The Jamaican who thinks she’s Italian
My sister often teases me that I am the only Jamaican who thinks their Italian, and I suppose she’s right. I am so intrigued by the old world and ways of the Italian cooks that I just had to create my own ‘Secret Roll Recipe’ to pass down to my children some day. It took me eight long weeks to create a recipe worthy of passing down to the next generation, but I am proud to say that I have done just that. As much as I would love to share this with you I have to hold true to the Italian ways and keep it among family. ;-)
However, I will share with you my homemade Spaghetti Sauce!
Bekah’s Three Rules to know before you begin ~
One: Keep in mind that NO MATTER WHAT you can never put TOO MUCH Rosemary! If you think it lacks something- Add Rosemary. If you can’t smell it from the other room-Add Rosemary. Rosemary is the answer to a great sauce.
Two: Remember when cooking spaghetti it’s all about smell. Taste will follow!
Three: Salt, Pepper, Rosemary, and Oregano are your best friends.
Now let’s get cooking!
___________________________________
Lets first start with our meat- You will need 4bls of hamb.
Place your hamb. in a bowl and add the following ingredients’:
4Eggs
1tbls Fresh Cracked pepper
1tsp salt
1tbls garlic powder (make sure there is NO salt in your garlic pepper. Otherwise you’re really adding 2tsp of slat to your meat.)
-
Now take your hamb. and by hand work all of the spices together.
When finished mixing the meat, take your tablespoon cookie scoop and begin making the meat balls.
If you have a large electric skillet I would highly suggest using that to cook your meat balls. You can place more on the tray and they cook evenly. Make sure you have theses going before you start on your sauce so they will be nice and hot for serving!
-
Okay now let’s begin making our sauce!
Turn your pan onto low. You want your sauce to simmer, not to boil .
Place four jars of spaghetti sauce (use whatever you keep on hand. My mother has canned ours over the years but we use the store bought brands too. )into your pan and add the following ingredients’:
1tbls Rosemary (make sure your Rosemary is in first so it can soften as you cook your meatballs)
½ -1tsp Celtic Sea Salt (this gives a STRONG salty taste, so only use a little!)
1tbls freshly cracked pepper
1- ½ tsp Oregano
1 4.0 oz can of mushrooms, finally chopped
½ white onion finally chopped
½ tsp cinnamon
-
If you can’t smell that Rosemary add just a pinch more. Rosemary gives a lot of flavor to the dish. Mid way through before you plate taste and see if you like the flavors. I’ve tried to lessen the amount I put in so you can make it to fit the taste of your own family. Increase as you see fit! J
Enjoy!
Miss Bekah Lynn
Bekah, this sounds wonderful!!! And I understand about having some recipes that are just for your family. :D Its taken me a long time to share some of mine.
ReplyDeleteYour spaghetti and meatballs sounds wonderful! I am a big user of Italian seasoning...I need to try adding some rosemary to it next time. Sounds like it makes it extra yummy!!! :D
Thanks again for sharing! I am sure you are a great blessing to your family, Bekah!
Building Home with Him,
Mary Joy
Mmmmmm I can smell it from here and I WANT a bite!!! lol!!! I had to laugh because there is an obvious difference in our size of family by the amount of ground beef and jars of spaghettis sauce your family requires!!! My family would only take 1 lb ground beef and 1 jar of sauce!!! We're a tiny family aren't we!!! Your family is so blessed to have you in the kitchen!!
ReplyDeleteKeep posting your recipes - that was fun AND take a picture - we wanna see!!!!
Much Love,
Courtney
Ms. Mary Jo,
ReplyDeleteI would love to hear what type of seasonings you use! Do you make your own mix or do you buy a pre-made mix?
Ms. Courtney,
I always tell my family that my poor husband will be eating the same meal for days when I cook because I only know how to cook large amount! And thank you for the reminder of taking photos- I will make sure to do that next time! :)
Hello Ladies,
ReplyDeleteI received an email with the following questions- If you have anymore please feel free to email me! :)
Spaghetti sauce: four jars Is this actual jars or cans & approximately how many oz of sauce total?
We use four 20oz. jars.
How long do you let it simmer?
This is a GREAT question! I'm sorry I didn't address it in the post, I didn't even think about it. After making my meat balls and putting them on the skillet I start my sauce and let that simmer on low the whole time I'm cooking my meat balls. *KEEP IN MIND: That the longer you let it simmer the more your sauce will cook down. So if you're making a large batch only add half the sauce until half way through- then go ahead and add the rest.
Also, if you don't have Celtic Salt, can you use regular salt & approx how much would you substitute?
Another great question! I would say start with 2tsp and see how you like that. My family enjoys salt so I'm use-to adding a lot! That's one reason I enjoy cooking with the Celtic Salt, because it doesn't take much to add a 'punch'. My suggestion would be to start with 2tsp and go from there!
Bekah Lynn-- To answer your question, right now I use a premade Italian seasoning that includes thyme, oregano, basil, and the rest are secret (meaning they won't share what they are! LOL )
ReplyDeleteWhen I do my own combo (i.e. run out of Italian seasoning) I use oregano, basil, thyme, celery seed, fresh ground pepper and a very small amount of salt (my hubby has high blood pressure so we try to avoid it).
I am going to try adding Rosemary to the combo and see how it goes over. Thanks for the great idea! :D
Building Home with Him,
Mary Joy
Bekah Lynn--
ReplyDeleteI wanted to tell you that I love that you give recipes for large families! :D We only have 4-5 people at most meals...but I try not to cook something for just one meal. I like to prepare a meal planning to use what is left over for other meals. I am not as good at "doubling and tripling" recipes. With what you share about cooking for large families we with smaller ones, can prepare the same amount and then divide up what is left into one meal portions and freeze them so that we have wonderful meals to go to in our freezer later in the month or the next month. :D So never fear! Your ability to cook large meals will work well for you as you start your family someday...you will easily fill your freezer with yummy meals the way most of us have to work extra hard to do!!! :D
Also...there are a lot of larger families out there who always have to double/triple/quadruple the recipes that those of us with "small" families post. :D So you are blessing everyone!
Just thought I'd tell ya'! You encourage me sweetie! :D
Building Home with Him,
Mary Joy