Text 2009, 130 rader
Skriven 2008-02-08 01:12:48 av Janis Kracht (1:261/38)
   Kommentar till text 1954 av Ruth Haffly (1:396/45.28)
Ärende: Grass-Fed beef
======================
Hi Ruth!

>> > I do sautee the vegetables a bit but it does't make any difference

>> You can try a little tomato paste I'd try it a little at a time ..
>> maybe 1 tablespoon? seems a alot -  but I wouldn't over do it.  I use

> I have added that as well. The sauce stays together nicely until it's
> plated, then the top stays chunky but there's a line of watery stuff
> coming out of the bottom.

Sounds like your tomatoes are refusing to cooperate! :)

>> whole Italian peeled tomatoes, no paste for cacciatore normally.. and
>> cut them up as they go in the pot. That way you get more of a chunky

> I'll cut everything up ahead of it going into the pot but it's
> definately not uniform pieces. The tomatoes are (usually) skinned and
> often de seeded as well; most of the time I use Roma tomatoes.

They are so good..

>> texture from the various veggies..  I know some people like to buy
>> crushed tomatoes, but there's something about them that I just don't

> My MIL uses them; I've used them a couple of times but generally go for
> the diced. I noticed the tin of diced tomatoes I put into today's sauce
> (just paste, water, tomatoes and herbs) was not a very uniform dice.

Ah.. ok, I buy whole peeled italian tomatoes.. I break them up with a fork,
smash them with my hand or chop them with a knife or put them in the blender
for about 2 seconds.. Depending on the sauce I'm making (g).   For caccitore,
I'd just break them up with a fork pretty much.. for the meat sauces, I just
dump the whole can, juice and all in the blender jar and zap it on high speed
(covered (g)) for 2 seconds.

>> as to what type of macaroini you use with that type of > sauce. Thinner
>> Linguine works best with cacciatore.

>> > I've used all kinds of pasta from spirals to shells to penne to
>> > spaghetti, always making sure it is well drained.  Oh well, the
>> taste is > there and that's the important factor.

>> It is.  And it could be that you're just not crazy about those

> I like them very much; am I just expecting something that's not supposed
> to happen?  I'd rather have a sauce of fresh tomatoes, mushrooms,
> onions, peppers and garlic (plus herbs & spices) than marinara.

If you're using fresh tomatoes, it's hard to judge what the problem is really..
It could be the tomatoes aren't cooking down long enough perhaps? The only time
I really ever use fresh tomatoes is in the summer, from my garden (g). When I
make cacciatore, I don't remember it separating to the degree you indicate ..
I've got a bird in the freezer now, maybe I'll make it tomorrow and examine it
closely :)

>> Hunter's chicken kind of recipes.. I try to buy Italian green peppers
>> when they're around, but if not, I use bell peppers and that changes
>> the texture as well.

> OK, I've never heard of Italian green peppers. I generally use bells, in
> whatever color we happen to have on hand.  I do use other green peppers
> in Mexican cooking (G) but I don't think they'd go over with folks in
> Italian cooking.

Italian green peppers are funny shaped :)  Rather than the bell shape you're
used to, they almost look like a Top (the children's toy (g))... Wide at one
end, kind of squiggly middle and then the end.. usually kind of curly.. Ok..
better description haha.. longer than a bell pepper, almost cone shaped.. a
little curly.. sort of like a cornucopia? Anyway, their meat is thinner..and
they cook down _a lot_.

>> > My mom has always kept her cook books in a drawer in the kitchen.
>> Loose > recipes may get tucked into one of the cook books;

>> Ah.. my mom's cookbook overflowed <grin>

> I've still got the loose ones my grandmother tucked into her Betty
> Crocker Picture Cookbook she bought in 1950.  It's a first edition; she
> got one for each of her daughters that got married that year and one for

That's one for collectors, no doubt :)

> herself. I inherited it when she passed away the year before Steve and I
> got married--it's good for a lot but not all basics.

Sure, know what you mean. I generally stayed away from Betty's cookbooks.  I'd
read one of them once, and wasn't impressed that much.   Now, My mom bought her
first Joy Of Cooking (by Irma S. Rombauer (original author), Marion Rombauer
Becker (her daughter) and later Ethan Becker (Marion's son) when one of her
patients told her that she should pick one up (this was Irma's version, the
first one) because "it would most certainly be the only cookbook she would ever
need" ... and it originally did cover every single thing you ever imagine
making, etc.. it even covered canning, smoking, duxelles, flours, grains,
seriously.. it was incredible to read.  (I guess I was a very bored child
(laugh).

The funny thing about that is, for two generations, the Joy of Cooking stayed
about the same, many new recipes of course, but the basic format (which is
different from most cookbooks) stayed the same.. then, Son Ethan comes by and
inherits the cookbook.. OUCH (laugh)... He destroyed it :) :)  His version is
interesting to see as a change, but flopped sales-wise and I can understand
why.. I bought it just to see the changes..he removed some of the most useful
sections.. The alarm he caused finally resulted in a new edition released this
year that included everything he'd removed PLUS more (grin).

Anyway, if you don't have one, see if you can dig up either a copyright
1985-ish Joy of Cooking, or this years' latest version. It's funny, because
every single time I think I've found a "new" recipe, it's really something that
was in the Joy.. :)

>> > I'll have to go thru > them all to try & find it.  But, with the
>> size drawer > she has, it won't > be an all afternoon project.

>> Understand :)

> Since she's not the gourmet cook, she doesn't have a lot of cook books.
> (G) Three years ago, I gave her a couple--one that our church put
> together for its 30th anniversary and one our battalion did, collecting
> recipes from relatives of soldiers for inclusion also.

That's really neat..One of my favorites for a long time was one that our church
had put together after all the great potluck suppers :)  Unfortunately, that
one was lost with all the rest when we moved to Kentucky :(

Take care,
Janis

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