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Using my LeCreuset braiser, I added the quartered tomatoes to the pan along with the vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper and cooked it about an hour. It needs to cook to a jam like consistency. As I was using plum tomatoes, it took an hour and even then I didn’t wait till the liquid was totally gone.
Once the tomatoes are cooked, its strained through a fine mesh strainer (twice if you want a smooth texture, I liked mine after straining once). The Worcestershire is added; then the mixture is chilled. I put mine in five 16-ounce mason jars. The next day, I gave it a try with some French fries. Wow, what a vibrant flavor. The consistency was what you would expect out of a bottle, but the taste was brighter and a little darker than the well-known product. Overall, I’m quite happy with the results. I shared a jar with my son and daughter to try. Another recipe I tried was Lidia’s Bastianich’s Meat Sauce Bolognese using canned San Marzano tomatoes from Italy. For this recipe you’ll need extra virgin olive oil, onion, carrots, celery, kosher salt, ground beef, ground pork, dry red wine, tomato paste, Italian plum tomatoes, bay leaves, freshly ground black pepper and hot water. In a 3 or 4 quart or Dutch oven, the onion, carrot and celery are cooked until the onion is translucent. Next, the meats are added and cooked until lightly brown and their cooking juice is evaporated. The red wine is added to deglaze the pot and then a hot spot is made to brown the tomato paste. Lastly, the plum tomatoes are added along with the bay leaves, salt and pepper. The sauce is simmered for 2 to 3 hours. I had mine go for three hours for better flavor. The sauce makes enough to dress 1-1/2 pounds of fresh pasta. I made a pound of pasta Saturday night and I had enough for another meal. The sauce was very flavorful. It was easy to prepare as once you had all the ingredients in the pot, cooking and patience is what made this sauce delicious. It was light tasting with the combined beef and pork providing additional flavor and substance with the pasta. Overall, a delightful sauce. The weather last Thursday didn’t allow for my youngest granddaughter and I to take our walk to the playground followed by our donut stop at Dreyer Farms. Instead, we started the morning my making healthy snacks. Lucy calls them oat balls but really they’re called No Bake Energy Bites, a recipe off the back of Trader Joe’s Ground Flaxseed Meal. For the recipe you’ll need old fashioned rolled oats, chocolate chips (minis work best), ground flaxseed, crunchy peanut butter, honey or maple syrup and vanilla. As Lucy’s sister has a peanut allergy, we made these with sun butter. I’m sure creamy peanut butter or almond butter would work just as well. All the ingredients are mixed together in a large mixing bowl. We used a cookie scooper to have a uniform size then with moistened hands, rolled the mixture in round balls. Lucy prefers her oat balls coated in flaked coconut. She likes to place the coconut in a shallow rectangular covered container and shake to coat. It actually was easier and cleaner to do it this way. We placed them in shallow, covered containers to freeze for about an hour. Lucy and her sister enjoyed these before their gymnastics class. I had two green zucchinis from Dreyer Farms CSA box. I found two recipes for zucchini fritters and decided to try Smitten Kitchen’s version for supper the other evening. Besides zucchini, you’ll also need kosher salt, scallions, an egg, freshly ground black pepper, all-purpose flour, baking powder and oil for frying. The zucchini needs to be shredded either using a box grater or the shredding blade of a food processor. Deb Perelman, Smitten Kitchen’s creator, prefers the food processor and so did I. Once the zucchini is shredded, I placed it in a colander over a plate, and tossed the zucchini with salt to help release some of its liquid. Taking a cue from one of the comments on the site, I used my potato ricer to squeeze out the excess moisture. You can wrap the zucchini in a towel or cheesecloth to wring out the liquid, but the ricer worked like a charm. In a large bowl, I mixed the flour and baking powder together, then added the scallions and egg and mixed. Next I added the shredded zucchini, black pepper and a bit more salt then mixed to combine. Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, I portioned out the patties. In a cast iron skillet, using corn oil, I fried the fritters to a medium golden brown. I placed them on a baking rack on a rimmed baking sheet to keep warm and crisp until the rest of my meal was ready. These fritters were wonderful, light and crispy; my husband couldn’t get over how delicious they were. Although there’s a topping recipe to go with them, I didn’t make it this time, but there will the next. Yesterday morning, I reheated one of the leftover fritters and topped it with a poached egg...mmm delicious!
Tomato Ketchup
“Your Burger Will Thank You,” By Melissa Clark The New York Times/A Good Appetite June 29, 2012 And at NYT Cooking “The quality of your ingredients counts for a lot here. Don’t bother making ketchup until you can get luscious, ripe tomatoes. Grape tomatoes work, but feel free to use plum tomatoes instead. You want a meaty tomato for this, so save delicate heirlooms for salads. Many ketchup recipes call for loads of spices, but this one is kept simple with just a little black pepper and Worcestershire sauce for complexity — a close approximation to that inimitable flavor of classic Heinz, without the high-fructose corn syrup.” Total Time: 40 minutes Yield: about 2 cups Ingredients 4 pints ripe grape tomatoes, cut in half 2 cups red wine vinegar ⅔ cup dark brown sugar 4 teaspoons salt 2 teaspoons black pepper ¾ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce Preparation In a wide skillet, simmer tomatoes, vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper until a thick jamlike mixture forms and liquid evaporates, 20 to 25 minutes. Purée until smooth. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve. (For a perfectly smooth texture, strain twice.) Stir in Worcestershire. Chill before serving. 
