There's something about Romas

I am in love with Roma tomatoes. I am also in love with San Marzanos, but I don't think I will be planting those lovely babies again any time soon.
Romas are plentiful, delicious, easy to grow, and cheap (if you don't have a garden).
Making sauce out of these is wonderful. They are nice and paste-y so they don't require much reducing.

Here's what I do for fabulous sauce that rivals Mama Ragu's:

Wash and slice the tops off as many tomatoes as you want. Cut them in half, throw them in a big pot. Season with about 1 teaspoon Herbs de Provence, one green pepper, a quarter onion and three garlic cloves. Cover and let simmer for at least 30 minutes.

Once everything is soft, process it all through a food mill. Put it back in the pot and reduce to the consistency you like. I reduce it about 1/3rd.

Taste and tweak if necessary. You can serve this right away or can it for later use. There is nothing like fresh sauce.

Love. Roma. Tomatoes.

Brine your meat!

This isn't really a recipe...more of a suggestion. Brine. Your. Meat.

We have a wood burning grill, so brining is essential. It gives better flavor, but there is not much of a science to it. The heat fluctuates and sometimes it leads to dry meat. Brining solves that. You can brine anything! Sausages? Pork? Turkey? Chicken? Beef? Venison? Yes!!

Basic brine is a quart of water, and equal parts sugar and salt, at least 1/4 cup. Mix it together until dissolved, throw in the meat, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

You can obviously change this up. I like to use brown sugar and add cherry balsamic vinegar to pork. I add bay leaves and carrots and onion to turkey. Hot sauce to beef. Do the extras make a difference? I would like to think so.

Once done brining, rinse and pat dry the meat. Season normally and grill, broil or bake. You will never eat unbrined meat again.

Banana Jam

Jam is pretty simple. It is just sugar, water, fruit and spices of some sort. Kyle likes banana bread, but shouldn't eat it, so I thought I could make jam that tastes like banana bread!

You will need:

5 ripe bananas
Lime juice
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 cup sugar
Cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves...whatever you like! I just used cinnamon, about 1 Tablespoon

Chop the bananas, sprinkle with lime juice to keep them from browning too much. Boil the sugar and water, add the bananas, stirring constantly. You will want to smash the bananas as you stir. Add the brown spice(s) of your choice as you stir. This jam is done when you drag a metal spoon across the bottom of the pan and it leaves a path in the jam.

You can can this or refrigerate it. This made about 1 1/3 pints. I canned it for 10 minutes in a boiling water canner.

This is good with peanut butter. Slice a donut in half and make a sandwich with this and some peanut butter.

Roasted Roma (and San Marzano) tomatoes

These are delicious. I stumbled on this recipe last year and Oh. My. Goodness. I planted a ton of Romas this year just to make this "sauce". I decided to add San Marzano tomatoes to this recipe, but you don't have to!

I always can this recipe. I have never served it fresh. If you are going to can these lovelies, add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice before canning and 1-2 Tablespoons brown sugar BEFORE SERVING.

You will need:
As many Roma tomatoes as you like
Salt
Pepper
Diced onion (about 1/4 amount of tomatoes)
4-8 cloves of garlic
Italian seasoning

Lemon juice for canning
Brown sugar for serving

This is pretty simple! Turn on your broiler and while it is warming up, get your tomatoes ready. Slice off the top and core them. This makes it much easier to seed them later. Place the tomatoes on a sheet along with the garlic (as much as you like) and put them in the oven under the broiler. Broil until the skins are brown and bubbly.

Remove from the sheet and put tomatoes and garlic in a paper bag until they cool enough to handle. About 15 minutes.

Remove skins from tomatoes once cool. Slice and seed tomatoes. Remove garlic from papery skins. Combine all ingredients in a pan; tomatoes, onion, garlic, salt, pepper and Italian seasoning to your liking. Heat to boiling.

If you are going to can this, do it now. Add the lemon juice and process for 1 hr 25 min in a boiling water canner. To serve from canned, warm over medium heat, smush tomatoes and add at least 1 Tablespoon of brown sugar.

To serve fresh, just smush the tomatoes and add the brown sugar.

This stuff is like crack. I use it all the time. It works with beef and chicken. It is good without meat.

Try it and you will never buy canned sauce. Ever.

Carrot Cake Jam

This is the life of a stay-at-home mom: "The laundry is done, the floors are clean (for now), one kid is outside and one is napping, what should I do? Hmmm...make jam!"
Let me be clear, I do not like jam and I do not like Carrot Cake. Not one bit. But my husband does, so he benefits from my strange cooking binges. Even with my aversion to both parts of this concoction, I must admit it is pretty darn good. Spread this on a bagel with cream cheese and you will be glad you did.

