Text 2684, 98 rader
Skriven 2008-02-16 15:44:41 av Ruth Haffly (1:396/45.28)
   Kommentar till text 2497 av Janis Kracht (1:261/38)
Ärende: Grass-Fed beef                                           [1]
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Hi Janis,

>> whole tomatoes that are pre-smashed (g) in the blender will cook down
>> really well. the paste gives it body... I usually use 1 can of paste
>> and 1  "paste can" of water to 1 can of tomatoes, unless I want less
>> body, then I just use a few tablespoons of paste and no water. Then,

 JK> > Yes, and what one person likes, another may not. The original recipe
 JK> > from Stve's mom had about 3 to 3 1/2 cans of water to paste; I've
 JK> cut > the water down to 2, 2 1/2 or 3, depending on how long I'm

 JK> I had a friend in high school who loved to make sauce with 6 cans of
 JK> tomato paste and a ton of water (don't remember how much), and it did
 JK> make a very "smooth" sauce.. when I introduced her to starting with
 JK> Olive Oil and garlic, and using whole tomatos and some paste she
 JK> decided to make it that way... YEARS later (like 25 or more) I ran
 JK> into her in my hometown and was invited to her house, was great to
 JK> reminice of course.. but I was floored when she pulled out a very
 JK> crinkled piece of Looseleaf with my recipe for Italian Tomato Sauce on
 JK> it and said something like, "Remember THIS?  I still use it" :)

All a matter of taste; I think Steve likes this because he was brought
up with it but he likes my varients also. My mom made nothing near to
it; I've made her version for 'beef-a-roni" a few times however.

 JK> Anyway, yes, I can see how your method would require longer cooking
 JK> time.. it's the water you add with the paste, and there's nothing
 JK> wrong with that of course :)

No, and I'll probably continue to do it that way. (G)

 JK> > At some point in the future I may have that again. When we did grow
 JK> > them, in order to have enough to make a batch of salsa, I'd skin and
 JK> cut > up the ripe ones, then freeze them until I had the amount I
 JK> needed.

 JK> Oh yeah, that's true :)  And that's a good method to use, that way you
 JK> don't have them spoiling inside, or getting pest-ridden outside :)

It was the best option at the time. IIRC, we had 4 bushes the first
year, then went to 6. Not a lot but kept us in tomatoes; one year up
until late November.

>> sauce.. so I cook down the tomatoes first so that they were really
>> cooked down well (in my microwave), then proceed.. because the chicken
>> and sausage don't take that awfully long to cook.. the results are

 JK> > I'd rather stove top cook the tomatoes; I'm in there stirring them
 JK> every > few minutes anyway. (G)

 JK> hehe.. sure, I can understand that.  My daughter will not use a
 JK> microwave at all.. She thinks they emit bad waves .. I'm a little more
 JK> practical sometimes out of necessity (g).  I don't use a microwave to
 JK> "cook" really, though.. but I do use it to melt butter, cook down

Ours is used mostly for cooking vegetables, reheating frozen stuff or
heating water for tea. Right now Steve is heating water for the smoker
pan in it.  I do melt butter, soften butter, etc in it--and use the
timer feature.

 JK> things like tomatoes when I make something like that sauce.. I've used
 JK> one to make the Italian stuffed-Roast Beef when I still had the
 JK> thermometer timer with my microwave.. but that thermometer died
 JK> eventually (g).

Our current one doesn't have a thermometer; I miss that feature at
times.

>> maverickness (g), most of my Aunt's normally were not all as good
>> cooks as my Mom, and used to use bottled tomato sauce.. I still
>> remember teasing my aunt Mimi about RAGU!! (laugh).  That was some bad
>> stuff :)  When they'd come to our house, the exclamations were always
>> incredible.

 JK> > We've resorted to the jarred sauce a few times but yes, it is not
 JK> the > same taste. Even doctoring it up will not disguise the
 JK> underlying taste.

 JK> Yep, I've noticed that as well.  We've also bought bottled sauce on a
 JK> rare occaision for snaking puposes.. like Toasted Italian bread slices
 JK> with sauce and mozzarella (g).  But usually I have sauce of some type
 JK> in the fridge, as I mentioned before.

I've got a bit of sauce in my fridge right now--perfect for something
like that but I'll probably make pasta soon & toss it in.

>> CONTINUED IN NEXT MESSAGE <<

---
Catch you later,
Ruth
rchaffly@earthlink.net  FIDO 1:396/45.28


... If you think you are confused now, wait until I explain it!

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