Chick- Peas in Chunky Tomato Sauce...and Red Gold Giveaway

I'm truly happy to announce to you, that I have the most amazing 100 % all natural tomatoes to have had the privilege of trying, almost exactly one year ago, when I won the beautiful giveaway pack, from my friend Wendy, @ Weekend Gourmet.

I did not even know that our local Publix Supermarket in West Palm Beach carries the Red Gold tomatoes, when I suddenly discovered it, yesterday! More importantly, I got my "six pack" ...no, I don't mean a six pack "abs"...not even nearly, or my six pack of "beer"...although beer would go nice with my Chick- Peas in Chunky Tomato Sauce, made with the Red Gold Tomatoes, that I received the "six pack" of different 6 type of their wonderful tomatoes.

I must tell you, that this is a truly Vegan dish, made with dried chickpeas (garbanzo) that have been soaked, and slowly cooked till it became just the right crunchiness on the outside, and al-dente on the inside, and the tomato stew, slowly cooked with Red Gold Crushed Tomatoes, and combined with Red Gold Stewed Tomatoes, that looked and smelled absolutely fresh, ruby red, and "heavenly"! Served over Israeli Couscous, an you've got yourself a satisfying Vegan/Vegetarian dish, or a side dish with any type of meat, if you prefer it that way! The best part...I get to share these "six pack" of tomatoes with the winner of this giveaway!

 I think it's always helpful to learn about the nice people, behind their products, so I wanted to share this with you...read on!

We are tomato people…people who grew up where tomatoes grow best - Tomato Country.
Red Gold began as a family business in 1942. Sixty-some years and three generations later, we still concentrate on growing tomatoes and using them to make over a hundred different products. Day in and day out, we pursue our mission, “To produce the freshest, best-tasting tomato products in the world.”
We harvest our well-tended fields at the moment when tomatoes are at their ripest, and carefully treat those tomatoes with the respect they deserve until they're tightly sealed and on their way to you.
You might be surprised how passionate we can be about tomatoes.
Learn more about Red Gold and our people

Now you can understand a little better...so let's get on with the recipe, and the giveaway. All you need to do is to follow my blog...if you haven't already...no facebook, foodbuzz, twitter, Pinterest, Bloglovin, required to follow, since I'm the worst active blogger in all those. Can't even remember when I tweeted about something, but I will for sure tweet about RED GOLD Tomatoes!...and indeed, it's worth its weight in GOLD. Couldn't have come up with a better name for these amazing 100% natural tomatoes; and by now, all of you who know me from comments, know that I am sincere about my feeling of things, and this is one of them!
Cristy, at Red Gold contacted me by e-mail if I would like to participate in this giveaway, and you couldn't get me fast enough to say YES!

Please leave a comment, and mention what you would like to prepare with Red Gold Tomatoes...I will post all the six types that I received, and certainly there are a lot more products...this are just six, of the many!

Red Gold Petite Diced Tomatoes

Red Gold Diced Tomatoes Chili Ready

Red Gold Petite Diced Tomatoes, with Green Chilies

Red Gold Tomato Sauce

My favorites:
Red Gold Crushed Tomatoes

Red Gold Stewed Tomatoes








You've got till Monday, Feb. 27, 2012 @ 11:00PM Eastern Standard Time to enter, and I will announce the winner on Tuesday... just make sure you are following my blog...I will be sure to follow you back as well on your blog.
I will use Random generated number for the winner! Sorry, only U.S. and Canada are eligible for the giveaway!

Chick-Peas in Chunky Tomato Sauce
my own adaptation from an old Bon Appetit magazine recipe, circa (early 90's)

1 medium chopped onion
3 cloves of garlic chopped
2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1- 14.5 oz. can of Red Gold Crushed tomatoes
1- 14.5 oz. can of Red Gold Stewed tomatoes
2 15-to 16 oz can chick-peas (garbanzo beans)
rinsed. ( I cooked my own garbanzo beans) and used 4 cups...also saved the liquid to cook the Israeli Couscous)
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley ( I used 1 teaspoon freeze dried parsley)
Save some parsley leaves for garnish ( I used fresh cilantro)

Homemade dried oregano on the left side... from Italy! The BEST!

Combine chopped onion, minced garlic and olive oil in a large non-stick skillet. (I used a large pot)
Cover and cook mixture over low heat until vegetables are tender, stirring frequently, about 15 minutes. Add tomatoes with their juices, chick-peas, and all the above mentioned spices, and bring to a boil.

Stir mixture, crushing tomatoes with side of spoon. (I left my beautiful sliced stewed tomatoes as they are, to cook till tender)
Add fresh parsley. Season to taste with salt, and pepper.

