Pizza Sauce

September 18, 2016 / featherheadlady / Leave a comment

Last year when I was canning tomatoes I decided to make salsa. As usual, I did more than necessary and have plenty of salsa left for this year. This season I made some of my tomatoes into pizza sauce. There is no pizza delivery anywhere remotely close to where we live so when we are craving pizza I need to make it myself. The sauce is relatively easy to make. Cooking down the tomatoes is the most time consuming part so you need to be patient or you will end up with watery sauce. The kitchen smells so good when this sauce is cooking.

Ingredients:

Tomatoes , approximately 4 quarts peeled and diced

2 T olive oil

1 Large Onion diced

6 or more cloves of garlic (I used more)

2 T oregano

2 T basil

2 T celery seed

4 T chopped fresh parsley

2 T salt

2 T granulated sugar

cracked pepper to taste

1/4 tsp citric acid per pint of sauce

Core, peel and dice the tomatoes. Bring a large kettle of water to a boil and drop a few tomatoes in for a minute or so until you see the skins start to break. Remove the tomatoes to an ice water bath and slide the skins off. Dice and put the tomatoes into a large, non aluminum, kettle.

Begin cooking the tomatoes over medium heat. In the meantime, heat the olive oil in a heavy skillet and add the onion. Cook, stirring frequently, until the onion is tender and translucent but not brown. Add the onion and garlic to the tomatoes.

Bring the tomatoes to a simmer stirring frequently. Add the sugar, herbs and spices, and salt and pepper. Once the tomatoes begin to break down use an immersion blender to get a nice, smooth sauce. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the tomatoes have reduced by approximately 50% and you have a nice sauce that clings to the spoon.

Ladle the sauce into sterilized jars (I used pints). Add 1/4 tsp of citric acid just before sealing the jars. Process the sauce in a hot water bath for 45 minutes. Once you remove the jars from the water bath allow them to cool completely before storing.

That is not ALL pizza sauce…better than half the jars are diced tomatoes. Now, all you need to do is whip up a crust and get a pizza in the oven. I made one with the sauce that was left over after filling my jars and some of our favorite toppings.

NOTE. If you don’t have an immersion blender you can use a regular blender or food processor and process in small batches. Also feel free to add other spices or increase/decrease some of the ones that I used. If you like your sauce kicked up a little add some red pepper flakes.

I put my garlic cloves in the tomatoes without dicing. Once the sauce simmered for awhile the immersion blender took care of them.

Poached Cod with Tomato and White Beans

February 10, 2016February 11, 2016 / featherheadlady / 1 Comment

I haven’t been blogging for a few days but I have been cooking. A couple of nights ago I made poached cod. We love fish and tomato dishes and this fits the bill for both. Cod is a mild fish available in most grocery stores. In the fish counter or the freezer. Either will work fine for this dish. Unless I have fish that was just caught, cleaned and ready for cooking I soak my fish in milk for at least 30 minutes.

I am convinced that this takes away the fishy smell that turns some people off to eating fish. Making sure you don’t over cook your fish also keeps the fish odors to a minimum. I know people who absolutely refuse to cook fish at home because of the smell. When I make this dish people walking into my house are more likely to say they smell onion and garlic. Everyone loves the smell of onion and garlic!

Ingredients:

1 cod filet (approximately one pound)

2 T olive oil

1 medium yellow onion diced

3 or 4 cloves of garlic sliced

1 pint diced tomatoes

1 cup chicken broth

1 can tomato sauce

1/4 cup capers drained

1/4 cup kalamata olives sliced

1 can cannelloni beans

salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Cook the onions until they are tender but not browned. Add the garlic and cook for an additional minute until the garlic is fragrant.

Reduce the heat and stir in the tomatoes and the chicken broth. Add the tomato sauce and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes.

Stir in the capers and olives. Drain and rinse the beans and add those. Simmer for another 10 minutes.

Pat the fish that you’ve soaked in milk dry. Cut it into serving size pieces and immerse the fish in the tomato broth. Cover the pan and allow it to simmer for 5-10 minutes until the fish is cooked through and flakes. Remove from the heat. Serve the fish, along with the broth and beans, over rice.

