Chef Penny Moline shows you how anyone can cook with passion! Keep it simple, Keep it fresh, Keep it safe. And share it with someone you love!

24 cherry tomatoes
salt and pepper
1 small ripe avocado
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 T olive oil
8 drops Tabasco
4 oz crab meat
1 small garlic clove minced to a paste
1 green onion chopped fine
cilantro chopped save some whole for a leaf garnish on the tomato

cut cap off each tomato, reserve caps.  Scoop out seeds and pulp with a melon ball scoop.  Season each with salt and pepper. 
Smash avocado with a fork add lemon juice, olive oil, garlic and cilantro to taste.  Mix until smooth.  Add crab meat and mix together.
Fill each cherry tomato 1/4 inch above the rim add a cilantro leaf for garnish top with the reserved cap off the cherry tomato

Such as a potato or an eggplant, a tomato is a member of the nightsshade family.  It is a fruit from a vine native to South America.
There are many varities of tomatoes available today.  We have beefsteak, globe, plum or romas, green tomato, cherry tomato, yellow pear tomato, purple tomato, current tomato, heirloom tomato...and the list goes on and continues to grow... and so many things to be made from this popular fruit. 
For the finest flavor keep tomatoes at room temperature. 

Here is another great recipe for tomatoes  Greek Salad


5 ripe tomatoes cut into a medium dice
1 red bell pepper cut into a medium dice
1 green bell pepper cut into a medium dice
1 yellow bell pepper cut into a medium dice
3 english cucumbers, cut into a medium dice
1 cup kalamata black olives (be sure to pit them)
1/2 pound greek feta crumbled
1/4 cup olive oil
3 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
Salt and Pepper to taste

enjoy with fresh pita bread

Combine all vegetables and oilves in a large bowl.  Combine oil and vinegar whisk together in a small bowl this is your dressing...  Add feta cheese to vegetables, and pour dressing over the top of salad.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Mix together.  Serve with warmed pita. 

The most important thing I can teach you is wash your hands....and wash your food...Even though Rachael Ray wipes off celery with a damp cloth, and just wipes down her mushrooms with a cloth too..please take the time to wash your produce off...PLEASE....  Please wash them under running water...and give a good once over with your hands...

I want you to have in your head how food is harvested. What I tell my student is this:

Out in a field .... there is not a Hilton close by... there is not a hand washing sink...no restrooms whatsoever....  so what do you think the hard working people in the field do when mother nature calls?  run into town 20 miles?  or just do their duty out in the field.... yes that would be right...then go right back to working hard.....
 Please picture this in your head when you are tempted to not wash a watermelon, or an apple, or any vegetable or produce item for that matter.  We wonder how we are getting ecol i and salmonella in our foods... this is how.  It is so easy to prevent.  Wash everything before you cut into it.  Even an onion....you think you will peel it so what is the point.  You usually put the unwashed onion on your cutting board...then you have contaminated your cutting board even before you started. 
Wash your hands...often... and especially before and during cooking...if you are cooking any raw protein such as chicken please wash your hands before and after handling... make sure you are washing your cutting board too..we don't want any cross contamination....
Lets be safe in our cooking.  Practice washing hands and all produce items that go into our families meals.  After all...when we cook at home for our families...we are cooking with love for them...  We want to keep them healthy and safe from a food borne illness.
When you are washing your hands.... it only takes about  30 seconds of soap with friction from your hands to do the trick...and keep you  and the people you are cooking for safe.. 

1 cup olive oil more if needed
4 cups cubed French bread or Italian bread
Heat oil and fry the cubes of bread until golden..or.(what  I like to do is put the bread cubes in a zip lock bag and pour in the olive oil then toss into a hot saute pan.)
Salt and pepper after removing from the oil

Add 1/4 cup basil chopped
3 T olive oil
1 t minced garlic
5 ripe tomatoes cut into a large dice ( use Roma's or any fresh tomato from your garden)
3 T chopped red onion
Fresh mozzarella cheese cut into cubes.

you can also give it a good drizzle with balsamic vinegar if desired.  Season to taste with salt and pepper...and enjoy!

A great way to use the day old bread you might have...

Enjoy!

Bruschetta Recipe


4 large tomatoes           medium chopped
1 medium size onion     small dice
1/4 cup fresh basil        finely shredded
a drizzle of balsmic vinegar
a drizzle of olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Mix together

Serve on crusty bread .... it can be italian loaf, french bread or sourdough... lightly toasted and top it with the brushetta