Spoon Couscous into shallow bowl, and ladle tomato mixture over it!
WW Points value: 10

This is what my freezer door shelf looks like. I freeze my best dry spices, to assure the fresh flavor. Just making sure that I don't let them expire. Either way, they should not be kept for more than one year.

Aren't they beauties?...you can also order them online from the company, if you cannot find them in your local supermarket, or specialty markets.

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Spaghetti Con Aglio e Olio=Spaghetti With Garlic and Oil

Exactly one week ago, I was in such a daze, and so helpless seeing my sweet daughter Lora in so much pain and going through a major surgery like that was not something any of us were expecting, but fortunately she had all the love and support from family, and friends, and all her and my friends through both of our food blogs, as well.

Thank you so much to all of you dear friends for your kind words of caring, and support throughout this past week!

I should be cooking up a "storm" and baking something fabulous, but she has her amazing mother in-law Teresa from Como, Italy there, to cook and bake every day. They have not had store bought bread in the two weeks because Teresa has her trusty cup of "starter" in the fridge to make fresh homemade breads and rolls every day. As I mentioned before, I always have the basic herbs, and spices on hand, and I'm virtually never without fresh parsley, basil, and of course fresh garlic. A nice quality of spaghetti, and a good chunk of imported Parmigiana Reggiano freshly shaved, will make a gourmet dish that does not require anything else...perhaps a side salad, and a nice piece of crunchy bread.

Spaghetti con Aglio e Olio=Spaghetti With Garlic 
and Oil




Start out with a large batch of Italian parsley, chopped

In a large skillet, heat 4 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil on med. high heat. Add 1 teaspoon chopped fresh garlic, and a good sprinkling of crushed red pepper flakes.

Add the chopped parsley to the garlic oil, and 1/2 cup of reserved boiled water from the pasta, and mix the pasta right into the skillet.

Add freshly coarse grated of your best Parmigiana Reggiano cheese, and you are in "pasta heaven."

Aggiungi Parmigiana Reggiano grattugiato ...


Buon Appetito!

Another little trick I learned...I purchase a small jar of concentrated red pepper flakes in oil at the Asian market, and added it to a fancy jar, that I bought at my local thrift store, for a little over $1. that has a rubber sealed top. I put the jar in the dishwasher to disinfect it, and when it was dry, I added the concentrated pepper oil, and filled the jar with my own olive oil, it doesn't have to be extra virgin olive oil.

You can keep using this pepper oil by adding more oil to it. For the recipe, I used some of this oil, as well, including more pepper flakes.

Even the two little Chihuahuas of Lora's...Stella, following Luigi, were so happy to go for a stroll. For one week they didn't get a chance to be walked. Teresa was busy with the grandchildren and the American household, and would not know how to walk these little guys since they don't have any pets in Italy.

So I leave you with good thoughts, and a beautiful day! I hope your area has already bloomed into spring. Ciao, Ciao:DDD

Sicilian Puttanesca Sauce...and a Winner!

It's been a trying 3 days for me...trying to scan photos on my scanner, which is a Canon, flatbed, from ten years ago. I do have another newer model, from HP, but that is at least six years old, as well. That particular one, the scanner does not work. I'm trying to be this "self help" computer tech, and it' taking a toll on my patience already, figuring things out. Well, everything is working on the old scanner...lucky for me, I saved the soft-ware to upload the program, now, just a matter of time, how to upload the scanned Sicilian precious photos that I wanted to share with you. I will probably have to resort to my daughter's scanner later, to upload them. I made this pasta the other night at my daughter's house, and it was a huge success, even with the little ones. I have never seen a 4 year old child eat anchovies, black olives, capers, at all, and here I have my little "snow white skinned" blue eyed  Mediterranean grandson, who eats just about everything you put on his plate, especially foods, such as this, and wants a second helping. Something about Puttanesca, which derives from the word "putana=whore," really does have a history behind this famous sauce, does not mean actually, that putanas, where actually cooking it.

The real meaning of the Puttanesca sauce is that women, who just spent time "screwing" around all day, didn't have the time to make a real dinner, and just used everything they could find in the cupboards, and using fresh ingredients, of course....literally "threw" everything together. The real essence of Puttanesca is. "making do" with ingredients you have on hand. Now, doesn't this sound more logical? The nicest part about this, is using fresh blanched, chopped tomatoes, instead of the canned, and fresh herbs, such as fresh basil, and a few leaves of fresh parsley if you have on hand. A nice grating of Parmesan cheese, will guarantee you not only an amazing home made sauce from "scratch," but raves from the entire family, and this assures a beautiful company dish, as well.

