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At
"Gina's Kitchen", we hope that we can
inspire and
motivate you to cook
delicious, homemade meals. |
| Did
you know? |
Most
people believe that yellow, white and pink tomatoes are low in
acidity. That's not the case. A lot of misinformation has been
printed in the popular press about "low acid"
tomatoes referring to those with a sweet, non-tart
taste. The higher sugar content actually masks the
acidic flavour. Since all tomatoes are high in acid, Gina adds sugar to her
red tomato
sauce.
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| Recipe |
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Basic Tomato Sauce
Once you try this
easy, delicious recipe, you may never eat sauce from a jar again!
6-8 Servings
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, sliced
1 28-oz can crushed plum tomatoes
1 5-oz
can tomato paste
1 ½
cups water
2
large bay leaves
1
teaspoon dried oregano
2
sprigs fresh basil (or 1 tsp dried basil)
Salt, Fresh
ground black
pepper
1 tablespoon sugar (brown or wihte)
In a large pot, heat olive oil and crushed
garlic clove until golden.Remove garlic and add the next 9 ingredients.
Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, stirring
occasionally for 15 minutes and remove. Use right away or
allow to cool for 1 hour and refridgerate or freeze. |
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Gina's Kitchen
Cooking
Tips
Knowledge Will Help Keep the Kitchen Rolling
Spooning cupcake batter into a muffin pan can be a little messy. Use an ice cream scoop, the kind with a "sweeper" to easily fill muffin tins.
If you find your baking has a strange aftertaste, it could be the baking powder. Some baking powders contain an aluminum compound (sodium sulphate) which has a notable chemical or metallic aftertaste. Some bakers say that baking powder containing this compound gives baked goods a bitter aftertaste. To avoid this aftertaste, use a baking powder that does not contain sodium sulfate.
If you make a
large batch of pesto, portion the pesto in an ice cube tray,
cover with plastic wrap and place in the freezer. When you
need pesto, simply pop out the cube or cubes.
Having
more than one cutting board in the kitchen is a good idea.
An improperly washed cutting board can be a cause of food
contamination in even the cleanest kitchen. Raw meat,
poultry and fish should never be in contact with other
foods, except when cooking. Washing a cutting board with
soap and water may not get all of the bacteria off. In
between uses, cutting boards should be scrubbed with hot
water and soap. Then either run through a dishwasher or
rinse in a bleach solution. Consider getting one board for
cutting raw proteins and one for cutting other foods. It
will save both time and prevent potential health issues from
arising.
Hold an asparagus spear firmly towards the end and bend it until it breaks naturally. The spear will break at the point where it becomes tough.
Use a vegetable peeler to peel the stalks. Do not peel the tips. Younger, thinner asparagus are usually tender enough, so they do not require peeling.
How
often have you found yourself without one ingredient? You
don’t have time to run to the store and get it. What can
you do? Some foods have substitutes that can work in a
pinch.
If you need a couple of cups of tomato sauce, you can
use a small can of tomato paste and mix it with a cup of
water.
If you have a recipe calling for ½ teaspoon cream of
tartar, you can substitute 1 ½ teaspoons lemon juice or
vinegar.
If a recipe calls for 1 cup of sifted cake flour,
substitute 1 cup of all purpose sifted flour, minus 2
tablespoons.
For a 2 inch piece of vanilla bean, 1 teaspoon
of pure vanilla extract would also work.
Here
are some other substitutions that you might consider when
you run short.
Lemon juice can usually replace vinegar in
most recipes.
Chopped green olives do in a pinch if you need
capers.
A single cube of sugar actually equates to a half
teaspoon of granulated sugar.
A single marshmallow can be
replaced by ten mini-sized ones.
Two egg yolks can be
substituted with a single whole egg.
A third cup of bread
crumbs can be derived from a single slice of toast.
If
you have a crowd of people over, take a bit of time to plan.
Plan a simple menu that you can prepare ahead of time.
Plan to do as
little as possible during the party so you can have fun too.
Make sure you have refrigerator and freezer space. Write
down a schedule of when you are going to shop and prep the
food. Having a basic schedule means you will know when
things are done and not worry about what you forgot. If you
decide on having a buffet, make the food finger friendly.
Using a knife and fork on your lap is an invitation to
disaster. Make sure you take precautions with food safety.
Refrigerate everything and clean your cutting boards
properly.
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