January 28, 2017 by: Shannon and Aaron

Hot Sausage Sandwiches

Summer is just around the corner and so is hot dog cookout season. Okay, so that is a cruel lie since we are still in the dead of winter. But today we have a relative of the hot dog that is a good sandwich for this time of year. Marguerite’s teaching friend Marvelle’s Hot Sausage Sandwiches are a simple and easy meal that don’t take much work but are pretty darn tasty.

Here’s what Marguerite (and Marvelle) had to say:

I love the details like specifically where to get the meat! Unfortunately, we’re at least 500 miles and some 50-60 years removed from the Mall Butcher Block, whatever that means. Maybe that’s a bigger deal than I thought, since I couldn’t find “sweet” sausage. I went for some fresh mild Italian sausage instead.

This recipe was extremely simple having only four ingredients, not including water. I was able to quickly and easily chop up the veggies and get everything into the pot to simmer. Since I started by chopping the vegetables I also decided to toss them in the pot first. That was a mistake, because then I wanted to put the partially fried sausages closer to the bottom, and had to do quite a bit of shuffling of veggies to make it happen. After that, the simmering went smoothly and cooking was underway.

I made sure to get good sandwich rolls, since I figured an Italian sausage covered in peppers and onions would require a hearty roll. Remember that time I didn’t listen to Marguerite’s advice and got cheap buns for our Pittsburgh Ham Barbecue Sandwiches? Well, lesson learned. Don’t these just look great in those buns?

Now I’m not a huge fan of spicy things, so meals like hot sausage sandwiches don’t always sound appealing to me. However, since I used mild sausage it wasn’t too bad. I thought that the flavor of the meat turned out nice with the inclusion of the tomato paste being a nice addition. I also really like use of peppers and onions, which Marguerite does in quite a few different recipes. Overall, these hot sausage sandwiches were a success and a nice hearty but simple sandwich.

Hot Sausage Sandwiches

CourseMain Dish

Servings	Prep Time
4 sandwiches	20 minutes

Cook Time

2 hours

Servings	Prep Time
4 sandwiches	20 minutes

Cook Time

2 hours

Hot Sausage Sandwiches

CourseMain Dish

Servings	Prep Time
4 sandwiches	20 minutes

Cook Time

2 hours

Servings	Prep Time
4 sandwiches	20 minutes

Cook Time

2 hours

Ingredients

Servings: sandwiches

Instructions

Cut up green peppers and onions.
Cut sausages into serving sized pieces if necessary. Fry to remove grease.
Put sausages in a heavy pan and add the onion, peppers, tomato paste, and one can of water.
Cover and simmer two hours.

Share this Recipe

Powered byWP Ultimate Recipe

January 7, 2017 by: Shannon and Aaron

Spaghetti Sauce

Happy New Year from Marguerite’s Cookbook! Aaron here, and starting now on Marguerite’s cookbook, I will be writing the posts. We decided that since Marguerite was my grandmother and Shannon consulted with me quite a bit when writing posts this past year, it would make more sense if they came from my perspective. And now, on to our first post of 2017!

With the cold of winter all around us, now is a good time to have simple meals that can keep you warm. What could be better than a nice homemade spaghetti sauce? Marguerite’s spaghetti sauce is very simple with only a few basic ingredients, making it a perfect easy sauce recipe.

Here’s what Marguerite had to say:

We decided to skip the mushrooms in this sauce, because, not everything needs mushrooms. In typical Marguerite fashion, we were missing some information. Such as: how many ounces were the standard cans of ingredients back in her day?We turned again to my mom to ask what the typical can sizes would have been at the time. She distinctly remembered Marguerite using the small 6 0z cans of tomato paste. So with all my questions answered, it was time to make some sauce. While making this we totally couldn’t stop saying “sauce” in very bad long-island accents.

As I mentioned before, this recipe has very few ingredients. Even though the spaghetti sauce has to simmer for quite a while, it was nice to only need about ten minutes of prep before this recipe was cooking on its own. Checking on it now and then, plus making sure to stir it occasionally, the three hours went by smoothly and at the end we had an easily made sauce. After cooking up some spaghetti (appropriate) to go with our sauce, it was time to try it out.

The theme of this sauce was simple and that is also how it tasted. I really mean simple in a good way, in that there weren’t too many flavors crammed into this. I thought it was very tasty and I enjoyed it, but I also felt it was just a little too thin. Shannon thought it was delicious and it reminded her of her Italian grandmother’s homemade spaghetti sauce a bit as well. All in all, a great homemade spaghetti sauce!

