c is for cookie...

This past weekend was my boyfriends birthday. When I asked him if he wanted any particular type of birthday cake he looked at me and said "cookies?!". I should have known... Matt is a COOKIE MONSTER! Most days when I ask him what he wants for dinner I get "cookies" as a response. Greaaaaaaat, thanks for the suggestion!


Torn between the fact that cookies don't exactly scream birthday celebration I came up with the perfect idea for his birthday treat. I've seen people make chocolate chip cookie dough stuffed cupcakes and I've seen people make cookie monster out of cupcakes so I figured why not combine the two for the ultimate birthday treat?! Most people would look at this cupcake and think it's perfect for a toddler's birthday but I made it for my 29 year old boyfriend who never wants to grow up. Honestly, I hope he never does! 


These cupcakes were really dense and had perfectly doughy cookie batter in the center. For me it was an overload of sweetness but the birthday boy claimed they were "the best cupcakes he's ever had". I'm not going to lie... they were a lot of work to pull off but I have some great improv suggestions below to make them a lot less time consuming and completely approachable for the non-baker! 

cookie dough stuffed cookie monster cupcakes
adapted from kevin & amanda
yields 24 cupcakes
For the cookie dough:

2 sticks butter (softened)
¾ c. sugar
¾ c. brown sugar
4 T. milk
2 t. vanilla extract
2 ½ c. flour
¼ t. salt
1 c. mini chocolate chips

For the cupcakes:
3 sticks butter (softened)
1 ½ c. brown sugar
4 eggs
2 ⅔ c. flour
1 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
¼ t. salt
1 cup milk
2 t. vanilla extract

For the frosting:
3 sticks butter (softened)
¾ c. brown sugar
3 ½ c. powdered sugar
½ t. salt
3 T. milk
1 t. vanilla extract

blue food dye 

For the decorations:

white fondant

black food gel

piping bag with multi-opening tip

mini chocolate chip cookies

For the cookie dough: 

cream butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. add milk, vanilla extract and mix until incorporated. Add flour and salt and combine until dough forms. Then add in mini chocolate chips! Roll into small balls (about 2 T. in size). Place in freezer for at least 2 hours. This can be done a day or two before. 

improv style:

if you don't want to make your own cookie dough, you can buy your favorite tube at the grocery store and roll that into balls. This will save you tons of time and it will turn out just fine! just make sure you use a cookie dough that doesn't have eggs! you wouldn't want to risk getting sick. 

For the cupcakes:

Preheat oven to 350º. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs, 1 at a time. In a smaller bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Slowly add in the dry mixture, alternating with the milk. You want everything to be nice and smooth. Adding in a little milk, then a little of your dry mixture will make that happen! Finally, add in your vanilla. 

Line a cupcake pan with 24 liners. Fill each one about ⅔ full with the batter. Place a frozen cookie dough ball in the center of each one. Bake about 15 - 18 minutes depending on your oven.

Let rest in the pan for about 20 minutes. I was impatient and it didn't work in my favor... learn from my mistakes!

improv style:

you can use your favorite vanilla cupcake recipe here. if you wanted, you could even use a box mix to save lots of time. just follow the directions. also, you could play with the cupcake flavor here... chocolate, funfetti, red velvet. whatever your favorite with cookie dough would be!

For the frosting:

cream butter and sugar in a mixing bowl. Slowly add in powdered sugar. Finally, add in milk, vanilla, and salt. Combine until smooth and creamy! Finally add in enough blue dye to get the desired color you want. I used a gel color that I got at Sur la table but you can use whatever you have on hand.

improv style:

use your favorite frosting recipe here OR you can even use a store bought frosting. i prefer homemade to store bought but that's just me. if making everything from scratch is intimidating, take a few cheats... no one will know! you could also try dying shredded coconut flakes blue and using that if you don't have a decorating tip.

to decorate:

Once cupcakes are cooled, take a little of the frosting and spread around the tops. You don't want to use too much, just enough to get a little base started. 

