Tomato Sauce and Its Derivations

Besides the gravy method sauces, this is the other most versatile method for sauces. It starts out with a basic tomato sauce recipe, then you add things to it to make other sauces. The difference is that with tomato sauces, I'm actually backed by the common culinary methods. It is one of the mother sauces.

The italian is probably the foremost expert on turning a humble tomato into a myriad of sauces with fancy names like Amitriciana, Bolognese, Norcina, Marinara and many others. Now if you notice, the sauce names sound an awful lot like region names in Italy.

Ding ding ding! That is correct, Italian cooking is so rooted in their surroundings that different regions will use the ingredients indigenous to them. Some regions use sheeps milk, others goats milk and yet others cow's milk for their cheeses. Some use lamb for their meat, others pigs and yet others beef.

This is the beauty of knowing the methods rather than recipes. It allows the method cooking practicioner to go to a farmer's market to buy fresh ingredients and apply them to the appropriate cooking methods.

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Let's get started with a basic tomato sauce.

Sautee onions, carrots, and celery in some kind of fat (bacon fat, chicken fat, olive oil, etc) until translucent and brown on the edges. As always when sauteeing vegetables, add a pinch of salt.

Add garlic to taste (chopped or sliced) for 30-45 seconds until fragrant then add tomato paste and the herbs. Add a dash of red chili flakes with the garlic if desired (it is, trust me)

When you can smell the tomato paste, add the tomato water (see below) and scrape the pan until clean.

Add the tomatoes (see below) and some wine (red or white, I prefer white)

When the mixture is boiling, turn down to simmer until the consistency is correct. Halfway through simmering, to have a more meaty consistency add quite a bit of bacon (you got the bacon fat from somewhere right?).

I like to add FRESH herbs like basil at the end of the cooking, before serving. Add the crisp bacon on top (if available).

Voila...tomato sauce (marinara when basil is added)

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Preparing your tomatoes

Unless it is peak tomato season, always use good canned tomatoes. Canned tomatoes and tomato paste will give you the tomato flavor while the fresh out of season tomatoes will give you the freshness. *Don't throw away the water in the canned tomatoes, use this to deglaze the pan when I call for the tomato water above*

With your fresh tomatoes (especially when in season), the tomato water actually have a fair bit of flavor. Cut the tomatoes in half and let the juices and seeds fall into a colander, catching only the liquid in a bowl below. *This is the tomato water I call for above*

Roasted tomatoes

For tomato sauces, I love to put in roasted tomatoes for their intense flavor. I can also eat roasted tomatoes as is! here's how I do it. After halving and seeding the tomatoes, put the tomatoes on a glass/stainless steel baking or roasting pan. Add olive oil, herbs (Oregano, basil, thyme), salt, black pepper, garlic, finely diced onion and bake for 2-2.5 hours in 300-325 degree oven. Just like roasting meats, now we have to caramelize the concentrated sugars. Blast the oven to 400-425 degrees and bake for another 30-45 minutes. Check after 20 minutes and 5 minutes afterward for overbrowning (ie burning).

If you have a food mill, you can grind the roasted tomatoes in there and you'll end up with a smoother sauce without the skin. I like the skin, it adds a different flavor to it so I just throw the whole shebang in a food processor. As is, it's a pretty good sauce already. But I like the extra sweetness and richness the sauteed vegetables add to it and that's why I have the extra steps above.

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Other sauces and dishes you can make:

Bolognese - Use bacon or pancetta to sautee the vegetables. In addition to adding the tomato water in the step above, add some beef broth or chicken stock, cream and ground meat (pork, beef, turkey, etc). Let simmer until the meat is tender and continue on to the next steps. Instead of adding white whine, add red wine instead. Traditionally served with home made tagliatelle noodle

Amatriciana - Use pancetta or guanciale to sautee the vegetables (bacon is ok, but not authentic). Authentic Amatriciana is made with guanciale, cured unsmoked pig jowl. Yep I said jowl. When simmering, add a good amount of pecorino cheese and just a bit of cream. Serve with dried pastas like spaghetti and crisp rashers of the guanciale. A very simple version can be made with fresh tomatoes sauteed in guanciale fat, add the cheese and add the noodles.

Puttanesca - add anchiovies when sauteeing the vegetables. Add black olives, capers and chili pepper flakes with the garlic. Continue with the next steps and serve over spaghetti with parsley

Creole/sauce piquante - Instead of adding italian herbs, add creole seasoning. Add seafood toward the end of the simmer, leave the sauce a lot looser and serve over rice.

