A Time of Preparation

All Penitential seasons are designed as times of preparation. I know this is true in Christianity and Judaism; a time to prepare and do a serious self-examination... Technically we are past Passover and Lent but I still need time to prepare the Easter fest and hey! we aren't here to discuss Religion.. on to the food!  But first, these are my new shoes!!! Aren't they cute? And I love that song about putting new shoes on...its a total  renewal...kind of like rebirth.. but once again I digress . Go ahead and listen to it, just a minute or so.. It's fantastic!  PLEEEEZE?

The Easter meal will take several days of preparation. Today I did the things that can be (actually should be)  done ahead of time and will make Sunday more enjoyable.

First item: Chive Oil. It's just an herb infused oil, but it takes 2 days to prepare. First chop up some chives and rinse them under hot water for a minute or two and them dry them:

Then puree them in the blender with canola oil, off and on ( don't want it to heat up) then transfer to a container and refrigerate for at least 24 hrs. This will instensify the color!! not Green enough?  Tomorrow I will show you how to strain it.

Next is tomato confit. The real deal. Almost. I swear. I wont confess to the sourcing of these tomatoes but it really doesn't make a difference in April.... OK they were canned!   Go ahead and slap me.

Line a pan with aluminum foil and drizzle OO and kosher salt and pepper. Then place tomato sides.. no skin no seeds, just the meat of the tomato. Drizzle EVOO and sprinkle kosher salt and freshly ground pepper then top each "petal" (tomato piece) with a piece of a thyme spring.

These go in the oven for about 2 hours at 250, they shouldn't be dried out but very concentrated flavors.
Here's the "after: photo"

These cool and you remove the thyme sprigs, feel free to bring along some tweezers and a magnifying glass. Then, when cool. put in a container with some EVOO and refrigerate for up to a week.

You will see these two items in use in just ONE dish in the Easter feast. More to come.. Prepare yourselves!

See you soon (tomorrow)