If you had a chance to see the movie Julie and Julia, you know it’s full of images of fantastic food. But the scene that made me salivate was the one in which Julie Powell (played by former Chanhassen Dinner Theater actress Amy Adams) prepares bruschetta for her husband, and he devours it with messy gusto. With tomatoes finally coming in, it was time for some bruschetta.
I made the tomato topping first, dicing up three kinds of tomatoes and adding a couple of tablespoons each of chopped basil and parsley from the garden. To the veggies, I added a good shake of salt and pepper and two tablespoons of olive oil. This macerated in a bowl on the counter for 45 minutes or so. Then, I sauteed slices of Brick Oven baguettes in a combo of olive oil and a dab of butter (in deference to Julia Child) flavored slightly with garlic. Normally, I would not fry the bread for bruschetta, but that’s the way the movie did it, so why not! At dinner, we piled the tomatoes on the bread. If you can set the bruschetta up a few minutes ahead of time to let the juices seep into the bread, it tastes even better.
I don’t usually review books or movies here, but Julie and Julia is a hoot. It’s based on two books, Powell’s book of the same title, which is entertaining in the way some memoirs are — you are glad to be reading about this person and not living with her — and Julia Child’s My Life in France, which is a heartfelt tribute to France and especially to Child’s husband, Paul.
Clara made the raspberry Bavarian cream last night!
This sounds delicious. I’ve got a bumper crop of tomatoes finally coming ripe and although many are destined for salsa, I may have to whip some of this up.
Good, simple idea for using tomatoes. I think in the next few days I will start to having them piling up on the counter.
I have the book Julie and Julia but haven’t seen the film yet. I am looking forward to it!
That was my favorite scene in the film. I just sent my husband out for French bread — it’s to hot to toast bread in the oven tonight, so I will saute it for my big pile of bruschetta.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for the fried bruschetta and tomato recipe. I just saw the movie over the weekend, and I can’t get that image out of my head. I will make it for dinner tonight, despite the fact that I won’t be able to use tomatoes and herbs from my garden.