Evolution Of A Man

I love it when a movie inspires me with a new recipe. Recently, I watched the adorably delicious movie, “Julie and Julia,” and experienced a foodgasm of epic proportions watching Meryl Streep & Amy Adams create culinary masterpieces in their kitchens. While many of the featured dishes put me in a “I gotta cook that!” frenzy, there was one meal in particular, made my Amy Adams’ character “Julie,” that sent me running to the supermarket! The Tomato & Basil Bruschetta! Watching she and her husband annihilate this meal was almost too much to bear. As soon as the movie was over, it was ON!

I went online to search for a recipe- one that most closely resembled the movie. A quick search for “Julie and Julia Bruschetta” garnered a multitude of results, but one in particular, on a blog called “Crooked Tiara,” turned out to be the jackpot. She, too, had the same desire to cook this meal, and was kind enough to share, from her research, the ACTUAL recipe from the movie, made by food stylist Susan Spungen. It’s an extremely simple dish to make:

“Food stylist Susan Spungen developed this bruschetta recipe for a scene in the movie “Julie and Julia”. Here are the directions in Spungen’s words, which she sent via e-mail. As with any dish with just a few simple ingredients, the quality of the ingredients and technique are key.

Start with some excellent bread. This is crucial. Choose a rustic loaf with a stretchy interior with lots of holes and a crisp crust. If it’s a round loaf, cut it into slices about 3/4 inch thick, and then cut those slices in half on an angle.

For the movie, we fried the bread in olive oil but I usually grill or toast it in a hot oven (400°). Either way, try to get it crunchy on the outside while retaining some softness in the center.

Rub the bread with a whole garlic clove (the garlic will disintegrate into the bread since the coarse bread will act like a grater) and drizzle with the best extra-virgin olive oil you can afford. Sprinkle with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. And then either fry or grill.

Meanwhile, cut tomatoes into chunks, tear lots of basil leaves into medium-small pieces, and toss with more olive oil. Let marinate for a while.

Season with salt and pepper about a half hour before serving. The salt makes the tomatoes release their juices and you don’t want that happening too soon.

Top bread with tomato mixture. If the bread is really crunchy, let the tomatoes sit for a few minutes before serving to soften the bread.”

(recipe taken from Philly.com via Crooked Tiara)

I went down to Trader Joes for the best bread I could find (I chose a Cipriani loaf), and then headed to the good ole Super Foodtown for the rest. Hightailing it home, I could barely contain my excitement! I chopped up the Tomatos, tore the Basil, cut up a bit of garlic (mmmm…garlic) and mixed it all together bathed in olive oil!

When it came time to prepare the bread, I went along with Crooked Tiara’s suggestion of frying the bread in a small pool of olive oil instead of brushing the oil on the bread. This did require a considerable amount more of olive oil, but in the end, it was sooo worth it!

I remembered in the movie that Julie and her husband seemed to be eating some kind of sausage with their bruschetta, so I grabbed some Sweet Italian Sausages from the market and put them in the oven to go with my meal.

The end result was a balanced meal that damn near sent me to the moon. I opened a bottle of wine, put on a movie, and WENT IN on my Tomato & Basil Bruschetta with Italian Sausages (if you say that last part like Hyacinth Bucket, it’s even more exciting)! The scene wasn’t cute…at all! I took the first bite very elegant and sophisticated-like, but once all the juices and flavors hit my taste buds, it was a wrap. I ate that ish like it was a plate of baby back ribs, you hear me?! Remnants of basil and oil all over my face! It was glorious!

I highly suggest, to anyone who loves to cook and is looking for something quick and easy to make for dinner, that you go immediately prepare this lovely meal for yourself. Trust me, you won’t be disappointed!