Fill a piping bag (or ziploc bag) with remaining frosting. I used a multi-opening tip like this one. If you don't have that, you can punch a few holes in the tip of your ziploc bag or just frost it like you usually do. Frost each cupcake... the more imperfections, the better! After all, this is cookie monster!

To make the eyeballs, roll out some fondant (I bought mine but you can make yours if you're feeling really ambitious. Cut into small circles. I didn't have a small circle cookie cutter so I used a decorating tip to make them. If you don't have fondant, you can make the eyes with marshmallows, sugar cookies - get creative! Then I took a q-tip and dipped it into a black food dye gel. If you don't have this you could use chocolate chips or melted chocolate. 

Finally, you're ready to assemble! Take your mini chocolate chip cookie* (home made, store bought, whatever you prefer!) and stuff it near the end of the cupcake edge. Place 2 eyeballs at the top (be sure to have the eyes looking different directions). That's it! A lot of steps, I know. But totally worth it! 

improv style:

you don't even have to make these cupcakes look like cookie monster! you could leave out the food dye, pipe the frosting on top and garnish with a mini chocolate chip cookie or chocolate chips. you could make this ultra sophisticated or keep it playful. even decorating can be improvised!

* I improvised my fully loaded cookie recipe by halving it, and substituting the nuts and chocolate chips for 1 cup of mini chocolate chips. You can make mini versions of your favorite cookie recipe or use a store bought one. You could even buy a pre-made dough and roll them into smaller cookies. Find whatever works best for you.

lemons + italy

I miss Italy. I miss the crowded streets of Rome, the little trattorias with simple, homy meals that warm the soul, the out of line Italian men chanting "Bella bella" as I walk by, the gelateria I lived above with the most amazing and tart grapefruit gelato, I miss my morning cappuccino and corneto stuffed with Nutella - I miss Italy! 


A lot of the trattorias in Italia are small, family owned restaurants. Where the waiters tell you what you're going to eat and how much you're going to love it. They also usually bring out bites of food that you have to try, and trust them, YOU HAVE TO TRY! I love that they treat you like family when you're in their restaurant. No one leaves hungry or thirsty, its just the Italian way. 


We quickly learned that when a restaurant owner brings you a champagne flute filled to the brim with his homemade limoncello, you must drink it. I love lemon so this was never too much of a problem for me. In Italy, lemons are used a lot. Especially in Sorrento where they're famous for their Limoncello and of course, their lemons. When I was there I picked up a bottle for me and a bottle for my mom, so excited to bring a bit of Italy back with me to the states! Awhile later I find that I have this big ole bottle of Limoncello and I've never even opened it! What a crime! 


I decided to put that bottle to work in a summer version of my tiraMOsu! Being one of my favorite desserts, it's only natural to have a fresh seasonal version! It's creamy and rich but bursting with the lightness of tart lemon and luscious raspberries. Unlike my tiraMOsu, this version is best served in 1-2 days instead of 4-6 days. The fresh berries put a shorter timeline on it.

raspberry + limoncello tiraMOsu 
yields 10 - 12 generous servings 
ingredients:

¼ c. limoncello

¼ c. simple syrup

2 lemons (juice + zest)

2 - 8 oz containers of mascarpone @ room temperature

1 t. vanilla extract

1 c. heavy whipping cream

8 egg yolks*

½ c. granulated sugar

1 T. limoncello

2 pints raspberries

2 boxes (~60) dry biscuit lady fingers*

In a shallow dish, combine limoncello, simple syrup**, and juice from 2 lemons. Set aside.

Meanwhile, beat egg yolks with sugar on high until it becomes light and forms ribbons. Add 1 T. limoncello, zest of 2 lemons, softened mascarpone and vanilla extract. Mix until well combined. In a separate bowl beat whipping cream until stiff peaks form. Be careful not to turn it to butter though! Gently fold half of the whipped cream mixture into the mascarpone mixture. Then add remaining whipping cream mixture, stir just until incorporated.