Meat Sauce Bolognese
Sugo alla Bolognese From “Lidia’s Italian-American Kitchen,” By Lidia Matticchio Bastianich Published by Alfred A. Knopf ©2001 Ingredients 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 1 medium yellow onion, minced (about 1 cup) 1 medium carrot, peeled and finely shredded (about 1/2 cup) 1/2 cup minced celery with leaves 2 teaspoons kosher salt 1 pound ground beef 1 pound ground pork 1/2 cup dry red wine 1 tablespoon tomato paste 3 cups canned Italian plum tomatoes, preferably San Marzano, crushed by hand or passed through a food mill 3 fresh or 4 dried bay leaves Freshly ground black pepper to taste 4 cups hot water, or as needed Preparation Heat the olive oil in a wide, 3 to 4-quart pan or Dutch oven over medium heat. Stir in the onion, carrot and celery, season them lightly with salt and cook, stirring, until the onion is translucent. Crumble in the ground beef and pork and continue cooking, stirring to break up the meat, until all the liquid the meat has given off has evaporated and the meat is lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Pour in the wine and cook, scraping the bottom of the pan, until the wine is evaporated, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and cook a few minutes, then pour in the tomatoes, toss in the bay leaves, and season lightly with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat so the sauce is at a lively simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is dense but juicy and a rich, dark red color. This will take about 2 to 3 hours—the longer you cook it, the better it will become. While the sauce is cooking, add hot water as necessary to keep the meats and vegetables covered. (Most likely, a noticeable layer of oil will float to the top toward the end of cooking. Once finished, the oil can be removed with a spoon or reincorporated in the sauce, which is what is traditionally done.
No Bake Energy Bites
Recipe on back of Trader Joe’s Organic Flaxseed Meal Ingredients 1 cup old fashioned rolled oats 1/2 cup chocolate chips 1/2 cup ground flaxseed meal 1/2 cup crunch peanut butter* 1/2 cup honey or maple syrup 1 teaspoon vanilla Shredded coconut, optional Combine all ingredients together in a bowl. Lightly wet hands and form into 1-inch balls. Using a covered container, place shredded coconut in base. Place formed balls in container, cover and shake to coat energy bites. Place on a baking sheet and freeze until set, about 1 hour. Lucy likes her energy bites rolled in coconut and likes thinks shaking in a covered container is the best way to cover the bites.
Zucchini Fritters
Adapted a bit from Simply Recipes From the website “Smitten Kitchen Yield: About 10 2-1/2-inch fritters Ingredients 1 pound (about 2 medium) zucchini 1 teaspoon coarse or Kosher salt, plus extra to taste 2 scallions, split lengthwise and sliced thin 1 large egg, lightly beaten Freshly ground black pepper 1/2 cup all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon baking powder Olive or another oil of your choice, for frying To serve (optional) 1 cup sour cream or plain, full-fat yogurt 1 to 2 tablespoon lemon juice 1/4 teaspoon lemon zest Pinches of salt 1 small minced or crushed clove of garlic Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Have a baking sheet ready. Trim ends off zucchini and grate them either on the large holes of a box grater or, if you have one, using the shredding blade of a food processor. The latter is my favorite as I’m convinced it creates the coarsest and most rope-like strands and frankly, I like my fritters to look like mops. In a large bowl, toss zucchini with 1 teaspoon coarse salt and set aside for 10 minutes. Wring out the zucchini in one of the following ways: pressing it against the holes of a colander with a wooden spoon to extract the water, squeezing out small handfuls at a time, or wrapping it up in a clean dishtowel or piece of cheese cloth and wringing away. You’ll be shocked (I was!) by the amount of liquid you’ll lose, but this is a good thing as it will save the fritters from sogginess. Return deflated mass of zucchini shreds to bowl. Taste and if you think it could benefit from more salt (most rinses down the drain), add a little bit more; we found 1/4 teaspoon more just right. Stir in scallions, egg and some freshly ground black pepper. In a tiny dish, stir together flour and baking powder, then stir the mixture into the zucchini batter. In a large heavy skillet — cast iron is dreamy here — heat 2 tablespoons of oil over medium-high heat until shimmering. Drop small bunches of the zucchini mixture onto the skillet only a few at a time so they don’t become crowded and lightly nudge them flatter with the back of your spatula. Cook the fritters over moderately high heat until the edges underneath are golden, about 3 to 4 minutes. If you find this happening too quickly, reduce the heat to medium. Flip the fritters and fry them on the other side until browned underneath again, about 2 to 3 minutes more. Drain briefly on paper towels then transfer to baking sheet and then into the warm oven until needed. Repeat process, keeping the pan well-oiled, with remaining batter. I like to make sure that the fritters have at least 10 minutes in the oven to finish setting and getting extra crisp. For the topping, if using, stir together the sour cream, lemon juice, zest, salt and garlic and adjust the flavors to your taste. Dollop on each fritter before serving. These fritters are also delicious with a poached or fried egg on top, trust me. Do ahead: These fritters keep well, either chilled in the fridge for the better part of a week and or frozen in a well-sealed package for months. When you’re ready to use them, simply spread them out on a tray in a 325-degree oven until they’re hot and crisp again. Donna’s Notes: one of the comments from this website mentioned that they used a potato rice to squeeze out the excess moisture. I tried it and it works great!
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