rebar Pasta Sauce

Last weekend one of the guys Jason works with had us over for dinner and his wife made us an absolutely fantastic meal! She reads my blog (hi Helen!) and knows I like trying out new recipes so after dinner she showed me the cookbook she had used:

It comes from a restaurant in Victoria that specializes in healthy, modern food that is mostly vegetarian. Just to get an idea of what's in this book, the three recipes she cooked for us were:

Cascade Spinach Salad (with hazelnuts, *blue cheese and rosemary-balsamic vinaigrette)
Rosemary Garlic Foccacia
Portabello Fettucinie (with arugula pesto, roasted peppers and Romano cheese)

*Before I go any further, I must say that before I read this recipe I had no idea that I ate blue cheese. Both Jason and I had never been able to get past the smell of blue cheese so we had never given it a chance. When I was eating this salad I was going to say something about how creamy and flavorful the feta was! We've now discussed the fact that we have not only eaten but enjoyed blue cheese and we are excited to enter the wide world of blue-cheese connoisseurs. It just goes to show - you can't judge a cheese by it's smell.

Anyways, back to my story - I now have this book in my possession for a few weeks was very excited to try out a pasta sauce this evening:

Click on the above picture to magnify the recipe and don't worry about the "helpful hint" section... it just said that you could also try fresh tomatoes.

I followed this recipe pretty spot on minus the "organic" canned tomatoes. Mine were just the no-salt added variety. I did add some tomato paste at the end, as suggested, to thicken it up as well.

JASON'S REVIEW: I had to wake Jason up to get a review from him. He said "it was very good" and then he proceeded to get a phone call which he is still absorbed in (bike talk). I imagine he would toss out some other adjectives for "good" if he had the chance! He did enjoy this and was able to finish his whole plate before falling asleep on the couch.

MY REVIEW: This was fantastic sauce! I really don't know why I've never thought about freezing pasta sauce before but I've now got 3 more jars of 2 servings each tucked away in the freezer. The extra tomato paste at the end was a must as the sauce was fairly runny. I did add brown sugar but just a pinch was all it needed.

Helen also let me borrow a Julia Child cookbook. As I browse through it I find myself skipping over the recipes and just reading the stories in between.  I can sit on the couch and read a cookbook for hours like it's a thrilling novel and this one is definitely entertaining. She was able to do so much more than write a recipe - her vibrant personality and sense of humor finds a way to shine through the sometimes dull steps of a recipe.  I'm determined to try at least one thing from this book!

NOTE: Rebar has a website where you can see their menu, view some recipes and also purchase the book. Click here to check it out.

Stir Fry Sauce

I make stir-fry quite often but never buy the pre-made, bottled sauce. I usually do something with catalina dressing,peanut butter, soy sauce and some spices but wanted to try something different *and easy* this time! I did some research and found this recipe:

1 tbs. water
2 tsp. cornstarch
1 c. chicken broth
2 tbs. soy sauce

Directions

Stir fry your meat and vegetables.
When nearly done, make a well in your frying pan or wok.
Mix water and cornstarch in a small bowl then pour into the well.
Cook for about a minute, until it boils.
Add broth and soy sauce.
Stir and cook for about two more minutes.
Serve over rice 

JASONS REVIEW: It was dee-lish.

 

MY REVIEW: This worked really well! I thought at first it was way too runny but the longer I let it simmer, the thicker it got. We used reduced sodium soy sauce as well so the flavor was pretty light. Very nice and the ingredients are always on hand.