Easy Homemade Tomato Sauce

Sometimes it can be hard to find pre-made tomato sauce without there being sugar or other questionable ingredients in it. The good news is that it is actually pretty easy to make yourself. Everyone should try homemade at least once.

Ingredients

• Few springs of fresh rosemary, minced

• Few springs of fresh thyme, minced

• 3 cloves of garlic, minced

• 1 onion, diced

• 1 bunch of fresh basil, chopped

• 1 jar of crushed tomatoes

• 1 jar of whole peeled tomatoes

• 1 tsp. smoked paprika

• 1 tsp. red pepper flakes

• olive oil

• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Heat pan over medium high heat.

Add olive oil to the pan.

Add diced onion and stir. Sautee until translucent.

Add rosemary, thyme, and garlic. Stir and then add smoked paprika and red pepper flakes.

Saute for about a minute and then add in your jars of tomato and chopped basil. 

Salt and pepper to taste.

Let simmer on low heat covered for about 15 minutes.

Adjust seasoning to taste and enjoy! 

Chicken Tortilla Soup

For a no bullshit recipe, this one actually contains a fair amount of ingredients. Don’t let it intimidate you though I promise you it is still easy and worth the overwhelming list of ingredients. I used to joke that Mexican food wasn’t authentic unless it gave you diarrhea. I still kind of stand by that… but as long as you cook that chicken right, you can spare yourself the symptoms of authenticity.

INGREDIENTS

For the Chicken
2 Boneless skinless chicken breasts smoked paprika
Cumin
Chili powder


For The Soup

1 Yellow onion, diced
1 Jalapeño, seeded and diced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups diced red/yellow/green bell pepper 1 TBL tomato paste
Juice from one lime
1 TBL Oregano
1 TBL Cumin
2 TBL Chili Powder
2 Cups of Corn
1 Quart of Chicken Stock
2 14.5oz cans of fire roasted tomatoes
1/2 bunch of cilantro
Tortilla chips

Avocado
Cojita cheese

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 365 degrees F.
Season both sides of chicken evenly with salt, smoked paprika, chili powder, and cumin.
Sear on both sides and finish in the oven until it reaches an internal temperature of 365 degrees F. Or about 15 minutes. Set aside.

Sauté onions, bell pepper and garlic until soft. Add in the tomato paste, cumin, oregano, and chili powder. Sauté for 1 minute.
Add the fire roasted tomatoes, and then the chicken stock.
Add in the corn, chicken, and Cilantro

Season to taste 


Garnish with tortilla chips, avocado and cojita cheese.

Welcome

Welcome to The Shit You Will Actually Cook blog.

Here is where I will be posting recipes from now on. And by recipes I don’t mean long blog posts about my kids, dogs, and laundry with a recipe hidden down at the bottom. I plan to just get to the point, skip the shit you don’t actually care about and give you the recipe you are looking for from the start. There is a time and a place for fluff but this ain’t it. I just want to give you easy straight forward recipes that you will actually cook. Hence the name of the blog and the book. Life is too short, cooking shouldn’t be that hard and finding and actual recipe without reading about someones kids and choice of laundry detergent shouldn’t be either.

If you are sensitive to cursing and an overall cynical outlook on life, this blog might not be for you. I am no doubt a cynical bastard and won’t waste your time romanticizing cooking unless cleaning up dishes after really turns you on. Dishes will be at a minimum here, ( at least that is the goal ) . We will focus less on how to make the perfect gnocchi, the perfect pie crust, the perfect fluffy pancakes and will focus more on throwing perfection out the fucking window and cooking what is quick and healthy. The lack of straight forward cooking is what sends people to Mcdonalds for dinner. It is time we get away from that shit. Let’s cook.