Gastronomy

This pizza sauce tastes better than the bottled or canned sauces at the supermarket and it takes only about 5 minutes to make. If you have fresh herbs use them instead.

Ingredients

• 1 28 oz can manzeneo tomatoes
• 5 cloves of garlic chopped
• 2 tblsp olive oil
• 1/2 onion chopped
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp dried Oregano
• 1 tsp basil
• 1 tblsp tomato paste

Directions

Saute onions and garlic in olive oil for about 3-4 minutes till translucent, add red pepper flakes for the last 2 minutes of frying. Add 1/2 can of tomatoes,  garlic, onion, red pepper and all other ingredients to a food processor and grind until garlic and onion are chopped finely. Add rest of tomatoes and pulse a few times to leave tomatoes a little chunky. It is ready to use on a pizza or whatever you want to use it in. It can be stored in the fridge for up to a week.

Recipe From: http://gastronomy.ddns.net 

I love to eat this with kebobs or spicy Indian dishes, it goes great as a side sauce.

Ingredients

• 1 6oz container of plain yogurt (if using greek yogurt thin with water)
• 1/2 English cucumber
• 1 tsp cumin Simply Organic Cumin Seed Ground CERTIFIED ORGANIC 2.31 oz bottle
• 2 tbsp finely chopped celantro (optional)
• 1 tsp crushed red pepper McCormick Crushed Red Pepper, 1.5 Oz
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander Simply Organic – Coriander – 2.29 oz.
• 1/2 tsp lemon
• 1/8 tsp salt

Directions

Add all ingredients to a bowl and mix with a spoon until well mixed. Put in refrigerator an let set for about 30 minutes or more to let flavors meld. Serve on the side with Mediterranean or Indian food.

Recipe from http://gastronomy.ddns.net

It is really easy to make you own fresh butter. It has a fresher taste than store bought butter and it really doesn’t cost too much more. What I did was buy 1 quart of heavy cream at Sam’s Club, which cost about $3.99. I poured about 1/3 of the heavy cream into a small food processor with the chopping blade in. I turned on the food processor for about 3-4 minutes and the butter formed a clump. I poured off the liquid (which is butter milk). You can use it as you would regular milk. I drank some and it tastes like whole milk to me. Then I used a rubber spatula to press the butter to squeeze the butter milk from any pockets in the butter.  You can add salt to the butter to draw out more of the butter flavor if you’d like. You just sprinkle a pinch of salt on the butter and knead it in with the spatula. It made about 2/3 stick of butter for me with the amount of heavy cream I used. You can use it on toast or on a muffin or anywhere butter is one of the main flavors and you will notice the freshness.

Deviled eggs are simple to make, taste great, come in the perfect size for Hors D’oeuvres and can have many variations. At your next party or gathering these can be one of your go to dishes. You can start out by cooking the perfect eggs (See my article on “The Art of Making a Hard Boiled Egg” from 2/24/16) or you can choose to go with a short cut, like buying the hard boiled eggs pre-cooked and removed from their shells (Costco sells them: Costco Hard Boiled Eggs).  After you cook the eggs you can follow one of the recipes below:

Classic Deviled Eggs:

Cook and remove eggs from the shell. Next cut the eggs in half and remove the yolks and put in a bowl. Add 1/2 tsp mayo to 1/8 tsp of mustard for each egg yoke. Mix with a fork or blender for larger batches. Spoon the mixture back into each half of the egg or use a piping bag for a fancier look, then sprinkle with paprika or smoked paprika and serve. If you like it a little more tangy, you can add 1/8 tsp white vinegar per egg.

Or you can go with the many variations:

1. Bacon/Cheddar: Use the above recipe, but add shredded cheddar to the yoke when mixing and top with bacon. Or cut bacon into bits and mix in with the yoke.
2. Spicy: Add minced jalapeno and cheddar to the yoke when mixing.
3. Topped: Top the classic recipe with pepperoni, ham, chives, bacon, etc.
4. Buffalo: Add Frank’s Hot Sauce (Frank’s RedHot Original Cayenne Pepper Sauce, 5 oz) in place of mustard and drizzle with ranch dressing.
5. Or come up with your own topping or variation.

However you make them it is hard to go wrong with this delicious snack.