You will need:

1 1/2 cups shredded carrots
1 1/2 cups peeled, sliced pears
20 oz. can of crushed pineapple with juice
3 Tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon powdered clove
1 pkg. pectin
6 1/2 cups sugar

**If you want to can this jam, start warming the jars now! See below for more info.

Combine first 7 ingredients in a large saucepan, simmer for about 15 minutes until the pears are soft. Stir if you are worried about anything sticking.

Remove from heat, stir in pectin. Bring to a boil, add sugar. Stir, bring to a rolling boil for one minute. At this point the jam is done. It is up to you if you want to can this or refrigerate this. This will make about 7 or 8 half pints.

**Canning jam is easy. If you have never canned before, this is a good place to start. Wash jars. Put just jars in canner, cover with water, start it boiling!**

Place lids in a bowl or pan with hot, not boiling, water until ready. OK...now your jelly is done and your jars are warm. Fill them up! One at a time, of course. Remove one jar from the canner, fill it almost to the top, wipe the lip, put the lid on, and tighten a band around it. Put it back in the water bath and repeat until you are out of jam. Make sure your canner water is boiling, and if it is, you are ready to go! Cover and process for 10 minutes.

When the jars are done, let them cool for awhile and you can check if they are 'done' by seeing if the tops pop. If they do, then your canning didn't stick and you will have to refrigerate the unsealed jars.

You can find some variations of this on line, have you tried different ingredients?

Slow roasted tomatoes

I don't know what the deal is with tomatoes this summer. I usually have tons by now...
So, the random tomato harvest has led to improvisation. I like to can the tomatoes, but canning 2 pints at a time hardly seems worth it. So I tried pickling some cherry tomatoes (eh, not great) and roasting some.
There are a few random tomatoes thrown in: Better Boys, Romas, and cherry.
These are great to keep in the fridge or freeze for later use. You really can't can these unless you are wanting a sauce consistency. They will fall apart during the canning process.
You will need:
Tomatoes! Whatever you have lying around.
Salt
Pepper
4-5 cloves garlic unpeeled
Some onion
Olive oil

Heat oven to 300°.

Cut small tomatoes in half, quarter Roma sized tomatoes, cut larger ones in eighths. Lay on a baking sheet with a few onion slices if you like and unpeeled garlic. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and roast for 2 hours.

For freezing, allow the tomatoes to cool and freeze in 1 cup portions in freezer bags. They will add nice flavor to sauces or stews during the cold winter months! You can use them fresh for a nice spread on crusty bread or in a salad.

Use for anything pulled pork

This is a basic crock pot pork recipe. What is great about this is that it is an excellent base. What I mean is that you can keep this in the fridge and use it for several very diverse meals. We used it two nights, first night I made gravy and mashed potatoes. Second night I simmered the leftovers in Pepsi (don't use Coke) and salsa, broiled them and served up delicious carnitas.

You will need:

3-4 pound pork loin roast
1 pink lady apple (or honey crisp) thinly sliced
*1 onion, diced
*3 cloves garlic, crushed
*Parsley
1 cup chicken broth
Salt, pepper

Salt and pepper meat. Brown on all sides over medium- high heat.

Combine starred ingredients.

Pour chicken broth in crock. Place roast in crock. Put a few slits in the roast large enough for the apple slices. Put apples in the slices. Top with onion/garlic/parsley mix. Cook on low for 6 hours.

You can shred this pork when cooked, with apples or without; with onions or without. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with this so I took the apples out.

I would also recommend this pork with BBQ sauce on a Hawaiian roll. Yum.

Balsamic Glazed Pork

This pork is delicious. The flavor is great, if you cook it right it just falls apart... mmmm.

I found this on Pinterest and made a few changes. This is a crockpot dish, with a little time in the oven.

You will need:
A large piece of pork. 2-3 pounds. Shoulder will work well, it will be less dry. You can use tenderloin, just watch it carefully. It will be less fatty.

Salt
Pepper
Sage
Garlic powder
1/2 cup water
3 cloves garlic crushed

1/2 cup water
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar (I used black cherry infused)
2 T soy sauce
1 T corn starch
1/2 cup brown sugar

Rub the pork with the first four ingredients. Put pork in the crockpot with 1/2 cup of water and the garlic cloves. If you are using a tenderloin, cook for 6 hours on low, you can cook a little longer if using something fatty.

After five hours make the glaze. Mix the last five ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat until thickened.
**you can do this two ways, I recommend using the oven**

In the crockpot brush the roast with the glaze every 15 minutes for the last hour. OR you can stick the pork in the broiler after glazing it, leaving it in only long enough for the glaze to caramelize.

