The Tastes of New York City

Recipe Books For NYC ethnic and neighborhood traditional foods, as well as treats from my own heritage. I'm a "blend" of Italian, Polish, Russian, Czech, and many members of my family were immigrants - i grew up in a neighborhood made up of dozens of etchnic derivations, so I was lucky to have been raised on fabulous home-cooked "old country" foods.

Brooklyn is a melting pot unto itself. Settled by the Dutch, and then home to waves of immigrants, including the Irish, Jews, Scandinavians, Italians, Germans, Poles, Hispanics, African Americans, Greeks, and Middle Easterners, the borough is rich in culinary history.

Here's my recipe for Italian marinara pasta sauce, modernized a tiny bit by
being slow-cooked in a crockpot, rather than the traditional favorite battered,
black bottomed, large saucepan found in many family kitchens- 8 or more servings

*You can still use that favorite saucepan, just adjust the heat to simmer
on low, adjust the cooking time, and don't use the high heat at all

Hearty Marinara Sauce

-1 large can of tomato puree or crushed tomatoes
1 small can of tomato paste with or without italian seasonings
then use the empty can to add one can of water to the pot
-1 tablespoon or more of dried oregano
- 1 bay leaf (remove before serving)
-1 teaspoon dried basil, or crush and
finely chop a few fresh basil leaves
-1 to 1/2 teaspoons sugar (to taste)
-small pinch of crushed red pepper or more to taste
(optional, but combined with the sugar,it adds zest to the sauce)
-3 tablespoons of chopped garlic in olive oil
or 2 whole cloves of garlic crushed and chopped
3 tablespoons dehydrated onion flakes or 1 large onion chopped fine
-1/4 cup grated romano or parmesan cheese
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 red wine - cooking or table wine

Blend all of the ingredients througoughly in the crockpot, set it on low for about 10 hours or set it on high for
about six hours. stir it now and then to keep it from sticking to the bottom. It's ready when it tastes ready,
so the times are approximate. You can make a meat sauce with this recipe, but you'll need to add a little
more water or wine as it cooks - the recipe above is for a thick and hearty tomato sauce, and the meat will absorb some of it. Brown the meat, drain it, and don't add until the last hour of cooking in the crockpot.

Refrigerate any leftovers. Sauces taste even
better after they "sit" and the flavors blend

click the recipe books below for the details