That's What Bob's Cooking: July 2014

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Caprese Baguette

Caprese Baguette

In the northwest, recently we've been under a heat wave. Ok, so for me a heat wave is any temp over 70° for more than 2 or 3 days….. So, I've been having trouble finding “heat-proof” dinners, from items on the grill to cold dinner that require very little actual cooking (meaning not turning on the stove).

One of my favorite things ever is Caprese salad, or Insalata Caprese, literally meaning "Salad of Capri" is a simple salad, made of sliced fresh mozzarella, tomatoes and basil, seasoned with salt, black pepper and olive oil. It was made to resemble the colors of the Italian flag: red, white, and green. In Italy, it is usually served as an antipasto, or starter, not a side dish unlike most salads.

I know, I know, you're thinking…”but Bob, you hate tomatoes”. And you'd be right to think that, because I really to dislike fresh tomatoes, not that I don't want to like them, there's just a taste…metallic…gardeny…I can't describe. Now cook em, and I'm like a fat kid with cake. It's just the raw version that it don't like.

So what do you do? LIGHTBULB! Substitute cucumbers!

Here's how this all came about…..I wanted a cool dinner sandwich. What better than to “brown” a baguette on the grill, slice mozzarella, tomato (for Craig), cucumber and basil, put it all together for a delicious and easy dinner.

Caprese Baguette

1 baguette (I used a par baked or brown and serve loaf)

1 large tomato, sliced

1 lb fresh mozzarella, sliced

1 large cucumber, peeled and sliced

15-20 leaves of basil, julienned

Balsamic vinegar (I had a glaze that I used)

Olive Oil, to brush on the bread

Salt and pepper, to taste

Cut baguette into thirds, and slice in half.

Lightly brush with olive oil,

Place slices of tomato on bread, or cucumbers for tomato haters,

Place mozzarella on vegetables,

Drizzle vinegar on mozzarella,

Sprinkle salt and pepper on top and place the top on the bread back on.

Serve and enjoy!

My Complete Profile

I was born and raised on the East side of Portland Oregon, by two native and second generation, Oregonians, my Mom and Dad (Jack and Joan). Oregon, and the Northwest are deep in my blood. That being said, I have always had an interest in cooking. I would love to add a warm loving story here about how my Mom nurtured my love of cooking by setting me up on or near the counter top to help with whatever she was cooking. Well, that's not exactly the case.

Being a child of the 70's and 80's, I had a great exposure to classic foods like Spam, Tang, Rice-a-Roni and Hamburger Helper. While many of these premade, sodium roller coaster, treats where regulars on our table, my Mom would have to hold the title as "casserole queen". Casseroles are her favorite and her specialty. Whereas, my Dad was more of a spur of the moment kind of cook. His creations included many of the items from our makeshift pantry. Sometimes, i think he was thinking, "the more ingredients, the better it'll be!". I think my first attempt at cooking would have to have been making cookies, either peanut butter (with the criss-cross fork tine print on top), or chocolate chip cookies. Over the years I have made so many of both of these recipes, I have surely lost count.

During middle school, my Mom encouraged me to take Home Economics, thinking that all kids, boy or girl, should know how to cook out in this world. This sparked a growing interest in cooking. So when I entered my junior year of High School, at David Douglas, I enrolled in the culinary arts program, we called it Food Services I. This was a class that had been offered many years before, where the students ran a restaurant, The Kilt, during the lunch periods. Unfortunately, since the class had not been offered in several years, so we didn’t have enough students to open the restaurant, that year. Within the first few weeks of this class, my instructor asked if I'd like to be involved in an outside "club" (kind of like a version of Eagle Scouts) that was mentored by local business owners. It sounded interesting so I joined (not to mention it got me out of the first 2 periods of the day).

At our first meeting I was approached by Sylvia Poesdel, the owner of the Portland landmark restaurant, Sylvia's Italian Restaurant & Dinner Theatre. She asked me if I would be interested in an afterschool job, coming to work for her to learn the cooking/chef trade on the job. I jumped at the chance and started in October of 1985. During my senior year I rejoined the culinary arts program (Food Services II) and this year we were able to reopened the restaurant, which the rest of the students voted me to manage. I just absolutely loved it! I worked at Sylvia's until after I graduated, in 1989. I learned a lot about the restaurant industry, and I would have to say it would be one of just a few life altering jobs I have had throughout my career.

After high school, while I was working at Sylvia's, I applied to culinary arts school. The Two things kept me from continuing my career in culinary arts, were financial and having worked out in the field, I saw so many negative attributes to being a chef, I decided that since I love to cook, I wanted it to be a hobby, and not a drag to go work each day.

When I left Sylvia's, I worked at a hotel, then Safeway. From there I joined Fred Meyer in the Service Deli, and was quickly promoted to a manager. During the next 8 years, I worked throughout the Portland and Southern Oregon areas. In 1998, I earned a promotion to the regional specialist position (District Manager) in Seattle. During this career move, I learned so much about the Food Service industry. I was charged to develop a new service salad case program, as well as work on a new catering program. I had the opportunity to work with manufacturers to develop these new programs.

In 2000, I met the love of my life, Craig. I also, moved from the food service program to the grocery department as an assistant manager. In the capacity I learned to develop my management skills as well as managing inventory. By being the best in my category, I earned the position of manager, where I moved from store to store cleaning up and reorganizing as I went. I also was entrusted with training future Food managers for the region. At which point I was pursued by another company to run a store for them, and enter back into the restaurant industry. During these 3 years, I learned the Restaurant Supplier side of the business. While I enjoyed the time I spent in this opportunity, I yearned to go back to the Grocery industry, and spend more time with my first love, cooking, and writing about my adventures….in the kitchen!