One of my favorite fish dishes.

NOTE: You could also add the cooked rice to the tomato broth, break up the fish pieces and serve this as a soup. However you choose to serve it I think you will find it homey and very satisfying.

If you like kicked up favors you could add some red pepper flakes and/or cayenne pepper when you add the olives and capers.

Stuffed Peppers

January 7, 2016 / featherheadlady / Leave a comment

Stuffed peppers are a perfect winter supper. A meal in themselves. Just add a salad and some good crusty bread and serve. If you look up recipes for stuffed peppers there are all sorts of ethnic variations. A Spanish stuffed pepper with Manchego cheese, cod and a béchamel sauce. An Indian stuffed pepper with meat, potato, onion, turmeric and coriander. A Mexican pepper stuffed with cheese, covered in an egg batter and deep fried. A Finnish stuffed pepper with rice and lamb, finished with some heavy cream. The pepper itself is the vehicle and almost any combination of protein, carb, and seasoning can be stuffed inside. Today I made my peppers with lots of tomato, rice and ground pork.

Ingredients:

5-6 red, yellow or orange peppers

1 pound ground pork (or pork sausage)

2 pints of tomatoes

1 cup beef or chicken broth

2 cups rice (cooked)

1 cup red onion diced

1 cup celery diced

tops of peppers diced

2 T olive oil

4-5 cloves of garlic minced

1/2 lemon juiced

1 T oregano

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (or more to taste)

1 cup grated Parmesan or Asiago cheese

1/2 cup fresh parsley

Preheat your oven to 375.

Cut the tops off of the peppers and reserve to use in the filling. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook the peppers for 5-6 minutes until tender. Drain on a clean kitchen towel and set aside.

Dice the pepper caps, onion, and celery. Heat 2 T of olive oil in a heavy skillet and sauté the vegetables over medium heat until tender. Add the garlic and cook another minute.

Set aside 1/2 of the vegetable mixture to use for the sauce. Add the ground meat to the skillet and cook until the meat is no longer pink. After the meat has cooked I put it in a strainer to drain off the fat and then return it to the skillet.

Add one pint of tomatoes, 1/2 cup of broth, and oregano and cayenne to the meat mixture. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Transfer the meat mixture to a large bowl. (Or if you are into less dishes use the kettle you parboiled the peppers in.) Add the 2 cups of rice, 1 cup of cheese, and parsley and stir to combine. If you feel the mixture needs more moisture add a little more broth. Set aside while you make the gravy.

In the skillet combine the reserved vegetables, one pint of tomatoes, 1/2 cup of broth, lemon juice, and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil and simmer until the sauce is reduced and thickens. Tranfer the sauce to a food processor or blender and purée.

Now it’s time to assemble the peppers. Fill each pepper with the meat and rice mixture and stand up in a casserole dish. Once you’ve filled the peppers pour the gravy over the top and bake for 45 minutes.

Serve with extra grated cheese and some good bread. Enjoy!

NOTE: Cooking is limited only by one’s imagination. This recipe is a perfect example of an opportunity to substitute ingredients based on your family’s personal tastes. Beef, lamb, turkey or pork. Rice, quinoa, potato or orzo. Parsley, basil, cilantro or mint.

Andouille Sausage, Tomatoes and Rice

September 23, 2015 / featherheadlady / Leave a comment

Andouilli is a smoked sausage made from pork and seasoned with garlic, peppers, onion, and seasonings. A little spicy. It’s very common in Louisiana Creole cuisine. The organic meat market where I purchase all of my meat makes an especially good andouilli.

One pot dishes are always a treat after a long day when you don’t have a lot of time to put a homemade meal on the table. This is a tasty dish that’s a little kicked up (you can kick it up a little more if you’d like). Some of the kick comes from the andouilli sausage. You can prep and cook this dish in less than an hour. A little bit of New Orleans on your table and only one pan to wash.

