The rediscovered joy of cooking

Talk about your new shoes, new car, or UFO's!
billryan
Video Poker Master
Posts: 4421
Joined: Thu Jan 15, 2009 1:20 pm

Re: The rediscovered joy of cooking

Post by billryan »

I bought an Emeril's Pasta Maker a few weeks ago and it finally arrived. I just made my first batch of Lasagna noodles. After they sit for a while, they can go right in the oven.
Years ago, I had a roommate who would make his pasta from scratch and I liked it much more than boxed stuff. He had worked in a small pizza place where the owner made his own sauces so all he knew about sauce was how to make the basics.
After some experimenting, I've come to use Pomi products to start and make sauces.
While I like some jarred sauces better than anything I've made yet, the sodium difference is insane.

olds442jetaway
Video Poker Master
Posts: 9262
Joined: Tue Aug 21, 2007 9:08 pm

Post by olds442jetaway »

We like and have used Prego traditional sauce for years. I guess the downside is it has 480 mg of sodium per 1/2 cup and 9 g of sugar. I would be interested to see what the difference in sodium is on sauce made from scratch. I still love hommade sauces, but in this hectic world, there isn’t always time to make them. My best friend and her family are from Sicily. She always starts by searing a piece of pork which goes into the sauce. The sauce is to die for. What I only learned recently from her is that the tart sauces are tart because the tomatoes aren’t cooked all the way down. Her sauce is smooth with no tart taste. I happen to like them all however. Sometimes I even put red sauce on broccoli. By the way, her meatballs are to die for. Recipe passed down for generations. Good luck with the pasta maker. I don’t have the patience or time right now to make it.

billryan
Video Poker Master
Posts: 4421
Joined: Thu Jan 15, 2009 1:20 pm

Post by billryan »

It's an automatic pasta maker so all I do is pour in the flour, slowly empty the two cups of liquid and hit the start button. Ten-fifteen minutes later, the pasta starts to come out and you cut it every few inches.

Home-made sauces can be kept under 100mg of sodium with a little effort.
A lot of recipes for homemade sauces no longer call for you to cook the sauces for hours.
Pomi sells basic sauce stocks that you just add some spices and meat if you want that takes about as long as the water to boil the pasta does.

billryan
Video Poker Master
Posts: 4421
Joined: Thu Jan 15, 2009 1:20 pm

Post by billryan »

Nothing beats homemade manicotti for breakfast.

olds442jetaway
Video Poker Master
Posts: 9262
Joined: Tue Aug 21, 2007 9:08 pm

Post by olds442jetaway »

Let’s see if we can get this thread going again. I actually enjoy it. Grilling season is in full swing. Don’t forget to coat your boneless and skinless chicken breasts with a mixture of Italian dressing and mayo before placing on the grill. You can marinate for a few hours first if you desire. The result will be great with a light and delicious golden brown coating. I like to serve this time of the year with a potato and egg salad, slaw, and pickled beets or cooked fresh spinach. A few chunks of fresh pineapple or a pineapple ring goes great with the chicken as well. I usually do these with the top of the grill down. So good

billryan
Video Poker Master
Posts: 4421
Joined: Thu Jan 15, 2009 1:20 pm

Post by billryan »

Tried an unusual recipe earlier in the week and was pretty pleased with it. I need to refine the spices a but not too much.

I cooked fresh spaghetti in boiling water while I made 12 meatballs and browned them in a skillet. When they were done, I removed them and poured half the spaghetti into the skillet. Put the meatballs on top of the pasta, added some sauce, and then placed the remaining pasta on top. Added a little sauce and a bunch of parmesan cheese.
Put the skillet in the oven at 350 degrees and cooked for just over 12 minutes.
Took it out and let it sit for a few minutes. The pasta on the top and bottom had hardened and stuck together so I was able to cut out a wedge and eat it like a sandwich.
Now all I have to do is figure out how to carmelize the spaghetti a bit.

I love my pasta maker. I make pasta once or twice a week. Cleaning the pasta maker sux but it is the price you pay for fresher, healthier food.

billryan
Video Poker Master
Posts: 4421
Joined: Thu Jan 15, 2009 1:20 pm

Post by billryan »

I recently discovered how to cook spaghetti without boiling the stuff first.
Easy peasy.
Take a pound of meat- I use ground turkey but any meat-ground beef or chicken will do.
Add whatever spices you like to the meat- I use oregano, Italian seasonings, parmesan cheese, parsley, and chopped onions.
Spread the meat out on aluminum foil so you have about a 12 inch by six-inch rectangle.
Place a pound of uncooked spaghetti in the middle of the meat and fold it over, creating a large cylinder.
Place the cylinder in a skillet and brown the meat, rolling it as needed.
When the meat is browned, add sauce to skillet, top with mozzarella cheese and stick the whole thing in the oven until the cheese is bubbly and turning brown.

olds442jetaway
Video Poker Master
Posts: 9262
Joined: Tue Aug 21, 2007 9:08 pm

Post by olds442jetaway »

Growing up any pie meaning pizza that came out of a restaurant oven was not done unless the cheese on top had big brown bubbles. Nowdays, you are lucky if you can still find that. No problem in the immediate New Haven area though. I make my open face grilled cheese and tomato sandwich the same way. Setting on top brown in the toaster oven. Mmmmmmm. Could go for one right now.

olds442jetaway
Video Poker Master
Posts: 9262
Joined: Tue Aug 21, 2007 9:08 pm

Post by olds442jetaway »

Here is a typical pic from the internet. Looks good and probably is, but the right way is to catch it and pull from the oven as the cheese starts to turn brown and before it burns.
BFB3C16F-0100-44A7-AD92-DF4593DA8465.jpeg
BFB3C16F-0100-44A7-AD92-DF4593DA8465.jpeg (90.43 KiB) Viewed 2765 times

billryan
Video Poker Master
Posts: 4421
Joined: Thu Jan 15, 2009 1:20 pm

Post by billryan »

I had a friend in NY that was the third generation of pizza makers. His grandfather was Umberto, of Umberto's Pizza and his great grand uncle started what is now known as Uno, or Pizzeria Uno. He started out washing dishes at his family pizza joint around age ten and every male in his family works one day a week in the kitchen, something his grandfather insisted on. This way they can quickly see any problems that come up.
Anyway, I asked him why we no longer see the bubbly brown cheese on pizza and he says most places use an inferior blend of cheeses and the filler products burn at a much higher temperature. He said it was easier to burn the bottom crust than some cheese blends.

Post Reply