Marinara and other FOOD- my favorite subject
5 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 tsp dried oregano
pinch of salt and some pepper
5 Tbsp, Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Sautee these gently for about 4 minutes, maybe 5.
Add to that:
1 Tbsp Tomato Paste
1 Can Tomato Sauce
Cook these together for ten minutes.
That will give you a very basic marinara. As is, it would go well with some eggplant parmesan, as a pizza sauce, or perhaps for bruchetta, cheese sticks, or other appetizers.
This recipe is easily amped up to make some really great food:
Spaghetti, Lasagna, or Baked Mostaccoli (my favorite!) Sauce
Start instead with browning some sliced italian sausage (mild or spicy- whichever you prefer), then after that is cooked, drain off most of the oil and take the meat out of the pan. With the remaining oil start your onion and other aromatics (I'd add some basil and pepper flakes to what I've listed above), then add back the meat and proceed as above.
A word about adding in vegetables: this recipe can handle some zucchini, bell peppers, canned diced tomatos (DRAINED), or even a bit carrot and celery, but they must be uniformly chopped-small and added in after the aromatics have had their chance to flavor the oil. Of course this will increase the cooking time a bit, and it will tend to water down your sauce, so take care not to add too much volume of fresh veggies. Plus I'd up the tomato paste a bit. (Salt will draw pure H2O out of any vegetable- and water doesn't add any goodness to marinara). Also if I'm adding veggies, I'll typically add just a bit of chicken consumme to combat that water situation- say 1 tsp. Be sure to reduce the first salt, because the chicken consumme does have some salt to it.
James, I'm sorry I didn't get this to you sooner! I hope this goes well for you- be sure and let me know how you adapt the recipe to your own taste. I'm always interested in hearing about good food! Oh yeah- and one other thing I love to do with this is to get a crusty bagette, slice it real thick, place them on a baking sheet and top with a bunch of that marinara and a little cheese (parmesan or asagio both work well), and bake for 15 minutes at 350- yum yum!
Let me amuse myself by imparting to you (all) my latest culinary adventure, a dish I'm calling Mexican Dumplings for now.
I haven't seen this in any book, just came up with it out of necessity. I was planning taco-meat, then discovered we didn't have any tortillas- a rarity in our home. I love challenges like that! My best cooking always is inspired by having to use leftovers or having other problems like missing ingredients. It's easier to start with something (ideas and inspiration are often the single hardest ingredient to come by- ask anyone who cooks daily) than it is to start with nothing! So with the desire to share my enthusiasm, and to spark interest and inspiration I'll share this and (if you wish) other recipes that our family has grown to love.
What's so great about it? I'm seriously into healthy cooking, and this is one of those grand slam dishes that delivers all the nutrition I want with the flavor everybody else expects. Also I really like 'free-style' cooking, where you can do wide variations on a dish and come out with different meals each time. The list I'll make here assumes four hungry people are waiting, but any of the ingredients can be adjusted to what you have on hand or who you're cooking for (ie one person doesn't like something- leave it out) One other plus: one-pot meals reduce clean up time, I'm big on that. ( Look out Rachel Ray- heh heh)
Let me preface one more aspect before launching into the ingredients list: use of frozen greens. We all know that eating dark leafy greens is paramount to good health. But they're bitter, take forever to cook, and generally don't arouse much delight with children or anyone who isn't specifically looking to improve their nutrition. I've found that you can slip frozen greens (mustard greens, collard greens, turnip greens, kale, and the like) into many (marinara among them) dishes with no-one the wiser. I do tend to take that opportunity with almost any strongly flavored dish, as well as using the fresh kind for side-dishes- that's another recipe you'll need (see below).
