Welcome to our section on recipes. Over the years we have collected a number of can't miss recipes/hints and are happy to share them with you. We will also be happy to post any recipes or hints you may have. Just e-mail us at: wcogger@goughryn.com We'll give you full credit and e-mail, back to you, any comments we receive.
Cooking Italian is not hard it just takes patience and a few tricks. Making a sauce or as our Southern Italian friends call it "a good gravy", is not difficult but there are a few tricks that make an OK sauce great.
Tomato seeds are bitter and really have no place in a good gravy. If you find your sauce bitter it's most likely because you left in the seeds. To compensate many cooks add sugar but you don't need to add these calories if you just leave out the seeds. Tomato seeds are great for growing tomatoes but not for cooking.
When I first started making spaghetti sauce it always seemed a little bitter (even without the seeds) so I always added a little sugar. Then I learned a trick from my Italian mother-in-law, using a carrot. Carrots contain a lot of natural sugars and add very little in the way of taste. They seem to react very well to the acid in tomatoes so I never make a sauce without using one. When you're making your sauce grate or finely chop one carrot and saute it with your onion, you'll be amazed at the difference it makes.
No sauce or gravy would be complete without garlic. No, I don't mean those powders or flakes I mean the real thing! If you cannot take the time to make a sauce using real garlic the do your self a favor and just open a jar. Who knows what they use in those powders. Many people don't like garlic because the find it bitter or overpowering --so here's a few hints:
Garlic only gets bitter when you don't cook it correctly. Sliced or pressed garlic is the last thing you add to your saute pan. After the onions are translucent you add your garlic just long enough for it to soften slightly. Then into the pot with the rest of your sauce. You can also remove the bitterness from garlic and make it milder as well by blanching the whole pealed cloves in boiling water for 30 seconds. You can then use the garlic as you normally would but you will find the flavor less pronounced.
Another trick is to roast the garlic first. Simply place the whole unpealed head in the oven, on a cookie sheet, and roast until brown. You will know when it's done when you pick a clove and you can squeeze the garlic out like a paste. The garlic will lose all of its bitterness and become quite mild. I often use this paste squeezed on to toasted Italian bread as an appetizer. When using the roasted garlic you may have to double the amount in your recipe since it is so mild.
One last trick with garlic is to slice it very fine and I mean very fine. I use a safety razor blade to slice the clove so thin that you can almost see through it! This is a great way to use garlic when you are making a white sauce for clams. The garlic seems to melt in the pan but don't brown it or it will get bitter.
The most amazing thing about spaghetti sauce is that it seems to expand or contract depending on how many people you need to feed or how much pasta you have on hand. The following recipe is for your basic meatless sauce. Please feel free to add meat to enhance the flavor. There are many other items you can add depending what you have on hand. Mushrooms, cubed eggplant or even julienne zucchini to name just a few.
2 16ozs cans of tomato sauce. 1 small can tomato paste 1 large sweet onion diced (you can use up to two if you like onions) 1 carrot grated or finely diced 1 small green pepper (fine diced) 3 stalks celery diced 4 large cloves of garlic pressed, fine sliced or diced 1 tablespoon dried basil or 1/4 cup fresh 1/2 teaspoon oregano or 1 tablespoon chopped fresh 1 glass of red wine (one extra glass for the cook) 1 to 2 large bay leaves 2 tablespoons olive oil salt & pepper to taste. 3 fresh tomatoes peeled seeded and course diced
Place the tomato sauce, 1/2 of the tomato paste and the whole bay leaf in a sauce pot. Anyone will do as long as it's not aluminum and begin to simmer.
In a large frying pan heat two tablespoons of olive oil and begin sauteing the vegetables starting first with the carrot and adding the rest. When the onions are lightly brown add the garlic and dry spices, wait a few more minutes and transfer the contents to the simmering tomato sauce. In the hot saute pan add the glass of wine and reduce by 1/2 over high heat stirring so as not to burn the wine. When done pour the hot wine into the tomato sauce and continue to stir. Once the wine is fully incorporated reduce the heat to low and cook until you're ready to eat. If you're several hours away from eating cover the pot so the sauce doesn't get too thick and watch it so that it doesn't burn. If you're going to serve in the next hour add the remaining tomatoes paste to thicken the sauce.
