Tag Archives: Italian recipes

Tomato Sauce Stock

Posted on by Jinxie G

Okay, so I thought I’d give this recipe a shot, though I’m now wishing either of my grandmothers were still alive so I could pick their brains about it (put down the crossbow Juliette! I’m NOT a zombie!). It’s the first time I’ve made it (because I got it from someone who used to be a friend) and it was a success, so I’ll share it with you.

Tomato Sauce Stock

Ingredients:

Tomatoes (lots of them, like a few pounds or more)

Water

Pretty fucking simple, huh?

Fill a stock pot (I have a pretty damn big one I use mostly for crab legs) at least ¼ to ½ full, cut up tomatoes—I sliced in half, then in thirds, and then cut chunks off into the pot.

*Thanks to Umi for being my hand model

Cover but vent the pot and bring to a boil. This is going to boil and then simmer for a good amount of time, and the tomatoes will cook down, so you can more water as they do. I let it simmer for a few hours and mash the chunks as it cooks before letting it cool off and sectioning the sauce stock off into separate containers. Since I no longer have my handy little handheld purée mixer, I think I’ll throw it into a blender before packaging next time. I’ll let you know how it works until I can get a new mixer.

I don’t add any seasoning to this other than a couple of dashes of salt (out of habit) to the water beforehand, and you can strain the peel and seeds out if you’d like, but I don’t. It makes for a nice chunky sauce too, which is great with chicken and pasta.

When I package it, I use at least 2-cup servings because 1 cup just doesn’t work. I’ll probably work with a larger amount of tomatoes and bigger servings next time because I’m trying to shy away from canned tomatoes, which are very bad for you, and I’d found myself still adding paste or diced tomatoes or sauce to it.

Essentially, this is the base for all your red sauces. I’ve now used it for the Red Clam Sauce and a Marinara, as well as a Chicken Parmesan recipe.

Be sure to write the date and time on the Ziploc bags or containers, though they can last in the freezer for a decent amount of time, but certainly not forever. Nothing lasts in the freezer forever without getting freezer burn. Blech.

Piacere!

Vive bene, spesso l’amore, di risata molto!

(live well, love much, and laugh often)

Cooking Tips #12

Posted on by Jinxie G

I know this should be common sense, but some people fail to see the issue, so listen to me when I say…

If you have longer hair, always, ALWAYS pull your hair back/up BEFORE you start cooking, even in your own damn kitchen. I’m sorry, but finding a hair in my food makes me want to vomit and I’ll probably never eat at your house again. Just sayin’. I find it completely repulsive.

And that’s coming from a woman who’s owned dogs over the past 20 years and claims “The chef is not responsible for dog hair in the food.”

G-ma Rainie’s Swiss Steak

Posted on by Jinxie G

This should have posted yesterday, but I’ve been distracted by a friend in need for the past few days, so I apologize for the delay.

Both sides of my family have a Swiss Steak recipe and one is COMPLETELY different from the other, so I’m going to share both with you. You get one today, and one next Friday (if I can get Umi to write the damn thing down for me or dictate…whatever).

G-ma Rainie’s Swiss Steak

Ingredients:

1 boneless chuck beef roast (or roast beast, as I like to call it)

4 – 6 cups crushed tomatoes (canned or homemade)

1 cup diced onions, sliced carrots, and diced celery (optional)

After searing* and seasoning the roast beast with salt and pepper, put it in a Dutch oven (or slow cooker/crock pot).

 

Add the tomatoes, onions, carrots, and celery (each are optional – I don’t like cooked carrots), and add desired spices.

 

Cover and simmer for about an hour or so until beef is tender. Check seasoning and add more salt and pepper if so desired. Experiment with other seasonings as well. I added garlic powder and Italian seasonings this time around. Next time, I’ll likely experiment with a few others.

Now, the timing is based on using a Dutch oven. I used a slow cooker (or crock pot) and cooked it over several hours on a low setting while I slept all day. If you have a lot of experience using a crock pot, you’ll know what setting to cook it and for how long.

Instead of using diced celery and onion, I used celery salt and onion powder. Also, when I use salt and pepper, I use the kind you have to grind. Sea salt is much better than regular salt.

My g-ma Rainie always served this dish over mashed potatoes. It’s quite tasty! I have it next to the mashed potatoes.

Piacere!

Vive bene, spesso l’amore, di risata molto!

(live well, love much, and laugh often)

* Don’t know what “searing” is? What I’m telling you to do there is brown all sides of the roast before placing it in the Dutch oven or crock pot.

Cholesterol…Damn It!

Posted on by Jinxie G

In lieu of my typical recipe post, we’ll be talking about my health today. Why is this important, aside from the fact that not eating healthy can kill me? Well, mainly because it’s going to change the recipes I post on this here little blog. But that’s a good thing, trust me, because I can’t stand bland food, so I’ll be finding ways to make healthy good-for-you-food taste great. Hey, it’s what I do.

So my arteries are getting clogged up. That’s what high cholesterol does to you, which puts you at risk for heart disease. Awesome! But here’s the kicker….high cholesterol is 240 mg/dL and higher; mine is at 1900+. Wait, WTF? Yeah. Shouldn’t I be dead?

So here are the things I can’t eat anymore with my notes attached:

Butter, margarine and shortening - um, WTF? How am I supposed to cook and bake now?

