Glady's Famous Marinara Sauce and Meatballs (optional)

Marinara Sauce
Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

• 2 cans of whole peeled tomatoes
• 2 cans of tomato paste
• 6 gloves of garlic
• Salt and pepper (to taste)
• 1-2 tablespoons of sugar
• 1-2 teaspoons of crushed red pepper
• 4 tablespoons of olive oil
• 10-12 fresh chopped basil leaves
• 1.5 tablespoons oregano

Instructions:

1. Pour contects of tomato cans into large bowl.  Squish tomatoes with bare hands into smaller pieces.  Add tomato paste until desired thickness and mix together.
2. Heat olive oil in large saucepan.  Dice garlic and saute garlic in heated olive oil for one minute. 
3. Add tomato and paste into pan.  Mix together and add sugar, salt, crushed red pepper, and basil.
4. Cook on low heat with lid on for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add oregano.  Cook an additional 5 minutes.  Add salt, pepper, red pepper, oregano and sugar as desired to taste.   

Meatballs (optional)
Makes one dozen 2" meatballs.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb of chopped meat
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1/2 cup of Parmesan or Romano cheese
• 1 slice of bread soaked in milk
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 teaspoon of pepper
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1 tablespoon of parsley
• 1 tablespoon of basil

Instructions:

1. Mix all of the ingredients together in a large bowl.  
2. Form small balls and fry in olive oil until cooked through.

"Gem's Stuff" (Jamaican Stew)

Made by Erin's parents for many years, as learned from an old family neighbor and friend from Jamaica, Gem (and further revised to reduce spiciness).

Ingredients:

• 6 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 large green pepper, chopped about an inch long
• 1 medium tomato, chopped
• 4 stalks of celery, chopped
• 1 lb baby carrots
• 1 1/2 lbs beef cubes
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 5 potatoes, cut bite sized
• Rice of your choosing

Instructions:

1. Cook rice according to package directions.
2. In a large pot, brown beef cubes. 
3. Move beef to side of pot and add garlic and cook until golden.  Mix with beef cubes.
4. Add soy sauce and continue to cook.
5. Once hot, add all vegetables (except carrots) and continuously stir until softened.
6. Add 3 cups of water and carrots.  Continue to cook on high until carrots are tender.
7. Add 2 cups of water and potatoes.  Cook until potatoes are tender.
8. Add on top of rice and serve!

The McLean family resided next to Erin's family and being Jamaican, they cooked us many dishes from their country.  Gem taught Wendy and Michael how to make this dish with many spices, but Wendy and Michael revised this dish to reduce spiciness for their two young children at this time.  It still remains a family favorite and Jason also loves this dish.  

Mac and Cheese Casserole Dish

As made by Erin's parents for many years.

Ingredients:

• 5 cups of elbow noodles
• 1 lb. extra sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
• 5 cups of milk
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1/8 teaspoon of black pepper
• 3 heaping tablespoons of cornstarch 
• Bread crumbs (optional)

Instructions:

1. Cook elbow noodles according to package instructions.  Drain and place in a casserole dish.  Reserve remaining noodles for later.
2. In a medium pot, add the shredded cheese, milk, salt, and pepper.  Cook on medium until cheese and milk are incorporated, stirring very often.
3. After lumps start to disappear in the milk, raise heat to high and stir continuously until lumps subside and milk becomes creamy.
4. In a cup, mix cornstarch with water until disolved.  Add half of this to creamy mixture and stir thoroughly for a minute.  Add the rest of cornstarch mix and continue to stir thoroughly until creamy mixture thickens.  Turn off.
5. Add the creamy sauce over the elbow noodles in casserole dish and blend thoroughly.  Fill dish with more noodles and continue to blend together.  Add the rest of the sauce until dish is full.
6. Add bread crumbs on top (optional).
7. Place covered dish on a baking sheet.  Bake in oven at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes.

This was often made by Erin's parents, Wendy and Michael.  After Wendy passed away, Erin realized that Wendy never left a recipe for this dish.  Michael, who cooks this from memory, helped Erin record this recipe for family, friends, and future generations to enjoy.

