Grandma Dolly's Spaghetti Sauce

My Italian mother-in-law has been making this spaghetti sauce forever and it's always a treat when she cooks up a big pot.  She usually makes meatballs for her sauce, which are scrumptious, but I use ground beef.  It makes such a huge pot of sauce that I use the leftovers for lasagne, pizza, on breaded and fried chicken cutlets (gluten free breading for me, thanks), and anything else I can think of that needs a red sauce.  Make a note that this not a thick sauce, so if you want it thicker, add less water.  


2 28 oz. cans Tomato Puree (plus 2 cans water)
2 15 oz. cans Tomato Sauce (plus 2 cans water)

2 6 oz. cans of Tomato Paste
About 2 tsp. salt and 1 tsp. pepper
1 TBLS. Basil
1 TBLS. Parsley 

1 TBLS Sugar (My mother-in-law uses more)

1 TBLS Baking soda (My mother-in-law uses more)

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 pound of ground hamburger 

Olive oil
Parmesan Cheese (garnish)

Gluten-free spaghetti noodles

First, saute the garlic in a little olive oil. Add the beef to brown. Drain off the oil. Then add all the other ingredients except the baking soda to the pot. Bring to a good simmer, then turn the heat down and let it lightly simmer for 2 or 3 hours (or more). After a couple of hours add the baking soda.  Taste it at this point and see if it needs more seasoning and add more if needed. Sometimes I make this around 1:00 in the afternoon and it cooks slowly all day long, making the house smell heavenly.

People often think that making spaghetti sauce from "scratch" is difficult. It's almost as easy as opening a couple of ready-made jars, but tastes a hundred times better.  It's so simple! The addition of the sugar and the baking soda remove the tart tomato taste and turn this into a more mellow tasting sauce.

Garnish with freshly grated parmesan cheese.  Add some gluten-free rolls and a green salad to finish it off nicely.

Gluten Free Ebelskivers (Scandinavian Pancakes)

While searching for interesting gifts for people during the holidays, I came across this Cast Iron Aebliskiver Pan (that's how it's spelled at Amazon.com - made by Lodge Pro for $19.99). I then researched what one could make with it and found a recipe at Williams-Sonoma and another one in a cookbook titled, "The Cast Iron Skillet cookbook." So I sent away for both the pan and the cookbook, thinking it would be a great gift for someone who likes to cook. But the problem was, once it arrived, I couldn't bear to give it away. (The pan arrived completely seasoned and ready to cook in. A big plus!)




Now that I've made these delicious goodies, I'm thoroughly delighted I kept the pan. Maybe next year someone will be the the lucky recipient of one, though. :)

To make them, I used most of the ingredients from the cookbook, but also added the berries & Jam and technique from the Williams-Sonoma recipe. It called for regular flour, of course, but I substituted Gluten Free flour (the gluten free pantry all purpose flour).

EBELSKIVERS

1 1/2 cups Gluten Free Pantry all purpose gluten free flour (or your own)
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt

2 eggs, beaten
2 cups sour cream
1/2 cup milk
3 1/2 tsp. butter, divided

Fresh blueberries, rasberries, blackberries or a simple jar of jelly. (I used thawed frozen berries and it came out okay, as well.)

Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a large bowl. In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, sour cream and milk. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and beat by hand or with an electric mixer until smooth. (I did it by hand.)

Heat a cast iron ebelskiver pan over medium-low heat. Place 1/2 tsp butter in each indentation. Allow to melt, and then fill each cavity with 2 tablespoons batter. Add 2 or 3 berries or a dab of jelly and top with 1 tablespoon batter. Cook until light brown on the bottom, about 2 or 3 minutes Turn gently (either with a fork or 2 wooden skewers) and brown the other side. Transfer to a platter and dust with confectioners sugar. Makes about 25.

You can also just cook them without anything in the middle and spread the jam on when they're done. They can also be served with maple syrup.

Enjoy!

Tired of Smoothies? Try Energy Soup!

One of the things my teacher, Julia Woodman, is famous for (besides her master skills as a silversmith) is her Energy Soup. She whips it up and has it for lunch every day (truly, every day). I think it must be doing good things for her because she appears to have an abundance of energy and a zest for life.

I finally took the time yesterday to buy what was needed at Whole Foods. It's a wild concoction of ingredients that you simply can't imagine tasting good...but it DOES taste good!

If you don't have every single ingredient, it's okay. Just make sure you use a gluten-free soy sauce instead of the one listed below if you are gluten-free. Julia likes to add her leftover salad ingredients from the previous evening to her Energy Soup bowl before lunch, so I guess this is one of those recipes you can do whatever you want with, but the recipe below seems to have the just the right amounts of everything to balance the assortment of flavors and ingredients.  



Energy Soup

1 avocado
1 apple
1 medium Vidalia, or sweet onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 inch of ginger root (peeled)
1 three ounce container of Vonnie's sunflower sprouts
1 three ounce container of Vonnie's buckwheat lettuce
1 whole cucumber
1 peeled stack of broccoli
1 bunch of washed spinach OR 4 collard green leaves
1 large swiss chard leaf
2 tablespoons almond butter OR 2 tablespoons tahini
2 tablespoons sweet miso
1 tablespoon of grade B maple syrup
1 tablespoon of raw unfiltered apple cider vinegar
2 teaspoons Nama Shoyu organic unpasteurized soy sauce
Juice of 1 lemon
1 3/4 cups filtered water
Several sprigs parsley, a little dill weed.

Blend all ingredients in a food processor. Large leaves may be bunched together and cut across into 1 1/2 inch segments and pushed through the top of the food processor. I would suggest using the pulse command so it doesn't get too soupy. You want it to have a nice, somewhat chunky consistency.

Yields 4 generous servings. Freezes well. Will be okay in refrigerator for 2 days.