Coconut and palm oils - not a problem! They aren’t in my diet to begin with.

Cheese – But I LOVE cheese!!! *pouts*

French fries – don’t care much for these anyway

Doughnuts – *gasps*

Whole milk – looks like I’m going back to 1% milk

Cookies – are you fucking kidding me???

On the plus side, olive oil, avocado, walnuts & almonds (neither of which I eat), sunflower seeds (along with sesame and pumpkin seeds), and seafood along the lines of salmon, mackerel, and herring are IN.

And on top of this, I essentially need to switch to a low carb diet with anti-inflammatory foods. Hey! Avocado is an anti-inflammatory food! Homemade guacamole, here I come!

Time to start looking up recipes….and of course, modifying them. :)

Cooking Tips #11

Posted on by Jinxie G

The first and foremost ingredients in seasoning your food is salt and pepper. Why? Using salt and pepper first brings out the flavor in any dish. If you don’t use salt and pepper, give it a try once and taste the difference.

Easy Chicken Parmesan

Posted on by Jinxie G

I haven’t had a chance to post this super easy recipe until now. It comes to me by way of my sister-friend Deni, who is most awesome and also gave me the recipe for the Red Velvet Cupcakes! Deni made this for me one night about 10 years or so ago, before she really learned how to cook. =) This is basically one of those 30-minute meals. Perfect for today’s busy chef-on-the-go.

Easy Chicken Parmesan

Ingredients:

4 to 5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (or about a dozen or so boneless, skinless chicken tenders)

1/2 stick of butter (or 3 tablespoons of margarine)

Grated Parmesan cheese (Kraft or store brand will suffice)

1 lb. pasta (angel hair or fettuccine)

1 jar of Classico Florentine Spinach & Cheese sauce

Let’s bake! 

Line a 13×9 pan or glass baking dish with foil (for easy clean up) and preheat oven to 375˚. Melt butter in a bowl in the microwave (time varies, depending on your microwave) until thoroughly melted. Rinse chicken and coat both sides with butter, and then place in pan, bottom side up. Once all chicken is in the pan, layer with grated Parmesan cheese until mostly covered. Flip each piece over and repeat layer of grated Parmesan cheese.

Optional: You can add Italian spices, garlic or onion powder to this if you’d like. Just sprinkle over the top of the chicken.

Place chicken in oven. Times will vary, depending on how much and what type of chicken you’re baking. For 4 to 5 chicken breasts, bake for at least 30 minutes or until the top turns a golden brown. For chicken tenders, bake for at least 20 minutes or until the top turns a golden brown. If you choose to bake larger portions of chicken, you will have to adjust your baking times.

About halfway through chicken baking time, start your water for the pasta (don’t forget to add a few dashes of salt). Bring water to a boil and add pasta. Cook pasta according to package directions—approximately 10 minutes—and strain. You will need to rinse the pasta for this recipe. It’s the only time I’ll have you do so.

Once chicken and pasta are both ready, it’s time to dish out this entrée buffet-style.

Pile pasta on your plate and place chicken on top. Open the jar of sauce and pour it over the top of both. I don’t heat this sauce because you don’t have to—it’s already cooked. If you want, you can use your own sauce, or try my Marinara sauce (heated) with it.

Top with Parmesan cheese (or not) and serve. A salad and rolls or a baguette would go well with this.

That’s it!

Piacere!

Vive bene, spesso l’amore, di risata molto!

(live well, love much, and laugh often)

Spaghetti with a Kick

Posted on by Jinxie G

If you don’t know, I’ve been house-sitting all week for a friend of mine who had to go to Texas. However, her youngest son, who was supposed to house sit for someone else, has been here off and on throughout the week. On Wednesday, I wasn’t expecting him when I came home from doing some work at g-ma’s house, but here he was and he’d made spaghetti for dinner.

“You can have some if you want.”

“Okay, wow, thanks,” I said.

“It’s a bit spicy, though,” said Josh.

I gave him the Spock eyebrow and said, “What do you put in it?”

“Some Tapatio sauce and some chili powder.”

“Really? I might have to taste that.”

Sure enough, I tasted it and it definitely has a kick to it, so here’s his recipe in case you’d like to try it. You can follow him on Twitter here, but he hasn’t tweeted much. Let’s show him how the Twittersphere works.

Spaghetti with a Kick

Ingredients:

1 can tomato sauce

1 Tblsp chili powder

Tapatio hot sauce, to taste

salt and pepper

1 lb hamburger, browned

1 lb spaghetti noodles

Brown the hamburger and drain the grease. Pour tomato sauce into a pot, add Tapatio sauce (or your own preferred hot sauce) and chili powder. Stir. Add salt and pepper to taste. Boil noodles. Add hamburger to sauce. Strain noodles. Mix with sauce when it’s finished.

Looks like a pretty simple recipe. Give it a try! It tasted great.

Piacere!

Vive bene, spesso l’amore, di risata molto!

(live well, love much, and laugh often)

Cooking Tips #6

Posted on by Jinxie G

Ever have your tomato sauce taste “tinny” or have that metallic taste to it? Yeah, we so understand. This is what happens when you cook tomato-based sauces in aluminum or any reactive metal pan/pot. Sometimes, even copper will have this effect.

To fix that taste, however, add a dash or two of Balsamic vinegar. Other than that, don’t cook in reactive metal pots. :)

Mangia!