You're all set to assemble! For this recipe I made it in a round souffle pan but you can use whatever dish you prefer. Individual glasses are really pretty too! Start by quickly dipping 1 ladyfinger in the limoncello mixture. This is the key to the perfect tiramisu... make sure you don't dip the cookies for too long, they'll get soggy. Literally drop the cookie in, flip it real quick and pull it out. Place them in a single layer in the baking dish. Place layer of cream mixture*** on top and evenly spread. Sprinkle some raspberries on top. Add another layer of dipped ladyfingers and then another layer of cream and then raspberries. For my dish I did 4 layers. Just make sure you save enough raspberries for the top of your dish! I garnished with raspberries and a slice of lemon!

* make sure you get the hard cookies, not the soft ladyfingers found in the freezer or refrigerator sections. They should have the sugar crust on one side and snap when broken in half.

** simple syrup is really easy to make. Just use equal parts granulated sugar to water and boil until the water is dissolved. It's great in iced coffee and tea! 

*** note i don't cook my zabaione (the cream, egg, marscapone mixture). you should use the freshest eggs possible to avoid getting sick.

improv style:

this dish is a prime example of an improv recipe... i took a traditional chocolate/espresso tiramisu and made it into a summer dessert by replacing espresso with limoncello and chocolate with raspberries. you could use a different flavored liquor, like chamboard (raspberry flavor) or orange liquor. You can definitely change the berries up, too! strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, marionberries (you get the idea)... even a combo of any of them would be fantastic! You could even do each berry on a different layer - it would be so pretty in a glass dish to see the different colors layered! Also, if you want to make this dish outside of berry season, you can definitely use frozen berries. Just make sure you thaw them out before! Peaches, nectarines, or apricots would be great in this dish as well.

are you outta your mind?!

That's what I thought when I first saw this dish. It was the Summer after I graduated from College. I was nannying for an amazing family before heading off to grad school in the Fall. I got lucky, really lucky. Not only did I get to spend my days playing with two of the cutest little girls but I also got to work for an incredible woman who also knew a thing or two about cooking! 


One night after work we were talking in her kitchen over a glass of rose. My first rose in fact! It was bright, crisp, and perfectly chilled for a warm summer day in Seattle. She started throwing together all the classic ingredients to make bruschetta. Heirloom tomatoes, red onion, minced garlic, fresh basil... and then she started chopping up peaches. PEACHES?! This woman was out of her mind, gross! I love peaches, don't get me wrong, but peaches in a completely savory dish? It didn't seem to fit. Not wanting to be rude, I took what I thought would be my courtesy bite. HOLY MOLY was my mind blown!!! The peaches somehow took on their savory role ten fold. Juicy like a tomato but bright and a little more fleshy. It made all of the other flavors burst. 


This was the first moment I realized you should never judge a dish by your perception of a food. Who says peaches can't be savory? With that, I STRONGLY urge you to try fresh peach bruschetta, you won't regret it! 

fresh peach bruschetta
ingredients:
1 baguette
2 tomatoes diced
1 ripe peach
1 clove of garlic finely minced
½ a red onion finely diced
~15 fresh basil leaves
3 T. olive oil
salt + pepper 


Set oven to broil. Slice baguette and place on baking sheet. Toast in oven until perfectly golden and crunchy. 


In a separate bowl combine the rest of the ingredients and toss. Place heaping spoonfuls over sliced bread. Enjoy! Could it be any simpler?!


improv style:
don't have any peaches on hand? nectarines or fresh apricots would be a great substitution. you can even use frozen peaches if they aren't in season. i wouldn't recommend the canned kind though, too sugary! you can leave out the onion if you're not a fan of raw onion. be warned though, i'm not a raw onion fan either and i think it's fantastic in this application. just make sure you finely chop it! you can use any kind of tomato...  heirloom, cherry, roma, vine ripened... you get the idea. you could even skip the bread and serve this over some grilled chicken breast or toss it in with some fresh pasta. mmmmmmm! 

summa summa summer time!