Ingredients:

1 T olive oil

1 medium onion rough chopped

1 cup rough chopped pepper (I used an orange bell pepper and a poblano)

3-4 cloves of garlic minced

4 links adouille sausage (a little under one pound)

1 cup long grain rice, uncooked

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp coarse ground black pepper

1 tsp oregano

1 bay leaf

2 1/2 cups chicken broth

1 pint diced tomatoes

1 T tomato pastee

1 T Franks Hot Sauce

Heat the olive oil in a heavy fry pan or Dutch oven. Dice the onion and peppers, mince the garlic and slice the sausage links. Saute for about 5 minutes.

Measure out the spices and add to the sausage and vegetables along with the rice.

Stir and saute for 1-2 minutes. Add the chicken broth, tomato paste, tomatoes and Franks.

Stir and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for 25 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow the pan to stand, covered, for 5 minutes. Stir and serve.

I served it with some steamed asparagus and a wedge of buttermilk cornbread. I’ve always been a little wimpy about spice but my palate is adjusting. I loved this dish.

If you’d like, you can add some shrimp to this dish. After the first 20 minutes of simmering, stir in the shrimp, cover, and continue cooking for 5 more minutes.

NOTE: I have mentioned this before but recipes always call for one or two tablespoons of tomato paste. I open both ends of a small can of tomato paste and put the can in the freezer for an hour or so. Once the paste has firmed up push it out of the can, slice it and freeze individual slices in snack bags. You always have just the right amount of tomato paste at the ready.

Salsa

September 21, 2015September 21, 2015 / featherheadlady / 1 Comment

I’ve been doing a lot of canning this last month. I did a bushel of beets (now pickled) and a bushel of cucumbers (now bread and butter and dill pickles).

I put up 2 1/2 bushels of tomatoes. Some just plain diced tomatoes, some stewed tomatoes, and, this year, salsa. Nothing is better than a winter of making chili or tomatoe sauce or soup with tomatoes that you canned yourself. And we enjoy a lot of tomato dishes. Salsa was a new experiment this year and, if I say so myself, it turned out quite well.

Ingredients:

15 cups diced tomatoes

1 each red, yellow and orange pepper small diced

1/2 each of a red, white, and sweet yellow onion small diced

3 jalapeno peppers seeded and small diced (use the seeds if you like a spicier salsa)

2 serrano peppers seeded and small diced

2 anaheim peppers seeded and small diced

1 1/4 cup cider vinegar

1 T salt

Core the tomatoes, put them in boiling water for 2-3 minutes to split and loosen the skin and transfer them to an ice water bath.

Peel and dice the tomatoes.

Wash, core and dice the peppers and peel and dice the onions.

Combine the tomatoes and onion and pepper mix in a heavy, non-aluminum kettle. Add the salt and vinegar and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes stirring occastionlly.

Put the salsa in sterilized pint jars leaving 1/2 inch of headspace. Wipe the rim of the jar with a clean cloth. Put the a lid on each jar and process in a hot water bath canner for 25 minutes.

Remove jars from the water bath, place on a heavy towel and allow to cool. Wait 24 hours and test each jar to be sure it has sealed by pressing down on the lid.

The “heat” level may increase over time. I like medium salsa. If you like yours hotter don’t seed the peppers and/or add additional hot peppers. We ate some of the salsa while it was still warm on tortilla chips and later on tacos. It was great! I haven’t tried this yet but I’m thinking a jar of this salsa would be a perfect addition to a pot of chili.

Chicken Cacciatore

September 9, 2015 / featherheadlady / Leave a comment

I recently picked up a Step by Step Italian Recipes magazine by America’s Test Kitchen and came upon a recipe for Chicken Cacciatore. Prepared the proper Italian way. I’ve made Chicken Cacciatore for years and years but a bit differently than the Test Kitchens. So I thought I’d try their recipe to see which we liked better. I’m always about changing things up.

