Computers and Tomato Sauce

My friend Melissa has a computer problem. Her laptop running Vista is all infected with nasty little things, and after a combined 12+ hours on the phone with Jab in India trying to sort it - she called me. I'm local, speak understandable English, and work for beer (for a select few!). On the plus side, Jab works the night shift and has been dating the same girl for three months now. Way to go Jab, way to go!!!! :D

We talked during the week, set a day/time, and planned on catching up and watching the kids play together. Saturday came, The Meal Ticket and I hit the local (walking distance) wine tasting up, and got back in time to make some bread and tomato sauce for a nice pasta dinner. Missy and family is I-TAL-IAN. Pasta, sauce, and bread reminds every I-TAL-IAN I know of, of their Nana. I figured it was a good move. And easy dinner party fare.

Long story short, they showed up brought their computers, showed me what was wrong and what they wanted to save. Drank some wine and beers, watched the kids (who met for the first time) play together wonderfully, and just generally had a great time with some great people we don't get to see often enough. Eventually, as is always the case, the kids wanted to eat. We set them up on the coffee table watching some DVD, each with a bowl of pasta and bread. Grownups at the big table - a recurring theme I've noticed.

Now, my sauce is something I found in a book that the author robbed from Mario Batali and modified. I've since then modified it myself. It's a generic sauce recipe that's open to a lot of modifying. It was huge hit, to the point Missy's son wanted more and most of the Grownups had seconds.

Fast forward 24 hours, Missy wants the recipe. Now, here's the hard part. There are recipe people and then there are people who just throw stuff together. Missy is a recipe person. I tend to wear a lot of tie-dye, I can't be restrained by a simple recipe - I'm too free for something like that (except for baking, then I'm very restrainable). So, I'll try to use my best recipe speak.

Basic Tomato Sauce

• 2 - 28oz cans of crushed tomatoes
• 1 - 8 oz can of tomato sauce
• 1 - medium onion - finely minced
• 1 - small-medium carrot - shredded
• minced garlic - I like a lot of garlic, therefore I use a lot; you may like to use less - use YOUR discretion
  
• salt and pepper, basil, red pepper flakes
• olive oil
• red wine - aboot a 1/4 cup or so - don't measure just pour some in!
  

Take a medium to large stock pot, and heat it to med-high and add the oil - maybe a heavy tablespoon. I use a cast iron Dutch oven, it works great. I think a lot of I-TAL-IAN Nanas used them too. Add the onion and spices - easy on the spices at this point. You can always add more later but it's a bitch trying to take some away if you over do it. As soon as the onion gets a little translucent, add the carrot and garlic. Once the garlic begins to stick, add the wine and scrape the bottom. Add the crushed tomatoes and tomato sauce, rinsing the remainder of tomato product out of the cans with some water; add the water/tomato product mixture to your stock pot of love. Stir together and bring to a slight boil, reduce to a simmer. Come back after you finish a glass of wine and check the seasonings. Add more if necessary, simmer some more. This is one of those cases where the longer it simmers - the better! Add some more water if it gets too thick.

Now, this is a great base for adding whatever you have in the fridge to. You've got some mushrooms and peppers - add them in with the onions. You feel like some sausage or ground beef - brown it up and remove it before add the onions and add them back in with the tomatoes. You've got a bunch of spinach, or escarole, or kale, or some other green - add it with the tomatoes or saute it up with some olive oil, garlic and white wine AND then add it to the sauce. Lots of room to move here. You want some Fra Diavolo - go heavy on the pepper flakes in the beginning, and add some shrimp 5 minutes before serving. Before the onions, saute up some bacon and remove, then add some celery with the onions, and add some diced potatoes with the tomatoes, and some clam juice; then two cans of chopped clams 15 minutes before serving - Manhattan Clam Chowder.

Go crazy!!! but don't measure! Use your tongue to measure. If it tastes good you did it right. If not, you'll know for next time, but I'll bet you could still suffer through eating it! ;)

On a side note: Missy's laptop is now humming along quite nicely with Windows 7 Ultimate, and all of her pictures are safe and secure! :D

Side note #2: Missy is wonderful and utterly amazing at what she does. And she brought some stuff from her work for dessert. It was wonderfully awesome!!!! Missy's work: Make Me A Cake. If you're even near there, stop in and get some of their goodness - you will not regret it!