919. HEIRLOOM TOMATO SALAD with SWEET ONIONS and GRILLED BACON

serves 4


2 large Spanish onions
6 cloves garlic, peeled and blanched in fresh water three times
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for dressing
2 ounces chicken stock
2 tablespoons Banyuls vinegar
1 tablespoon Gula Jawa (Indonesian red-palm sugar)
2 tablespoons bush basil, chopped
1/2 pound good-quality slab bacon, sliced into quarter-inch slices
Mix of 4 medium or large heirloom tomatoes
1 pint mixed small heirloom tomatoes
1 bunch purslane
1 bunch lovage
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

For the onion marmalade: Dice 1 of the onions and the blanched garlic. In a sauté pan, sweat the onion and garlic in 1 tablespoon olive oil, covered, over low heat, for 30 minutes. Add stock, vinegar, and Gula Jawa, return to heat, and reduce mixture by half until it has the consistency of a marmalade. Season with salt and pepper, cool to room temperature, and then fold in chopped bush basil. While the marmalade is cooling, cook the bacon on a grill plate until both sides achieve a good char. (1) Slice the large tomatoes in half-inch rounds; halve the small tomatoes. Slice the remaining onion in quarter-inch rings, removing the center pieces. Pick the purslane and lovage into dime-size pieces. To serve: Arrange the tomatoes on 4 plates and season with salt, pepper, and olive oil.

Toss the onion rings with the onion marmalade and the lovage. In another bowl, toss the purslane with a drizzle of olive oil.

Layer the tomatoes with the dressed onion rings and the bacon. Finish with the purslane.


courtesy of: Ryan Skeen, Resto, 111 East 29 Street (Park Avenue), New York, New York 10016, (212) 685-5585 / Robin Raisfeld & Rob Patronite, New York Magazine, September 17, 2007