Jen's Oriental BBQ Pork

Jen's Oriental BBQ Pork

2 T brown sugar
2 T soy sauce
1 lb boneless pork cut into thin strips

Mix together above ingredients and marinate for 30 minutes.

6 oz spaghetti noodles
1 C fresh pea pods (whole or cut in half)
1 C matchstick carrots (or julienned)
1/4 C green onion sliced
1 T sesame seeds

Cook noodles, in last minute, throw pea pods and carrots in to cook. Pour into strainer and rinse cold. Put in a large bowl and add green onions.  Cook pork about 5 minutes until no longer pink. Add to noodles.  Toss with dressing and sprinkle with sesame seeds.  Refrigerate 2-3 hours.  Serve cold or reheat.

Dressing:
2T  vegetable oil
3 T soy sauce
2 T sugar
1 t ginger root

*My friend Jen Guiver gave me this recipe back when Chloe was a baby.  It is a family favorite.  I love it cold, but it rarely is made that far in advance and kids love it way more warm.  But the flavor does get better with some time.

Marinara #2

Marinara #2

2 (28-ounce) cans whole tomatoes packed in juice
2 T olive oil
1 medium onion, minced (about 1 cup)
2 medium garlic cloves, minced (or 2 t chopped)
1/2 t dried oregano
1/3 C red wine
salt and ground black pepper
1-2 t sugar
3 T chopped fresh basil
1 T extra-virgin olive oil

Pour tomatoes and juice into strainer set over large bowl. Crush tomatoes with hands and remove and discard fibrous cores; let tomatoes drain excess liquid, about 5 minutes. Remove 3/4 cup tomatoes from strainer and set aside. Reserve 2 1/2 cups tomato juice and discard remainder.

Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and golden around edges, 6 to 8 minutes. Add garlic and oregano and cook, stirring constantly, until garlic is fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Add tomatoes from strainer and increase heat to medium-high. Cook, stirring every minute, until liquid has evaporated and tomatoes begin to stick to bottom of pan and brown fond forms around pan edges, 10 to 12 minutes. Add wine and cook until thick and syrupy, about 1 minute. Add reserved tomato juice and bring to simmer; reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally and loosening browned bits, until sauce is thick, 8 to 10 minutes.

Transfer sauce to food processor (or transfer to saucepan and insert immersion blender; see the related article "Do You Really Need a Hand Blender?") and add reserved tomatoes; process until slightly chunky, about eight 2-second pulses. Return sauce to skillet and add basil and extra-virgin olive oil and salt, pepper, and sugar to taste.



**It is, of course, FALL! And in the fall, I always (ok for at least 9 years now) make marinara from my garden tomatoes, which I freeze and we enjoy all year long! I usually make Giada's Marinara, but I still have a bunch in my freezer, and have been dying to try some of these recipes from Cook's Illustrated All Time Best Recipes.  So I adapted this recipe from "America's Test Kitchen," to use my tomatoes.  Which I am convinced made this marinara so yummy!  I wash my tomatoes, make a small X in the skin and drop them in boiling water until the skin starts to split.  I remove them and let them cool.  I peel them and try to remove most the seeds without getting rid of all the liquid.  I put them in my large pyrex measuring bowl and measured about 7 cups before I started crushing the tomatoes, then I followed the recipe exactly.

**Had it tonight for dinner and there wasn't a whole wheat noodle left, yes you read right, whole wheat noodle....the sauce is that good! ;)

Brown Butter Sauce

Brown Butter Sauce

8 T Butter
1/2 t salt
1 1/2 t chopped fresh sage, rosemary or basil (I used Sage)
4 T heavy cream
1/2 C grated parmigiano-reggiano

In a small saucepan, melt 8 T butter and 1/2 t salt over med-low heat.  Add 1 teaspoon chopped fresh sage and cook, stirring often, unitl the butter begins to brown, about 5 minutes or less.  Stir in 4 T heavy cream and bring to a boil for  20 seconds or so to combine cream with butter.  Remove from heat.  Add 1/2 C grated parmigiano-reggiano when tossing with pasta.

**It is September, so the garden is abundant.  Spaghetti squash, yellow squash, zucchini, sage and tomatoes all from our garden.  This is garden heaven!
**This sauce is quite thin, flavorful and salty, so a little goes a long way.  I haven't ever tossed it into a pasta, I have always added the cheese to the sauce and then drizzled it over the plated pasta, or spaghetti squash.
**This great recipe came from my fantastic neice Stephanie who lives in Hawaii and taught a class on browned butter.  She is a master foodie! Thanks Steph!

Heather's Pioneer Mac & Cheese

Heather's Pioneer Mac & Cheese

6 C hot drained boiled macaroni (approx. 12 oz uncooked)
3 T butter
1 1/2 t slat
1/2 t pepper
3/4 lb shredded sharp cheddar (white Cabot is our favorite!)
3 eggs, beaten
4 C milk

Preheat oven to 350.  Butter a 9x13 baking dish.  Mix butter, salt and pepper in with noodles and place in pan.  Top with cheese.  Mix eggs and milk well.  Pour over cheese and noodles.  Bake at 350 for 40-50 minutes until golden.

