Best Spaghetti Sauce Ever

Now that fall is approaching and the mornings and evenings are cooler it's time for hearty home cooked meals. One that I made over the weekend was a huge batch of spaghetti sauce that I can freeze and heat up for quick dinners later. I have tried many different recipes but this one is so far my favorite! It combines different meats, veggies and best of all wine!

Meat Sauce (adapted eat.live.run) 

1.5 lbs ground grass fed beef 

.5 lbs Italian chicken sausage

.5lbs of pork sausage

20 oz sliced mushrooms

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 yellow onion, chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1.5 tbsp olive oil

1 28-oz can tomato puree

1 12-oz can tomato paste

24 oz tomato sauce

BIG splash red wine (anywhere from 1/2 cup to 2 cups)

6 oz freshly grated Romano cheese

1 tbsp dried oregano

1 tbsp dried basil

1 bay leaf

1-2 tbsp sugar

garlic salt + pepper as needed

spaghetti noodles + additional grated cheese for serving

Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Once hot, add the onion, bell peppers and sliced mushrooms. Saute for about six – eight minutes, until mushrooms are soft. Add ground beef and sausage meat. Cook until meat browns, stirring frequently with a large rubber spatula.

Add tomato puree, tomato sauce and tomato paste to the pot. Stir well. Then, add the bay leaf, wine, spices, sugar and cheese. Stir well and bring sauce to a simmer.

Simmer sauce for an hour and a half over low heat, stirring occasionally. Taste it as you cook, adding more wine, spices or garlic salt to suite your taste buds. The longer the sauce cooks, the better it will taste!

I've died and gone to tomato heaven

Early this week I stopped by Whole Foods to pick up some grocery for myself and when you walk in the door they have this beautiful display of heirloom tomatoes. I skipped over it because I didn't need tomatoes this week (that was a mistake) I finished up my shopping and headed home.

All week I couldn't stop thinking about those tomatoes. Now let me preface this by saying until about 2.5 years ago I hated tomatoes, it was a texture thing I couldn't get over it. Then at John's Superbowl party there was a big bowl of cherry tomatoes starring me down and all of a sudden I had a really weird urge to eat one. 

And I did just that and now I can't stop eating them. I would say a good tomato ranks right up there with some of my favorites cheese, pasta and pickles.    

So Wednesday night after work I headed back to Whole Foods just to purchase these lovely things. I had a wise friend tell me once if you aren't sure if you want to spent the money on something don't purchase it immediately. If after a few days your still thinking/in love with the item go ahead and purchase it. Of course she was referring to a purchase of a bigger item but I was still thinking about those tomatoes so I purchased them.

My plan was to make a quiche in sticking with the protein theme this week. So I gathered what I wanted to put in it. 

• organic ham lunch meat
• green onions
• tomatoes

Sliced them all up and started to assemble.

 Then threw is in the oven at 400 for 20 mins. Mean while I had some extra tomato left so I sprinkled a little sea salt (because I am learning that sea salt is the best) then and started eating. 

 And upon the first bite OH MY GOD! Hands down these are the best tomatoes I have ever had!! I can't even begin to describe it I was speechless. It was the perfect ripeness a little mushy on the inside but still with a firm skin. I ate almost all of the 2 tomatoes but decided I should probably save some since I was never going to get a tomato this good again. I will always be telling the story- you know that one time I had a tomato that was soo good...

By this time the quiche was done.

So I ate. 

Thanks for reading my tomato story. :)

BLT's

Again another late night for John and we were suppose to go to the gym but I was exhausted and my left leg was really bothering me and I wanted to rest it for my race on Sunday. So I decided a quick dinner and then a 4 mile walk to Harvard and back sounded better.

For the BLT's I had plans of adding avocado but sadly when I cut it in half it was all black. :( So I stuck with the original recipe bacon, lettuce and tomatoes.

 I also made sweet potato and regular fries to use up the last 2 potatoes we had.

And of course no sandwich is complete with out a pickle on the side. Mmm.

After eating we headed out for our walk, when we reached Harvard square I suggested we get pinkberry! It's frozen yogurt so it's healthy right? I got mango flavored with almonds, kiwi and the cutest chocolate covered mini pretzels. John had the lychee flavor with healthy bar, strawberries and pineapple.

 So Good! Then we walked the 2 miles back home.

Creamy pasta with vegetables

Another recipe from my food network magazine was on the menu for this evening a creamy pasta with vegetables. Carrots, snap peas, asparagus, shallots and garlic along with a little pancetta.

Looking over the ingredients list I saw it called for 1 cup of heavy cream, there was no way I would be adding that so I decided on a substituent of 3/4 cup low fat milk, 2T of butter and 1T of flour. Still not the healthiest with 2T of butter but way better then a cup of heavy cream.

Boil the noodles and the last 3 minutes I added all the veggies in to cook, then drained.

In the mean time in a skillet, I added the shallots and pancetta until they started to brown. Next add in the garlic with some red pepper flakes.

Next came the heavy cream substitute and 2T of dijon grainy mustard.

Simmered until it thickened and added pasta and vegetable mixture.

Serve and enjoy!

This was really good! The mustard gave it a tangy flavor with a little spicy from the red pepper flakes.

