Inspire with Spices: Tomato Sauces

By Sidonie Maroon , The Food Co-op’s Culinary Educator , abluedotkitchen

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Find Sidonie in The Leader every other week in Kitchen-to-Kitchen, an article sponsored by The Food Co-op.

Recipes included:
Ethiopian Inspired Tomato Sauce
Tomato and Onion Masala for Kidney Beans
Kale in Tomato Sauce
Salsa de Tomate Frito

My old friend Teresa strolled by with her mother as I was digging in the garden. She thanked me for my articles, which she claims helped her through the winter. It warmed my heart because I never know if anyone uses my recipes.

Recipes are snapshots. They capture a little food story, a narrative that takes us from raw ingredients to the finished dish. Best of all, they’re instructions that provide inspiration.

For cooks, inspiration is important. I loathe the gotta-get-dinner-on-the-table blues. The longer I cook, the more philosophical I become about my time in the kitchen. For example, to make delicious food we need enthusiasm; by rote doesn’t pass muster; we need the juice. We must cultivate the right attitude, by reaching both inside and out.

Reaching in, it helps to daydream while chopping. I imagine the tasty food and how happy it’ll make my hungry people. Sometimes, I’ll teach a cooking class in my head, or write my long overdue cookbook. Often I’m a knife ninja, or listening to my intuition who is advocating adding a splash of this or dash of that to the sauce.

Reaching out, it’s all about the ordinary yet extraordinary pleasures — lemons in a bowl, green parsley, the smell of a juicy navel orange. Spices are heaven, and I never forget to sink my nose into the jars and smell.

Inspiration is everywhere if we let it in. I talk to my friends who cook, listen to culinary podcasts, watch videos and movies. Some of my best friends are cookbooks. I pull them off the shelves and take imaginary trips to North Africa, France… I time travel into the history of food.

When I let joy in my energy rises, spirits lift and I’ve sidestepped the boredom and resentment that builds with the same old routine. Cooking is an art form, a fine craft, a worthy engagement, and best of all has practical benefits. It feeds us heart, belly and soul.

The Ethiopian spice mix berbere (Bear-burr-AY) inspired the version I’m sharing in the tomato sauce recipe. I’ve never traveled to Ethiopia, but have cooked meals, taught classes, eaten in restaurants, read cookbooks and articles, watched YouTube videos and talked food with Ethiopian Americans.

Every time I make a batch of berbere, my kitchen smells heady with spices. I touch, taste, smell and fall in love. It’s enlivening and all amid preparing an everyday meal. We can spice our kitchen lives up.

In the berbere inspired mix I’m sharing, I added a smokey element. I wanted to create something I’d use for everyday meals to add to ground meats, chicken, stews, roasted veggies or legumes.

Remember, when you make this use fresh whole spices, grind them yourself and smell! Get to know your spices by looking them up. Get curious. Where do they come from? How are they used? Do they have medicinal and health properties? What does the plant look like?

Spice Profiles

Allspice: nutmeg, cinnamon and clove flavors

Cardamom: pungent, spicy, sweet

Cinnamon: sweet and aromatic

Cloves: sharp and fragrant

Coriander: heady with caraway tones

Fenugreek: bitter with maple syrup flavors

Peppercorns: hot and aromatic

Ethiopian Inspired Tomato Sauce

Serves 4

Try this flavorful sauce with poached eggs, chicken, as a base for rice or pasta. It would also make a wonderful tomato soup base.
Ingredients

2 onions diced

6 cloves garlic minced

1 tablespoon fresh ginger minced

28-ounce can of diced tomatoes

1/4 cup spice mix (recipe follows)

1 teaspoon sea salt

To finish

3 tablespoons, fresh lime juice

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Directions

Line a lidded casserole with parchment paper. Mix diced onions, garlic, ginger and spice mix with the tomatoes and salt. Roast in a preheated oven at 450° F for 1 hour. Cool slightly and puree until almost smooth. Add three tablespoons fresh lime juice and ½ teaspoon sea salt.

Ethiopian Inspired Spice Mix

Makes 1 cup

Combine and grind together using a spice grinder, coffee mill, or Vitamix. Keep in a cool dry place and use within a month. Extra Credit: As you read through the recipe, try to imagine how each spice tastes. What would it add to the mix?

