Cooking with Asia

Prep time: 15 minutes Cook time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

6 or 7 ripe plum tomatoes (about 1 1/2 lbs)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

6-8 fresh basil leaves, chopped.

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 baguette French bread or similar Italian bread

1/4 cup olive oil

Directions:

1. Make sure there is a top rack in place in your oven. Turn on the oven to 450°F to preheat .

2. Prepare the tomatoes first. Score an “X” on the bottom of the tomato. Parboil the tomatoes for one minute in boiling water that has just been removed from the burner.

3. Dip tomatoes in an ice bath. Using a sharp small knife, remove the skins of the tomatoes.

4. Once the tomatoes are peeled, cut them in halves or quarters and remove the seeds and juice from their centers. Also cut out and discard the stem area. Why use plum tomatoes instead of regular tomatoes? The skins are much thicker and there are fewer seeds and less juice.

5. Chop up the tomatoes finely.

6. Put tomatoes, garlic, 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, vinegar in a bowl and mix.

7. Add the chopped basil. Add salt and pepper to taste.

8. Slice the baguette on a diagonal about 1/2 inch thick slices. Coat one side of each slice with olive oil using a pastry brush. Place on a cooking sheet, olive oil side down. You will want to toast them in the top rack in your oven, so you may need to do these in batches depending on the size of your oven. Once the oven has reached 450°F, place a tray of bread slices in the oven on the top rack. Toast for 5-6 minutes, until the bread just begins to turn golden brown.

9. Align the bread on a serving platter, olive oil side up.

10. Place some topping on each slice of bread and serve immediately or the bread may get soggy.

Yield: Makes 24 small slices

When I heard we were making bruschetta I didn't know what it was but I had idea. I actually thought bruschetta was like spinach and cheese on a baguette so I guess I was pretty close to knowing what it was. I told my mom and she said we've had it at a restaurant before and then it clicked in my head and i knew what is was that we were making. When my group and I made this we did everything right or so it seemed. The thing that we did really well was peeled the skin off the tomatoes. When we took them out the hot water we put them in ice and then the skin started peeling off and we didn't even need a knife to peel it off. It came off really easy and I was glad that we did it right. This was a really simple recipe and it was hard to mess up but the only thing I can think of that we may have done wrong is not mince the garlic small enough. If I were to make this recipe again I would want to make the whole thing, I was kind of dissapointed that we weren't able to make the whole thing but that's fine. When we minced the garlic I remembered that you should always keep the tip of the knife on the cutting board and almost do a rocking motion back and forth to get a good mince. Another helpful tip I used from class was that you smash the garlic with the knife and it makes it easier to remove the peel. When making this recipe me and my group were suprised on how quick and simple it was. To me the taste of the mixture was a bit bland and had a really strong garlic taste, I don't necessarily like garlic so that may be the reason why I didn't realy prefer this recipe.

Prep Time: 25 Min Cook Time: 10 Min Ready In: 1 Hr 35 Min

Servings: 10

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter, softened

• 3/4 cup white sugar

• 1 egg

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese

• 1/2 cup white sugar

• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and 3/4 cup sugar until smooth. Mix in egg.

3. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt; stir into the creamed mixture until just blended.

4. Press dough into an ungreased pizza pan.

5. Bake in preheated oven for 8 to 10 minutes, or until lightly browned. Cool.

6. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese with 1/2 cup sugar and vanilla until light. Spread on cooled crust.

7. Arrange desired fruit on top of filling, glaze and chill.

GLAZE:

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons sugar

• 1-1/2 teaspoons cornstarch

• 1/4 cup unsweetened pineapple juice

• 1/4 teaspoon lemon juice

Directions

1. In a small saucepan, combine sugar and cornstarch.

2. Stir in pineapple juice and lemon juice until smooth.

3. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.

4. Cool slightly. Drizzle over fruit. Refrigerate until chilled.

Source: AllRecipes.com

When I learned we were making fruit pizza I was kind of excited. I had it last semester when my friend took the class and I got some from the cafeteria and I really enjoyed it. When we were making it I always wanted to know how to make that sweet cream cheese spread which made me happy when I finally was able to make it. When we were making the fruit pizza we really worked well as a team and since you said this was one of the hardest labs we did really well. We worked on time and we all knew what to do and helped each other complete each others tasks. I personally had a lot of fun decorating the pizza with fruit because it was like an art peice that we were making. The thing that brang us down though was that we cut the kiwi the wrong way so it didn't look too nice but the outcome of the pizza was still pleasant. I know I'm going to make this for the homelab so when I do the only thing that I'll change from what we did is that I'll make sure the kiwis are cut a different way to have all the kiwis look the same. When in the kitchen I used a skill that you previously taught us which was how to work with the mixer, with knowing how to operate the machine it helped when I was making the dough for the pizza. I really enjoyed making this and having a taste of it. Now that I know how to make it I think that it's going to be one of my favourite recipes.