adventure eats week !

I’m feeling the inspirational kick I’ve been rooting around for! several lovely people in my life are the gooduns responsible for this latest food thought. a while ago my mom embarked on trying a new recipe every week to jazz up her usual dinner patterns. she was so pleased with the results, and thusly, herself, and that was a good sign. then, my good friend, stephanie took on a similar approach but super condensed: 20 new recipes in 20 days, and has been posting her photos and comments on fb. all her photos and feedback looked really rewarding and worth her efforts. and then the other night róny and I went to a very nice family dinner and had fantastic pho! róny’s mom has really gotten into the flavour and freshness of vietnamese dishes and was talking to me about wanting to hit the ol’ library and do some research and recipe gathering.

all of these desires for diy home-based food adventures has got me wanting one of my own!
and wouldn’t you know it, my dear one, róny has just started a 7 day cleanse to get his sweet, sweet body back in good order. I figured this would be the perfect opportunity to get experimental. he can’t have red meat, bread type things, refined sugars and probably a bunch of other stuff, but we’re trying to focus on the things he can and should be eating. grains, lots of fruit and veg and nuts are high on the to-eat-list. not bad… but kinda boring.

as I sip my newly acquired and thoroughly delicious toasty rice green tea, I’m plotting a sort-of-copy-cat food plan! for rónan’s 7 day guts-busting bonanza, I’ll be doing 7 asian-themed dinners.if there’s any ethnic group of food that embraces fresh, flavourful and healthy while still being satisfying and filling it’s the approach of the japanese, korean and vietnamese, among many others (but I’ve only got 7 days, so trying to stay focused!).

I want to pursue eastern flavours for a variety of reasons which I’m sure will become evident as the week tumbles on. get ready!

for right now, I’ll be diving face first into recipe blogs and wikipedia and a few books I already have on tasty asian awesomeness. and then out to the local asian grocery store, mori mori (which, if you’re in kamloops and you haven’t been, you should go because it’s very charming and independently owned and managed). by this evening (after 10pm), there will be post 1 of the new adventure-eats.

the ultimatest spaghetti sauce

this is pretty much my mom’s recipe for a red meat sauce. I’ve tweaked it to my tastes, as you should too. I find it’s best on whole wheat pasta, though it’s good on the regular stuff too. Serve it with a nice green salad and garlic bread (see recipe below) and lots of parmesan. It freezes well, so don’t be afraid to make a big batch.

on the ready:
2 tbsp butter
a couple glugs of vegetable oil
1 pack (I guess that’s somewhere near 1-1 1/2 lb.s) ground pork (or beef)
1 medium sized onion, diced fine
2-3 celery stalks, diced fine
6-8 mushrooms, chopped however you like
4 cloves of garlic, minced
cracked black pepper
1 tbsp beef paste (rather than salt)
2 jars of regular ragu
water
2 bay leaves
1 tin tomato paste
1 firm shiny eggplant, cut however you like (don’t omit this, even if you don’t like eggplant, cut it into big chunks so you can pick it out)
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp each of italian seasoning, oregano, basil

. pick out your favourite big honkin’ pot and get him hot on low-medium heat. add the oil and butter
. when the butter has melted, add the onion, celery, mushrooms, garlic, pepper, and beef paste. get all this soft and glisteny, but don’t let it get brown

. when the veg is soft, add the pork. get it nice and browned off
. dump in the two jars of ragu. rinse them out with water you can then pour into the sauce mix so you don’t lose any flavour along the way. make sure to fill both jars to the top. depending on how thick or thin you like your sauce, you may need to add more water than the two jars full. keep in mind a good deal of water will evaporate through the next two hours of simmering
. add the bay leaves and turn the heat down to low. simmer uncovered for two hours, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pot every 25 minutes or so

. add the tin of tomato paste, eggplant, sugar, and herbs. stir, and allow to simmer for another 40 minutes. you may want to add a bit more water to compensate for the thickening action of the tomato paste… your call, really.

and so, WHAM, best red meat sauce ever! and even better two days later! serve with super awesome garlic bread that’s simple and fast.

garlic bread is soooo tasty and super easy to make. get yourself some

1/3 C butter (don’t you dare use margarine)
small handful of freshly chopped parsley
6 cloves of garlic, minced
big ol’ loaf of french or italian bread

. mix the garlic, butter and parsley together in bowl and allow to sit at room temperature for at least an hour before using
. put a frying pan on almost medium heat and make sure it’s hot enough to instantly evaporate a drop of water
. carve the bread into 2 inch sliced rounds, and then cut those in half so you end up with a bunch of semicircles
. spread on the butter, but don’t go crazy with it because it’ll just melt off if you get it too thick
fry these little wedges of golden happiness in the pan, butter side down for just a couple minutes. until they’re a light golden brown. do take care not to burn them as it can happen easily with garlic

there you are; garlic bread that’s crispy, buttery, dippable, and fast!