A little garnish: "Toraisins?"

Figger out what a toraisin is yet? We'll get to that. T his was inspired by the chef Patty Jackson, who holds forth at "I trulli" restaurant. Patty is a pastry chef who crossed over to savory. I think her best dishes are the ones closest to pastry: her breads, her pastas. I like everything, though. I like everything too much. Especially her manager, Christina. Smartest person I've met in a long time.
Ok, so here's the deal. At the restaurant, they put out one of the most interesting selections of breads you'll find, including this wonderfully herbacious, oily focaccia, laced with tomatoes. Not tomato paste or sauce, but.. something. And, at our last visit, they sent out a selection of "sottoaceti." Now, "sotto aceti," means, literally "under vinegar." You know what they are: pickles. One of the pickles was a sun dried tomato that was not sun dried, and was about as soft as a tomato pillow. Patty had made them herself, during the summer, because she was unhappy with the quality of sun dried tomatoes she could buy. They are not truly "sun dried," but they are great.
Getting an idea what a "toraisin" is?
Jump back in time now, about a year ago, when I was playing with Ina Garten's newest cookboook "Back To Basics," and loving everything except her recipe for roasted tomatoes. It failed me each and every time I tried, so I gave up. Well, inspired by Patty's creations, I have done t his one.

At this time of year, getting a good tomato is more than an act of faith: it's a miracle. It will not happen. But grape and cherry tomatoes are pretty good. We have them around all the time.

Getting warmer? Raisin... Craisin (dried cranberry), toraisin (dried tomato). I did these two ways, and they're absurdly easy. Try them.

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees. Put two pints of cherry or grape tomatoes on a baking sheet, no oil, no salt, no nuthin , put it in the oven and walk away. Walk away for a LONG time - at least five hours. After five hours, you'll see some shriveling. If you leave em for eight hours, you'll get something dry and crispy. Think about what you're going to do with them, and that will determine how long you bake em.

Then, when they're cool, cover them with olive oil and refrigerate them. REFRIGERATE THEM. If you do not, you will be courting raising a nice colony of botulism.

I will be using them in bread next week. But not all of them. I will be using others, in other applications, and I will keep you posted. For now, though, go make the lazy person's winter tomato. You will be VERY happy with the results.