From-Scratch Marinara Sauce

I've previously posted my marinara sauce recipe and this doesn't vary too much from that.   But at the end of every summer, I buy up pounds and pounds of peak-season tomatoes and I turn them into sauce.  I freeze it up for the winter, adding meatballs and sausages when I'm ready to eat it, or sneaking some into sauce made from canned tomatoes to make it even fresher.   You shouldn't be intimidated to make sauce from scratch -- it's REALLY easy and here's how.

5-7 pounds of tomatoes -- they're best when they're a little bit over-ripe, cut into roughly 2 inch chunks
1 small can of tomato paste
1 large onion, diced
4 large garlic cloves, minced
salt and pepper to taste
Either 2 tablespoons each fresh basil and oregano or 1 tablespoon each of dried basil and oregano
1 tablespoon of sugar
3 tablespoons of olive oil

Heat the olive oil over medium heat and add the onions, garlic and a pinch or two of salt.   Saute until they are soft and translucent.

Add the tomato paste and saute for another 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it becomes very dark red, verging on auburn/brownish.

Then add the tomatoes, with a pinch or two of salt after each layer of tomatoes.

Stir well, keeping the heat on medium.  Let them cook for 10-15 minutes, stirring every 2-3 minutes.   Then add the basil and oregano -- no need to chop them up if they are fresh.

By now the tomatoes should have broken down some and let go of some water/juice.   If you have an immersion blender, you can use it now to puree the tomatoes and herbs.  Then add the sugar and let it simmer with just a slight bubble in the middle for about 3-4 hours so some of the liquid evaporates and the flavors can meld together.  Add pepper to taste.

If you don't have an immersion blender, cover the tomatoes for about an hour and let them really break down.   Then crush them some with a potato masher or large whisk and cook for a 2-3 more hours.  When it's done and cooled off, if you'd like it to be a smoother texture, you can puree it in a food processor or blender.  BUT BE SURE IT'S ROOM TEMP BEFORE YOU DO THIS!  Trust me on this one!

This freezes beautifully -- put it in plastic wear, leaving just a little room for expansion as it freezes, but so that it will freeze up to top of your container -- this way, you won't have any freezer burn.

As a little end-note, many people go to the trouble of peeling their tomatoes before making the sauce, and some even remove all the seeds.  I don't bother -- takes a LOT of time to do each and I've received raves for the sauce made this way.   So peel and de-seed if you must, but I don't think it's necessary at all.

Vietnamese-inspired Lemongrass chicken

I won't pretend this is the most authentic dish you'll ever eat, but if like me, you LOVE Vietnamese food and want to make it at home, this is an easy one to approximate.   You can also use this marinate for shrimp, pork, beef or tofu.

I like to make this with chicken tenders -- I marinate them, throw them on the grill, and wrap them up with lettuce, jasmine rice, and some shredded carrots.   But you can also use this for chicken parts, cutlets, or cut up chicken meat into small bite-sized pieces, and saute them before eating.

1/4 cup vegetable or canola oil
3 stalks of lemongrass, chopped into small circles OR 1 tablespoon lemongrass paste
3 large cloves of garlic, minced (optional)
Juice of one lime
2 tbsp. brown sugar
2 tbsp. low sodium soy sauce
2 tbsp. fish sauce

Mix this together well, so that the sugar dissolves, and marinate the chicken in it for at least 3-4 hours.  Overnight is even better.

Grill or saute until the meat is cooked through and serve either by itself, over rice or vermicelli, or in lettuce wraps.

You can also make a quick dipping sauce by combining 1 tbsp. rice wine vinegar, 1 tsp. fish sauce, and 1 tbsp. duck sauce.

Making the Most of Veggies and Herbs

I've been on a kick to reduce food waste recently.  A big part of that is trying to purchase food more strategically, so we don't have more than we'll need, but I've also noticed that I throw away so many veggies, parts of veggies, and other greenery that I could be using in soups and stews.

So I've started keeping ziploc bags of carrot shavings, broccoli stems, celery tops, onion heels and peels, herb stems, etc. in the freezer until I'm ready to make stock.  I also bag up the few extra veggies each night -- the amount that's too small to save for left-overs, but when gathered over the course of a few weeks, fills a stock pot nicely.  

I've always saved poultry carcasses and seafood shells for stock -- now, I've got all the veggies ready to go as well.

I've also been making flavored oils -- instead of throwing out all the basil stems from my last batch of pesto, I chopped them up, soaked them in EVOO overnight, and presto, I have basil flavored oil now!  Works perfectly on a good caprese salad!

What are some of your favorite ways to make sure you get all the goodness out of your food that you possibly can?

Zucchini butter

This one is especially for you backyard farmers who are SURE to have way too much zucchini sometime this summer -- you can make this zucchini "butter" and smear it on toast, toss it with pasta, or hide it in your kids' food if they won't eat veggies.  It's as easy as can be.

Two large zucchinis, grated (skin and all)
3 large cloves of garlic, grated
Pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)

Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a saute pan and add the grated zukes and garlic.  Season with salt and pepper to taste and let it saute over medium heat.   The salt will cause the zucchini to release a lot of moisture and as it does, stir every so often.   As the water starts to evaporate, reduce the heat to medium/low and let it saute until most of the moisture is gone and the zucchini and garlic is cooked to a nice mushy texture.

You can store this in the fridge for about a week, and it can be freezed for the winter months.