Homemade pasta sauce

It's been a while!

Here is an easy way to make your own pasta sauce. This is a base, so try your own variations on this and post them in the comments!

Ingredients:

• 8 tomatoes, chopped (or 4 cans crushed tomatoes)
• 3 cloves garlic, diced
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 cup fresh basil leaves (or 3 table spoons dried)
• Meat (optional)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 cups water
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• Parmesan for garnish

Directions:

• Put onion, garlic, and basil into a food processor, run until almost liquid
• Sauté onion mix for 5 minutes in olive oil in large pan or sauce pan
• Add tomatoes, crush a bit if fresh, stir well
• Add salt, pepper, red pepper flakes
• Add 2 cups water
• Add sugar
• Add meat (optional)
• Boil until sauce reduces to your liking, slower and longer the better
• Serve, mailman, repeat!

This sauce is delicious as it is, and so any additions you make will only make it better. Be careful on the red pepper flakes, they are quite strong with the garlic. Otherwise, this is super easy and can be used for chicken, ground beef, meatballs, sausage, etc. Here's Natalie dominating some angel hair with this sauce :)

Happy cooking mailmanning!

Fresas con crema

Strawberries and Cream (Mexican Grandmother Style)




I had my first madrinas meeting at school which is a meeting with mothers who we are mentoring into being leaders in the community.  It involves a potluck meal and then discussion which I found out I lead and translate last night at the meeting.  Anyways, the ladies made delicious food.  I will be posting another salad soon.  This was brought and I liked it so much when I saw strawberries on sale today I decided to make it.  Only problem is I didn't really have a recipe besides the mother telling me her mom makes it with sour cream, sweetened condensed milk, strawberries, and nuts.  I attempted to recreate it and I am addicted.

Ingredients:
1 container sour cream (tall skinny variety)
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 package strawberries (sliced)
1 small package crushed pecans


So, I just mixed a bit more than half the sour cream in a bowl with about half of the sweetened condensed milk until there were no lumps.  Then, I tasted it and added a bit more of each.  I love sweetened condensed milk, so I added some more.  Then, mix in the sliced strawberries and pecans.  Leave it in the refrigerator over night if you can as the strawberries add flavor to the cream.  Then, enjoy.

It may look weird, but it is delicious!

Greg didn't know how to mailman with a bowl, so I showed him.

Zucchini Bread

What does one do when they are procrastinating a paper due in December (that's really far away), and they received a local produce box with 3 zucchinis in it? Make Zucchini Bread!!!!

Super easy recipe, the hardest part is grating the zucchini. I highly recommend using a food processor for this!

Ingredients:

3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder

3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2 1/4 cup white sugar
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 c grated zucchini

Directions:

1. Grease two 8x4 inch pans. Preheat the oven to 325 F, or in my case make an educated guess because my oven's numbers disappear before 450 F. I would suggest a working internal oven thermometer in this case. For some reason mine isn't working....

2. Mix flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon in a bowl.

3. Beat the eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar in a large bowl. I decided to use my Kitchen Aid mixer. Then, gradually add the dry ingredients. Stir in the zucchini. This is also where one could add walnuts or chocolate chips. I didn't have any on hand so it is plain zucchini bread.

4. Pour into the prepared pans and place in the center of the oven for 40 to 60 minutes. Mine took over 60 minutes. You can check when bread is down by inserting a toothpick. Bread is ready when the toothpick comes out clean.

5. Cool on a rack for about 20 minutes. Then remove it from the pan and let it cool completely. I found this last step near impossible.

6. Mailman and Enjoy!

Pancakes and Mixed Berry Compote

I have been MIA for awhile, and I apologize. I am back in Charlottesville at a new kitchen, and I needed to break in!

Growing up we used to make pancakes and waffles every Sunday morning. I woke up this morning and decided to make them for old time's sake!

Pancakes (makes 8 pancakes)
Ingredients:
3/4 c milk
2 T white vinegar
1 c all-purpose flour
2 T white sugar
1 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 salt
1 egg
2 T butter, melted

Directions:
1. Combine milk with vinegar and set aside for 5 minutes to "sour." You are really substituting for buttermilk when you do this.

2. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Whisk egg and butter into the milk. Pour the flour mixture into the wet ingredients and whisk until the lumps are gone.

3. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Pour 1/4 cup of batter onto the skillet and cook until bubbles appear on the surface. Flip and cook until the other side is light brown, or, if you are my dad, nearly burnt. I still haven't figured out why he likes burnt things.

And now time for the compote!

Mixed Berry Compote!

This recipe makes 3 cups, but I reduced it to one. 

Ingredients:

3 T unsalted butter

1/4 c packed light brown sugar

2 T fresh lemon juice

3 c mixed berries (I used defrosted frozen ones)

Directions:

Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in brown sugar and lemon juice until sugar is dissolved. Add berries and cook, tossing them gently, trying to keep them from breaking, until the berries are warm and juices begin to be released, about 3 minutes. 

Time to plate it up!

Mailman and enjoy!!!!

