70
votes
Accepted
Fry onions and garlic before adding to the sauce?
Sauteing onions:
Softens them, most people prefer not to run into raw onions in their sauce. Onions will cook in a sauce, but very slowly, so frying them before makes sure they will be soft even if ...
- 77.2k
51
votes
If one tomato had molded, is the rest of the pack safe to eat?
Yes - the mold is an indication that the spores have entered that tomato, but do not indicate any problems with others. Mold usually enters fruits like tomato through the stem site or damage to the ...
- 16.2k
41
votes
How do I make my blended soup a more appealing colour?
Of course “appealing” is quite opinion-based, so let’s look at the problem in a slightly more neutral “how can I avoid the colors mixing when I blend the soup”.
In short, you can’t.
If you have a ...
- 60.4k
37
votes
Fry onions and garlic before adding to the sauce?
You can find out.
Split your sauce into 2 batches. Add onions and garlic raw to one and sautéed to another. Some people like the sharp strong taste of those things raw. In the US that is not ...
- 6,626
34
votes
How to get best taste out of tomatoes?
Most tomatoes from the produce aisle will be relatively flavourless— this is because they are frequently picked when they are unripe so that they can ripen en route to the store and extend their shelf ...
- 1,139
29
votes
How do I make my blended soup a more appealing colour?
The Turquoise Room (at the La Posada Hotel in Winslow, Arizona) has a "signature soup", which is actually two soups ladled into a single bowl: a bright yellow corn soup, and a darker brown ...
- 2,135
26
votes
Why is tomato paste so cheap?
What you are observing is that the bulk of the price of tomato products is not the tomatoes.
The price of the can and shipping far outweigh the few cents of tomatoes the can contains.
With fresh ...
- 47.6k
24
votes
Canning tomato sauce for the refrigerator
As you state, you have not followed any canning procedures, so you don't get any more storage time than the standard recommendation. Glass vs plastic doesn't matter. So, I would just recommend ...
- 77k
23
votes
Where did my fennel go?
Fennel is a fairly delicate flavor. I can see how caramelized onion and tomato would easily over power it. The bulb actually provide the most delicate flavor of fennel. If you want a more ...
- 77k
21
votes
Accepted
'Caramelization' of tomato sauce in slow cooker
Short answer: if it doesn't get heated to the caramelization temperature then it does not caramelize. The science is here, and it says you need at least 110 °C for fructose.
Browning in your case is ...
- 5,321
21
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If one tomato had molded, is the rest of the pack safe to eat?
I once worked in grocery produce.
The skin offers a remarkably effective protective layer. I have opened crates of tomatoes where one has completely turned to mush, while every other tomato in the ...
- 319
21
votes
How to know what variety of tomatoes will be good as a spaghetti sauce?
I have never succeeded from making great tomato sauce using our native tomatos and the final product always tastes flat. When I eat the tomato, there is always 0 hints of sweetness in them and not ...
- 1,965
20
votes
I have 12 cups of tomatoes, but my recipe calls for 10. What do I add?
Without seeing the recipe the only way we can advise you is to give you a few general options:
Don't use all 12 cups of tomatoes.
You say you're making salsa, which generally calls for fresh tomatoes....
- 16.5k
19
votes
Accepted
How much vinegar should I use when making Salsa?
The guideline for the safe canning of tomatoes is for 2 tbsp of 5% vinegar per pint of tomatoes. If you made 16 pints then you'd need 32 tbsp of vinegar, and that is almost 2.5 cups. This isn't to ...
- 77.2k
19
votes
Fry onions and garlic before adding to the sauce?
You can also use ‘layering’, particularly with the garlic. Garlic fried in oil at the beginning of the process contributes rich, mellow, savory flavors, but a little finely minced or shaved garlic ...
- 1,003
18
votes
Accepted
Would sous vide-ing tomatoes result in a deeply caramelised tomato sauce?
It would not caramelize for sure, as caramelization occurs between 110 and 180 degrees celsius depending on the particular sugar - well over the boiling point of water, which is your maximum sous-vide ...
- 5,683
17
votes
Accepted
How to peel tomatoes easily?
You don't want to boil them, you want to blanch them. This means you bring the water to a boil, cut a shallow cross into each tomato (scoring the peel), add the tomatoes (few enough compared to the ...
- 10.6k
17
votes
Accepted
Is it the ash from Mount Vesuvius that gives Italian tomatoes their great taste?
You're most likely thinking about San Marzano tomatoes specifically, which are traditionally grown in the area around Mt. Vesuvius and are, in fact, under a denominazione di origine protetta (DOP), a ...
- 4,402
16
votes
Accepted
Do tomato-based sauces change/enhance flavour when left in the fridge?
Most sauces, tomato based or not, will improve in flavour after being left overnight. This is also true of stews and casseroles. The received wisdom is that it gives the flavours a chance to 'marry' ...
- 43.6k
16
votes
Do onions help to sweeten tomato sauce?
Onions contain a good amount of sugar; that is why they brown and burn easily.
The sweetness is more than often hidden behind the sharp onion smell and taste.
Some onions like the vidalia onion ...
- 20.5k
15
votes
Accepted
Do you need to cook tomato puree?
While it is perfectly safe to eat tomato puree without cooking it, it is not generally recommended.
Uncooked tomato puree in a sauce can be undesirably sour and have a rather raw, rough flavour.
If ...
- 2,425
15
votes
Accepted
"tomato sauce" vs. "tomato paste"
Tomato sauce and paste are not the same thing.
Tomato paste is essentially a concentrated tomato with some water removed that is then preserved. It is generally only used as an ingredient.
Tomato ...
- 1,230
15
votes
How to know what variety of tomatoes will be good as a spaghetti sauce?
It might just be the variety of tomatoes, but the in example you posted these look a little unripe to me. Perhaps try leaving them in a sunny place such as by a window, and wait a few days until they ...
- 1,826
14
votes
Accepted
Why specifically use Passata, rather than tomatoes, in Ragu?
The primary reason is definitely convenience. If you don't want skin and seeds in your sauce, then you have to do some work to avoid it. Yes, it's possible, e.g. passing through a food mill, or ...
- 58.4k
12
votes
Do onions help to sweeten tomato sauce?
If you sautée the onions first, the bitterness will disappear, so:
if you add the tomatoes to sautéed onions: Yes
if you add the raw onions to the tomatoes: Not so much
- 5,837
12
votes
What are some ways to season that don't rely on garlic and onions?
Aliums (the garlic and onion family) can be a trigger of both allergies and food intolerance. Unfortunately, they're two of the most common flavorings in foods. There's already a question on here ...
- 81.7k
12
votes
Where did my fennel go?
Most vegetables starts to lose their natural flavor when cooked too long, which could be the case for your fennel, and the flavor would be even harder to notice after pureeing with rich tomato-butter-...
- 3,571
11
votes
Would sous vide-ing tomatoes result in a deeply caramelised tomato sauce?
I would say no.
Carmelization requires high heat. Sous Vide is the opposite of that - low, slow heat.
Here's some info on it from Science of Cooking.
Caramelization or caramelisation (see ...
- 16.5k
11
votes
Accepted
Is tomato foliage edible?
Tomato leaves are edible, both the articles agree on that. The Modern Farmer article says you'd have to eat pounds and pounds of them before you'd get appreciable amounts of toxins to make you ill, ...
- 77.2k
11
votes
Accepted
Canning tomato sauce for the refrigerator
Anyone here who gives you an estimate beyond what a typical (non-canned) refrigerated sauce would last is just going to be speculating.
The thing about canning recipes from reputable sources is that ...
- 33.2k
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