Mom's Spaghetti Sauce

My mom's sauce is my favorite!  And mine tastes just like hers.

We used to have spaghetti sauce at least once a week when I was a kid.  It reminds me of cold Saturday nights in the wintertime, when my entire family gathered together to eat dinner.  Those were good times.  We usually had leftover sauce once during the week too.

My mom always makes her famous meatballs in the sauce, and she adds links of sweet Italian sausage.  Even though Chris and I don't even like the sausage, I always put it in so the sauce will taste right!

Making sauce actually isn't that difficult.  You just have to be sure to stir it every 15-20 minutes so it doesn't burn.

Mom's Spaghetti Sauce

1 medium onion, pulverized (use a food processor - I use my Pampered Chef chopper)
1 tsp minced garlic
olive oil (enough to coat the bottom of the pot)
6 28-oz cans of crushed tomatoes (I use Red Pack)
Parmesan cheese
basil
parsley

one batch of Mom's Meatballs
4 links of sweet Italian sausage, cut in half (use hot sausage if you like that better)

Heat olive oil in a very large Dutch oven.  Sautee onion and garlic in olive oil for 20 minutes.  If the garlic or onion begins to brown, add a spoon or two of crushed tomatoes.  Continue to simmer for the full 20 minutes.

Add 6 cans of crushed tomatoes.  Add the equivalent of 1/2 can TOTAL of water by rinsing each can with a small stream of water.  You should be dumping in what looks like thin tomato juice from each can, not just water.  Sprinkle Parmesan cheese, basil and parsley over the top and mix in completely.  I would guess I use about 1 tsp of each spice and maybe 1/4 cup of the cheese.  Adjust to your taste.

Stir sauce often until entire pot heats up.  It might take about 20 minutes or so before the mixture heats through.  Once heated, turn it down to one notch above Lo.  Stir every 15-20 minutes for 2 hours.

Add raw meatballs and sausage.  Turn temperature up briefly, as the cold meat will cool down the sauce mixture.  Turn back down to one notch above Lo.  Stir VERY gently every 15-20 minutes for at least an hour.  I like to cook mine for 1 1/2 hours.

Serve over pasta of your choice!  Add a salad and fresh Italian bread or garlic bread for a complete meal.

This is what the sauce looks like before you add the meat.  The meatballs and sausage bring it right to the top of my pan!

Chicken a la King

This recipe is based on my mom's recipe, but I tweaked it a bit.  Hers is based on cream of celery soup.  This is real comfort food for me.  I remember asking for this dish for my birthday dinner when I was 8 or 9 years old!

I haven't made it in awhile, and last night I thought it might be better if I skipped the canned cream of chicken and made the base from the Chicken Pot Pie recipe instead.  Next time I might try that.  the canned soup seemed a bit on the salty side.

If yours is too thick, add more milk until it's the desired consistency.  I usually add milk when I'm reheating it, because it tends to thicken.

Kim's Chicken a la King

1 medium onion, sliced
2 carrots, cut in matchsticks
1 sweet pepper, sliced (yellow or red)
1-2 Tbsp butter
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 cup milk
3 cups diced cooked chicken
1/4 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp basil
1/4 to 1/2 tsp minced garlic
fresh ground pepper (to taste)
buttermilk biscuits (homemade or otherwise)

Cook onions, carrots, and peppers in 1-2 Tbsp butter over medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until just soft.  Add soup, milk and spices.  Add chicken, heat through.  Serve over biscuits.

Slow Simmering Beef Bourguignon

Boy am I glad I saw this recipe in the November 2012 issue of Taste of Home!  I've made Julia Child's version before, and I have to say, this is almost as good and WAY easier!  And with its long cooking time, it's perfect for working people.  It won't be overdone when you get home!

Slow Simmering Beef Bourguignon

3 lbs beef stew meat
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp pepper
3 Tbsp flour
1 1/2 cups beef broth
1 1/2 cups red wine, or additional beef broth, divided
3/4 lb fresh mushrooms, quartered
1 large sweet onion, chopped
2 medium carrots, sliced
1 thick sliced bacon strip, chopped (I used a few more than that!)
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 Tbsp Italian tomato paste (I always buy plain and add spices myself)
egg noodles

1.  Season beef with salt and pepper.  In a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray, brown beef in batches.  Remove with a slotted spoon to a 4- or 5-quart slow cooker.  Add flour.  Toss to coat.  Add broth and 1 cup of wine.