Either way, you are going to love this. I made a sauce with the cooking liquid, throwing in a little more garlic and about 1 1/2 T of corn starch. The pork was a little dry, I used a loin and cooked it too long.

This is great with potatoes. It would be good with rice noodles. It would be FANTASTIC on a steamed bun with Asian slaw.

I am not kidding when I say this is delicious. Make it and you will be a kitchen rock star.

Butt Rub. That's right.

OK, this is not a recipe, but a recommendation. Buy this stuff. The website is www.buttrub.com. It is good on everything, no joke. Like popcorn. I drive to Ohio to get this stuff I love it so much. Try it, you will not be disappointed.

Pickled onions

These are so good. Cooper eats them right out of the jar. I prefer them with other things. I would recommend them in an arugula salad with a stinky cheese. They are an awesome contrast to anything fatty.

You will need:

3/4 cup red wine vinegar (use something infused, be adventurous!)
1 T salt
1 3/4 t sugar
Dash of hot sauce
one red onion sliced to your liking, for salads thinly sliced works the best

Mix first 4 ingredients. Add onion. Let sit for a few hours in the fridge. Done! These can stay in the fridge for experimenting!

Oopsie rolls

OK, these are not my creation, but they are surprisingly good!

I thought I would make them for Logan since he can't have bread, but he wasn't a fan. I, however; am in love.

These are easy. Maybe use them for breakfast sandwiches? They are light and fluffy and soft... mmmm.

You will need:

3 large eggs
pinch of cream of tartar
3 oz. Cream cheese (not softened)

Heat oven to 300°

Separate eggs. Mix cream cheese with yolks. It can be lumpy, don't worry!

Whip whites with cream of tartar until stiff. Gently fold in yolk mixture. Make fluffy piles on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or non-stick foil. You should get six rounds. Bake for 30 minutes. Let cool.

They are a different texture from bread, they don't taste super eggy, so give them a try!

Peanut butter pie.

This is Kyle's favorite dessert. And it is soooo easy. Try this and you will be an instant rock star.

You will need:
Chocolate graham crust or Oreo crust
16 oz. Peanut butter
8 oz. Cream cheese
1/2-1 cup sugar
Milk
Cool whip or homemade whipped cream

Mix the cream cheese and peanut butter together. Add sugar as desired. I always add a full cup. Then add the milk to desired consistency.

Scoop into pie crust, smooth out, refrigerate for a little bit for best results. Top with whipped cream for serving.

That's it. Enjoy.

Pretzel Buns

I am a believer that a good burger can stand on its own. However, a good pretzel bun never hurt...
I made these babies today and they were delicious with our burgers. (My burger secret? Brown sugar and a wood burning grill.)

These take a little time, but they are worth it. Most is unattended, but give yourself about two hours.

You will need:
1 1/2 cups warm water
2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
2 T sugar
4 1/2 cups flour
4 T melted butter
2 tsp kosher salt
2 quarts water
1/4 cup baking soda
1 egg, beaten
Pretzel salt for sprinkling

This works best in a stand mixer, so that is how I will explain the recipe. You can use good old fashioned elbow grease, too!

Put warm water, sugar and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Mix quickly and let sit for 5-10 minutes.

After the yeast blooms, add the flour, butter and salt, mix until a smooth dough forms. Cover and let sit for one hour.

Remove from bowl after an hour and put on a lightly floured surface. Punch down and form into balls. There is a trick to this, pull the 'outsides' out and tuck them into the middle. Then flip the dough over and just lightly turn it to form a ball. If you cup one hand and spin with the other it should work. Place these on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. (Or not, it will stick a little if you don't) Cover and let rise for 30 minutes.

Heat the oven at 425°, boil the water, and slowly slowly SLOWLY add the baking soda.

Once the buns rise, boil each for 30 seconds on one side, flip and boil for 30 more. Remove to pan, score the tops of the buns, brush with beaten egg and sprinkle with salt.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until brown and toasty! (Rack in the middle of the oven is ideal!)

When life hands you veggies, make Ratatouille!

Recently I catered a dinner for 70 people. I am super picky about my food, so I can promise this recipe is good. When faced with a choice between taste and presentation, I always pick taste. While this dish may look rustic, the flavors are not!

This recipe serves 6 as a main dish.
2 pounds tomatoes (I like Roma)
1/2 c. olive oil (don't skimp!)
2 onions thinly sliced
1 red bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper
1 orange bell pepper
(Seed and cut these into chunks. Do NOT use green pepper!! Ew.)
1 large eggplant, cut into chunks
2 zucchini, cut into chunks
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1 T. Basil
1 T. Fresh thyme, chopped
Salt, pepper
1 lemon

Blanch tomatoes, peel and rough chop.