Ingredients

4 teaspoons coriander seed

2 teaspoons fenugreek

1 teaspoon whole peppercorns

1/2 tsp red chili flakes

1/2 tsp allspice berries

6 cardamom pods, remove outer husk

6 whole cloves

6 tablespoons sweet paprika

4 tablespoons smoked paprika

2 teaspoons dried ginger

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 tablespoons dehydrated onion flakes

1 tablespoon garlic powder

Instant Pot Tomato and Onion Curry for Kidney Beans

Make enough curry to sauce 1 quart of beans

1 hour

A sweet and spicy curry that coats the beans with mouth watering flavor

Ingredients

Curry

⅓ cup ghee

4 cups onions, chopped

1 dried ancho chili

1 head garlic, ground into a paste

2 tablespoons fresh ginger, minced and ground into a paste

1 tablespoon fresh turmeric, minced and ground into a paste

Jar of tomato paste, 6 to 7 ounces

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

2 tablespoons coconut sugar

1 ½ cups water

1 ½ teaspoons fine sea salt

1 tablespoon garam masala (recipe below)

Beans

1 quart cooked red kidney beans. To make in the Instant Pot: 1 ½ cups dried beans with 1 teaspoon salt, with 4 to 5 cups water. High pressure for 40 minutes with a 15 minute natural release.

Directions

Make the garam masala, instructions follow. In a small food processor, grind ginger, garlic and turmeric together into a paste.

Set the Instant Pot to high saute. Add the ghee and onions. Saute for 10 minutes. Add the spice paste, and continue to saute for another 2-3 minutes. Add the salt, sugar, garam masala, tomato paste, vinegar and dried chili. Check to make sure the sealing ring is in place, put the lid on and set the valve to sealing. Set to high pressure for 15 minutes with a natural release. When finished, open the pot, and take out the chili. Remove its top and seeds. Using a blender or food processor, puree the chili with some of the sauce until smooth and return to the curry. Stir in the kidney beans, taste and add more salt or vinegar if needed. Serve with cooling yogurt and rice or chapati.

Garam Masala

2 tablespoons coriander seeds

1 tablespoon cumin seeds

½ teaspoon allspice berries

1 teaspoon green cardamom pods with hulls removed

2 dried bay leaves

1 teaspoon red pepper powder

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon black peppercorns

Directions

Toast cumin and coriander together, on a low heat, until fragrant. Grind them, with the other spices in a spice grinder, or coffee mill into a powder.

Kale in Tomato Sauce

Serves 2

30 minutes

A fabulous way to introduce kale to the family. It’s saucy, mildly spicy and full of flavor.

Ingredients

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

1 large red onion, chopped

1 bunch kale, thinly sliced (chiffonade) then chopped in the other direction

1 tablespoon fresh oregano, minced

1 teaspoon red pepper powder

1 teaspoon fine sea salt

1 tablespoon dark whole cane sugar

3 cups tomato sauce, fresh or canned

½ cup sliced kalamata olives

2 tablespoons capers

½ cup sheep feta, crumbled

Directions

In a heavy-bottomed skillet, heat the olive oil on a medium heat. When warm, raise the heat to medium high and saute the onions for 6 minutes, add the kale and continue to saute for another 5 minutes.

Stir in oregano, sugar, salt and red pepper. Add the tomato sauce and reduce the heat to medium. Cook until the sauce is reduced, about 7 minutes. Taste and correct the flavors as needed. Serve as a side dish with feta, capers and olives.

Salsa de Tomate Frito

Makes 5 cups of sauce

Ingredients

2 medium onions, chopped into a medium dice

¼ cup olive oil

1 red bell pepper, chopped into a medium dice

1 carrot, chopped into a medium dice

2 stalks celery, chopped into a medium dice

6 cloves garlic, minced

3/4 cup Spanish sherry

28-ounce can of organic diced tomatoes, or fresh in season

1 cup chicken stock, preferably homemade

1 tablespoon sweet paprika

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon fine sea salt, or more to taste

1 bay leaf

2 teaspoons fresh minced oregano

1 tablespoon sherry vinegar

Directions

Assemble, prep and measure all ingredients. In a large heavy-bottomed saute pan, warm the olive oil over medium heat. Raise the temperature to medium high, add the onions and saute for 10 minutes.

Add the carrots, red pepper and celery and continue to saute for 7 minutes. Lower the temperature (300 F). Stir in the sweet and smoked paprika, salt and red pepper flakes.

Add the sherry and let it cook off for 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, bay leaf, oregano and chicken stock and cook at a simmer for 25 minutes. Add the vinegar and briefly cook. Taste and add a touch of salt before serving.

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