homage to you

When I think about the preceding Mrs. Gallo, memories of a most fine, warm and lovely woman come to mind.  She was my benchmark to Andrew's palate.  I never could or would expect to supersede her sauce making prowess, I could at the very least, try to emulate her proficiency.  I know that I have "Mrs. Gallo Goggles", and I am OK with that.

Saturday morning arrived bright and early, I commenced the "sauce making",  I just needed to go outside to get the herbs that I needed. 

Shallots, onions and garlic were to be my beginning.  I chopped and diced all. Then put them in their respective bowls.  I needed to chop enough of each so that I could add them to both the sauce and meatballs.   The white bowls were for the meatballs and the blue for the sauce.

The tomatoes were a combination of Roma and San Marzano.  I like to use both.  I usually add one large can of paste.

 I love to make sauce, it gives me a feeling of connection, of family, and accomplishment.  I follow the rules that I have learned and I am rewarded with taste and flavor.

I combined the ingredients for the meatballs, then I set the mixture aside for a little while so that the flavors would meld together.

I roasted the pork, you need pork, lots of pork.....

When the meats were finished roasting, it was time to make the meatballs.

I made 160 meatballs.  I bake the meatballs first, if I skip this, then they will be too soft and fall apart in the sauce.

I added 2 pork braccioles and lots of medium size chunks of pork rib meat.  About an hour later I added all the meatballs into the pot.  I let the sauce cook with lid on til it looked right, then took it half off for about an hour to thicken.  I am using the "new" pot.  My old sauce pot got too thin and the new stove is too hot.  The pot is a good size...26 quarts.  Yeah, no I can't lift it when it is full.  I stand on the the stool to give it a good stir, good thing I have that mini oar.

On Sunday I did the dividing up.....this is what I got.

This is the breakdown, 8 one quart(bright green lid), 6 five cup(blue square), 2 four quart(dark green lid & white lid).

We nibbled on Pork/Beef Parmesan.......

I think that she would tell me that my sauce is good, not near as good as her's she would say in broken English, and I would most definitely be OK with that. 

materfamilias repast

It feels good to have a houseful of people.  Gabriella and Luna came for a few days, Buddy isn't thrilled with Luna because she won't play with him.  Today I got to spend the entire day with my Mom and Dad.   They came yesterday to spend a few days too.  My Mom likes to go to Wegmans and Pastosa's.  So we did both. 

I decided to make risotto for dinner,  Spinach & Cheese sausage, fresh spinach, and chickpeas.  I had made risotto with these ingredients before and it was enjoyed very much. 

I sauteed the shallots in a bit of olive oil and butter, when they were limpish I put in the garlic and cooked til they were done, I then put in the spinach, sauteed it til they were limp, then added in the sliced sausage.  I cooked the sausage til they were caramelized, I took everything out, added a bit more olive oil and butter, added two cups of arborio rice.  Stirring constantly, I cooked the rice til it was lightly golden.  I deglazed the pan with chardonnay, and stirred til it dissipated.  I then did the broth/stir dance til the rice was almost done.  I added the the spinach mixture, 1 cup of secret grated cheese, and 2 tablespoons of butter.  The rest is history....

There are left-overs, so I will send my Mom & Dad home with them, along with sauce for the ravioli she bought. 

In a few days, all will be quiet again......