Saturday, I went to Tamra's for lunch and spent the afternoon shopping with Tamra and Amelie. I picked up some cute Halloween decorations at Target. I just couldn't help it! I've been going through withdrawls. After that, I went to dinner with my neighbor Corby, then got some things done around the house.
Sunday, I went to the Home & Garden Show at the Idaho Center in Nampa. The one in Idaho Falls is better in my opinion. After that, I came home and made marinara sauce from scratch. I had to do something with all the donated tomatoes I've been getting!
Hope you all had a great weekend as well. Until next time.... Cheers!
Best Brown Rice
2-1/2 cups water
1 Tbl butter
1-1/2 cups brown rice (the slow cooking kind)
1 tsp salt
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bring the water and butter to a boil on the stovetop. Place the rice and salt in a heat-proof 2.5 Qt casserole.
2. Pour the water/butter over the rice and stir briefly. Cover tightly, and bake for 50 minutes.
3. Remove from oven and let stand for 5-10 minutes.
4. Fluff with a fork and serve!
Ham Fried Brown Rice
1 Tbl butter
2 Tbl soy sauce
2 stalks celery
4 oz. mushrooms, chopped
8 oz. lean ham, cubed
1 small can bamboo shoots, drained and rinsed
4-5 cups cooked brown rice
3 scallions, chopped
2 eggs, scrambled and chopped up
Sesame oil (optional)
Soy Sauce (optional)
1. Heat butter and soy sauce in a LARGE skillet over medium heat. I used my deep 12-inch skillet. Add the celery and mushrooms. Cook until the vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes.
2. Add ham and cook until the ham is very warm. Add the rice and bamboo shoots, cook another 10 minutes, stirring frequently.
3. Fold in the scallions and eggs. Cook another 5 minutes or until heated through. I stirred in another couple Tbl of soy sauce and a couple Tbl of sesame oil at the end. Serve with soy sauce on the side.
Home-Made Marinara
5 lbs tomatoes, washed
1/2 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp dried basil
4oz. can tomato paste
salt and pepper to taste
1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Fill one half of your sink with cold water and some ice cubes.
2. Cut a shallow 'x' in the bottom of each tomato. Drop the tomatoes into the pot of boiling water and let it cook for about 1 minute. Remove the tomatoes and immediately immerse them in the cold water bath. This should make the skins very easy to peel off. I did half my tomatoes at a time. When they are in the cold water bath, they should look like this:
Peel the skins off. They should come off very easily and the tomatoes should look like this:
3. Cut each tomato horizontally in half (be careful because they are slippery) and de-seed them over a 'garbage bowl' or over the sink. This is what you should be left with:
4. Chop the seeded tomatoes up.
5. In a large pot, heat a few Tbl of good olive oil. Add in the onions and garlic. Cook for a few minutes until the onions are soft and the garlic is fragrant.
6. Add the salt, sugar, basil and tomatoes. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and cook for about an hour. After an hour, it should look like this:
7. Use a stick blender to blend the veggies up to the desired consistency. I like mine pretty smooth. Add the tomato paste and stir until completely dissolved. Cook another 10 minutes or so. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Trust me-- you will need to add salt.
8. It's ready! Use it as a sauce over pasta with some meatballs (that was dinner tonight).
I have a lot of sauce left over-- about 5-1/2 cups. I'm going to freeze a pint, give a pint away, and use the rest as pizza sauce later on in the week. If you're in the mood for a really good soup, take a pint of sauce and add a can (14.5 oz.) of chicken or vegetable broth. Stir in some Parmesan cheese and a Tbl or two of cream and serve with garlic bread. Yum!