Crock Pot Asian Pork with mushrooms

It was a low key sort of day before our big day of food touring Vermont tomorrow. I decided to make a crock pot meal since it is easy and requires no work. John was sweet enough this morning when he saw me putting things together he took over so Sarah and I could hang out. The recipe he followed is:
Crock Pot Asian Pork with Mushrooms (Skinny taste)
Servings: 7 • Size: about 3 oz pork + mushrooms • Old Points: 6 pts • Points+: 6 pts
Calories: 224.1 • Fat: 8.5 g • Protein: 25 g • Carb: 11 g • Fiber: 0.4 g • Sugar: 7.3
Sodium: less than 854 mg, since you don't use all the liquid

Ingredients:

• 2 lb lean boneless pork sirloin roast (aka pork center rib roast, pork center loin roast)
• kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper
• Non-stick oil spray (I used Smart Balance spray)
• 1 cup low-sodium fat-free chicken broth
• 1/2 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce (for gf use gf tamari)
• 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
• 3 tbsp agave (or sugar)
• 1 tsp hot sesame oil (aji oil)  (or use sesame oil + pinch red pepper flakes)
• 1/2 tsp Chinese five spice (I used McCormick)
• 3 cloves crushed garlic
• 1 tbsp fresh grated ginger root
• 8 oz sliced mushrooms (I used baby bella)

For topping:

• 1/4 cup chopped scallions
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Directions:
Season pork on all side with salt and fresh cracked pepper. Heat a skillet on medium-high heat, spray with a little oil and brown the pork on all sides for about 7 - 8 minutes.


In the crock pot, combine the broth, soy sauce (or Tamari), balsamic, agave, sesame oil, Chinese five spice, garlic and ginger; add the pork and set the slow cooker to 8 hours on low.

Thirty minutes before the timer goes off, remove the pork and set aside to rest a few minutes; add the mushrooms to the crock pot, cover and cook on low for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, shred the pork using two forks.

When the mushrooms are tender, remove about 1 cup of the broth and reserve if needed. Add the shredded pork to the crock pot and mix well. If adding baby spinach, add at the end and cover a few minutes until it wilts. 

Instead of serving the pulled pork on rolls we decided to stick with the Asian theme and use rice noodles.

It had great flavors, I even had seconds.

Headed to bed early so we can get an early start on our Vermont food tour tomorrow!

The story of pork chops that were doomed from the beginning

Tonight I finally got around to making the pork chops I was suppose to make the other day for dinner. Instead of running to the store to purchase the chipotle peppers that I forgot John convinced me to use this this asian BBQ sauce that he said his family use to use all the time growing up.

I have never saw this previous to moving in with John nor have I ever had it before. But since I didn't have the ingredients to make the asian or the maple chipotle pork chops this will have to be the next best thing or so I thought....

So let me rewind the story a little starting on Saturday when we were at the Meat House picking up meat for dinner this week. We purchased chicken, steak and these pork chops, walking out to the car John noticed a little bit of a funky smell coming from the pork chops but we continued on to Trader Joe's. When we got back in the car the pork chops were just plain rank! Awful, like rotten eggs. So we drove back and asked them to exchange them for new ones which they gladly did and threw in an extra.

Fast forward again to tonight, I pull out the pork chops and they still smelled fine so then came the BBQ sauce. At first I couldn't open the lid, I ran it under hot water no luck, I hit it up side down on the floor still no luck, under hot water again nope! When I finally got the lid off I had the jar tipped and there went the sauce all over the kitchen towel, the counter and me (I almost turned in the towel at this point). As I was spreading the sauce over the pork chops I noticed that the sauce had formed a congealed ball in the middle of the jar. That's weird I thought but hey I never used this before so maybe it was suppose to be like that? Into the oven they went at 350.

yup asparagus again, this will change when we get our CSA

They finished cooking and we sat down to eat and John decided he wanted a little more sauce for his rice, so he opens the jar and he too notices the congealed ball in the middle.
He's says "Michele did you use this sauce on the pork chops". I gave him the look like do I even need to reply to this? (obviously look a the color of this sauce it's not a natural color) He then proceeds to tell me to look at the date on the jar, first glance I think oh it's not that expired. Then he tells me to look again at the year.

Yup, that's 2010 your reading in case your forgetting it is now 2012. 2 years!! Looking at the ingredients it only contains fermented soybean and fructose syrup so it couldn't be that bad right?

I learned an important lesson tonight never use jars of things John had laying around or at least look at the expiration date!

Update: we never got sick from this thank god!

Fig & Chile glazed pork tenderloin

Since I had the day off (Happy Birthday Martin Luther King!) I decided to cook a dinner that requires a little bit of time and something we don't eat often (I don't know why this is) pork tenderloin. I went to whole foods this afternoon to pick up a few things and as I was pruzing the meat counter (they have the most lovely fresh cuts of meats) it sitting there calling my name. Once home I searched for a glaze or marinated to use and came across one that used figs. Since I had fig spread in my fridge I figured what a great way to use it up! I mixed together

• 1/2 cup fig preserves
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon chile paste with garlic
• 1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce 
• salt & pepper

Nutrition Info:
Calories: 193
Calories from fat: 18%
Fat: 3.9g
Saturated fat: 1.3g
Monounsaturated fat: 1.8g
Polyunsaturated fat: 0.4g
Protein: 24g
Carbohydrate: 14g
Fiber: 0.3g
Cholesterol: 74mg
Iron: 1.6mg
Sodium: 274mg
Calcium: 11mg

 

I seared the tenderloin on my grill pan while covering it with this oh so good sauce. Then finished it off in the oven at 350 for about 20 mins until it reached 150. For a sides I made roasted veggies sprinkled with a little evoo, salt and pepper. And roasted some potatoes leftover from last night dinner and some sweet potatoes for me.

 The sauce for the tenderloin was amazing! I would totally make this again.

Asian style pork chops

We got back to Boston late last night so today was spend doing laundry and grocery shopping. We had absolutely no food what so ever! John picked pork chops for dinner so I found a quick marinated that consisted of the following:

• 1/2 cup hoisin sauce
• 3 tablespoons cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Asian sweet chili sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

 We cut the amounts in half since we were only making 2

 For sides I made asparagus and Parmesan couscous

Today is my mom's birthday! Happy birthday Mom!!!!