Text 2853, 149 rader
Skriven 2008-02-20 18:00:26 av Janis Kracht (1:261/38)
   Kommentar till text 2825 av Ruth Haffly (1:396/45.28)
Ärende: sauce
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Hi Ruth!

>> > Part of the fun of moving around with the military. We do a lot of
>> > eating out while in transition, some places better than others. (G)

>> A good cross section of places I imagine :)

> Very much so--anything from chain fast food to chain sit down to hole in
> the wall (our favorite Korean place in HI) but nothing bank breaking.

Always good (g).  We certainly took advantage of any place interesting in
Louisville, and there were a huge number of those type restaurants there. Even
some of their fast-food places were "original".. There was one place that only
served "fast" (in terms of time to pick-up) rib-eye steak sandwiches.. boy I
forget the name now, but it was great :)

>> > I usually don't add any seasonings but just got to wondering what a
>> > sprinkle of basil and oregano would do. (G)

>> One of the recipes I've seen for sausage and peppers (think it was an
>> early version of the JOC) used a pinch of oregano I think.. and def.
>> garlic :)

> OK, I'll think about giving it a try.  Meanwhile, I've got another pot
> of sauce on the stove.  This one has a 29 oz can of tomatoes quickly
> chopped in the blender, a 14.5 oz can of diced tomaotes, 2 8oz cans of
> tomato sauce, a 6 oz can of paste and a bit of left over sauce from last
> time.  Also, a bit of water, a couple of coarsly chopped bell peppers (a
> red and a green), a medium onion coarsly chopped, about 6 cloves of
> roasted garlic, chopped and the usual herbs & spices. And, 3 links of
> mild turkey Italian sausage, sliced. I lightly sauteed the pepper, onion
> and garlic in a bit of olive oil before adding everything else.  Just
> went down to give it a stir; it's thickening nicely and smells heavenly.
> It's been on for a couple of hours, probably will cook a couple more
> before we have supper.

Sounds good.  Should make a great sauce I would think... and quite a good
amount of it :) :)

>> has > to use anything lese, it literally is like cardboard.  OTOH, now
>> I use > almost anything but lard and get good results. If you're
>> buying half a > pig, you should get the lard from that half.  The beef
>> should give you > tallow for candle making. (G)

>> Yep, that's true.  I use coconut oil (it's very solid, kind of like
>> Crisco) when I know my daughter and her family are going to eat pies..
>> Eoin is allergic to too many ingredients otherwise.. and they're
>> vegetarians so I don't think that lard would work for them (bg).

> No, the lard won't work there.  We have some coconut oil but I've not
> used it for pie crusts. I don't like coconut but Steve does and he'll

My daughter says she can taste the coconut (she also doesn't like it) but I can
barely taste it in pie crusts... :)

> use the oil instead of margerine sometimes. I've got a vegetarian
> shortening on the shelf that I've used for cookies but not (yet) for pie
> crusts.  I'll have to check the name, see what's in it and let you know.
> Maybe it's something Eoin can tolerate.

There's one that he can tolerate, I think it's daystar or something like that..
I have it written down somewhere but usually I recognize it by it's location in
the store and packaging (g).

>>> ===Calamari Insalata (Squid Salad)===
>>> 5 pounds calamari

>> > Is this one you make? I've only had calamari in the fried form; the
>> way > probably most everybody eats it. (G)

>> Yes, that's a cold salad.. it's really good.  Have you had calamari
>> stuffed, and simmered in Tomato sauce? That's even better :) Big
>> family favorite.

> I've never had it but it does sound good. What do you stuff it with?

It's a bread-crumb stuffing .. Here's the recipe:

===Stuffed Calamari in Tomato Sauce===

This recipe, a favorite on Christmas Eve, starts out with a simple Marinara
Sauce. The stuffed Squid tubes are then added and simmered slowly resulting in
melt-in-your-mouth tenderness.

For the sauce:

            1 large onion, chopped
            2 cloves garlic, minced
            1/3 cup olive oil
            2 large cans (2-pounds 3-ounces) Italian tomatoes
            1 6-oz can Tomato paste [optional if you like a thicker sauce]
            salt and pepper to taste
            1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
            1 teaspoon dry Basil
            1/4 cup dry white wine

Put the tomatoes in a blender for about 2-3 seconds to chop them. Heat the
olive oil in a large saucepan. Saute onion and garlic until yellow and tender.
Add tomatoes, salt and pepper to taste, and basil. Add the tomato paste if you
want a thicker sauce.  Simmer for 25 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the wine
and simmer for 10-20 minutes more. Keep the sauce warm until the stuffed
Calamari are ready.

Prepare the stuffed calamari:

        3 lbs calamari with heads and tenacles attached
        1 1/2 Cups bread crumbs
        2 cloves garlic, minced
        3-4 Tablespoons Lucatelli Romano Cheese
        2 Tbsp. fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley, minced
        1 egg, beaten
        Olive oil

Clean the squid: Remove and discard the transparent spine by running a finger
along the inside of the mantle, holding it by the tip or by the base of the
mantle. Grasp the head and pull it from the body and most of the guts of the
squid will come out. You can inspect the guts to find the small almost-black
ink sac and toss this into your tomato sauce, breaking it with a spoon or fork
as it goes in. There is incredible flavor in that sac.

Remove the purple film on the surface of the squid under cold running water
until only the white long tubes remain. You can leave the purple film on the
tenacles. Cut off the tentacles and reserve them, putting half of them in the
sauce. Make sure to remove the beak, a sharp toothlike object located at the
top of the tenacles. Reserve the small wings on the ends of the squid for Fried
Calamari.

Chop the tenacles fine. Mix the bread crumbs, garlic, parsley, cheese, salt,
and pepper. Add the chopped tenacles to the bread crumb mixture. Mix the egg in
bread crumb mixture. Mix in about a Tablespoon of Olive oil. Fill the squid
loosely and only about 2/3 full with the bread crumb mixture. Close each squid
with a toothpick. Place the stuffed squid in the pot of tomato sauce and simmer
for 1 1/2 hours stirring gently and frequently.

Tips:
Don't overfill the squid tubes, or they will split and break up in the sauce.
Don't boil the sauce, keep it on very low heat to cook the squid gently. Stir
carefully so you don't break up the stuffed tubes. Alton turned me on to a
great way to do this, without using toothpicks to close the tubes.. just turn
the tubes inside out, and fill them, and then they will "auto-close".  It
works, I've done it several times (my grandson told me about that show of
Alton's (bg)).
===========================================================================

Take care,
Janis

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