Cooking
Spaghetti Sauce: one of my favourite things my mom makes is her homemade spaghetti sauce. Over the years observing her method I’ve started my own twist on her style. My notes for my general recipe are at the end of the newsletter!
Other things I cooked:
Half Baked Harvest’s Honey Garlic Salmon Soba Noodle Bowl: I like to use this recipe as a guide but I adjust the sauce - I do less soy sauce (more like 2 tbsp) and just a few shakes of sesame oil (like ½ tsp). I also add add in some rice wine vinegar (about a tbsp) and a touch of maple syrup to balance it out more. I pan fried the salmon and did the marinade more like a glaze at the end and just steamed my broccoli.
Cookie and Kate’s Sweet Potato and Black Bean Enchiladas: I love love love these enchiladas. Since Mexican ingredients are hard to come by in London, I adjust a bit based on what’s available to me. I used regular salsa instead of tomatillo, and flour tortillas instead of corn. The tortilla can get a bit soggy for leftovers so I always reheat the enchilada in a frying pan to crisp it up a bit. For the filling I did diced pickled jalepeno instead of the green chiles and fresh jalepeno. I just eyeballed about 1 tbsp of diced pickled jalepeno. I couldn’t find monetary jack so just did feta in the filling. To serve I make a lime crema (sour cream + lime juice) and a little salad of thinly sliced lettuce (aka shreddace), cilantro, lime juice, olive oil, salt n pep.
Eating
Maltby Street Market. I love being near Borough Market but for street food without the crowds, this little alleyway market is the way to go. I tried gyozas and empanadas, next time I go back I’m definitely going to try the arepas.
Following
@edeneats - I saved her coconut dal to make next week!
Listening
Using
My freezer. I’m getting back into a routine of cooking most of my meals and bringing my lunch to work - currently doing 3 days in the office so it’s a bit of a change getting back to packing my lunch so many days in a row. I’ve started stocking my freezer with individual portions of soup and sauces to make this easier (like my spaghetti sauce!).
Thinking
About how wonderful winter citrus is. I can’t really complain about the winter weather in London but with the short days and early sunsets, winter citrus is really bringing some brightness to these days.
Laughing
Have a great week,
Kaleigh
Spaghetti Sauce
¼ cup olive oil
1 onion, finely diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb ground beef
1 carrot, finely diced
2 celery stalks, finely diced
¼ cup tomato paste
2 tsp Italian seasoning
⅓ cup red wine (optional)
1 pint of mushroom, quartered
2 small cans (400g) San Marazono tomatoes (if whole; crush)
Water (add as needed)
1 Parmesan rind (optional)
Pinch of white or brown sugar
Heat olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat, adding in the onion and sauteeing until softened (5 mins)
Add in the minced garlic and cook for 1 min more before adding in the ground beef. Season with salt and pepper. Allow the beef to brown, only breaking up and stirring every few minutes so it gets some nice colour.
Once the beef is browned (no red bits viewable), add in the carrot and celery. Cook these for 2-3 minutes before adding in the tomato paste and Italian seasoning. Stir well so everything is well coated and cook for 5 minutes until tomato paste loses its bright red colour. It’s ok if some bits stick to the bottom of the pot, that will all be lifted when liquid is added in.
Add in red wine (if using) and be sure to scrape any bits off the bottom of the pot. Cook out the wine for 3-5 minutes.
Add in canned tomatoes and two cans worth of water (great way to rinse the can too!). Give everything a good stir, then lower the heat to a simmer and cover slightly, allowing a bit of steam out.
Add the Parmesan rind if using before simmering.
Simmer for 1 hour, checking every 15 minutes to see if more water needs to be added. The sauce should be thick but have a bit of liquid to it (thinner than a chili). I usually end up adding about 1 more can worth of water.
Once it’s simmered and the colour has deepened, taste the sauce. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper, adding a pinch of sugar as well to balance out the sauce.
Remove the Parmesan rind and serve with your favourite pasta! Sauce freezes super well - I usually do in individual servings for an easy meal for future me.