Sunday Bruschetta Brunchinner

After a week of dining hall food, the weekend offered a wonderful reprieve. This morning I bolted from my dorm, shopping list in hand. I needed: tomatoes, basil, olive oil, butter, salt and pepper, bread, and, love of all loves, garlic. I was so excited because today was making my very own brunch, a brunch of bruschetta (which turned into brunchinner pretty quickly)

I was able to get a lot of the ingredients at Reading Market. I guess because it's out of season, though, I couldn't find any basil. Eventually, I turned to my favorite place in the world, Chinatown, and was able to pick up a small bundle of Thai basil for a buck.

The other trial and tribulation came from looking and looking and looking for good tomatoes. I'm pretty convinced Philly has none. For this recipe I ended up using stewing tomatoes which have a decent amount of flavor. However, ideally, I would like to use and would encourage you to use if you can the tomatoes in the above picture. Yes, they are heirloom tomatoes, but no you should not ever spend an insane fortune on them, and just because they are heirloom does not mean they are heavenly. These were the tomatoes I used and photographed like crazy the first time I made bruschetta. If you want any heirloom thoughts, just e-mail me =P

Quick note, my camera was feeling less than cooperative, so the pictures for this post are limited, sorry! Alright, so let's get started.

You will need:
-Two medium sized tomatoes that have some smell (actually pick them up, put them to your nose, and inhale. It's fun, trust me)
-Two-three cloves of garlic
-Six large basil leaves
-Salt and pepper to taste
-Olive oil to what feels right
- about five slices of bread (preferably bread with a crackly crust)
-enough butter at room temperature to coat five slices of bread on both sides

Core and then cut up the tomatoes into about half-inch cubes. Throw the cubes and remaining juices into a bowl. Mince the garlic and add it to the bowl. cut the basil into ribbons and add. Finally, add the olive oil, salt, and pepper. Mix. Isn't that simple?
While that mix sits and equilibrates, cut and butter your five slices of bread.

Now, toast your bread using an iron. The directions for this can be found in the previous post Grilled Cheese! With an Iron!, just follow that minus the cheese. When it is golden-brown and releases from the foil with ease, your bread is done and you can cut it in half and top it with bruschetta. The one down-side is that I really like bruschetta thick and crunchy, but the weight of the iron often removes this characteristic; Unfortunate, but still worth it to have easy dorm-made bruschetta!

So, leave your door open and inhale as the bouquet of bruschetta fills your dorm.
This is serious omnomming!

OH! and don't forget, I still need your input for the Test of the Best: Ramen Edition. Share your favorite ramen, additions, or anything else you feel is important!