one terrific tomato sauce

I realize that making your own tomato sauce can seem like a chore, while there are many good bottled ones out there, but nothing beats a well made fresh sauce. Lol, just ask any french foodie. In any case, this sauce is really quite simple, taking perhaps 15 minutes to cook once the prep work is done. TOTALLY WORTH IT, especially if you want to add it to a baked pasta dish.

Rich Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:
2-3 whole tomatoes or 1 can of diced
1 whole med. onion (white or yellow)
1/4 cup of white button mushrooms, quartered or diced
dash of garlic powder
three dashes of sea salt
three dashes Italian seasonings
2-3 dashes of fresh ground black pepper
1-2 teaspoons of sugar, depending on taste
1/2-2/3 cup of red wine, Cabernet Sauvignon works really well (definitely don't have to spend more than 8 dollars on the bottle)
3 tbs of balsamic vinegar
1 tbs flour or corn starch mixed with 3 tbs of water for rue to thicken

Heat a medium sauce pan with 2-3 tbs of olive oil to a medium low heat. Dice the onion and mushrooms. Once the pan is hot add the onions, stirring to coat them in the oil. Allow then to soften. Add all the spices, other than the sugar, to the pan. Once the onions are close to being translucent, add the mushrooms. Stir well, making sure the oil and spices coat them both well. Wait 2 minutes and then add the wine. Add the tomatoes, gently stirring the sauce. Allow the wine to reduce and cook off the alcohol. Next add the vinegar and sugar. Stir well. Let the sauce sit on the medium low heat fr 3-4 minutes, allowing the tomatoes to cook. Finally add the rue to the sauce, turning the heat up to a medium high heat. You should see the sauce thickening very quickly now. Continue to stir the sauce for a minute to work out the flavor of the flour. Once done allow the sauce to set for 2-3 minutes and then serve with just about anything!

Eat and enjoy!

baby bella mushroom ravioli in a champagne cream sauce

The story: Over the summer I, that being Gabe, was living with my relatives in New Jersey, and taking a class over in Manhattan. It was during that time that I took to cooking nearly every night, and on occasion felt the need to expand my repertoire. This dish comes from one of those nights. My cousin mentioned that she really loved this particular dish from a restaurant and she asked if I could recreate it for her. And thus a series of food shopping trips ensued, including a trip to the local liquor store, and a recipe was found. This recipe is not quite the same; in this case, Kourtney and I created the ravioli from scratch instead of using store-bought ones. Store bought works just as well though, and if you're pressed for time, it less clean up and a lot quicker.

The dish: Baby bella mushroom ravioli in a champagne cream sauce

Ravioli: (makes 6-8 large ravioli)
2-2 1/2 cups of Baby bella mushrooms
1/4 cup of olive oil
1 pack of eggroll wrappers
1 egg

Sauce:
1 cup of white or button mushrooms
2-3 large shallots
1/2 cup of cream
1/2 cup of champagne ( A cheap bottle works just fine, just mind the cork)
1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese
3-4 whole scallions
2 tbsp of butter or margerine
1 tsp of mixed Italian herbs
1/2 tsp of powdered garlic
1/4 tsp of coarse ground black pepper
1/2 tsp of plain flour mixed with 1/4 cup of water

To begin, put up a pot of water to boil the ravioli in. Then clean and chop up the bella mushroom. . Quickly saute the mushrooms in a pan sprayed with a little oil on a high heat. When cooked, toss into a blender with olive oil. Blend until a creamy paste. Remove the paste from the blender. Nows the time to make the ravioli. Take the eggroll wrapper and place it on a plate. Take a good tablespoon or two of the mushroom paste and place in the center. Now its time for a quick egg wash. Give the egg a quick beating and LIGHTLY spread the wash on all the edges of the wrapper. Fold the wrapper, and use a fork to crinkle the edges together so it can be boiled. Repeat the steps till you've used up all the mushroom paste. You're gonna have a number of wrappers left over, so just bag them and use them another day.

Nows the time to begin the sauce. Melt the butter in the pan on a high heat. Thinly slice the shallots and add to butter when it begins to bubble and brown. Let the shallots sit for a bit and let them brown, stirring only ocationally. When they look done, toss in the white mushrooms and toss them with the shallots to coat them in the remaining butter. Add the spices. Lower the temperature to a medium heat, and let the mushrooms cook for 3-5 minutes. After add the champagne, and then the cream two minutes after that. Add the scallions, and then lower the heat to simmer. Once the temperature has reduced, add the Parmesan cheese. Stir it in and then leave the temperature as low as possible.

By this point the water should have come to a rolling boiling. Ease only one or two ravioli in the pot at a time. They cook very quickly, staying in water only for 1 1/2-2 a piece. When done, take them out of the water and plate immediately, as they tend to get sticky. Pour the sauce over, and enjoy!!