Canless Marinara

Speaking of spagetti...

I love marinara sauce. I like it over pasta, I like it in my meat loaf, I like it on my sandwiches, I like it in a bowl with some piping-hot garlic bread to dip in it. It is easily my favorite of all sauces.

The trouble with most marinara recipes is, they require you to use canned ingredients. And this works out fine for the most part, especially if you are in a hurry. But when you use canned ingredients, you end up with a sauce that tastes...well, like it came out of a can. All of those preservatives, additives, and metallic flavors aren't going to go away. And if you happen to be allergic to certain preservatives, you are out of luck.

If you want a fresh-tasting sauce without preservatives, you are going to have to start with fresh ingredients. So I created this recipe, a marinara sauce made from only fresh ingredients. (Okay, mostly fresh ingredients...it still calls for prepared sugar, wine, and oil. But if you have access to the fresh stuff, by all means use it.) It is quite a bit more challenging, but the taste is worth the extra time and effort.

Trav's Fresh Portobello Marinara

6 C. chopped Roma tomatoes
2 C. chopped onion
3 T. fresh garlic, sliced thin
1 C. chopped bell pepper
2 C. chopped portabello mushrooms
2 T. olive oil
1/4 C. red wine
1/8 C. granulated sugar
2 T. fresh Italian parsley, finely chopped
1 T. fresh basil, finely chopped
1 t. fresh oregano, finely chopped
1 t. fresh thyme, finely chopped
Salt to taste

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan. Add the tomatoes, onion, bell pepper, and garlic, and cook over medium heat until the tomatoes begin to release their juice and the mixture comes to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer (stirring occasionally) for 30 minutes or until the vegetables begin to disintegrate.

Remove from heat. Place a stainless steel sieve over a large cooking pot, and pour the tomato mixture into the sieve. Stirring slowly with a wooden spoon, force the sauce through the strainer, leaving the vegetable skins and seeds behind. Discard the solids, and bring the remaining sauce to a boil.

Add the wine, sugar, and mushrooms. Simmer uncovered over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the volume is reduced and the sauce has thickened to your liking (this can take a while...up to 2 or 3 hours for a really thick sauce). This is called the "base," in case you were wondering.

Add the basil, parsley, thyme, and oregano. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Taste the sauce, and add salt as needed. Serve immediately with your favorite hot pasta and a glass of red wine.

Makes about 4 cups.

TIPS:
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For a chunky sauce, add 1 cup of diced tomatoes, 1/2 cup diced bell pepper, and 1/2 cup of minced onion (peel and seed those tomatoes and peppers first.) Add these vegetables at the same time you add the herbs, and simmer until tender. Note that these vegetables will release juice as they cook, which will thin the sauce...so if you want a thick, chunky sauce, you will need a very thick base.
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For a meaty sauce, add a pound of fully-cooked italian sausage or meatballs (or both) to the base, at the same time you add the herbs. Remember, fresh ingredients taste best...so get these meats from your favorite Italian butcher the same day you are making the sauce. It would be a crime to spend this much time making a fresh sauce, only to add frozen Johnsonville sausage to it.
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For a cheesy sauce, stir in 1/2 C. of fresh grated Parmesan or Romano cheese (or both) right before serving time.
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And if you are making a chunky, cheesy, meaty sauce, call me. I'll bring the wine.

The Secret's in the Sauce

It's probably poor form to post a recipe after posting a blog entry about dieting. But, here we are.

This is an adaptation of the sauce that Ant’ny and I mixed up one day. We poured it into a roasting bag with a 7-pound brisket, and it was absolutely amazing. I made a few extra tweaks over the next few months, and came up with a dandy barbecue sauce that I think would taste good on just about anything.

Bourbon Barbecue Sauce

1 onion, minced (about 1 C.)
3 or 4 cloves of garlic, minced (about 3 T.)
1 cup Wild Turkey bourbon
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
2 cups Heinz catsup
1 can (6 oz) tomato paste
3/4 C maple syrup
2 T. liquid smoke
1 t. crushed red pepper
1 t. ground black pepper
1 t. salt

Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes. Allow to cool, then pour into an airtight container and refrigerate overnight to allow the flavors to blend. If you want a smooth sauce, run it through a strainer after cooking.

Put This In Your Pot and Mull It

For spending a snowy evening at home with your lover, I recommend this hot beverage. The Ancient Greeks considered hot wine to be an aphrodisiac, you know.

