Monthly Archives: June 2012

June 30, 2012 · 10:37 AM

Tomato Fennel Sauce

What to do with all those tomatoes? There just happens to be some fennel in the garden that needs to be harvest so…
Tomato Fennel Sauce

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
1 cup chopped fresh fennel bulb
1/2 cup chopped red onion
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 can (28 ounces) whole peeled plumb tomatoes ( I used fresh tomatoes from the garden.)
2 cup reduced sodium chicken broth
1 teaspoon thinly sliced basil leaves
1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a medium sauce pan over medium-high heat until hot. Add fennel bulb, onion, and garlic. Cook 5 minutes or until onion is tender.

2. Add undrained tomatoes, broth, basil, fennel seeds, salt and pepper, stir to combine. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, simmer about 25 minutes to blend flavors and thicken sauce.

3. Place sauce in blender and blend to desired consistency. Serve over pasta, blocks of cheese, or if you make it chunkier and don’t blend it, serve with tortilla chips!

Breakfast on a day off!

A day off during the work week! After visiting Cup-A-Joe for coffee and reading the paper I decided to make some French Toast, which is my favorite breakfast food!

First, set you pan on the stove on high and make your dip by mixing whole eggs and milk. You may add spices or flavorings at this time, too! Sometimes I add vanilla or chipotle or fresh herbs from the garden.

Dip your bread making sure all sides are coated. You don’t always have to use sandwich bread. Any spongy bread will do. Day old French bread makes a nice, thick French toast!

I prefer to use butter to coat my pan but some may use other fats like olive oil or sunflower oil. You may want to turn the temp down once you are ready to add the butter depending how much you want to brown the bread.

Once each side has browned they are ready. I like to stack and cut them before eating, spreading syrup between each slice. You may also add spices or herbs at this stage, too! I also like to cook the left over egg and milk mixture and use it as a side scrambled eggs.