Have I ever told you how much I love Shirley Maclaine? It’s mostly because of Steel Magnolias. She plays Ouizer (pronounced wheezer) Boudreaux, who is one of the snarkiest, meanest old southern ladies you’ll ever meet. Ouizer keeps it real. She calls you on your shit. She used to dress up as a nun to go bar-hopping. She’ll tell you to take your bible and stick it where the sun doesn’t shine. And then she’ll buy you crotchless lingerie for your bridal shower.

Tomato Crostini

2-4 tomatoes, 1/2 inch dice
1/4 of a large red onion, finely diced
5-6 leaves of basil chiffonade
1 large clove of garlic cut in half
salt
pepper
extra virgin olive oil
balsamic vinegar
1/2 loaf good crusty italian bread
butter

Instructions:

First, take a look at my big juicy tomatoes! (Sorry. Am twelve.)

I had found some Heirloom tomatoes at the store this time around and decided to try them. They’re so funky and interesting looking, not like your usual boring mass-produced ‘maters.

They’re also delicious, and unfortunately…um…a tadmore expensive than regular tomatoes. So these were a rare treat.

Dice them up and toss them in a bowl.

This was a pretty good sized onion, if I remember correctly, so I ended up only using a quarter. Red onion is pretty strong when it’s raw.

Now for the basil.

Grab 5-6 good sized leaves and stack them, one on top of the other.

Roll the stacked leaves up like a cigar. Or whatever else you might smoke that’s rolled up. (Not that I’d know anything about that.) Apologies for the crap picture, apparently it’s hard to be in focus when you’re rolling basil, and there’s only so much that flickr picnik mode can fix.

And…chiffonade! Slice down the rolled leaves thinly, leaving little ribbons of basil.

Toss the basil in a bowl with the tomatoes and onions, add a couple teaspoons of good quality extra virgin olive oil, a couple teaspoons of balsamic vinegar, a pinch of salt, and a few grinds of fresh pepper. Mix well and set aside.

Heat a saute pan over medium high heat, and add about 2 TB of butter, and 2 TB of olive oil. While waiting for the butter to melt, slice the bread about 1-1 1/2 inches thick.

Who’s got pretty counter tops? I do!

Toast bread in butter and oil until browned and crispy. Will smell pretty darn good, too.

Who’s got a crappy camera? I do!

Rub half of the fresh garlic over the warmed bread, just to get the flavor of the garlic but not the raw taste…trust me, you’ll taste it, this is a great tip (Thanks, Rachel Ray! Suck it, food snobs!)

Top the warm toasty bread with the tomato mixture.

And eat the hell out of it.

Even Ouizer would approve of this one.