231/984 - Anna-Maria's zucchini slice

There hasn't been much Stephanie action going on here since the night of the 8 course feast!

I decided to cook this slice at the last minute for dinner one night, and learned a very amusing lesson in how well I (do not) work under pressure. 

Our little vegetable gardens are doing beautifully, the premise behind having four beds being that we would each have one to look after and be proud of. At this point I would like to thank Trev for tending to all four garden beds (and also my shiitake log) while the rest of us look on and hand out periodic pats on the back for a job well done.

These A-M-A-Z-I-N-G Black Russian tomatoes came from Henry's plot and I am not exaggerating when I say they were the best tomatoes I think I have ever tasted. I am kicking myself for not taking a picture before I cut them up and have vowed to get better at photographing my special ingredients as well as the finished products. 

The zucchinis for this recipe also came from the garden. There were not many available for picking and so I halved the recipe to accommodate. All was going well until I combined the ingredients, completely ignoring the instruction to omit the oil. In went a quarter of a cup of olive oil that was supposed to be drizzled over the top. Whoops.

I was a bit worried about how this would turn out, particularly as I watched the mixture bubble like crazy in the oven. While it was cooking, I steamed a beautiful rainbow trout to serve alongside what I thought was going to be an oozy, oily mess. 

As it turned out, the accident was not as bad as I thought. The additional oiliness worked beautifully with the fish, and along with the ridiculously juicy tomatoes, we ended up with a really lovely meal. My favourite part was Jules asking me at the end of the meal if I could please make the slice again and to make sure that I made the same mistake with the oil next time.   

Masterchef I am not, but at least I make my children happy.

Post Script: I found another Black Russian tomato on the vine and thought I would share a picture. Beautiful, no?

A photo taken after the fact.
This tomato was not harmed in
the making of this recipe.