Put your senses to work!

Cooking can really be a fun and easy activity to do. Sure there are recipes to follow, ingredients to measure, and timers to be set, but what it really comes down to is, how does the food taste? I believe when you are cooking, your senses should take over. When you learn to relax and enjoy the activity, cooking will start to come to you naturally. As you begin to make a meal, let your body do the work. Your nose will begin to smell the delicious scents coming from the pot, your tongue will taste the flavor as it begins to build, your hands should feel the different textures and the forms in which the food grows. Ultimately, if you've eaten this meal before, you know what you want your end result to look, smell and taste like, so use your senses to build that final product.


I love recipes because they give me a starting ground for what I'm going to make. Chefs pair special spices and mixes to go with different types of meats and veggies, so I try my best to follow their recipe but it's never to a tee; normally I tweak it to my family's likings because I know there are certain ingredients my family loves and equally those my family dislikes. I also know that if I don't have an ingredient mentioned, there are many easy swaps for that ingredient or I can alter the recipe to match what I have on hand. I believe you do not have to follow a recipe ingredient by ingredient to get a great outcome!


I'd like to share a recipe for homemade tomato sauce (no, I'm not Italian, so I will not be calling it gravy, just traditional tomato sauce). In this recipe, I've listed my typical ingredients that I normally have on hand at home. What makes this recipe a fabulous find is that once you have your base sauce, you can add in anything you'd like, whatever you have in your fridge or pantry. That opens the possibilities to turn my base sauce into a meat sauce, sauce with mushroom, or even a mussels marinara if you feel like getting really creative.


You'll notice with my ingredient list I don't get too specific with seasoning measurements, it's all based on taste. Start small and add a little then go from there, you can always add more. And don't worry if you add too much, there's a fix for that too. I hope you enjoy it!


Base Tomato Sauce:
1 can of crushed tomatoes
1 can of tomato puree
Just enough olive oil to coat the pot
Fresh garlic, as much as your palette likes (powdered is fine but not as good, I promise)
1 diced medium sized shallot (a small mild onion)
A few leaves of fresh basil really makes it, but dried works well too
Dried oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
About a teaspoon of sugar
Optional: Parmesan cheese

Steps:
Turn your pot to medium heat and add enough olive oil to coat the pot. Chop up your garlic and shallot and add to the pot once the oil is hot. (To test, you can add just one piece and see if it sizzles.) Then tear your fresh basil leaves into small pieces and add to the garlic. Sprinkle in a few shakes of oregano and make sure you stir your pot so the ingredients don't burn. I usually sprinkle in some salt and pepper to season from the start. Flavor is all about building layers.

Once the garlic gets some color you're going to add in your crushed tomatoes and the puree. Be careful, you may get a little splatter. Stir the ingredients together and then add the sugar, this will help to cut the acidic taste from the tomatoes. Give it a taste, you will probably want to add more salt and pepper, I always do. If it still tastes acidic you can add more sugar, if it tastes too sweet add more salt, and if it tastes too salty add more sugar. Remember, a little seasoning at a time until you get the flavor you want.

When the ingredients are combined turn the heat down to low, you'll to want to let your sauce simmer for at least a half hour. The longer it sits the better it will taste!

When I'm ready to serve I like to finish my sauce with some Parmesan cheese, just a few shakes of the jar or freshly grated if you have it. This really adds some body to the sauce and gives it a bit more of a salty bite. For a touch of presentation, sprinkle on some shreds of any leftover basil leaves.

Bon Appétit