Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

After visiting the farmer's market last Saturday, I had more tomatoes than we knew what to do with--so I made my own tomato spaghetti sauce. I started with a recipe from my grandmother's Cooking Down East by Marjorie Standish (a family favorite), but ended up with my own creation.

I used:

One large red tomato, diced

5-10 yellow Roma tomatoes, cut in half

1 slice onion

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon pepper

2 large links Italian sausage

3 tablespoons butter

2 table spoons flour 

I started by taking the sausages out of their casings, tearing them into 1 inch pieces, and throwing them into a large frying pan. Once they were brown and juicy, I added the red and yellow tomatoes, onion slices, sugar, salt and pepper, and let the mixture simmer on low heat for about 15 minutes. Next, I added the butter and flour and stirred the mixture, continuing to cook over low heat, until it thickened into a sauce.

That's it! Season with salt, pepper, and olive oil and serve with shredded parmesan cheese. Yum.

P.S. This is really a great book for cooking basics. The recipes are simple and really bare-boned, which allows you to experiment with extra seasonings and flavors. For example, the tomato sauce recipe I used originally called for canned tomatoes, but I easily substituted the fresh tomatoes I got at the farmer's market, and added in the Italian sausage.

It's also a fun cookbook because it was published 1969, but Marjorie Standish started writing her recipes for the Maine Sunday Telegram in 1948! It definitely has that "like grandma made it" quality, and my copy even has my nana's comments in the margins. She noted in neat cursive when she did something different from the recipe, or when my grandfather really liked a specific dish. It is remarkable to have the physical evidence of so many shared homemade meals, I am happy to be the third generation to use this book.

What Happens When You Don't Go Grocery Shopping

The "side dish" for your take-out gyro dinner is cereal in a measuring cup consumed with a serving spoon.

P.S. Mom and Dad, I swear this is a rare occasion and we really do go grocery shopping (see post about Whole Foods and how it has a bar), and we don't just eat burgers and pulled pork and greasy fries from the Athenian Room all the time.

Us Eating Yummy Food Again

This time at Lillie's Q in Wicker Park, an amazing BBQ joint that has like ten different BBQ sauces on the table so you can sample them all, sweet potato fries, AND they serve their beer out of mason jars so it feels like being in New Hampshire. Also, the buns are like eating pure butter. So good. Smith & Page give it two thumbs up.

Speaking of New Hampshire, I am in the Granite State itself until next Saturday, when Andrew flies east to meet me, and we spend time in our beloved Maine. Likely more pictures of the ocean and Barbour jackets to come.

The Butcher and The Burger

After my car got towed on Friday (ask me about it if you want a depressing yet hilarious story), we lifted our spirits with burgers and beers at The Butcher & The Burger on Armitage. This is a great place because it's BYOB. Yes! You can also build your own burger, by selecting your own unique combo of seasoning, cheese and toppings. It's fun to pick, but if you are indecisive like me it can also be overwhelming (#firstworldproblem). Does goat cheese pair well with curry & coconut seasoning?? Should I add on a fried egg?? As it is with creating good art, it's hard to know when to pull back.  So far, we haven't created a bad burger.

Bonus: It's been nominated one of the "Manliest Restaurants" by Men's Health. Score!

The Perfect Summer Dinner

Right now bags of my clothes, books and belongings are still in the dining room making the entire room impossible for dining. This has been the perfect excuse to eat outdoors! Andrew was lucking enough to score the only apartment in this building with an outdoor balcony, so we are trying to use it as much as possible this summer. It's pretty much the perfect space...even though we have to climb out the window to get to it.

The other night we discovered the perfect summer dinner: Pasta with Fresh Tomato, Brie and Basil. It's so easy to make, which is perfect because it's hard to get motivated to cook when it's 100 degrees out like it is here right now. I took this recipe from Comfortable in the Kitchen by Meredith Laurence, which previously was my grandmother's.

Serves 4 (although we halved this recipe easily)

You'll need:

1 lb dired pasta

2 vine-ripened tomatoes, chopped (about 2 cups)

4 to 6 ounces Brie cheese*, cut into thin strips (1 1/2 inch long, rind included)

16 to 20 leaves of fresh basil, thinly sliced

salt

freshly ground black pepper

extra virgin olive oil, as needed

*Make sure the Brie is good quality, since it's the main ingredient in this dish! We got a richer, creamier Brie, but you could also pick something lighter. The people at the Whole Foods cheese counter are super helpful (aka THE REASON why I like Whole Foods :)

To Make:

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to the package directions. Drain the pasta and return the pasta to the hot pot.

2. As soon as you drain the pasta, immediately toss it with the tomatoes, Brie and basil, Season to taste with salt and lots of freshly ground pepper. Add extra virgin olive oil and serve immediately.

Voila! It's super easy and so delicious. It's basically like a fancy pasta with butter, but so much better. Enjoy outdoors with some crisp white wine.