Grilled Tomato Sauce From Steven Raichlen Like soup, tomato sauce is one of the dishes you're least likely to think of grilling. But there is a powerful reason to try this sauce. Beyond the mere novelty factor, grilling imparts a gutsy smoke flavor to the sauce and heightens the natural sweetness of the vegetables. Don't take just my word for it. For thousands of years, Mexicans have grilled tomatoes, onions and peppers to make rich-tasting salsas. I have adapted the technique to make an exceptionally flavorful tomato sauce. Serve the sauce over grilled polenta, with any simple grilled fish, or with just about any cooked pasta. Makes about 3 1/2 cups. 5 lucious, ripe red tomatoes 2 - 2 1/4 pounds total, cut in half crosswise, and stem ends removed 1 medium size white onion, peeled and cut into quarters 1 rib celery 4 cloves garlic, peeled and skewered on a wooden toothpick or small bamboo skewer 3 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil 1 tsp. oregano 1/2 tsp. hot pepper flakes 1 bay leaf 6 fresh basil leaves coarse salt (Kosher or Sea salt) freshly ground black pepper 1/4 to 3/4 cup chicken stock, vegetable stock or water Cook the tomatoes, onions, celery and garlic in greased and preheated grill (George Foreman grill) until nicely browned. You may need to cook the vegetables in more than one batch. Transfer the grilled vegetables and let cool. Finely chop the onions, celery and garlic by hand or in a food processor. If using a food processor, run machine in spurts. Heat olive oil in large non-reactive sauce pan over medium heat. Add the chopped onion, celery and garlic, oregano, hot pepper flakes and bay leaf and cook until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Coarsely puree tomatoes and juices with the basil in a food processor. Add the tomato mixture to the sauce pan, with the vegetables. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, then let sauce simmer gently until thick and richly flavored 8-10 minutes. Season with salt and black pepper to taste. The sauce should be thick but pourable. If it is too thick, add a little stock or water. Remove and discard the bay leaf. The sauce can be refrigerated, covered up to 4 days. Or frozen for up to 2 months. Let the sauce come to room temperature then reheat it in a non-reactive sauce pan over medium heat, stirring often.

I've made a really great leek terrine in the past out of one of my gazillion cookbooks but I can't recall which one. I found this online and think it is pretty close to what I made (although I have a faint memory of some roasted red peppers being layered in there, too). It is really easy and very beautiful when served. Delicious, too. FRENCH LEEK TERRINE Preparation time: 40 minutes Cooking time: 10 minutes; Chilling time: Overnight Yield: 8 servings Cold-cooked leeks with vinaigrette is a popular first course in French bistros. That is really all there is to this terrine, a version of the newest type of terrine, one that holds together without proteins. 12 leeks, about 4 pounds Salt, freshly ground pepper to taste 2 large lemons, juiced 1 cup extra-virgin olive oil 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley 1. Carefully trim off the roots of the leeks without cutting so high that the leeks fall apart. Then cut the leeks from the dark green end down so they fit the length of the terrine or loaf pan, about 11 by 4 inches. Finally, clean the leeks by washing them in cold running water, then immersing them in a bowl of cold water until there is no sign of grit. 2. In a large kettle of boiling water add 1 tablespoon salt, then when it returns to a boil add the leeks. Cook until tender when the white end is pierced with the tip of a sharp knife, about 10 minutes. 3. Transfer the leeks carefully to a bowl of cold water for about 1 minute. Transfer them to a colander or toweling until dry. 4. Generously line the terrine or loaf pan with aluminum foil so there is enough to cover the top of the contents. Then arrange the leeks in a single layer with all the white portions pointing in the same direction. Press down to gently squeeze out water. Add salt and pepper to taste. Arrange the next layer with the white ends facing in the opposite direction and pressing down. Continue the layering and pressing until the terrine is filled and the leeks used up. There should be at least four layers. Cover with the foil and weigh down the terrine by putting a brick or canned goods on the top. Refrigerate at least overnight. 5. Before serving, make the vinaigrette. First bring about 1/3 cup water to a boil. Whisk the lemon juice with some salt and pepper to taste, then continuing to whisk, slowly dribble in the oil and then 1/4 cup of boiling water. 6. Unmold the terrine carefully, removing the foil. With an electric carving knife (best) or a very sharp slicing knife cut into 1-inch thick slices and transfer to individual serving plates. Dribble each with about 2 tablespoons of the vinaigrette. Garnish with a pinch of parsley.

I know I'm late to this discussion, but wanted to add that I also have a now 11 y/o diabetic cat who was dx 3 years ago. My vet of course prescribed Hills Prescription Diet for diabetic cats and this did nothing to help his BG as it is NOT a low carb food. I requested a prescription for Purina DM (another local vet carries Purina Rx foods but not mine), which was a bit better but more than I could afford long term. DM is actually a better prescription food than Hills' (which is HORRIBLE for feline diabetes) as it is lower carb but the vet nutritionist who helped formulate DM recommends Fancy Feast as an alternative. I also tried Wellness and some of the other grain free premium brands and even they still kept my cat's BG too high. My cat has been on Fancy Feast Classic varieties only since 2 months after dx and it didn't take long afterwards for me to regulate his BG. It rarely goes over 130. It is usually in the 75-125 range. He's on Lantus which is an expensive insulin but works well and if you keep it refrigerated and only draw with sterile syringes lasts a long time. ONLY USE STERILE SYRINGES. I use Walgreens brand 30 unit which are around $17 for a box of 100 and are also calibrated in .5 unit increments--helpful for small dosages as we give our cats (my cat is now on .75 unit 2x day which is down from what I was giving him at dx). Make sure to get Classic varieties only. No gravy, shreds, grilled, "florentine," cheese, etc. They all have wheat gluten and other carb sources and frankly are meant to be appealing to the humans who buy them and not the cats who eat them! But almost all the FF Classic varieties are grain and gluten free. In fact, I have to be careful with 1 of the flavors (Cod, Sole and Shrimp) because his BG tends to go too low if I feed it more than 1 or 2 feedings in a row. This is more dangerous short term BTW than high BG. But I can't remember the last time his BG was up over 200. Probably when he got into "contraband" (food for the other kitties). Prior to dx the cats were eating a mix of Wellness wet and CORE dry. As an added bonus, I changed his obese brother's diet at the same time to Fancy Feast and no dry, since they eat at the same time and routinely switch food dishes no matter what I do. At his heaviest he was almost 25 lbs, even when closely watching his calorie intake and feeding only 2x/day (no free feeding)! Prior to changing him to his brother's diabetic diet I was able to get him down to 21-22 lbs. but still far from a healthy weight. He was the one I was afraid would become diabetic, btw. The last time he visited the vet he came in at just under 14 lbs. and she said that he was now a healthy weight. Yes, he is a big cat but no longer obese. Non-fish flavors are the best overall (poultry and beef varieties especially). Unfortunately, my cats are somewhat addicted to the fish flavors plus the 36 can club pack at our local Sam's Club is by far the cheapest I can find them (Walmart 12 can packs next cheapest if I want to get poultry/beef varieties) so I'm aware I'm trading one risk of feeding a fish based diet to my cats for the very real one of losing my cats to either diabetes or other weight complications.

We don't have ours covered and it hasn't been a problem. We have had ours about 4 years. I built a table to go along with the kitchen. I designed and built the structures and my husband helped me with the hardie board and securing, squaring the structures to the deck. We did all of it besides the granite and 90% of the stone work (only because we needed to meet a deadline). Sink is just a hose hookup for quickly rinsing hands and not for food prep. Not sure how to get the pictures smaller.