You Say Tomato
by Joanne Weir
Broadway Books, 1998

Review by Kathleen Daelemans with Rita Daelemans

This book isn't new but it's great. Everybody needs to know about great books. This one's so great we cook from it heavily all year long but especially during tomato season.

Mom's Rating: 4 Spatulas

Mom's Pros: It's a tomato cookbook and I love tomatoes. Although I really like to eat tomatoes plain or whole on my plate I can't serve them that way to your father for dinner or he'll complain too much.

As my mother used to say about my brother to her daughter-in-law every tomato season when she'd invite herself over for dinner, "Tommy really likes his tomatoes whole on his plate." The rest of us used knives and forks but Tommy ate his like an ape. Tommy wasn't allowed to have sharp things.
The recipes are quick and to the point. They're not complicated, not fussy and they don't require a whole lot of thinking which is good because it's too hot to think. The air conditioner is on the blink again. If your father doesn't fix it soon, he'll be making his own dinner.

Mom's Cons
Some of the recipes take the tomatoes too far from "whole on the plate". Especially at this time of year, I like my tomatoes plain. That said, when canned tomatoes and hot house tomatoes are the only thing available, the fancier recipes are just fine.
I'm not complaining, your father is the complainer, but the recipes are a little crammed together. There could be more space between them. Two recipes and three recipes per page is a little much when you're my age and don't see as well as you used to.

Mom's Favorite Features: It's by Joanne Weir. I like her books. I have all of them. Her recipes come out really great. The ingredient lists are short. Nothing is complicated and most things work on the first try. Your father tolerates her recipes without excessive howling so I guess you can say he's a fan too.

From Mom's Kitchen Notebook
Papa Al Pomodoro: It's Papa al Pomodoro season at Zuni Café in San Francisco. And restaurants all over the country but I used to be in charge of the Papa at Zuni sometimes. It was a privilege I lived in fear of being assigned. Having your dish rejected by the chef at the 6:00 o'clock tasting just before service started wasn't something you wanted to live through more than once. I struggled with the Papa in my early days because the flavors are difficult to balance when you're trying to please one of the country's greatest chefs. And because I was still "green." Judy's (as in Judy Rodgers, chef and owner) very gentle way of letting me know I had a lot to learn. Thankfully, Weir takes you by the hand in her quick version of this classic, end of summer, soup.

"Papa means mush you know, Kathleen. And al Pomodoro means of tomatoes. Mush tomato soup doesn't sound so good but it is. It's thick and tomato-y and it has basil in it. It's a great way to use up tomatoes that are just about to fall apart. It's quick and can be made a day ahead. Unless you're a garlic lover, pull back a little. It gives your father a stomachache. I had to cut back on the oil too. He's up a loop in his belt again."

Farmer's Market Summer Tomato Salad: It's got raw onions which I leave out but other than that, it's a really great salad of sliced tomatoes and cucumbers. I especially love the lemony yogurt dressing. I usually serve a whole lot of tomato salad with a piece of meat to keep your father from going nuts. If he doesn't get meat once a week, he threatens to sneak out and get it. He'd like it every night. Big slabs of it. The only reason he hasn't retired is he knows I won't let him drink caffeinated coffee and I certainly don't serve jelly donuts all day long.

Warm Salad of Grilled Tuna, Beans & Cherry Tomatoes: I make this with green and yellow beans, widely available right now, and fresh shell beans when Maya (she's three) is over. She loves to shell beans. It takes her half a day to do four but at least she's not making happy faces on the bathroom mirror with soap. That drives your father crazy. You'd think he was the one doing the cleaning.
I like this recipe because it's a whole meal in one. You do have to grill the tuna outside but I make your father do it. When he's tired, I run the tuna under the oven broiler. I skip the aioli. Not because I don't want it but because homemade mayonnaise does nothing for my waistline and there's enough leftover dressing from the beans to moisten the fish.

Can't Wait to Try:
Late Harvest Green Beans and Tomatoes, Okra and Tomato Stew but I don't think I can get it past your father so I'll wait until he's out of town. The Warm Cherry Tomatoes sound good and it's almost fried green tomato season (the time of year tomatoes don't have time to ripen on the vine but they sell them anyway) so I'll try her recipe for Fried Green Tomatoes when I'm out of over ripe red ones.