July18
Celia asks: In one of your recipes you said that if I’m going to use canned tomatoes, I should buy Italian San Marzano tomatoes. What’s so special about them?
In my recipe for Easy Homemade Tomato Sauce, I suggested that you buy canned Italian San Marzano tomatoes because they deliver a tangy, bright flavor… far superior to many other canned tomatoes. But what are San Marzano tomatoes?
San Marzano tomatoes are basically plum tomatoes with a lush, elegant flesh; they are grown in Italy’s southern Sarno River Valley. The tomatoes stay on the vine longer than many other varieties, which gives them a sweeter, less acidic taste.
They also have thinner skins with fewer seeds, so you have a firm, but supple bite, even after cooking them for a long time, like in my Homemade Tomato Sauce.
If you want to make sure the canned tomatoes you are buying are REAL San Marzanos, look for the Italian D.O.P. (or Denominazione di Origine Protetta) designation on the can. This means that the Italian tomato famers followed specific government agricultural rules. You can (sort of) equate these rules to the USDA regulations regarding products that can and cannot use the USDA Organic Seal.
Italian San Marzano tomatoes do have their detractors, so you’ll need to conduct your own taste test. If you can’t find real Italian San Marzano tomatoes, try whole Muir Glen Organic Tomatoes.
July9
I know what you’re thinking: “A stew. Really? When it’s so hot and muggy?”
Yes… because this Vietnamese Beef Stew proves that it IS possible for a stew to be light, and, dare I say it, refreshing.
It’s the star anise and cinnamon combination that lifts this stew above the ordinary and gives it a playful summery flavor. Simmering it for hours tenderizes an otherwise tough cut of meat and allows the flavors to deepen and develop.
My inspiration for this stew comes from a similar dish I devoured at James Beard Award-winning Chef Chris Shepherd’s restaurant, Underbelly, in Houston.
I prepared this recipe on top of the stove in my Pauli Cookware. You can also cook it in a crockpot, so that after being out of the house all day enjoying summer, you’ll have a great dinner waiting for you at home!
Vietnamese Beef Stew
prep: 30 minutes
cook: at least 1 hour (2 to 3 hours is ideal!)
serves 6 to 8
you’ll need…
4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2½ pounds beef chuck, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 large onions, very thinly sliced
4 whole star anise
2 cinnamon sticks
½ cup brown sugar
¼ cup fish sauce
4 cups low-sodium beef stock
2 serrano or jalapeño peppers, stemmed, seeded and sliced
3 carrots, peeled and sliced into 1-inch rounds
let’s get to it…
Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large stockpot on medium heat. Working in batches, add about ⅓ of the beef chuck pieces and lightly brown. Remove from pot and add another ⅓ of the meat, brown and remove. Repeat with remaining meat.
Add remaining 2 tablespoons of oil to stockpot and add onions. Stir until soft, about 6 to 7 minutes. Return meat to pan.
Add star anise, cinnamon and sugar. Stir until sugar dissolves. Stir in the fish sauce
Pour in the beef stock and reduce the heat to medium low. Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes. Skim the fat off the top of the stew. Add the jalapeños and carrots and cook 30 to 45 minutes longer or until the beef is tender.
Garnish with fresh cilantro and chopped spring onions if desired.
Star anise is a key ingredient in this dish… read more about it in my post “What is Star Anise?”
Here’s another delicious dish I think you’ll enjoy… Seafood Cioppino.
July8
Bobbi asks: I was eating in a Chinese restaurant the other day and I found a few of these star-shaped things in my soup. I tried biting one, but it was like a rock! What is it? 
That’s star anise, Bobbi! You’re not going to believe this, but I just used it in a delicious Vietnamese Beef Stew recipe I’m going to post tomorrow.
Star anise is the dried, rust-brown star-shaped seedpod of the Chinese magnolia and is about one-inch long. It has a pungent licorice flavor that is bitter… but that isn’t a bad thing! When you add it to slow-cooked or simmered dishes, star anise makes the flavor of the whole dish pop.
When ground, star anise is one of the spices in Chinese five-spice powder. Besides Chinese cuisine, star anise (ground or otherwise) is used in almost all Asian and Southeast Asian cuisines, including Vietnamese soups and Indian curries. You can find star anise in Asian or ethnic supermarkets, or online at specialty spice shops like The Spice House.
Make sure the star anise is not broken, but in whole 8-point star pieces. Keep it in a sealed container in a cool dark place (like all spices!).
Only add WHOLE pieces of star anise to a dish (don’t break it up). That way you can pluck them out before serving (and not have to worry about anyone cracking a tooth!).
One other thing… star anise is used in traditional Chinese medicine to help cure colic in babies and as a digestive aid. And shikimic acid extracted from the seed is an ingredient in the antiviral drug Tamiflu that’s used to fight avian influenza!
July1
This homemade tomato sauce recipe has a secret ingredient… and it’s not the tomatoes.
I’m not saying that perfect tomatoes aren’t critical… they are THE MOST IMPORTANT ingredient. But I’ve added a little something else that gives this sauce a subtle layer of umami complexity.
A Parmesan cheese rind.
I’ve always saved (in the freezer) Parmesan cheese rinds to use in soups and stews as they simmer. But the other day I was making tomato sauce and I felt like it needed a little oomph. I dropped in a cheese rind and, viola! Enchantment.
Don’t flinch when you see that I used canned tomatoes. I know most homemade tomato sauce recipes call for fresh tomatoes. That’s great, but I think canned Italian San Marzano tomatoes (the ONLY canned tomato you should use for sauces) deliver a more consistent result.
I added the 4 other (not so secret) ingredients and used my Pauli Cookware to gently simmer the sauce until it was thick and rich with flavor. This recipe makes a lot of sauce, so use some now and freeze the rest!
Easy Homemade Tomato Sauce
prep: 10 minutes
cook: 2 hours or longer
makes about 8 cups of sauce, depending on how long you cook it
you’ll need…
3 cans (28 ounce each) whole San Marzano tomatoes
¼ cup olive oil
6 cloves garlic
1 Parmesan cheese rind
1 tablespoon dried oregano
2 teaspoon salt
let’s get to it…
Chop the tomatoes, reserving the liquid; set aside.
Warm olive oil in a large stockpot over low heat for 2 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté until translucent, 3 to 5 minutes.
Add tomatoes and liquid, Parmesan cheese rind and oregano. Cover, with the lid slightly ajar so steam can escape. Cook for 1 hour, stirring often.
Stir in salt. Cook for 1 hour (or longer), stirring often, until sauce is thick and liquid has evaporated.
Here are a couple of recipes to make with the tomato sauce:
Baked Ziti with Mini Meatballs
Easy Pasta and Sausage Bake
