After Mike from New West KnifeWorks sent me their 9-inch Chef Fusionwood knife, I went on a crazy chopping spree. Just like many of their knives, which are, by the way, all manufactured here in the US, this Chef knife is pretty nifty. I chopped a tomato medley (Heirloom peach tomatoes, yellow pear tomatoes, sweet 100 and San Marzano tomatoes) with a few grapes from our garden. With the razor-sharp blade, I was able to comfortably cut all the fruits. I quickly sautéed them in garlic with roasted green bell peppers and sweet peppers that my husband Lulu planted several months ago. I used the mixture as a topping for crostini and finished them with Manzanilla green olives wrapped in anchovies.
New West KnifeWorks is giving away a block set of 7-piece Fusionwood knives (a $995 value!) and you have a chance to win. Sign up for the contest through August 13th to win one of the 7-piece block sets on Facebook and Twitter. You can also register on New West KnifeWorks’ microsite. Good luck!
1. Info for Tomato Crostini with Anchoiade
- Cook Time: unavailable
- Total Time: unavailable
- Servings: 12
- Calories: unavailable
2. Ingredients for Tomato Crostini with Anchoiade
- 12 (1-day-old) slices baguette
- 2 small green bell peppers
- 6 small sweet green peppers
- 5 cloves garlic, peeled
- ¼ cup red grapes, halved
- 3 cups tomato medley, coarsely chopped
- 2 tablespoons sweet basil, chopped
- 4 tablespoons flat-leaf parsley, chopped
- 1 lemon, zested and freshly squeezed
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne powder
- 3 small egg yolks
- juice of a lemon (or 2 tablespoons white vinegar)
- ½ teaspoon honey (optional)
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 (8.1-ounce) jar anchovy filets in pure olive oil, rinsed
- 12 Manzanilla olives
- ¾ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon white pepper, freshly ground
3. Directions:
- For the roasted peppers: Place a grill on your stove and char the skin. Let cool for about 10 minutes. Wash under running water and the skin will come right off. Stem, seed and coarsely chop.
- Preparing the tomato filling: Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a medium-sized pan. Add 3 cloves garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Once the garlic located at the edges of the pan starts to brown a bit, add the chopped roasted peppers. Toss well over high heat for 2 minutes. Turn off the heat and add the tomatoes, grapes, lemon zest, 2 tablespoons parsley and basil. Season with salt and pepper.
- Note: All the ingredients should be at room temperature.
- Halve 6 anchovies and coarsely chop the rest.
- In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks. Add the remaining garlic, chopped anchovies, honey (if used) and Dijon mustard. Stir continuously and very slowly add the remaining ⅔ cup extra-virgin olive oil, a little at a time until fully combined. Whisk until emulsified. Add lemon juice and a pinch cayenne powder. Stir until the color is uniform. No need to add more salt because the anchovies are sufficiently salty.
- If the sauce is too thick add 1-2 tablespoons of boiling water. If it’s too watery, add more tablespoons oil (up to ½ cup total). If you’ve tried both solutions (boiling water or oil) and the sauce isn’t set, whisk in another egg yolk with lemon juice (or vinegar).
- Let sit at room temperature.
- For the grilled baguette: Lightly drizzle the baguette slices with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Place the pieces on a hot grill. Cook until you get grill marks (about 2-3 minutes on each side) over medium heat. Remove from the grill.
- At the last minute, spread a small spoonful of anchoïade in the center of the bread slices. Top with the tomato filling.
- Wrap each olive with the halved anchovies.
- On a serving platter, place the toasted bread. Decorate with the anchovy-wrapped olives. Garnish with parsley.
- Bon appétit!