Celebrating British Tomatoes

Plum British Tomatoes

Last week’s cooking along with award-winning Chef Paul Foster and Le Cordon Bleu’s master baker Dominique Moudart was a revelation. The theme was British tomatoes on the back of the campaign ‘eat British’ the event highlighted the beautiful qualities of our land grown tomatoes and some appetising recipes.

The evening was organised by Great British Chefs in association with Le Cordon Bleu where this event took place and The British Tomato Growers’ Association.

First up was chef Paul Foster, who’s  show-stopper recipe for plum tomato tart with Parmesan biscuit, avocado mayo, and warm chorizo was a delight to cook and to eat!  Paul is brilliant and creative. He thought us together with Le

Cordon Bleu chefs a few new tricks as the evening went along. This dish is full of textures and flavours. 

making pastry

boiling for 10 seconds

Peeling

vacuum packed with Cabernet Sauvignon vinegar and sugar for 2-3 hours

confit in butter, thyme and tomato stalks

making avocado mayo

sieving  the avocado mayo for a smoother texture

rolling out the Pastry

cutting the pastry to size

We also tasted a pre-dessert dish of tomato seed, strawberry, vanilla sugar, plain yoghurt that was a little simple taster showcasing tomato was a fruit.  Delicious! 

Plum tomato tart with Parmesan biscuit, avocado, and chorizo recipe*

Plum tomato tart with Parmesan biscuit, avocado, and chorizo
Meat-free version

 
Equipment

    Food processor
    Vacuum bags
    Chamber sealer
    Blender
    6cm pastry cutter

Ingredients:

Tomatoes
    16 baby plum tomatoes
    250g of salted butter
    4 sprigs of fresh thyme
    50ml of Cabernet Sauvignon vinegar
    50g of dark muscovado sugar

Parmesan Biscuit
    250g of strong bread flour
    100g of grated Parmesan
    100g of salted butter
    2g of salt

Avocado Mayo
    1 avocado, ripe
    3 egg yolks
    juice of half a lemon
    300ml of sunflower oil
    salt

To Plate
    1 bunch of fresh basil
    4 slices of chorizo
    mixed salad leaves, to garnish

1)Preheat the oven to 160°C/gas mark 3

2)For the Parmesan biscuit, mix together the flour, Parmesan and salt and rub in the butter to create a coarse crumble. Pour the crumble across a baking tray and cook for 10–15 minutes until golden, then remove from the oven and set aside to cool

3)Meanwhile, lightly score a cross through the skin of each tomato and place in a bowl. Cover with just enough boiling water to cover and leave for 30 seconds, then drain and cool the tomatoes under cold water. Peel off and discard the skins

4)Place 8 of the tomatoes in a heavy-bottomed pan with the butter and thyme sprigs. Gently melt the butter over a low heat and allow the tomatoes to confit slowly for 1 hour

5)Place the remaining 8 tomatoes in a vacuum bag with the vinegar and sugar and seal with a chamber sealer to compress. Set aside until ready to serve

6)Once the pastry crumble has cooled, transfer to a food processor and blend until the fat begins to separate out, making the crumbs sticky and glossy. Tip out onto a tray lined with baking paper and cover with a second sheet. Roll out evenly to create a thin layer of dough and transfer the tray to the freezer for 1 hour to set

7)To make the avocado emulsion, remove the peel and stone and place the flesh in a blender with the egg yolks and lemon juice. Blend briefly to combine as a smooth mixture then, keeping the machine slowly running, gradually pour in the sunflower oil until the mixture emulsifies

8)Adjust the seasoning to taste, then pass through a fine sieve to ensure the emulsion is completely smooth. Transfer to a piping bag and reserve in the fridge until ready to serve

9)Drain the confit tomatoes from the butter and the compressed tomatoes from the vacuum bag. Remove the Parmesan dough sheet from the freezer and use a 6cm pastry cutter to stamp out biscuit discs

10)To assemble the tarts, place a Parmesan biscuit on each plate and stand 2 compressed tomatoes and 2 confit tomatoes on top. Pipe over a little of the avocado emulsion and some shredded fresh basil. Gently warm the chorizo slices in a frying pan over a medium heat and lie across the top of the tarts, garnishing the plates with a few salad leaves to serve.

*recipe by Paul Foster @GBChefs site

Next was Le Cordon Bleu’s master baker, Dominique Moudart; I was quite
excited about this demo about bread.  He and Julie showed us how to make
bread on the beater . Interesting to see that he added tomato
juice to the dough. The results were stunning and very tasty. 

