A Simple Sauce

So there is nothing else to cook, do you want to eat pasta?  Probably, yes!!!! Well take that ragu shiiiiiiit and chuck it out the window...yuck!  Why would you buy ragu when you can make your own sauce that is million times better than that moldy crap!  Tomato sauce, so simple; it is delectable enough to eat with a spoon as a soup.  Ahhh the rich redness of it all.  Yum.

I wanted to craft an extremely minimal sauce that speaks for itself, no complexities, twists, or curveballs, just pure, unadulterated simplicity.  Bliss.  Take some good tomatoes, butter/olive oil, salt, sugar, garlic, fresh basil and you will craft a masterpiece.  That is all you need!!!  Keep it simple.  Relax, take a deep breath, you can always fix your mistake, just have faith that it will turn out delicious and it will - it is just food after all.

What you need:
- 4 tbsp butter
- 1 can of tomatoes
- 5-7 cloves of garlic
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1.5 tsp salt
- 6 Fresh Basil Leaves.

1.  Heat up 2 tbsp of butter and saute the garlic until it starts to brown.  Add your tomatoes.

2. Bring to a gentle boil and reduce to a gentle simmer.  Don't be mean to your sauce and scorch it to hell and back.  Stir here and there but don't obsess over it.  Add in the tsp of sugar and one and half tsp of salt.

3.  Simmer it down to your desired consistency and thickness.  Now add two more tbsp of butter and your fresh basil.  And there you have it!  Minimalist and delectable!  Booooooom!

Keep it simple.  Look the tomatoes got ears!

Sauteing garlic - No worries!

Reduce that sauce!  

Finished saucey sauce.  Garnish with some basil.

Note: This is not the same sauce but a sauce I made a week earlier for my soon-to-be-famous eggplant parm.  If that is not a saucey sauce, I don't know what is.

This sauce is good enough to eat with a spoon like a soup.  Let it sit in the fridge overnight, allowing the flavors meld into each other even more; I think it tastes even better the next day.  Most importantly, enjoy!

Chicken Broth (could easily be veggie broth) Recipe

Today I decided why not make something nutrient dense and simple that requires extremely minimal effort.  My mind quickly decided on a chicken broth.  A chicken carcass has been frozen in my freezer so I decided to put it to good use by leeching the nutrients out of it into a broth that can easily be the base of many meals.  Broth is a great flavor enhancer and nutrient booster to use instead of water.  Super-market ready broths are way too high in salt content so making your own broth is a healthy way to increase flavor without all that additional sodium.  A good broth is minimal consisting of sparing, nutrient-dense ingredients.

I took all my ingredients and threw them into a slow cooker.  Using the slow cooker means minimal work for me.  In the past, I have thrown whole onions, peel included, carrots, uncut, and full stalks of celery into a pot of boiling water and called it a broth, but this time I chopped my ingredients up semi-finely.  More chopping equals more surface area which makes the water commingle with all the vitamins easier and quicker.

What you need:
- 4 Carrots
- 4 Celery stalks
- 1 to 2 Onions
- 6 cloves of Garlic
- 3 Bay Leaves
- Black Pepper
- Olive Oil

What may be included if you so desire:
- Chicken carcass/bones
- Rosemary
- Thyme
- Whatever you want (don't be confined to this simple recipe)!!!!!!!



1.  Chop up the carrots, celery, onion and garelick roughly - this does not need to be your finest chopping moment.

2.  Throw them into the slow cooker with a bit of olive oil.  Add some black pepper, 1/2 a tablespoon or so.  Add the bay leaves and if you like some sprigs of rosemary and some thyme.

3.  If your a meatatarian and you have some parts of the chicken that were never used and would have been thrown out anyway, be resourceful and efficient and chuck that carcass in!  Even bones add flavor and calcium!  If you are a veggie or a vegan, skip this step and don't be scared.

4.  Go about your day, maybe play some music, watch some movies that you have wanted to see for years and years but just kept putting it off, go to sleep maybe, and after 12 hours or so on low heat in the slow cooker your broth should be done.

5.  Using a fine mesh strainer, or pasta strainer, filter out all of the veggies, bones, and flesh.  Don't waste them, eat it up if you want or feed it to your neighbors dog ;) .

