Heirloom Tomatoes With Thai Basil and Supersweet Corn Dressing
By: Melissa Peterman
Published: Friday, December 10, 2010 - 1:02am

Ingredients




2 Heads garlic
4 cups Extra virgin olive oil
4 larges Heirloom beefsteak tomatoes
Salt and pepper
3 Ears supersweet corn
Sugar, (optional)
6 bunches  Thai basil
Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

1 Peel garlic and place in cold water. Bring to a boil and drain. Add the blanched garlic to olive oil simmer until garlic is mushy, being careful not to brown garlic. Let come to room temperature. 2 Roast tomatoes over an open flame until their skins are blistered. Peel each tomato and slice horizontally into 5 slices, each approximately 3/4-inch thick. Submerge in garlic flavored oil with 1 bunch of Thai basil. 3 Salt and pepper to taste. Allow the tomatoes to marinate at room temperature for at least one hour. Remove tomatoes and reserve marinade. 4 THAI BASIL-CORN DRESSING:Husk corn and cut ears in half. Grate on a box grater to strip away all kernels, reserving cobs. Place grated corn and cobs in a saucepan and add water to cover. Taste at this point, and sweeten with a bit of sugar if desired. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and bring to a simmer for 10 minutes and strain through a fine mesh sieve. Add salt and pepper to taste. 5 Set aside 3 sprigs of Thai basil. Chop all but the reserved basil. 6 To serve, arrange tomato slices attractively on the center of a plate. Mix some of the marinade with some of the Thai Basil-Corn Dressing to your taste, and garnish this sauce with the chopped Thai basil. Spoon sauce over the tomatoes. Garnish each plate with 2 sprigs of Thai basil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.