Louise’s Sauce for Pasta

My sister-in-law Louise is a fabulous cook.  She trained at a local college in the culinary arts and ended up becoming a cordon bleu chef.  After working in many of the finest restaurants in various cities around the world, she ended up in Washington and opened her own catering business, catering for diplomats and embassy functions.  There are many people that remember her cooking, just like I do.  I’ve often collected and saved her wonderful healthy recipes.

She eventually became a manager at a very large catering company.

Recently visited Louise and my brother in the capital and got to sample some more of her wonderful skills at preparing dishes that are divine.

Here’s a simple recipe for her great pasta sauce, when you want something different to dress your pasta.  Louise served it with a ravioli type pasta, but it’s good on any type of pasta.

3 shallots, chopped finely
white wine – 1/2 cup
pesto – 3 tablespoons
cream – 35% – 1/2 a small thing
1 tomato finely chopped

Simmer until it reduces, blends, dissolves.  Serve on fresh pasta.  Delicious!

Golden Cheese Soup

This recipe from my kitchen comes from a woman I met in New Zealand called Connie Kramer.  I met her long ago when I was on vacation, visiting my great aunt.  We were visiting and she served us this delicious cheese soup.  I loved it so much that I asked her for the recipe and this is her recipe.

The problem with this recipe is that it is very rich.  You could substitute a low fat chedder cheese and a low fat milk, I suppose, but I’ve never done that.  This is quick and easy to make and delicious!

Ingredients:

2 oz of butter or margarine

2 oz of flour

1/2 pint of chicken stock

4 – 6 oz of cheddar cheese – grated

2 carrots grated

Directions:  Heat butter or margarine in a pan, stir in flour & cook over low heat for several minutes.  Gradually add milk, stirring, and the chicken stock, bring to a boil.  Stir well till thickened. Add grated carrots.  Cook for a few minutes only.  Then add grated cheese.  Heat until melted.  Garnish with some parsley.

Gallo Pinto Recipe

Gallo pinto is the most common food served in Nicaragua. This is typical Nicaraguan food, but is found on many dishes in Latin America, from breakfast right through dinner. It’s easy to make, cheap and is a substitute for potatoes. Basically, it’s the rice and beans dish you will have at served at many meals in Nicaragua.  This is a dish that literally goes with anything, eggs, meat, fish.  Some people even eat this dish as an entire meal.

1 liter of coconut milk
2.5 lb rice
1 lb red beans (in Cuba they use black beans)
2 small bell peppers diced
2 onions diced
1 tablespoon of black pepper

First, cook beans until they are soft. Place coconut milk in a large pot and add the beans. Just before it starts to boil, add the bell pepper, black pepper and the onions. Stir . As soon as it is boiling. Add the rice and cook until the water has evaporated. Serves 10 – 12 people.

Greek Meat Pie

A wonderfully delicious Greek meat pie recipe made from phyllo pastry from my kitchen. Absolutely wonderful Mediterranean dish.

1 lb. ground beef chuck, lean
1 lb. ground lamb, lean
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 onions, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon oregano, crushed
1 cup tomato sauce
pinch of cinnamon
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup butter, melted
12 sheets Phyllo pastry

In a skillet, saute ground meat in olive oil with onions until browned. Season with salt, oregano and pepper. Add tomato sauce, cinnamon.

In a small bowl, beat eggs and stir in cheese. When ground meat has cooled, fold in the eggs and cheese mixture.

Butter a 9×13 inch baking pan. Arrange six sheets of Phyllo pastry on bottom of pan, buttering each sheet. Spread a layer of cooled meat mixture evenly on Phyllo. Cover with remaining six sheets, brushing each with melted butter.

Trim edges of Phyllo to fit pan with a sharp knife. Slice through top of pastry to form diamond shapes.

Bake in a preheated 350°F oven until pastry is golden crisp.

May be served hot or cold.