Dear Heloise: Please, will you repeat your mother's recipe for Italian spaghetti sauce? I want to make it for visitors who are due in a month. - Ellen in Arkansas
Ellen, I'd be happy to. You'll need:
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup butter
1 cup finely chopped onions
1 pound ground beef
4 strips finely chopped bacon
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped (or to taste)
3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon salt
Black pepper to taste
1 teaspoon crushed dry red pepper
2 ounces red wine
2 cans diced tomatoes or tomato sauce
1 small can tomato paste
1 cup water
1 finely chopped carrot
Heat olive oil over low heat in a large pot. Add butter and simmer until melted. Add onions and saute until lightly browned. Add ground beef and bacon, saute until browned, stirring occasionally.
Add garlic, parsley, bay leaf, salt, black pepper and red pepper. Cook over low heat for 10 minutes. Add wine, cover and steam for a few more minutes.
Add tomatoes or tomato sauce, paste and water. Bring to a boil and add the chopped carrot. Cover and cook over very low heat for an hour, stirring occasionally. Remove the bay leaf before serving over your favorite cooked pasta.
This spaghetti sauce recipe, as with most sauce recipes, seems to be even more delicious the next day, so enjoy! - Heloise
Remove Fat
Dear Heloise: Fat seems to collect at the top of my soups, and I have trouble getting it off. Is there an easier way other than trying to sop it up with paper towels? - Rita in Georgia
Rita, you can easily remove the fat by dropping several ice cubes in the pot after you've turned off the heat. The fat will stick to the ice cubes, then scoop them out with a spoon. Or chill the soup and the grease will rise and solidify, then just scoop it off. - Heloise
Gas Stove Burners
Dear Readers: After cleaning your stove's gas burners, drip trays and other removeable parts, be sure to thoroughly dry them before replacing them on the stove so that residual water won't divert the flow of gas. Use a hair dryer on high to get to any places you can't reach to make sure all of the moisture is gone. - Heloise
SEND A GREAT HINT TO: Heloise P.O. Box 795001
San Antonio, TX 78279-5001
Fax: 1-210-HELOISE
Email: [email protected]
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