I wanted some quick pasta with clams and red sauce.

I had the last of a jar of TJ's Rustico in the fridge,
and a foil-pack of Chicken of the Sea baby clams in
the pantry.

I seeded and chopped up a roma tomato and half an onion
to create a little more texture. Sweated the onion,
tossed in the tomato. Added the clams and simmered off
the water (I'd strained them well and saved the juice
and re-strained it through a microfine strainer to remove
the sand).

I had gemelli in the pasta pot and they're touchy, and
I was running a little behind on the sauce.

I opened the TJ's jar and looked inside, and there was
a fuzzy white spot in there. I wiggled it a little, and
the fuzzy white spot had a gruesome knob of gunk under it.

Oh well. I also had half a can of tomato paste in the
fridge. Ran to grab it, got it out of its ziploc, looked
inside. Damn. Big fuzzy white thing growing in there.
Looked like Einstein's hairdo.

What to do. What to do.

I chopped up another roma and threw it in.

Then I realized, without the store-bought sauce I had
no seasoning.

Okay. Grab the Penzey's Italian mix, a pinch of garlic
powder (no time to chop a clove), shake them in.

Stir. Add pasta and pasta water. Stir. Eyeball. Needs
red and piquant.

Dash on a little hot hungarian paprika. Stir. Hmm.

Microplane in a quarter-cup of parm-reg. Stir.

Bowl and serve.

Saved it. It didn't have that tart, tomatoey flavor I was
craving, but it didn't taste like plain veggies and noodles.
I can see intending to make it this way. Actually, I'm
pretty sure I've done it before on purpose.

Went great with a glass of the fume' blanc I'm working
on this week, too.

--Blair

Blair P. Houghton wrote:
> I wanted some quick pasta with clams and red sauce.
>
> I had the last of a jar of TJ's Rustico in the fridge,
> and a foil-pack of Chicken of the Sea baby clams in
> the pantry.
>
> I seeded and chopped up a roma tomato and half an onion
> to create a little more texture. Sweated the onion,
> tossed in the tomato. Added the clams and simmered off
> the water (I'd strained them well and saved the juice
> and re-strained it through a microfine strainer to remove
> the sand).
>
> I had gemelli in the pasta pot and they're touchy, and
> I was running a little behind on the sauce.
>
> I opened the TJ's jar and looked inside, and there was
> a fuzzy white spot in there. I wiggled it a little, and
> the fuzzy white spot had a gruesome knob of gunk under it.
>
> Oh well. I also had half a can of tomato paste in the
> fridge. Ran to grab it, got it out of its ziploc, looked
> inside. Damn. Big fuzzy white thing growing in there.
> Looked like Einstein's hairdo.
>
> What to do. What to do.
>
> I chopped up another roma and threw it in.
>
> Then I realized, without the store-bought sauce I had
> no seasoning.
>
> Okay. Grab the Penzey's Italian mix, a pinch of garlic
> powder (no time to chop a clove), shake them in.
>
> Stir. Add pasta and pasta water. Stir. Eyeball. Needs
> red and piquant.
>
> Dash on a little hot hungarian paprika. Stir. Hmm.
>
> Microplane in a quarter-cup of parm-reg. Stir.
>
> Bowl and serve.
>
> Saved it. It didn't have that tart, tomatoey flavor I was
> craving, but it didn't taste like plain veggies and noodles.
> I can see intending to make it this way. Actually, I'm
> pretty sure I've done it before on purpose.
>
> Went great with a glass of the fume' blanc I'm working
> on this week, too.
>
> --Blair

Isn't it just awesome when you save a meal like that--r3

On Sun, 16 Jul 2006 02:42:39 GMT, Blair P. Houghton > wrote:

>Saved it. It didn't have that tart, tomatoey flavor I was
>craving, but it didn't taste like plain veggies and noodles.
>I can see intending to make it this way. Actually, I'm
>pretty sure I've done it before on purpose.

It sounds delicious. I have done that on purpose, myself, and it's
fantastic! Ya done good!

