Simple Marinara

I hate buying pre-made stuff at the store, don't you? I have especially broken myself of this habit since leaving the US as many of the convenience items I was used to I had trouble finding here in Germany. One of those things I hate buying pre-made is Marinara sauce, or just simple tomato sauce. Why not just make my own from ingredients that I like? Oh yeah, and also because its super freaking cheap to make your own.

I tend to make this is big batches and keep it in the freezer. I keep it simple - adding no more seasonings than you see listed here - and then I season or add ingredients to it when I use it. I might add sauteed mushrooms or grated fresh parmesan or sauteed ground beef. I might dice up carrots, broccoli, or squash, or stir in some balsamic vinegar or heavy cream. I use the sauce for everything from pizza to lasagna to pasta to dipping sauce for breadsticks and pretzels.

Its just a good simple tomato sauce that is extremely handy to have on hand (this and veggie stock and cooked beans are in my freezer at all times). I imagine if you make it in the summer time from your own tomatoes it would be just divine (crossing my fingers that I will be able to this year), but I like knowing that I can make a decent tasting marinara no matter the time of year - and usually with things I already have laying around. When I don't feel like cooking, we can still have a nice meal by boiling some pasta and tossing it in this simple marinara - maybe with a bit of Parmesan and some salad on the side. Easy, cheap, fast comfort food that costs next to nothing but doesn't resort to convenience foods (and bonus - I calculated that 1/2 cup of this sauce only has roughly 54 calories). Love it.

Simple Marinara
2 cans (400 g or 14 oz) whole tomatoes
3 shallots, diced (about 1 cup)
6 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
10 or 12 fresh basil leaves, torn or chiffonade
2 Tbs Olive Oil
3 Tbs tomato paste
salt and pepper

Chop the canned tomatoes, reserving the juice from the can (you can of course use fresh tomatoes if they are in season and the tomatoes are super ripe).

In a heavy pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the shallots and cook until soft and translucent. Add the garlic and cook another couple of minutes (do not let the garlic brown).

Add the tomatoes and their juices and the tomato paste and season gently with salt and pepper. Bring to a strong simmer and cook uncovered for around 10 minutes. Taste and season with salt/pepper if necessary. Cover, reduce heat and simmer gently for another 25 minutes or so.

Remove cover and add basil and cook for just a few more minutes. Taste a final time and season as necessary. Very carefully, with an immersion blender, blend until the big chunks are gone. You don't want it too smooth, but not too chunky either (you can put it in a blender too of course, just pulse it once or twice, but maybe let it cool a bit before you try to transfer it).

Let cool completely then freeze in sturdy plastic bags or glass jars, let defrost overnight in the fridge then heat over the stove as needed.

Soft Sugar Cookies

I have never really been that into the hallmark holiday that is Valentines Day - but I am not really against it either. As kids, our parents would always surprise us with heart-shaped boxes of candy, helium balloons and other pink and red goodies (which I loved). In high school, my friends and I would always buy each other those pink carnation-grams (was ours the only school that did this?) and I, for some reason, have almost always made heart-shaped pink-frosted sugar cookies.

My most memorable valentines day was probably my freshman year of college in Hawaii. My boyfriend (now husband) had me convinced that he hated big boats (I have no idea why I believed him - he can be very convincing). Then on Valentines day, he drove me all the way to the harbor in Waikiki (a 40 minute drive, half of which he made me stay blindfolded) and surprised me with a sunset dinner cruise and a very very very funny card that he made (the way into my heart is to make me laugh - what I can say). It was an awesome treat for two very very broke college students - especially since we had spent our "carefree" first few months away from home fighting heart issues of a more life threatening kind. Really though, most of my Valentines days have been spent eating these sugar cookies, watching funny movies with friends or sisters or my husband, and just enjoying the many types of love in my life (and their healthy hearts).

These cookies have always been the recipe I have made - well, almost. I have always used sour cream before (schmand in Germany, not saure sahne). This year, I happened to have a bunch of Greek-style yogurt (well actually Turkish in this case, but basically same thing) and wanted to see if that would work as well. It worked marvelously - these cookies are super soft and chewy and not overly sweet, making them the perfect canvas for sweet butter cream frosting. I didn't include a recipe for the frosting, mostly because I don't really have one. I start with 250g of butter whipped up soft and fluffy and add about that same amount of sifted powdered sugar. I add a dash of vanilla, couple squeezes of lemon juice, and then add more sugar as needed.

