tomato | Adventures in Thyme

Beef and Pasta in Red Sauce

June 8, 2016 by Dan Leave a Comment

Beef with Pasta in Red Sauce

Red sauce is so versatile at mealtime, we’ve been playing around with making a better one, and I think we’ve hit on a winner. Give it a whirl in the pot and let us know what you think!

2 lbs Beef
Olive Oil
1 cup Red Wine
32 oz box of Beef Stock
12 oz can Tomato Paste
14.5 oz can Diced Tomatoes
2 teaspoons dried Rosemary
2 teaspoons dried Basil
1 teaspoon dried Oregano
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Black Pepper
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
2 Tablespoons Honey
2 Tablespoons good Balsamic Vinegar

Start by slicing your meat into 1/8 inch strips and cutting the strips into bite sized pieces. Tip: If you cut against the grain it’s a lot more tender! Add a little olive oil to the bottom of your pot (a 3 or 4 quart pot with a lid) and heat the pot to medium on the stove top. Add the beef to the pot being careful not to over crowd it. Cook the beef in a couple of batches; cooking until lightly browned on both sides. Remove the beef and set aside (a bowl in your refrigerator is a good idea.). Add the red wine and beef stock to the pan and scrape the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to get all the good bits off the bottom – that’s where the flavor is! Add the tomato paste and stir to combine. Add all of the spices. (I put all of my spices in a coffee grinder and ground them to powder before using.) Add the honey and balsamic vinegar, stirring until well combined. Bring the mixture to a boil and reduce the heat to low. Cover and let the sauce simmer for an hour or so. Return the meat to the pot and bring the mixture back to a simmer, and leave it to simmer for another 15 or 20 minutes.

Serve over your favorite pasta and add a vegetable and some nice, crusty bread for dinner.

Spaghetti with sliced beef

January 21, 2016 by Dan Leave a Comment

Spaghetti with sliced beef

I love spaghetti. I’ve probably been eating it for *almost* half a century. So when my cravings started down the familiar pasta pathway, I decided to make it a little differently. After a quick trip to the grocery store I returned triumphant with beef to slice and cook in my sauce. It was hearty, and a delicious change!

You will need:

1 1/2 lbs Chuck Roast
1 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Black Pepper
1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon grated Nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon crushed Thyme
1 teaspoon crushed Rosemary
2 15oz cans Tomato Sauce
1 14.5oz can Diced Tomatoes
2 tablespoons Honey
2 tablespoons good Balsamic Vinegar
1/2 cup Red Wine

Slice the beef into approximately 1/8 inch thick and a couple of inches long. Brown in a hot good sized, deep skillet with a little olive oil. Add all of the remaining ingredients, bring to a boil and reduce the heat and simmer on low for 30 minutes or so, until the beef is tender.

Serve over spaghetti noodles and top with some grated Parmesan or Pecorino Cheese. Add a slice of nice rustic bread and you have a great winter dinner.

Homemade Pasta with Sun Dried Tomatoes

August 26, 2015 by Dan Leave a Comment

Tomato Balsamic Pasta

Each of us have a “Mt Everest” on our cooking bucket list. Maybe it’s proofing the perfect sourdough bread, or recreating Mom’s Chicken Curry. Tonight we are happy to proclaim that we have climbed our mountain and have made pasta. Great pasta too! And are addicted to it’s fresh homemade yumminess.

We’ll start by making the pasta.

2 cups all purpose Flour
3 Eggs
1/2 teaspoon Oil (I used olive oil)
1/2 teaspoon Salt
cold water

Make a mound of flour in the middle of a good sized cutting or pastry board. Make a nice hollow in the middle. Place your eggs, salt and oil in the hollow. Start blending with a fork, pulling flour in as you go. Once I had a good amount of the flour blended in, the fork didn’t work so well, so I went to using my fingers. If the dough is dry, add cold water a little at a time. I ended up adding about 1/4 cup of cold water. Once you have a nice dough, kneed with your hands for about 10 minutes, until it is nicely elastic. Wrap in food wrap and let rest for 20 minutes or so.

