Tomato Sauce

sauce recipe

Tomato sauce recipe.

tomatoes

First I cook the tomatoes in their own juices. This was when I took them off, after about thirty minutes.

garlic and tomato

Pass the tomatoes through a food mill to get rid of most of the skins.  Fry the garlic, add the tomatoes and other ingredients .  Cook on low for an hour and a half.  I let it cool and freeze it in deli pint jars.

freezer

They are organic early girls.  They were a dollar a pound at the market, I asked the guy if he’d take five bucks for ten pounds of ones that were soft or split, but no mold, and he agreed.  I made this the day after.

Breakthrough

coffee breakthrough

It’s not much to look at, but this is the second morning in a row.  I’ve had a breakthrough.  Since 2009, I’ve been making espresso mostly every day, and trying to draw anything, a rosette I guess, in the milk.  I am the type of person who enjoys struggling without instruction.  What I learned is that you can draw by pouring the thin milk from greater height, and then zooming in and pouring the foamiest milk closer to the surface, zooming out and pouring the thin milk again.

Oyster mushrooms

mushrooms

Oyster mushrooms from Watsonville.  The man who sells them came from Vietnam on a twenty foot boat with 150 people on it.   The mushrooms grow in hothouses.  The tomato in back is the biggest I’ve grown so far.

Pickles

Pickles

Pickles are easy to make.  You need a clean mason jar full of cut up vegetables, and a lid.  I used a half gallon jar and filled it with jalapenos, radishes, and cucumbers.

Bring a pot of brine to a decent boil.  Pour it into the jar of vegetables.   A funnel helps.  Make sure the brine covers the vegetables completely.    Let it cool to room temperature.  Put it in the fridge, You can eat it right away, or sometimes it takes a day to really taste great.  It’ll keep for a week or more.  Eat it at every meal and you don’t have to worry about that.

BRINE:

Per cup of water,

  • 1/2 cup vinegar, DWV is what I used here
  • 6 Tbsp sugar
  • 2 1/4 tsp kosher salt

NOTE:  I tripled this recipe to fill the half gallon jar.

Salmon heads

Salmon heads

Wild salmon heads.  The guy at the James Lick farmer’s market told me, “Now you are Filipino!”  I was flattered.  $2.99 a pound, it weighed almost four pounds and he gave it over for ten bucks.  Marinated with sesame, mirin, soy, and some maple syrup, to be grilled later.

Falafel’s Drive-In

Falafel's Drive-In

Falafel’s Drive-In is the best falafel I have ever had.  It’s on Stevens Creek Boulevard in San Jose.  The sign makes it out like the place is run by a person named Falafel.  Signage errors are usually a plus for a lunch spot.  The falafel balls are green inside because they use a lot of parsley in the mix.  It’s owned by a Palestinian family.  The hot sauce is famous, it’s not very hot, it’s based on harissa, but sweeter.  It is good.

Falafel's Drive-In Menu

This is the menu.  It’s been mostly the same.  I always get the large falafel and banana shake., with extra hot sauce.

Falafel and Banana Shake

You get a number and take a seat, and it comes quick, they call your number on the microphone.

Falafel's Drive-In Seating

The seating area has a big mural and a bunch of pigeons live there.