Homemade Tomato Sauce
There is nothing like sauce that you cook yourself. It has layers of flavor that even the best jarred sauces can't come close to touching because it is made with fresh herbs. If you want to go all out, use fresh, chopped, de-skinned & seeded* San Marizano or Roma paste tomatoes. Canned tomatoes work just fine too.
12 cups Fresh chopped, skinned & de-seeded paste tomatoes. OR 2 large cans of diced tomatoes.
4 cloves garlic chopped into small pieces.
1/2 large onion, chopped into small pieces (optional)
-NOTE:On all herbs, take out the stems before chopping-
1 Tbsn Fresh Chopped Parsley
1/2 Tspn Fresh Chopped Thyme
1 Tbpn Fresh Oregano
2 Tbsn Fresh Chopped Basil
3 Tbsn Cold pressed Olive Oil
sea salt to taste
In a large pot, pour the oil & put on medium heat. Cook the Garlic, onions, parsley, thyme & oregano until Alliums are translucent. Add the tomatoes and once bubbling turn down the heat to low. Cover the pot but leave it askew to let out steam but keep in tomato sauce splashes. Stirring regularly do not let the bottom stick & burn. Cook minimum about an hour and up to 3. At the end put in your salt to taste and the fresh basil.
Serve over your favorite pasta and hear the compliments begin.
*Skinning & de-seeding fresh tomatoes. Cut hard stem end off 1/2 inch. Put tomatoes into a large pot with water. Bring to a boil for just about 5 minutes until skin starts to crack. Pour into collinder. Run cold water over. Skin peels right off. Push fingers in and pull out seeds and membranes. Chop up.
|
|
|
| Kohlrabi Cole-Slaw
Kohlrabi has a crunchy, sweet & mild radish/broccoli flavor minus any 'hotness'. The grated carrot gives color & brings out the sweet flavor. Enjoy this easy & refreshing side-dish.
6-8 Kohlrabi-skinned & diced
2 Tbsn Mayonaise
2 Tbsn Olive Oil
3 Tbsn Red Wine Vinegar
1 Grated medium Carrot
Salt & Pepper to taste
Put skinned & diced Kohlrabi into large bowl.
Add Mayo, Oil, Vinegar. Mix Well. Put grated carrot into bowl, salt & pepper to taste & Mix.
|
Garlic Zucchini Cheddar Quiche
Quiches are a pretty inexpensive and easy to make for breakfast, lunch or dinner. They can be served cold or hot. Below is my favorite quiche recipe that has evolved over the years.
Turn on oven to 375F to preheat.
Crust (optional, as you can make a quiche/frittata without a crust. saves effort & calories)
1/2 stick butter, firm but not fridge solid.
2 Tbsn coconut oil (optional for flavor & enhances texture)
1/2 tsp sea salt
2/3 cup flour
Throw fat & flour & salt into a bowl. Get two butter knives and chop the butter into small pieces while mixing in the flour, kinda cross cutting. Once the butter is in about grape to pea size, you can take your hands and start to knead the dough rubbing it between your fingers to work the flour in. Consistency is everything with a crust, as it should not be too oily and should not be too powdery as well. Mix it well. If you take a fist and squeeze, it should form a nice solid ball.
Once you have your ball of dough then take a pie pan and (i cut corners here and just press out the dough in the plate instead of the traditional way of rolling it and having to try to peel it off of the board and place it in one piece into the pie pan.) Press the dough to about 1/4 an inch thick to the pie pan. Make the edge look neat & tidy with your fingers. Poke fork holes in the bottom, place in the oven. Cook until edges start to just barely brown. Phew, crust is a pain sometimes but tastes really great.
Filling:
2-3 small to medium Zucchini, summer squash or patty pan squash sliced thin.
3-4 cloves garlic, chopped into small pieces
1 Tbsn Olive Oil or butter
10 eggs
1/4 cup milk or cream
4-6 oz sharp cheddar cheese (1/2 inch cubes plus 2 Tbsn shredded for top)
thinly sliced medium tomato
salt & pepper to taste
Over medium heat, put oil or butter into pan, then cook garlic until it gets translucent. Throw squash into pan. Cook until about 1/2 the squash is browned, stirring occasionally. Take out your crust and place garlic squash into bottom along with the cubed cheddar. In a large bowl, mix the 10 eggs and milk and a pinch of salt & pepper. Pour into the pie crust over the squash, leaving about 1/4 inch from the edge of the crust. Place the tomatoes and shredded cheddar on the surface and put in the 375F oven for about 45-50 mins, until the top becomes bubbly & brown and the center is firm. Yum!
|
|
|
| 'Most Delicious Whole Wheat Multi-Grain Bread Ever' Recipe
There is nothing like good homemade bread which has no preservatives or additives in it. This bread turns out light and has a crunchy/nutty, mildly sweet flavor. This multi-grain bread is a delicious way to get extra fiber & nutrients from the seeds & nuts. I suggest baking bread on sunny days, rainy days can make it harder for dough to rise.
Pour into a bread maker:
2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour (suggest King Arthur White Whole Wheat)
1 Cup Unbleached White Bread Flour (suggest King Arthur)
-(you can omit seeds/nuts or mix & match with what you have on hand.
2 Tbsn Amaranth seeds
2 Tbsn Millet Seeds
3 Tbsn Sesame Seeds
2 Tbsn Flax seeds
1/4 Cup Chopped Raw Almonds
1 1/3 Cup Milk/ or Water
2 Tbsn Olive Oil / or Melted Butter
1 Teaspoon Sea Salt
3 Tbsn Honey/Sugar
1Packet Baking Yeast (7grams, 1/4 oz.)
Set Bread Maker to Dough setting (mixing/rising). When first spinning in machine, check dough to make sure that it has a ball-like shape. If it is too wet & sticking, you can add a few handfuls of flour. If it is dry, add a teaspoon of water at a time.)
I usually let it rise/warm in the bread machine for 30 minutes, then transfer the dough to a well greased/floured bread pan.
Use flour on your hands when handling dough to prevent sticking. Handle dough gently and make sure that it is level in the pan. Cut a few shallow slices in the top of the dough.
Set the Bread pan & dough into the oven to rise (you can turn oven on for 5 minutes @200 degrees to warm it. Turn off heat, it should be 80-90F degrees)
Let sit for 1-2 hours. Check to see rising .
When bread has risen up about 1/2-1 inch over top, turn oven on to 350F degrees.
Bake for about 30-35 minutes until top is a dark golden brown. Don't look too often as it bakes as drafts can make breads stop rising.
When done, pop out of pan immediately and set to cool.
Store in a air tight container/bag. Eat within a week. You can also freeze bread for later use.
ENJOY!!
|
|