Category: Sauces, Garnishes, and Condiments

Flavor Embellishments

Rustic Tomato Sauce: Nonna’s Little Helper

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Recently I watched the adorable film, Nonnas, and thought …. who knew both co-stars of Swingers would end up in foodie movies? Seriously did not see that coming. Anyway, I developed this sauce for pizza. But it was when I had to make a last minute pivot and this left over sauce saved my bacon – pun sort of intended because it ended up in a bacon-tomato cream sauce after I discovered my cherry tomatoes were spoiled – that I realized this sauce isn’t just for a pie. It’s the secret weapon that needs to be batched and stocked in your fridge on a weekly basis. It has the power to make what you are building that needs a tomato … something … not just shine, but infuse life into your dish.

Rustic Tomato Sauce

Special Equipment

  • Food processor or blender
  • Microplaner

Ingredients

Instead of filling up this list with individual *Alerts! I am going to issue a global Don’t Half-Ass This! *Alert! Follow the ingredient list strictly. If you don’t, you might as well just buy a jar of tomato basil sauce from the grocery store and call it done. It is all the OILS in this sauce that make the flavor so ALIVE. Like, ‘Under the Tuscan Sun’-level alive. That’s right, I am claiming that this sauce will make you forget about relationship fallout for a few minutes when all those fresh oils and acids hit your sad, ‘life hasn’t worked out for me so far’ nostrils. You might not be Diane Lane restoring a villa in Tuscany, but gosh darnit, I got you close.

  • 1 can whole, peeled San Marzano tomatoes (28 oz)
  • 1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
  • 2–3 garlic cloves, micro-planed
  • 1 tbsp freshly ground sea salt
  • 1 tsp freshly ground peppercorn blend
  • 1 tsp Italian seasoning
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1 tsp crushed red pepper
  • 5 fresh, hand-torn basil leaves
    • *Note: If you have access to potted live plants at your local grocery store or farmers market, I highly encourage you to pick up a basil plant. They last for up to a month and provide an abundance of fresh basil on the fly.  

Preparation

  • Combine all ingredients in your food processor or blender.
  • Pulse for 60 seconds.
  • Can be used immediately, but I recommend you cover and let the sauce rest for about 20 minutes.
  • Can be refrigerated and stored for up to a week. A bowl with plastic wrap works, but if you have any left over glass sauce jars, that’s better.

This batch makes about two cups, plenty for a couple pies on pizza night, a big batch of Capellini Pompadour, or, if you’re my kid – just eat it!, and still have some left over for when you realize that no; no, cherry tomatoes don’t last forever even if it sometimes feels like it.

And since you listened to my global Don’t Half-Ass This! *Alert, your kitchen now smells like Tuscany for the rest of the night.

Nom On, Nonna, Nom on,

~Crunchy

Sweet Heat BBQ Sauce

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Sauces are one of those things that seemed hard or mysterious to me. After all, if they weren’t hard, why is buying them pre-made such a prevalent practice, even among those who consider themselves good cooks? Why do we surrender the biggest flavor payload in our dish tos omething that makes a gloopy sound as it oozes out of plastic or glass jars? A few weeks ago when I hosted my late summer BBQ, I decided to make my own sauce and it was really pretty easy.

Sweet Heat BBQ Sauce

Ingredients

  • 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
  • 1/2 small onion, finely chopped
  • 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
  • 1 cup organic or reduced-sguar ketchup
  • 1/4 cup white or apple cider vinegar
  • 1/4 molasses
  • 3/4 cup water
  • 2 tbsp brown sugar
  • 2 tbsp dijon mustard
  • 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tbsp chili powder
  • 1/4 cayenne pepper
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp pepper

Preparation

  • Finely chop your onion and garlic.
  • In a medium saucepan, heat your EVOO. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring often, for about 3 minutes until soft.
  • Add the remaining ingredients and stir.
  • Bring the sauce to a gentle simmer and stir occasionally for about 10 minutes. Keep scrapping and folding the sauce off the sides of the pot and stirring. If the sauce seems a little thin you can simmer for another 2 minutes, but keep stirring and folding so it doesn’t get gooey.
  • Taste the sauce and add a little more salt and pepper, as needed.

The end result should be a crowd pleasing, sticky sauce with a nice balance between sweet, savory, and heat. I personally prefer ridiculously spicy sauces like Famous Dave’s Devil Spit or the Memphis/Kansas City varietals, which are hotter and more vinegary, but this sauce was lovely and hit the right notes for a crowd where you can’t go to far in one direction or another. You know a sauce is great when people lick their fingers instead of using a napkin and I saw a lot of that going on.

Enjoy the bragging rights for making your own sauce, and Nom On,

~Crunchy

Salsa Verde

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So, you like Mexican food, but maybe you are getting a little burnt out on that red tomato flavor? Enter the verde! This is a great sauce that you can use for just about any dish you would normally garnish or make with a salsa roja or ranchera sauce and get a great, new taste. It’s easy to make and way more flavorful than the crap sold in cans in the “stuff non-white people eat’ isle. Give it a try, you’ll be pleased.

Salsa Verde

Ingredients

  • 1 pound tomatillos
  • 1/2 large, white onion, chopped
  • 1-to-2 Serrano chili peppers, chopped
  • 1 garlc clove, minced
  • 3 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper

Preparation

  • In a small sauce pan, add tomatillos, onion, peppers, and cilanto.
  • Add enough water to just cover the veggies, about 2 cups.

Salsa Verde Progress

  • Add cumin, salt, and pepper.
  • Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes.
  • Using either a blender or, ideally, an immersion blender that you can stick right in the pot, puree the ingredients.
  • Taste the salsa and add a little more salt, a 1/4 teaspoon at a time until you are happy.

What can I do with my salsa verde?

This sauce is great to use for enchiladas and casseroles, especially if you are looking for an alternative to ranchera sauce. You can also garnish tacos and rellenos, or make a wet burrito by covering in a generous amount of sauce, sprinkling with jack cheese, and baking at 325 degrees for about 5 minutes. You just want the cheese to melt.

If you like to grill, you can use this sauce as a marinade for chicken or garnish on shrimp. The cumin in the sauce makes it very robust so it can stand up to any cut of steak as a garnish, too.

If you are into creative pizzas, you could use this sauce instead of tomato, add slices of cooked steak, chopped white onion, and chopped tomatoes with shredded mozzarella or jack cheese. Sprinkle with cilantro when its out of the oven. Damn, I am making myself really hungry.

Feel free to check out my recipes using salsa verde if you are looking for ideas.

Nom On,

~Crunchy