I confess: I refuse to blanch, peel and seed a tomato, even if the recipe says to. Every cook has a fussiness threshold, and that exceeds mine.
So when the whole blanch-peel-seed thing comes up in dishes as delightful as Pierre Franey’s sautéed salmon with leeks and tomatoes, I simply cheat and throw unblanched, unpeeled, unseeded chopped tomatoes into the pan, where they release their sweet juices and coat the leeks just as richly. The skin and seeds may add a bit more texture, but certainly not enough to distract from the velvety fish and tender leeks, and I’ve saved 10 precious minutes.
Featured Recipe
Sautéed Salmon With Leeks and Tomatoes
Ifrah F. Ahmed’s cagaar (spinach stew) calls for zero tomato peeling, so cheating is unnecessary. The chopped tomatoes are simmered with garlic and onions until they form a savory, ruddy base for the soft green mound of spinach and cilantro. Seasoned with warm xawaash spices and a jalapeño, it’s a complex vegan dish that’s best served with rice or soor (grits) to catch the heady sauce.
Another painstaking technique promulgated by some chefs is removing the germ in the center of each garlic clove before using. I have sometimes done this, carefully slicing the cloves in two and pulling out the center sprouts. But honestly I can’t taste any difference between germless garlic and germ-filled garlic, so I’ve stopped bothering. Maybe my palate isn’t terribly refined, but I’m fine with that if it saves me some work.
