Fresh Tomato Sauce

There is something so satisfying about basic cooking. The kind of cooking that requires no fancy ingredients, complicated techniques, or any kind of stress. The kind of cooking that allows you to turn off your brain and let your hands do all the work. The kind of cooking that turns a bowl of excess tomatoes on the verge of spoiling into a vibrant sauce that beats anything you could ever buy in a grocery store.

I made this sauce last weekend while Butch was at priesthood session and I had the house to myself. Usually I spend this night hanging out with my mom and sisters or girlfriends, but this time around I was very much craving some alone time. I had every intention of relaxing (I even rented a movie from redbox), yet somehow I ended up in the kitchen making homemade cinnamon rolls (recipe will be posted shortly) and tomato sauce.

If I could recommend any sort of therapy for feeling overwhelmed and stressed out, it would be to spend some time in the kitchen peeling and chopping tomatoes while listening to the Pandora station of your choice (I picked The Arcade Fire), then curling up on the couch with a good book as the fruit of your labors simmers away on the stove. It’s a time-consuming process but a dead simple one that will make you feel surprisingly competent and useful. If you’re anything like me, you will feel a great sense of accomplishment in knowing that, although you may not have control over the abstract worries in your life, you can still work some magic with a tomato.

Fresh Tomato Sauce (From The Gourmet Cookbook)
This recipe is a very bare-bones sauce that lets the amazing flavor of fresh tomatoes dominate, but you can change it up by adding more vegetables (carrots, celery, onion) or seasonings (crushed red pepper, oregano) of your choice.

6 pounds fresh tomatoes, peeled*
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
5 garlic gloves, thinly sliced
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
¼ cup fresh basil leaves, chopped

1) Core tomatoes and halve crosswise.
2) Working over a sieve set over a bowl, squeeze tomatoes gently to remove seeds.
Discard seeds and reserve juice.
3) Coarsely chop tomatoes.
4) Heat oil in a large pot over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking. Add garlic and cook, stirring, until just golden (about 1 minute).
5) Add tomatoes, reserved juice, sugar, and salt.
6) Bring to a simmer and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until thickened and reduced to your liking (mine took about an hour).
7) Stir in basil and salt to taste.

*The easiest way to peel tomatoes is by blanching them. Make an “X” with a paring knife in the skin on the bottom of each tomato, then lower them with a slotted spoon into a pot of boiling water for about ten seconds. Plunge into a bowl of ice cold water to stop the cooking process, then peel off the skin at the “X” (it should slide right off).

Tzatziki

Any picky eater can tell you that food is about more than just flavor. Some can’t handle tomatoes because of their wet texture, others hate the stringiness produced by melted cheese, etc. I am far from a picky eater (I can count the number of things I absolutely will not eat on one hand), but I too realize that the experience of eating can be as much about how a food feels as how it tastes. For example, one of my favorite culinary sensations is that interplay of hot and cold that occurs when you take a hot food and pair it with a cool, creamy condiment. Think nachos topped with sour cream, buffalo wings dipped in blue cheese dressing, or apple pie served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Apparently the Greeks also recognized the genius of this pairing, as evidenced by tzatziki. This Greek cucumber yogurt dip can be eaten in a variety of ways, but my favorite is as a sauce for gyros or as an accompaniment to souvlaki. The cool notes of cucumber, dill, and mint, along with the tang of yogurt and vinegar, marry perfectly with the smoky taste of grilled meat and warm pita bread. Eat it on a sun-drenched patio to kick the Mediterranean experience up a notch.

I’m sure there are plenty of recipes out there for preparing your own authentic gyro meat, but so far I haven’t felt the need to go there. Instead I made a “light gyro” of sorts by marinating chicken tenders in a mixture of olive oil, lemon juice, oregano, lemon pepper, and garlic, then grilling them over medium-high heat until done. I threw that onto a grilled pita with some tomatoes and cucumbers and topped it with the tzatziki. Delish.

Tzatziki
(adapted slightly from The Gourmet Cookbook)


3 cups plain yogurt (or Greek yogurt if you can swing it. I like fage brand best.)
1 seedless cucumber (those plastic-wrapped ones also called English or Hothouse cucumbers), peeled, seeded, and finely chopped
2 small garlic cloves, minced
1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
¾ Tablespoon finely chopped fresh dill
½ Tablespoon finely chopped fresh mint
½ Tablespoon white wine vinegar
½ teaspoon salt

1) Put yogurt in a large sieve or colander lined with a double thickness of cheesecloth and set over a large bowl. Let drain for 24 hours (skip this step if using Greek yogurt).
2) Transfer yogurt to a clean bowl; discard the liquid collected in the bowl used to strain yogurt.
3) Stir in remaining ingredients and refrigerate, covered, for at least 4 hours.

Homemade Ranch Dressing

You know how some things are just not worth the trouble of making from scratch because the store-bought variety is both better and cheaper? I am here to tell you that Ranch dressing is one thing that most definitely does not fall into this category. The homemade version blows Hidden Valley out of the water, plus it is a cinch to make.

I have to credit my older sister for finding this recipe, which can be found in its entirety here, but since I'm nice I will type it out for you all neat and simple like.

In the summer I might try making this with fresh herbs, but it's absolutely delicious with the dried stuff, most of which is probably located on that spice rack you got as a wedding gift.

Homemade Ranch Dressing

1 cup mayo
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp. of each of the following:
onion salt
garlic salt (or fresh minced garlic)
parsley, fresh or dried
chopped chives, fresh or dried
dill, fresh or dried
pepper

1) Mix mayo and buttermilk in a bowl
2) Stir in remaining ingredients
3) Refrigerate for at least one hour.