Sunday, October 15, 2006
Apples for Applesauce
We bought a storm door this week hoping that this will ever so slightly decreast our carbon footprint (www.carbonfootprint.com) that we threw completely out of whack by buying our new shiny red SUV. I drove our new car yesterday to a barter bazaar where I traded a weaving lesson and a jar of tomato sauce for some graphic design services. I also swapped some handspun yarn for a dried herb swag and a necklace for a book. I put a jar of canned stewed apples on the table for the gift exchange and in return got a jar of applesauce. To an old friend who attended the bazaar, I gifted a jar of sauce. She regaled me with stories of myself that I have absolutely no memory of, “Remember the Christmas you gave us all pesto, no one knew what that was back then.” I’m glad to know that the self I was fifteen years ago was still trying to share the gospel of food.
Today’s Lunch
Gingery Tomato Sauce
Turn on your largest burner to medium heat and sauté 1 finely chopped cloves of garlic in 2 tbsp of coconut or other high-heat oil for 1 minute. Add 1 finely chopped onion; cook for an additional 2 minutes. Add 2 tbsp dried basil, 3 tbsp fresh ginger, 1 tbsp fennel seeds, 1 tsp salt and pepper. Sauté for another minute or two. Add 2-dozen chopped tomatoes or three 24-oz cans of chopped canned tomatoes. Bring the mixture to a simmer and reduce the heat to just below medium. Cook until the sauce is the desired thickness, stirring occasionally and adding more herbs or spices to taste. I prefer a thick waterless sauce, so generally cook it for at least four hours (as a child we would place the sauce in a cast-iron pot and put it on the woodstove in the morning and have sauce ready for dinner). For canning purposes it is good to leave the sauce a little runnier so that you may reduce it further with added ingredients when you use it at a later date.
Today’s Lunch
Gingery Tomato Sauce
Turn on your largest burner to medium heat and sauté 1 finely chopped cloves of garlic in 2 tbsp of coconut or other high-heat oil for 1 minute. Add 1 finely chopped onion; cook for an additional 2 minutes. Add 2 tbsp dried basil, 3 tbsp fresh ginger, 1 tbsp fennel seeds, 1 tsp salt and pepper. Sauté for another minute or two. Add 2-dozen chopped tomatoes or three 24-oz cans of chopped canned tomatoes. Bring the mixture to a simmer and reduce the heat to just below medium. Cook until the sauce is the desired thickness, stirring occasionally and adding more herbs or spices to taste. I prefer a thick waterless sauce, so generally cook it for at least four hours (as a child we would place the sauce in a cast-iron pot and put it on the woodstove in the morning and have sauce ready for dinner). For canning purposes it is good to leave the sauce a little runnier so that you may reduce it further with added ingredients when you use it at a later date.
