More No-Recipe "Recipes"

Slow Roasted Tomatoes

I've been cooking forever. It has been over a half century. Isn't that crazy? But with all those years in the kitchen, including food labs in college, there are still things to learn. That's what makes it fun. We have had a crazy abundance of grape tomatoes this summer. The regular ones didn't do as well. But I have been overwhelmed with these little ones.

Then last week I saw somewhere that you could roast them. (You can roast anything, can't you?) I had done every vegetable imaginable but not this. I couldn't remember where I saw the "recipe" but I did remember the main part...200º for 4 hours. I had so many tomatoes that I could try this even though I didn't know what the rest of the directions were. If it was a disaster, so be it. 

I usually toss my roasted vegetable with olive oil and season them for roasting. But this time I spritzed the tomatoes with olive oil spray  because I wanted them all to stay cut side up. I seasoned them with *house seasoning. Then you pop them into the oven and leave them alone for 4 hours. (I did actually pull mine out after 3 hours and 45 minutes because I needed the oven for something else.) Let them cool completely. Then store them, covered, in the refrigerator. I'm sure you could use other seasonings, but this was the most basic way to do them. 

Jessica did some from our garden over the weekend. These are her before & after tomato photos above. She used herbs de provence, along with salt and pepper. Our tomatoes are sturdy little guys. Keep an eye on yours as they slow roast. I would imagine that different tomatoes—yours could be softer and juicier—might require a little different time. At the end they have shrunk by about 1/3. They will be soft, pliable and a little juicy. 

Penne Alfredo w/Roasted Tomatoes, Chicken & Broccoli

I had hoped they might make a healthy snack but we thought the flavor was too intense to eat as is. The roasting process concentrates the flavor. So the next night as I rambled through the pantry in search of supper, I had an idea. Pulled out a jar of Rao's Alfredo sauce, heated it in a large skillet while the whole wheat penne cooked, stirred in my roasted tomatoes, some sliced grilled chicken from the night before and broccoli florets. I had dunked the head of broccoli into the boiling water for a couple of minutes before I cooked the pasta. No extra pan needed.

When the pasta was done, I scooped it out and mixed it into the sauce. (Always save a little pasta water in case the sauce needs to be thinned.) Winner, winner, chicken (and tomato/broccoli/penne/alfredo) dinner! This was delicious. 

I wish I had known about roasting the tomatoes back earlier in the summer when we were drowning in the little guys. Then end result reminded me of sun-dried tomatoes...but fresher. But the directions are safely here so that I can find them next summer.

Pasta Cooked Brown Rice

My other new cooking discovery was finding out a better way to cook brown rice. After seeing the hash tag #pastacookedbrownrice several times on Instagram, I looked it up. The directions (yes, directions...not recipe) were so simple. 

• Bring a big pot of water to a boil.
• Rinse uncooked brown rice. 
• Stir rice into boiling water. 
• Let boil 30-35 minutes. 
• Drain into colander. (Make sure the holes are small enough to not lose the rice.) 
• Put the rice back into the empty hot pot. Put a lid on it, pull off the heat, and let it stand for 10 minutes to steam. 

That's it! It was perfect. The amount of rice is not critical. But I used 1 cup of uncooked rice. That makes about 3 cups cooked. You just need enough water to let it boil, just like you would cook pasta. THAT'S why they call it "pasta cooked brown rice."

As this was cooking I remembered something from my growing up years. This is nearly how my mother cooked white rice. I remember she rinse it, boiled it, drained it. But then she put the colander over a pot of boiling water and let it steam. It was the best rice ever. I wished I had paid better attention...better attention to a lot of things. 

I've only tasted something similar once since then, in a Chinese restaurant. But I was never sure about times and then college classes taught me the "proper" way to cook rice. It did not include rinsing. Now that I've thrown caution to the wind and I'm just cooking, maybe I'll try the white rice version and see if I can recreate my mother's rice. Of course, one reason hers tasted so good was because it usually was under the gravy that she made to go with the fried chicken or fried cubed steak. Ahhh, memories.

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I always keep a jar of house seasoning on the shelf. Sometimes I make a big batch. Most times I make it in this smaller proportion.
 *House Seasoning:  
1/4 cup salt 
1 tbsp. black pepper
1 tbsp. garlic powder
Mix well. Store in an air-tight container, such as an empty spice bottle or small jar.