Mildly Spicy Cheese Sauce (for Nachos)

Ever have leftover parts of food items from a BBQ? This is one easy recipe that uses those leftover slices of bulk cheese. 

Ingredients

8-10 cheddar cheese slices, thinly sliced

1/2 c half 'n half or milk

2 tbsp diced green chilies

2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 tbsp cornstarch

Directions

1. Toss the cheese and cornstarch together until the cheese is evenly coated. 

2.  In a small nonstick pot, melt the cheese over low heat. Add 1/4 c of the dairy and stir occasionally. Add chilies and spices. Stir to blend together. Add remaining dairy. Stir until cheese has melted. Pour over nachos or serve as a cheese dip. 

Basic Marinara Sauce

I break even on the raw material cost with this recipe and can reduce my reliance on having to make a special trip to the grocery store to make a sauce for spaghetti or lasagna. June was an abysmal start to summer with all the rain and chilly temps. In the Pacific Northwest, the warm days and clear sunny skies have only just begun. Locally grown tomatoes are just starting to appear on plants and at local vegetable farms. Typically, the ugliest tomatoes leftover from the end of the season are turned into canned tomato goods: tomato sauce, diced tomato, marinara sauce, etc. A local farms these typically go for u-pick pricing of $0.50/lb or cheaper. The average store bought marinara sauce consists of about one or two cans of crushed tomatoes and tomato sauce with various herbs, cooked mushrooms, salt, sugar, and onions tossed in for flavor. It makes you wonder about the quality of the tomatoes that are used in mass produced tomato-based sauces.

Use with: Italian pastas, cheese fries, baked summer vegetables

To reconstitute tomato paste into tomato sauce, add an equal amount of water to the tomato paste. An 8 oz can of tomato paste + 8 oz water = roughly a cup of tomato sauce.

Using fresh tomatoes: To make this sauce with fresh tomatoes, peel the tomatoes by blanching them in hot water (this makes it easier to remove the skins). The Smitten Kitchen blog has a very good write-up and photos of this process (details). 4 pounds of roma tomatoes will make 4 cups of tomato sauce.

Ingredients

One 14.5 oz can of diced or crushed tomatoes
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced or roughly chopped
6-12 basil leaves, stems removed and sliced
8 oz fresh white or crimini mushrooms, sliced (optional)
8 oz tomato paste + 8 oz water (or tomato sauce)
up to 1/2 tsp kosher salt, to taste
up to 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 bay leaf
a pinch of sugar or a pinch of baking soda (optional, to reduce acidity)

Directions

1. In a 2-quart (or larger) heavy bottomed pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and garlic. Sauté until the onions are translucent. Add mushrooms, tomatoes, tomato sauce, bay leaf, salt and pepper. Simmer for 15 minutes.

2. Remove bay leaf and purée using an immersion blender.