Salt every vegetable as you cook it! Don't be afraid, it brings out the flavor.
Sauté onions in some of the oil for a few minutes. Add the peppers and sauté 2 minutes more. Drain, add eggplant and more oil and sauté GENTLY for 5 minutes. Add remaining oil and zucchini and saute for 3 minutes.

Add garlic and tomatoes to the pan and cook gently. Add all vegetables back to the pan, toss with the fresh thyme and throw it all in the oven for at least 10 minutes. That gives it a yummy roasted flavor. Remove, toss with basil and juice of the lemon. If you need more salt, taste and add it now along with a bit of pepper.

Eat, enjoy!!

Heart attack on a plate? Perhaps.

I love breakfast.

This is an easy Saturday morning breakfast. It is fatty and delicious. You could for sure replace the salami with whatever you want...but charcuterie is an art form, why not enjoy it?

You will need a cupcake pan. I would recommend one super nonstick.
Preheat your oven to 350°.

Ingredients:
eggs (usually 1 medium per serving)
salami
shredded cheese
salt and pepper

*a mix in of your choice*
(I use green goddess dip, Logan loves Chipotle Tobasco)

Line the pan with the salami slices. Make sure there isn't any pan showing!
Whisk eggs with salt, pepper and your mix in choice. Pour eggs in the yummy salami cups. Top with cheese of your choice. Bake for about 20 minutes at 350°.

That's it! Be creative with mix ins! Keep in mind your cheese choices, too. Mozzarella works with green goddess. Pepper jack with the Tobasco.

Yum. Just do a few sit ups after you eat.

Glop

Yes, Glop.

This is a recipe that goes waaaay back in my family. Everyone has a variation of some sort.

This is three ingredients (4 if you count the mandatory vanilla bean ice cream).

Box of vanilla cake mix
Two small cans of peaches in syrup
Stick of butter (unsalted or salted, I think the salty flavor works well with this dessert)

Heat oven to 325°, this takes about 45 minutes start to finish.

Melt the stick of butter. Drain one can of peaches. Pour both cans in a 9 x 13 pan. Sprinkle the cake mix on top. This is not a mistake, the dry cake mix. Pour the melted butter over the top, and bake until brown and bubbly.

That. Is. It.

Serve warm with vanilla bean ice cream. Try the Turkey Hills Naturals brand. So good.

What does your family call this dessert? Do you use different fruits?

Cajun Corn Chowder

What makes this corn chowder Cajun? Andouille sausage and Phillips Blackening Seasoning. I would also contend that a red Anaheim pepper is necessary, but that is up to you.

The ingredients are:
Chicken (breast meat is best)
Andouille sausage
Creamed Corn
Chicken broth
Corn
Onion
Carrot
Garlic
POTATOES!!
Red Andouille pepper
Thyme
Parsley
Milk
Cheddar Cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
Chipotle Tabasco
Butter
Flour or corn starch

Always start with a roux. Melt butter and add an equal amount of flour (in tablespoons) or half the amount if you use corn starch. Whisk that up, and once it is bubbly add the chicken broth. Notice I don't have measurements. I think this is up to you. Start with two cups and see how that looks. Maybe you don't want leftovers in the fridge. Add a cup of milk, more if you want creamier soup. Creamed corn is next. Add how much you like. I always put in two cans. You can also add corn niblets if you want a 'cornier' soip. Let that warm up and take care of everything else.

You can always just dice the veggies and throw them in the soup, but sweating them brings out the flavor. If you choose to do that, add SALT to the pan. It is so necessary. I like to dice the potatoes and get them nice and crispy before I put them in the chowder. Again, not a necessary step! This just gives the soup more texture.

Slice the Andouille and brown. Cube the chicken, coat it in Phillips and blacken it in a screaming hot DRY pan. Once those proteins are cooked, into the soup they go. Season with salt and pepper. Add about a tablespoon of thyme. A few dashes of Tabasco give it a nice kick. Red pepper flakes will also do the trick. Here is where you add the cheese and parsley. Make sure the soup is warm, not boiling and stir in shredded cheddar (again, as much as you like! I usually do one cup per 3 cups of broth/milk). This will guarantee melty cheese! Toss in the parsley before serving, and you are done.

Corn chowder is great because it is versatile. You can leave out the chicken. Change the Andouille to pork sausage. Put in green peppers or jalapeños! Try something different, and share the results...