Saucy Start

[digitS']

There was a small pot about a week ago but it was used before any of it could make it to the freezer.

Today, there was more - 2 pots and DW was in charge. I'll have to wrestle the task away from her because - she makes too many things to be washed afterwards!

She also wouldn't include black pepper in the ingredients. That may be because I so often put too much black pepper in! I've gotten better about that . . .

Tomatoes, ground turkey, onion, garlic, basil and salt. I just wrote that list of ingredients down on 9 quart bags. Lots of garlic, I noticed. We must have used ground turkey before. We often have it in the fridge so it must have been used for the sauce. Usually, it is ground beef.

I need to list the ingredients so that things can be added when the sauce comes out of the freezer. Also, it is nice to have varying combinations for interest value, dontcha know ?!

I'd told her before she got started about an idea I had. Using the food processor shortens processing and cooking time. I sometimes don't bother to peel the tomatoes when they go in the food processor. Nobody has complained!! Anyway, I thought I'd start off with about a cup of bacon in there with the garlic for each 5 quart pot. The onions could be chopped for texture. Those things could be cooked together separately and added to the tomatoes, later. I don't remember having used bacon in the pasta sauce but sausage has added some nice, smoky flavor. Just thought it could be a variation in a batch with & without the ground turkey and we could see if we liked it.

The sauce is so sweet! We had it for 2 meals - with pasta first and toasted Parmesan Oregano bread, 2nd. The sweetness is really from the varieties of tomatoes that went into the sauce. Probably half are heirlooms. Of course, that's what is in the garden - about half heirloom slicers and half hybrids. Nothing wrong with all the Goliath Hybrids but those soft, ripe, red, pink, and yellow heirlooms are sure sweet and flavorful!

Steve

 

[so lucky]

Your sauce sounds good, Steve! You know, tho, I really don't like a sweet tomato. I like them tart. Sweet tomato sauce always reminds me of grade school days, when cafeteria lunch often included stewed tomatoes with bread and sugar. Nearly made me sick to my stomach. Sometimes the teachers would patrol the lunch tables and not let us leave till we cleaned our plate. Nazi teachers!

 

[897tgigvib]

Digit, remember the ole caveman axiom:

It can get dangerous suggesting anything to a woman about kitchen stuff!

 

[so lucky]

Haha! You're right about that, Marshall. I get downright irritated when my DH starts questioning my cooking methods.

 

[digitS']

Well, I think DW did good. I just can't quite account for the missing black pepper. Especially after I mentioned it during processing . . .

I too have some unpleasant elementary school memories. They have to do with traditional American fare: hotdogs. I was coming from a religious school with food restrictions. Mom worked in the cafeteria there so as to help pay tuition my brother and me. It was fun seeing Mom behind the counter in the cafeteria . I always felt that the food was safe . . .

New cafeteria, notified of food restrictions. Result: "Oh, I remember we put one in the big pot. Here it is over on this side. There you go!" Even a 10 year-old knew she just grabbed a regular hotdog. You know the ones that give you heartburn and repeats until you are absolutely convinced you'll never have another bite of the dang things! I told Mom at home and began my long career carrying a sack lunch - don't remember a single cafeteria meal after that. Not too interested in beef bologna to this day as a result of that but, hey, I was the only kid in high school carrying a milk shake in a brown paper bag .

Sweet? I'm afraid I'm all for sweet from the garden . . . I don't know if I can ever transition away from hybrid cherry tomatoes because the Japanese, as I understand it, share my same interest in sweetness and pushed their breeding program in that direction. I've read that a slicer physically canNOT be as sweet as a cherry - or, it would explode! That's okay. The American breeding program for soopermarket slicers went very much off the rails but I've got garden-variety tomatoes .

The green beans are sure sweet with this 2nd crop! And, I've still got 2 melons ripening on the vines !!!

Steve

 

[bobm]

Digit, remember the ole caveman axiom:

It can get dangerous suggesting anything to a woman about kitchen stuff!

A friend of mine used to say this to his drinking buddies regarding his not the best cook in the world wife ... " my wife treats me as a GOD, she gives me burned offerings ".

 

[digitS']

My tomatoes are so pretty! Oh sure, there are splits and such but if I cut those out - it is great to have such a combination of varieties!

I got the sauce-makin' away from DW and have put a pot on, 3 different days. My idea for starting with bacon was a hit. As soon as DW came in the door she says, "I'm going to cook some bow-tie pasta." Be advised that I didn't use anywhere near a cup of bacon for the 5 quart pot! Well, maybe half a cup - it was mostly just for flavor and the 2 times I used bacon, it just replaced the olive oil I usually start with.

I stopped blanching the tomatoes for sauce a year or 2 ago. Quartered, the tomatoes go in the blender. I think the sauce is better than when I peeled them.

Anyway, today I started with a great big pink Maltese beefsteak. I had to cool the onions & garlic quick. Pink foam! I finished with 2 big yellow "Z" tomatoes. They aren't the best flavor fresh but it was a tie-dye moment in the kettle when I poured those in! The house smells great again as it all cooks down. I might want to spice this batch up with some dry peppers - there's some tortillas in the fridge that might short-stop a cup or so of sauce on its way out to the freezer .

Nope, DW had me go out for some basil. Still have basil, undamaged by the cold, in front of the greenhouse. She said something about ground beef so I'll lobby for skillet meatloaf with that sauce over the top.

Steve