Meaty Pasta Sauce

Decided to try some homemade spaghetti sauce.  Here is the recipe I eventually arrived at...

Meaty Pasta Sauce


Ingredients:

• 1 bulb garlic, small dice
• 1 onion, small dice
• 1 Tbsp Basil
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 3 cans (15oz) tomato sauce
• 3 Tbsp Balsamic vinegar
• 1 lb ground beef
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• ½ cup red wine (I used a de-alcoholized Merlot)
• 3 Tbsp masa flour

Directions

1) In a sauce pan, sauté onion and garlic in olive oil until soft
2) Add Basil and mix well
3) Add tomato sauce and Balsamic vinegar and mix well.
4) In separate skillet, brown beef with salt and pepper and Worcestershire sauce.
5) When meat is cooked, drain the grease and run the meat through a food processor to get it finely chopped. Then add it to the sauce pan.
6) De-glaze the skillet with the wine.
7) Add masa flour to the skillet and stir to create a paste. Add the paste to the sauce and mix well.

Not sure if the wine or Worcestershire sauce added a discernible flavor, but the Balsamic vinegar certainly did.  I had read recipes where people used sugar to cut down on the potential bitterness of the tomato sauce.  Well, the Balsamic vinegar essentially served that purpose and gave the sauce a rich, slightly sweet  flavor as well.  The masa flour could have been omitted had I had enough time to let the sauce reduce.  I could also have used some other Italian seasonings with this, but I found it to be fairly balanced as it was.  Definitely a recipe I would try again.

Chili Competition

Participated in my first chili cook-off yesterday.  Available categories were beef, alternate, and fire extinguisher.  My cooking partner and I opted for the alternate category and we used a combination of ground beef, bison, and pork sausage as the protein.  We didn't win, but I think we plated a very tasty offering.  Here's the recipe we used:

Medium Heat Three Meat Four Bean Chili


Ingredients:

· 1 lb ground beef
· 1 lb ground bison
· 1 lb ground pork sausage
· 2 ½ Vidalia onions, diced
· 7 cloves garlic, minced
· 3 stalks celery, diced
· 7 Tbsp chili powder
· 3 Tsp cumin
· 6 Tsp oregano
· 3 Tsp paprika
· 1 Tsp cayenne pepper
· 6 Tbsp masa
· 1 can (15 ½ oz) dark kidney beans, drained
· 2 cans (15 ½ oz) light kidney beans, drained
· 1 can (15 ½ oz) pinto beans, drained
· 1 can (15 ½ oz) black beans, drained
· 2 cans (28 oz) peeled and diced tomatoes – reserve liquid
· 2 cans (15 oz) tomato sauce
· 1 can (7.5 oz) chipotle chiles en adobo
· 3 cups chicken stock
· 2 Tbsp olive oil

Directions:

1) Combine meat and brown in skillet. Drain excess fat
2) Add onion, garlic, and celery to a stockpot with olive oil and sauté until onion is translucent
3) Add meat, spices, beans, tomatoes, tomato sauce, and chicken stock. Cook until tomatoes are broken up
4) Puree chipotle chiles en adobo and add to stock pot.
5) Mix masa with 1 cup reserved tomato juice and add to mixture. Simmer on low.