ordered Eggs, Bacon & an Onion-Potato Hash.  They have gluten-free bread here, so feel free to make the alteration if needed.

Lastly, I ordered a Lunch Combo (1/2 sandwich, 1/2 salad).  The sandwich (which I can’t wait to replicate) was a Summer Strawberry Grilled Cheese and it had: goat cheese, strawberries and spinach.  It was perfect with the salad- and a great way to enjoy a lovely Saturday with my friends!

Our last stop, which I really want to share, was at The Abbey Burger Bistro.  I wish I had taken pictures of our food- but that will have to be for another time (I definitely want to go back!).  They have a great selection of beers, and a very relaxed atmosphere.  But what makes this place great (in my opinion) is that you can make your own burger!  They have a great checklist, and you can “build it” any way you’d like.  For example, the meat choices are: bison, black angus, kobe beef, chicken, lamb (shenandoah valley), elk, kangaroo, turkey, wild boar and meat of the month!  Definitely not just your regular burger bar.

Alright, now it’s time for the cake.  I really enjoyed this dessert since it wasn’t overly sweet and the fruit I added to it can be anything you’d like.

Cherry-Chocolate Birthday Cake
Adapted from: Orangette

Cake:
1 stick (8 tbsp) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/3 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp rose water
2 cups all-purpose white flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp cocoa powder
1/2 cup 2% milk

Topping (this is optional):
8 oz dark chocolate, roughly chopped
3 tbsp half ‘n half
fruit
powdered sugar (optional)

Preheat the oven to 375ºF.  Spray a 9-inch springform pan with cooking spray.

In a stand mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until they are light and fluffy.  Then add the eggs, vanilla extract and rose water; mix well before adding each new component.

Add in half the flour and mix well.  Then add the baking powder, salt, nutmeg, cocoa powder and milk.  Beat the batter well, then add it the rest of the flour and mix again.

Pour the batter into the springform.  Bake for 35 minutes, or until a toothpick is inserted into the middle and it comes out clean.

Optional: Once the cake has cooled off, then prepare the chocolate topping.

Heat water in a small saucepan over medium heat.  Once it is boiling, place a bowl on top (the bottom of the bowl shouldn’t be touching the water) to create a double-boiler.  Add in the chocolate and let it slowly melt.  Every couple of minutes add in a teaspoon of the half ‘n half.  As the chocolate melts, keep stirring and adding the half ‘n half.  You might not need as much liquid to get it to the consistency you’d like.  Once it’s ready, drizzle over the cake or spread it out (like I did).  Place in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

Since my cake had a bit of a dent in the middle, I added some cherries- but any kind of fruit would be perfect.  Also, if you’d like, sprinkle the top with powdered sugar.