Pasta and Meat Sauce

On Sunday in addition to the soups and breads I made on Sunday I also made a large pot of meat sauce. It was of course my mom's recipe. I used ground beef and ground pork. I had some sausage from Stew Leonard's that had Provolone cheese and parsley in it. I also had some meatballs in the freezer that I had made last month. This sauce is a good base. You can add any type of meat. My mom use to add everything from ribs to chicken legs.

Ingredients
1 large onion, chopped
olive oil
ground beef sausage
crushed tomatoes, canned
tomato paste
parsley
oregano
salt
pepper

Method - Heat oil and saute onion until translucent. Add the meats. Cook until meat begins to brown. Drain off any fat from the pan. Add the crushed tomatoes. Cover and simmer for about 2 hours, depending on the type of meat that is used. If the sauce is thin add tomato paste. Season with parsley, oregano, salt and pepper.

I usually use 4 cans of crushed tomatoes and end up with 4 to 5 freezer bags of sauce.

The result was a perfect sauce, of course we had not had homemade meat sauce in quite some time.

Also the recipe from the Giambotto that my brother-in-law made is posted on the entry from September 6. And the photos from our Re Sette dinner are up.

Butternut Squash Soup and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Yesterday, in addition to the other things I cooked up, I made a Butternut Squash Soup from Cooking Light magazine. It was so simple. The grilled cheese sandwiches were made on the bread I made yesterday, of course. Nice thick slices. American cheese and mustards on the side. Also has some Pita Bite Crackers from Trader Joe's (impulse buy). They are now my new favorite cracker. They are crispy with just enough sea salt.

The soup recipe called for half and half. I did not have half and half and had no use for any leftover so I did not add it and it was not needed. It had a nice silky texture without it. Here is the recipe without the half and half.
Ingredients
1 tablespoon butter
3 1/2 cups cubed peeled butternut squash (about 1 1/2 pounds)
3/4 cup chopped carrot
1/2 cup chopped sweet onion
2 1/2 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1/8 teaspoon salt

Method:
Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add squash, carrot, and onion; sauté for 12 minutes. Add chicken broth, and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in salt. Place squash mixture in a blender. Remove center piece of blender lid (to allow steam to escape), and secure blender lid on blender. Place a clean towel over opening in blender lid (to avoid splatters). Blend until smooth.

We had it with Feta Cheese sprinkled on top.

Reuben Bread, Rye Bread, White Bread and Apple Squares

Yes it was a rainy day so I made bread. Actually 2 kinds or technically 3 kinds. I love carbs. I was looking through some of the blogs I follow and found two recipes I could not resist. The first was from Noshtalgia. The recipe was No Knead to Thank Me. I had planned on making the No Knead bread that takes 18 hour to proof but I did not have time to start it yesterday. So when I saw her photos I was in. It was so easy and the dough came out with a great texture. And the taste. Wow.

Next on My Food and Life Encounters I found Reuben Bread. It starts with a Rye Bread recipe and than you just add the filling. That is what we had for dinner tonight. The recipe made a lot of dough so I just made half the recipe for the filling and with the extra dough I made a loaf of rye bread.
Lets see... I felt like Apple Squares. It is a recipe that I got from my mom.
1 cup of butter
3 cups of flour
1/2 tsp salt
3 egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar
Crumble ingredients in a bowl.
1 3/4 apple sauce
grated lemon peel
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp grround clove
Mix last 4 ingedients.
Place 1/2 of flour mixture in bottom of greased 9x9 pan, I use pyrex glass pan.
Spread apple sauce mixture over bottom layer. top with remaining flour mixture. Bakde 350 degreess for 45 - 60 minutes.

Homemade Pappardella with Portebello Mushrooms and Bolognese Sauce

Saturday, September 26, 2009
Now before you start thinking that I made this meal the answer is no. We ate at one of our favorite restaurants in New York City, Re Sette last night. We were in the city to see a play. We have eaten there a number of times and have never been disappointed. If you click on the link for the restaurant the table you see is where we sat!

We started with the Fried Calamari and a small pizza, the Del Re. It was Fig Jam, Prosciutto, Caramelized Pearl Onions and Gorgonzola Cheese all on a perfectly crisp, thin crust. Photos will be posted as soon as that darn replacement cord is delivered. The next time we make pizza on the grill we will make this one.


For dinner I had Homemade Pappardella with Portebello Mushrooms and Bolognese Sauce. I was going through pasta withdrawal and boy was this good. The sauce was delicious and the pasta was homemade so it goes without saying that it was good.

