Giada's Marinara Sauce

Picture from Mel's Kitchen Cafe

I've long been a huge fan of Giada De Laurentiis. Her recipes are classic, delicious and usually pretty healthy too. Her marinara sauce is no exception. It turns out smooth, delicious, and thanks to Melanie's fabulous tip, of adding a couple tablespoons of butter, almost silky tasting. I love the adaptability of this recipe as well. The options are endless. Cook up some ground beef or turkey sausage, grilled chicken, or sauteed squash and zucchini for toppings.  Or eat as is for a healthy, vegetarian meal.  It's  delicious in lasagna, manicotti, or as a dip. My husband and I both agreed this is THE marinara sauce we'll be using from now on. My kids love it because there's no CHUNKS and I love it because they're eating their veggies without even knowing it!

Giada's Marinara Sauce
Giada De Laurentiis & Mel's Kitchen Cafe

*Makes about 7 cups of sauce

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 stalk celery, chopped

1 carrot, chopped

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 (28-ounce each) cans crushed tomatoes

1/2 tablespoon dried basil

1/2 tablespoon dried oregano

2 dried bay leaves

1 tablespoon brown sugar

2 tablespoons butter (optional but delicious)

In a large pot, heat the oil over medium heat until hot and rippling. Add the onion and garlic and saute, stirring very frequently, until the onion is soft and translucent, about 3-4 minutes. Add the celery and carrots and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, until all the vegetables are slightly tender, about 5 minutes. Add the crushed tomatoes, basil, oregano and bay leaves and simmer, covered, on low heat for 1 hour, stirring occasionally to make sure the sauce isn’t sticking to the bottom of the pot, until slightly thickened and the vegetables are completely tender. Stir in the brown sugar. Taste the sauce. Add salt and pepper as needed. Add the butter and stir to combine if you want to round out the flavors and add a dimension of silkiness.

Remove the bay leaves. In a blender or food processor, blend the sauce (in several batches, if necessary) until it is smooth. The sauce can be frozen once it is cooled completely in freezer-safe ziploc bags for up to 6 months.

Posted by: Sallie

Apple-Orange Cranberry Sauce

Quite awhile ago my family was visiting and we decided to roast a turkey for dinner. Of course we had all the fixings like potatoes, gravy, rolls, etc. and my sister said "we've gotta have cranberry sauce." Up until then I had polity passed this by every Thanksgiving and Christmas, thinking how can people be eating that stuff? I love cranberries, but it just never looked too appealing. But Williams Sonoma has never steered me wrong and I decided I just had to have a taste of the sauce my sister made. One bite and I was hooked! I think I ate turkey sandwiches on rolls with cranberry sauce the whole next week for lunch. It's got kind of a sweet/sour thing going on. I love the combination of all the different flavors-- the tart cranberries and apples, the brightness from the orange rind and last but not least the great spices of cinnamon and cloves. This is a tried and true recipe that will be appearing on my holiday table from now on!

Apple-Orange Cranberry Sauce

Williams Sonoma

Ingredients:
1/2 orange
2 cups water
1 tart apple, such as Granny Smith, pippin or McIntosh
3 cups fresh cranberries
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cloves

Directions:
Squeeze the juice from the orange and set the juice aside. Remove and discard the membrane from inside the orange rind and cut the rind into small dice. In a small saucepan over high heat, combine the rind and the water and bring to a boil. Cook for 10 minutes, then drain and set aside. Peel, core and quarter the apple. Cut into 1/2-inch dice and place in a saucepan. Sort the cranberries, discarding any soft ones. Add to the apples along with the orange juice, orange rind, sugar, cinnamon and cloves. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce the heat to low and cover the pan partially. Simmer gently, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens, the apple is tender and the cranberries have burst, 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer the cranberry sauce to a heatproof bowl and let cool for 1 hour before serving. Or cover and refrigerate; bring to room temperature before serving. Transfer the cranberry sauce to a sauce boat and pass at the table.
Makes 3 1/2 to 4 cups.

