CHRIS CASEY

SPICY TURKEY TOMATO SAUCE:1 onion, chopped
1/2 head of garlic, separated into cloves, trimmed, diced fine or crushed in a garlic press1 package of hot Italian turkey sausage, peeled
3-4 fresh tomatoes, chopped.
1 28-oz can of crushed or diced tomatoes.
2 tbsp. butter
Chopped fresh oregano and basil, about two tablespoons
OPTIONAL: finely diced habanero pepper. Add this with the onion in step 1. Wash your hands after slicing it!

Melt butter in a non-stick skillet on medium heat. Add the onion. Sauté for about five minutes until translucent. Add the garlic. Add the skinned sausage and break it apart with your spatula. Stir and fry for five minutes. Add the diced tomatoes. For each tomato, add a tablespoon of water as well. Add the can of tomatoes. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about thirty to forty-five minutes, stirring occasionally. If you want it thicker, raise the heat toward the end.

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I like to cook for friend, and to see people appreciate what I’ve made. I like learning to make new dishes, or twists on old ones. I cook a lot of fusion food. I learned how to make pasta and risotto from scratch while living in Italy, I mix in the black beans and smoked peppers that I cooked with while living in Central California.
After Italy, I moved to Japan, risotto made its way into miso soup and bonito flakes instead of veggie or chicken broth. Every time I move somewhere I like to think of how I can mix what I used to eat with what I eat now. Also, the collection of syllables that sounds like “tu-much-gar-lick” has no meaning in my language.There’s a place I go to in Little Five Points, Atlanta, for Kimchee Quesadillas... absolutely divine. Love is being comfortable enough around someone to travel with them. Sharing the same spoon. Love is enjoying the moments when you do nothing with them, and also when you do something you've never done. Love is being comfortable enough to say that you really don’t want to do something, but promising to do it later, and have every intention of keeping that promise. Love is singing poorly in front of someone in private, which gives you the confidence to sing beautifully in public. It’s reading next to each other after a long day. It’s how you roll into her warm spot when she gets up in the middle of the night, keeping it warm until she gets back.