Prolonging the season: oven dried tomatoes

Those lovely, tiny cherry tomatoes that are spilling from their little green baskets, the teeny red ones, the tear-shaped yellow, and especially the almost-purple-black ones that are abundant at the market right now, are like bits of candy.  Better than candy, really.

These miniature tomatoes add pretty to any dish, simply slice in half and toss right in.  I adore them marinated in a grassy tasting mixture of homemade basil oil and perky red pepper flakes, with chunks of tangy feta or wee balls of creamy, fresh mozzarella.  Thrown whole on a cookie sheet with copious quantities of olive oil and roasted super hot until they practically burst, some basil torn randomly on top, they produce the most heavenly sauce for noodles and even for most grilled meats.

My absolute favorite thing to do with these pretty little tomatoes is to dry them in the oven very slowly until they become super concentrated little versions of themselves.  Simply slice them in half, place on a foil-lined cookie sheet, cut side up, sprinkle generously with coarse salt, and place in a 175-degree oven until gorgeously wrinkly around the corners: probably an hour or two.  I munch on these little jewel-like, leathery, tomatoes all summer long.  They are a wonderful addition to all of my summery salads, but what I love about them most is that when packed in a mason jar and covered in oil they keep for months in the fridge.  Come a dark, chilly winter day I break out a jar of sunshine.

Farmer’s market must: zucchini 

Yes, zucchini is your friend.  This is the ultimate time of year to embrace this long, green guy.  It is the quiet, super affordable, underrated star of the vegetable world.  No, really I swear.  Raw, grilled, sautéed, sliced, diced, or shaved it is always tender and tasty, particularly when you’re gifted excess from a friend’s garden or if you find it from local farms.  I am obsessed with the always-impeccable ones from Paul’s Produce and the Patch, perfectly smallish specimens pulled from the vine just minutes before they arrived at the market.  Zucchini is most delicious in its pure, natural form; raw and shaved in long ribbons, heaped on an oversized white platter, topped with nothing more than its favorite companions: rough torn leaves of mint, good crunchy salt, a glug of good olive oil, and fresh, über creamy Bellwether Farms’ ricotta.  Something magical happens to this lowly vegetable when sliced into fat rings, tossed in tons of olive oil, and charred on the grill. Be a good foodie, embrace this poor, unpopular veggie.

In season: wild blackberries 

Finally! Our local blackberry bushes are covered in plump, deep purple berries! Hooray! Blackberries, blackberries, blackberries!  Nothing is as evocative of summer to me than a blackberry.  Summers spent in the mountains foraging for berries with my grandmother, one for me one for the basket, purple teeth and bramble scratches.  A blackberry, sort of the ugly step sister of berries to the more regal raspberry or everybody’s favorite, the strawberry.  For me, it’s all about the blackberry.

More complex, tannic, sour-sweet.  Just like they look, they taste darker, of a fruit thatshould grow among thorns, wild and nostalgic.  I recently thought nothing more appropriate than to say, ‘I love you summer!’ by visiting all of my secret Sonoma berry-picking spots and plucking a bucket-full of summer’s precious wild fruit.  I used every last berry in what turned out to be an unforgettable, rustic cobbler.  And to me, that dessert was a summer afternoon.  A’ la mode

Rustic Blackberry Cobbler

Recipe adapted from Emeril Lagasse. Serves 6

• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1 cup vegetable shortening
• 1/2 cup ice water
• 6 cups fresh blackberries
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/4 cup Grand Marnier
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 stick unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 2 scoops vanilla bean ice cream
• Fresh mint sprigs
• Powdered sugar in shaker
• Best quality vanilla ice cream (I like Häagen-Dazs)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, salt, and sugar. Cut in the shortening and work it through with your hands until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the water, 1 tablespoon at a time and work the dough until you have a smooth ball. Wrap the dough tightly and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Remove from the refrigerator and place on a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough out until the dough is 1/8-inch thick. Divide the rolled dough in half. Place half the dough in an 9 by 9 by 2-inch square baking pan. Reserve the other half for the top of the cobbler. In a mixing bowl, toss the blackberries with the sugar, Grand Marnier, and flour. Pour the tossed blackberries into the prepared pan. Top the blackberries with the cubed butter. Lay the reserved crust over the blackberries, tucking the edges down into the pan. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until the crust is golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Place a serving of the cobbler in a shallow bowl and serve with vanilla ice cream. Garnish with mint and powdered sugar.  Serve warm with ice cream.

Best thing I ate this week: Rosso Pizzeria

It’s no secret that I’m obsessed with Rosso Pizzeria.  Even though I am in love with the menu in it’s entirety — spectacular salads and Italian style vegetable snacks that change with the seasons — I typically go for the pizza.  The paragon of pie, a Rosso pizza dough boasts a state of elastic, chewy perfection.  My favorite is crowned with an extravagant amount of earthy wild mushrooms, slivers of fresh artichoke heart, a beautifully funky Fontina cheese & a scattering of fresh thyme.  Baked for mere moments in the blazing heat of the wood-burning oven, the crust delivers the most marvelous crunch, the chew immeasurably gratifying.  Pizza perfection.

Depending on my hunger level, which ranges from ravenous to downright starving, I often like to begin with a starter of velvety house-made Burrata paired with La Quercia Prosciutto from Iowa; the epitome of scrumptious simplicity.  Although, on this visit, a special appetizer lured me from my piggy ponderings.  A plate of oversized, local Romano beans were at their peak of seasonal perfection, edges charred wonderfully in the wood-burning oven.  A lively, sour-sweet tomato vinaigrette was their ideal accompaniment.  This dish simply screamed of summer.  Merely two just-picked ingredients made better by each other.  Rosso Pizzeria and Wine Bar: 53 Montgomery Drive, Santa Rosa, 544.3221.  Rossopizzeria.com.