Divide the dough into quarters. (Keep the pieces you aren’t using wrapped up so they don’t dry out.) Flour your hands, a pasta board and either a rolling pin or pasta machine. On the floured board, press out one of the balls of dough into a flat circle or oval. Using a rolling pin or a pasta maker, roll out the dough as thin as you can get it. If using a rolling pin, be sure to move the dough around to be sure it isn’t sticking. Roll from the middle out. Lay the pasta sheets out on a cookie sheet and cover with a piece of food wrap. Leave a piece of the food wrap between each sheet. (At this point, you can refrigerate the dough for a day or two, just keep them covered.) Once they are all rolled out, cut into thin strips.

For the sun dried tomato and balsamic pasta, you will need

Pasta (the entire batch above will feed 4 to 6 adults)
2 oz. Pine Nuts
1/2 to 3/4 cup sliced Sun Dried Tomatoes
1/2 cup good Balsamic Vinegar
1/2 cup White Wine
1 cup grated Pecorino Cheese (You can also use Parmesan cheese)
reserved pasta water
Salt
Pepper
Olive Oil

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, be sure to salt it and add a couple tablespoons of olive oil. Add the pasta to the water and boil for about 5 minutes (at my altitude it took between 7 and 8 minutes for the pasta to cook.) Do not drain the pasta.

As you bring the water up to a boil, take a large skillet and place it on the stove at medium heat. Once the pan is hot, add the pine nuts. stir them around regularly to toast them evenly. They can burn quickly so keep watch and stir often. Add the sliced sun dried tomatoes and a tablespoon of olive oil (you can use the oil the tomatoes were packed in.) Stir to get the tomatoes hot and let them just begin to color. At this point your pasta should be ready, if not, remove this from the heat until the pasta is cooked. Add the balsamic vinegar and let it reduce a little, stirring for a minute or so. Add the pasta, straight from the pot. Stir to combine. Add the white wine and cook, stirring constantly. Once the wine is boiling nicely and everything is blended together, add the grated cheese and stir to combine. Add a ladle or so of the pasta water. Stir while it simmers for a couple minutes. The sauce should thicken a little and will coat all of the pasta.

Serve hot and top with a little more grated cheese. Salt and pepper to taste.

Pork Cherry Stir Fry

May 20, 2015 by Dan Leave a Comment

Pork Cherry Stir Fry

Ever had one of those nights when you had no idea what you wanted for dinner? Well, after a long day at work, tonight was one of those nights. So we wandered through the grocery store looking for what looked fresh and sounded appealing. We arrived back in our kitchen with bing cherries, roma tomatoes, an English cucumber, pork, and appetites waiting to be sated.

What you’ll need:

2 pounds Pork Loin or thick cut Pork Chops
1 cup pitted Cherries
3 Roma Tomatoes
1 large Cucumber
1/2 cup Soy Sauce
1/2 cup dry Sherry
1/4 cup Teriyaki Sauce
fresh Mint

Slice the pork into thing strips. Into a large bowl mix the soy sauce and sherry then add the pork making sure to cover it well with the marinade, and let sit for half an hour to an hour. While you’re waiting for the pork to bathe in the marinade, seed your tomatoes and cucumber and cut both into bite sized pieces.

Heat a large skillet and some oil (I used olive oil) over medium high heat. Drain your meat and then place it in the hot skillet. Stir until cooked through. Add the cherries, reduce the heat to medium, cover and let cook 5 to 10 minutes or until the cherries get soft. If the pan is dry, add some of your marinade to the pan, you want a little bit of juice so the cherries will steam.

Once the cherries are soft, add the cucumber and tomato. Stir until the tomato and cucumber are hot. Don’t over cook. Add 1/4 cup teriyaki sauce and stir to coat everything evenly.

