Hello after a long hiatus!

Heritage tomatoes have finally arrived! It is such an exciting time for the pure joy of simple eating. A sun-warmed, almost overripe tomato and a little salt can be a feast. An insanely juicy BLT eaten over the sink can lift my spirits and give me a glimpse of the profound meaning of the changing of the seasons as I begin to mourn the passing of summer.

The only problem is that I wrote that paragraph about two weeks ago so it is really old news and only now got back to writing this email to let everyone know that BLT Season is back at Sarkozy Bakery!

I’ve written before about BLTs. I love them, I go crazy when I eat a perfect one.

Even so, there are other breads with tomato combinations and I also swoon over them. For me, the required ingredients are garlic, basil, tomatoes, salt, olive oil, and bread. I like tomato/bread “soup”. It is a good use of what our friend and tomato grower par excellence, Pat Smith of Kirklin Farms, calls “rescue” tomatoes (ones that are nearly gone, and have some soft spots, and are about to attract fruit flies).

Prepare a frying pan by sautéing onions and garlic in olive oil. Peel the tomatoes while cutting out the soft spots and then squeeze them through your fingers. Then I have a glass of chilled wine or a spritzer while I read and while the tomatoes cook down to a gloppy (drier than soupy) mass and at the end, add torn up basil (or oregano). I toast a bread that has a lot of “tooth” (chewiness) to it like sourdough or French. Toast it well, rub it with raw garlic if you like, break it up and put it into a soup plate, and load the tomatoes on top. Or make croutons by coating the bread with olive oil and baking in the oven. The bread soaks up the tomatoes. You can, of course, add something to add a little heat. You get the idea.

In the old bakery, we made “tomato bread” for ourselves. Slice a baguette or Mitch roll lengthwise, rub with garlic - or not - cover with tomato glop and cheese - or not - basil - or not - pizza toppings - or not - and toast the whole thing in the oven - or not.

We also have other terrific seasonal treats. Gooseberry Tarts (Google “Gooseberry pie song” for the musical version) remind us oldsters of our youth and the gooseberries are so local that they come from a customer’s back yard. Another favorite, Pesto and Goat Cheese Carrés (squares) have returned now that it is basil season.

Finally, the bakery is growing and we are looking to add employees. We are looking for people who want to become craftspeople, who are invested in the role of food in our society. We pay $14/hr, plus half of very good health insurance, two weeks paid vacation, we match 401K retirement savings to 5% and are proud to be making a superior product. Feeding people is good and satisfying work and we do our best to do it responsibly.

Soon,
Judy

I LOVE this time of year!!