Re-heat or rebrand?

"Cook once, eat twice" is a truism of bachelor foodism. Personally, I find eating the same meal twice in a row a rather glum experience. But that's what the freezer is for, I hear you say. True. But a diet of frozen meals? Now we're back to glum.

What the freezer is really good for is sauces and stocks. Long live the good old standby! Long live it I say!

Last week my boys asked for pillow pasta, their preschool name for ravioli. With carrots and green beans in the crisper, and my all purpose tomato salsa in the freezer, it was worth a quick dash to the deli for a veal-stuffed version of one of their all time favourites.

(No, I am not so evolved as to make my own ravioli - but my time will come, oh yes. It will come.)

A little plastic punnet of tomato salsa is a pasta sauce, great with pan-fried fish fillets, a pizza topping (defrost it, roll the dough, and the kids will do the rest), and a very tasty addition to a pan of roast veggies. Or just as a condiment.

This is where rebranding comes in. Say I've got slices of beef and a plate of veggies left over from the previous night's roast roll of brisket? Steaming up some rice, stirring in 2 tablespoons of salsa, reheating the veggies in an oven proof bowl, topping with the rice them popping in the oven to brown the rice for a few minutes while you reheat the roast beef. Now we have last night's meal fresh and rebranded, and good to go.

So here it is, good old standby number one.

All purpose tomato salsa.
(Yields about 6 cups)

Ingredients

• 2 medium onion
• 1 clove garlic
• .5 teaspoon sugar
• 6 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tin tomato
• 4 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon capers
• .5 cup vegetable stock
• .5 cup red wine
• pinch: oregano, pepper, salt

Method

1. Finely chop onions. In a sauce pan, heat oil on low heat. Add onions, minced garlic and pepper.
2. Sauté at least 10 minutes, more if you have the time.
3. Add the rest of the soft ingredients and bring to boil.
4. Simmer at least one hour, two is best. Stir every now and then, squishing the chunkier bits agains the side of the pan
5. Let cool at little, then push through strainer.

I have to admit that I don't always proceed through step 5. A little chunky or pureed, either way it's good.