Domestic Goddess: Tomatoes

Let me tell you a little story....
Once upon a time there was a wonderful housewife/mother who would make spaghetti sauce from scratch. She would carefully sautee the onions and garlic, brown the meat, add in the spices and tomatoes. She would let it simmer to get a good flavor going, tasting as she went to make sure it came out "just right". He husband generally liked the results and would sometimes have helpful comments on what he liked and what could be better about it.
Then, one day, the very busy housewife/mother was running super late getting dinner on the table so instead of making sauce from scratch she decided to pull out the jar of Prego she had stashed int he panrty for just such an occasion and throw together a spaghetti dinner. Her family sat down, said blessing, and dove into the meal. That is when her husband exclaimed, "Wow honey! This is the best sauce you have ever made! You need to make it exactly like this every time you make it!". The very kind, loving, housewife/mother decided not to kill her husband on the spot and she also chose not to tell him his dinner came from a jar that night. She just continued to buy the Prego and pass it off as her own. He did not suspect for several years until she finally told him that her sauce came out of a jar and that she hadn't made it in years because of his comment. He was shocked and slightly apalled that he could not tell the difference.

And that is why, to this day I do not make homemade spaghetti sauce. Because Prego makes it better than I do. Although I like Bertolli for my lasagna (the basil one). So, I don't really know why I tried to make home mdae spaghetti sauce again. Oh, I made some salsa with it, with fresh peppers from our garden and I saved some tomatoes to slice up and serve with some sea salt or balsamic vinegar and mozzarella cheese and basil from our garden. But the sauce....well...I am thinking it will go better on a slice of italian bread with some fresh melted mozzarella on top and some fresh basil. Not really sure it is going to make it as a spaghetti sauce. Oh well. At least I have a stockpile of Prego in the pantry, right?

Good southern cooking

One of my goals before leaving Savannah is to actually learn to cook some "good southern food". I am still working on the fried chicken, but I think I may have mastered the fried green tomatoes. 

We went to the farmers market on Saturday and bought 3 great looking green tomatoes. So, I sliced them dipped them in seasoned buttermilk, coated them with a cornmeal and flour mixture and threw them into our cast iron skillet, hot with oil. The were pretty good for a first try...crispy on the outside with a nice coating, and warm on the inside. We served it with chipotle ranch dressing, I would like to try to make a special dipping sauce just for the tomatoes. One step at a time! 

The whole family helped on this one too-Wesley helped me make the cornmeal mixture, I cooked and Christopher enjoyed them! 

Christopher's First homemade pizza!

So, with Christopher being home, we have been getting back into cooking again. Sure, I cooked when he was gone but it just isn't as fun, especially when the one person you cook for just wants fish sticks every night. 

So! We started with homemade pizza. We made the dough and sauce from scratch. I guess I should post the recipie on here. 

Pizza dough: Add 1 packet of dry yeast to 1 cup of tepid water. Stir and let sit. While that is sitting, measure out 4 1/4 cups of flour into a food processor. Add 1 tbsp of olive oil. Start the machine and as it's spinning add in the yeasty water. If you don't have a food processor you can do this by hand, or you can probably use a stand mixer. Mix until it's combined and comes away from the sides. Roll into a ball, put it in a bowl and cover with plastic. Let sit in a warm place for at least an hour. 

Pizza sauce: 1 large can of crushed tomatoes, 1 clove of garlic minced, a little butter, salt and pepper.  Put tomatoes, garlic, and butter in a sauce pan over medium heat, reduce by half. Salt and pepper to taste. You will have plenty so have a jar on hand to hold the extras. 

Anyway, we made a pizza with fresh mozzarella, feta cheese, our sauce, chopped tomatoes and fresh basil. I think the only thing we will add next time is pesto sauce to the top. It was really yummy, and a fun family project to do, we all helped with each step.