In another article, I talked about a tomato sauce and the fact that I keep lots in my freezer. I mentioned that I cut the tomatoes into eighths and freeze the pieces in baggies or plastic containers. In the middle of winter it is a simple matter to convert the tomato chunks into sauce.

When I started this column I got a strong urge to tell you a story about tomatoes that I thought you might enjoy.

On my first cruise, just after I joined the Navy, we spent several weeks playing war games off the coast of Portugal. By the end, we were short on supplies. So, we put in to the Azore Islands for fresh fruit and vegetables.

Another young cook and I were detailed to store everything in the food locker on the upper deck. We spent four hours or more hard at work and by dark we were down to the last two cases, which turned out to be rotten tomatoes.

I’m not sure how it happened but a steward walked past on his way to his mess deck. A snobbish character who I did not like. I promptly nailed him with a rotten tomato. He called for some friends to help out and the war was on. We all fought gallantly until most of the tomatoes were gone and then everyone disappeared at once.

That should have been a clue, but I missed it. I was searching hard for another target when I spotted somebody in the shadows. I let go with a big, fat, rotten tomato and nailed the chief cook squarely on the side of the head.

I got away by hiding in a torpedo tube for almost an hour. And I learned an important lesson; the chief cook had absolutely no sense of humour.

Now lets talk about tomatoes in sauce. I was in a grocery store last night and as I checked out the chicken, it occurred to me that chicken legs are a good source of protein, as well as being tasty and comparatively inexpensive. But there are very few tasty recipes for them. So I concocted one and I can honestly say it ain’t bad.

Nelson’s Chicken Legs in Tomato and Sour Cream Sauce.

Six chicken legs and oil for sautéing

1/2 medium onion, sliced

3 garlic bulbs, chopped

1 cup fresh mushrooms, sliced

2 cups chopped tomatoes

1/8 cup soy sauce

1/4 tsp. each of ground bay leaf, thyme, sage, marjoram and oregano

1 tsp. brown sugar

2 tbsp. dark molasses

1/2 cup sour cream

1 tsp. salt and a pinch or two of cayenne pepper.

Method:

Start by sautéing legs in oil until brown. In a separate saucepan, sauté the onions and garlic until soft. Now put everything into a large saucepan: The chicken legs, mushrooms, soy sauce, tomatoes, spices, sugar, sour cream, molasses, salt and Cayenne pepper.

Let simmer until the chicken is tender; 30 to 45 minutes. Add a bit of beer or red wine (about a cup) and continue cooking slowly until the sauce id fairly thick. Season to taste, then arrange two chicken legs in a small casserole dish and add enough sauce to cover. Repeat twice.

You can eat this at once or let it sit in the fridge for a bit so everything has a chance to merge. I added sourdough bread and a Caesar salad to the menu and it was very tasty.

Give it a try.

See Ya Next Week!