6.  If you plan to use the broth within the next three days, throw it in the fridge, if not freeze it up for a rainy day where you don't feel like leaving the house.

Yummmmmm Veggggggies!

Chopping em up - Bam

Frozen chicken with some bay leaves on top.   It looks like a dears head or something scary like that

Add yo water and let the slow cooker do the rest!  This creation made the whole house smell like chicken noodle soup - an aroma that made me nostalgic for warm and cozy moments on snowy days.

Now that you have this nourishing broth, use it when cooking rice, couscous, barley, etc.  Make a soup and use this instead of H20.  Add to some beans and reduce the liquid down.  Make a butter sauce with it for some pasta.  The possibilites are endless.  The choice is yours and yours alone!  Keep posted, more maverick meals to come soon.

Shakshuka: My Version, "Crack"shuka

The traditional dish shakshuka originates in the Tunisian area of Northern Africa.  It is eggs poached over a zesty chili pepper, onion and garlic infused tomato sauce served in a cast iron pan.  A nice piece of white bread or any delectable tasting bread is in order to mop up the sauce, and a gooey runny yolk.  And the perfectly poached egg atop, makes this dish one of my favorites.

When I first heard of the concept of poaching an egg atop an earthy, spicy tomato sauce, my mind came to a sudden halt.  How could this concept never have popped into my head?  Thankfully some mavericks before me decided to throw everything in their seasons cabinets into some reducing tomatoes, cracked an egg over it and called it a meal.  Then my mind accepted this concept, absorbed it, obsessed over it, appreciated it, and ultimately transformed it into my own vision - "Crack"shuka.

I like making my sauce spicy, complex and rich.  The red pepper beautifully compliments the initial, subtle sweetness of the sauce.  So what do you use, you may be asking yourself at this very moment...well whatever I got in the kitchen!  It is fun to twist and alter your own recipes but here I will provide you with a simple recipe.  I strongly encourage experimenting and infusing your own maverick concepts into the dish.


Ingredients:
- 1 Can of Crushed tomatoes  (whichever brand you enjoy or have available in the kitchen)
- 5-7 cloves of garlic (simply because garlic is the best)
- 1 Onion
- Olive oil
- Butter
- Sugar
- Salt
- Black Pepper
- Cumin
- Paprika
- Red Pepper Flakes
- Eggie Weggies (eggs!)
- Bread (white bread, pita, whatever you like munching on)

- Optional yet highly recommended - Za'atar seasoning.  Za'atar is a mixture of middle eastern herbs, including, roasted thyme, sesame seeds, sumac, and other spices.  It can be easily acquired in the international section of a grocery store or a middle eastern food market.  So get some and experiment with it!


1.  Start by heating some olive oil over medium low heat and throw in your onions.  Cook them until translucent or if you prefer caramelize them, then sauté your garlic until it start to brown.

2. Add your tomatoes into the pan.  Bring to a gentle boil and reduce to a gentle simmer.

3. Add a pinch of sugar, approximately 1/2 of a teaspoon.  Keep it subtle, keep it safe.  Add your salt, black pepper, paprika, cumin, and red pepper flakes to your likening.

4. After it is simmered down to your desired thickness, crack an egg ontop.  Leave it uncovered, until the whites fully cook.  Shoot some of a secret butter shooter tube into the sauce or on top of the yolk, meaning butter scrape it out, meaning add a subtle amount for some added RICHness. Now either you can let the yolks remain runny or cook it a couple minutes longer for a solid yolk.  I personally like the runny yolk to melt and cook into the sauce as I eat it!

5.  Sprinkle some za'atar over the top!  Transfer to a bowl and, most importantly ENJOY!!!!!!!!!!!!  Don't forget the bread to mop up all the deliciousness.

6.  Go about your day satisfied and content with the wholesome, hearty, and healthy creation inside of you or base about and watch Rich Vids, kvlt movies, or vaguely off, questionable "indie" flicks from the 2000's.  Bam



Boom...you got your self some cracked out shakshuka, the mavericks meal - "Crack"shuka!

Doesn't that look like a pizza, sortofkindofmaybeish?  Either way doesn't it look wholesome, delicious, and different?