So, who loves to cook?
I do!
Tonight, for dinner I'm making Spegghetti. Simple enough, and delicious! :D
Here's some cooking tips:
Cook your noodles al dente, and if you over-cook them, drain the water, and then fill the pot of noodles with cold water and ice. It may sound strange, but as long as your noodles remain warm/hot they will continue to cook, and cooling them down will stop that process.
Sauce.
I always make my own sauce. An easy way to make this is to simply buy small cans of tomato sauce, and add your spices and herbs.. Whenever possible, use fresh ingredients. To season a basic Italian red sauce, I use Marjoram, Rosemary, Sage, Garlic, Onion, Salt, Pepper, Parsley, Oregano and Thyme. Oregano and Thyme are the most important seasonings- Oregano gives it good flavor, but be careful, because this is a strong herb; I use Oregano leaves. Thyme gives it the classic Italian flavor; Try to use ground Thyme.
Meat.
If you're using beef in your sauce, you can do this a few different ways. First, you can simply use ground beef seasonings, and brown it slightly before adding it to your sauce. Or, you can make meatballs. Either way is pretty simple, but it's important to remember to add seasonings & salt. Salt is key, because you need to add enough so the flavors will soak in, but if you add too much, it will ruin the dish. Test the sauce while cooking, until you can figure out a recipe that you like. Honestly, I don't really write down how much I use.. I'm used to making it, and I can determine how much I need pretty easily by sight..
*I always add my seasonings to the meat, initially, to let it absorb the flavor, and then I add this to the sauce (drain the grease beforehand, of course). After I've added the meat, I add more spices & herbs to the sauce, and let this warm over medium heat.
Serving.
Serve hot/warm (obviously) and I generally serve this with a side salad and french or garlic bread. As always, I prefer to make my own. Salads are pretty easy to figure out, so I'll give you a few tips for home-made bread. When you're allowing bread to rise, make sure you've lightly greased the top of the dough, so as not to allow it to dry out (Olive oil works well for this), before setting a cloth over the top of the bowl. It's best to keep the mixing bowl warm. You can do this by setting it on top of your stove, while the oven is preheating... It will keep it warm, but not too hot. Store unused loaves in a freezer bag (so it doesn't get freezer burn or lose its moisture), in your freezer, if you don't anticipate using them any time soon.
That's it for now..
-Jeanne.