**Original recipe uses Colby Jack instead of cheddar. Both are great....my kids like the cheddar.
**Such a fun mac and cheese, felt a little quiche-like and not near as greasy as others.  Everyone devoured it! And if it happens to be August and your garden is full of tomatoes, there couldn't be a better combo than tomatoes with mac and cheese. Serious, try it!  Thanks Heather!

Heather's "Retro" Spaghetti Pie

Heather's "Retro" Spaghetti Pie

8 oz. spaghetti, broken in 2 in. pieces
2 Tbsp. butter
1/3 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 egg, well beaten
1 1/2 lb. ground beef
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 16oz jar spaghetti sauce or 2 cups homemade
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. leaf oregano, crumbled
1/2 tsp. garlic salt
8 oz. cottage cheese
4 oz. shredded mozzarella

1. Cook spaghetti in boiling water, following label directions; drain. Place in 9x13 pan, or a 9 inch deep pie plate. Stir in butter, parmesan, salt, pepper, and egg until thoroughly combined. Spread mixture evenly in pan.
2. Sauté ground beef in oil in large skillet until meat is brown; drain excess fat. Stir in spaghetti sauce, sugar, oregano, and garlic salt.
3. Spread cottage cheese over spaghetti layer, top with meat mixture, then mozzarella.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40 min. Serves 8.

Vege or Meat Lasagna

Vegetable Lasagna

10 cooked lasagna noodles
6 Cups favorite marinara sauce
5 cups grated  mozzarella cheese
1 pkg chopped spinach thawed (the one in the box)
1 zucchini diced
6 mushrooms diced
6 artichokes diced (from a can)
1 garlic clove minced (or 1 tsp prepared minced garlic)
1 14oz container of ricotta cheese (I use low fat)
¼ teaspoon of nutmeg
1 C chopped onion
1 C shredded parmesan cheese

Cook noodles as directed. Rinse in cold water and let sit for a few minutes.  Cook onion, and garlic in sauté pan.  After onions are translucent, add spinach and cook until most of the water is evaporated. Turn off the heat and add ricotta cheese, stir until combined. Add nutmeg to the mixture. Mix well.
In a 9 x 13 pan, place a small amount of sauce on the bottom just to prevent noodles from sticking.  Place 5 noodles in bottom of pan, overlapping to fit.  Spread half of the spinach mixture on top of noodles. Top with half of zucchini, mushrooms and artichoke hearts. Sprinkle the vegetables with some salt.  Sprinkle half of mozzarella cheese on top of vege mixture.  Then pour and spread 3 cups of marinara sauce. Repeat noodle, spinach, vegetable, cheese and sauce layers.  Sprinkle parmesan cheese over sauce.  Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes or until golden and bubbly. Let sit for at least 5 minutes before serving.

Meat Lasagna
**To make meat lasagna, add 1 lb of ground beef into onion and garlic mixture, with a teaspoon of  Italian seasoning.  Don’t add nutmeg or spinach.  Cook until browned and most of the moisture is evaporated.  Add 6 (or more) cups of sauce to the beef mixture. When layering, put small amount of sauce before noodles, 5 noodles and then half of ricotta container and spread the best you can over noodles. I usually use my hands.  Top with mozzarella and then meat sauce. Repeat layers and then top with parmesan. Bake the same.

***For the picture above (to satisfy all tastes) I used a very large lasagna pan and did 1/3 vege and 2/3 meat.  It worked out perfect. I used about 16 noodles and increased all of my other ingredients.  Also, there are 100's of variations, different vegetables,  using italian sausage with the ground beef, etc. Mix it up and do what sounds good to you.

Our favorite marinara is Giada's Marinara, but a bottled or can sauce works great too!

Giada’s Marinara

Giada’s Marinara

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil           
2 small onions, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped             
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
2 carrots, peeled and finely chopped         
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper   
2 (32-ounce) cans crushed tomatoes or equivalent of fresh tomatoes par boiled, peeled & seeded
2 dried bay leaves

In a large pot, heat the oil over a medium-high flame. Add the onions and garlic and saute until the onions are translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the celery, carrots, and 1/2 teaspoon of each salt and pepper. Saute until all the vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes and bay leaves, and simmer uncovered over low heat until the sauce thickens, about 1 hour. Remove and discard the bay leaf. Season the sauce with more salt and pepper, to taste. I like to blend the sauce to a creamy texture.  Then return to pan to use on pasta.(The sauce can be made 1 day ahead. Cool, then cover and refrigerate. Re-warm over medium heat before using. Sauce also does very well frozen for a few months and just reheat in microwave or on stove top.)

** I make huge batches of this in the fall with my garden tomatoes and freeze it in single use tupperwares.  We affectionately call this "orange noodles," at our house, because the carrots make it a little more orange than red!