Carol

tsr3 wrote:
>
> Blair P. Houghton wrote:
> > I wanted some quick pasta with clams and red sauce.
> >
> > I had the last of a jar of TJ's Rustico in the fridge,
> > and a foil-pack of Chicken of the Sea baby clams in
> > the pantry.
> >
> > I seeded and chopped up a roma tomato and half an onion
> > to create a little more texture. Sweated the onion,
> > tossed in the tomato. Added the clams and simmered off
> > the water (I'd strained them well and saved the juice
> > and re-strained it through a microfine strainer to remove
> > the sand).
> >
> > I had gemelli in the pasta pot and they're touchy, and
> > I was running a little behind on the sauce.
> >
> > I opened the TJ's jar and looked inside, and there was
> > a fuzzy white spot in there. I wiggled it a little, and
> > the fuzzy white spot had a gruesome knob of gunk under it.
> >
> > Oh well. I also had half a can of tomato paste in the
> > fridge. Ran to grab it, got it out of its ziploc, looked
> > inside. Damn. Big fuzzy white thing growing in there.
> > Looked like Einstein's hairdo.
> >
> > What to do. What to do.
> >
> > I chopped up another roma and threw it in.
> >
> > Then I realized, without the store-bought sauce I had
> > no seasoning.
> >
> > Okay. Grab the Penzey's Italian mix, a pinch of garlic
> > powder (no time to chop a clove), shake them in.
> >
> > Stir. Add pasta and pasta water. Stir. Eyeball. Needs
> > red and piquant.
> >
> > Dash on a little hot hungarian paprika. Stir. Hmm.
> >
> > Microplane in a quarter-cup of parm-reg. Stir.
> >
> > Bowl and serve.
> >
> > Saved it. It didn't have that tart, tomatoey flavor I was
> > craving, but it didn't taste like plain veggies and noodles.
> > I can see intending to make it this way. Actually, I'm
> > pretty sure I've done it before on purpose.
> >
> > Went great with a glass of the fume' blanc I'm working
> > on this week, too.
> >
> > --Blair
>
> Isn't it just awesome when you save a meal like that--r3

Yep, some skill can pull your posterior out of the fire, but a little
review of your ingredients *before* you start can keep your posterior
out of the fire to begin with.

Pete C.

In article >,
Blair P. Houghton > wrote:

> I wanted some quick pasta with clams and red sauce.
>
> I had the last of a jar of TJ's Rustico in the fridge,
> and a foil-pack of Chicken of the Sea baby clams in
> the pantry.
>
> I seeded and chopped up a roma tomato and half an onion
> to create a little more texture. Sweated the onion,
> tossed in the tomato. Added the clams and simmered off
> the water (I'd strained them well and saved the juice
> and re-strained it through a microfine strainer to remove
> the sand).
>
> I had gemelli in the pasta pot and they're touchy, and
> I was running a little behind on the sauce.
>
> I opened the TJ's jar and looked inside, and there was
> a fuzzy white spot in there. I wiggled it a little, and
> the fuzzy white spot had a gruesome knob of gunk under it.
>
> Oh well. I also had half a can of tomato paste in the
> fridge. Ran to grab it, got it out of its ziploc, looked
> inside. Damn. Big fuzzy white thing growing in there.
> Looked like Einstein's hairdo.

Freeze your leftover tomato paste. Keeps forever, or near enough, and
you can dig some out without thawing.

Isaac

"Blair P. Houghton" > wrote

> I opened the TJ's jar and looked inside, and there was
> a fuzzy white spot in there. I wiggled it a little, and
> the fuzzy white spot had a gruesome knob of gunk under it.
>
> Oh well. I also had half a can of tomato paste in the
> fridge. Ran to grab it, got it out of its ziploc, looked
> inside. Damn. Big fuzzy white thing growing in there.
> Looked like Einstein's hairdo.

I'm thinking you should go to that refrigerator that is out of
sight in your photo and clean it out. Just sayin.

nancy

On Sun, 16 Jul 2006 03:01:29 GMT, "Pete C." >
wrote:

>Yep, some skill can pull your posterior out of the fire, but a little
>review of your ingredients *before* you start can keep your posterior
>out of the fire to begin with.
>
>Pete C.

It's called mise en place, among other things. Make sure you have the
ingredients, all chopped, measured out and ready to go BEFORE you even
begin to start cooking.

Christine

Christine Dabney wrote:
>
> On Sun, 16 Jul 2006 03:01:29 GMT, "Pete C." >
> wrote:
>
> >Yep, some skill can pull your posterior out of the fire, but a little
> >review of your ingredients *before* you start can keep your posterior
> >out of the fire to begin with.
> >
> >Pete C.
>
> It's called mise en place, among other things. Make sure you have the
> ingredients, all chopped, measured out and ready to go BEFORE you even
> begin to start cooking.
>
> Christine

That's actually a step further, simply reviewing that you have all the
necessary ingredients in good condition before starting will do. Taking
the pre-prep further will help overall efficiency, but isn't critical to
the success of the endeavor.

Pete C.

************************
Ran to grab it, got it out of its ziploc, looked
inside. Damn. Big fuzzy white thing growing in there.
Looked like Einstein's hairdo.
************************
My favorite part of your whole post.

