Slow Cooked Fresh Tomato Sauce

Tomato season is in full swing here in North Georgia, and those 'maters were piling up high in our kitchen this week! I decided to take all our fresh, ripe Roma tomatoes and make a gorgeous slow-cooked tomato sauce.

I'm not gonna lie to you, dear readers. This sauce was a heck of a lot of work! In the end, was it really truly worth it?! Oh, heck yeah!!!

Fresh Tomato Sauce
made up on the fly by yours truly

2 lbs. fresh, ripe tomatoes (or 2 large cans crushed tomatoes)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium green pepper, diced
1 medium onion, diced
3 large cloves of garlic, minced
1 cup water
1 tablespoon of your favorite Italian seasoning blend
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup Italian red wine (optional)
3 tablespoons tomato paste
Fresh basil and oregano

Boil a large pot of water. Place the tomatoes (in batches if necessary) into the boiling water for 60 seconds. Remove the tomatoes with a slotted spoon and place into a bath of ice water to cool. When tomatoes are cool enough to handle, remove the skins, and core/seed the tomatoes. (BTW, this part will really freaking hurt if you have paper cuts on your fingers - oow!) Place the remaining flesh into your crock pot.

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the green pepper and onion, sauteeing until soft - about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another two minutes. Pour the veggies over the tomatoes in the crock pot.

Next, add the water, Italian seasoning, vinegar, sugar, and wine into the crock pot. Turn on low and cook for 4-7 hours, stirring occasionally if possible (i.e. get your husband/friend/dog to do it when s/he comes home for lunch). During the last hour of cooking, add the tomato paste and a teaspoon or two of fresh basil and oregano, chopped.

If you like a finer texture, then transfer half of the sauce to a blender or food processor and carefully blend until smooth (remember you're dealing with a very hot liquid!). Return the blended sauce to the crock pot and stir.

Serve hot over cooked pasta of your choice, and garnish with fresh herbs. Enjoy!

An explosion of blackberries and cranberry zing

We hosted a lovely wine tasting party at our home last month, and I wanted to share my menu and pairings with you!

Let me preface this post by telling you a bit about my (limited) wine knowledge, and the type of crowd that we were catering to.

Me, I'm a wine lover. What can I say? I grew up Catholic. Catholics like wine.

I am also a former bartender (in one of my many past lives) - and I learned a LOT about wine during that fun-filled time. That said, I am by no means a wine expert - nor am I much of a wine snob. I like good wine, and I like good deals. So the wines that I chose for our tasting ranged from $8 per bottle to $20 per bottle. I also tried to select some "classic" reds so that my friends could figure out what a "real cab" and a "real syrah" taste like.

Which leads me to my friends. My wonderful friends, who range in wine-experience from the Arbor-Mist-fans to the small-Italian-label-red-winos. In between, we had some inexperienced wine drinkers, like my hubby, and guests who would mainly stick to white wine but wanted to learn more about reds. So you can see, we had a full spectrum of palettes to try and please. Part of the point of the party was to get our Arbor Mist friends away from the juice and into some *real* wines.

And it was also to extend the rest of our vino repertoires into uncharted territories and varietals that we had not tried in a while. Myself, I get into a chianti-and-zinfandel-rut sometimes, and it was great to get out of my comfort zone and enjoy some other reds!

I was lucky to have the advice of some Whole Foods and Trader Joe's employees to guide my wine selections, and I also received some help from other foodie friends.

Without further ado, here is a report on the result!

