Creole Sauce

From Thou Shalt Not Grill
Tamar Myers

Ingredients:

22 pounds ripe tomatoes (preferably plum or Roma type), or 2 cups canned Italian tomatoes, seeded and chopped, with their juices
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 large or 4 medium shallts, or 1 medium yellow onion, split, peeled, and chopped
1 medium green bell pepper, stem, seeds, and membranes removed, chopped
1 small carrot, peeled and chopped
1 clove garlic, peeled, and minced
1 small red hot chili pepper such as cayenne, serrano, or jalapeno
A bouguet garni made from 1 leafy celery top, 2 bay leaves, 2 large sprigs thyme, and 1 large sprig parsley
2 ounces lean salt-cured pork or country ham, in one piece
½ cup dry white wine or medium dry sherry (such as amontillado)
Salt
1 large or 4 small scallions or other green onions, thinly sliced.

Creole sauce is an important element of many cuisines of the African Diaspora of the Americas and comes in many variations, from the simple salsa cruda (raw sauce) of the Caribbean to the suave, complex sauce creole of New Orleans's French Quarter. It is in indispensable accompaniment for Grilled Chicken Breasts with Eggplant, Creole Style, and enhance almost any fried vegetable, seafood, or poultry.

(If you are using canned tomatoes, skip to step 2.) Bring a large tea kettle full of water to a boil. Put the tomatoes into a heatproof bowl and slowly pour the boiling water over them until they are submerged. Let them stand for 1 minute, drain thoroughly, and refresh them under cold running water. Core them and slip off the peelings. Working over a wire sieve set into a large bowl, split the tomatoes in half crosswise, and scoop out the seeds into the sieve. Discard the seeds and roughly chop the tomatoes. Add them to the collected juices in the bowl and set aside.

Put the olive oil, shallot or onion, green pepper, and carrot into a heavy-bottomed sauce pan and turn on the heat to medium high. Sauté, tossing frequently, until the shallot is translucent but not colored, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté until fragrant, about a minute more. Add the tomatoes, hot pepper (left whole), bouquet garni, ham, and wine. Bring the liquids to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes break down and the juices are thick, about an hour.

Taste and add salt if needed. Stire and let simmer for another minute or so to allow the salt to be absorbed into the sauce. Turn off the heat. Remove and discard the hot pepper, bouquet garni, and ham or salt pork, The sauce can be made up to this point several days ahead. Cool and refrigerate in a tightly sealed container.

Just before serving, reheat the sauce over medium-low heat. Stir in the scallions and serve at once.

Makes about 2½ cups.

More about Thou Shalt Not Grill
Tamar Myers

Tamar Myers tantalizes readers with her perfect mix of mouthwatering recipes and mayhem. Now, the national bestselling author dishes up a sizzling new mystery that takes intrepid innkeeper Magdalena Yoder outdoors for some outrageous sleuthing…

If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen…and head to the Hernia bicentennial barbecue where guests will partake in some great outdoor cooking and the unearthing of the 1904 centennial time capsule. Rumor has it that the capsule contains the key to a great fortune. But when it goes missing and Magdalena’s guest, Buzzy Porter, is found dead, suspicions flare. With the police on a perpetual picnic, Magdalena has to dig into the pasts of her guests at the Penn Dutch Inn, grill the likely suspects—and smoke out the killer…

INCLUDES A HALF-DOZEN SIZZLING RECIPES FOR THE OUTDOOR GRILL!

(A Pennsylvania Dutch Mystery with Recipes)
NAL, January 2005
Featuring: Magdalena Yoder
272 pages ISBN: 0451212134
Paperback
$6.50

Also by Tamar Myers:
Assault And Pepper, February 2005
Custard's Last Stand, January 2004
Custard's Last Stand, February 2003
Gruel and Unusual Punishment, January 2003
The Crepes of Wrath, January 2002
The Hand That Rocked the Ladle, March 2000
Play It Again Spam, August 1999
Eat, Drink, and Be Wary, September 1998
Between a Wok and a Hard Place, March 1998
Just Plain Pickled to Death, October 1997
Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Crime, August 1997
No Use Dying Over Spilled Milk, March 1997
Too Many Crooks Spoil the Broth, August 1995
Thou Shalt Not Grill, January 1991

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