Spaghetti sauce is one of those dishes that is closely connected to memories of mom and family. I didn't inherit a spaghetti sauce recipe from Mom. I remember it being bland and rather watery. But, it was familiar and tasted good at the time.
I tried a couple of recipes after leaving home, but wasn't cooking too much until I met Bob. My second general cookbook I bought as an adult is the New McCall's Cookbook, published in the 70's. I adapted the lasagne meat sauce as my basic meat sauce after trying 3-4 different recipes. I always come back to it.
Now the girls are on their own and Linz makes this as her "mom's spaghetti sauce". That makes me feel really great.
I usually serve this on angel hair pasta. I've been cooking with Barilla Plus, a multi-grain pasta with 7 grams of fiber in a 100-gram serving. It has a mild, nutty taste that's not overpowering. They only have the basic shapes, but it's an easy way to get fiber into our diet.
SPAGHETTI WITH MEAT SAUCE
Makes 12 cups
2 onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 pound ground beef, 95% lean
1 pound ground turkey
2 28 oz. cans tomato puree, or Italian tomatoes, crushed and undrained
2 12 ounce cans tomato paste
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon dried basil
1 tablespoon oregano
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1/2 teaspoon pepper
Heat large stock pot over medium-high heat. Brown meats, breaking up with a spoon. When almost cooked, add onions, then garlic. Continue cooking until onions are softened. Pour off grease. If desired, remove meat mixture with slotted spoon and drain on paper toweling set over newspapers.
Return meat to pan. Add tomatoes. You can use whole canned tomatoes, just break them up with your hands as you add them to the pot.
Add remaining ingredients. Simmer for 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. Makes 12 cups.
Per Serving: 270 Calories; 5g Fat (19.4% calories from fat); 15g Protein; 28g Carbohydrate; 6g Dietary Fiber; 40mg Cholesterol; 1024mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 1 Lean Meat; 4 1/2 Vegetable; 0 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Spaghetti with Meat Sauce
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Clubhouse Sandwich
According to The Food Timeline, this sandwich was originated by accident. A man arrived home after his family and servants had already retired. Being hungry, he rummaged through the ice box and concocted a sandwich consisting of toast, mayonnaise, chicken, bacon, lettuce, and tomato. He spoke of the sandwich to friends at his club, and they made one then and there as an experiment. It was then referred to as the "club sandwich." It's name went out to other clubs, restaurants, and individuals. The first published recipe appeared in the Good Housekeeping Everyday Cook Book, Isabel Gordon Curtis [Phelps Publishing:New York] in 1903 (p. 224).
This is a great quick-fix dinner when I'm stumped about what to make. It's not diet food, even without the avocado. I use mustard instead of mayonnaise and have always used turkey instead of chicken. Regardless, it's a tasty meal. One sandwich can easily feed two people, or one hungry teenage boy.
CLUBHOUSE SANDWICH
Makes 1 large sandwich
3 slices bread, use good-quality sandwich bread, such as buttermilk or sourdough
3 ounces deli-style sliced fat-free turkey, or sliced roasted turkey breast
3 slices turkey bacon, cooked
1 small tomato, sliced
romaine lettuce leaf, or iceberg lettuce
1/2 avocado, sliced
1 tablespoon brown mustard, 1-2
Toast bread. Spread mustard on each slice.
Create 1st layer: Layer avocado, bacon, and turkey on one slice of bread.
Create 2nd layer: Layer tomato and lettuce on another slice. Place this layer on top of the first layer.
Top with third slice of bread, mustard-side down.
Slice into 4 triangles. Insert toothpick into each triangle to hold the sections together.
Per Serving: 583 Calories; 28g Fat (41.3% calories from fat); 32g Protein; 57g Carbohydrate; 6g Dietary Fiber; 77mg Cholesterol; 1922mg Sodium. Exchanges: 2 1/2 Grain(Starch); 3 Lean Meat; 1 Vegetable; 1/2 Fruit; 5 Fat.