Clam sauce - add clam juice and clams at the end, serve over long noodles

Chicken and rice bake - In a casserole pan, add uncooked rice, an equal amount of water, chicken and add the sauce to cover the chicken. Bake at 325-350 degrees until chicken and rice are done. To make it quicker, use cooked rice, omit the extra water and sear the chicken and use only chicken breasts. Can also cube the chicken, sautee them and then add to the cooked rice and tomato sauce

Chili - Yep, you can make chili out of this stuff. Instead of italian herbs, use chili seasonings (cumin, coriander, etc). Add spicy stuff if you want. As a matter of fact, it's best if you fry the meat in the chili seasonings and add it to the tomato sauce just after the tomato paste step. Add beef broth or chicken stock to deglaze. Add the beans at the end if you want. And of course simmer until it's reduced to a good consistency for you.

Mushroom sauce - You can make it vegetarian and add sauteed mushrooms as it's simmering.

Tortilla soup - When processing the tomatoes, leave them a little chunky (or add diced tomatoes). Don't add the italian seasoning, but mexican instead (taco seasoning anyone?). Add the finished sauce to chicken soup and add tortilla chips to thicken. Just add enough sauce to make the chicken soup tomatoey. Also add fresh tomatoes at the end. Some people will add cilantro but I HATE cilantro.

Gravy Method Sauces (mac and cheese, alfredo, etc

Gravy-ish Sauces

People with formal culinary training will probably lynch me for clumping these sauces together. Well, sorry guys, I want to organize my sauces by how they're made. I think learning how to cook well is all about understanding the methods and flavors, not memorizing recipes.

In this post, I'll show some methods on making "gravy" of different kinds. They'll include cheese sauce (for mac and cheese and creamy alfredo), gravy (white and brown), and stews.

First, the method for these sauces are simple. Make a roux, add liquid, whisk until thickened, add flavors. Bechamel, espagnole and veloute from the classic french mother sauces fall in this category.

Now, let's look at different things you can do:
- use different oils such as bacon drippings, chicken drippings, sausage drippings, butter
- if using drippings, make sure there are enough oils to make the roux so you don't end up with a thin sauce (which you can fix by adding more roux; make the roux and add the thin sauce to thicken then add the additional thick sauce to the original thin sauce)
- fry some aromatics such as herbs, onions or garlic in the oils before adding the flour
- when frying aromatic vegetables, don't forget to salt them to draw out the moisture
- fry some chunkies such as crumbled sausage, mushrooms, etc before adding the flour
- the longer you cook the flour, the deeper in color and flavor they'll get, but less thickening power
- If you didn't have enough roux made, you'll end up with either the right consistency of sauce but not enough of it or enough sauce but too thin. Simple to fix, just make more roux if it's too thin or make more sauce to add
- use milk, broth or stock for the liquid. Make sure it's warm/hot so it doesn't
break the sauce
- add cheese in small amounts to make cheese sauce
- add meat to braise in the sauce to make things like swiss steak, beef stew, or roasts
- add meat in the liquid to braise without adding the roux. When the meat is done use the left over liquid to make the sauce

By now, you should be able to use your creativity to make your own sauces, but here are a few recipes anyway.

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Simple Bechamel

Heat some butter in the pan, medium heat, when bubbles subside add the same amount of flour and whisk until the oil is absorbed. Cook only until it smells nutty (blonde roux) without much change in color from the flour.

Add warm/hot milk to roux, slowly and waiting for each addition to mix completely before adding more. Whisking continuously until it's thick enough to coat the back of the spoon. Add seasonings, salt and white pepper (to keep the whiteness).

Additions:
- while heating the milk, you can add a bouquet garni of your favorite herbs
- while heating the butter, you can add some onions, garlic, or the whites of the
scallions. All diced very finely so as to not interfere with the texture of the sauce

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Smart Mac and Cheese

you can make many variations, I will try to help you be creative in my explanation but it might make it less clear. I will give you a simple one later in this post.

Fry up some bacon or sausage (crumbles or slices) if you want to add some meatiness. Add onion, mushrooms if you want to the above oil or simply fry up the onions or mushrooms or other vegetables (leek, carrots, etc) in your favorite oil (bacon drippings, olive oil, etc). Add your seasonings now, especially spices. When you fry spices, the oil soluble flavor compounds come out better.

Add about the same amount of flour as there is oil in the pan. Be careful to watch how much mac and cheese you want to make, see my original notes above.

Make the roux to be a little darker than blonde roux.

Add warm/hot milk (you can add fresh herbs and crushed garlic to the milk while heating it up) slowly. Small additions at a time, only add after the previous milk has been absorbed by the roux. Stir continously. When you get to the right consistency (coats the back of the spoon), you're ready to add cheese.

