Tag-Archive for ◊ sauce ◊

24 Sep 2010 Homemade Spaghetti Sauce
Author:  |  Category: Main Dish, Pasta, Red Meat, Teaching Boys to Cook Series  | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,  | 9 Comments

Who eats jarred spaghetti sauce?  I hope no one.  I don’t. Not ever.  Well, I’ve had a spoonful here and there, so I do know how bad it is.  Too much vinegar.  I like wine, tomatoes, onions, fresh mushrooms and fresh meat in my spaghetti sauce.  I’ve never used a recipe.  I learned from watching my Dad, who learned from watching the Galloping Gourmet (I think he also got permission to drink during the day from the Galloping Gourmet, but that’s a whole other story.)

My daughter, Abby, has asked me to write down my “recipe” for Spaghetti Sauce.  I put the word recipe in quotes because when I make spaghetti sauce, I just go for it.  It’s never really the same twice, but it always works out  (I’m not Italian, so I make no claims to an authentic Italian sauce).   Last week, when I made a big batch of spaghetti sauce, I carefully wrote down what I did so Abby can make her own spaghetti sauce while she is away at college.

If you haven’t made spaghetti sauce before, perhaps this “recipe” can be your starting point. Use this as a guide to add and subtract ingredients to suit your tastes. Over the years the amount of meat in my sauce has decreased.  I’d like to cut it my 1/3 more, but my son would get upset.  We all like mushrooms, so I use a good amount.  I don’t like green or red peppers, so I leave them out completely.  One thing I wouldn’t change is the “Super Six”, the must-haves for seasoning spaghetti sauce:  sautéed onions, garlic, celery, parsley, basil and oregano.

After the sauce is made, I let is sit overnight and then we usually have it for dinner. And, if I give in to the pleading of my older daughter, I’ll make a tray of lasagna, too, and then we’ll eat that for the next few days.  The remaining sauce I freeze in 3 or 4 cup batches.  This recipe will makes 10-12 cups of sauce.

I hope you never buy jarred sauce again.  Nasty stuff.  Too many preservatives.  Not enough flavor. This is so much better, so much better.

My Mom Polly’s Spaghetti Sauce

Olive oil, as needed for sauteing
2 large onions, coarsely chopped
2 cups diced celery
1 tablespoon minced garlic
¼ cup minced parsley
2 28-oz cans crushed tomatoes (recently I have use the “Muir Glen” brand, but for years I used whatever was on sale at the grocery store.  If you have them, use blanched, chopped tomatoes from your garden.  If you don’t like  chunky spaghetti sauce, then substitute the same amount of tomato sauce.)
2 16-oz cans tomato sauce
2 cups water
1 tablespoon dried basil
1 ½ tablespoons dried oregano
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt (add more later if needed)
1 teaspoon pepper
1 ½ lbs to 2 lbs of ground beef (or a mixture of your choice of ground beef, sausage, pork, veal.  Use at least 50% ground beef.  I have used ground turkey before, and don’t recommend it. I found the flavor to be too mild for this robust sauce)
1 lb sliced mushrooms
2 cups red wine (any robust red wine), optional, of course

Heat about 2 T. olive oil in a large skillet.  Stir in chopped onions and sauté for 6-8 minutes, or until the onions are translucent and starting to caramelize. Stir in chopped celery and sauté for another 3 minutes. Stir in garlic and parsley and sauté for another minute.  Do not let the garlic brown or burn.  Pour mixture into a large stock pot, and turn on heat to medium.  Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, water, basil, oregano, brown sugar, salt and pepper.  Simmer for 30 -60 minutes, stirring occasionally (the longer the simmer, the richer the sauce). Meanwhile, in the skillet, add another tablespoon or two of olive oil and sauté the sliced mushrooms.  Add the mushrooms to the tomato sauce after the sauce has simmered at least 30 minutes.  In the same skillet that browned the onions and the mushrooms, add the ground meat.  Brown the meat, and then drain the fat off (to drain put the cooked meat in a colander over a bowl).  Stir drained, cooked meat into the tomato sauce, along with 2 cups of red wine, and simmer for an additional 30 minutes.  Taste, and more salt, pepper and brown sugar if needed. Serve immediately over hot noodles and topped with grated Parmesan cheese, or let cool, refrigerate, and chill overnight. Warm up only as much sauce as needed for your next meal.

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen today, I always like it when you stop by!  Leave a comment and say HI!

18 Sep 2010 Lamb Meatballs in a Coconut Curry Sauce
Author:  |  Category: Main Dish, Red Meat  | Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,  | 4 Comments

Another winner from the The Meatball Cookbook Bible!  My elder daughter, who has her own apartment, has stopped by twice, in two days, for a bowl of leftovers.  I knew she liked lamb, but I think this is the first time she has taken a shine to curry.  As with the other recipes from this book, the dish is not complex, but it’s fun, a bit different and still has all the elements of family friendly comfort food.  Umm, well, that is if your family tastes lean to the slightly exotic, spicy side.

I used the full 3 tablespoons of curry powder when I made this, but next time I’ll probably reduce that a bit.  The curry was just on the uncomfortable side of spicy for me, but I am a wimp, a real wimp, when it comes to hot and spicy food.  I left out the dried apricots and the currants, too.  It didn’t appeal to me in the curry, but for some reason I think adding them to the couscous would be OK.  Does that make any sense at all?  No, I didn’t think so.