Serve over rice or noodles and top with a little fresh chopped mint. Enjoy!

Grilled Chicken Tacos

June 25, 2014 by Dan 1 Comment

Grilled chicken tacos

With summer upon us and ye olde bbq dusted off, this week’s recipe is a delightful grilled chicken taco with lots of fresh fixin’s nestled in corn tortillas. This recipe takes a little extra effort, but it’s worth the wait – Let’s get cookin’!

Taco Seasoning:

1 Tablespoon Chili Powder
2 teaspoons Salt
1 teaspoon dry Oregano, crushed
1/2 teaspoon Cumin
1/2 teaspoon granulated Garlic
1/2 teaspoon granulated Onion
1/2 teaspoon Paprika
1/4 teaspoon ground Black Pepper

Combine the spices and set aside. (Can be stored in a spice bottle for a long period of time to use with beef, ground beef, chicken, etc.)

Salsa:

6 Roma Tomatoes (3 of these will be roasted)
1 Green Bell Pepper (to be roasted)
1 Yellow Bell Pepper (to be roasted)
3 Jalapeno Peppers (2 of these will be roasted)
1 medium to large Onion (will be roasted)
4 cloves Garlic
1 Lime
Salt
Olive Oil

Salsa and BBQ’ing the veggies:

While your BBQ is heating. Halve and seed three roma tomatoes and both bell peppers. If you don’t want a really spicy salsa, also halve and seed your jalapeno peppers (otherwise, you just leave those seeds in there!). Peal the onion and cut into 8 to 12 wedges. When the bbq fire is hot, make a small pan out of heavy aluminum foil and place the three seeded tomatoes, both bell peppers, 2 jalapenos and your onion into the pan. Add a bit of olive oil to coat and prevent sticking, sprinkle with salt and place on a rack over your fire. Cook for about 10 minutes then turn everything over and cook for another 10 minutes or until the peppers are charred and the onion is mostly cooked (do not cook the onion or peppers to mush, just until a bit tender.)

While the peppers and onion are grilling cut up your remaining 3 tomatoes and place in a bowl. Finely dice your remaining jalapeno and add it to the tomatoes.

When the peppers and onions are cooked, set these aside in a bowl covered with food wrap for about 10 minutes, then remove any skin that has been loosened by the bbq process. Place the tomatoes and half the onion in a blender or food processor. Add one of the roasted jalapenos and the garlic. Blend until mostly smooth.

Take the remaining onion and the bell peppers and cut into about 1/4 inch pieces, place these in a bowl. Finely mince the remaining roasted jalapeno and add to the bowl. Then add the puree from above and stir gently, followed by the juice of one lime and stir. Add salt to taste. Let sit at least half an hour before assembling your tacos.

Note: this will get spicier as it sits.

Grilling the chicken:

2 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless Chicken Breast (boneless thighs would also work well)
Taco Seasoning (from recipe above)
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

Place one breast at a time into a ziplock bag and fold the end over (do not seal). Pound the chicken flatter with a meat mallet. This will help ensure more even cooking.

Sprinkle the chicken with your taco seasoning and place into a zip lock bag. Add the olive oil. Squeeze the air out of the bag and seal. Squeeze around so the oil covers all of the meat. Place in your refrigerator for at least 2 hours to overnight.

Grill over direct heat for 10 to 15 minutes per side (depending on how hot your fire is) until the chicken is done. Place on a plate and cover with foil for 10 minutes. Slice the chicken across the grain.

Almost there… Taco time!

Salsa
Grilled Chicken
Sour Cream
Tortillas
Shredded Cheddar Cheese (or Cotija would be good too!)
Lettuce
Fresh Cilantro

To assemble your tacos, heat your tortillas in a skillet, lightly brown but do not make crispy. Place a few pieces of chicken into the tortilla, add lettuce, salsa, cheddar cheese and sour cream. Sprinkle a little chopped, fresh cilantro over the top. Serve immediately.

Enjoy!