The Dish: Tomato salad toast with Chefs Amanda Shulman and Alex Kemp from Amourette
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- In today's The Dish, we're in the kitchen with one of Philly's favorite culinary couples: Amanda Shulman and Alex Kemp.
They're teaching us to make their juicy, summer-loving 'Tomato Salad Toast.'
"It's whipped feta shmeared on sourdough from Mighty Bread, with heirloom tomatoes that are sliced and dressed," Shulman says. "It's juicy, sopping wet. It's a hot mess in a good way, except that it's cold. So it's a cold mess!"
Before we get to work in the kitchen, I'm hanging with Shulman and Kemp in the garden of Amourette, their new summer pop-up eatery in Rittenhouse Square.
"It really feels like an oasis," she says. "It does not feel like you're in the city at all!"
Shulman and Kemp are about to celebrate their first wedding anniversary. He's from Canada and she's from Connecticut.
They met eight years ago while working together at a popular New York City restaurant.
"That's when the sparks happened," Kemp laughs. "I worked my magic kitchen. It took a lot of persuasion and convincing."
Together, they've built a culinary empire in Philadelphia. In just a few short years, they've now added their third eatery to the city's dining scene.
Shulman opened Her Place Supper Club three years ago. It earned her a James Beard nomination.
Kemp opened My Loup last year and now, Amourette joins their family.
"Here, we are serving food that is kind of similar in flavor profile to Her Place and My Loup," Shulman says. "It's French, Italian, market-based food. But here, it's extra generous. It's juicy."
The name Amourette means "little love."
"It's like a short fling," Shulman says. "It felt right. It captures the identity - a little summer fling!"
It's tucked away in the Art Alliance's garden on Rittenhouse Square.
"To be able to kind of activate it and bring it to life, with all these plants and the lights and the people and the music, and the food is just really cool. And it being temporary also adds to the excitement and buzz and energy around it," Shulman says.
Now, let's make that tomato salad toast! It starts with a really nice, juicy heirloom tomato.
"But any tomato will work," Shulman says. "If you can only get beefsteak, plum, use whatever tastes delicious."
Season the tomato about an hour before you serve, with salt, olive oil and sherry vinegar.
"You want to kind of get that flavor all the way in there and ensure that maximum flavor capacity," Shulman says.
Next, take a hearty slice of sourdough bread and drizzle it with olive oil. Then, toss it on the grill.
The first layer to go down on that warm bread is whipped feta.
"We take feta cheese and put it in the blender with some olive oil just to smooth it out," Shulman says, "It becomes this really intense schmear."
The heirloom tomato goes down next, and then, some cherry tomatoes. They boil, then blanch the cherry tomatoes, remove the skins and then soak them in sherry vinaigrette.
"We use sherry vinegar, some honey, olive oil, a little bit of canola oil, and salt," she says.
"This is going to be all the good juice seep," he says. "It will sink into our toast and make it nice and soft."
Finally, add sliced raw shallots and lots of basil.
Enjoy!
