Miss Jo Says # 4

Well, thought it was about time to post another "Miss Jo Says". We have been watching "Top Chef" and "Hells Kitchen" quite a bit, and that of course gets me to thinking about what my signature dish would be and if I could hold my own with the competitors. I don't really think so, but it is a fun fantasy to have.

So today, I have my own simple recipes that I use all the time. I call them general, all purpose recipes, cause they are just the basics, you can add anything to them you like, to make it your own. I am always trying to work things out so I can add a basic recipe to the collection in my brain. I hate following recipes too closely and always want to add stuff to them that I like or delete other stuff, like bell peppers which I detest. Ha! But I love sage and garlic and hot chilis, cumin and corriander, and cheese of all kinds. So, I throw them in when I can. It is what makes cooking fun for me.

- Tomato Sauce: Use in pasta, in lasagna, chili, etc.
1 onion diced fine
500 gram ground meat (if you are vegetarian, leave it out)
3 cloves garlic (fine dice or use a garlic press)
1 lg. can tomatoes (whole or diced)
1 can tomato sauce (1 box if you live in Germany)
1 can tomato paste (half a tube if you live in Germany)
1 tblsp. oregano, 1 tblsp. sugar, fresh basil if you have it, salt and pepper to taste
Saute your onions in 1-2 tblsp. of olive oil, then add garlic and meat. Stir til meat is browned.
(this is where you can use your wire whip!) Add tomatoes, sauce, etc. Break up tomatoes if
whole. Simmer for 30 minutes or more.
Additions: Use lamb and some curry for a nice change, add beans and hot peppers to turn it
into Chili, leave out the meat and the tomato sauce and you have a nice pizza sauce. Add
eggplant if you want to go meatless. Or some zucchini at the last minute. Add some fresh
parmesan and you have something yummy. Please don't buy that crappy parmesan in the
can! You can get nice hunks of it at the store and then you just use your peeler to slice off
slivers. Way easier than grating.
If you want to make lasagna, make a 2nd mixture of 2 cartons of ricotta cheese (you can use
cottage cheese if you like it better) 2 eggs, 2 tblsp. of chives, salt an pepper.
Ladle some red sauce into your baking dish, noodles, sauce, some mozzarella, noodles, the cheese mix, noodles, sauce, more mozzarella and parmesan or romano. Bake uncovered for about 45 min. at 350°F or 175°C. Let sit for about 5 minutes before cutting. This makes 6 generous servings.

- Yeast Dough:
8 cups flour
2 packages of yeast, or 5 & 1/2 tsps. if you are using the kind that comes in a jar
2 tsps. salt
1 tblsp. sugar
1/2 cup oil
Mix the flour and the salt together, make a well in the middle of the bowl, sprinkle in your yeast, the sugar, and 1 cup of tepid water. Don't mix it. Let sit for 5 min. or so. It should be frothy
looking. Add the oil, and two more cups of warmish water. Don't make it too warm. It is better to have it too cool than too hot. You might need to add more water. Up to another cup. Mix it well, then turn it out onto the counter or large cutting board. I like to use my kitchen table. Start kneading. You will probably need more flour on the counter. Just keep kneading and adding flour if needed until it stops being sticky. Put some flour in a large bowl, put in your ball of dough, cover it and put it in a warm spot. This can be a sunny window, next to a room heater, the back of the stove, or in the oven which was warmed up just a tiny bit. You can also put a pan of hot water in the oven which makes it nicely warm. Leave your dough for an hour. Then take it out, punch it down, and then form it into whatever you like, bread, pizza, rolls, etc. Oil your pans. If making pizza, you can go ahead and put the sauce, etc. on it and then bake them. Bread and rolls need to rise again, so cover them with a dish towel and let them raise for another hour. Bake at 450 for 10 min. then at 350 for however long it takes. This will depend on what you have made as a big loaf of bread will take longer than rolls. Look this one up in a cook book. I bake my pizzas at 450 the whole time, about 20 minutes. This will depend on your pan too.
*Additions, add chopped walnuts at the beginning and some honey. Or wheat germ. Add herbs like oregano, sage, thyme, rosemary. Or sunflower seeds. Garlic and some grated parmesan. I also make calzones with this dough. Substitute some whole wheat flour or some rye or buckwheat, or malt for some of the white flour if you wish.
To make a sweet dough, add 1 cup sugar, 2 tsp. vanilla, 1 cup butter or margerine, 4 eggs, to the flour, etc. and reduce water to 2 cups. Follow the rest of the directions. To this dough, you can add raisins, cinnamon or poppy seeds. Or make wonderful glazed breakfast rolls.

Well, I think that is long enough for today. Let me know if you have questions or if you like these. I will be back with some more recipes, like tomato soup, cheese sauce, salmon patties, and so on.
Happy Cooking!