In article >,
Christine Dabney > wrote:

> It's called mise en place, among other things. Make sure you have the
> ingredients, all chopped, measured out and ready to go BEFORE you even
> begin to start cooking.
>
> Christine


That is SUCH a boring way to cook, Christine. Improvisation moves the
creative juices.
--
-Barb
<http://jamlady.eboard.com> Updated 7-10-06, Rob's Birthday Lunch
"If it's not worth doing to excess, it's not worth doing at all."

On Sun, 16 Jul 2006 11:43:48 -0500, Melba's Jammin'
> wrote:

>In article >,
> Christine Dabney > wrote:
>
>> It's called mise en place, among other things. Make sure you have the
>> ingredients, all chopped, measured out and ready to go BEFORE you even
>> begin to start cooking.
>
>That is SUCH a boring way to cook, Christine. Improvisation moves the
>creative juices.

Yeah, I kinda enjoy the challenge of, "Oh, s***! I thought I had
such-and-such! What'll work instead?" Not a joke. I love the
challenge.

I never lived down calling my mom, halfway through mixing up a batch
of gingersnaps, and asking her, "Can you make gingersnaps without
ginger?"

Carol

Melba's Jammin' wrote:
> In article >,
> Christine Dabney > wrote:
>
>> It's called mise en place, among other things. Make sure you have the
>> ingredients, all chopped, measured out and ready to go BEFORE you even
>> begin to start cooking.
>>
>> Christine
>
>
> That is SUCH a boring way to cook, Christine. Improvisation moves the
> creative juices.


Improvisation also lets you conveniently "forget" to add ingredients you
didn't particularly want anyway.

gloria p

On Sun, 16 Jul 2006 19:03:21 GMT, Puester >
wrote:

>Improvisation also lets you conveniently "forget" to add ingredients you
>didn't particularly want anyway.

I'm continually forgetting to put mushrooms in things. It's just
terrible!

Carol

isw > wrote:
>Blair wrote:
>> Oh well. I also had half a can of tomato paste in the
>> fridge. Ran to grab it, got it out of its ziploc, looked
>> inside. Damn. Big fuzzy white thing growing in there.
>> Looked like Einstein's hairdo.
>
>Freeze your leftover tomato paste. Keeps forever, or near enough, and
>you can dig some out without thawing.

It's an idea. Mater-cubes.

But we'll have to bottom out on the issue of chemical
alteration of tomato flavor when frozen, first.

Instead today I got a passel o' cans of contadina paste.
They were fortuitiously on sale at Safeway for a passel
per whit.

--Blair

Nancy Young > wrote:
>"Blair P. Houghton" > wrote
>> Oh well. I also had half a can of tomato paste in the
>> fridge. Ran to grab it, got it out of its ziploc, looked
>> inside. Damn. Big fuzzy white thing growing in there.
>> Looked like Einstein's hairdo.
>
>I'm thinking you should go to that refrigerator that is out of
>sight in your photo and clean it out. Just sayin.

It does okay. But I don't use tomato stuff quite often
enough. And I don't keep quite enough on spare. That's
what emergencies are made of.

--Blair

Michael \"Dog3\" Lonergan > wrote:
>Blair P. Houghton >
m:
>
>> I wanted some quick pasta with clams and red sauce.
>
>Nice save Blair. And I'm glad it turned out okay.

Made me buy two more pouches of clams today. Chicken
of the Sea. Handy, and tasty (when strained properly).
And on sale.

Karma way up today.

--Blair

"Blair P. Houghton" > wrote

> Nancy Young > wrote:
>>"Blair P. Houghton" > wrote
>>> Oh well. I also had half a can of tomato paste in the
>>> fridge. Ran to grab it, got it out of its ziploc, looked
>>> inside. Damn. Big fuzzy white thing growing in there.
>>> Looked like Einstein's hairdo.
>>
>>I'm thinking you should go to that refrigerator that is out of
>>sight in your photo and clean it out. Just sayin.
>
> It does okay. But I don't use tomato stuff quite often
> enough. And I don't keep quite enough on spare. That's
> what emergencies are made of.

I was just kiddin, but you do have old tomato product issues.
I have a real fear of finding fuzzy stuff in food, it's up there with
bugs.

nancy

"Damsel in dis Dress" > wrote in message
...
> On Sun, 16 Jul 2006 19:03:21 GMT, Puester >
> wrote:
>
>>Improvisation also lets you conveniently "forget" to add ingredients
>>you
>>didn't particularly want anyway.
>
> I'm continually forgetting to put mushrooms in things. It's just
> terrible!

That's nothing until you've tried to make tomato sauce without tomatoes!
It would up being a sauté instead.