Use good melting cheeses, grated. Muenster, asiago, cheddar, fontina, gruyere, havarti, monterey jack, gouda are all good ones. Add the grated cheese one handful at a time, stir until all is melted before adding more.

Add your macaroni to the sauce. Top with home made bread crumbs, broil until brown.

Voila!

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Simple Mac and Cheese

- heat up some oil of your choosing (butter, bacon drippings, etc)
- add some flour (same amount as the oil) and stir until the oil is absorbed and it smells a bit nutty or turned a smidgen darker color (blond roux)
- add some warm/hot milk until the right consistency. Add a little bit at a time, whisking continously until well mixed before adding more
- add shredded cheese one handful at a time, stir continously until the cheese is melted before adding more
- add the macaroni to the sauce. voila done!
- top with home made bread crumbs, broil until brown if desired

*Note: if you want to make fried mac and cheese, let cool in the fridge or use left overs. If you made the sauce thick enough to cut into squares, great. If not form into balls and make flat patties. Fry on a hot pan until heated through and GBD (Golden Brown and Delicious)

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Homemade Bread Crumbs

Take a loaf of day old bread. Cut into 1 inch cubes, put on cookie sheet. Bake at 300 until dry (not a lot of color). Crush into crumbs or use your fancy schmancy food processor. Heat some butter (or your favorite oils) and herbs/seasonings/finely chopped aromatics (garlic/onion) until bubbles subside or garlic is heated through. Add the crumbs, stir until all the oils are absorbed.

At this point, it's ready to be added to the mac and cheese. To store for longer, keep on the pan until a bit crisp

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White Gravy

This is another methodical way of cooking. The difference between white and brown gravy is whether to use milk or stock. I am shortening the sauce making description as it is the same as have been described above. Fry up your favorite meats if you want to use them. Bacon, crumbled sausage, etc. Add more oil if this doesn't produce enough to make your roux. If making a vegetarian one, use butter and oil (50/50 ratio) and heat until the butter smells nutty.

Add your aromatics if you want, finely chopped (onions, garlic). Add spices if you wish. Add the flour to make the roux. Add the warm/hot milk (don't forget to flavor it with bouquet garni if you wish). When the gravy is thickened, you're done. Now just season with salt/pepper. voila

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Brown Gravy

Fry up your favorite meats if you want to use them. Bacon, crumbled sausage, etc. Add more oil if this doesn't produce enough to make your roux. If making a vegetarian one, use butter and oil (50/50 ratio) and heat until the butter smells nutty.

Add your aromatics if you want, finely chopped (onions, garlic). Add spices if you wish. Add the flour to make the roux.

*this is where it differs with white gravy*

If you have pan drippings from a roast or any meat cooking, you want to use it here. Add extra liquid if all you have left is the browned bits on the bottom, scrape until clean. This liquid is what you want to add to the roux above. If you still need more liquid, use canned broth. I like chicken broth even if I'm making meat gravies.

When the gravy is thickened, you're done. Now just season with salt/pepper.

voila

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Wine Gravy

Fry up your favorite meats if you want to use them. Bacon, crumbled sausage, etc. Add more oil if this doesn't produce enough to make your roux. If making a vegetarian one, use butter and oil (50/50 ratio) and heat until the butter smells nutty.

Add your aromatics if you want, finely chopped (onions, garlic). Add spices if you wish. Add the flour to make the roux.

*this is where it differs with white gravy*

If you have pan drippings from a roast or any meat cooking, you want to use it here.

*this is where it differs with brown gravy*

Add a good robust red wine to the browned bits on the bottom, scrape until clean. Cook until reduced in half. This liquid is what you want to add to the roux above. If you still need more liquid, use canned broth. I like chicken broth even if I'm making meat gravies.

When the gravy is thickened, you're done. Now just season with salt/pepper.

voila

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Alfredo Sauce

The original alfredo sauce is simply pasta tossed with cheese (parmesan) and butter, maybe cream to thicken a bit. You can still make it this way.

The next version is still simple, but closer to what we know it now.
Melt butter on the pan, take off heat when it starts bubbling, add cream, wait until it's warm then parmesan, salt and pepper. Put it back on low to medium low heat and stir until smooth, do not let it boil. Add the noodle

The last version is to make bechamel and add the parmesan cheese.