Soft Sugar Cookies
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
dash nutmeg (I do like 1 scrape across the microplane)
1/2 cup thick Greek style yogurt (or sour cream if you wish) (schmand in Germany)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp soda
3 1/4 cup all-purpose flour (Germany type 550)

Cream butter and sugar until soft and fluffy. Beat in the egg, vanilla, nutmeg and Yogurt.

Sift the flour then stir in the salt and soda. Combine the wet and dry ingredients with a large rubber spatula until mostly combined, then just use your hands to bring everything into a nice dough.

Roll out the dough over a well-floured surface (sprinkle some flour on top of the dough as well so it doesn't stick to the rolling pin). Roll to about 1/4 -inch thick (make sure its all pretty even so the cookies cook evenly).

Cut the dough with cookie cutters (or just a glass if you don't have any shaped cutters). Bake at 225 C (425 F) until the edges are just barely starting to brown (the more you let them brown, the more crunch they will have around the edges if that is your thing). I don't give time estimates because it is always so different depending on how hot your oven gets and how big your cookies are - they cook fairly fast though so i just keep an eye on them while I cut out the rest of my cookies.

Let cool completely before frosting (I usually cook one day and frost the next, storing them in an airtight container overnight).

White Bean and Butternut Squash Soup

Hey, did you know there are these awesome things called Cookbooks? No - really - they are full of awesome recipes and instruction and tips and sometimes even really amazingly gorgeous photos or illustrations. I guess you probably knew that - but evidently I have been living under a rock. While I was in the US over the holiday however, I visited the cooking section of Borders and almost couldn't leave. If there wasn't a weight limit on my baggage I might have left that store with an empty bank account.

As it was, I got just a few books that really stood out to me. But just one of them has stolen my heart. There is just one that I have now read through twice - one that has in the space of just a week or two improved my cooking skills and inspired me to eat so much better and cook more at home - and that one is The Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters. Now, you may know all about this wonderful lady already, but I am new to all this foodie stuff and had no idea what I was in for (you can read all about her and her work here). This book has wonderful instruction on how to do just about all the basic cooking from scratch you would ever want to do - laid out so its simple and easy to read and helps you incorporate it into your normal cooking routine. Its full of great recipes (that truly are simple and accessible) that are fit for every season and are written out in wonderful step-by-step way - not to mention that include important details to let you understand the cooking process being used and how to vary the recipe. Without a doubt, I think everyone should have this book.

This soup recipe was one that jumped out at me to try first simply because I already had so many of the ingredients on hand and I love soup - and of course it didn't disappoint. It is warm and rich and soothing, not to mention hearty and satisfying. It is indeed so simple, but it all comes together in a perfect combination of textures and flavors. It was the perfect meal for a cold snowy day in Berlin.

White Bean and Butternut Squash Soup
from The Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters
Soak in water overnight:
1 cup (225g) dried white beans

Drain and put into a large pot with:
3 cups (675 ml) chicken stock (I used vegetable stock)
4 cups (900ml) water

Bring to the boil, then lower the heat and simmer until the beans are tender. Start checking after 45 minutes (it took mine more like 2 hours, which means I used more liquid than she called for also). Season to taste when cooked.

Heat in a heavy-bottomed pot:
2 tbs olive oil or duck fat (I used olive oil)

Add:
2 onions, peeled and thinly sliced (I used 1 very large onion)
3 or 4 sage leaves
1 bay leaf

Cook over medium heat until tender, about 15 minutes. Stir in:
1 medium butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1-cm cubes*
Salt

Cook for 5 minutes. Drain the beans and add 1.35 liters of their cooking liquid to the squash and onions. Cook at a simmer until the squash starts to become tender. Add the beans and keep cooking until the squash is very soft. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary.

VARIATIONS:
-Serve hot soup over thickly sliced country-style bread that has been brushed with olive oil and toasted until crisp and golden brown. (I did this, it was delicious)
-Use other varieties of winter squash such as acorn, onion squash, the green Crown Prince squash and gem squash (which is the size of a tennis ball).

*In another part of the book, she instructs that a butternut squash (and most squash) can be peeled using a normal swivel-headed vegetable peeler. It worked pretty well for me - not as easy as peeling a carrot - but it worked.