I learned how to make this sauce, when the first time I visited in Sicily with my "then" husband and my baby daughter, of 6 months old, in the early seventies. I, as an independent American woman, did not like the strict ways women were viewed in Sicily, at the time. Things have changed drastically since then, and today, women are considered just like their "western counterparts"...meaning, that they are just like us, here, in the U.S. Did I bring on the change? I don't know, but I'd like to think I had a helping hand in it. For instance, women were not allowed, to go taking walks, alone or I should clearly define it, they were considered as "puttanas-whores," should they walk anywhere near the port. Well, no one could tell me otherwise, because I did just that, since my in-laws lived near the ocean, and the famous port in the province of Agrigento, which is the most beautiful place on earth, that you could find. It' has a lot of Greek ruins, from the days when Greeks ruled the island. They have such a beautiful port that is like a picture right out of a "tourist guide." Most tourist did not even know about all these amazing places back then. The port was filled with daily fishermen, catching their lively hood, and ships entering, and leaving the port.

There were NO women to be found on the port, except, ME...MYSELF...AND I, wearing  "red polka dots" culottes, as we called them back then, and a white straw hat to match, with cute white sandals. I must have stood out like a "sore thumb" just strolling around, gazing at the beautiful water, and watching the fishing boats, when I saw my husband, and brother-in-law running towards me, interrupting my calm serenity, and thoughts...saying "Que fai?" What are you doing? ...in my broken Italian, I tried to explain to my brother-in-law, that I just wanted to take a walk, when my husband, in his broken English, was telling me, and ordering me...NEVER, NEVER, walk to the port, again, and NEVER, NEVER, take a walk dressed this way! "Don't you know, that only "putanas" dress up in red?...and in shorts?..."Please" I said, this shorts, as you call them, are just barely above the knees, and I'm young, so why should I not wear bright colors?...any way, that was my first lesson, what to do, and what not to do in Sicily!

One thing for sure, my sweet mother-in-law, Mattia, who my youngest little granddaughter takes the name from, loved me, unconditionally, and had the patience of a "Saint" for me, and we bonded on that day. Funny, as it may seem, but she taught me how to make this sauce....coincidence, as it may be, but this is a story I will never forget. Now, when I think about the Putanesca sauce, memories from that come rushing back into my mind, and I just have to tell it to someone, so I chose you, my friends...true story!

Sicilian Puttanesca Sauce
my own recipe


4 large ripe tomatoes
1/2 cup of white, or red wine ( I used white)
8 oil cured olives, or other black olives, pitted
4 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
also, extra for drizzling on top
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
6 anchovies, rolled in capers (optional)
a handful of white mushrooms, sliced (optional)
12 fresh basil leaves
a handful of Italian fresh parsley (optional)
1 lb. fusili lunghi, or spaghetti
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
grated Parmesan cheese

First thing you must do, is to drop whole tomatoes in boiling water, to blanch them, just enough to see the skin loosening, and taking them out of the boiling water with a slotted spoon. Add more water to the large pot that the tomatoes were blanching in, to boil the pasta. Run tomatoes under cold water to remove the skin, easier. Chop the tomatoes into small chunks, removing the hard core.

Heat the garlic an the crushed red pepper in a large skillet, adding the olive oil, over medium-high heat. Add the wine, let it cook down a little, and add the mushrooms, and cook until it sweats, and liquids released. Add the  chopped tomatoes, and cook for a few minutes. Do not let the tomatoes get soft, leave them in chunks. Add the olives, and anchovies with the capers, stir and heat though until it comes to a boil. Turn off heat, and cover, until you are ready to incorporate with the pasta. Drain pasta, reserving a small amount of pasta water, to add to the sauce if needed. Serve pasta in a large pasta bowl, adding the sauce on top, and drizzle with additional olive oil, and snipped basil, and parsley. Pass the Parmesan cheese. Serves 4. Absolutely divine pasta, you will ever taste!

A popular residential and small shops area, in the city, in Sicily...province of Agrigento, 20 minutes from the actual Greek culture Sicilian city. This is a fairly recent photo from about 5 years ago.

....and the winner is: Rosemary, from Sprigs of Rosemary

I used the generated numbers from Random.org  1-40...earlier this morning, and the #10 came up. I noticed there has been a #41 since, sorry, but I want to be fair, and will not re-generate the numbers. I should have done this last night, but was working on trying to scan my photos...no luck, so I will post the photos of Sicily later. Also, I will try to get the Random.org widget too, which you can upload, but this is the number that came up, and Rosemary is the winner.
Congratulations, Rosemary, hope you can put the book into good use. I am confident that you will like it!
Thank you all, for participating, and leaving your kind comments, as always. I will for sure have more books to giveaway...I have lots, and can acquire them at an amazingly cheap price...that's my "thrifting" to share with you!