Summer Tomato Pudding with Hard-Boiled Quail Eggs, Capers, and Red Onions

Believe it or not, one can still make some pretty neat discoveries at the local library. While tooling through the DVD section of the Cinnaminson Branch of the Burlington County Library the other day, I finally gave a second glance to a television compilation that I had seen on the shelves many times before but that never piqued my curiosity enough to actually flip it over and read the back cover. The reason, I imagine, is because the cover is so ridiculously unappetizing.

Here it is. You be the judge.

As it turns out, however, Two Fat Ladies reconfirms the age-old adage of never judging a piece of media by its cover. Two Fat Ladies is a fantastic cooking show. The fat ladies, Jennifer and Clarissa, travel around Great Britain on a motorcycle with sidecar and make periodic stops in historic locations where they prepare a meal for the friendly folks residing there. Fat lady #1, Jennifer, makes classic English fare, sometimes with a nouveau cuisine twist. Fat lady #2, Clarissa (who resided in Portugal for a number of years) introduces Mediterranean cooking techniques and ingredients to the English palette. The show, which aired on the BBC in the 1990s, was the top-rated cooking program in England. 

Two Fat Ladies' Summer Tomato Pudding

• Plum tomatoes, dropped in boiling water and peeled
• Sliced, day-old bread, crusts removed
• 2-3 cloves crushed garlic
• 1 handful fresh basil
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Fresh squeezed juice of one half lemon
• Tabasco sauce
• Worcestershire sauce

Run 4-5 tomatoes through a foodmill, removing seeds and skins creating a strained tomato juice or passata. Season with dashes of tabasco and worcestershire sauce and the juice of one half lemon. Dredge both sides of bread in tomato passata and use to line the bottom and sides of a medium sized glass bowl. Cut smaller pieces as needed to make sure than the bowl in completed lined. Dice remaining tomatoes and combine with crushed garlic, basil, salt, pepper, and 1/4 cup olive oil. Pour tomato mixture into bread-lined bowl and cover the top with additional bread slices dipped in the passata. Place bowl on a platter and put a saucer on the top. Weight the saucer with a heavy cast iron skillet so that it compresses the pudding. Place in refirgerator for at least six hours or overnight. When ready to serve, remove from refirgerator and invert the bowl on a serving platter to remove. Slice and serve with capers, diced red onion, olives, roasted red peppers, and/or hard boiled quail eggs.

I was not planning to serve my tomato pudding with quail eggs, but a trip to the local farmer's market turned up that very ingredient - uncommon though it might be. Quail eggs are pretty little things and taste great. As might be expected, the preparation was simple. Boil about 2 inches of water in a pan and, once boiling, add the eggs. Remove from heat immediately, cover, and let stand for five minutes. Then remove the eggs and place into an ice water bath to stop the cooking. Peel and serve. Another trick is to bring the eggs to room temperature before putting into boiling water. This will lessen the chance that they will crack.