Mexican Dumpling Casserole
Ground Turkey- 1 Lb,
Get that browning in a (fairly large) pan which will be able to go into the oven. Also turn on the oven to Bake - 400 degrees. When the turkey (or sub ground beef, of course) is close to done add
1 onion, chopped
5-6 or even 7 cloves of garlic, minced
2 celery stalks (optional- does add fiber)
a few dashes chili powder
a few dashes ground cumin
a few dashes paprika
some hot sauce (Valentina only in our house- say no to Tabasco!)
1/2 tsp pepper flakes (I'd leave that out for my girls, but I'd put it in for you all)
1 cube of chicken boullion
1 cube tomato bullion
1or 2 tsp Worchesterchire Sauce
Either a dash of Soy sauce OR a pinch of salt, not both.
Enough water to cover all that, say 6 cups or maybe a little more. The sauce will be thin- don't worry about that.
Bring this to a rolling boil. Add
1-2 cups Frozen corn
1 Can of Diced Tomatoes, juice and all
1-2 cups Frozen Mustard Greens (or collards, or...)
2 Zucchinis, chopped
2 Jalapenos, sliced (Optional)
Let all that boil together.
Here's the kicker, ready?
In a small bowl, mix one box of Jiffy corn muffin mix according to package directions (of course if you'd prefer to make your own corn muffin mix, be my guest, it'd be even better, but alas, I'm usually in a hurry). Once your veggies are pretty much softened, turn off the burner, and take that muffin mix and drop it by large spoonfuls onto the boiling mixture. This doesn't have to be pretty, uniform, or even completely covering the turkey mix, just drop it on there.
Take that whole thing and put it into the oven uncovered for 20-25 minutes. Voila!! A quick one-pot meal they always rave over, and it's well balanced in terms of nutrition, so I feel good about giving it to them.
And you can do so much to it! Like the muffin mix- make that chili-cheese corn muffin mix, and at the expense of just a few calories, you've got some really great 'dumplings'. Or use a mixture of meats (but you'll have to drain excess fat). Or use your own vegetable blend based on what you like best, just be sure to do the corn, that's kind of important for the dumpling-part. And the spices are particularly variable- use what you like and omit what you don't. Also next time you're in the soups part of the store, pick up a box of Chipotle Bouillon, and put one of those in there (you won't need any other spicy stuff if you use a whole one of those)- so good!
Ok just one more meal idea we've come to use almost weekly, now that the weather is changing. I finally figured out how to broil steak- just be sure to marinate it in some combination of the ingredients above. I never was much for red meat, but I've gotten to where I do use it some. So make sure you can broil (or grill) a steak. Use 3 or 4 sweet potatoes, fork them a few times and put them on a paper towel in the microwave for 20-25 minutes. Then the greens I've been speaking so much about: cook up either fresh or frozen greens with some onion, garlic, and chicken broth. Steak, sweet potatoes, and greens- it a regular meal in our house these days, and soo good for you! The sweetness of the potato really takes away from bitterness of the greens. Really! Try it out and tell me what you think.
Trust me you won't need any 'cleansing' remedies anytime soon! And I have honestly had people commenting that I look like I've lost weight. I absolutely have not lost weight (freakin stubborn scales!), but since I've been using lots of greens I think it looks like I have? Who knows... there's magic to the greens, that's all I'm saying!
Well this is probably the longest post I've ever done- eh? Hope you all like it and try out some of my ideas. Let me know how they go if/when you do try a recipe or two, and also I'm always glad to discuss other oprions, and to hear about what your family likes to eat. I know Rebekah in particular can cook really well. (I always look forward to eating with her!) To this day no one can top her chili-cheese breakfast biscuits!
Love to you all!
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 tsp dried oregano
pinch of salt and some pepper
5 Tbsp, Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Sautee these gently for about 4 minutes, maybe 5.
Add to that:
1 Tbsp Tomato Paste
1 Can Tomato Sauce
Cook these together for ten minutes.
That will give you a very basic marinara. As is, it would go well with some eggplant parmesan, as a pizza sauce, or perhaps for bruchetta, cheese sticks, or other appetizers.
