Cooking & Baking

NJCher

(35,675 posts) Tue Dec 16, 2014, 03:20 PM Dec 2014

What's for Dinner, Tues., Dec 16, 2014

Chicken parmesan, using my homemade tomato sauce.

I'm so excited about this new method of making tomato sauce. I found it at the Serious Eats blog by Daniel Gritzer when I was looking for my usual recipe for making sauce with fresh tomatoes. I know, I know, it's not the right time of year, but I still do it. Hey, I have to get my technique down for next summer!

Because the discussion at the link is long, I'll feature the highlights. One is that you make your own tomato paste from the tomatoes you cook. Yeah, cool, hm? I would never have thought of that!

Second, at the link is an interesting discussion of how fresh tomato sauce sort of contradicts itself in the cooking process. Again, I'd never have thought of this on my own.

Third, I think this is only worth it if you're going to make up a good supply of tomato sauce. The writer, a professional chef who has studied in Italy, makes up a supply using 15 lbs of tomatoes. Let's just assume a winter time price of $1.29 per lb, and that comes to nearly $20. Still, I guess if you love a good tomato sauce (and this is far superior to anything you can buy), it's worth it.

I'll watch for deals on tomatoes to perhaps cut that price, but next time I do this, I will buy 15 lbs. Many times I have been able to find tomatoes here in the winter for anywhere from .69-.99 a lb, but I have to make them within three days of purchase because they're "manager's specials."

Cher

6 replies

= new reply since forum marked as read

Highlight:

What's for Dinner, Tues., Dec 16, 2014 (Original Post) NJCher Dec 2014 OP

Oddly enough... a red sauce! Galileo126 Dec 2014 #1

Italian wedding soup and bread and salad. nt littlewolf Dec 2014 #2

Turkey meatloaf with Rice a Roni on the side. Snarkoleptic Dec 2014 #3

Stopped for a Portillo's burger and fries late afternoon. greatauntoftriplets Dec 2014 #4

Tomato Post KMA2U2 Dec 2014 #5

I roast garden tomatoes. Lugnut Dec 2014 #6

Galileo126

(2,016 posts)

1. Oddly enough... a red sauce!

Reply to NJCher (Original post)

Tue Dec 16, 2014, 04:03 PM

Dec 2014

Just walked away from the stove, the sauce is on simmer with hot Italian sausage and meatballs. Maybe some rigatoni to go with. Ah, just 2 more hours...

If I had a separate freezer (or room to store goods from home canning), I'd be cooking sauce all day long...

littlewolf

(3,813 posts)

2. Italian wedding soup and bread and salad. nt

Reply to NJCher (Original post)

Tue Dec 16, 2014, 04:05 PM

Dec 2014

Snarkoleptic

(5,997 posts)

3. Turkey meatloaf with Rice a Roni on the side.

Reply to NJCher (Original post)

Tue Dec 16, 2014, 06:47 PM

Dec 2014

I used crushed pretzels instead of breadcrumbs as I felt like experimenting.
Not yet sure what to do for a vegetable, but I've got just 48 minutes to get it sorted out.

greatauntoftriplets

(175,736 posts)

4. Stopped for a Portillo's burger and fries late afternoon.

Reply to NJCher (Original post)

Tue Dec 16, 2014, 06:51 PM

Dec 2014

That was dinner and very enjoyable.

KMA2U2

(7 posts)

5. Tomato Post

Reply to NJCher (Original post)

Tue Dec 16, 2014, 11:45 PM

Dec 2014

NJCher,

Your post reminded me of living at home helping my Mother when growing up. We used to go to the farmer down the road and buy a bushel of tomatoes, (the big bushel baskets, two ppl to carry) for, wait for it........$3.00. This was back in the 60's. Everything was sold by the bushel not the pound. We didn't know how many we had, but we would buy 3 to 4 bushels at a time and spend a week in the kitchen making stewed tomatoes, catsup, tomato soup, canned whole tomatoes, and using the Ball quart jars and a pressure cooker.
I hear it is making a comeback, the pressure cooker I mean. I still use a small one for cooking meat in a hurry for my meals. Love it.
Thanks NJCher for igniting my memories.

Lugnut

(9,791 posts)

6. I roast garden tomatoes.

Reply to NJCher (Original post)

Wed Dec 17, 2014, 02:45 AM

Dec 2014

I made a pot of tomato sauce with roasted garden tomatoes and meatballs on Saturday. We had meatball sandwiches for dinner today.

We plant a lot of tomatoes so there are enough to roast for use over the winter. They make a delicious sauce. I slice them and sprinkle minced garlic, Italian seasoning and a drizzle of olive oil on them then roast them in a single layer on a jellyroll pan.

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