An Easy Sauce to Serve over Pasta

Sometimes we have an accident when making a meal and it turns out to be the best thing, ever. This happened to me some years ago, when I was making a pasta sauce for spaghetti. I had a large container of what I was just sure was spaghetti sauce. I fried up the hamburger meat, added in the usual onion and green pepper, grabbed the sauce to add in and midway through pouring the jar full, I realized it was Salsa. Oh my. I was so upset at that moment, yet it turned out to have excellent flavors.

We all have days when inspiration is low, and nothing seems just right. What to make for dinner? I had a day like that not too long ago, and started frying up hamburger, hoping to come up with some kind of sauce for pasta. I hoped for inspiration to hit along the way, and this was the result. Recalling that day years ago, I decided to again use salsa. I fried the hamburger meat, added in onions and green pepper, some salsa, though not a whole large container. I added a little of this and that, and this is the recipe I created. It is great over spaghetti, or ziti, rigatoni or any pasta you desire.

Texicali Meat Sauce

1 pound hamburger meat, fried in a large pan

1 large onion, chopped

1 large green pepper, chopped

2 large cloves garlic, minced

2 teaspoons chili powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups your favorite salsa

1 can tomato paste, 6 ounces

1 cup water

1 small can chopped green chiles

Herbs of choice: chopped fresh basil, rosemary or thyme, use any or a combination

5 - 10 green olives, chopped finely

Brown the meat in a large skillet, breaking up well. As the meat is nearly done, add in the onions and green pepper and toss, cooking for about 5 minutes. Add in all the rest of the ingredients, mix well and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and allow to cook for at least half an hour, until everything is cooked through. Serves about 6 to 8.

How much easier can this be? One time I made this I had pesto on hand. As pesto is nothing more than basil and parsley in olive oil, I used a couple of tablespoons of pesto instead of the other fresh herbs. Once I had only rosemary on hand and that is all that went in. As you can see, I have made it quite a few times recently. It is good over any type of pasta. It could be assembled with a large ziti and topped with cheese and baked until bubbling. It is not a hard and fast recipe. This came completely out of the blue. The idea is to relax and enjoy the flavors. Experiment and see which ones work for you. Use what you have on hand. I do urge you to try out making the sauce with a salsa of choice. It is really quite good.

Thank you for taking the time to read my article. I hope it was informative and helped you along your own culinary journey. You will find many more recipes and helpful tips on my web site. I am on Facebook at A Harmony of Flavors and share a recipe or tip each day to the fans that have liked my site. I hope to see you there soon.

My name is Chris Rawstern and I have been on a cooking and baking journey for 42 years. Many people have asked what A Harmony of Flavors means. Have you ever had a meal where the visual presentation was stunning, the smells were incredible, the taste was so remarkable that you ate slowly savoring every bite, wishing the experience would never end? Then you have experienced what a truly harmonious meal can be like. My passion is to teach people how to create a Harmony of Flavors with their cooking, and help pass along my love and joy of food, both simple and exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, trying new things. I would love to hear from you, to help me continue my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Visit my Web site http://www.aharmonyofflavors.com/ my Blog my Marketplace or Facebook page A Harmony of Flavors.

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Fried Pork Chops with Sherry Mustard Sauce

This savory sauce is so incredibly good that you won't want to leave a bit behind on your plate.  I love how quick this dish is to whip up and the end result is guest quality.  Enjoy!

4 Pork Chops
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 Tablespoons Onion, minced (dried can be used)
1/4 cup sherry cooking wine (found at grocery store)
1 tablespoon yellow mustard
1 teaspoon Honey
1 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup Sour Cream
Salt and pepper to taste

• Warm the oil in a large sautee pan over medium heat. 
• Fry pork chops until done.
• Sauté the onions until soft.
• Add the sherry and cook for a minute. If using dried, add them at this time instead of step above. 
• Add the mustard and honey. 
• Stir, until the liquids thicken. 
• Add the chicken stock and season with Salt and Pepper to taste. 
• Bring the mixture up to a boil and reduce.
• Stir in the Sour Cream, add the pork pieces.
• Allow the sauce to simmer on low a second uncovered until reduced for a few more minutes.

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Fried Pork Chops with Creamy Dijon Sauce

This is so good.  I found myself sopping up the extra sauce with anything left on my plate. It almost made me wish for some bread.  I really enjoyed the flavor of the sauce in this dish.  You know what?  It would make a great leftover pork sauce too!

4 Pork Chops
1 Tablespoon or so of Olive Oil
3 or 4 Tablespoons Onion, diced (dried works also)
1 Tablespoons Brown Rice Flour (or white rice, any kind of non wheat based thickener or omit)
1/2 cup cooking Sherry (Holland House, found in supermarket -white wine would work)
14 ounces Chicken Stock
1/2 teaspoon Salt (optional)
1/3 cup Sour Cream
1 Tablespoon Dijon Mustard

• With chicken between sheets of plastic wrap or inside the ziplock you stored it in, pound with a mallet or fry pan until flattened to an even thickness, about 1 inch.   This allows the chicken to cook nice, quick and even.
• Heat a drizzle of oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. 
• Add the chicken and cook until slightly golden and just about done, about 2-3 minutes per side.
• Transfer chicken to a plate, cover and keep warm. 
• Heat 1 teaspoon oil in the pan over medium-high heat. 
• Add onions and cook, stirring constantly and scraping up any browned bits. 
• Add 1 tablespoon flour, sherry/wine, broth and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
• Bring to a boil, stirring often.  Cook for 5 minutes on high to slightly reduce and thicken the sauce.
• Reduce heat to low.  Return the chicken and juices to the pan and cook until heated through and chicken is fully cooked. 
• Take chicken out and arrange on serving plate.
• Stir in sour cream and mustard into sauce until smooth
• Top the chicken with the sauce and serve immediately.

