I love heirloom tomatoes. My favorite are brandywine. This recipe uses fresh, sliced tomatoes (straight from my garden, but farmer’s markets have wonderful options too) on toast with melted cheese. Minimal ingredients, maximum flavor!

What is an Heirloom Tomato?

It’s the seeds that make an heirloom tomato and heirloom. They are passed on from season to season without modification. They are open pollinated – which means they are pollinated by bees and butterflies, even flies or wind and rain. The same plant is produced year after year.

They are not bred for shelf live or beauty. They are thin skinned, lumpy, often have cracks, and are full of lusciously rich flavor. But not all are slicers.

A slicer tomato has a meaty interior and a little less juice than other tomatoes. This makes them the perfect choice for sandwiches ^[1]. I grew brandywine and oregon spring. The brandywine – a great slicing tomato, has more solid meat and less watery seed pockets. And perfect for this recipe.

The tomato on the left is a brandywine and the one on the right is an Oregon spring. Although both are slicers, but you can see the difference in the heirloom variety – which is why this recipe calls for an heirloom slicer.

The best heirloom slicers include the brandywine, purple cherokee, striped German or black krimm.

Making the toast – 

Start the toasts by mixing the olive oil, truffle oil and salt together in a dish. Brush the toasts liberally with the oil mixture.

Now bake in a 350 degree oven for about five to ten minutes – or until the toasts are lightly browned. Remove from the oven. It’s important to keep a watch on them. Each oven is different so one oven may take longer while another will burn the toast quickly.

While the toasts are baking, mix the mayonnaise, mustard, thyme and parmesan together in a bowl.

Let the toasts cool, then spread each piece with the mayonnaise mixture.

Next, top the toasts with sliced tomatoes,

grated parmesan (not the dried in can) and broil them for about four to five minutes or 

or until the cheese is melted.

Remove from the oven and cut in half. Garnish with a little more fresh thyme and serve.

© Copyright 2023 The Lazy Gastronome

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People didn’t always have toasters, but toast has been around for awhile. It was even made on the trails over the fire! How did they do it? On a hot griddle over the fire. Texas claims to have invented it – hence the name Texas toast. Just to clarify, Texas toast is made with a thick piece of bread. This recipes is just regular ol’ griddle toast ^[6].

Here’s How to Do it:

The first thing you need to do is get the griddle (or heavy skillet) hot. Put butter on both sides of the toast.

Lay the toast on the griddle and cook for one to two minutes on each side.

While it’s cooking, place the egg(s) in a sauce pan with cold water. Bring it to a boil and cook for 1 minutes.

Remove from the heat and let it sit in the hot for three minutes. Run it under cold water.

Tap the top of the shell to knock it off.

Using a small spoon, scoop the egg from the shell and lay it on the toast.

And that’s all there is to it!! Add some fruit and you have breakfast!

© Copyright 2022 The Lazy Gastronome

Here are some things that are perfect to use for this recipe!

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Today is National bagel day – a day to celebrate this ring of boiled dough. So, what exactly is a bagel?

Unlike the donut, a bagel is a type of boiled bread. The hole helps it to cook through. The dough is so thick the center would never cook if it didn’t have a hole! It is shaped and boiled for a few minutes, then baked until the outside is crisp and the inside is soft but dense. I tried to make them from scratch once (once being the operative word here). They are a lot of work! I am the lazy gastronome you know – I buy them now.

Bagels have been around since the 1300’s but the first written record is from Poland in the 1600s when it was given as a gift to women in childbirth. Baby equals bagel.

This round bread has remained fairly unchanged over time. In the early 1900s the Jewish immigrants brought this treat to America and it caught on quickly. This was the dawn of the Bagel Brunch! The fresh bagel was slathered with cream cheese, lox, capers, red onions and tomatoes – and this and similar toppings remain popular to this day!