Lamb Meatballs in a Coconut Curry Sauce

1 egg
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 cup Panko breadcrumbs (find them in the Asian section of the supermarket)
2 tablespoons of chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons sesame oil
8 green onions, chopped (use all of white part and up to 2 inches of the dark green tops)
6 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh ginger
1 1/4 lbs ground lamb
salt and pepper, to taste
3 tablespoons of curry powder
1 14-oz can coconut milk (find in the Asian section of your supermarket. Do not use low fat, and do not use Cream of Coconut)
1/2 cup chicken stock (or water)
1/2 cup chopped apricots
3 tablespoons dried currants (or chopped raisins)
1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons cold chicken stock or water
vegetable oil spray (Pam)
4 servings plain cooked couscous, rice or rice pilaf

Combine egg and soy sauce in a large bowl and whisk until smooth.  Stir in Panko and cilantro.  Set aside to soak.

Heat sesame oil in a frying pan over medium heat.  Add green onions, garlic and ginger.  Cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Remove from heat.

Add half of green onion mixture to bread crumb mixture and stir to combine.  Add in ground lamb.  Blend meatball mixture together by tossing gently.  Do not compress mixture, toss.  Form meat mixture into approx. 2 inch meatballs.  Roll balls lightly between palms.  Place formed meatballs on a foil covered, rimmed baking sheet.  (If desired, meat mixture or meatballs can be refrigerated for a few hours or overnight–be sure to remove remaining onion mixture from the pan and refrigerate that, too.)

Preheat broiler.  Spray meatballs with vegetable oil (Pam, or something similar). Broil meatballs for approx 6 minutes.  Shake pan, or turn meatballs half way through the cooking time.  While meatballs are browning, finish the sauce.

Return frying pan with remaining green onions back to burner.  Stir in curry powder and cook over low heat for one minute.  Stir in coconut milk, chicken broth and dried fruit if you are using it.  Bring sauce to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes.

Add hot meatballs to simmering sauce, cover, and let simmer for an additional 15 minutes.

Remove lid from pan. Add cornstarch and water mixture to bubbling sauce, stirring constantly.  Cook for 1 or 2 minutes or until sauce is thickened.  Taste sauce and season with salt and pepper, if needed.

Serve sauce over hot cooked couscous, rice or rice pilaf (and maybe a simple steamed green vegetable on the side).

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen today!  Hope you liked the meatballs.  See you again soon?  I’ve got my fingers crossed!

10 Sep 2010 Crockpot Pizza Sauce (and yummy extras)
Author:  |  Category: Appetizers, Breads, Crockpot, For a Bread Machine, Main Dish, Pizza and Tarts, Sauces, Dips & Spreads  | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,  | 7 Comments

I’ve finally found something that the crockpot (slow cooker for those of you offended by the term “crockpot”) excels in.  Excels in!  This is not just a recipe that can be cooked in the crockpot. It’s a recipe that should be cooked in a crockpot.  Yes, a recipe that tastes best cooked in the crockpot!  I found this recipe in “Not Your Mother’s Slow Cooker Cookbook” by Beth Hensperger and Julie Kaufmann (San Joseans!), on page 250.

I have made my fair share of pizza sauces and this is, by far, my favorite.  The flavor is so rich and consistent.  I’m in love!  What’s more, one batch of this recipe makes about 6 cups of pizza sauce.  Use one portion, freeze four! That’s my type of batch cooking.

Crockpot Pizza Sauce

2 12 oz. cans tomato paste
1 16 oz can tomato sauce
3 tablespoons olive oil
2-4 cloves garlic, crushed (to taste)
2 tablespoons dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried basil
1/4 cup minced fresh flat leafed parsley
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup water
3 tablespoons grated Parmesan (or similar) cheese
salt and pepper, to taste

Place everything but the cheese, salt and pepper in the crock pot.  Cover and cook on low for at least 10 hours and no longer than 14 hours.  If at all possible, stir the sauce every few hours.  If you are sleeping, don’t worry about it.

Unplug crockpot.  Taste.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Stir in cheese.  Let cool to room temperature.

I use just over 1 cup of sauce in my pizza.  Depending on the size of your pizza pan and your personal preference regarding the quantity of  sauce you might more or less than I do.

Sauce will keep, refrigerated, for at least four days.  Freeze for longer storage.

My Favorite Cheese Blend for Pizza

Like I said, I have made my share of pizza over the years.  I am finally getting good at it!  Last night’s pizza was fresh veggie…, sliced tomatoes, zucchini and basil, from my garden, and sliced fresh mushrooms and green onions.

Two of my three kids would holler, “Where’s the meat?”, but they are not home so I get to choose everything!

Whatever pizza I make, I always use this cheese blend.  I no longer have the cookbook I got it from, nor do I remember the name of the book, which is unfortunate now that I am going public with this blend.

2 parts shredded mozzarrella
1 part shredded smoked gouda
1 part shredded Italian Fontina
1 part freshly grated Parmigiana-Reggiano

Enjoy your creations! OH, you need a recipe for pizza dough, too?  Here you go… I hope you have a bread machine 🙂

Pizza Dough (for the bread machine)

1 1/3 cups water
1/4 cup olive oil
3 1/2 cups flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons yeast

Place all ingredients in bread machine.  Press “Quick Dough” or “Pizza Dough” cycle. Use immediately (as directed below), refrigerate overnight or freeze for up to three months.  Let frozen dough defrost overnight in refrigerator.  Let refrigerated dough rest for 20 minutes at room temperature before using.

Remove dough to a work surface sprinkled with flour or cornmeal. Divide into 2 parts (for large pizzas).  Roll or press dough into a circle about the size of your pizza pan.

Use dough immediately to make a pizza, or let rise 30 minutes or so for a thicker crust pizza.

When you have it all assembled, bake in preheated HOT oven (500 degrees) for 12-15 minutes.

Have fun assembling the perfect pizza!  Thanks for stopping by my pizzeria today. See you tomorrow!  Remember how much I like feedback.  I’d love to read your comments about this, or your experience making pizza at home.

Next Entries »