Friday, August 23, 2013

2-Step Layer & Simmer Pasta Sauce & Little Kitchen Efficiencies...

If y'all knew how many times I have to watch the "Snacks" episode of Blues Clues just to get a post written, you'd take pity on me. You really would.

And yes, I just said that after my post about first world problems. :P

But moving right along...


Sometimes we become so entrenched in an established practice that we don't stop to think how we could improve on it, or if it's efficient given our circumstances.

Take boiling pasta, for instance. We're so indoctrinated in the necessity of boiling a huge vat of water to cook one small package of pasta that it seems for many of us heresy, or impossibility even, that we could start our pasta in a cold, shallow pool of water and cook it to a perfect al dente in less time than it takes to do it the other way, with less waste of water and energy, and still have plenty of pasta water to help along the sauce if need be.

But it totally works.

Some people will swear up and down that they can tell the difference, and it's possible a very small percentage of them might actually be able to, but most of us can't. And just think about that most of us multiplied by all those gallons and BTUs. This is no insignificant culinary efficiency.

And take braising versus stewing in many instances. A friend and I once discussed The 4-Hour Chef's claim that the difference in result between braising (i.e., searing the meat first and then stewing) versus just stewing is so imperceptible to most people that the searing step is really not worth the trouble most of the time. Which is not to say that it never is, but there are occasions for everything...

As someone who'd been indulging in a lot of slow food for the past couple of years at that point, I bristled at the notion that the extra time, care, and love I put into perfectly searing and browning all the sides of all the pieces of meat I was about to stew was mostly for naught. But even then, I kinda knew it was true.

Not that it was completely wasted. I often enjoyed listening to the sizzle of the sear, seeing its beautiful browned finish, and feeling present, happy and patient in the making of a meal to share with my family and friends. And yes, tasting that little difference in depth and richness that comes from the fond that results from searing.

But I'd stewed before, and I'd braised before, and I'd be lying to say there was a noticeable difference in people's appreciation and enjoyment of the two different preparations that result in strikingly similar dishes.

Well now that I have a very active one year old who needs me to focus that presence and patience elsewhere, I have to weigh the benefits of 3 to 4 minutes per side times 2 to 4 batches, the noticeable and unnoticeable oily splatter that needs to get cleaned up at some point (I have a splatter screen, and I use it, but the finest particles still manage to escape and cause gradual grime throughout the kitchen), and the mostly imperceptible difference all that time and effort makes to anyone but me against everything else I could be doing with that 15 to 30 minutes of my life.

And at this phase, for most occasions, the ROI just isn't high enough.

Which led me to think about another similar cooking thing I do regularly - sauteing or sweating aromatics for slow cooked sauces, stews and braises - and how I could save myself a little time and mess while still achieving the desired flavor.

So I tried this 2-step layer and simmer pasta sauce experiment last night to see if I could forego the sauteing/sweating step and still coax the same caramelized and developed flavors by placing the ingredients in a certain order and adding fish sauce for that extra umami kind of oomph that we get from fond (not unlike putting anchovies in your pasta sauce).

And according to the family, the experiment was a success. I'd have to agree. By the end of the mostly hands-off 45 minute cook time, we had a rich, delicious pasta sauce with well rounded and well developed flavors.

And I saved myself 5 to 7 minutes of both time and focus, as well as the extra peripheral mess caused by sauteing. Which doesn't sound like a lot in an isolated incident. But if you have small children running around, you know that 5 to 7 minutes can be golden. Not to mention that applying these kinds of little efficiencies consistently across the board wins back many more minutes throughout your life.

2-STEP LAYER AND SIMMER PASTA SAUCE
Serves 4 to 6

- 3 Tablespoons to 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/2 an onion, very thinly sliced
- 2 ounces of some kind of cured pork product, chopped *optional (I used leftover coppa, but you could use bacon, prosciutto, pancetta, salt pork...)
- 5 cloves garlic, rough chopped
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon red chili flakes
- 28 oz. canned tomatoes including liquid (crushed is good, but I usually buy whole tomatoes and just crush them by hand right into the pot)
- 2 teaspoons fish sauce
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 to 2 teaspoons sugar, depending on how tart your tomatoes

Layer all the ingredients in your pot, in that order, place the pot on the burner with the lid on askew, and turn the heat to medium until the sauce comes to an active simmer for 2 minutes. This should take anywhere from 10 to 15 minutes depending on your pot, stove, and the temp of your ingredients.



Oops. Forgot the oregano 'til the end. :/

At that point, lower the heat to medium low, give the sauce a few good stirs, replace the lid askew, and simmer for an additional 30 to 35 minutes, stirring occasionally - every 10 to 15 minutes or so. If you can scrape solids from the bottom of your pot when you stir, you need to turn the heat down just a tad. If you keep it at that heat, you're likely to get some burnt sauce by the end, and as you might already know, a little burn can contaminate EVERYTHING.

(How do you know if you've scraped solids off the bottom of the pot when the sauce is opaque? Firstly, make sure to stir in such a way that you're scraping the bottom of the pot with your spoon or paddle. Then as you're taking the spoon or paddle out, check to see if solids cling to the bottom edge as opposed to sauce just sliding off the surface.)

Placing the oil first followed by the aromatics and herbs is probably the most important step in layering because you want the oil to cook the aromatics and bloom the herbs as it heats up, developing the sugars in the aromatics and releasing the essential oils in the dried herbs.

Leaving the lid askew is also important because evaporation is key to reducing the water content and intensifying the flavors in the sauce.

Most of the active time is in the minimal knifework and occasional stirring, and you're really pretty much free for most of the cooking time to focus on other things, knowing you'll have a really delicious pasta sauce to look forward to, with no one the wiser that you didn't saute the veg first.

Mads chose fusilli for our pasta last night, and the last of the leftover fresh mozz balls in the fridge thrown on top did not hurt at all.



Served up right in the French oven in which it was cooked. Another little kitchen efficiency.


Hope you enjoy (the sauce and your little bit of extra time!),

shinae

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