Mulled Wine

1 bottle of red wine (I recommend merlot or shiraz )
3 cinnamon sticks, crushed
Peel from one orange, chopped
5 whole cloves, crushed
5 allspice berries, crushed
1/2 t. vanilla extract
1 cup granulated sugar (more or less to taste)
1/2 cup brandy or cognac (more or less to taste)

Place the cinnamon, cloves, allspice, and orange peel into the center of a disposable coffee filter, fold up, and tie into a bundle with cotton string. Set aside.

Pour the wine into a crock pot or saucepan, add the bundle of herbs, and heat gently over low heat until very hot. Add the vanilla and sugar, and stir until completely dissolved. Cover tightly, and heat on the lowest temperature setting until ready to serve (the longer you heat it, the spicier it will taste and the less alcohol it will have). Never allow it to boil...not even a little bit.

To serve, remove the bundle of herbs and stir in the brandy. Ladle into coffee mugs, and garnish with a slice of orange.

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I’ll admit…it is an acquired taste. If hot wine is not your thing, use apple and/or cranberry juice instead.

Jambalaya

It's been pretty cold here the last couple of days. Granted, it is nowhere nearly as cold as Colorado was this time of the year, but I seem to notice it more up here because I am outside more often. And on a cold day, nothing sounds better than some spicy Cajun food...

Jambalaya

1 bundle of celery, chopped
2 pounds yellow onion, chopped
2 large bell peppers, diced
4 T. bacon drippings (or salad oil)
2 pounds tomatoes, diced
1 pound mushrooms, sliced
1 pound smoked sausage, in bite-sized pieces
1 pound smoked ham, in bite-sized pieces
1 pound shrimp
2 cups rice
1 can kidney beans, drained
Garlic salt to taste
Crushed red pepper to taste
Tabasco sauce to taste
Cayenne pepper to taste

Cook celery, onion, and bell peppers together in bacon drippings until the onions are transparent. Add tomatoes, mushrooms, sausage, and ham. Cook on low heat until all ingredients are soft, about 30 minutes. Add rice, shrimp, beans, and seasonings to taste. Cook over low heat until rice is tender, adjust seasonings again before serving.

Serve with saltine crackers and a good beer.

Prosciutto-Stuffed Duck

This is probably the tastiest recipe I have for my favorite waterfowl. I am posting this recipe at the request of my cousin Lacee, whose husband recently acquired a handful of these tasty birds while on a hunting trip.

Hey, I don't ask questions. I just e-mail the recipes.

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Prosciutto-Stuffed Duck

1 large duck, thawed
lemon juice
salt
1 T. olive oil
1/2 lb. prosciutto, chopped fine
4 large strips of prosciutto, uncut
1 lb. potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2" cubes
1 T. fresh chopped parsley
1/2 t. dried oregano
4 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
1/2 C. chopped yellow onion
2 C. duck stock
2 T. corn starch
1/4 C. dry sherry
Reynold's roasting bag

Stuffing:
Heat the olive oil in a large heavy skillet. Fry the potatoes until tender and slightly browned, then add the onion, parsley, oregano, garlic, and chopped prosciutto. Cook this mixture over medium heat until the onions are transparent. Remove from heat, and set aside to cool.

The bird:
While the stuffing cools, prepare the duck for roasting. Remove and discard the giblets from the body cavity. Remove all loose fat from inside the neck cavity, and remove the wishbone from the front of the breast (optional, it makes carving easier.) Make sure that the yellow fat glands at the base of the tail have been removed, along with any remaining yellow residue, and rub that area with lemon juice and salt. Prick the skin all over at half-inch intervals with a thin needle. Cover with a clean, damp towel, and set aside.

When the stuffing has cooled to room temperature, stuff the body cavity of the duck loosely with the fried potato mixture. Lay the uncut strips of proscuitto over the breasts and legs of the duck, and secure in place with cotton string. Place the stuffed duck in a roasting bag, and place the roasting bag in a large roasting pan.

Roast the duck, using the temperature and baking time indicated in the roasting bag's instructions.

Gravy:
When the bird is done, remove it from the bag. Measure out 2 cups of the duck stock from the bottom of the roasting pan, using a turkey baster to ensure you get as little fat as possible. (Tip: for an extra-clear gravy, strain the broth through a cheesecloth.)

Bring the duck stock to a full rolling boil in a small saucepan. Mix the cornstarch with the sherry, and add it to the boiling duck stock while whisking constantly. Cook over medium heat until thickened, adding more duck stock if necessary to get the desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve:
Arrange the duck on a large serving tray, and garnish with your favorite baked vegetables (I prefer baked potatoes and carrots, but to each their own.) Pour the hot gravy over the duck and vegetables, and serve immediately with a bottle of Chianti, hot bread, and a tossed salad.