Classic Marinara
Homemade marinara is one of the easiest sauces to make and is truly worth the [tiny] effort. This dish, when made from scratch, has amazing flavor and consistency and takes only a few minutes to pull together. Even better, the ingredients are pantry staples that you most likely have on hand so you can easily come home and throw dinner together with minimal effort any night.
Classic Marinara
Ingredients
¼ C olive oil
8 garlic cloves
28oz can tomatoes
1 C water
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp crushed red pepper
Directions
1. In a low and wide skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Stir in the garlic when hot and stir until aromatic, roughly 30 seconds.
2. Add the tomatoes to the skillet and immediately add water to the can, swirl and pour into the sauce. Stir in the herbs and red pepper. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes or until thickened.
3. Optional: Add the sauce to a blender and roughly chop to create a smooth consistency.
Bone Broth
There are few things as versatile, easy, cheap and carefree as homemade bone broth. For years, I was a slave to boxed broth and bouillon. I was addicted to the convenience, flavor, shelf life and well, salt. I am a fan of roasting entire chickens. Even though I knew I should use the bodies for stock, it always seemed like such a chore. I had made it in the past with leftover kitchen scraps and it was delicious but who has time to stand over a stove and stir chicken body around a stock pot? Not me!
I fell back in love with bone broth when I started making Pho. The broth in pho is the star. Sure, an egg, freshly grilled chicken and garnish is nice but when you really have good pho, it’s all about the broth. This revelation inspired me to approach this idea to every broth I make.
By playing around with different herbs, spices and aromatics, I soon realized that broths can be wildly versatile. Once you have the basic recipe down, you can get creative with how your broth tastes. Try a basic chicken stock like the one below, or the one I make for my Pho that has a spicy and slightly sweet flavor. Once you try chili with a homemade beef broth, your life will change forever.
One last thing to love about making homemade stock: It can be completely free. Every time I roast a chicken, I carve the entire thing and throw the carcass in a Ziplock and freeze it. Then, as I prep things like whole carrots, celery and onion, I throw the ends into another bag and freeze those. When it comes time to make the stock take both bags out, empty them into a pot and start adding your spices. Almost free.
Here are the basics.
Chicken Bone Broth
Ingredients
1 chicken carcass
1 cup roughly chopped carrots
1 cup roughly chopped celery
2 onions, quartered
3 garlic cloves
3 T salt
1 tsp black peppercorns
½ tsp white peppercorns
2 sprigs fresh thyme
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
2 bay leaves
Directions
Using butchers twine, make a small bouquet with the herbs.
In a large stock pot, combine all of the ingredients for the broth, cover with water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 1½ hours. Strain through a fine mesh sieve into a large bowl