This recipe is easily amped up to make some really great food:
Spaghetti, Lasagna, or Baked Mostaccoli (my favorite!) Sauce
Start instead with browning some sliced italian sausage (mild or spicy- whichever you prefer), then after that is cooked, drain off most of the oil and take the meat out of the pan. With the remaining oil start your onion and other aromatics (I'd add some basil and pepper flakes to what I've listed above), then add back the meat and proceed as above.
A word about adding in vegetables: this recipe can handle some zucchini, bell peppers, canned diced tomatos (DRAINED), or even a bit carrot and celery, but they must be uniformly chopped-small and added in after the aromatics have had their chance to flavor the oil. Of course this will increase the cooking time a bit, and it will tend to water down your sauce, so take care not to add too much volume of fresh veggies. Plus I'd up the tomato paste a bit. (Salt will draw pure H2O out of any vegetable- and water doesn't add any goodness to marinara). Also if I'm adding veggies, I'll typically add just a bit of chicken consumme to combat that water situation- say 1 tsp. Be sure to reduce the first salt, because the chicken consumme does have some salt to it.
James, I'm sorry I didn't get this to you sooner! I hope this goes well for you- be sure and let me know how you adapt the recipe to your own taste. I'm always interested in hearing about good food! Oh yeah- and one other thing I love to do with this is to get a crusty bagette, slice it real thick, place them on a baking sheet and top with a bunch of that marinara and a little cheese (parmesan or asagio both work well), and bake for 15 minutes at 350- yum yum!
Let me amuse myself by imparting to you (all) my latest culinary adventure, a dish I'm calling Mexican Dumplings for now.
I haven't seen this in any book, just came up with it out of necessity. I was planning taco-meat, then discovered we didn't have any tortillas- a rarity in our home. I love challenges like that! My best cooking always is inspired by having to use leftovers or having other problems like missing ingredients. It's easier to start with something (ideas and inspiration are often the single hardest ingredient to come by- ask anyone who cooks daily) than it is to start with nothing! So with the desire to share my enthusiasm, and to spark interest and inspiration I'll share this and (if you wish) other recipes that our family has grown to love.
What's so great about it? I'm seriously into healthy cooking, and this is one of those grand slam dishes that delivers all the nutrition I want with the flavor everybody else expects. Also I really like 'free-style' cooking, where you can do wide variations on a dish and come out with different meals each time. The list I'll make here assumes four hungry people are waiting, but any of the ingredients can be adjusted to what you have on hand or who you're cooking for (ie one person doesn't like something- leave it out) One other plus: one-pot meals reduce clean up time, I'm big on that. ( Look out Rachel Ray- heh heh)
Let me preface one more aspect before launching into the ingredients list: use of frozen greens. We all know that eating dark leafy greens is paramount to good health. But they're bitter, take forever to cook, and generally don't arouse much delight with children or anyone who isn't specifically looking to improve their nutrition. I've found that you can slip frozen greens (mustard greens, collard greens, turnip greens, kale, and the like) into many (marinara among them) dishes with no-one the wiser. I do tend to take that opportunity with almost any strongly flavored dish, as well as using the fresh kind for side-dishes- that's another recipe you'll need (see below).
Mexican Dumpling Casserole
Ground Turkey- 1 Lb,
Get that browning in a (fairly large) pan which will be able to go into the oven. Also turn on the oven to Bake - 400 degrees. When the turkey (or sub ground beef, of course) is close to done add
1 onion, chopped
5-6 or even 7 cloves of garlic, minced
2 celery stalks (optional- does add fiber)
a few dashes chili powder
a few dashes ground cumin
a few dashes paprika
some hot sauce (Valentina only in our house- say no to Tabasco!)
1/2 tsp pepper flakes (I'd leave that out for my girls, but I'd put it in for you all)
1 cube of chicken boullion
1 cube tomato bullion
1or 2 tsp Worchesterchire Sauce
Either a dash of Soy sauce OR a pinch of salt, not both.
