15? Minute Fresh Tomato Sauce

Here in Southern California the first summer heirloom tomatoes are lining the tables at the farmer's market. For me, it's hard to imagine using canned tomatoes for something during tomato season. So to use the freshest ingredients for our homemade pasta, I searched recipes from the internet for pasta sauce I could make from the freshest tomatoes.

I found this sauce to be delicious, it took a bit longer than 15 minutes, but do you know what is a great way to relieve a week of stress? Squeezing the seeds and juice out of warm tomatoes right into the sink with your bare hands.  How rewarding! Joey didn't love the sauce at all--he found it boring, he found it "tomatoey".  Pity. If you don't like tomatoes like my husband, then you should not make this sauce. If you do--try it tonight and use red & yellow tomatoes to make this pretty orange color!

We had this sauce on top of our previously frozen fresh homemade pasta. The pasta comes out of the freezer without defrosting and is ready in 3-4 minutes. It still tastes better than dried pasta but closer to store-bought fresh pasta out of the freezer.


slightly adapted from here.

Ingredients:
2 lbs + tomatoes of any kind
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
5 leaves basil, chopped
2 t olive oil
1 t salt + more to taste 1 t pizza or Italian spices
dash of white balsamic vinegar (optional)
pasta & cheese for serving

1. Boil a large pot of water
2. Score an X on tomato bottoms. Add tomatoes to the water, cook for 2 minutes, remove with a pasta spoon and let sit in a bowl 5 minutes to cool.
3. Peel the tomatoes and discard the peels.  Squeeze the extra juice and seeds into the sink. Really get your hands dirty
4. Toss pulp with salt and spices in a bowl
5. Heat oil in a large saute pan, add garlic and cook for 30 seconds
6. Add the tomatoes and cook 2 minutes. Strain the pulp into a bowl and let the juices boil 2-3 minutes until thickened.
7. Puree the pulp with a hand blender and add it back in
8. Salt to taste, heat till heated through, serve over pasta with a little cheese and basil sprinkled on top

Rainbow Fruit Salad

Sometimes in the winter or even the spring, making a fruit salad proves to be a little harder than the summer. The only thing in season is citrus and supreming citrus to make it look pretty is time consuming.  So when I decided to make fruit salad for a party today, I popped over to the farmer's market and picked up whatever was available. Then Joey donated a mango and some kiwis to my cause and the result was a very rainbow salad--perfect for a gray spring day.

Oh you wanted a picture? Unfortunately I didn't take one and near the end it didn't look so delicious anymore...

Serves 10-12
2 Cara Cara oranges
4-5 small blood oranges
4 tangerines
5 kiwis
1 mango (probably 2 would be better)
1/2 pint small strawberries
1 cherimoya

1. Cut the ends off the citrus and then use a sharp knife to cut the sides off.  Cut the oranges into chunks avoiding the very center tough part. Toss into a bowl.
2. Peel and chop the kiwis
3. Cut the mango on each side of the hard pit in the center. Slice into cubes inside the mango skin and then cut around the edge. Use a really large spoon to scoop out the chunks.
4. Wash and drain the strawberries, cut off the greens and slice in half
5. Cut the cherimoya in half. Cut into chunks without the skin and watch out for the big seeds
6. Toss all the fruit together but add the strawberries and cherimoya on top so they don't get too smooshed. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

The taste of color

Taste Color

Spring Slaw

There is nothing like cutting into a head of lettuce and then realizing it is cabbage.  But these minor mistakes sometimes make for great finds!  Today as I proceeded to make salad for Jenny & Gavin coming over I realized that the "lettuce" I had was cabbage (I got it in a produce box).  I could have just made kale salad at this point but instead I thought, I bet I can make some kind of citrus-vinaigrette slaw.  I browsed the web and didn't really find anything so I decided to make it up. In this case, the gamble payed off and this might be a salad I would make on purpose!

Ingredients
1/2 any crispy red apple (okay you can use green if you really must)
1/2 small head cabbage
1/2 red bell pepper
3 T chopped curly parsley
*I made wayyy too much dressing for this "half" recipe but just save it for tomorrow!
juice of 1/2 lemon
juice of 1 tangelo (it is tangerine and pommelo but it tasted really sweet)
salt
pepper
2 T white balsamic vinegar
2 T olive oil
1 T honey

1. Whisk together all the ingredients for the dressing, tasting as you go and then set aside.
2. Julienne the apple (cut into thin strips) & finely chop the parsley
3. Julienne and then dice the bell pepper, and cut the cabbage so it is in shreds (just cut the cabbage on an angle around the core.
4. Mix everything together in a bowl and serve.  Remember not to pour in all the dressing because you definitely made too much!