Whole Grain Rotini with Tuscan Kale

As retrieved from "Small Changes, Big Results" by Ellie Krieger.

Serves 6.
Calories: 420.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound whole-grain rotini or fusilli
• 1/3 cup pine nuts
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1 bunch (3/4 pound) lacinato (aka Tuscan) kale or tender regular kale, stems and center ribs discarded
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions:

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Add the pasta and cook according to the directions on the package.
2. Meanwhile, toast the nuts in a small dry skillet over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until golden brown and fragrant, about 3 minutes.  Remove from the heat.
3. Slice the kale leaves very thin and place them in a large bowl.  When the pasta is done, drain it, and, while it is still hot, add to the kale along with the garlic, oil, vinegar, pine nuts, salt, pepper, and Parmesan cheese.  Toss well to combine.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

This makes for yummy, healthy eating, as suggested by Kathleen!  

Marinated Cornish Game Hens

As retrieved from reluctantentertainer.com.

Preparation time: 6 hours
Cooking time: 1 hour
Serves 4.

*Double the sauce ingredients for every 2 hens you cook.

Ingredients:

• 2 game hens, split in half
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 3 garlic cloves, sliced
• 1 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons lime juice

Instructions:

1. Lay hens skin side down in glass dish.  Prick each several times with a fork.  
2. In a blender or food processor, blend all of above ingredients until smooth, about 1 minute.
3. Place hens in a ziplock bag (you can double bag); pour marinade oven hens in the bag; seal bag and refridgerate 6 to 24 hours, turning occasionally.
4. Transfer hens to a 9x13 baking dish, singler layer, skin side up.  Reserve marinade.
5. Roast at 400 degrees F for 1 hour.  Baste with marinade every 15 minutes.
6. Serve right away.

Erin decided to cook an entirely different dish!  Someone had once grilled cornish game hens for her and she loved it, so she wanted to make a dish for Jason's family.  Because of inclement weather, Erin chose to do a dish that she could make in the oven instead.  She brought five hens (1 hen per person, but later discovered that this was a lot and served about 10 people.  It did make for great leftovers!).  Because this was Erin's first time splitting hens, she had difficulty with it and decided to debone and deskin all of the hens at once, placing only the meat and the marinade in the bag.  It was still very delicious.  This recipe will be reserved for special occasions because 1) cornish game hens were difficult to find in Brooklyn and 2) cornish game hens are expensive!   

Sauteed Brussel Sprouts with Lemon and Pecan

As retrieved from myrecipes.com.

Serves 4.
Calories:  132.
Total: 20 minutes.

Ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 1/2 cups prechopped onion
• 1/3 cup fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth
• 1 pound Brussel sprouts, trimmed and halved
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Instructions:

1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  
2. Add thyme and onion to pan; saute 3 minutes.  
3. Add broth and Brussel sprouts; bring to a boil.  
4. Cover and simmer 6 minutes or until crisp-tender.  
5. Stir in pecans, lemon rinds, lemon juice, and black pepper.

Jennifer tried several different ways to make brussel sprouts, and some tasted bad and others- not so bad.  Jason and I tried this recipe (since we had a lot of brussel sprouts we had to use up and cook before they went bad) and this was one of those not so bad recipes.  The best we could do with brussel sprouts so far (the pecans truly make a difference).  

Quinoa Side Dish

As retrieved from allrecipes.com.

Serves 4.

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Ready in 35 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 cup uncooked quinoa
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 2 teaspoons chopped garlic
• 2 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
• 1/2 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 dash fresh lemon juice (optional)

Instructions:

1. Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat.  Add quinoa, and toast, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, about 5 minutes.  Stir in broth, and bring to a boil.  Reduce to a simmmer, cover, and cook for 15 minutes, or until quinoa is tender.
2. In a bowl, toss quinoa together with garlic, parsley, thyme, salt, and onion.  Sprinkle with lemon juice (optional) and serve.

Jason's father, Frank loves to make quinoa as a healthy subsitute to rice for dinner.  Jason and I found this recipe to add flavor to it, and it came out delicious!