Dangmang, that sounds like something I could actually handle in the kitchen! When you say "blend", do you mean the half&half?
I used the leftover turkey carcass to make a stock and then a turkey gumbo. I did something a little non-traditional though and added leeks to the gumbo this year, they were from a friend's garden and it was honestly delicious. Using the leftover holiday ham bone and ham scraps I made a large pot of split pea soup. I live for soup season.
Poured whole jar of Rao's into the pot Turned on heat Added a bit of dairy (could be cream, half/half, creme fraiche, whole milk, soy, whatever) At this point if you want you can add some shredded italain-type cheese, let it melt in the soup, and then blend the **** out of it in a minute Heated it up a bit Added some fresh basil leaves (not necessary, but I like basil) I used a immersion blender (look it up) in the pot it was heating it in, you could pour it into a blender-blender (I assume you have a blender) and then pour it back into the pot Blend the **** out of it until it's the consistency you like. Then pour it back in the sauce pan you just used to warm it up again for a bit. Garnish with shredded parm, basil, red pepper flakes, crunchy bread croutons (I did these in the oven while everything else was happening, good toasted bread serves the same purpose), whatever. Profit. This literally takes about 20 minutes and zero effort.
As I had expected about Rao's being roughly 2 X the price of other brands. If you want to run with Buck Turgidson, bring a Fat Wallet or else stay on the Porch.
I always get it from Sam's when I'm in a spaghetti kind of mood. You can get a 2-pack of their 22 oz. marinara there for $10. If you're cost-conscious, note theirs is a 22 oz bottle where most grocery stores offer a 24 oz. (or larger) by comparison, but Sam's is still usually cheaper.
Yeah, it's cheaper to make your own but I always keep a jar of that around for impromptu stuff like pizzas, chicken/eggplant parm, lasagna, etc
Had some bockwurst and sauerkraut sitting in the fridge so tried an experiment. Cut up the sausage and browned it and took it out of the pan. Fried up some onions in the fat from the sausage with butter and garlic. Put those along with the fat and butter into a pot with water and got it to a boil. Added new potatoes and carrots along with salt, pepper, rosemary and parsley and cooked them for about half an hour. Then added back the sausage and some celery and simmered it for 15 minutes. Then added in sauerkraut and simmered for another 15 minutes. It’s ok but the sauerkraut flavor really dominates. Was hoping to balance it out with the fattyness of the sausage and butter but the sausage might be too lean and not enough butter. Might work better with a fatty cut of pork and maybe just a little added sweetness like apple.
Had some last night with some grilled cheese sandwiches that I dipped in the soup. Holy **** it’s good.
