Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Today appears to be RECIPE DAY!!

New "I'm Home" Peppers Spaghetti Sauce


I can't seem to get myself organized as I want to do everything at the same time.  Priorities just won't settle.  I'm bumbling about the house like a giant bee, trying to touch all my flowers!

Some people would call it dysfunctional for an adult to act like this.  Seems to be the mark of the very young or the very old.  Hmmm.

While I was away I got very few opportunities to cook.  That would seem like a godsend to many- me included!  But oddly enough, I missed it!

I won't say that I didn't eat well when I was in the States, but I think I cook better than most meals I had at many of the restaurants I visited!  Isn't it funny that years ago, when I was growing up, one would judge a restaurant by saying "The food was delicious!  It tasted "homemade"!"  and now we say when we fix something good at home that it's "almost as good as a restaurant."??

So, today's theme is a recipe.... (this theme day thing can get a bit out of hand, like the Mickey Mouse Club for the ditsy- so I'll try not to go overboard)

Though we all have our standard old favorite Spaghetti recipe, I thought I'd try something new!  (As I have been dipping my spoon in the sauce for the past half hour, I can affirm it was a very successful foray into the unknown for me!!)

My "I'm home" Peppers Spaghetti Sauce

this is something I just made up because I wanted to have some good flavorful spaghetti sauce for dinner tonight, and I had these ingredients handy!  The peppers make it look all festive and it tastes wonderful!


12 oz ground beef (round or very low fat)

4 oz veal/pork breakfast sausages chopped (almost no fat white, lightly seasoned sausage links- I get them at Lidl...)

2 t good dry basil (or fresh)
2 t paprika
pinch of cayenne (or to taste)
salt and fresh ground pepper

small stalk of celery chopped
1/2 large vidalia onion chopped
1/3 yellow pepper chopped
1/3 green pepper chopped
1/3 sweet red pepper chopped
2 cloves garlic chopped

2 jars of Barilla "Basilco" pasta sauce
1/2 jar water


Brown ground beef in some olive oil (I add a little butter when the meat has no fat), season with the basil, paprika, salt and pepper and cayenne, stir well together til blended then add onion and celery.  Cook til onion softens a bit then add the sausage, peppers, and garlic.  Add the tomato sauce (and any bits of fresh tomato you might have in the fridge- I had a half from sandwiches...) and water and stir til it starts to bubble. Cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes then lower the heat to simmer for about 45 minutes.  Turn off the stove and let sit for about 30 minutes.  (then serve or save for later to reheat... for some reason spaghetti sauce tastes better after it has cooled and then is reheated.)


~~~

I may get to another post today but my Corfu life is getting in my way again, so "how I spent my spring break" will continue as I have time!

5 comments:

  1. You probably do cook better than the restaurants. That looks gorgeous!

    xxx

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dear Gaelikaa,

    So much of the success of restaurant food can lie at the feet of salt and sugar!

    well and to be fair, of presentation... what with the garnishes, tablecloths, nice dishes and silverware... (eating well is all about your other senses, not just what you put in your mouth!)

    - and we can't forget, of course, the added fill up of not having to cook and the charm of dressing up a bit...

    I may prepare food more to my tastebuds, but it takes some work to pull the rest off for just the two of us having dinner!

    what I mean tho was all the "quick and cheap" (not exactly!) food and take-outs that we had while we were working.

    That I KNOW I do better!!! (sometimes I wondered that those places could even LIST themselves in the phone book as "restaurants"!)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Really looks delicious, when I make something similar, I make a lot...then when we tire of spaghetti I add chili beans and chili seasoning mix and it turns into chili!

    I enjoy cooking too!
    ♥...Wanda

    ReplyDelete
  4. Dear Wanda,

    Oh boy, do I wish I'd made more! But since it was the first time making it, I figured I'd need to may tweak it more.

    We liked it just fine though, it was really tasty and it was hard not to eat more out of sheer gluttony!

    The good news is there's enough leftover for both of us to have for tomorrows lunch!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Looks really good Jes. I actually made up a huge batch of tomato and pepper sauce yesterday as I am overloaded with tomaties at the moment from Mr A's mammoth shopping spree at the weekend. Tomatoes, peppers, onions, garlic and salça (which you will remember). Useful to have in small pots in the freezer as a base for lots of different dishes.

    I'm like you...I do like to be cooked for, but I do miss cooking when I'm away.

    ReplyDelete

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