You too can make tomato bread like a pro, follow the recipe below:

ready for the oven

Tomato flatbread
Tomato flatbread recipe
Ingredients
Dough
12 g fresh yeast
135 g warm water
500 g strong flour
10 g salt
150 g tomato juice
30 g garlic oil
35 g roasted garlic
60 g caramelised red onion

Topping
½ bunch rosemary
100 g caramelised red onion
150 g cherry tomatoes (part dried)
rock salt
garlic oil

Method
1)Dissolve the yeast in warm water.
2)Put the flour and salt into a large bowl. Add the tomato juice, garlic oil and yeast dissolved in water.
3)Mix for 1 to 2 minutes at a low speed (1 on kitchen aid), then mix for 7 to 9 minutes at medium speed (4 to 5 on kitchen aid).
4)When the dough is ready add the roasted garlic and caramelised red onion and mix until well combined.
5)Leave to rest for between 15 to 20 minutes.
6)Knock back and leave to rest for another 15 minutes.
7)Divide into 2 pieces and roughly shape into rounds.
8)Leave to rest for a further 10 minutes.
9)Roll into a flat round shape, around 20 cm in diameter.
10)Leave to prove until a third thicker.
11)Add the toppings by pushing slightly into the dough.
12)Prove again until it has doubled in size.
13)Bake in a fan oven with steam (place an oven-proof dish with cold water at the bottom of the oven) at 190ºC for 10 minutes. Remove from oven, brush garlic oil on top and finish baking until golden brown on top.

  

Disclosure: I was a guest at this event by Great British Chefs in partnership with  The British Tomato Growers’ Association and Le Cordon Bleu.

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22 Comments

  1. Cassandra Mayers
    May 22, 2016 / 9:32 am

    That tomato flat bread sounds the nicest to me 🙂 Never made any but really need to give it a try,

  2. Sarah Ann
    May 22, 2016 / 10:16 am

    Ah I always use tomatoes in the same boring way (usually in a salad, on a sandwich or in soup) so this has definitely given me some inspiration.

  3. Stressed Mum
    May 22, 2016 / 12:38 pm

    Wow it looks amazing, my husband would love all these dishes, we are growing tomatoes at the moment x

  4. Caffeinated Reactions
    May 22, 2016 / 2:11 pm

    Omgh these look and sound yummy!! Such a humble ingredient celebrated amazingly 🙂

  5. Lynette Hammond
    May 22, 2016 / 2:47 pm

    What an amazing experience and the recipes sound gorgeous. Time to head to the shops to get some tomotoes 🙂

  6. Jessica McDonnell
    May 22, 2016 / 2:58 pm

    The avocado may sounds so delicious and I love the look of that flatbread. I always try cooking with fresh tomatoes and always make things like sauces from scratch.

  7. May 22, 2016 / 3:27 pm

    Aaaah looks like a fun event – I'm sorry I had to miss it 🙁 Mex was telling me about those confit tomatoes – all she kept saying was "SO MUCH BUTTER" LOL!

  8. May 22, 2016 / 3:58 pm

    Loved that tomato tart and the very clever way of making the pickled tomatoes. So much fun cooking along with them.

  9. Claire Cly
    May 22, 2016 / 4:41 pm

    Last year I grew my own tomatoes for the first time, they were delicious. Thanks for sharing these recipes 🙂 Yummy!

  10. Melanie Ed
    May 22, 2016 / 4:44 pm

    The Plum tomato tart with Parmesan biscuit, avocado, and chorizo recipe sounds great, I may have to give that a go at home.

  11. ana de jesus
    May 22, 2016 / 6:54 pm

    Oooh the avocado mayo sounds amazing and so does the tomato flatbread! So delicious!

  12. Life-As-Mum
    May 22, 2016 / 7:03 pm

    That tomato flatbread looks so delicious and tasty

  13. Jude Dunn
    May 22, 2016 / 8:29 pm

    What an amazing event, who knew you could do so much with good old tomatoes.

  14. Pasta Bites
    May 23, 2016 / 8:14 am

    I think I would prefer the meat free version ! I love tomatoes, so great ideas and cool event

  15. Hannah Heartss
    May 23, 2016 / 11:51 am

    I love the look of that flat bread!! Everything looks absolutely delicious x

  16. Helerina
    May 23, 2016 / 2:06 pm

    What a fantastic event this must have been! Although I'm not a huge fan of tomatoes both dishes look and sound delicious and I would definitely try the flatbread.

  17. beautyqueenuk
    May 23, 2016 / 4:05 pm

    I absolutely love tomatoes of all shape, size, colour and variety, especially tinned, so I would have loved this x

  18. May 23, 2016 / 4:45 pm

    Oh wow that flat bread looks delicious, his sounds like an awesome event to attend.

  19. Laura Haley
    May 23, 2016 / 7:51 pm

    I used to work alongside a tomato nursery, I wonder if you ate some of their tomatoes!? It was so interesting having a tour of the greenhouses and seeing how they grew the plants.

  20. Charli Bruce
    May 24, 2016 / 5:55 pm

    I adore tomatoes so much! The flatbread looks absolutely amazing, it makes me want to go and bake some right now xx

  21. Beautykinguk
    May 27, 2016 / 7:37 am

    I am 'that' person who asks for the tomatoes to be taken out of things, they are just not for me, the wife eats them by the bucket load, especially the tinned ones!