Comfort Food

Some days you really just need that comfort, comfort food that is.  That is where Italian food comes into play for me.  Being Asian, you would think that Asian and Filipino food would comfort me, but no no no, Dad would always make chicken alfredo or marinara with italian sausage in it.... That makes it feel like home to me.

So yesterday I made one of my very favorites (and I made sure I had plenty of sauce left over for lunch!)  I sort of used Pioneer Woman's Recipe for Tomato Cream Sauce.  Because of course, she is a genius, I have picked up lots of her tips throughout her posts.  So to start off, I got everything ready (because Caleb must have meat in every meal, I put baked chicken in the sauce). 

So Monday while I was making the Chicken and Dumplings, I also cooked the other half of the chicken package (I used one and half breasts in the Chicken n' Dumplings and the other one and a half in the spaghetti).  The chicken for the spaghetti was brined and then cooked by first searing it in a cast iron then putting the whole thing into the oven (375 degrees for about 30 minutes) with some white wine to help give it flavor and not stick. 

So I enlist Caleb's help to shred the chicken while I start the rest of the sauce.  I saute onions with salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and oregano.  Then I add two roma tomatoes, diced and saute that after adding some rosemary and thyme.  Also, another tip... SUGAR! It counters the acidity (so I'm told) of the tomatoes, but mostly just makes it delicious!  Then I add a can of tomato sauce (no seasoning - found in the canned vegetable aisle next to the canned tomatoes), fresh basil, and about a cup of red wine. I let all of this simmer while I cook the pasta (whole wheat linguine) and the garlic cheese biscuits (well Caleb cooked those).  So then after letting it simmer for 20 minutes or so I add some heavy cream (yes, heavy :)).  Stir it all together, and what have I got? Yummy, Delicious, Sauce!  So after all of that I also add some mozzarella cheese as well as Parmesan!

So, since learning from the best (Pioneer Woman) I also add some parmesan to the noodles before putting the sauce on top (I also added basil, but you can't see it because I forgot to before I took the pictures)

So then I top the pasta with LOTS of the sauce and add some more cheese (PW says you can never have too much cheese and I completely and utterly agree).  Then voila! One of my favorite meals!  Now please, please, please make your own spaghetti sauce! It is so so so much better! (We do have a can of ragu, but we use it for the turkey meatballs we sometimes make on the weekends). 

So here is Hercules with my plate (mine is about the same size as Caleb's because, let's face I could eat pounds of this stuff...) Now you can tell by the color of the sauce that it has cream in it because my spaghetti sauce is usually much darker (usually due to the addition of red wine).

This is Caleb's plate, and let me tell you what, we scraped those babies clean... mmhmm I love spaghetti oh so much.

Also, for those keeping up, I finished Catching Fire last night... WOW (I may like it more than the first). And I've started Mockingjay.... Can't wait... I've heard such mixed reviews that I want to be able to have my own opinion on it, which of course I'll share with everyone. 

Now don't get worried, but this will be the last post for the week. Caleb and I are getting half priced sushi tonight with his friend Andy, and my friends Kristian, Brooke, Haley, and Arae. Then we are heading to Nashville to see his family. I CANNOT wait! First of all, I love his family, second of all, I love Nashville! Maybe I'll blog about our adventures there, but I won't be cooking, I'll be enjoying delicious food with his family! Something that is hard for me to master... Southern fare.  I try hard, but it's just never as good as with his Mom and Mama Lou.  Just like my asian and friend rice is never as good as my Mom's.