Tag Archives: sauce

Smitten Kitchen’s Naked Tomato Sauce

I have told you all in the past how much I didn’t like tomatoes. I liked ’em ok in sauce, ketchup and, you know, things like that. Cooked, let’s say. Then Corrine and an unknown farmer came into my live & bulldozed that into oblivion. You all know that.

Now I really like tomatoes, in season. I still kind of find winter tomatoes repulsive. So now, possibly more than any other food in the world, I’m vaguely obsessed with finding a way to preserve this for the future. Of course, I’m pretty new at this “preserving things”, so it’s going slowly.

The other day I managed to can a dozen pint jars of tomatoes. I don’t know if that’s a reasonable size or not, but I decided it seemed better than quarts for a family of two.… Continue reading →

[42] Béchamel

How to Cook Everything, Revised Edition by Mark Bittman

I can’t lie, I only made this recipe because I wanted lasagne and Bittman’s lasagne recipe called for it. Admittedly, I was also pretty thrilled to knock out three recipes in one go.

This does smell pretty good while cooking, I have to say. Also practicing my roux skills is always nice, since keeping it lump free is a big pain.

h2. Ingredients

2 tbsp butter or extra-virgin olive oil (I used butter. No surprises here.)
2 tbsp all-purpose flour

1 – 1.5 c milk

Salt and freshly ground pepper (Omitted.)

h2. Instructions

Melt the butter in a sauce pan over medium-low heat (if using oil, heat until hot). Once melted/hot, turn the heat to low and use a whisk to incorporate the flour into the fat.… Continue reading →