Two Simple Favorites

The weather has been really nice for a few days and I've just been in the mood to grill out.  So, tonight we grilled steak for dinner, and it was of course, delicious.  However, the steak was not the highlight of the meal, at least for me.  I had been craving two side dishes for the longest time, and a grilled steak set the scene for pan con tomate and grilled peppers with cheese. Both of these dishes use fresh ingredients that require very little manipulation so they are very easy to make and their flavors are simple, crisp and robust.

The peppers are really simple.  I first started eating these a few summers ago when my parents grew banana peppers in their garden, and summers at my parents house involve quite a lot of grilling, so dad would toss those peppers on the grill, top them with some cheese and voila! A really really yummy treat!

Preheat your grill and cut banana peppers or other small, sweet, colorful peppers in half, devein and de-seed.  Cut a brick of monterey jack cheese, or pepper jack cheese if you like it a little spicier, into chunks about the size to fit nicely into the pepper halves.  Place the pepper halves cut side down on the grill until they flatten out a little and are a little soft.  Turn them over and fill each half with the monterey jack cheese chunks.  Make sure the peppers aren't over too hot a spot so they don't char too quickly. Once the cheese is almost melted, sprinkle a little parmesan cheese over the peppers and close the top of the grill, just long enough to finish melting the cheese.  Take them off the grill and just try to keep people from eating them right away!

I was too excited about finished product that I forgot an "after" photo...

Pan con tomate is actually a spanish dish and the name literally translates to bread with tomato.  That's about all there is to it.  It is traditionally served with lunch or dinner as a lighter side dish, or at breakfast even, by rubbing sliced garlic and tomato directly onto toasted bread but I prefer the heartier version.  It's so simple and delicious, it'd be easy to make a meal of it by itself. (I have...)

Pan Con Tomate  (serves 4 as an appetizer or side)

1/2 of a french baguette,

      cut diagonally about 1/4" - 1/2" thick
3 medium roma tomatoes, cut in half
2 T olive oil
2 t crushed garlic
2 whole garlic cloves, peeled
sea salt
fresh cracked pepper

Move rack in oven to the highest position and preheat the broiler on high. Place baguette slices on a baking sheet and put under broiler.  Toast until a nice golden brown.  Do NOT walk away at this point! This might only take 30 seconds. I have burned more bread than not by trying to multi-task at this point! Once the bread is toasted and cooled a bit, rub the whole cloves of garlic on one side of the bread slices, maybe only 3 or 4 times.  If you aren't a huge garlic fan like me, you could omit this step.  For the tomato topping, grate each tomato cut side down using a box grater into a bowl.  Grate until all of the seeds, juice and pulp are pressed through (discard the skins).  Add the olive oil, crushed garlic and salt and pepper to taste.  I like a lot of garlic so I usually use more, and I like it fairly salty (another weakness of mine) so I use more salt than I probably should.  Serve the tomato mixture with the toasted bread.

You won't be disappointed with either of these!  Guaranteed!