Honey and Oven-Dried Tomato Bruschettas

Hello again! Rachel is back thanks to not having student teaching any more and being unable to look for a summer job as yet.

So for class this week we were asked to bring in food for a potluck. Katie (Missouri one...yes, Bordo there is another Katie in my life :-P) and I were super excited to get to make food. She wants to start a pastry shop too. Anyways, I immediately decided on the Bruschettas in this post because well, they are like crack for me, and, wait for it...they get me to eat tomatoes! Katie made this wonderful smoked salmon dip, even though we ate it tonight instead of last night at class. Still delicious! And super easy...so Lien, I will reiterate how to make that at the end of this post too.

For the Bruschettas though, here we go. (Lien you can improvise this if you want with pre-bought sun-dried tomatoes.)

1 lb of grape or cherry tomatoes
2 tablespoons of honey plus more for drizzling
2 tablespoons of olive oil (I always eyeball this...so maybe a little more?)
1 teaspoon of thyme
a few dashes of salt

Fresh chopped basil
Fresh sliced mozzarella cheese (the baby kind in the milky-looking liquid)
Fresh Baguette, sliced

Olive oil for brushing

Honey for drizzling
Balsamic Vinegar for Drizzling

1. Pre-heat oven to 300 degrees.

2. Cut the tomatoes in half, length wise and stick in to a large bowl. Add the next ingredients, through the salt and mix. I always like my tomatoes to be really coated, mostly because when you cook the tomatoes the liquid gets all syrupy and caramelized on the bottom and is delicious! Anyways, add more honey and olive oil as you see fit. Lien, this does not mean add A LOT, but add another teaspoon if you think it is needed.

3. On a parchment lined baking pan pour your tomatoes. The parchment isn't THAT necessary, it just mostly makes clean up a heck of a lot easier. Line all your tomatoes up, so they are cut side facing up. Put them in the oven and let them cook for about 1 hour and a half. I usually do an hour an 40 minutes but it depends on your oven. The tomatoes should be just starting to brown. Take them out and let them cool to room temperature. They can be kept in a container in the fridge for a few days as well. Bring them back to room temperature to serve.

4. Turn your oven up to 450 degrees for the bread. Cut the bread into thin slices for the bruschettas. They should be about 1/2 thick. Then put them on a baking sheet and brush them with olive oil on both sides. Put them in the oven and cook for about 3 minutes, until they are just starting to brown as well and get crispy.

5. Meanwhile take out your mozzarella and begin to slice thinly. Once the bread is done place three to four mozzarella slices on top. Then add the tomatoes, chopped basil, and drizzle all of them with honey and balsamic vinegar. Then enjoy!

And then for Katie's fabulous salmon dip. She said, if I remember correctly:  get one container of sour cream, a block of cream cheese, a pallet (one thing of Trader Joe's size) lox (so the smoked salmon you put on BAGELS, not the flaky cured stuff), some sprigs of fresh dill, and the juice of one lemon. Put that all together in a food processor/Cuisinart and blend it all together. Then serve with crackers.

Now I want to have an appetizer party. I'll keep you posted on that one...