I admit, I can be
somewhat of a tight wad sometimes when it comes to cooking. I hate
wasting ingredients if I can avoid it. I am not sure if it is a
matter of years working in a restaurant and always searching for ways
to reduce our food costs, or if I am simply anal retentive when it
comes to cooking. My wife would probably vote for the later, she has
informed me on several occasions sometimes I am not fun to cook
with...[GRIN]. Yes, I know it is hard for me to give up control in
the kitchen, and I want to tell her how to do things as if she was a
novice cook and I her supervising chef. I am working on that, but
back to the topic of this article.
Tomato paste is a
great flavor enhancer for soups, stews, stocks and sauces, and a
little goes along way. Unfortunately it comes in 6 ounce cans, and
for the home cook most of the time we only need one or two
tablespoons for our recipe. That leaves us with the dilemma of what
to do with the rest of the tomato paste. Now I know some of you have
a can of tomato paste sitting in the fridge right now that has some
fuzzy green stuff growing on it because you just didn't need to rest
of it. So here is a quick easy tip to keep that from happening again,
and you will always have fresh tomato paste when you need just one or
two tablespoons. As a side note, I have also included was to save leftover tomato sauce or juice, or any other liquid that you might have leftover by following the 'Tomato Sauce' trick.
The Tomato Paste
Trick
Whenever I open a
can of tomato paste, I take a small scoop (approximately 1
tablespoon) and scoop the remaining tomato paste from the jar and
place it on a plate. I then put the plate in the freezer for a few
hours until it is frozen. Once the tomato paste has set, remove it
from the plate and place it in a zip lock bag and put it back in the
freezer. Now whenever you just need a tablespoon of tomato paste,
grab one from the bag and throw it in your soup, stew, or sauce.
Quick, easy, painless and it actually saves you money.
The Tomato Sauce
Trick
Tomato sauce or
juice never seems to go to waste at my house, and I have never froze
either in ice cube trays. I do on occasion cook down a stock until
half the liquid has evaporated creating what is known as a
demi-glace. I have frozen demi-galce many times in ice cube trays and
then pop out the cubes and place them in zip lock bags. The
demi-glace is used just like a tomato paste or sauce to add flavor to
soups, stews or stocks. Just like my demi-glace, pour your extra
tomato sauce or juice in extra ice cube trays and freeze to keep the
extra from going to waste. Then when you have a recipe that calls for
a tablespoon or two of tomato sauce or juice you got some on hand.
Conclusion
It only takes a few
minutes to quickly prepare your extra tomato paste, sauce or juice in
place it in the freezer to keep for a later date. Following this
simple procedure helps to eliminate waste in your kitchen, and any
food or food product that you can save for a later use is money you
are putting right back in your pocket. As always, if you have enjoyed
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Love to see a awareness post on tomato waste. thanks for sharing
ReplyDeleteKagome Food India manufactures Crushed Tomato, Tomato Soup Base, Italian Pizza Pasta Sauce, Tomato Puree,Makhani Gravy Base.