November is here and so is new art. The Tomato Head Knoxville is currently featuring an exhibit of paintings by Jonathon Howe. Howe’s work, celebrating classical beauty through stunning landscapes and captivating portraits, will be on display through December 3rd.

"Summer Slumber," by Jonathon Howe

"Lonnie," by Jonathon Howe

The Tomato Head Maryville is now presenting a selection of photographs by Patrick McInerny. The show will be on display through December 5th. McInerny’s work was most recently exhibited at The Tomato Head’s Knoxville location.

Whenever the restaurant makes its Curried Lentil Soup, a customer will come asking, “can I have the recipe?” It’s an ideal soup for this season and Mahasti is excited about sharing the recipe. She’ll be presenting it this morning, Saturday, November 6th, on WBIR around 8:15-ish. 

Also, both Knoxville and Maryville restaurants will be featuring the soup today. So…tune in and taste up!

Tomato Head’s Curried Lentil Soup

½ cup onion, finely diced
3 large cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 lb dried lentils, looked over for rocks
1.5 cups carrot, peeled and sliced
1.5 cup fresh spinach, chopped
8 cups water
1.5 tbsp curry powder
2 tsp. salt
¼ tsp cayenne pepper (optional)

Heat the oil in a medium pot over medium heat. Add onions and sauté until translucent. Add garlic and sauté one minute longer. Add carrots, lentils, spinach, and water. Bring mixture to boil, then reduce heat and allow soup to simmer for 35 – 40 minutes or until lentils are soft. Add curry powder, salt, and cayenne pepper.

Serve hot with fresh bread.

Yields 8 cups of soup.
Serves 6 – 8

The Tomato Head in Knoxville will host “Raise the Roots: A dinner to celebrate & support the Community Action Committee Beardsley Community Farm” on Monday evening, November 22nd, from 6pm – 9pm.

Dinner will be prepared by Mahasti Vafaie, founder an co-owner of The Tomato Head, and Robert Birkholtz, Maryville Tomato Head cook. The doors will open at 6pm with the buffet style dinner beginning at 7:30pm. Tickets are $25. For more information and to reserve your seat at the table, please visit: http://ht.ly/2WlWX

We’d love for you to join us!

The Tomato Head’s monthly rotating art has only a couple of weeks left for the October shows. The Knoxville restaurant is currently featuring the photography work of Patrick McInerney and will continue the exhibit through November 5th.

"Dream," by Patrick McInerney

"Girl," by Patrick McInerney

The Maryville restaurant is showing paintings by Steph Untz and will feature her work through November 6th. (Untz’ was most recently exhibited at The Tomato Head’s Knoxville location in September.)

Come in, enjoy the work, breathe deep, and have a great day.

Recognizing the addition of Saturday brunch to The Tomato Head’s offerings, Mahasti presented a recipe for a most memorable brunch sandwich while on WBIR this morning. And the best news…you can order this special, seasonal sandwich at both the Knoxville and Maryville locations of The Tomato Head today. Happy Fall, and Happy Brunch!

Tomato Head’s Roasted Glazed Apple & Ham Monte Cristo Sandwich

For apples:
3.5 – 4 cups thinly sliced apples
¼ cup thinly sliced onion
1/8 cup vegetable oil
1 ¼ cup apple juice
½ cup brown sugar
¼ tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground allspice

Toss apples and onions with oil. Place on a cookie sheet and bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for 10 minutes. Meanwhile in a medium skillet, over medium heat, mix together apple juice, brown sugar and spices. Bring mixture to boil and allow mixture to boil rapidly for 2-3 minutes. Mixture should bubble and thicken slightly. Toss apples with 1/8 of a cup of glaze. Refrigerate and save remaining glaze for future use.

For Monte Cristo:

4 eggs

¼ cup milk
2 Tbsp heavy cream
2 Tbsp brown sugar
8 slices of white bread
4 oz of thinly sliced ham
8 slices of Monterey jack cheese

In a medium bowl beat the eggs with the milk, heavy cream and brown sugar. Dip the slices of bread in the egg mixture until soaked through but not soggy – place dipped bread slices on a cookie sheet or large plate. Place 1 piece of cheese on 4 of the slices of dipped bread, followed by approximately 1 oz of ham. Divide the apples between the 4 slices of ham topped dipped bread. Place a piece of cheese on top of the apples then cover with another piece of dipped bread.

in a large skillet over medium heat, melt 1 tablespoon of butter per sandwich. Place 1 -2 sandwiches in the skillet – fry the sandwiches until the bottoms are golden brown. Flip the sandwiches over and fry the other side until they are golden brown. Repeat until all the sandwiches have been fried.

Cut sandwiches in ½ sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve immediately with a side of maple syrup.

Serves 4.

Remember when? Before The Tomato Head was The Tomato Head? Where were you in 1991?

New art exhibits for the month of September are up and ready for viewing at both the Knoxville and Maryville locations.

The Tomato Head Knoxville is currently featuring an exhibit of paintings by Steph Untz. The show, title “Distraction” will be on exhibit through October 1, 2010.

"In Case We Forget," by Steph Untz

The Tomato Head Maryville is now featuring the photography of Zach Jones. His show will be on display through October 2, 2010.

Photo by Zach Jones

One of the things that makes The Tomato Head, well, The Tomato Head, is the monthly rotation of art. The Tomato Head is known for introducing art and artists that customers might otherwise not encounter, and that’s part of the fun. What matters most is that the work is of high quality and of interest. With that said, here’s the call. We’re looking forward to seeing what will be on our walls in 2011!

Open Call for Artists for Tomato Head / 2011
The Tomato Head is accepting submissions for its 2011 exhibit schedule. Artists may submit 5-10 images of wall-mountable work either burned onto a cd and mailed to Tomato Head Exhibits Committee c/o Bethann DeGrow, 1710 Jefferson Avenue, Knoxville, TN, 37917 or send electronically to bethann@degrow.com.

Submissions are requested by October 8, 2010. Please include a brief bio, artist statement and size of works.

For more information, please contact Bethann DeGrow, 546-6852 or bethann@degrow.com.

After a few weeks off from her appearances on WBIR, Mahasti started today by presenting a seasonally-scrumptious sweet to viewers. This recipe offers a wonderful way to use good bread that has just passed its prime and breaks away from the predictable apple pie dessert.

Enjoy!

Tomato Head’s Sour Apple Bread Pudding

6 cups stale bread, cubed
3 cups granny smith apples, cored and diced
2 cups cream
1 cup milk
3 eggs
3 egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
½ tsp cinnamon

In a large bowl whisk together cream, milk, eggs, egg yolks, sugar, vanilla and cinnamon. Add cubed bread and diced apples and toss well. Allow mixture to sit for about 3-4 minutes so bread can absorb cream mixture.

Meanwhile, lightly grease an 8 x 11 Pyrex dish. Pour bread mixture into prepared dish. Place baking dish on a cookie sheet. Place cookie sheet in oven and fill to rim with water. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 1 – 1.5 hours. Remove Pyrex dish from oven and allow pudding to sit for about 5 minutes. Serve hot with ice cream.

Leave cookie sheet in oven, until water cools before removing and pouring out water.

Serves 6 -8 people.