Cheese Course:
Extra sharp white Canadian cheddar,
topped with raspberry jam and toasted pecans

Sliced hard salami

St. Andre Brie with water crackers

Sombrero Rioja - bright and fruity, even our red-wino-phobes loved this red

Toad's Hollow Rose - refreshing and totally dry, the opposite of a white zin, this rose was awesome, perfect for a spring afternoon or a summer picnic

~~~

Appetizers

Carbonara Pizza Slices

Chicken-Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms

Da Vinci Chianti Classico - everything a chianti should be, in my humble opinion; ripe and robus, easy to drink!

Praxis Syrah -a beautiful Syrah although a bit dry for some of our guests' taste

~~~

Salad

Grilled Salad with Ginger Crostini

La Crema Pinot Noir - this was the #1 favorite for those who knew their red wine, light and delicate - super smooooooth

~~~

Dinner

Seared beef tenderloin
topped with Boursin cheese and roasted red peppers

Spinach and Feta Stuffed Potatoes

Dynamite Merlot - a great classic merlot for easy drinking - our inexperienced red winers really enjoyed this one

Avalon Cabernet Sauvignon - this was a very bold, somewhat dry red that appealed to the seasoned red wine lovers, but not so much to the Arbor Mist addicts

Menage a Trois Red - we loved this red blend, not just for the funny name, but for its gorgeous fruity flavors and depth

~~~

Dessert

Chocolate Ganache Cake

Dark chocolate truffles

Milk chocolate toffee truffles

Rosenblum Vineyards Zinfandel - this was one of my favorite wines of the night, but then again I am a fan of a nice, bold Zin - it paired up perfectly with dark chocolate!

La Ferme Julien Rose - a fun bargain Trader Joe's wine that paired nicely with dessert, for those who had gotten as far into the deep reds as they could handle

Sausage-Stuffed Shroomers

Here is the final recipe from our wine tasting - an appetizer of sausage stuffed mushrooms - the perfect bite-sized taste to accompany our fruity and delicious Barriosa Sombrero Rojo Rioja wine. Our guests are still raving about these mushrooms over a week later - I call that a successful dish!

Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms

3 pints baby bella mushrooms, cleaned with the stems removed
1 lb. chicken or turkey sausage, sweet Italian is great, but almost any flavor would work (We used a red wine and cheese variety from Trader Joes here.)
2/3 cup plain breadcrumbs
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup parmigiano regiano cheese, grated (plus extra for sprinkling)
1/4 cup minced onion
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
2-3 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley

Preheat a heavy skillet over medium heat. Meanwhile, remove the casings from the sausages and put the meat in the skillet. Brown the sausage until cooked through, using a spatula to break apart any pieces. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 375 degrees and grease a large baking sheet. Arrange the mushrooms cap-side-down on the sheet and set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine the bread crumbs, eggs, cheese, onion, garlic, pepper, and parsley. Add the cooled sausage to the mixture and stir until combined. Fill each mushroom cap with about a tablespoonful of the sausage mixture, and don't worry if the filling piles up and overflows a bit. When all mushrooms are filled, sprinkle some extra grated cheese on top.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, until filing is set and sizzling. Serve immediately and enjoy!

Carbonara Pizza

And yet another recipe from last week's wine tasting. This tasty little dish was a great appetizer and paired nicely with our Da Vinci Chianti Classico. The topping of this pizza is a re-creating of a carbonara pasta dish - complete with pancetta, eggs, and ricotta!

Pancetta is a wonderful Italian style bacon, with a great smoky-n-salty flavor. And the gorgeous cheesy mixture on top somehow manages to seem rich and light at the same time. This would be a fun weeknight meal or a tasty appetizer to get your guests going before an Italian meal.

Carbonara Pizza
from Rachel Ray

Cornmeal, for sprinkling
1 lb. pizza dough, at room temperature (recommended: Trader Joe's)
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/4 lb. pancetta, chopped
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/4 cup grated pecorino romano cheese (parmesan would also work well)
2 egg yolks, beaten
1 clove garlic, grated or minced
Pepper, to taste
1 1/2 cups shredded provolone cheese
1/3 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

Preheat your oven to 450°. Sprinkle a few pinches of cornmeal on a baking sheet. Place the pizza dough on the sheet and stretch it into a large round or rectangle. If stretching is difficult, use a rolling pin. Brush the dough with the olive oil and partially bake the crust until puffed and slightly golden, about 8 minutes.