Additions:
- you are of course free to add flavors such as herbs and spices or aromatics

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Braises and Stews

- Sear the meat (coat lightly with flour and salt); the meat can be in large pieces like roasts or cubed like stew meats until brown on all sides
- Add aromatics/vegetables
- Add a little bit more flour to absorb the oils
- Add warm/hot stock until 1/2 to 3/4 of the meat is covered (if using canned, use low sodium)
- Cover and let braise on low (or in the oven for 325 degrees) until the meat is tender, check after the first hour. Depends on how big the meat is
- When the meat is done, the gravy should be fairly thick. If not, taste and if it's not too salty let it reduce. If it's already salty enough, make some roux to thicken
- Voila...stews and pot roast, depending on what kind of meat you put on there

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Swiss Steak

- Lightly coat cubed steak with seasoned flour
- Sear both sides until brown
- Add aromatics
- Add more flour to absorb the left over oil
- Add warm/hot low sodium broth
- When the gravy is thickened to a stew consistency, add the meat back on
- Braise for 30 minutes
- Season with salt and pepper
- Voila

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Quick and versatile pasta dish

I love simple pastas without creamy sauces or tomato sauces (I love them too, but they're close second and third). This recipe is from walking around in a farmer's market.

Get whatever greens are in season. I like kale, chards, spinach, mustard greens, etc (mix them up too if you'd like). Roughly chop them, I don't use the stems in chards and kale.
Get some cherry tomatoes, halve them and roast cut side up drizzled in olive oil, salt, pepper and herbs. 350 degrees until soft (15 minutes? depending on your oven, etc). This is an extra step, if you are too lazy, cut them in half and don't roast them.
Get some olive oil in a wide pan on medium low. Throw some garlic in there (whole if you don't like too much garlic, take them out later. Sliced thinly or chopped finely if you like garlic) until fragrant.
Toss the greens in the pan, until just wilted but not yet soft. Salt them as you put them in the pan.
Toss the tomatoes in if they're not roasted. If the tomatoes are roasted, add after the greens are soft and wilted.
While cooking the greens, cook some pasta, larger ones like orecchiette work best or bow ties.
When pasta is done, toss in the greens and tomatoes with just a tad of the water (a couple of tablespoons?). The starch in the water will act as an emulsifier to let the oils adhere to the pasta
Toss until well coated, serve in a large bowl with lemon zest. Some might like a squirt of lemon juice.

Variations:
- you can serve this cold...add ricotta salata or other crumbly cheeses (feta would be ok too). Better if the tomatoes are not roasted
- when serving hot, you can add pine nuts, any hard italian cheeses (romano, parmesan, etc), fresh cracked peppers. A nice roasted chicken would be great with this.

Classic Mother Sauces

There are probably literally hundreds if not thousands of sauces out there in the world. Many of them are derivations of each other; some say derivations of only a few "Mother Sauces". The original classification of sauces began in the 19th century. Arguably, the very basic classic sauces are:
- Bechamel: milk based sauce thickened with white/blond roux
- Espagnole: brown stock/broth based sauce thickened with brown roux
- Veloute: clear/white stock/broth based sauced thickened with blond roux
- Tomato: tomatoes, herbs, seasoning, oil
- Emulsified/Hollandaise: oil and egg based with herbs and seasoning, with a touch of acid. Some examples are mayonaise, aioli, hollandaise
- Butter: butter based with herbs and seasoning, acid. Some examples are beurre blanc, browned butter/meuniere

Other basic sauces:
- Sugar: sugar based such as butterscotch, caramel, chocolate, creme anglais
- Fruit: Fruit based
- Vinaigrette: oil and acid based such as pesto, chimicurri
- Chunky: chunks of fruits and vegetable based such as salsas and chutneys

These sauces are called mother sauces because they can be augmented to make derivative sauces. Bechamel can easily be cheese sauce for mac and cheese or broccoli and cheese by adding cheddar. Espagnole can be made into a demi glace by thinning it with more stock; made into au poivre with the addition of cognac and cream (especially if the espagnole was made in the same pan as the steak). Gravies can be made from veloute or espagnole.

I will cover the sauces in depth and a few creative uses in future installments.

