I will never buy pasta sauce again!

I’m hungry and my cupboard is bare except for some pasta and tomatoes. Ummm… I wonder how my own sauce would taste?


I just started growing basil and Cuban oregano in my kitchen window and I’ve never cooked with them so I’m excited to see how this turns out. I find a simple recipe for tomato sauce and begin to improvise. I believe that recipes are merely guides anyway, unless of course you’re baking, which calls for precision. But tonight, it’s a simple pasta sauce so why not play around.

I only have 4 small tomatoes which I assume won’t yield that much sauce but still plenty for me. Since the recipe I find will yield 7 pints of sauce, I eyeball what looks like enough of each ingredient, taking into account the way I like to eat.

What I used:
Onions, chopped big
Basil, I used about 6 leaves of varying sizes, coarsely chopped
Oregano, 3 large leaves, coarsely chopped
Salt
Pepper
Sugar, truly just a sprinkle
Sundried tomatoes, which I tossed on top of the finished dish

After sautéing the onions until they’re soft, peeling the tomatoes and squeezing out all the water & seeds, toss all of the ingredients in a sauce pan and simmer down until the consistency is perfect for you. There’s no way I can describe the smells coming from my kitchen other than incredibly beautiful!

Prego®, Ragu®, Barilla®… I really don’t mean to sound boastful but, I’ve never bought a sauce that tasted as good as what I made tonight. The next time I’ll try different tomatoes.

Mom you’d be proud. I’ll make it for you and daddy the next time I’m home.

Today's catch...

This is my ‘go-to’ plate – fish, sautéed veggies, and some type of salad or side, in this case, tomatoes. I never get tired of eating this dish, and for the record, it’s never really the same dish. The fish varies, the veggies change, and the side could be anything from a salad, rice, or avocado. There’s so much food to choose from. It’s simply a matter of going to the market to select what you want.

The best food for you will always be what’s grown near you. Most cities have weekend farmer’s markets so find one in your area and hit it this Saturday. Grab a couple of these, maybe one of those, and experiment. Don’t know how to cook something? Buy a few cook books. It’s not about being a master chef. It’s about discovery. But, if you are a master chef or simply a good cook, then develop a cooking class in your neighborhood. What’s your gift for other than to use it right?

Today my ‘go-to’ plate featured sole which is a really light white fish that melts in your mouth. It’s very thin but holds up amazingly well no matter your cooking method. Here’s all it takes for a quick & easy lunch:

• Fish of your choice seasoned with sea salt and fresh pepper
• Leek leaves
• 2-3 garlic cloves, unpeeled
• Olive oil
• About 3 spears of broccolini
• Big handful of beet leaves
• Red bell pepper (I used ¼ of a medium pepper)

Let’s cook.
Preheat oven to 375⁰. Place leeks in pan with garlic, drizzle with oil, and season with salt & pepper. Cook about 5 minutes then layer fish over leeks. This will only take about 7 minutes.

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in pan and sauté broccolini for 2 minutes. Add beet leaves and cook for 1 minute. Add bell pepper and cook for another 2 minutes.

That’s it. A couple slices of tomato and you’re done. A simple, easy, quick lunch. Don’t worry if you have veggies left over. They’ll make a great addition to eggs in the morning!

**You can find lots of information at http://www.localharvest.org/ about farms and markets. You may also want to check out CSA’s (Community Supported Agriculture), where your support gets you a weekly basket of seasonal produce.

Find a market this weekend and discover all the great foods produced in your own backyard and maybe I'll see you in the cookbook aisle.

The Beauty of Simplicity...

I like to keep it simple. I don’t want to be in the kitchen all day. For special occasions yes. I actually enjoy cooking but on an everyday... I want in and out and good !

My roommate Sallie is always shocked at how quickly I cook, or that I can actually clean up before I sit down to a still warm, really good meal. My cooking is getting better though my father says otherwise.

Anyway, I’ve been in the kitchen more because I love to cook but I want to cook better. So I buy beautiful cookbooks! Go to a bookstore and flip through the pages. Find food that looks good to you and that’s the one you get, provided of course you even want to cook. But I do suggest you befriend your kitchen. Open a bottle of wine and try something different like I did for Thanksgiving.

My niece Briana came down from college to hang out with Aunt Candace for a few days over the holidays. She’s attending University of the Pacific. Yep, we’re kinda proud. I asked her for her ‘must-have’ food because Aunt Candace was not doing the whole Thanksgiving dinner thing. She needed yams and sweet tea. Our compromise was sweet potato pie and sweet tea. After that, it just had to be good and it had to be simple.

I found a recipe for chicken that sounded and looked really good in the December issue of Food & Wine (page 106, take a look at it when you’re in the grocery store tomorrow. It may become your dinner). It’s crazy how simple it is. And the fact that it’s a one-pot dish, oh yeah, even better.

Chicken Baked on a Bed of Bread and Swiss Chard – You’ve got chicken, greens, and bread. I’m happy! What else do you need, macaroni and cheese? I got you. Briana made it and she did a good job. There was finger smacking and everything. We did good Bri!

This is a relatively healthy meal. All your fat comes from the mac & cheese but we’re not eating the whole pan here. I know it’s the holidays but let’s enjoy not engorge. It’s a long season and an even longer winter. We don’t move as much and we typically eat heavier, richer foods. My mom’s baked potato soup sounds good on 40 degree nights. Yeah, yeah I know some of you are wearing toe warmers right now because it’s 8 degrees outside. I live in Southern California and I’m grateful not to have to shovel a path to my car. But 40 degrees is 40 degrees and that’s cold to me but, back to the point.

We’re in that extended, celebratory part of the year where the ovens are on full blast baking cakes and pies, the doorbells are ringing with people holding gifts of chocolate and wine, and soon it will be time to toast 2011 with champagne. Enjoy your friends and family but enjoy yourself just a bit more by realizing you don’t have to pack on the fat in order to survive the winter. We may not move as much when it’s cold but we’re not bears hibernating for six months either. Your happy holidays shouldn't equate to pounds of regret later. Eat, drink and be merry but take it easy my friends.