Today I’m going to give you a red sauce recipe that can be manipulated into anything you need. First, about tomatoes, San Marzano are the best. The problem is they’re pricey and hard to find if your grocery store doesn’t have any demand. If you want to use whole canned tomatoes there’s a step before you get down to making sauce. You’re going to need three large cans of whole tomatoes. Drain the liquid from the cans into a small saucepan and add a cup of whatever wine you like. Simmer until reduced by half. Squish the tomatoes or if you’ve got one run them through a food mill. Now, down to sauce. You’ll need:

3 Large cans of crushed tomatoes

1 Small can tomato paste (Goya is top rated by testing panels, but again if you can’t get it use your favorite.)

1 Cup diced onion

4 Cloves garlic, chopped fine

1 Small carrot, diced real fine or run through a food processor

1 12oz can chicken broth

2 Cups of your favorite wine

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

1 Tbsp Basil

1 Tbsp Oregano

Sweat onions and carrots in olive oil over low heat. When translucent add garlic. Add crushed tomatoes of squished whole tomatoes with reduced tomato liquid. Add chicken stock and wine with basil and oregano. Let simmer over real low heat until slightly thicker. If you have fresh herbs add near the end of cooking to preserve flavor.

 

Okay, right now the sauce is good over pasta or chicken parmegana. You can add mushrooms or olives if you want. If you’ve got a recipe for meatballs add and simmer. The same with sausage. Remember to cook any meats you add at least 15 min. at a low boil. For a pizza sauce take above recipe and process until smooth.

F. Sherwood Roland died this week. If you don’t know him you’ve heard of his work. He linked synthetic cholrofluorocarbons to depletion of the ozone layer. He was a Nobel Laureate in Chemistry. He was the canary in the coal mine. If we don’t take better care of the planet we’re going to lose it. Being steward of the planet doesn’t mean stripping it bare and hoping for the best. It means we should take care of what we’ve got. In the Bible the good steward didn’t hide the gold or squander it he made it grow. Ergo, we have to make sure we leave the planet a better place than when we got it.

On the night of March 13, 1964 Kitty Genovese was stabbed to death outside he apartment. The neighbors heard it. Although the fact that 38 people neglected to call the police has be disputed, one fact remains. If one person heard her screams and didn’t call the police the crime is still a heinous. Thirty-eight people sounds sensational and the newspapers of the day used it to illustrate the point nobody did anything. If you see something, do something isn’t just a catchphrase for Homeland Security. It should be part of our stewardship. Looking out for the planet ant those people who are on the ride with us.

Happy Birthday:

3/13 Pecival Lowell, discovered Pluto, I always thought it was Walt Disney. While we’re here Bring Back Pluto.

3/14 Albert Einstein, Nobel Laureate, physist, genius, violin player and the face for all the brilliant minds.

Is it just me or is watching preseason baseball like an alcoholic sipping vanilla extract when no bottle is available? Sometimes it feels like trying to get drunk drinking O’Doulls non alcoholic beer. It can be done but your bladder won’t last.