By David Harbilas

Despite having a summer-like quality to it, citrus is truly a winter fruit.

A trip to a supermarket will show that the sheer variety of citrus fruits available during the winter months makes it a great time to cook with citrus.

Despite tomatoes being out of season this is also a great time to pair tomatoes with citrus.

The freshest tomatoes at the height of their seasonal availability is in fact not what I had in mind for this recipe, and it can in fact be made with tomato paste. But a very slowly stewed mixture of chopped, seeded tomatoes can work just as well as a base for the sauce.

Aiolis can be a little intimidating due to their ability to break while drizzling in the olive oil. This one is a little more user friendly, given the use of the tomatoes. Serve it with fried or roasted fish, chicken, or pork.

Makes about 2 cups of sauce

4 egg yolks
3 tomaotes, peeled, seeded, and diced
Juice of 1 ½ oranges Read the rest of this entry »

By David Harbilas

Yes, watermelon is not a winter fruit.

But why not try to find some and dream of summer?

Salsas are a wonderful alternative to rich, complicated sauces, and this one is as simple as it is healthy.

Add some chopped jalapeno to it and you have a delicious hot and sour combination.

Serves 2

2 tuna steaks, about 6 ounces each
1 cup diced watermelon
2 tomatoes, diced Read the rest of this entry »

By David Harbilas

Yogurt is a very ubiquitous ingredient in Turkish cuisine and such a wonderful combination of sweet and sour that it’s amazing that it hasn’t become a more popular ingredient here in America.

It’s also, obviously, very healthy, and seeing as how we love our dairy and fats (like butter and cream), this is an easy way to get some of that satisfaction without doing terrible harm to our bodies.

Even if you decide to use whole milk yogurt a little goes a long way as far as flavor is concerned, so the caloric content is not likely to be that great.

This sauce can also be used on chicken, beef, or any other protein–especially eggs. A fried egg over an English muffin drizzled with a little of this sauce is a great way to start the day.

Makes enough sauce for 1 dozen oysters

1 cup plain yogurt
2 plum tomatoes
2 tablespoons mild chile powder Read the rest of this entry »

By David Harbilas

This is a fairly simple recipe that relies on very few ingredients and little cooking.

The real star is not the tomatoes but the seafood.

Buy the very freshest oysters possible.

I just did a special menu for the New Year and bought oysters that were just four days out of the water. When I shucked them open they smelled like seawater, just as a fresh oyster should. It’s not too much to ask your fishmonger to tell you when the oysters were harvested, as well as the location.

In fact, they are obligated by law to keep that information on hand, and if they are unable to tell you go elsewhere. That being said, a really good, briny oyster benefits from simple parings of sweet, hot, and slightly sour. This dish offers that.

Enough for 12 oysters

12 oysters, scrubbed
2 globe tomatoes, peeled and cut into filets (see note)
1 teaspoon chile powder Read the rest of this entry »

By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

The other day, I was looking through my seed stash and realized that I had a plethora amount of tomato seeds.

I knew I could not use all the seeds and wonder what to do.

What to do ran through my head the remaining of the day and into the night.

During my slumber the idea came to me and I thought why did I not think of that.

The “that” I refer to is based on the Johnny Appleseed story and if you have forgotten the story here it is in a nutshell. Johnny Appleseed was a real man named John Chapman. As a youth, John was taken in as an apprentice at an orchard. Here he learned everything about growing apples.

Later on, John moved to Read the rest of this entry »

By David Harbilas

As with seafood Posillipo, this is a dish my father made frequently.

Like many of his dishes, he spent a long time perfecting his version, going through many versions until he was satisfied with a result that was uniquely his own.

This recipe is exactly as wrote, not one thing has been changed or omitted.

He was my first inspiring example of what a chef was, someone who took a certain joy in the gradual process of seeing a collection of ingredients transform themselves into something sublime through a combination of heat, seasoning, knowledge, and joy.

Serves 4-6

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
2 cups onion, chopped Read the rest of this entry »