Ingredients:

6-8 bone in chicken thighs (I used 2 thighs, 2 legs)

salt and pepper

1 tsp olive oil

1 onion chopped

3 portobello mushroom caps cubed (I used baby Bellas)

4 garlic cloves

1 1/2 T AP flour

1 1/2 cups dry red wine

1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes drained

1/2 cup chicken broth

1 Parmesan cheese rind

2 tsp minced fresh thyme and 2 tsp minced fresh sage (I used basil)

Heat oil in a Dutch oven to shimmering. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and cook, skin side down, until browned. About 4 minutes per side.

Remove the chicken to a plate and drain off all but about a tablespoon of the drippings. Add the vegetables and cook over medium heat stirring occasionally until the vegetables are tender. (I also added a sweet orange bell pepper.). Season with salt.

Add minced garlic and cook another minute until fragrant. Stir in the flour and cook for one minute stirring constantly.

Add the wine scraping up browned bits. Stir in tomatoes and broth. Season with salt and pepper.

Remove the skin from the chicken and submerge the chicken into the gravy as well as the Parmesan rind. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to low. Simmer 45-60 minutes.

Discard the rind before serving. Taste the gravy and season to taste. Serve over the pasta of your choosing.

I served it over spaghetti with grated asiago. It was good. But the consensus at our house was the not-authentic cacciatore is better. Sorry Test Kitchen.

Cook the chicken the same as referenced above. The way I’ve always made the gravy for cacciatore begins with dicing 5-6 slices of bacon. I cook the bacon until most of the fat is rendered but the bacon isn’t crisp. Drain off most of the fat and cook the vegetables (mushrooms, onion, and peppers) until tender. Add the garlic and basil. Cook until fragrant. Stir in 1 T of tomato paste. Stir in 1/2 cup of dry red wine scraping up any browned bits. Stir in 1 quart of tomatoes. Add the bacon, Parmesan rind, and submerge the chicken into the gravy. Cook 45-60 minutes. Serve over the pasta of your choosing.

You see the difference. A lot more tomato, a lot less wine. And bacon. My daughter says everything is better with bacon. And in this recipe I agree.

Try it both ways. Try it somewhere in between. Cooking is all about experimenting with recipes until you find something that tastes great to you.

Let me know what you think.

Lasagna Soup

March 10, 2015 / featherheadlady / Leave a comment

Nearly eight years ago I traded my cigarettes in for knitting needles and became part of a phenomenal group of women. We refer to ourselves as the Knit Wits. We meet weekly for lunch and knitting and road trips and we share recipes for some of the best food ever. Our pot lucks are ridiculous. Seriously ridiculous!

This recipe, for lasagna soup, was contributed by a very special Knit Wit who passed away two years ago at age 85. We all miss her so much but every time I make one of her recipes I know she’s smiling. She loved to cook and feed people and she was an expert at it. She’d be proud that all of us continue to make and enjoy her food. I know that this soup will easily become one of your favorites as well.

Ingredients:

1 lb Italian sausage (hot or sweet or 50/50)

2 cups onion rough chopped

1 cup carrots sliced

2 cups mushrooms sliced

1 red pepper rough chopped

2 T garlic minced

4 cups chicken broth

1 14-oz can stewed tomatoes

10 oz can tomato sauce

2 cups fresh spinach

1 cup uncooked pasta (penne, mufaloa or your favorite)

4 tsp fresh basil or 2 tsp dried basil

1 tsp oregano

2 cups fresh spinach

salt and pepper to taste

sliced provolone or fresh mozzarella

1/4 cup shredded Parmesan

In a Dutch oven or heavy kettle brown the sausage over medium heat. If you have sausages vs bulk sausage remove the casings.

Add the onion and carrots.

Sauté for about 3 minutes. Stir in the mushrooms, pepper, garlic, basil and oregano.

Sauté until garlic becomes fragrant. 1-2 minutes. Add the broth, tomatoes and tomato sauce. Bring to a boil.

Drop in the pasta and simmer over low heat until the pasta is cooked.

Stir in the spinach and cook until wilted.

Slice the provolone or fresh mozzarella (I prefer the mozzarella) and put some in the bottom of the soup bowl. Grate some fresh pram to top the soup.

Ladle the hot soup over the cheese and top with the parm.