Just before serving add the fresh diced tomatoes and cook until warmed through. Taste and add salt and pepper. Remove the bay leaf and discard. DON'T leave out the salt! You don't have to use a lot but it will help to cut the acid and make the sauce taste much better. This sauce always seems to taste better the next day so don't hesitate to make it a day or so in advance.
There are as many recipes for meatballs are there are Italians. I've tried a number of them and most are great (except the ones made with chicken liver) so if you have a version send it along --we would be glad to try it. Tradition tells us that meat balls are made with a combination of meats, egg and bread added, depending on your family's tradition. A good starting place is to consider mixing three types of meat, veal, beef and pork, as the meat part in your meatball. I do not use the veal since it costs so much and I reduce the amount of pork because of the fat. You however, can choose what you will in the following recipe because it all seems to work equally as well.
1 lb. lean ground meat. 1 egg 3 cloves garlic pressed 1 teaspoon dried sweet basil 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano 1/4 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs 2 heaping teaspoons fresh (not the box stuff) grated hard Italian cheese 1 small sweet onion finely chopped 1/3 carrot chopped very fine 1/3 celery stalk chopped fine 2 tablespoons red wine. olive oil.
Saute the onions, celery, carrot and garlic in the olive oil until the onions are translucent. Cool and reserve.
Mix all of the ingredients together and roll the mixture into the size meatballs you prefer. Note that you mix in the bread crumbs you do not roll the meatballs in the bread crumbs. If you're trying to extend the meat you can also use toasted, seasoned, cubed Italian bread in place of the bread crumbs. You can even double the amount of bread if you wish. If the mixture becomes too dry add wine to keep it moist.
Fry the meatballs until brown and place the into a pot of your spaghetti sauce. Drain the fat from the pan except for 1 tablespoon and de-glaze the pan with the red wine. Reduce the wine by 1/2 and pour into your sauce. Cook for 30 to 45 minutes for the meatballs to be fully cooked. You can of course continue to cook at very low heat for several hours or until you're ready to eat.
A good gravy is apt to contain just about anything except the kitchen sink. I have eaten so many good one's it hard to know just where to start. One variation I like particularly well is adding cubed veal and lean pork instead of meatballs to the basic sauce. The secret is to remove all the fat and brown the meat in a little oil and garlic before adding it.
Another great variation my husband Bill makes is with cubed lamb. It starts with making the basic sauce but without the oregano. He sautes about 1 lb. of cubed lamb, in olive oil, with several sprigs of rosemary. He then uses white wine instead of red to de-glaze the pan. He also adds 1/3 cup of fresh parsley (the flat Italian style) to the sauce to complete the dish. We serve this with rice or boiled new potatoes and it's just super.
It seems that every Italian restaurant we go to has a pink or vodka sauce on the menu -- so what's the big deal?
Friends of ours have looked high and low for recipes and can't find one. The sauce is so simple it's hard to imagine you need a recipe at all. Start with your basic sauce except reduce the garlic amount by half and use no meat. I find that using a little zucchini or even a parsnip adds to the character as well. Cool the sauce and puree it in a blender or food processor. Strain to remove any of the bits and pour into a sauce pan. Heat the sauce to a simmer and add 1 oz. vodka (optional). Use caution since the sauce will flame if you're not careful. Continue heating the sauce for several minutes until the alcohol is evaporated. In a separate pan heat 1/4 to 1/3 the sauce's volume of heavy cream. When the cream is hot pour the cream into the sauce while whisking rapidly. Remove from the heat quickly and your sauce is ready to serve. Pink sauce is thin not thick and you can adjust the consistency by the amount of cream you use. You can also whisk in dollops of butter for an extra rich sauce. Several cooks I know also add a few grates of nutmeg before adding the cream. This also adds some additional flavor but don't over do it. Pink sauce also makes a great accompaniment to the ravioli appetizer listed below.
Ravioli are a quick and versatile stuffed pasta, good to start a meal or as a main course. We prefer ravioli stuffed with meat or chicken in our appetizers but the cheese filled one's will work as well. You can also vary the effect and taste by the toppings you use. Believe it or not a fresh avocado or guacamole works spectacularly well. Also ravioli stuffed with artichoke, cheese and garlic is out of this world.
