Everyone once in a while, some low-brow food can be really, really yummy. I guess “low-brow food” is a cousin to comfort food. It’s relatively easy to make, uses mostly basic ingredients, and it’s common to the people—the opposite of abeaujiedish, like duck confit.
The other day my neighbor, a master gardener, off-loaded a bag full of San Marzano tomatoes to me. This being September, every gardener in the Western World has ripe tomatoes. And they grow in bunches! Unsure of what to do with my good fortune, I poured myself a drink and thought about it. And it wasn’t long before I came up with it: pizza toast!
I had some chicken thighs I was going to roast for dinner and have with an arugula salad. I thought this would make a fine weeknight meal, and I was quite right!
I diced the tomatoes, drained off most of the liquid and seeds, then tossed them with truffle oil, minced garlic, dried basil, dried parsley, a pinch of red pepper flake, salt and pepper, and toasted slices of homemade bread my sister gave me. Since the tomato concoction was pretty wet, after toasting the bread I laid down a layer of finely grated Parmesan cheese, then piled the tomato mix on top, and applied a generous handful of shredded Mozzarella before tossing the slices in the oven. Man alive it was good!
For wine, in my cellar I came across a 2022 Micho blend from Daou winery in Paso Robles. I have long been a fan of Paso wines, and this one did not disappoint. At all. My cousin and I traded wines a while back – he got some Sonoma juice, I got some Paso juice, and this was one of the wines he had left at my house. The wine is a Bordeaux-style blend created in honor of Georges and Daniel Daou’s sister, Michelle. It is 63% Merlot and 37% Cabernet Sauvignon. Having spent the better part of a week this last summer in Bordeaux, this wine would certainly compete with anything I drank while touring the Right Bank around Saint-Émilion, for sure.
While the concept of “it takes a village” was originally used to describe raising a child, it has since broadened to mean a shared effort involving support from a larger community. Yet here it was a Thursday night, and I made something delicious to eat that was directly connected to my neighbor, my sister, and my cousin. Beyond the satisfaction and nourishment of the meal, it felt good to be part of something greater than just me, myself, I. It felt really good.