I've been bad, really bad. I't's been almost a month since I posted, I'm very sorry! With vacations and friends in town I found myself so busy. If I told you I had the most amazing 3 weeks would you be able to forgive me? Because I did. My cousin got married in Tahoe and I was able to spend an entire week in a cabin with 25 family members. It was a mad house of amazingness! I got back and the very next day two of my favorite people came to Chicago for a 5 day visit. It's been a welcome but busy Summer so far!


For me, nothing says Summer like corn on the cob and watermelon. I don't even like watermelon but for some reason it warms my soul. It's one of those foods that shows up for a few short months but leaves memories for a lifetime. Corny? I know... but it's so true! I LOVE Summer! 


Lately I've been making this fabulous Summer Corn Pasta. I can't get enough. I've made it 3 times in the past month. Considering I've been gone for a good part of that month I think it says something about the dish. It's not too heavy, its both sweet and savory, has lots of fresh Summer corn and hits the spot every time. I highly recommend it!

Summer Corn Pasta
yields 6 servings


ingredients:
2 ears of fresh yellow or white corn
1 sweet yellow onion (I prefer walla walla but any will do)
3 T. butter or olive oil
8.8 oz - 1 package pappardelle pasta
8 oz mascarpone cheese
¼ c. parmesan cheese
¼ c cognac or bandy
¼ - ½ c. pasta water
salt + pepper
basil + parmesan cheese for garnish (optional)


Get a large pot of water on the stove and set the burner to high. In the meantime, cut the kernels off the corn. Once you've finished, don't discard the cob! There's a lot of great starches in there that will help flavor and thicken the sauce! With the back of a knife, firmly press down the spine of the cob to extract the pulpy juices. 

Reserve the pulp from both cobs and set aside. 

Next, slice your onion in half and thinly slice it. You can chop it if you prefer but I really like the way the slices look.


In a skillet, melt your butter or oil. Then add in your onions. You don't want to caramelize them, just cook them until they start to get transparent. When that happens, add in your corn kernels and cook for another minute. Add cognac and corn pulp to the pan and let cook for an additional minute (until some of the cognac cooks off). Add in your mascarpone cheese and stir until it's melted and incorporated with the other ingredients. Once this happens put your pasta in the water and cook until al dente (a little bit of a chewy bite to it).


Transfer pasta right from the pot to the pan. It's ok if some of the water gets into the sauce. You're going to add more pasta water anyway. Once pasta is in the pan give it a few good stirs or tosses with tongs. Add in little by little the pasta water. You want it to be a rich, thick sauce but not gloppy. The starches from the corn and from the pasta water will help thin out the mixture but keep it rich and thick at the same time. Finally, add the parmesan cheese and salt + pepper to taste. Garnish with basil and more parmesan cheese if you like. Also, if the sauce starts to thicken up too much, just keep adding more pasta water until it reaches the consistency you prefer.


improv style:
if you don't have fresh corn, you can definitely use thawed frozen corn. you won't get the corn pulp but the sauce will still turn out just fine. you can use shallots or yellow onions if you don't have sweet onions. Even red onion would be pretty in this! as always, you can leave the booze out. i think cognac brings out the sweet flavor of the corn! also, use your favorite pasta type. no need to go out and buy a special type, any will do! 

strawberry dream supreme

I have a bad habit of buying beautiful fresh berries and then being so excited about it that I want to savor them. So I eat one or two a day and before I know it I'm left with a pile of moldy berries. This happens more often than I would like to admit. I could eat a whole pint of raspberries, blackberries or strawberries while standing at the counter... I LOVE them. Every time I try to control my urge to gobble them up, I end up crying a little bit inside when I open up the fridge to find they've gone blue and fuzzy. This time I was determined not to let that happen! 

