|
Post by bjd on Apr 22, 2018 18:45:34 GMT
Personally, I prefer to use canned tomatoes for sauce and to eat the fresh ones as salads. I find that since you need a fair amount of liquid to make sauce, it's simpler to use a can of chopped up tomatoes.
I buy Mutti brand tomato concentrate. On the rare occasions I buy tomato sauce in a jar, I buy Barilla Arrabiata sauce.
|
|
|
Post by lagatta on Apr 23, 2018 2:07:45 GMT
Here is a recent pasta offering by Rachel Roddy, though there is little mention of tomato sauce: www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/apr/17/rachel-roddy-recipe-spring-greens-pastaI have a small trove of origanic arrabbiata sauce, though it is really not very fiery. I've been using very small quantities of tomato-based sause of late. I love it, but seem to digest it poorly, and I'm sure as hell not going to add white sugar to it. Perhaps more mild sweet onions.
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Apr 23, 2018 2:25:49 GMT
LaGatta, you can add a teeny tiny eensy incey bit of baking soda to the sauce. Really, I am talking less than a pinch. It will cut the acidity, but if you use too much, it will also kill every bit of character the sauce has. I prefer to use canned tomatoes for sauce and to eat the fresh ones as salads. My preference doesn't really count here, as fresh tomatoes are way more available to me than canned ones. So ironically, I've developed a way to get fresh tomato sauce to come out with the texture and taste of the kind made with canned tomatoes.
|
|
|
Post by mickthecactus on Dec 18, 2020 14:19:00 GMT
Just reread all of this. So nice to see lagatta talking about food with such enthusiasm.
I need to cook a batch of tomato sauce.
|
|
|
Post by tod2 on Dec 22, 2020 12:49:50 GMT
I've been using very small quantities of tomato-based sause of late. I love it, but seem to digest it poorly, and I'm sure as hell not going to add white sugar to it. When making curries I add Palm sugar. With my tomato recipes either fresh or canned, I do add a small teaspoon of white sugar or tomato jam to cut the acidity or sour taste. Another method to make a tomato sauce really good is to add fresh rosemary on the stalk if possible.
|
|
|
Post by kerouac2 on Dec 22, 2020 17:40:06 GMT
I used two tins of tomatoes when I made chili the other day. I need to make chili more often because one of the tins had expired about 10 years ago and the other about 2 years ago. (One peeled stewed tomatoes and one tomato pulp.) I was very happy to use them because I had already noticed that my stockpile of tinned tomatoes was more than excessive since I rarely use them. However, I am very careful with tinned tomatoes because I know that it is the item that is the most likely to ferment if not canned properly. While this is often deadly botulism, there is little risk of being poisoned when you consider what happens when you open the tin.
I found this out about 30 years ago in my studio apartment in the 19th arrondissement. I don't know what I was cooking, but it called for tinned tomato paste. I fully admit that I should have known better. The tin was bulging ever so slightly, and I knew that this meant that it should not be used. But these were days of financial frailty, so I opened it anyway. It exploded violently, spraying the ceiling and the walls with tomato goodness, but on top of that it scared the shit out of me, causing me to jump back and knock over my improvised shelves on the side of the kitchenette. These were made of loose bricks and planks and held all of my pots and pans. Everything collapsed and also knocked over my bottle of cooking oil which went gloop gloop gloop all over the floor.
Needless to say, I had no risk of dying of botulism that night or of eating dinner at all. I remember that it took about two hours to clean up everything, wipe up the oil and set up my shelves again. Lesson learned once and for all about bulging tins.
|
|
|
Post by tod2 on Oct 6, 2021 11:30:57 GMT
I was handed armfuls of bright red bell peppers as Mr.Todd ripped out the plants which had seen their day. Most peppers were small - even some the size of a big strawberry. I chopped up the flesh and cooked them with a little olive oil, garlic and oregano. Added one veg stock cube. Then pulverised the cooked peppers with a blending stick. When it became a smooth sauce I tasted it and was disappointed. It had a bitter after taste - not overpowering but it was there. I wanted to use it on pasta. Does anyone think it could be because the peppers were small and intense or maybe from the skins which I did not remove by blistering/charring them. How can I rescue my sauce? Should I add cream or the same quantity tomato pasta sauce - ?
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Oct 6, 2021 16:38:36 GMT
I'm surprised at the bitterness since you cooked them first. Usually cooked bell peppers are nice and sweet.
Tod, try this: Heat olive oil in a deep pot on high heat(deep because this will spatter). Pour in your bell pepper sauce and stir it in well. When it starts to bubble, lower the heat & let it simmer. Meanwhile, get out some tomato sauce or some chopped up fresh tomatoes. Raise the heat & put in the tomatoes or sauce. Once all that is cooking nicely, taste it & decide if it's okay or if it might like a little sugar.
|
|
|
Post by tod2 on Oct 6, 2021 16:44:20 GMT
I'm going to do just that Bixa. I have homemade tomato sauce made in about the same way. Little sugar is always a good thing. Thanks for the tip!
|
|
|
Post by kerouac2 on Oct 6, 2021 16:54:41 GMT
I'm surprised at the bitterness of cooked bell peppers, too. Cooking them generally removes all of the bitterness. However, I completely believe you and think you might have benefited from authentic unadulterated bell peppers. Just about everything we eat these days has been engineered to remove all bitterness, sharpness, odour, and dare I say flavour?
|
|
|
Post by tod2 on Oct 7, 2021 7:23:55 GMT
I have decided that when the opportunity comes to harvest another lot of peppers I am going to eat one of the small ones that have a thin skin or maybe I should say very thin flesh. This could be the problem but we will see. In the meantime I will "doctor" my sauce the best I can with tomato passata and maybe a little dairy cream.
|
|