Yeah it is hard to guess the ingredients sometimes. About the best I can give
you is the widely accepted vinaigrette, i.e. 3 parts EVOO to 1 part acid
(lemon/vinegar), but I prefer 3:2 especially if using decent vinegar like
'Forum'. Then garlic, shallots (not the oft miss labelled scallions, spring
onions, etc.), mustard('Hot English' for a kick), and herbage.
Here's a simple one that'd be good on 'tatos even if it isn't exactly the
http://recipes.epicurean.com/recipe/22622/basic-vinaigrette-or-french-dressing.html
Thanks. Not sure about the vinegar, though. I've never liked vinegar-based
dressing on salads.
How about sharing the recipes you do well? I love a good feed of spaghetti
and beef strog; normally on separate occasions though.
Pasta meat sauce
----------------
olive or vegetable oil
2 onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
800g minced steak
1 dessert spoon dried oregano
1 dessert spoon dried mixed herbs
salt, pepper to taste
375g jar tomato paste
water
In a cast-iron frying pan, fry the onions and all but about 1/2 clove of the
garlic in a little oil at medium to high heat until brown, stirring constantly.
Add the minced steak, oregano, mixed herbs, salt and pepper and mix and break up
the meat constantly at high heat until the meat is brown and dry (near burning
is not too dry). Turn off the heat and add the tomato paste, about 1+1/4
tomato-paste jars of water and the remaining small portion of garlic. Turn the
heat on low and mix thoroughly. Simmer uncovered in the pan for two hours,
stirring well whenever the mixture begins to dry out at the bottom (after about
15 minutes at first, then about every 10 minutes). Stir in more water as
necessary, particularly in the second hour, to prevent the sauce drying too
much. For storage, cover the pan with cling wrap and stand for several hours to
cool, then transfer to a container, seal it and refrigerate. It will keep for at
least two weeks.
NOTES
- The sauce should end up a beautiful dark brown; it changes from red to brown
and gets darker during simmering.
- I have doubts about the necessity of all that garlic with the onions; I think
the heat largely destroys it by the time the tomato paste goes in, so I'm not
sure it does anything at all, but the garlic later on makes a big difference.
- I think the cast-iron pan is important. I tried a non-stick pan once (one of
those black-ice things) and the sauce wasn't nearly as good; it ended up more
red than brown.
- I guessed the quantities of herbs. I just chuck them in, but I think I've got
them about right.
- I use quite a lot of pepper; I like the sauce to be a little hot
- The sauce is very tasty, so you don't need to use a lot; one batch is enough
for 8 to 10 meals, where one meal is about 200g spaghetti (uncooked weight).
- It likes plenty of parmesan cheese. I use powdered Perfect brand. I know this
is considered pretty crappy quality (it came near last in a recent Choice
magazine test), but I've tried "real" parmesans and I didn't think they went
well with the sauce because they are too strong. The sauce seems to like (or it
might just be me) a large quantity of cheese, so it needs to be mild. I find
Perfect to be, well, perfect for it.
- I use La Molisana spaghetti; it's easily the best quality commercial pasta I
know of.