Note: If you are pressed for time, you could start right >>here<< in the recipe with a pre-made crust like Mama Mary's or Boboli's. :-)

Warm up a small skillet over medium heat. Add the pancetta and cook, stirring often, until crisp and browned, about 5 minutes. Transfer the pancetta to a bowl lined with paper towels and allow it to drain and cool.

In a medium bowl, combine the ricotta, pecorino romano, egg yolks and garlic; next add the pancetta. Season the mixture with pepper, stirring to combine.

Spread the ricotta-pancetta mixture over the partially baked pizza dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border around the edges for a crust. Top the pizza with the provolone. Bake until the crust and topping are golden and cooked through, about 12 minutes.

Sprinkle with parsley, cut into wedges, and serve immediately!

Bell and Boursin Tenderloin

Here is another recipe from our weekend wine-tasting. We served this as the main course, paired with a nice bold Cabernet Sauvignon from Avalon Winery and a fun red blend called Ménage à Trois.

This was probably the favorite dish of the night! The meat was so tender and juicy. The Boursin and roasted red peppers melted in your mouth, just like the tenderloin did! This is a great recipe for an upscale summer cookout with a crowd. One tenderloin easily fed all 10 of us!

Bells and Boursin Beef Tenderloin
Inspired by Molly Jean, the Rookie Chef

2-3 lb. whole beef tenderloin, trimmed (got ours at Trader Joe's - yum)
Salt and pepper, to taste
Olive oil
1 10-ounce jar of roasted red bell peppers (or you can make your own)
1 4-ounce package Boursin cheese (recommended: garlic and fine herbs)

Preheat your grill to medium-high heat. Tie your beef into an even, round roast if necessary so that it will cook evenly. Season the outside of the roast generously with salt and pepper, or a seasoning rub of your choice. You can also spray or brush the meat with olive oil to prevent sticking.

Using metal tongs, apply the meat to the hot grill, browning and caramelizing the surface of the meat, turning until all sides are nicely seared. Turn the grill down to low heat (or move the meat to a lower-heat area of the grill) and continue to cook until a meat thermometer inserted into the center of the tenderloin registers between 120-130 degrees (for medium-rare).

Remove the meat from the grill, cover it lightly with foil, and allow it to rest for 15-20 minutes. The temperature of the meat should continue to rise about 10 degrees as it rests. Meanwhile, pour your roasted red peppers into a microwave-safe dish and heat for about 30-45 seconds, until the peppers are fragrant and steaming.

After the meat has rested, cut your tenderloin into 3/4" slices and arrange on a large platter. Top each slice with a generous slathering of Boursin cheese. Then layer a warm roasted red pepper on top. Serve immediately.

Grilled Salad with Sweet Italian Sausage

Here is the salad that we served during our wine-tasting party. It paired beautifully with the La Crema Pinot Noir. Everyone loved the ginger crostini in this salad - and you will not believe how easy it was to make. This would be a perfect salad to serve at a cook-out - the grilled flavors of the sausage and the onion are complimented so beautifully by the balsamic.

Grilled Salad with Ginger Crostini
Adapted from Rachel Ray

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 teaspoons ground ginger
6-8 slices crusty white bread
1 pound sweet Italian pork sausages
2 medium sweet onions, peeled and quartered
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
8 cups mixed greens
1/4 cup balsamic vinaigrette (recommended: Newman's Own)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. In a small bowl, mix together the olive oil and the ground ginger. Brush the ginger mixture generously on the bread slices. Place them on a baking sheet, and bake until toasted and crispy, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, using a grill, grill pan, or George Foreman, cook the sausages over medium-high heat, turnning as necessary, until browned and crispy on all side, about 15-20 minutes.

Pour the balsamic vinegar over the onion wedges. Grill on both sides over medium-high heat for about 4 minutes on each side. The wedges should become soft and slightly charred.

In a large bowl, toss the greens with the balsamic vinaigrette until the greens are lightly coated. Divide the salad into 6-8 portions, topping each with a grilled onion wedge and a ginger crostini. Slice the sausages diagonally and divide the pieces among the salads. Serve immediately, and enjoy!