The grocery store had some gorgeous strawberries the other day and I couldn't resist. I decided to put those babies to work at one of my favorite meals... BRUNCH! In true improv kitchen style I looked in my fridge and worked with what I had. Mascarpone, lemons, strawberries, eggs, half a loaf of challah bread leftover from a bread pudding I had made... stuffed french toast it is! HOLY MOLY was this AH-mazing!

This dish sounds complicated and fancy but it couldn't be farther from the truth! I was surprised how quickly it all came together. When you're trying to be good and not eat out, I definitely recommend this for brunch. It tastes better than most breakfast places and only took 20 minutes to make! 

Strawberry + Mascarpone Stuffed Challah French Toast

yields 5 - 6 servings

ingredients:

1 loaf challah bread cut into 2" slices

1 pint fresh strawberries

6 oz mascarpone cheese

1 t. vanilla extract

3 t. lemon juice (about a half of a lemon squeezed) + zest of whole lemon

3 T. powdered sugar

4 eggs

1 c. milk

1 t. vanilla extract

butter or cooking spray for the pan

In a bowl, mix together mascarpone, vanilla, lemon juice + zest, and sugar. I used an electric mixer to make sure everything was really smooth and creamy. Place the mixture into a ziplock bag and set aside. Slice your strawberries any way you like and place in a bowl. If the berries are a little tart, you can add a little sugar over the top and macerate them (the sugar breaks down the berries a bit and creates nice juices). 

Next, slice your challah into 2" thick slices. Very carefully, slice a 3" cut into the side of your bread. I do mine at the bottom of the loaf because it's most stable there. This will allow you to place the filling into the slices of bread. Before you do that though, get your dipping batter ready. Combine eggs, milk, and vanilla extract in a shallow bowl and beat together. 

Now you're ready to assemble! Cut a hole in the tip of you ziplock bag so you can squeeze the filling into your bread. I stick my finger into the hole and gently make the space a little bigger so I can maximize my filling. If a little oozes out, don't worry. Everything will turn out fine. Once you've filled up your slices, dip your bread into the egg/milk mixture and griddle* those babies up! You can use any cooking method you prefer. I don't have a griddle pan so I just use 2 sauté pans with a little butter in the bottom of the dish. Cook over medium heat for about 2 - 3 minutes per side. Top with fresh sliced strawberries and any extra cheese mixture if you have it. 

*If while you're cooking your french toast the sauce seems to be gushing out, just use a knife to scrape off the excess so it doesn't burn in the pan. You will still have filling on the inside, don't worry! Plus you can always use the extra mixture to place on top of the finished product! Just make sure you're not pressing your french toast with the flat end of the spatula... you want to keep as much of that sauce in there, that's the good stuff!

improv style:

you can use any soft cheese berry combination you like... think raspberry goat cheese with orange zest, or blackberry cream cheese with lime zest... just keep the portions the same. you could even do banana with nutella... mix the nutella with some mascarpone and orange zest for a creamier filling... you really can't go wrong here! you can also substitute fresh berries for frozen if they're out of season or too expensive. if you do use frozen make sure you thaw them and drain before using so it doesn't make your french toast soggy!

happy fathers day, daddy!

For the past few years my sisters and I started a new tradition for Fathers Day. Instead of going to a movie or making him breakfast, we go on a hike through the Pacific Northwest. One of the most beautiful places on earth if you ask me! It's breathtaking, good exercise, and a chance to get away from TV, internet, and life's distractions. Plus it's great family time where we all get to make fun of how ridiculously out of shape we are!

I've missed a few fathers days in the past but this year feels different. I don't have the "I'm in the middle of school and 2000 miles away" excuse. Just the "I live in a new state that isn't remotely close to home" excuse. So while I can't be in Seattle for Fathers Day this year, I can still share my love and appreciation for my Dad with this recipe. It's his favorite cookie, I call them Fully loaded cookies. Because that's what they are, FULLY LOADED. 

