both sound wonderful, Lee

--
Have a wonderful day

"Evelyn" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Julie Bove" > wrote in message
> ...
>>
>> "Evelyn" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>>
>>> "Julie Bove" > wrote in message
>>> ...
>>>>
>>>> "Evelyn" > wrote in message
>>>> ...
>>>>> Whenever I have to use jarred sauce, I always add a can of tomatoes to
>>>>> it. I never use dried onion, as it disagrees with my stomach. I
>>>>> often will sautee some onion and garlic and then add some marsala
>>>>> wine, and the jarred sauce and tomatoes. A pat of butter goes a
>>>>> long way towards making sauce from a jar more palateable. We like
>>>>> Prego sauces when I need to use sauce from a jar. But the very best
>>>>> sauce from a jar I have ever tasted is from a local market and they
>>>>> sell their own brand. It is similar to homemade.
>>>>
>>>> I used to use wine in cooking but am not supposed to have liquor now.
>>>> I did have some in that beef that I bought at Costco.
>>>>
>>>> I would never put butter in a red sauce even if I were not allergic.
>>>> Olive oil, yes.
>>>
>>>
>>> It's quite delicious and a Northern Italian thing. Most Americans are
>>> not that familiar with Northern Italian cooking and in different regions
>>> of Italy different ingredients are used. Olive oil is used everywhere,
>>> but in the North in particular a lump of butter is often added to sauce
>>> just before using it. It stretches the sauce, adds greatly to the
>>> flavor, and softens the sharpness of the tomatoes. Of course if you
>>> are allergic, it is a moot point, so forget I suggested it.
>>
>> Hmmm... I had a roommate who was Northern Italian and she never did
>> that. She did however fry the heck out of the dried seasonings before she
>> put the tomato sauce in. In those days I don't think we ever had olive
>> oil in the house. Most likely it was Wesson. She was also a terrible
>> cook. Whenever she invited her boyfriend to dinner he would call me and
>> ask me who was cooking. He had to call me because if he asked her she
>> would get angry at him. Hehehe.
>
>
> LOL! That sure blows up the mistaken belief that all italian girls are
> good cooks! Well I do know a bit about Italian cookery, even if I am not
> italian myself. Different areas of the country use different techniques
> in sauce making. Some use spices and some don't. To some, the very
> presence of garlic is offensive,....... to others they load it up! My
> first husband was Italian and of his two grandmothers, I had to learn a
> bit about their different philosophies of cooking. One (the northern
> one) made a sauce so delicate and so clear it was really quite wonderful.
> She put the garlic in the oil only for a moment to flavor the oil, then
> removed it. The only spice she would use was basil and parsley, and of
> course salt and pepper. The tomatoes had to be super strained, and no
> seeds! She had a special mill to strain out the seeds. She would lace
> it liberally with butter. The other grandmother, who was from Sicily,
> would put everything but the kitchen sink into her sauce. She would
> have wild mushrooms, a chunk of lamb, a chunk of beef, meatballs,
> sausages, lots of spices, you name it...... it was in there. Both
> sauces were delicious and unique in their own way. I still make the
> northern grandma's sweet mild sauce with all the butter once in a while.
> It goes fantastic with ravioli, by the way.
>
> --
>
> Evelyn
>
> "Even as a mother protects with her life her only child, So with a
> boundless heart let one cherish all living beings." --Sutta Nipata 1.8