This is a very hearty, filling soup. Enjoy with some crusty Italian bread or a slice of warm garlic bread. This dish will make you wish you were a Knit Wit!

Pizza

December 19, 2014 / featherheadlady / 3 Comments

Almost everyone loves pizza! Hot pizza or cold pizza, deep dish or thin crust, lots of cheese or lots of sauce, meat lovers or veggie, white or red. There are so many variations, pizza can make almost everyone happy. You can divide the dough into small balls and roll out little individual pizzas. Let everyone choose their own toppings; a particularly fun thing to do with kids. Pizza. It’s what’s for dinner.

Pizza night starts with the crust.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups tepid water

2 1/4 tsp dry yeast

1/2 tsp salt

1 T olive oil

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp each dried oregano and basil (optional)

1/2 tsp garlic powder

Place tepid water in a bowl and mix in yeast and salt. Add the olive oil. Add 1 1/2 cups of flour, garlic, and herbs and stir with a wooden spoon. Add remaining flour and knead for five minutes until you have a smooth dough. Grease a bowl and allow the dough to rise until doubled in size, approximately an hour.

Divide dough in half or in smaller portions if making small, individual pizzas. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface.

Preheat the oven to 450.

Once you roll the dough out place on a lightly greased pizza pan. Fold the edges over, lightly rub down with olive oil and pre-bake for approximately ten minutes. This helps to keep the crust from getting soggy.

Now we are ready to top the pizza. There are many prepared sauces that you might like or you can use fire roasted tomatoes, a little olive oil, and some herbs.

Blend the tomatoes, 1 T of olive oil and herbs to taste. Spread the sauce on your pre-baked crust.

Choose your favorite toppings. Tonight I’m using onions, peppers, artichoke hearts, portabella mushrooms, tomatoes and some organic pepperoni.

Spread the toppings.

I used romano cheese and fresh mozzarella. Grate the hard cheese over the toppings and distribute slices of mozzarella.

Bake for approximately 25 minutes until cheese is golden brown and bubbly. Enjoy this thing of beauty with a cold beer, soda, a nice wine or a glass of milk.

Like I mentioned earlier there are countless pizza toppings for every taste. Sausage, bacon, ham, pepperoni. Spinach, fresh basil leaves, arugula. Sweet peppers, banana peppers, peppadews, green olives, kalamata olives, black olives. Mushrooms, fresh tomatoes, roasted garlic, artichokes, asparagus, zucchini. And pineapple…my least favorite topping. Love it in an upside down cake but leave it off my pizza.

Mozzarella is the most common of pizza cheeses but provolone, feta, Parmesan, Romano, asiago, goat cheese, even Gorgonzola are great options. Different cheeses pair well with different veggies and meats. Most grocery deli sections and frozen food aisles have countless types and brands of pizzas. If you don’t have time to make a pizza from scratch doctor a grocery pizza up with fresh toppings and extra cheese to make it your own.

Note: The crust recipe makes enough for 2 large pizzas. If you only plan to make one, freeze half the dough BEFORE you let it rise. Divide the dough and place half in a zip lock freezer bag. When you’re ready to make a second pizza let it thaw/rise and your ready for pizza #2.

Angel Hair Pasta with Oven Roasted Tomatoes

October 27, 2014 / featherheadlady / 1 Comment

This weekend we had very special friends visit from out of town. Pasta dishes are always favorites with them so I decided to make pasta two ways. Two ways that were both new recipe interpretations for me which is only a safe thing to do if your guests love you unconditionally. One pasta was a red dish, the other was white. One was meatless, the other had sausage. Both of them turned out very well. I’m going to share the meatless red here. Angel hair pasta with oven roasted tomatoes…it’s what was for dinner and again for lunch the next day.

This recipe is only something you’ll want to try if you will be home all afternoon and if you love the smell of roasting garlic and tomato. Everyone who walked in that afternoon commented on the strong aroma of garlic. You could roast the tomatoes without the garlic but the flavor would not be the same. The first part of this dish is the time consuming part…not a lot of work, just time.

