recipephile

Product Review - The Garlic Zoom and Tasty Marinara Sauce

What I Tried: The Garlic Zoom ($9.99 - Available here.)
The phone rang and my nephew Sam barked at me on the other end, “Uncle Monkey, have you ever seen the Garlic Zoom before, because I really want to test it out with you.” Sam’s inspiration in the kitchen at such a young age (he is 13) is pretty cool and his excitement for innovative kitchen gadgets is something that I relish.

Sam instructed me to head out to the Chef’n Web site to check out the Garlic Zoom, which is a little orb like apparatus with wheels on the outside that operate little blades on the inside. This product claims to make the process of mincing garlic simpler (and faster too).  All you need to do is place a clove or two into the orb, close it up and roll it like a Matchbox car on the counter and voila, minced garlic.

What I Made: 
Minced garlic, which went into a batch of marinara dressing.

-    Extra virgin olive oil
-    Four cloves of minced garlic
-    1 medium sweet onion, chopped
-    ½ cup of dry vermouth
-    1 large can of diced tomatoes (I like using San Marzano tomatoes)
-    1 handful of parsley, chopped
-    1 tsp of lemon zest
-    Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
-    ¼ cup of grated Parmesan cheese (I use Parmeggiano Reggiano, which is available at just about every grocery store or specialty gourmet shop)

Cover the bottom of a saucepan with the olive oil (about a ¼ cup or a little less should do) and turn the heat to medium. Sauté the garlic for about a minute (do not let the garlic brown or it will taste funny and if it does brown start all over) and then add in the onions and sauté until translucent. Turn up the heat to high, let the pan get really hot and pour in the vermouth. Once the liquid has cooked down reduce the heat to medium, add the tomatoes, taste the sauce and add salt and pepper to taste and continue cooking for about 30 minutes.

Turn off the heat and let cool for about an hour. Taste the sauce and add more salt and pepper if needed. Finish off with the parsley, lemon zest and cheese.

Serve over pasta or just stand over the pot with a big loaf of crusty Italian bread and have at it.

What it Rated:
Sam thinks the Garlic Zoom is pretty cool, but he was quick to point out a few things. The orb itself is a little small so you cannot fit more than two cloves of garlic in there at a time. You have to get used to the way the wheels operate and the amount of pressure you need to put on the orb to make it zoom. Once you master these the product is a breeze to use.

Getting the bulk of the garlic out is quite simple, but there are always a few stragglers that refuse to come out unless you lightly tap the orb and force them out.

All in all… Sam gives the Garlic Zoom two enthusiastic thumbs up. It is fun, affordable and helps you avoid that garlic smell that lingers on the fingers post mincing.

Bolognese for Days

There is a pot of bolognese on the stove right now and it smells incredible.  Kind of an odd thing to cook in the middle of a hot summer on Fire Island, but the guys who run the Pine's liquor store request it every time I am here.  They are so generous and are always tasting new wines with me so I of course oblige.  A bunch of friends are coming over tomorrow as well so I made extra.  Tomorrow night will be pasta night.

My recipe differs from that of my brother, he uses veal, sirloin and ground beef and I only use veal in mine. I always add carrots and he only adds them sometimes.  His version is good and so is this one.  The recipe makes quite a bit so if you want to cut it in half feel free.

- 2 lbs of ground veal
- Extra virgin olive oil
- 4 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 medium sweet onion, diced
- 2 large carrots, peeled and diced
- 2 28 oz. cans of diced tomatoes
- 1 15 oz. can of tomato sauce
- handful of chopped fresh parsley
- 2 tbsp each of fresh sage and rosemary, chopped
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

In one pan beginning browning the veal over medium heat.  In a separate sauce pan cover the bottom with the olive oil and saute the garlic over medium heat being careful not to brown (about a minute or so).  Add the onions and continue to cook until translucent. Place the carrots in the pan and cook until al dente. Once the meat is brown transfer to the sauce pan and stir well being sure to incorporate all of the ingredients.  Add your tomatoes, both diced and sauce and stir well.  Turn on very low heat and let simmer for about two hours. 

Before you taste chop the herbs, add them to the sauce and mix well.  Let it cook for another few minutes to incorporate the flavor from the herbs.  Taste a spoonful and add salt and pepper to taste.

Transfer what you do not need into some Tupperware and freeze. 

I always add a little freshly grated Parmeggiano Reggiano cheese to my sauce before serving to guests.

Bajan Mustard - Tiffany's Recipe

This is Tiff's recipe for the hot hot hot sauce.