My husband had the Baby Pork Loins, Dried Craneberries, Grappa, Cranberry Reduction, Homemade Mashed Potato. He enjoyed it. I tasted it and it was good. My sister had an Apple Ravioli and I was so taken by my dish I forgot to ask for a taste. But she cleaned her plate so I assume it too was good. My brother-in-law had Grilled Filet Mignon with sauteed Onions, Barolo Wine reduction, and roasted rosemary potato. My husband has had that dish a couple of times and it comes highly recommended.

For dessert we shared a Pistachio Gelato with coffee.
What a wonderful meal.

While the cats away...

No the cats were not away. I was out for the night. Went to hear Frank Bruni speak about his book Born Round. It was a very good book. It is about family, food, overcoming overeating and the life and times of a New York Times restaurant critic.
I ate out at Malone's, Spinach Salad with Creamy Parmesan Cheese Dressing.

Mom's Chicken Soup

When I was little and the doctor came over because I was sick, yes Dr. Harrison made house calls, my mom asked her she should be giving us vitamins. At the time my mom had her chicken soup on the stove. Dr. Harrison took one look in the pot and said, "Mrs. Lombardi if this is what you are serving your family they are getting more than enough vitamins!" Well this is my version of her soup. She probably made the fresh stock where I opted for canned.

Chop onion, 2 stalks of celery and 2 peeled carrots. Heat oil in pan and add vegetables. Cook until tender. Add chicken stock and heat. Add chopped up cooked rotissierie chicken (another short cut I know my mom did not use). Next add some cooked pasta, something like a noodle is best. Add fresh spinach. In another pan add some broth and heat to almost boiling. Beat and egg and slowly add to broth stirring vigorously. Cook the egg through. Add the egg to the soup pan. Serve with Parmesan Cheese.

Leek and Spinach Tart

I bought some leeks and spinach and wanted to make a tart. Could not find a recipe that I liked and ended up doing a stir fry of the leeks and spinach, thyme, salt and pepper. I made a pie crust using the recipe from The Silver Palate Cookbook. I put a layer of Mascapone cheese on the bottom of the crust and topped that with the leeks and spinach. Folded the crust over to make it more of a rustic tart and baked it 35 minutes at 375 degrees.
Somebody went back for seconds! I went for seconds also but it was the crust was after. I had some nice photos of the tart but I have to question the cats as to where the cord for the camera may be hiding...

Roasted Chicken Purses

Yesterday I watched Everyday Italian on the Food Network. The recipe I made was Roasted Chicken Purses. The result was so cute.

Speaking of cute. This is Kramer, the world's cutest cat. But back to dinner. So the recipe was from Giada De Laurentiis. And it was fun to put together.

The finished product was light and the flavors of the chicken and lemon and thyme were a perfect blend. The butter and Parmasan cheese were good but I think it needed Crushed Red Pepper. But that's just my opinion.

Fresh Mozzarella Cheese

Went to Stew Leonards for the first time today and it was love at first sight and bite. There was a display for fresh Mozzarella cheese. I picked up piece and noticed the price was less than what I usually pay. Than I notice the man behind the counter with a large pan of water making the mozzarella. He asked would I like to try a taste of the cheese he just made. Oh My God. Never have I ever tasted anything so delicious. It was soft and smooth. It was love.
It made me think of food that I have eaten over the years that has left a memory of the taste that has I have not forgotten. First would have to be my mom's stuffed artichokes. The breading and olives... Then there was her stuffed veal pocket. Again the stuffing was something I really wish I had the recipe for. Next would be the soup my sister and her husband make on Christmas Day. Then there was the Salmon I had when I was in Seattle. It was so long ago but the still I remember the taste. I found something that sounds close to in on the internet, Tillicum Village Salmon Bake, not sure if this is the same spot we went to but the salmon is cooked the same way. And last but not least the stuffed calamari my brother-in-law made last Christmas Eve. Again it is a stuffing thing...
Tonight as a surprise appetizer I made brushetta with the fresh mozz and tomatoes and basil. Well the surprise was ruined by my burning the first batch of bread under the broiler. : (
Even my husband was amazed at the taste of the cheese.
I picked up a few other items there and they will appear at some point on this blog.
For dinner I made breaded pork cutlets with rice and green beans. What I like best about pork cutlets is the apple sauce!

Chicken with Thyme

So I worked at home today and was able to make dinner. I picked up chicken breast on sale. I cut them into Scaloppine. Mixed flour and fresh thyme leaves. Dredged the chicken. Heated olive oil and a knob of butter. Sauteed the chicken and seasoning it with salt and pepper. Added lemon juice and white wine and heated until reduced.
Sliced zucchini and yellow squash and sauteed that in olive oil and a knob of butter. Added parsley and cooked until browned.
Bought twice baked potatoes at the market.
The chicken was really good. The sauce was lemony but not too lemony. I really stood by the stove and said what the heck am I going to make for dinner and it came out quite good!
Smiles.