Enough water to cover all that, say 6 cups or maybe a little more. The sauce will be thin- don't worry about that.
Bring this to a rolling boil. Add
1-2 cups Frozen corn
1 Can of Diced Tomatoes, juice and all
1-2 cups Frozen Mustard Greens (or collards, or...)
2 Zucchinis, chopped
2 Jalapenos, sliced (Optional)
Let all that boil together.
Here's the kicker, ready?
In a small bowl, mix one box of Jiffy corn muffin mix according to package directions (of course if you'd prefer to make your own corn muffin mix, be my guest, it'd be even better, but alas, I'm usually in a hurry). Once your veggies are pretty much softened, turn off the burner, and take that muffin mix and drop it by large spoonfuls onto the boiling mixture. This doesn't have to be pretty, uniform, or even completely covering the turkey mix, just drop it on there.
Take that whole thing and put it into the oven uncovered for 20-25 minutes. Voila!! A quick one-pot meal they always rave over, and it's well balanced in terms of nutrition, so I feel good about giving it to them.
And you can do so much to it! Like the muffin mix- make that chili-cheese corn muffin mix, and at the expense of just a few calories, you've got some really great 'dumplings'. Or use a mixture of meats (but you'll have to drain excess fat). Or use your own vegetable blend based on what you like best, just be sure to do the corn, that's kind of important for the dumpling-part. And the spices are particularly variable- use what you like and omit what you don't. Also next time you're in the soups part of the store, pick up a box of Chipotle Bouillon, and put one of those in there (you won't need any other spicy stuff if you use a whole one of those)- so good!
Ok just one more meal idea we've come to use almost weekly, now that the weather is changing. I finally figured out how to broil steak- just be sure to marinate it in some combination of the ingredients above. I never was much for red meat, but I've gotten to where I do use it some. So make sure you can broil (or grill) a steak. Use 3 or 4 sweet potatoes, fork them a few times and put them on a paper towel in the microwave for 20-25 minutes. Then the greens I've been speaking so much about: cook up either fresh or frozen greens with some onion, garlic, and chicken broth. Steak, sweet potatoes, and greens- it a regular meal in our house these days, and soo good for you! The sweetness of the potato really takes away from bitterness of the greens. Really! Try it out and tell me what you think.
Trust me you won't need any 'cleansing' remedies anytime soon! And I have honestly had people commenting that I look like I've lost weight. I absolutely have not lost weight (freakin stubborn scales!), but since I've been using lots of greens I think it looks like I have? Who knows... there's magic to the greens, that's all I'm saying!
Well this is probably the longest post I've ever done- eh? Hope you all like it and try out some of my ideas. Let me know how they go if/when you do try a recipe or two, and also I'm always glad to discuss other oprions, and to hear about what your family likes to eat. I know Rebekah in particular can cook really well. (I always look forward to eating with her!) To this day no one can top her chili-cheese breakfast biscuits!
Love to you all!
2 Comments:
Jen, just reading that made my mouth water! Let me know about Carmen's party. Would love to be there for that!
Cool post Jen! That does sound good! When you talk about food, you are speaking the International Coopbro Language of Love! I've done a little cooking and I love the versatility of tomato-based sauces as well. Lillian and I (prior to coming to India of course) would watch Good Deal with Dave Lieberman on The Food Network (actually we tiVo it and watch the same ones over and over!). I have tried his recipes on four different occasions, all with great success.
My favorite was one very similar to your marinara sauce, except it was a basic pomodoro sauce. I think the only difference was instead of paste and sauce, he used canned diced tomatoes (with the water). The water reduces and you end up with a light, healthy, chuncky sauce that goes great over gimelli pasta with fresh basil and shaved grata pedano cheese. You have to throw in pinch of sugar to offset some of the acidity and bitterness of all those tomatoes though.
I used this sauce to make a seafood puttanesca one time. If you like italian dishes you'd like that one.
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