Pasta Made Simple

Cooking pasta:
- To test if the pasta is done, simply take a piece and try it out. The pasta is
not done because it sticks to the wall (what if you have a teflon wall? Or
stainless steel wall?). It's not done because it looks right or the timer went
off. The pasta is done when you taste and it tastes done.
- Cook pasta in a LOT of water. The water will take most of the starch out so
that your pasta does not stick. As a matter of fact, keep about a cup of it to
help "tighten" (or thicken) your sauce.
- Cook pasta in salty water. The water has to taste salty like sea water. This
is the only time for you to impart flavor to the pasta.
- You don't need to add oil to the water to keep it from sticking. Just be ready
with your sauce, don't let the pasta sit around in a bowl. They will stick
because they'll dry together. If you coat the pasta with oil before you mix the
sauce, the sauce won't adhere to the pasta...especially if it's water based
sauce.
- If you're going to have the pasta in the sauce to be baked, or to finish
cooking the sauce, pull the pasta from the water just slightly underdone and let
the pasta finish cooking in the sauce.
- Al dente...means to the tooth. I like my pasta just al dente, still a bit of a
chew to it. The one thing I can tell you about how the pasta look is that if
it's still white in the center, it's not done. Bite into the pasta and if it's
not a uniform color, it's probably not done.
- Select pasta to fit the sauce. Really, you can use any pasta for any sauce but
tradition and sense has a reason for the different pairings. For example, pasta
with ridges are best with creamy sauces (penne with alfredo). Pasta with nooks
and crannies (farfalle) are best with tomato sauces, the nooks and crannies hold
the pieces of tomatoes. Long pasta is best for oil based simple sauces such as pesto.

Browned Butter Pasta

While the pasta is boiling in the water, put some butter in a pan on medium high
heat. Watch the butter, when it's done foaming that means the water in the
butter is all gone. The next step is for the milk solid to start cooking and
become brown. Do not leave the pan, as soon as you can smell and see the butter
browning, take it off the heat. As soon as the pasta is done, toss in the butter
and top with good italian hard cheese (parmesan regianno, asiago, etc).

Voila...done

*additions*
- as you take the butter off the heat, add some finely chopped garlic and/or
herbs, toss for 45-60 seconds
- cook some finely diced onion in the butter. The butter will brown while
cooking the onions. add garlic and herbs at the end as above
- toss in sauteed or grilled vegetables (peppers, eggplant, zucchini, etc)
- for a fresh tasting pasta, parsley, chervil, chives are all good herbs to add
- for an earthy, warm, winter pasta, sage, rosemary, thyme are all good
- add capers along with the garlic at the end
- add olives
- add roasted pine nuts

*notes*
- best with long pastas or ridged pasta
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Pasta with tomato sauce

*extra step*
in a baking sheet/roasting pan, place fresh tomatoes cut in half mixed with salt,
pepper, olive oil and fresh herbs (oregano, rosemary, etc). Bake in 375 degree
oven for at least 20 minutes, check for doneness.

while the pasta is boiling, put some butter and olive oil in a pan on medium
high. When the oil is hot, add onion and other vegetables (squash, carrots,
brocolli, peppers, etc). Cook until vegetables have browned on the edges. Add
some finely diced garlic and herbs for 45 seconds or a minute. Add chopped fresh
tomatoes if you have them, if not, chopped can tomatoes with juice wll be ok.
Cook until the water from the tomatoes have thickened. Add the roasted tomatoes at the end to heat up. Add the pasta and top with hard italian cheese like Asiago, Parmesan etc

*additions*
- toss in sauteed or grilled vegetables (peppers, eggplant, zucchini, etc)
- add olives
- add capers with the other vegetables

*notes*
- best with farfalle or other pastas with nooks and crannies

End of Summer Recipes Compilation

Summer Squash Salad

Thinly slice (make thin planks of) summer squashes such as zucchini or pattypan/scallop or yellow squash and put them in the bowl. Finely mince some shallots and finely chop fresh herbs (I like fresh smelling herbs like parsley, chives, chervil, thyme, even small amounts of lavender flowers).

Season squash slices with salt (smoked sea salt) and fresh ground pepper (I like white pepper in addition or in places of the black pepper). In a small bowl, make a vinaigrette with lemon juice, olive oil, the shallots and herbs (usual ratio is 2:1 to 3:1 of oil to acids such as the lemon juice) and about 1/4 the amount of the acid of good mustard (I like Inglehoffer brand stone ground mustards, I buy hotdogs just to eat the mustard).

Drizzle the vinaigrette on the squash until lighly coated, don't put too much that the vinaigrette pools on the bottom of the bowl. Grate some good hard cheese such as Asiago, Pecorino Romano, Parmesan Regianno. mix well, let marinate at least 15 minutes before serving. Serve well chilled.
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Caesar Salad

Cut crouton sized pieces from a loaf of day old italian bread. Heat oven to 350 degrees, and dry the bread pieces on a baking sheet in the oven.

Mash garlic really well with 4T of olive oil and 1/2 t kosher salt and 1/4 t ground black pepper. Use a mortar and pestle if you have them. If not, use a food processor. Strain the oil and fry the dried croutons until golden brown and delicious.