Fried breaded ravioli are a simple and unique way to start a meal. They can be served with a pink sauce or a little fresh tomato or basil sauce. Add some pine nuts on top for a different taste and presentation. To start boil your ravioli in salted water until 2/3 done. Remove and cool. Dip in an egg wash and bread with seasoned Italian bread crumbs. Fry in olive oil until lightly browned and serve with your favorite topping.
Fried ravioli Buffalo style. This dish always is meet with surprise and acclaim. Boil the ravioli in salted water until 2/3 done remove and cool. Heat a pan with olive oil and add cayenne pepper sauce (as much as you can stand). Fry the ravioli until brown. They won't brown completely just in spots. Serve immediately with a dollop of blue cheese and celery sticks. The meat or chicken filled ravioli work the best. The cheese filled are OK but the others are really superb.
There are so many chili dishes even books written about it but this is the one we make. Bill's recipe is a compromise for those who like it hot and those who like I not. Yes, he has had many debates with our Texas friends regarding his use of beans but then again they eat it and seem to like it. (just not as much as "theirs.") Bill makes a large batch and the folks line up to take some home -so at least to some (not me) is must be good.
2 large sweet onions sliced thin 3 stalks celery diced 1 large carrot 2 medium sweet bell peppers, seeded and course diced. 2 small jalapeno peppers seeded, veins removed and diced fine. 1/4 cup fresh cilantro or flat Italian parsley chopped. 1 tablespoon dried basil 4 large bay leaves 1/4 teaspoon liquid smoke 6 to 8 cloves garlic pressed or fine diced 1 tablespoon salt ground pepper to taste 1 can of dark, Not German style, beer (1 to 2 additional cans for the cook) 2 16-ozs cans kidney beans drained and washed thoroughly 2 large cans plum or stewed tomatoes with juice chopped 1 large can tomato sauce 2 small cans tomato paste 2 ozs un-sweetened ground chocolate 1 to 2 teaspoon's cayenne pepper sauce (not tobasco) 2 bags or packages of your favorite chili fixin's (we like Jardines) or 4 to 6 tablespoons chili powder 2 1/2lbs lean ground beef or cubed chuck steak..
In a large stock pot mix all of the tomato products, beans, dry spices and also add the cilantro. Please make sure that you drain and wash the beans since whatever they process them in tastes terrible. Bring the pot to a simmer and reduce the heat to maintain temperature. Saute the remaining vegetables, in olive oil, separately making sure the onions are brown and the garlic in warmed not burned.
In the same saute pan fry the ground or cubed beef. When the meat is no longer pink drain the fat except for 1 tablespoon and add your dry chili power or chili seasoning. Don't add any of the hot pepper flakes or the cayenne pepper sauce. Once the meat is browned add it to the stock pot. Deglaze the pan with the 1/4 of the beer and reduce by 1/2. pour the reduction and the remaining beer into the stock pot.
Add the liquid smoke (optional) salt and chocolate to the stock pot. Also add 1/2 of your cayenne pepper sauce. Simmer for 1/2 hour and taste. If you want it hotter add more cayenne pepper sauce or much fresh ground pepper. Maintain at low heat for at least 1 hour. Taste and correct seasonings and serve.
A couple of points regarding my chili. It is not meant to be super hot since many folks can't eat real hot chili. I serve this chili with a bottle of Habanero pepper sauce for those who like to heat it up. You can of course add as much heat as you like. I do have a little advice when you add hot items. It takes about 1/2 hour for the heat to fully effect the chili --so go slow and it won't be too hot.
I have had a lot of questions regarding the use of chocolate in my chili. The reason I use chocolate is that it imparts a particular flavor and it has been used in Mexican cooking since the Aztec's. You must use unsweetened chocolate or you will ruin the chili and you must use some salt to bring out the flavor. A good tip when using chocolate in any dish, unsweetened or not, is to use a little salt. It makes a big difference. The flavor of the chocolate won't be noticed by anyone as chocolate --so don't tell them and our secret is safe.
If your chili is not thick enough when you want to serve it add a little roux (equal parts flour and butter cooked and browned together) to thicken. If your chili is too bitter you did not brown the onion and carrots enough so correct by adding sugar to taste.
Have any comments, questions or a recipe to share? E-mail us at: wcogger@goughryn.com
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Almost forgot... The final fall pictures will be up next month as well
Thanks!
Marie