What a great year for tomatoes.  I haven’t heard any complaints about tomato production this year.  Some of us are using our own or borrowing someone else’s dehydrator to dry all the billions and billions of cherry tomatoes.  I don’t seed them because I like them chewy and sweet.  They taste like candy and I just snack on them but some people like to throw them in stews or sauces or salads.

Other than making gallons of sauce that I freeze for the winter, my other favorite tomato recipe is Filo pizza.  This was a magazine recipe find years ago and now is the favorite of all three of my children plus their cousins.

It goes together quickly once you have ripe plum tomatoes, slices of mozzarella cheese or asiago or a combination, a sliced onion and filo dough.  Filo dough is found in the freezer section, usually with the desserts and pies.  Follow the directions which tell you to put it in the fridge 24 hours before you use it, or on the counter 1 hour before using.  

    FILO PIZZA

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    Many Ithacans are afraid or disinclined to venture up the  hill to collegetown restaurants. I understand that people worry about parking or hitting clueless or partying students who ignore traffic signs. So when I mention the wonderful Japanese eatery “Plum Tree” which has been around for about 7 years, i often get a blank look.  It’s actually one of my favorite restaurants in Ithaca.  Now the  Japanese and Korean partners that own Plum Tree have opened a second restaurant with the same menu right on Aurora Street. 

     The several times I’ve eaten at Sushi O Sake, it was warm enough to sit at the outside tables and watch the downtown scene.  It’s almost impossible not to have people you haven’t seen in years walk by so it really becomes quite a nice social reunion time as you wait for your food.

     Service is good and the food is really extraordinary.  There are two pages of special rolls:  wonderful creations with names like 007 and Rock and Roll, Out of Control and Under Control.  Some are deep fried and all are presented as works of art.  All are as delicious as the look and it really is difficult to choose between the 007 (deep fried spicy tuna), the Funky Roll or the Plum Tree Roll to  name a few.  I’ve never yet been disappointed.

     Their special salads and appetizers are also wonderful.  The pepper tuna with spicy wasabi sauce is one of my favorites.  The avocado salad is beautifully presented and also delicious with orange smelt roe and honey wasabe mayonnaise over iceberg salad.

     For tempura lovers Sushi O Sake’s tempura is crisp and light and really couldn’t be better the many times I’ve tried it.  I also often get the Hijiki salad and Kimpira (burdock and carrot cooked in a sweet sesame sauce). 

      I can also highly recommend the bento boxes.  It’s a great value.  Along with the teriyaki, salmon or vegetable bento you get an assortment of tempura, california roll, dumplings, salads and miso soup.  It’s plenty of food for someone with a large appetite and too much for small eaters. All this costs between 16 and 18 dollars.

     Vegetarians will also find a good choice of offerings from vegetable tempura and teriyaki to many great vegetable offerings:  Spinach Ohitashi, Age tofu, vegetable dumplings, miso soup to name a few.

     It’s easy to spend up a good sized bill at Sushi O Sake but you can also get away with a $10 meal if you order one of the special rolls which is actually quite filling.  You do have to hold back from the temptation to order everything on the menu….or not.

Sushi O Sake 107 North Aurora Street 272-1200.

2nd Annual Culinary Bounty Dinner
  Finger Lakes Culinary Bounty links the region’s farms wineries and small scale food processors to provide area residents and tourists with “fresh, locally produced, creative cuisine, born in the Finger Lakes.”  They promote the bountiful harvest and products of the Finger Lakes.
This year I attended the second annual Finger Lakes Culinary Bounty dinner held at Geneva on the Lake.  The setting is elegant and beautifully situated overlooking Cayuga Lake.  Geneva on the Lake is a a historic landmark built in the style of an Italian Renaissance villa.