Lechon de cerdo, papas bravas, y tomates asados

This was a surprise that Greg cooked, I actually had no part in it except for the peeling of the potatoes and the eating of the deliciousness that was the food.  It was inspired by a sandwich from our favorite restaurant in Chile, Ciudad Vieja, and the delicious potatoes they serve at most tapas restaurants.  Then, Greg put the extra roasted tomatoes on some toast on the side.



We used the pork shoulder to make these sandwiches and BBQ pork sandwiches.

Honey Mustard Pulled Pork Sandwich with Sweet Potatoes 
1 Pork Shoulder
1 White Onion
6-8 cloves garlic
1 C Dr. Pepper (no diet!)

Slice the onions.  Sear the edges of the pork in a skillet.  Then, put the pork in a slow cooker with the onions, garlic, and DP and set it on low for 8 hours.  This will make your house smell DELICIOUS.

Sauce:
1/3 C Dijon
1/3 C Honey
1/4 C Veggie Oil
2 t ground mustard
ground pepper to taste

Mix everything together and change seasonings to liking

When the pork is done (it falls apart as you pull it with a fork), pull it apart with two forks.  Then, mix some of it with the sauce.

Papas Bravas with Tomato Aioli
10 small to medium parboiled potatoes (parboiled means cooked in boiling 8-10 minutes, then put them in cold water)
Canola Oil
salt and pepper to taste
cayenne pepper

Parboil the potatoes ahead of time to save time.  Peel the potatoes and cut them into one inch cubes.  Heat up some oil (about an inch deep) in a deep skillet.  Cook the potatoes until golden on both sides.  While cooking, season with salt and pepper.  Once fried, lightly sprinkle them with cayenne pepper.  Then, put them on a baking sheet in the oven at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes to crisp them up.

Tomato Aioli
3/4 C Mayo
1 Whole roasted tomato, halved and seeded
1/2 Red Onion finely diced
2 cloves minced garlic
1 T cayenne pepper
few dashes hot pepper sauce
splash of sherry vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Put onion and garlic in some oil in a pan and cook for 5 minutes.  Then, add cayenne pepper and cook 45 seconds.  Let it cool! Mix it in a blender with mayo, pepper sauce, roasted tomato, and a splash of sherry vinegar. Add salt and pepper to taste.Then, let it cool in the fridge.

Once it is all done, serve it up, mailman, and enjoy!

Quinoa and Bean Salad

Hi Drunks!

I know it's been a longgggg time since I've posted.  Our travel schedule has made my cooking pretty much non-existent (I know nobody feels bad for me :), but now that we're back I'm ready to share some recipes again! We shared a delicious dinner with the newlyweds last night and I brought this as a side.

This salad is delish, healthy, and pretty easy to make.  You can put in pretty much any veggies / beans that you have lying around, and could also add some chopped nuts for an extra crunch.  This makes a large batch (it's great leftover / for lunch), so feel free to half.  I pretty much just wing it on the spices, so below are estimates, but definitely give it a taste and adjust to your liking.  Happy Mailmanning!

KReh

This is only ~half the batch :)

Ingredients

• 1.5c quinoa, rinsed if needed
• 3c water
• 1 bouillon cube, chicken or vegetable-flavored (optional)
• 1 can black beans
• 1 can kidney beans
• 1 can corn (or ~1.5c fresh or frozen corn, thawed)
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1/2 a red onion
• 1 lime
• 1/2 c olive oil
• ~1 tbsp garlic powder
• ~1 tbsp chili powder
• ~1 tsp cayenne pepper (gives it a bit of a kick)
• ~1 tsp salt
• ~1 tsp black pepper

Instructions

• Cook quinoa in water, adding bouillon cube prior to boiling if desired (will give it a bit more flavor); let quinoa cool to room temperature
• Drain and rinse beans / corn and let dry
• Finely chop onion and red pepper
• Combine quinoa, veggies, and beans in large bowl; mix well
• Cut lime into halves and juice over mixture 
• Add olive oil and spices to mixture
• Mix everything up really well!



Mellerho mailmanned the whole bowl!

• Mailman!

Mailman! (The mellerho's steak salad was also delish)

Lime Shrimp and Avocado Salad

So we managed to completely miss the month of July!  I guess everyone was just as busy as I was.  I am finally done traveling for the summer, and it is time to start cooking again everyone!!  Greg and I just got back from a trip out east to meet his sister's triplets, and we definitely overate.  Because of that, we decided to make a nice light salad for dinner after the long drive. 









Lime Shrimp and Avocado Salad
1lb jumbo cooked shrimp, shelled and deveined, chopped
1 medium tomato, diced (we used 2)
1 avocado, diced (we used 1.5, but i'd recommend 2 if you like avocado)
1 jalapeño, seeded and diced fine
1/4 C chopped red onion
2 limes, juice of
1 tsp olive oil
1 tbsp chopped cilantro
salt and pepper to taste

Combine red onion, lime juice, olive oil, and a pinch of salt and pepper in a small bowl.  Let the onion marinate for at least 10 minutes to mellow it out.  In a large bowl, combine shrimp, tomato, avocado, and jalapeño.  Add the marinated onions and dressing.  Top with the cilantro and season with salt and pepper to taste.