Cook 2 large eggs in boiling water for 1 minute, chill in ice water

Tear romain lettuce and toss with salt and pepper. In a small bowl, pour 4T olive oil, add salt and pepper, the juice of 1 lemon, 1/2 t of Worchestershire sauce (to taste), break in the eggs and mix until a creamy dressing forms.

Drizzle dressing on lettuce until coated (no pooling of dressing on the bottom) and toss in a good parmesano regianno or asiago or pecorino romano. Serve with croutons.
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Basic Vinaigrette

Mix 1/4 C red wine vinegar, 2t good mustard, 2 garlic cloves (mashed finely), 1/4 t salt, 1/8 t black pepper and mix vigorously. You can mix it in a canning jar and keep the vinaigrette in there to store. Add 3/4 C olive oil and shake the whole mixture until creamy.

I am not a big fan of strong raw garlic taste. So I would strain it after at least 1 hour.

*Additions/changes*
You can chop fresh herbs and add it to the mixture after straining the garlic. Or if you don't mind the garlic, keep it there and add the herbs at the beginning.

You can also add dried herbs the same way

You can heat up the oil and add the herbs and garlic before making the vinaigrette. Do not fry or sautee, just keep the oil on medium low until the garlic mellows out. Then add to the mustard and vinegar mixture as above. Serve warm if desired.
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Caprese Salad

Combine the juice of 1 lemon, 1 clove of garlic, finely minced or grated, 1 cup basil leaves, 1/3 C EVOO in a blender or food processor. Stream the EVOO slowly to make a creamy dressing. Add a touch of mustard if not coming together. Combine 1 pint of cherry tomatoes or fresh diced tomatoes, 1 C of small balls of fresh mozzarella cheese (pearls) and the dressing. season with salt and pepper, garnish with fresh basil leaves
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Tomato, Mozzarella and Basil Sandwich

Cut tomatoes and fresh mozzarella cheese into 1/4" thick slices.
Spread good pesto on freshly toasted bread.
Add tomatoes and cheese to each slice, salt and pepper to taste, sprinkle fresh grated parmesan or pecorino romano, add fresh basil, julienned
Quarter each open faced sandwich to make it easier to eat

*Addition/Changes*
Dice tomatoes and cheese (or use pearl sized cheese), add pesto to them. Season with salt and pepper, and grate fresh parmesan cheese. Use as a salad or top a cracker/toast points for appetizers

Adobo - Mexican? Filipino? Both!

Adobo simply means sauce or seasoning in Spanish. Mexican adobo is usually associated with chipotle chilies in adobo sauce in the little cans. Recipes for both versions are as varied as there are mothers in the world. The Spanish has had a LOT of influence in the Phillipines and it shows in their food. Although simmering meat in vinegar is a local Filipino method, which the Spanish called adobo when they first encountered it. Through the years, the name stuck to any foods prepared in a stewing liquid involving vinegar and soy sauce with other spices.

In the Phillipines, adobo is normally meat (chicken, beef, pork, squid) or vegetables (okra, water spinach/kangkung, string beans) stewed in soy sauce, bay leaves, vinegar, garlic and peppercorns. If it's hearty meat (beef, pork, lamb, chicken, etc) some adobo recipes call for pan frying them at the end of the cooking process to crisp up the edges of the meat and intensifies the flavor while the stewing sauce is thickening.

Mexican adobo is normally dried chilies slow fried in oil until fragrant, then garlic, cumin, coriander, onion, salt, vinegar/lime juice and tomatoes (tomato sauce and paste combination and/or fresh) are added. Once everything is cooked, blend until smooth.

The Grilling Method

There is a difference between BBQ and grilling. What most of us do in the backyard is grilling, high heat, fairly quick cooking method BBQ by definition is low, slow and usually involves smoke; you know the meat was BBQ'd by the presence of the "smoke ring". Below are some grilling tips, rub recipes and a way to replicate BBQing without a BBQ rig.