2.  In the same skillet, add the mushrooms, carrots, onion and bacon.  Cook and stir over medium heat until carrots are tender.  Add garlic, cook one minute longer.  Add remaining wine, stirring to loosen browned bits from pan.  Stir in tomato paste.  Transfer to slow cooker.

3.  Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours or until beef is tender.  Serve over hot noodles.

Chicken Riggies

If you're not from central New York, you probably have no idea what this recipe is!

Where I grew up, variations of this dish are a local specialty.  Everyone has a favorite recipe from a favorite restaurant.  It is essentially chicken, peppers, onions, and some kind of red sauce (usually vodka sauce) with rigatoni (hence the name "riggies").

I found this recipe online about ten years ago.  It was supposedly from a restaurant in Rome, NY.  Unfortunately, I just printed it and didn't write down the website or the name of the restaurant.  I made a few tweaks to the original recipe anyway.

Heat up leftovers in the oven with shredded mozzarella sprinkled on top!

I don't like my riggies hot.  If you do, kick it up with some red pepper flakes!

Chicken Riggies

1 pound chicken breast
1 red pepper, sliced
1 green pepper, sliced
1 mediun onion, sliced
8 oz container fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 tsp minced garlic
1/2 cup flour
1 Tbsp oregano
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp rosemary
pinch salt
1 tsp fresh ground pepper
olive oil (for sauteeing)
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
2 cups marinara or vodka sauce (I like Spicy Tomato Vodka Sauce, but I skip the pepperoni in it for this dish - I also like Bertoli's vodka sauces in a jar)
8 oz rigatoni

Heat olive oil over medium heat in a large frying pan.  Season flour with oregano, thyme, rosemary, salt, and pepper.  Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces and coat with seasoned flour.  Brown chicken in hot oil.  Remove chicken from pan and set aside.

Add more oil to pan.  Saute peppers, onions, and mushrooms with garlic until wilted.  Return chicken to pan.  Add chicken broth and scrape down any browned bits.  Simmer briefly.  Add vodka sauce.  Simmer for 30 minutes. 

Cook rigatoni according to package directions.  Add to sauce mixture and serve immediately.

Baked Chicken Cordon Bleu

Some of my most favorite recipes have come from Woman's Day.  And this is no exception.

Why bother stuffing and rolling the chicken, when you can make chicken cordon bleu in a baking dish and skip all the hassle?

The flavor of this dish was great, but I would make a few changes next time. 

First, I like a bit more sauce in a dish like this.  I would double the wine, sour cream, and Dijon, but leave the onions the same.  Second, I used thin cut chicken breasts, and some of the smaller pieces were overcooked.  This isn't the recipe's fault.  It's my fault, and my fear of undercooked chicken!  I think I'll try buying regular chicken breasts and maybe pounding them a little, but not too thin.  Then I'd add 5-10 minutes to the baking time.  In theory, they will be cooking in more of that yummy sauce, which might help them to stay more moist.

It was a delicious recipe that I will definitely make again!

Click here for the link to the original recipe.

Baked Chicken Cordon Bleu

2 tablespoon(s) olive oil

8 small (about 1 1/2 pounds total) chicken cutlets

Kosher salt

Pepper

1 large onion, sliced

1/2 cup(s) dry white wine

1/4 cup(s) low-fat sour cream

1 tablespoon(s) Dijon mustard

4 ounce(s) Swiss cheese, thinly sliced

4 ounce(s) deli ham, thinly sliced

6 sprig(s) (small) fresh thyme

Directions

Heat oven to 425 degrees F. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season the chicken with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Working in two batches, cook the chicken until browned and cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes per side, adding more oil to the skillet if needed.

Wipe out the skillet. Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, season with 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper, and cook, covered, stirring occasionally until tender, 6 to 8 minutes. Stir in the wine and simmer until slightly reduced, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat and stir in the sour cream and mustard until blended.

Spoon half the sauce on the bottom of a shallow 2-quart baking dish. Arrange the chicken, cheese, and ham, overlapping, on top. Spoon the rest of the sauce over and around the chicken and sprinkle with the thyme. Bake until cheese is melted and chicken is heated through, 8 to 10 minutes.