complaisant2u
Posts: 18
Joined: 3/28/2007
From: near Augusta, GA
Status: offline
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To make dishes that seem like they took a long time, but didn't, I jazz up ordinary dishes.
Here's jazzing up basic spaghetti:
Note: If you want meat sauce, and you want a fancy texture you must regrind the meat at a lower grind setting. That's how it's done in the restaurants. Finely ground beef makes really dense pattys, but in a sauce it's smoother.
To start with 1) carmilize an onion in the saucepan 2) add chopped garlic (i use the kind in a jar) and brown, which won't take long 3) add 0.5-1lb of ground beef and cook till done 4) if your meat was fatty, drain the pan 5) add a couple cans of Ragu or Prego
You can add some more jazz by tossing in some chopped parsley for color, but be carful because it does impart a slight flavor. It's better just to sprinkle that on top or add a sprig of fresh basil. Another way to add the green is some fresh or previously frozen spinach...that's florentine style. Another great trick is to add some heavy whipping cream. It makes the sauce pink and the cream keeps it tasting really rich. But if you want the sauce redder and more tomatoy in flavor, add a small can of Italian spiced tomato paste. I've seen a scoop of ricotta cheese as a fancy side addtion to spaghetti as well. Also, lots of parmesean cheese is really yummy. I'm addicted to the stuff and get big jugs of it from Sams. Add a cup of parm cheese to the sauce and the people will jump for joy.
Fresh mushrooms are a good one. You could add them when you're meat is about halfway done. I usually do that, but for something really fancy, brown up some garlic with butter or margerine and cook the mushrooms in that. Then with a slotted spoon to drain the butter off, add it to the top of the plated spaghetti. Also, instead of slicing the mushrooms you can quarter or eigth them for a better look and more flavor.
Also to jazz it up, don't use the round spaghetti noodles. I suggest the thinner vermicelli. It has more surface area for the sauce to adhere to. You can also use Penne or Rigatoni. Mix up the Penne and sauce in a mixing bowl, then rubber spatula it into a oven safe bowl. Put mozzerella cheese on top and bake until it's melted. And of course noodles should be cooked al dente. If it's like Chef Boyardee, throw it out and try again. I use Kosher salt and salt after I cook and drain.
Drainage is something that gets me quite often. That's the liquid that seems to settle on the plate below the noodles. I plate up the noodles, ladle the sauce over the top, add all the fancy garnishements and mushrooms and there's this lightly pink watery liquid on the plate. I think this happens when 1) I don't drain the noodles well enough and/or 2) I didn't cook off the water from the ragu. Besides draining the noodles better, and cooking the sauce uncovered for 10 mins or so to reduce it, I could also... use more dishes I have to clean up later. Grap another saute pan, get it hot, add the sauce, sizzle, add the noodles and toss. Cook for a couple minutes and plate. Add the pretty garnishments and mushrooms, wipe the plate, ring the bell for pickup. No drainage and baked penne, the flavor of the sauce gets cooked into the noodles.
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RE: Learning to cook? - 
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