Grilling tips:
- If you have a charcoal grill, invest in a chimney starter. This is the best way to get your charcoal ready without using starter fluid. This will also allow you to start more charcoal for extended cooking (ie roasting meats)
- Hardwood charcoal will burn HOT and fast, about 50 degrees Fahrenheit higher than briquettes. Perfect for steaks and fajita meats
- You can grill vegetables brushing them with oil then season with salt, pepper and your favorite spices to make different flavors (mediterranean flavors, etc). For onions, cut them thickly to make rings and keep them together with skewers. For the best salad in the world, cut romain lettuce lengthwise in half. Brush with oil liberally, salt and pepper and pack in grated parmesan cheese on the oiled surface. Grill on a hot surface and when done, put shaved frozen red wine vinegar on it
- If you have to use starter fluid, make sure all of it have burnt off before adding your food. Pile your charcoal in a pyramid shape, add starter fluid until the surface is covered and light. The flames will die down, but as long as you have enough white ash around all of your charcoals, it will keep burning. Your charcoal will be ready once most of them are covered in white ash. For cooking chicken, either leave them in a pyramid shape and cook around the edges or stoke them to one side of the grill and cook on the cool side. For cooking steaks and meats, stoke them to one side and cook on the hot side and then the cool side to continue cooking beyond medium rare
- Cleaning the grates is important, clean after cooking while the grate is still hot. The hotter the grate, the easier to clean. If possible, replace the stainless steel you have with an aftermarket cast iron one
- You can do roasts in the grill by making a cool side and a thermometer. Most grills can achieve 500 degrees F on the hot side and without any heat on the cool side, usually it will be around 350-400 degrees F (this is with a full load of charcoal or gas flames on high). To cook at a lower temperature, lower the gas flames or reduce the amount of charcoal and add more as they cook down
- For both charcoal and gas grills, you can add a little bit of smoke flavor by adding some soaked (at least 2 hours) wood chips/chunks to the fire. You can add directly to the charcoal or for gas flames, keep in disposable pans on top of the fire
- If the meats (chicken, pork, beef, etc) will be cooked on the hot side, try not to add BBQ sauce until at least halfway through. The sugars in the sauce will burn if cooked for too long or too hot. Rubs are better; season your meat with at least some salt before putting on the grill and add the sauce later

On rubs:
- Pork rubs can stand to be sweeter than chicken or beef. My base rub for pork is brown sugar based (50% brown sugar). Then use vinegar based sauce or mustard based
- Chicken rubs tend to be more aromatic with herbs rather than spices. Smoked paprika, thyme, garlic powder, salt and peppers make a good base. Use sweet BBQ sauce in the end
- Beef rubs are stronger in spices to bring out the beef flavors. Garlic powder, coriander, cumin, thyme, and chili powder/smoked paprika tend to dominate the flavors. No sauce is necessary, but if you must, use either sweet BBQ sauce or mustard based

On BBQing at home:
- You can replicate the BBQ experience (without the smoke) at home by using your oven. For example, rub your meat with your favorite rub and in a roasting pan (or even heavy duty aluminum foil pouch) add in 1/2 cup of apple cider and 3T of white wine vinegar, 2T worchestershire sauce, 2T honey and 3 cloves of chopped garlic. Cover the pan, or if using aluminum foil pouch, make sure to crimp all sides. 225 degree F oven, for 2.5 hours for baby backs, 3.5 hours for spare ribs. Check to see if they're done by taking a bone and if it rotates around the socket, it is done. What we just did is braise the ribs to doneness. Once the ribs are done, take out the left over cooking liquid and heat on high until reduced to a glaze. This is your BBQ sauce. You can then grill the ribs on high to make the crust or broil them after glazing them. Glaze well and watch the ribs lest they burn. Serve as a slab with glaze on the side or cut individual ribs and toss them in the glaze
- You can also BBQ low and slow on your grill. Best done with a gas grill as it is easier to regulate temperature. Turn on only one side of the grill on medium low, with an oven thermometer, make sure the cool side is about 200-250 degrees F. Add a pan of soaked wood chips/chunks on the fire side. Prepare and cook your ribs as above, but leave uncovered. Finish as above also. With a charcoal grill, use a small amount of charcoals on the one side of the grill. Again make sure the cool side is around 200-250 degrees. Add the soaked wood chunks/chips on the charcoal or on a pan. Prepare and cook the ribs as above, but leave uncovered. Finish as above.
- You can smoke chickens and turkeys this way also, but of course the time is much less, check after about 30 minutes

Pork rub recipe:
- 5 parts brown sugar
- 2 parts kosher salt
- 1 part chili powder or smoked paprika
- 1 part spices and herbs (I use thyme, onion powder, cayenne, black pepper, garlic powder, chipotle powder)

Beef rub recipe:
- 4 part kosher salt
- 1/2 part garlic powder
- 1/2 part black pepper
- 1/2 part spices (I use coriander, cumin and cayenne/jalapeno powder)
- 1/2 part brown sugar

Chicken rub recipe:
- 2 part kosher salt
- 1 part spices and herbs (garlic powder, black pepper, thyme, smoked paprika and cayenne)

Notes:
- Rub recipes are in parts/proportions so you can make it in any amount
- Adjust the spices portion to your taste, less peppers to make a milder rub, add your favorite herbs/spices or use your favorite rubs (old bay seasoning, etc)
- Adjust any of the portions to your tastes. Too sweet? Reduce the sugar. Too salty? Reduce the salt. Don't like garlic, omit the garlic powder. The rubs here are just starting points, you make your own with your favorite flavors.