Get ready to roast your tomatoes. Preheat the oven to 350 with the racks in the top third of the oven. I combined different kinds of tomatoes…Romas, beefsteak, and small heirloom tomatoes.

Slice the romas and the beefsteaks. Leave the cherry/grape tomatoes whole. Put the tomatoes in a large bowl, add 1/2 cup of olive oil and toss the tomatoes to coat. Spread them out in a single layer on jelly roll pans. Peel and smash a dozen or so cloves of garlic and distribute between the two pans of tomatoes. Lightly salt. Turn the oven down to 225 and put the tomatoes in. Roast them for six hours switching the position of the pans after three hours.

I told you this process was not at all difficult. It won’t take long and the garlic aromas will begin to permeate the kitchen. These tomatoes are so yummy. You won’t ever want to buy sundried, jarred tomatoes again. Throw the garlic away. It will be tough. The flavors have married the tomatoes and olive oil.

Now for the pasta sauce.

3 cups of oven roasted tomatoes (rough chop slices)

2-3 cloves of garlic thin sliced

5-6 anchovy filets

2 T olive oil

1 tsp crushed red pepper

2 T tomato paste

1 pint jar diced tomatoes

20 or so kalamata olives coarsely chopped

10 or so large green olives coarsely chopped

3 T capers

fresh grated asiago cheese

Bring salted water to a boil in a large pot and cook pasta according to package instructions.

Heat olive oil in a heavy skillet. Briefly sauté the garlic slices. Add the anchovy filets and sauté until they melt into the oil. Add the pepper flakes and tomato paste. Add the chopped tomatoes, the olives and capers, and the oven roasted tomatoes. Simmer until thoroughly heated.

Combine the sauce and pasta and toss. Add a half cup or so of the pasta water if necessary. Top with fresh grated asiago cheese. Serve with a tossed salad and some crusty bread.

If you have more than three cups of oven roasted tomatoes there are any number of uses for them in addition to just eating them straight up. They would be great in an omelet, on a sandwich, in a salad. I used the tomatoes I had left tonight when I roasted a pork loin with Brussels sprouts and baby Yukon gold potatoes. I added them to the vegetables when the cook time was almost up.

Canned Stewed Tomatoes

August 21, 2014September 13, 2014 / featherheadlady / 1 Comment

Today was a canning day. Stewed tomatoes for lots of soup and chili days this winter. I bought a bushel of beautiful tomatoes from the farm market yesterday.

Because I was making stewed tomatoes the first thing I did was diced one large sweet onion, two sweet peppers and three or four stalks of celery. I did red and yellow peppers but green will work too.

Next step was to peel and core the tomatoes. I core and then put them in a pot of boiling water for a minute or so until the skins crack and slide off easily.

I core and peel about a quarter bushel at a time. Then I did a bite size dice and put them in a large stainless steel kettle over medium heat.

Once the tomatoes begin to simmer I stir in my diced vegetables and simmer them about 30 minutes.

We like garlic so I stir minced garlic into the tomatoes just before I begin filling my jars.

I use a canning funnel to ladle the hot tomatoes into jars that have been sterilized in boiling water. Once the jars are filled I add 1/2 tsp of sea salt and 1/8 tsp of citric acid.

The last step is putting the jars into a hot water bath making sure I have a couple inches of water over the jar lids. Once the water comes back up to a boil set the timer…35 minutes for pints, 45 minutes for quarts.

Now I have awesome tomatoes to enjoy all winter long.

Canning is a bit time consuming but not difficult at all. A half bushel of tomatoes yielded about 28 pints of stewed tomatoes. I will omit all the veggies for the second half bushel and hot pack a simple diced tomato.

Home-canned tomatoes make the best soups and chili and tomato sauce!

The Finnish Dish

Cooking in Michigan with Ruth

tomatoes

Pizza Sauce

Poached Cod with Tomato and White Beans

Stuffed Peppers

Andouille Sausage, Tomatoes and Rice

Salsa

Chicken Cacciatore

Lasagna Soup

Pizza

Angel Hair Pasta with Oven Roasted Tomatoes

Canned Stewed Tomatoes