Pork Loin with Roasted Root Vegetables

Last week I bought a 2-lb pork loin roast on sale. I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it but it seemed like a good purchase.  Then my crazy work schedule + Easter happened. Finally tonight I was able to make the loin.  Did you know that pork loin roast takes only about 20 minutes a pound to cook? That means you get more meat for the price and can cook it almost as quickly as pork tenderloin!  This meal took me 45 minutes from start to finish and used just 1 pan and 1 cutting board and 1 knife!

*If you don't like radishes, you should try roasting them! They taste sweeter and a little bit more like a turnip. My husband who does not eat radishes ate these radishes and only noticed that their coloring was different from the potatoes but was happy to have them mixed in.

1 2-lb pork loin roast
5 carrots, chopped into large chunks
1 bunch radishes, halved*
1 C small potatoes, halved
olive oil
salt
pepper
1 clove garlic, sliced

1. Preheat oven to 450 and meanwhile prepare the vegetables
2. Salt and Pepper the pork loin all over and place fat-side down on a rimmed baking sheet. Cut slits into the top of the pork and cut slices of garlic inside
3. Toss vegetables with a little olive oil and salt. Spread veg around the pork loin but not touching it
4. Roast for 40-45 minutes until internal temperature reaches 145 degrees
5. Slice and serve with vegetable medley

Apricot Stuffed Pork Tenderloin

Pork tenderloin was on sale when I was at the store on Wednesday so I picked one up. The great thing about pork tenderloin is that it is just enough meat for a family of four or just two bigger eaters and leftovers for one.  Basically, it's not too many leftovers and it is quick to cook!

I didn't have a recipe in mind but when I got home I reviewed my bookmarks. I read one recipe on Martha Stewart that talked about making a mixture of dried apricots and scallions. The recipe had very mixed reviews but it sparked my creativity.

I finally got around to making the pork tenderloin tonight and made a twist on the apricot stuffing. It was great! This dish got an A from my husband and is definitely something I will make again! This takes just 25 minutes to put together!


Ingredients
1 pork tenderloin
1 large clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup Turkish Dried Apricots, finely chopped*
2 T orange marmalade  (really any jam here, like maybe apricot)
pinch of sugar
salt & pepper
kitchen twine or those handy silicon bands

Preheat the oven to 450

1. Place a large frying pan over high heat and let it heat up. Salt & Pepper the pork. Add pork to the fying pan and brown 2 minutes per side until all sides are brown
2. Mix together apricots, marmalade, sugar, and garlic
3. Cut a slit lengthwise in the pork not all the way through but enough of a pocket to hold the apricots
4. Stuff the apricot mixture inside the slit and tie in 4 places with kitchen twine. If some of the apricot mixture falls out just stuff it back in.
5. Place the pork apricot side up on a rimmed baking sheet and roast 20 minutes or until it reaches 165 degrees.
6. Cut into medallions using your ties as guides.


*If you don't use Turkish apricots they may not cook down as nicely. If you want to use the regular kind you may want to re-hydrate them a little before using.

Homemade Buttermilk Bread

 When we were at Epcot in February I had this delicious ham sandwich in France.  It was just ham, butter and cheese on a very fresh baguette. It was fantastic. I recall it as one of my favorite meals while there.  Ever since we returned I have been craving a similar ham sandwich.  So today, since I was at home I decided to make some bread.  The thing about bread is that it's like 10-15 minutes of hands on time and hours of hands off time. Perfect when you are working from home!

This bread uses buttermilk and that is primarily the reason I chose to make it--because I already had buttermilk!  The bread may not have worked exactly how it was intended to work because it was really dense and a little spongy possibly because of the Pam I sprayed on the pan and bowl a little bit greasy. Regardless it was a really hearty dinner! It is fun to make bread and then use it right away!  I recommend it. And if you are lucky, your yeast might be more active than my yeast.

I used this recipe. But with my perpetual fear of other blogs going away I am reposting it here.


Ingredients
1/4 C water, warmed
1 package active dry yeast
pinch of sugar
4 1/2 C flour
1 t salt (use regular because I think Kosher was too salty)
2-3 t honey
1 1/2 C buttermilk, warmed
1 egg, whisked (for baking)

1. Place yeast and sugar in the warmed water and let sit 10 minutes until foamy. Note - If it is not foamy after 10 minutes your yeast is not active and you must try again, always buy extra yeast!

2. Meanwhile, measure out all other ingredients into a mixing bowl.  Add yeast mixture and mix with the dough hook until a soft ball forms.

3. Remove the dough and place on a well-floured board and knead about 10 minutes. Place in an oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise 1 hour/

4. Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead about 5 minutes. Shape into a loaf and place into a loaf pan. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise 40 minutes.

5. Preheat oven to 375.  Remove plastic wrap and brush bread top with egg.  Bake 45 minutes.  Wait a tiny bit for your hot bread to cool before enjoying.  We loved it with ham sandwiches for dinner!