My pasta sauce

[Floater]

I have presently access to a kitchen, so I'm busy trying to perfect a pasta sauce. The version I cooked yesterday was something like this:

• Chop up an onion and fry up in a kettle with loads of butter.
• While the onion is frying chop up 4-5 garlic cloves and add to the it.
• Ditto a half habañero with seeds and all (or some other pepper, in which case take more of it).
• When the onion does not smell so onionly any more, add a can of crushed tomatoes and some tomato paste to add taste.
• Add some yoghurt, crème fraiche or whatever
• Spice it up with pepper, salt and cumin (to get an Indian touch to it). Peruvian pepper or green pepper can never be wrong.
• Fry up some meat of your choice: a chopped up steak, minced meat or whatever and add to the sauce. Tuna and/or mussels is OK, too (why not mackerel in tomato sauce?).
• Let it simmer while you fix the pasta.

So, what can I do with this basic recipe? I have used chopped up olives, which was excellent. I think I could use some chocolate or capers, but perhaps not at the same time. Maybe lime, but can I use that together with yoghurt? Having seen the results of using both milk and lemon at the same time in a cup of tea makes me think that it could result in something horrible (the acid in the lemon made the milk coagulate).

Any suggestions are appreciated.

[Lainie]

Minus the meat, I think your sauce sounds wonderful, especially with olives.

The key to using lemon with a dairy product might be the timing of when you add them. Also, I would think yogurt/creme fraiche/sour cream would be less likely to coagulate than milk.

[Floater]

Thank you and if I may say so myself it tastes very good.

I have played with the idea of making a veggie variant, but then I think I should use a bigger onion to add bulk.

[Lainie]

Originally Posted by Floater

Thank you and if I may say so myself it tastes very good.

I have played with the idea of making a veggie variant, but then I think I should use a bigger onion to add bulk.

Dare I suggest some mushrooms as well?

[Floater]

Originally Posted by Lainie

Dare I suggest some mushrooms as well?

You may dare, but not in my kitchen.

[Jay Tea]

You could try all or one or two of the following:

Add Pan fried mushrooms and a bay leaf or two before simmering.
Olive oil instead of butter.
Cheese sauce instead of yoghurt.

Basic cheese sauce:

40g/1½oz butter
40g/1½oz plain flour
600ml/20fl oz/1 pint milk, warmed
110g/4oz Cheddar or Cheshire cheese, grated
1 tsp mustard
pinch cayenne pepper
salt

1. Melt the butter in a saucepan over a low heat. Add the flour and stir until the mixture forms a smooth paste which leaves the sides of the pan cleanly. Cook for two to three minutes until the butter and flour make a floury ball.
2. Remove from the heat and gradually add the milk, stirring constantly to avoid lumps.
3. Bring to the boil, still stirring, and simmer for about five minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. When smooth and creamy, stir in the grated cheese a little at a time until melted. If the sauce is too thick, add a little extra milk.

[Lainie]

Originally Posted by Floater

You may dare, but not in my kitchen.

Bell peppers?

How about cilantro?

[Floater]

Originally Posted by Lainie

Bell peppers?

Not as much taste as their smaller cousins but they do have a place in every civilised cuisine. Why not reduce the sauce and stuff the peppers with it?

Originally Posted by Lainie

How about cilantro?

Tasty. Caraway would be interesting too.

[Lainie]

Originally Posted by Floater

Not as much taste as their smaller cousins but they do have a place in every civilised cuisine. Why not reduce the sauce and stuff the peppers with it?

Have you tried the orange and red ones? Much more flavorful than the green. Better texture, too, IMO.

[Gayle]

I'd lose the cumin and add some oregano, marjoram, thyme, rosemary, parsley, tarragon, and basil. Like Jay Tea said, I'd use olive oil instead of butter. I'm partial to a tomato sauce that has no cream or cheese to it. Just tomatoes and herbs and red pepper with meat and mushrooms and olives. That's my idea of heaven. And actually what I have in the fridge for tonight.

[RCIAG]

Originally Posted by Gayle

I'd lose the cumin and add some oregano, marjoram, thyme, rosemary, parsley, tarragon, and basil. Like Jay Tea said, I'd use olive oil instead of butter. I'm partial to a tomato sauce that has no cream or cheese to it. Just tomatoes and herbs and red pepper with meat and mushrooms and olives.

That's pretty much what I put in or vary it from batch to batch. Sometimes I have mushrooms, sometimes I don't, so it depends on the night.

I don't think I've ever put any dairy but cheese in my sauce.

I also prefer fresh rosemary because dried rosemary is sorta pine needle-y in texture. Of course fresh spices in general are always better, but they're not always at hand.

I also add in some Old Bay, but then Old Bay makes EVERYTHING better!

[Lainie]

Originally Posted by RCIAG

I don't think I've ever put any dairy but cheese in my sauce.

I never have, either, but I've seen tomato cream sauces in restaurants and cookbooks.

[Floater]

Originally Posted by Gayle

I'd lose the cumin and add some oregano, marjoram, thyme, rosemary, parsley, tarragon, and basil. Like Jay Tea said, I'd use olive oil instead of butter.

I have only just discovered cumin, or rather I have always loved the taste in Indian dishes, but I didn't know what it was that gave that flavour. As for olive oil I have used a lot of it before, when I had a kitchen more handy, but then by pure chance I rediscovered butter and realised how yummy it really is.

I have always used a lot of cream, but found that sour dairy products added an extra dimension.

Well, it's time to go. I'll give a report next week (no mushrooms, though, I say about them what a German colleague said about cloudberries "I leave them to people who appreciate them").

[CSGirl]

Originally Posted by Lainie

I never have, either, but I've seen tomato cream sauces in restaurants and cookbooks.

My step-mom makes this *amazing* spicy tomato cream sauce. Yumm.

[RCIAG]

Originally Posted by Lainie

I never have, either, but I've seen tomato cream sauces in restaurants and cookbooks.

Same here. Cream sauces aren't my fave, they're usually too heavy for me. They're a nice change & it's an interesting flavour, but for the most part I'm good with tomato based with no dairy.

[Insensible Crier]

Originally Posted by Lainie

Have you tried the orange and red ones? Much more flavorful than the green. Better texture, too, IMO.

These are especially good when you roast them and take the peels off. I find they also go better in a cream or white sauce this way. For me, I find a blowtorch works the best for roasting peppers. I love it when I get to shop for kitchen gadgets at Lowes.

[Lainie]

I like cumin, but unfortunately even the smell of it nauseates DD. If I want to use it, I cook when she's not around, or make sure I ventilate the kitchen.