Black Bean Sauce for Pasta

 

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 small onion diced

2 or 3 good sized garlic cloves diced

1 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes (I use Kirkland)

1 15 oz can black beans (also from Costco)

1 teaspoon salt

1 table spoon dried basil

ground black pepper as needed

A couple dashes of Tabasco

Instructions

Dice onion and garlic and saute' in olive oil in a sauce pan

Add the entire contents of the can of black beans into the sauce pan (do not rinse the beans)

Add the can of diced tomatoes and bring to a simmer

Add salt, basil, pepper and tabasco

Simmer the sauce for 20 to 30 minutes.

Serve over pasta.  

Optional step: After the pasta has been drained, stir in a quarter of the sauce and cook on low for a minute or two as you mix thoroughly to coat the pasta with sauce. Serve with additional sauce on the pasta.

Thanksgiving Dinner

This is not really compete but I'm posting anyway.  It covers what we did this past Thanksgiving

(revised Jan 26, 2021)

Turkey

Ingredients:

14 lb Turkey

Stuffing (see below)

Cooking bag

Flour

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350F

Rinse turkey thoroughly and dry with paper towel. 

Remove and rinse giblets and set aside giblets.

Stuff turkey and place in cooking bag along with giblets and 2 table spoons flours.

Insert digital thermometer in the stuffing prior to sealing the bag.

Poke several holes in the bag with a fork. 

Start roasting the turkey at 350F for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 325 F

Roast until the turkey is 180 F, or the stuffing is 165 F (which ever happens last.). Assume about 3 1/2 hours for a stuffed 14 pound turkey.  (Note: the 18 pound  turkey I cooked several weeks later was also done in 3 1/2 hours.  What can I say.)

Stuffing

Ingredients:

8 cups dried white bread cut into cubes

2 cups Mushrooms sliced

2 teaspoons Tarragon

Heaping cup celery

Heaping half cup onion

1 Egg

7 tables spoons butter

1/2 table spoon salt 

3 table spoons milk

Instructions

Dice onions and celery keeping them separate.

Place dried bread cups in a large bowl and mix with tarragon salt and pepper.

Sauté onions and mushroom until soft and reduced, add celery and continue to sauté briefly

Mix sautéd vegetables with bread by hand. 

Beat egg with milk and add to the bread.

Mix thoroughly by hand.

Place in cavity of turkey.

Remaining stuffing can be baked separately in a covered greased casserole dish.  Bake at 325F for 60 minutes or until 165F.

Mix the two batches of stuffing (The portion from the turkey will be very moist.  The portion cooked separately will be relatively dry.  Mist together they are just right) 

Cranberry Sauce

Several versions used.  See earlier post for a unique version.  Canned cranberry sauce is perfectly OK as well.

Green Bean Casserole

Ingredients:

2 cans of cut green beans

1 can of Campbell's cream of mushroom soup.

1 1/3 cups French's fried onions

Directions:

Follow directions on French's Fried Onions can

Sweet Potatoes (Draft)

can of sweet potatoes 

brown sugar

butter

Mashed Potatoes (Draft)

Peal cut into quarters and simmer until soft (usually about 50 minutes)

Mash with butter and cream as prefered.

Gravy (Draft)

Ingredients:

Turkey drippings

Water from boiled potatoes

Corn starch or flour

Instructions:

Draft

Pasta alla Vecchia

 

We had something like this at a bed and breakfast in Liguria some years back.  The recipe makes a main course for two people.  

Ingredients

250 grams spaghetti pasta

1+ tablespoon olive oil

Ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon olive pate'

8 oz cherry or grape tomatoes

1/4 cup ricotta cheese

Directions

Slice tomatoes in halves (if acidic, add a bit of sugar and mix with tomatoes)

Make pasta per package directions 

Drain pasta leaving a bit of pasta water and reserve 1 table spoon of pasta water.

Add olive oil and toss until lightly coated

Add olive pate' and mix well.

Mix reserved pasta water with ricotta then add to the spaghetti and mix well.