The bagel has become an American staple since the 1950s, but not just as a brunch! You can use them to make sandwiches – top them with fruit and crème fraîche. Or you can be simple with just butter, or flavored butter like this one. Are you ready to try your bagel with…

Here’s How to Do it:

This is so simple!! Bring the butter to room temp to soften it (don’t put it in the microwave). I use a European butter. There is less water so you get the rich flavor of the butter fat.

Crumble the trout into the butter and mix well. If you are using unsalted butter, add a pinch of salt.

Chill

and serve with warm toasted bagels! I turned it out onto a plate so people could spread as much as they wanted.

It’s that easy! It’s also good tossed into pasta or on regular toast!

© Copyright 2021 The Lazy Gastronome

Do you have some great ways to make bagels? Share them here!! We want to see them all.

Here are some things that are perfect to use for this recipe!

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Blueberries are one of the healthiest foods around. They are full of fiber and anti-oxidants – and vitamins K & C as well as manganese. So let’s join forces and celebrate these sweet little nuggets for National Blueberry Day!

Maine is the leader for producing the most wild blueberries and the cultivated leader is Michigan (followed closely by Washington, Oregon and Georgia). The leader changes every year. Last year my home state, Oregon, held the record for most berries produced.

But regardless of where they came from, they are delicious little morsels that are good with almost anything, sweet or savory.  Here we have gone with the sweet…

Here’s How to Do it:

Start by mixing up the eggs and milk. In a shallow bowl add 1 Tablespoon of the sugar, the eggs, cinnamon, cardamom and milk. Whisk it all together until frothy.

Mix the remaining sugar with the berries, then set aside.

Dip the bread into the egg mixture and let it sit for about 1 – 2 minutes.

Melt the butter in a heavy skillet on medium heat.

Lay the bread gently into the hot butter and cook for about 3 to 4 minutes on each side,

or until the bread is brown and crispy, but custardy in the middle.

Move to a plate and heap on some blueberries and syrup. Garnish with mint leaves.

Serve hot!

© Copyright 2019 The Lazy Gastronome

Here are some things that are perfect to use for this recipe!

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Have a lot of blueberries? Try these blueberry oatmeal muffins ^[17] – and they freeze nicely too!

^[17]

Now you have some ideas – go out and grab some fresh blueberries while they’re still in season! They’ll be gone before you know it!

Did you know that half the peanuts grown in the U.S. come from Georgia? Yep. And one of the ways they are prepared are boiled. Boiled peanuts have a unique and addicting flavor. And they make a perfect partner for another Georgia favorite – Pimento Cheese!

When I was a kid my mom used to buy the pre-made pimento cheese spread and we’d eat it on crackers. A good pimento cheese is a true southern favorite.

So get your South going and make up a plate of Georgia goodness!

Here’s How to Do it:

Lets start with the peanuts – they’ll take awhile. Start with 2 pounds of peanuts. You can use any peanut in the shell that is raw – not roasted!! If you can get your hands on green peanuts, even better (but the season is short).

First, rinse the peanuts well.

Put the salt and Cajun spices into a large kettle. Fill it half way with water and stir.

Add the peanuts and then fill the pot with water to cover them.

Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to medium. Boil for 6-8 hours, adding water as needed.

Drain, cool and eat!! (And make sure you store them in the refrigerator.

While those peanuts are cooking, get your pimento cheese spread going.

Add all the ingredients (except the pimento) to a food processor

and process until well mixed and semi-smooth.

Remove to a bowl and stir in the pimentos.

You can spread it on crackers and eat it right now – or toast some bread,

Brush some butter on both sides of the bread

cut it in triangles and

Toast it i the oven.

Spread the cheese on top.

Pop it under the broiler for a minute or two and enjoy!

Goes great with boiled peanuts on the side.

Now sit back and enjoy a Georgia snack.

 

© Copyright 2019 The Lazy Gastronome

Here are some things that are perfect to use for this recipe!

Disclosure: The items below are affiliate links through Amazon.com. If you purchase any of these products through the links, I receive a small commission at no cost to you. Thanks for your support!