Spaghetti Sauce

CourseMain Dish

Prep Time

10 minutes

Cook Time

3 hours

Prep Time

10 minutes

Cook Time

3 hours

Spaghetti Sauce

CourseMain Dish

Prep Time

10 minutes

Cook Time

3 hours

Prep Time

10 minutes

Cook Time

3 hours

Ingredients

1 lb ground beef
1 tbsp minced onion
3 6 oz cans tomato paste
1 29 oz can spaghetti sauce
1 tsp minced garlic
6 6 oz cans water

Servings:

Instructions

Brown ground beef with onion in a skillet.
Combine tomato paste, spaghetti sauce, garlic, and 5 cans of water in a large saucepan. Add ground beef to mixture, and use final 6 oz can of water to rinse skillet.
Simmer for 2 1/2 to 3 hours.

Share this Recipe

Powered byWP Ultimate Recipe

January 14, 2016 by: Shannon and Aaron

Homemade Spaghetti Sauce (Meatless)

If you’re looking for an easy homemade sauce recipe, this is about as easy as it gets. The ingredients are few and the steps are simple.

My Italian roots came out in full while making this. You know that Family Guy episode where Peter thinks he can speak Italian and just shouts “Boopa-dee bappa-dee” at people? That was me the entire time we were in the kitchen making this. Aaron was not amused.

Here is what Marguerite had to say:

We’re pretty sure the above recipe meant she was using canned tomatoes most of the time, but we wanted to do this “right” so we went for fresh ingredients. Neither of us knew what to do with the tomatoes, and Marguerite, being an accomplished cook, did not need to leave herself notes on the subject for when she was using fresh tomatoes.

Look at those fresh ingredients!

Google and our mothers proved to be immensely helpful in figuring out how to start on this homemade sauce.

After figuring out how many tomatoes we needed and how to peel them (more on that later), we were able to get on with the sauce.

For our version, we only used one onion instead of the three originally called for. We’re assuming back in the day onions were quite a bit smaller because a lack of pesticides and such.

Next time we make this, we’ll probably cut back on the green pepper as well, because it overpowered the other flavors. We’ve noted in our version below to only use half a green pepper instead of a whole. We’ll also try to cube the tomatoes a bit smaller because the sauce was a little too chunky.

Our whole apartment smelled delicious while we made this (as did our entire floor. You’re welcome, neighbors!) We started a batch of spaghetti just as the sauce was finishing so we could enjoy it right away. When everything was cooked, we poured on the sauce, topped it all with basil and parmesan, and enjoyed a delicious meal.

We had plenty left over, which we promptly jarred up and froze for later use.

If you try this recipe, let us know how you adjusted the ingredients to suit the pasta sauce to your taste!

Homemade Sauce (Meatless)

A traditional, homemade sauce. Uses all fresh ingredients and no meat.

CourseOthers

Servings	Prep Time
4-6 (depending on how much sauce you like on your pasta)	25 minutes

Cook Time

1.5 hours

Servings	Prep Time
4-6 (depending on how much sauce you like on your pasta)	25 minutes

Cook Time

1.5 hours

Homemade Sauce (Meatless)

A traditional, homemade sauce. Uses all fresh ingredients and no meat.

CourseOthers

Servings	Prep Time
4-6 (depending on how much sauce you like on your pasta)	25 minutes

Cook Time

1.5 hours

Servings	Prep Time
4-6 (depending on how much sauce you like on your pasta)	25 minutes

Cook Time

1.5 hours

Ingredients

10 large tomatoes (or 1 quart if using canned)
1 can tomato paste
1 large onion
2 tablespoons sugar
1 clove garlic
1/2 green pepper
butter
salt and pepper to taste

Servings: (depending on how much sauce you like on your pasta)

Instructions

Fresh Tomato Prep

If you're using canned tomatoes, skip these steps. If using fresh tomatoes, you'll need to peel them. We used the boil method.
Bring a pot of water to boil. Next to the stove, have a bowl of cold water (as cold as you can get it. Maybe even add ice cubes.)
Cut off the stems and things from the top of the tomatoes. Cut an x in the bottom of each tomato.
Drop a few tomatoes at a time into the boiling water. Spoon out after 25 seconds (don't leave them in any longer) and drop into cold water.
Once they're in the cold water for a few seconds, the x on the bottom should already begin the peeling process. Remove them from the cold water and peel the rest of the skin right off.
Cube the tomatoes. How small you cube them will depend on how chunky you want your sauce.

Main Instructions

Once your tomatoes are prepped, put them in a pot with the paste and sugar. Salt and pepper to taste.
Simmer while you prep the other ingredients.
Chop onion, pepper, and garlic. Steam and slightly brown in a pan with butter.
Add to the tomato mixture. Turn your stove top to a low/medium heat. Cook for an hour and a half.
If you're planning on using this right away, start the water for your pasta with about 20 minutes left on the sauce. Preserve any leftovers in a jar and refrigerate or freeze.

Recipe Notes

Be sure to use a larger pot so the sauce is more evenly spread over the heat and doesn't burn on the bottom. Also be sure to use a low enough heat.

Share this Recipe