This cookie couldn't have more ingredients packed in if you tried. Ok, it could probably have a few more but at some point enough is enough, right?! This recipe is my mom's. I'm not sure where she got it from but it is the perfect cookie, chewy with a little crunch on the outside but not so crunchy that its hard to eat or hurts your mouth. They stay moist for DAYS which is a bonus in my book! They even freeze well! 

When I was living alone I would make a batch, eat about 6 and then freeze the rest. I'd take them out one at a time... sometimes I couldn't wait for them to defrost and you know what, they're amazing frozen too! Now I make these cookies and Matt gobbles them up so fast I could barley get pictures of them! My favorite thing about this cookie is that every one is different. Some have mostly chocolate, others have a lot of nuts. Even when you stir the batter thoroughly you still end up with a slightly different cookie. 

A side note to all you nut haters, I usually live in the "no-nuts" camp too but there's something different about these cookies. They're so addictive! I hope you enjoy them as much as my Dad does!

Fully Loaded Cookies

yields 2 dozen medium sized cookies

ingredients:

1 c. melted butter (yes, melted)

¾ c. brown sugar

¾ c. granulated sugar

1 t. vanilla extract

2 eggs

2 ¼ c. flour

1 t. baking soda

1 t. salt

1 c. dark chocolate chips

2 c. milk chocolate chips

2 c. white chocolate chips

1 c. macadamia nuts

1 c. slightly chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 325º. In a medium to large mixing bowl add melted butter, sugars, eggs, and vanilla... combine well. In a smaller mixing bowl combine flour, salt, and baking soda. Add dry mixture into wet mixture. Stir in the chips and nuts. 

Drop dough on a cookie sheet. Make sure to leave some room for spreading... they do get a little larger when they cook. Bake at 325º for *15 - 18 minutes. 

* Whenever I bake, halfway through the cooking time I rotate the pans and flip them around to ensure 100% even baking. It's my secret to perfectly baked cookies!

improv style:

a lot of people think that you have to follow the recipe EXACTLY in baking... and you do, to an extent. As long as you keep the ratios the same (ie: 2 c. chocolate chips = 2. c substituted dry ingredient) you'll be fine. this can be expensive to make if you're like me and use good quality chocolate and macadamia nuts. holy cow are those nuts expensive! you can easily substitute any of the chocolate or nuts for other ingredients. white chocolate, dried cherry, pistachio would be fantastic. Or butterscotch, chocolate chip with dried apricots and almonds. You can take your favorite ingredients and substitute the chips. Just make sure that you have the same ingredient amount as listed in the recipe (7 cups).  

kitchen bloopers

Everyone at some point in time has had something go wrong in the kitchen... wether it's mistaking salt for sugar, burning the crap out of ____ , having the lid of a spice bottle pop off and DUMPING way more of an ingredient into the pot; we've all been there. 

In my family we have more than a hand full of these stories. The time the turkey was still frozen at Thanksgiving and we ended up eating dinner at 10:30. The time the ham gravy was way too salty (in a family of salt ADDICTS). Burning the garlic bread EVERY time for about a 2 year stretch. The time I used 2 TBSP of salt instead of tsp's in my chocolate chip cookies... the list goes on.

My best food blooper was when I was learning how to cook spaghetti sauce a.k.a. bolognese/marinara (mine is a bit of a combination between the two). I had cooked the sauce with my mom for years, but I had never made it from scratch on my own. The last time my mom and I cooked the sauce together I had her give me exact instructions so I could do it on my own the next time around. About a week later I decided I would surprise my parents and cook dinner for them. 

