Painting art for quite a few years lead me to my true passion in life, cooking. "Cooking is the only art form in which all senses are used", those words are still so profound to me to this day. Back then leading me to quit my career with a corporation and to follow a new passion of food and pursue becoming a chef in northern California. Felt the urge to really excel, wanting to expand knowledge and skills, decided to take up residence in Las Vegas, was taught by natives of Genova, Italy the foundations of Italian cooking. Apprenticed at Jazzed Cafe and Vinoteca for about a year and a half, from there worked at the Zefferino inside the Venetian Hotel and Casino for six months before moving back to California, connecting back to my southern California roots. Managed as a Sous chef for Baily's Old Town Dining, in old town Temecula for a more than 3 years, fine tuning and widening avenues of various types of cuisine. Currently have been learning even more variations of intercontinental cuisine with Vineyard Gourmet, catering weddings and special events all through Temecula's wine country

Shannan's Marinara Recipe:

¼ cup olive oil

2 Tblspn minced garlic

2 Tblspn minced shallots

½ cup onions

¼ cup celery

¼ cup carrots

Satchel

1 bay leaf

3-4 twigs fresh thyme

3-4 twigs fresh Oregano

Tspn dried basil

3 cups red wine (cabernet)

1 6 ounce can tomato paste

1 each # 10 size or 2 each 46 oz canned peel tomatoes

(Hand crush or pulsed in a food processer, better to leave some chunks)

This is a easy recipe that will just take a little time to prep, and a good since of time to cook. Slower the better, I would suggest you keep this sauce going for at least two hours. As said in class, you want the acidity of the tomatoes to natural turn into sugar, and not by just adding granulated sugar itself.

Start by bring a thick sauce pot up to heat with your oil, add Mirepoix and stir until your onions are translucent. When your onions are see-through, add in your shallots and garlic, (reason you don’t add your shallots and garlic with the Mirepoix is because they are small and will burn easily) keep everything stirring and make sure your “fond” starts to develop on the bottom of your pan. Deglaze 1 cup at a time of red wine, let it almost go totally dry, then add another and repeat. Add in tomato paste on the last deglaze to help break up the paste. Add the crushed peeled tomatoes. Salt and Pepper lightly at first, just remember when you are simmering or reducing (cooking down), your flavors will be concentrated, i.e. Salt and pepper. Feel free to add in more towards the end of your cooking process.

Make a seasoning satchel. I like to use a coffee filter or cheesecloth when making a seasoning satchel. I just load the center of it and tie it off with either butcher twine or string. Can tie the other end of the string to the handle of your sauce spot to make sure its not loss in your sauce.

Bring up to a boil while constantly stirring, once it starts to boil, immediately turn down to a low heat or simmer. Stir occasional to make sure the bottom doesn’t burn. If you feel the bottom start to burn, pour out the contents into a large bowl, scrub out your sauce pan and refill with your sauce. If you let the bottom burn, your whole sauce will taste burnt also.

If you wanted to add ground beef or sausage, I would do it at the very beginning before the Mirepoix. The natural fat and oil will cook your vegetables and develop a great base of flavor for your marinara. Mushrooms can also be added into your Mirepoix.

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