The Clear Soup Method

There are many kinds of soups. Creamy, tomatoey, clear, cold, sweet, and many others. We're going to focus on the basic clear soup (as in we're not going to add cream to it, we're not going to start with tomato juice as the base or any other additional method). Simply put, the clear soup method is aromatics with flavorful liquid and filler chunks.


Hardware:

• Wide and deep pot, or a pan and a soup pot (usually soup pots are not too wide). We need the width for sauteeing

Ingredients:

• Aromatics. Onions, garlic, carrots, leeks, etc
• Spices and herbs.
• Flavorful liquid. Don't choose a strongly flavored liquid, stick with mild ones such as vegetable broth, chicken broth, flavored water (bring water to a boil, add herbs and spices and other flavors like vinegars or fruit juice like lemon juice).
• Chunks. Noodle, rice, vegetable, meat, mushrooms, potatoes. Except for the starches, it's ok to use left overs or precooked chunks. For the starches, if they're left overs or precooked, add it to the serving bowls just prior to serving and make sure the soup being ladled over is very hot
• Brighteners. To brighten the flavors, freshen it up a bit. Acids work best like lemon juice, vinegars, fresh tomatoes, etc

Procedures:

• Sautee aromatics
• Add spices and herbs until fragrant
• Add flavorful liquid
• Add chunks
• Add brighteners (fresh tomatoes, diced tomatoes, lemon juice, vinegars) either to the pot or to the individual bowls

Notes:

Almost every soup is started like this. A creamy soup will have milk and cream as part of the flavorful liquid. Tomato based soups will have a lot of tomatoes and tomato juice as part of the liquid and chunks.

The Braising Method

Braising is simply cooking somethng covered, low and slow in a simmering liquid. Pot roast and Coq au vin, for example.

Hardware:

• Cast iron dutch oven is best. If not, cast iron pan to sear the meat and sautee the vegetables and a pot/casserole/roasting pan to cook the roast in the oven

Ingredients:

• Meat. Bony is best, get a cut with lots of connective tissues. For beef, anything from the chuck primal is good, like 7 blade roast, blade roast, chuck blade roast. Make sure it's cross-cut like a steak
• Spices. Like thyme, cumin, chili powder, coriander, salt, pepper
• Flavorful liquid. Beef or chicken broth, wine, vinegars for example. BUT make sure the flavorful liquid isn't too strong. The end result will be concentrated, so watch out for the salts and vinegars. Should taste good without it being strong before you use it, like a good soup broth. Tomato juice is good too
• Aromatics. Like onions, garlic, celery, leek, carrots. For a pot roast, find something robust, leek would be too gentle and won't come through in the end

Procedures:

• Rub spices on meat, refrigerate up to 2 hours if possible. For red meat, try something like this: 4 part by volume kosher salt, 1 part ground pepper, 1 part spices (combination of 2-3 spices like cumin, coriander and thyme). Grind the spices fresh after toasting it dry if possible. Reserve some for the liquid
• Sear the meat on both sides, high heat 2-3 minutes per side
• Remove meat, turn heat down to medium and add a little bit more oil to the pan/dutch oven and sautee the aromatics until translucent and brown in the edges. If you have left over roasted vegetables, that will do also
• For pot roast, try this as the flavorful liquid to add at this point. 1/4 C balsamic vinegar, 1/2 C tomato juice, 1/4 C reduced sodium beef broth (or vegetable broth or chicken broth or even water)
• Simmer liquid until it's reduced to about half
• Add the meat back in, and put it in 200 degree oven for about 3 hours
• After 3 hours, remove from oven and let it finish cooking on the counter for 30 minutes
• Remove the meat and separate the fat from the cooking liquid
• Taste liquid and add seasonings if necessary, blend the chunks in a blender and add it back in for thickener. If not thick enough, take some of the fat and make a roux to thicken the cooking liquid into gravy
• Serve with roasted red potatoes and other roasted vegetables

Notes:

The same method can be used for whole chickens, ribs (reduce cooking liquid even further to make a glaze and grill or broil the ribs to get the outside crisp), short ribs, briskets, shanks, beef stew, swiss steak, chicken cacciatore, beef bourguignon, and Morroccan tagines. The above can be cooked the same way, just different aromatics, spices and flavorful liquids.