Add ground pepper and salt.

Serve.

Another Stir Fry Sauce

 I wanted something dark brown and a little thicker.  Thick is easy.  Just add corn starch.

Ingredients

8oz beef broth or bullion 

1/8th cup fish sauce

1/8th cup soy sauce

1/4 cup Worcestershire  sauce

1/8 cup sesame oil 

1 teaspoon rice vinegar

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Ground black pepper as needed

(A little brown sugar would have been a good idea.  I add that net me.  Maybe a teaspoon.)

Corn starch as needed

3 cloves garlic diced

Any vegetables and/or meat you want (this is a good way of getting rid of odd amounts in the fridge.  Just make sure everything is still in good condition.)

Instructions

Add a couple table spoons of oil to a wok and add the diced garlic.  Bring up to temperature and brown the garlic slightly.  Then add your other vegetables.  

While the vegetables are frying.  

Add red pepper flakes.

Add ground pepper to your taste.

Mix all the liquid ingredients above into a large measuring cup and stir well. When the vegitables are approaching the desired texture, stir in the liquid sauce and allow it to come up to temperature.

Then added corn starch a bit at a time until the sauce has thickened slightly (a bit viscous but not a paste).

I generally fry meat separately and add it to wok at the end.

Serve over rice or scrambled eggs. 

Plum Sauce

Plume Sauce

For use as a glaze for pork or as a sauce for stir-fry.

Ingredients

About 10 plums (prune plums or similar)

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Instructions:

Pit and cut up plums

Simmer plums in a sauce pan with a splash of water.

Once the plums are starting to cook down, stir in sugar, salt and cayenne pepper.

Continue to simmer on low until the sauce has the desired constancy. 

Let cool and refrigerate until needed.

Fall Beef, Carrots and Tarragon

 

Came up with this on a very cold, wet, and extremely windy Nov 15, 2020.  Queen Bee said it was one of my best.

1 lb Beef stew meat

1 to 2 table spoons vegetable oil

1 Large onion

4 to 5 Carrots

3 Celery stalks

1 Teaspoon Provence Herbs

1/2 Teaspoon Tarragon

Salt

Pepper

1 Cup hot water with Beef bouillon(or Better tThan Bouillon) 

1/2 to 1 cup Sherry

1/2 cup Sour Cream

Instructions:

In an oven safe skillet...

- Slice and brown onion in oil

- While onions are browning, clean and slice carrots and celery into 1/4 inch pieces.

- Remove onions from skillet and add beef.  Brown lightly.

- Add onions, carrot, and celery.  Continue to sauté for about 5 minutes. 

- Add Provence Herbs and Tarragon.  Add a paper and salt as desired.  

- Add bouillon, cover and place in oven at 350 F.

- Bake for about 2 hours, adding Sherry as needed to maintain liquid. (Check and stir at 20 minute intervals)

- After 2 hours, remove from oven and place on range top.  Let cool about 5 minutes, than stir in sour cream.  Turn on burner to low for a few minutes while continuing to stir the sour cream into the mixture.

Serve over mashed potatoes or noodles.

Herb Chicken Thighs

Ingredients

1 table spoon oil
2 table spoons butter
4 chicken thighs (bone in and skin on)
1 table spoon Provence herbs
Salt
Pepper
1 medium onion diced
4 cloves garlic sliced
2 table spoons flour
1/4 cup sour cream

Instructions

Heat oil and butter in a frying pan (I use a teflon pan for this one)

Add chicken skin side down and fry until brown

Flip thighs skin side up, sprinkle with Provence herb, salt and pepper

Add garlic and diced onion

Turn down to a simmer and cover for 90 minutes, the simmering chicken will generate a significant amount of juice.

Mix flour and water to make a thickening paste.

Remove the chicken and set aside.

Stir in the flour and water mixture a bit at a time to thicken the juice into a gravy.

Stir in sour cream until well mixed.

Serve.  The gravy can be used with rice, potatoes, bread, etc...

Queen Bee really liked it.