That's a Spicy Sauce

Don't you love winter tomatoes? Bright yellow and red cherry tomatoes against a dull, dead yard brings joy to the heart. Deciding what to cook with these cherished beauties takes days to decide. Testing out of the non ordinary dishes is scary. Fearful of failed recipe leads to safe boring dishes. Not wanting to be boring, I went crazy with Spicy Cherry Tomato Sauce.

Modifications Made:
One heaping teaspoon of red pepper flakes replaced jalapeno. Harissa, tomato paste, and cilantro were omitted. Seasonings were limited to Hungarian paprika and salt. Sun gold replaced cherry tomatoes.

Scaled for Likability: Great
Let me say it was a good thing there were gobs and gobs of butter potatoes to offset the heat of this sauce. And to think, only red pepper flakes were added. Not jalapenos and harissa. Then there was the sweet red onion, sweet red bell pepper, and sweet orange carrots to help, too. If there had not been all this sweet and starchy potatoes, the sauce would have been scratched as it was SO spicy.

Alas, there was and all worked out great. Besides, nothing says great like homegrown tomatoes. And I am NOT even a fresh tomato fan. All tomatoes have to be cooked and cooked small. That is what made this sauce so perfect, it was saucy not chunky. With less red pepper flakes and a dash more salt, this sauce would have been great placed over a pan seared fillet of fish or even made into a spaghetti sauce. It was very good. Just spicy.

Papas a La Mexicana (Ranchera)

It is a crying shame that there are six hens and not a egg in sight. What am I supposed to do with homemade ranchero sauce? Thankfully with a few quick searches of the internet a recipe from my hometown newspaper was discovered: Papas Ranchera . Not once in the thirty years I lived in my hometown did I ever eat at a local food joint serving papas rancheras. No time like the present to remedy this cultural dish. Because this recipe is hidden behind a paywall (grrr...) I have included it here for you: Servings: 4-6 Ingredients: 1 pound potatoes, diced 1/4 cup vegetable oil 1/2 large onion 1 1/2 medium tomatoes 3 jalapenos 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup juice from canned tomatoes Instructions: Fry potatoes in vegetable oil until lightly browned (about 4-6 minutes). Saute onions, tomatoes, jalapenos until soft. Add garlic powder and salt. Add tomato juice until vegetables are covered (may need to add water). Bring to a boil and then add po...

Better Than Campbell's Old Fashion Vegetable Soup

Went to the store with the hopes of gathering fresh produce for soup. With more than 45 people in line for two packages of any meat product and the produce section containing only avocado, orange, and most randomly, strawberries, I settled upon canned soup. Well not canned soup since that section was still void of food, too. Instead soup made from canned goods as the canned vegetable section had been mostly restocked. Soups like this 15 Minute Vegetable Soup are ideal in dire food situations such as current times. Modifications Made: Plain petite diced tomatoes omitted, frozen carrots instead of canned, green beans and corn undrained, peas omitted (gross, nasty little pods), one cup celery, three cups diced potatoes, one can tomato sauce, two beef and two pollo de tomate bouillon cubes, six cups water. Once onions were softened, carrots/celery/potatoes/juice of green beans and corn, sauce, bouillon cubes, water were added and allowed to simmer until carrots almos...

Sour Cream & Chive Scalloped Potatoes

Can't believe the Month of the Potato is over. There are so many more potato recipes saved. Guess I will have to work them into another month. Last week's scalloped potatoes were one of the best new recipes during the month of potatoes. With today being the last day in the Month of Potatoes, I decided to go out with a bang by cooking another batch of scalloped potatoes but this time sour cream and chive. The Best Scalloped Potatoes , or so they said. Modifications Made: Recipe was reduced by half. Mayo was omitted and one entire package of chives were chopped and added to sauce before pouring onto layers. Scaled for Likability: Good Betty Crocker Sour Cream and Chive Box Scalloped Potatoes were the standard for this recipe. These were a family favorite for years but have long since been discounted. Bummer. Trying to replicate this seemed easy enough. Alas, it was not. These had a nice texture but were too oily from the cheese ...

Eating Waffles

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