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Gluten Free Cream Soup Base, replacement for condensed cream soup

Also known in French cuisine as Béchamel sauce.  It is the base to many other dishes such as Italian white sauce for Alfredo, cheese sauce to use for your Macaroni and Cheese or over vegetables.  The final product in this recipe is thick and it is intended to be this way.  I am making mine to end up with the same consistency as your canned cream of soups.

As a young adult I would watch the likes of Julia Child make this sauce and call it Béchamel and think to myself, it looks way too complicated.  Really, its not and I only learned this out of need.  I need a condensed cream of whatever replacement for those canned goods I used to cook with but no longer can use.

I am not cooking the flour as old traditions suggest.  I find that gluten free flours do not need this step and turn out just wonderful without it.

5 Tablespoons Gluten Free Flour 

   (I have used GF Bisquick or Brown Rice Flour)

1/2 cup Butter

2 cups Milk

2 cubes Bouillon

• Melt butter over low heat in a medium saucepan 
• Add milk and cook until milk is just warm.
• Stir in flour and bouillon and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until bouillon is melted and sauce is thickened.  Sauce will be complete when it coats the back of your spoon.

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Homemade Gluten Free Pizza Sauce

I really do not like pizza sauce that comes from the same batch of sauce you eat over top of your spaghetti.  The taste is just not right when you do that to a pizza.  Canned and jarred sauce is exactly how I started out topping my own home made pizza crust though.  I did not exactly have the whole pizza sauce concept figured out and I needed something red on top of my pie right?  Something was never "quite" right.  That is how this particular recipe was born.  I always have tomato paste and diced tomatoes around but not always spaghetti sauce so I started tinkering with ingredients until I ended up with this.

I do not personally feel is not too much trouble to have this on top of the stove on a really low simmer while you are putting the pizza dough together.  As for the taste, I love how the garlic and spices really come though with this sauce.  It is not so spicy, however, that your kids will not eat it.  The taste is reminiscent of those old NY style pizza's  I was accustomed to getting way back when.

one 14-15 ounce Can of Diced Tomatoes
one 6 ounce can of Tomato Paste
2 cloves of Garlic
1 teaspoon Basil
1 teaspoon Oregano
1/4 teaspoon Onion Powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Sugar
3 Tablespoons Water

• Puree the can of diced tomatoes and two peeled garlic cloves until garlic is nice and thinly and evenly distributed.  About 3 minutes.
• Add tomato puree, paste, basil, oregano, onion powder, salt, sugar and water into sauce pan.
• Simmer on low for 10 or so minutes or until garlic starts to soften and give off its wonderful aroma. 

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Super Secret Spaghetti Sauce

Inspired by Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution and the fact that I have more zucchini and peppers now that I know what to do with.  I'm now stuffing it all into my tomato sauce.  If my son even suspected that this sauce had veggies in it besides tomatoes, there would be no way he would eat it.  So I'm going to puree it into oblivion and he will be none the wiser.

The pictures below I used fresh garden tomatoes. You can click here to see how I preserve those red beauties. I just de-skin and seed the tomatoes, puree them in the blender and add the tomato puree into the crock pot 3/4's of the way up.  Then toss in 3 or 4 cups of the tomatoes whole.  If you do not have fresh tomatoes, do not sweat it.  You can use canned.  I myself have used canned products in the winter.

All ingredients added to Crock Pot.  Looks nice and chunky.

Puree until smooth.  All the evidence is gone.
Notice the darker color. That is the zucchini
adding its sweetness.

1 big gallon bag of Zucchini, grated

4 cloves Garlic, chopped

1 large Onion, finely chopped

2 Red Peppers, finely chopped

2 Carrots, grated

1 Tablespoon Basil

1 Tablespoon Oregano

2 Tablespoons Parsley

2 Tablespoons Sugar

1 12 oz. Can Tomato Sauce

1 12 oz. Can Tomato Paste

1 12 oz. Can Tomato Puree

1 28 oz. can Whole Tomatoes

1/2 cup Water (if using Canned Tomatoes)

1. Add two tablespoons of oil to bottom of a large dutch oven.  Add garlic, onion, pepper and onion as well as herbs into the pot and sauté on medium low until vegetables are soft.
2. Add all the tomato products and sauteed vegetables into crock pot and simmer on low 6 to 8 hours.
3. Add zucchini with 3 or 4 hours remaining.

I will be posting this to:

• Gluten Free Wednesdays
• Works for me Wednesdays
• What's on the Menu Wednesdays
• Ultimate Recipe Swap Thursdays
• Pennywise Platter Thursdays

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