Recipe for :

This recipes comes from a web site which to me must rank as one of the sites having the finest recipes on the internet. It is the web site of Peter Hertzmann and is called à la carte.

What is à la carte about? This is best described in Peter's own words:

"I’m obsessive. All my life, when something interested me, I became obsessed with it. I learned all I could about it. I lived it! . . . I’ve been obsessive about food as long as I can remember. I am now obsessive with French cookery - its preparation, materials, history, politics, and culture".

To learn more why not visit the à la carte web site - <click here>

Ingredients

200 grams plum tomatoes, cored, peeled, seeded, chopped
1 sprig fresh thyme
1/2 fresh bay leaf
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
10 grams leftover, lean ham
1 teaspoon glace
1/2 tablespoon butter
fine salt, to taste

• Place the tomatoes along with the thyme, bay leaf, pepper, and ham in a small saucepan over medium heat. When the liquid expelled by the tomatoes starts to boil, reduce the heat, cover the saucepan, and cook the mixture until the tomatoes have completely broken down, about 20 minutes. Stir frequently.

• Remove and discard the thyme, bay leaf, and ham. Force the sauce through a sieve into a clean saucepan. Add the glace and heat over low heat until the glace has melted and the mixture is hot.

• Remove from the heat, mix in the butter, and season the sauce with salt.

Note:

In his original recipe, Carême called for “a couple of large spoonfuls of espagnole sauce” to be added just before the mixture is strained. I found the sauce to be so full of flavor that I didn’t think this small addition of meat sauce necessary.

Serves 2

Source:
Catherine Quévremont, Tomato Cuisine, 2003, page 48.

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