Here is one of many recipes.  Bajan Mustard...Bonnie peppers = Habeneros!  Quite hot, but they can be substituted for a more mild one.  Regardless this sauce has a great, hot and tangy flavor!

HOT PEPPER SAUCE-  Barbadians spread hot pepper sauce on just about everything they eat. Most Caribbean people are lovers of spicy food and hot pepper sauce makes everything even spicier. Beware!

INGREDIENTS

   * 4 ozs. eschalot
   * ¾ lb. onion
   * ½ oz. tumeric
   * ½ oz. powdered mustard
   * ½ oz. salt
   * 20 bonnie peppers ( small hot variety)
   * ¼ lb. horseradish (grated)
   * 6 cloves garlic
   * White vinegar

Mix all ingredients together in blender or food processor. Add vinegar until the desired consistency is obtained. Place in bottles and leave for 3-4 days before using.

About Bajan Mustard

My friend Tiffany sent me more details on the hot sauce she used in her recipe from last week...

Barbados is known to the outside world as the home of Mount Gay rum, excellent quality sugar, and the national dish, flying fish. But nearly every visitor to the island has encountered Bajan pepper sauce. It is a ubiquitous condiment usually bottled in a glass flask or a plastic soda bottle. Bajans use pepper sauce on virtually everything, from fish to chicken to pork. It is without question a flavor enhancing experience but to the uninitiated it can be HOT HOT HOT!

Hot peppers are measured by a method known as Scovil units. A green bell pepper, for instance, rates a zero; Tabasco sauce can range from 2500 to 5000 Scovil units. Bajan pepper sauce registers between 30,000 and 50,000 Scovil units or nearly 10 times the heat of "normal" hot sauce. The sauce isn't necessarily debilitating to the tongue but rather delivers a surge in body temperature---it packs "body heat."

The main ingredient in Bajan pepper sauce is mustard. The orange yellow color distinguishes it from other West Indian pepper sauces. While there are literally hundreds of recipes, the main ingredients are mustard, onions, white vinegar, garlic, salt, and the Scotch Bonnet pepper. Variations include adding thyme, cloves, radishes, sugar, and rum. Our personal favorite, Neville Edwards Pepper Sauce, contains 5% alcohol.

Bajan pepper sauce provides a delightful kick to Bloody Mary's, enhances the flavor of chicken and fish, and provides a sure morning wake up call when whisked into scrambled eggs. Most locals and the informed traveler will order a hot dog from any of the petrol stations with pepper sauce and hyper chips (crushed potato chips)---please note that a Bajan hot dog comes with mayonnaise and parmesan cheese so indicate your preferences when making your order! And for the real adventurer, Saturdays in Barbados is a time for puddin' n souse, a don't-ask-what's-in-it local dish that simply must be eaten with pepper sauce.

There is a red version of Bajan pepper sauce known as corned peppers, a method of making pepper sauce handed down over the years from generation to generation. It involves mascerating or steeping peppers, seeds and stems, in oil for periods of up to a year before adding the blending ingredients. Scovil units can reach 75,000 to 90,000 on corned peppers making this condiment for professional hot pepper lovers only. When added to chili or stews, the corned pepper sauce transports the depth of flavor into another dimension.

Be sure to pick up a bottle or two to take back home for a wonderful souvenir from "we" island.

Sam's Pizza Sauce...

My nephew Sam loves to cook. He is very opinionated about food and at age 12 has a highly sophisticated palette. He'll eat anything from imported proscuitto to stinky morbier cheese. He also LOVES sushi. He has definitely inherited the foodie gene that seems to run in the family. So last weekend we decided we wanted to make homemade pizza and Sam was in charge of the sauce. He let it cook down for a while and would then taste, add more tomato paste and herbs and then taste again. He reminded me of Ratatouille.

Here is his version of delicious pizza sauce:

- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1/2 sweet onion diced
- 1 can diced tomatoes
- 1 can tomato sauce
- 3 tbsp of tomato paste
- 2 tbsp fresh herbs (we used rosemary and oregano)
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Over medium heat place the oil into a sauce pan and sautee the garlic cloves until the scent of garlic fills the air (be sure to stir constantly and not burn the garlic -- this should take about a minute or so). Add the onions and sweat until translucent. Add the diced tomatoes and tomato sauce and let cook down for about 30 minutes. About a tbsp at a time, add the tomato paste and mix well into the sauce, stirring constantly. Once all of the paste has been added let cook down for another 15-20 minutes.

Finely dice the herbs and ad to the sauce. Add kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

This is great on pasta or when used as a pizza sauce.