Posted by: Sallie & Julia

Salad- Cafe Rio Style

I know there are a million copy cat recipes out there for Cafe Rio Salads. I think I've tried them all. This is one of my favorites because it is so easy to prepare. The meat cooks in the crock pot and the rice and beans are all in one mix. The meat is sweet and spicy and it makes for a great combination with the crisp lettuce, cool dressing and crunchy tortilla strips. They also make delicious leftovers for burritos, tacos or nachos.

I know we're in the minority here but my husband and I prefer the chicken salads so sometimes I grill up some chicken instead using this recipe for Garlic Lemon Chicken . Either way, it's a delicious way to enjoy the taste of take out at home.

Cafe Rio Pork

Ruth Miller

1 boneless pork roast (I usually get a 3 lb roast)

1 pkg. Mc Cormick Grill Mates Southwest Marinade

1 1/2 c. water

1/2 c. vinegar

2 Tbsp. oil

1/4 -3/4 c. brown sugar (I use 1/2 c.)

Put roast in crock pot. Combine remaining ingredients and pour over roast. Cook on low for 4-6 hours (depending on your crock pot). After meat is cooked shred and put back in marinade.

To make the salad you also will need:

1 package Zatarain's New Orleans style Black Beans & Rice, prepared according to package directions.

Romaine Lettuce, chopped

Large Flour tortillas (I usually get the uncooked ones from Costco)
Fried tortilla corn strips

Cheddar Cheese

Dressing

Creamy Tomatillo Cilantro Dressing

from Prudence Pennywise

1/2 cup mayonnaise or whole milk yogurt

2/3 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup tomatillo salsa, such as Herdez

1 fat clove garlic, minced2 teaspoons sugar

juice of one lime

1/2 cup packed cilantro leaves and tender stems

Process all ingredients in the blender until smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Refrigerate until thickened, about 1 hour

Cobb Salad

I love when summer rolls around and having a nice hearty salad for dinner. You can't go wrong with a cobb salad, it has everything in it! This recipe also includes the dressing, which is very yummy. This recipe says it serves 4-6, but it could easily serve 8-10 people.

Cobb Sadad
adapted from Williams Sonoma

Salad Ingredients:
3 hard-cooked eggs, peeled
8 bacon slices, cooked
1 head romaine lettuce, leaves separated and torn into bite-size pieces
2 Tbs. minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 Tbs. minced fresh chives, plus several longer chive lengths for garnish
2 cups chopped watercress (tough stems removed)
4 cups diced cooked turkey or chicken*
2 avocados, pitted, peeled and diced
2 tomatoes, chopped
1/4 lb. Blue Cheese, crumbles

Dressing Ingredients
1 oz. Blue cheese, crumbled
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp. Dijon mustard
1 garlic clove, crushed and then minced
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Directions:
Cut the hard-cooked eggs into 1/2-inch dice. Set aside. Crumble bacon and set aside. Toss the lettuce with the watercress. Make a bed of lettuce mix on a platter or shallow bowl. Mix together the parsley and minced chives. Arrange the eggs, bacon, mixed minced herbs, chicken, avocados, tomatoes and the 1/4 lb. cheese in a neat pattern atop the lettuce, in rows or in a checkerboard pattern, covering the lettuce almost completely.

In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, garlic, salt and pepper. Using a fork, mash in the remaining 1 oz. cheese to make a paste. While whisking, slowly drizzle in the olive oil to form a thick dressing. Pour a little of the dressing over the salad and garnish with chive lengths. Serve immediately. Pass the remaining dressing at the table.

Serves 4 to 6.

*I used chicken breast, seasoned with salt and pepper and cooked on my George Foreman Grill.

Posted By: Julia

Homemade Ranch Dressing

I thought I had posted this with the pizza post but overlooked it or just can't find it on here. It is really yummy. It is supposed to be comparable to Outback's Ranch Dressing.


Homemade Ranch
from Holly J

1 tsp Hidden Valley Buttermilk recipe ranch Salad Dressing Mix
1 C Helman's Mayonnaise
1/2 C Buttermilk
1/4 tsp coarse grind Black Pepper
1/8 tsp Paprika
1/8 tsp Garlic Powder
1/8 tsp Cayenne Pepper

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl. Mix well. Cover bowl and chill for at least 30 minutes before serving.

I thought it was a little too spicy for the kids so I doubled the recipe but just used the same amount of cayenne pepper.