I grabbed all the herbs, garlic, cans of tomato, and pasta I needed to make the dish. I browned my ground beef like a champ, barley shed a tear when I chopped my onion, I was so proud of myself. I dumped in my spices and then added my cans of tomato. I even found an open bottle of red wine and added a few glugs remembering that my mom told me it added great flavor to the sauce. How many 12 year olds cook with wine?! This girl did! When my parents walked in the door I was elated to tell them I had cooked dinner for them. 

We finally sat down to the table and I served my family the meal I had prepared. Spaghetti and sauce, garlic bread, and salad. As my parents took their first few bites they both looked at each other with a strange smile. My mom inquired what I had used to create such a fabulous sauce. So I went through the ingredients... garlic, onion, italian seasoning, oregano, basil, taragon, onion powder, garlic powder, wait?! TARAGON? YES, I put taragon in my spaghetti sauce. I didn't know herbs. I just knew there were A LOT of dried green spices that went into the pot. My dad got a good chuckle and said "Ah yes, taragon in spaghetti sauce", or something of that sort. To this day it is still my biggest kitchen blooper and one I will never live down. 

You can't take cooking too seriously. Accidents happen, we make mistakes. Don't get defeated when you mess up a recipe. It is NOT the end of the world! Even the most famous chefs have stories like these. It's how we learn and grow as cooks. 

I'm sharing this recipe with you as a request from my good friend Chris. Spaghetti sauce is one of the easiest things to make and it freezes really well. It's SO much better than any jarred sauce and it only gets better the longer it sits. I think it hits its peak of tastiness at 2-3 days leftover.I hope you enjoy my tarragon-free spaghetti sauce!

This ain't no Prego Spaghetti Sauce

adapted from my mom's recipe

yields about 10-12 hearty servings

ingredients:

1lb ground beef (I use 90/10)

1 yellow onion chopped

2 carrots chopped

4 garlic cloves

½ T. italian seasoning

2 T. oregano

1 t. basil

1. t onion powder

1 t. garlic powder

2 bay leaves

1 T. brown sugar (or ¼ port wine)

1 c. red wine (cab sauv or chianti are my favs)

1 - 15 oz can tomato sauce

1 - 15 oz can diced tomato's

1 - 6 oz can tomato paste

olive oil

salt + pepper to taste

In a large sauce pot put enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan in a thin layer. Once hot, crumble ground beef and let it brown. If your pot isn't very large, you can brown your beef in 2 batches. If you put too much meat in the pan, it will steam and turn grey. This isn't the end of the world... but the browning process will add more flavor so be patient and cook it in batches if need be!

Once beef is cooked, add in your onions and carrots. Cook them down until the onions are translucent and soft. Next add in your garlic and cook for an additional minute. Add in dried herbs and give the mixture a good stir. Next pour in your red wine. This will steam and bubble up, don't worry. It's releasing all of the tasty brown bits off the bottom of the pan. Next add in your cans of tomato and let the mixture simmer for at least 30 minutes. One pot spaghetti sauce! You can make this 1-3 days in advance. The sauce only gets better with age!

improv style:

if you like your sauce on the thinner side, you can add chicken stock or water to thin it to your desired consistency. vegetarian? use a good veggie stock to thin the sauce and add extra flavor when replacing the beef. you can play with your ground meat mixture too... some people like to use ground italian sausage, pork or turkey to lighten it up. if you don't have olive oil, no big deal. you can use canola oil, vegetable oil, or pam if you really want. i like using olive oil because it's italian! i find that adding a little brown sugar or port wine really gives great depth of flavor to the sauce. for me using red wine is a must but you can leave it out if you're not a fan or a big drinker. onions are another one of those musts for me... it adds SO MUCH subtle flavor to the sauce. if you hate onions you can leave them out or try mincing them in a food processor so you get the caramelized flavor without the chunks. if you see the carrots and think i'm crazy, i feel you. the first time i saw carrots in my sauce i thought my roommate had lost her mind. it ended up being SO good. which is why i've added them to my sauce. fresh herbs are always a great addition to sauce... just know that the flavor of fresh herbs are MUCH more mild than dried.