jonesing for... » meat

sunday bolognese (happy birthday to me)

Jessica J. — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 05:33:30 +0000

Happy Birthday, to me!

Well, yesterday at least.

As much as I adore going out to eat (which I did plenty of during my little vacation home), cooking one of my favorite things for my own birthday sounded just as satisfying, so that’s exactly what I did. Few things please me more than big ol’ bowl of pasta with really really good sauce, and that’s what this is. One of the best damn bolognese I’ve ever tasted (if I do say so myself).

This sauce is called Sunday Bolognese because it’s an all day, hover-over-your-stove affair. Once you kick things into gear, you better be ready to stir the sauce every 20 minutes for over 3 hours, and that doesn’t include the 90 minutes of prep and pre-cooking before that. To some, that’s a horrible way to spend your birthday. To me, it was perfect. I coddled and loved this sauce into perfection, and was so proud to present it in front of 6 guests at a lovely dinner outside on our patio, it was like a birthday gift to myself. Thick and velvety and just so layered with flavor and texture, it’s just damn good.

Serve it with some great garlic bread and if you’re really lucky, finish with some fabulous birthday hummingbird cake. (I was very, very lucky).

—

Sunday Bolognese

My version of bolognese is based on Lidia Bastianich’s two Sunday bolognese – combining her two varieties ricetta tradizionale and ricetta antica – made with broth and milk respectively. I use part milk and part broth with a heavy tomato-paste base and some canned tomatoes to get a nice balance of richness and flavor. Also, this recipe makes a ton of sauce, but all you have to do is refrigerate it, scrape off the fat, and freeze it for future use. Deeeeeelish!

Makes 3 quarts sauce, well suited for 2-3 lbs of pasta.

Based on the recipe from Lidia’s Family Table.

Ingredients

2 lbs ground beef
2 lbs ground pork
2 cups dry red wine
6 oz. pancetta, chopped
5 large garlic cloves
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 medium onions, peeled and quartered
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 carrot, peeled, chopped
1 tsp. kosher salt
6 Tbsp. tomato paste
6 cups whole milk, divided, warmed
½ tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
2 large dry bay leaves
2 cups crushed tomatoes
2 cups low-sodium beef broth, warmed
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
2 lbs. rigatoni pasta, cooked

Directions

In a large mixing bowl, combine the beef, pork, and red wine. Using your hands, gently mix everything together, evenly coating the meat.
In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the onion, carrot, and celery until very finely minced. Remove from processor, set aside, and wash out the bowl.
Place pancetta in food processor with peeled garlic. Process into a fine paste. In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium-high heat and scrape in the pancetta-garlic mixture. Get it nice and sizzling for a few minutes and then add the onion, carrot, and celery. Cook until golden and soft, about 5 minutes.
Push the vegetables to the sides of the pot and add the meat mixture. Break it up with a wooden fork or spoon and get it browning. After a few minutes, stir the veggies back in. Cook on high heat, stirring frequently, for about 30-45 minutes, until all all of the liquid has been absorbed, and stir in the salt.
Make a well in the center of the pot and add the tomato paste. Stir around and get it browning a bit. Pour in 2 cups of warmed milk and stir into the meat mixture, making sure to scrape any brown bits off the bottom of your pan. Add nutmeg and bay leaves and taste for seasoning.
In a smaller saucepan, combine 4 cups milk and the beef broth. Heat until simmering and then turn down to the lowest setting you have. Keep warm.
Bring the sauce to a slow, steady simmer, consistently bubbling away on all surface area. Cover and let cook. After the first 20 minutes, stir in the tomatoes.
Stir every 20 minutes for at least the next 3 hours. You really have to watch the liquid level – if the sauce is reducing too quickly, turn down the heat. If it’s not absorbing liquid at all, turn it up. You want to use the milk-broth and let it absorb the liquids – expect to add some of the milk-broth mixture every time you stir the sauce. This is how the meat is going to tenderize and melt into velvety goodness. Don’t freak out if the flavor doesn’t really seem to develop until the last hour of cooking – it’s just the nature of the beast.
To finish the sauce, uncover and allow sauce to simmer itself into a thicker, pudding-like consistency. The liquid should all be absorbed and if it hasn’t by now, take it off the heat and cook off the moisture quickly. Once ready, stir in pepper, let cook for 5 minutes, and taste for seasoning. Fish out the bay leaves and discard. Serve hot over prepared rigatoni pasta with garlic bread and a nice salad.

http://www.amazon.com/Lidias-Family-Table-Day–Improvisations/dp/1400040353/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1283570394&sr=1-4

2lbs ground beef
2lbs ground pork
2 cups dry red or white wine (whatever you have)
6 ounces pancetta (or regular bacon in a pinch)
5 large garlic cloves
2T. olive oil
2 medium onions, minced (food processor preferable)
2 celery stalks, minced (food processor preferable)
1 carrot, shredded or minced in food processor with celery
1/2t. salt or to taste
6T. tomato paste
2 cups of milk (heated at time of use)
1/2t. nutmeg or to taste
2 large bay leaves
2 cups of broth (beef, chicken, or veg. I prefer low sodium to control the salt) Heated.
Freshly ground pepper

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Post tags: favorite, italian, meat, pasta

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spaghetti and meatballs

Jessica J. — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 15:28:26 +0000

I love discovering new ingredients to play with. Part of the reason I find cooking so exciting and challenging is that there is an endless ocean of cuisine, recipes, ingredients, and food out there to sail though, and although sometimes the waters are choppy, it’s always a fun adventure.

I tried bison meat for the first time recently via it being on sale at my local grocer, and I was amazed by the taste. It really wasn’t gamey as I had expected it to be, but had a very rich, meaty flavor with a great natural earthiness to it. And then I found out it has half the calories and 1/8 the fat as normal beef, plus it’s always free-range. I was in love.

So pondering what to do with a pound of ground bison… meatballs naturally popped into my head. Spaghetti and meatballs is one of those comfort foods universally loved, like pizza or mac n cheese. So why not take on a classic. The meatballs are unbelievably tender and moist despite using such a naturally lean protein (something I was worried about), and the flavor is classically garlicky with parmesan. My recipe for simple tomato sauce is one of those great things that you can make with pantry staples and it barely takes any time or attention. Plus it always tastes better than the jarred stuff – I guarandamntee it.

Panko.

Meatballs!

Peeking inside!

The mother of all canned tomatoes.

Bay leaf saying hello.

Marinara hot tub.

Spaghetti and meatballs!

Perfect pair.

That’s-a yummy meatball!

—

Spaghetti and Meatballs

Makes 21 meatballs and about 6 cups sauce.

This obviously makes enough to feed an army, but I always make a full recipe because meatballs freeze extremely well. All you have to do is let them thaw in the fridge a few hours before you want to use them and then heat them up in some sauce like you normally would. Also, if you’re not keen on bison meat, feel free to use a 50/50 mix of ground pork and beef, or white meat, like turkey and chicken. One warning about turkey and chicken – they’re extremely lean so adding a glug or two of olive oil to your mix is a good idea so they’re not rock hard.

Ingredients

For the meatballs:

1 lb. ground bison meat
½ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
¼ cup milk
1 cup panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
½ medium yellow onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
¼ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, plus more for garnish
1/8 teaspoon ground thyme
1 large egg, beaten
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For the sauce:

1 28-ounce can whole plum tomatoes (preferably San Marzano if you can find them)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 bay leaf
1 dash dried thyme
salt and pepper, to taste
Balsamic vinegar (optional)

Assembly:

1 lb dried spaghetti
Grated parmesan

Directions

1.) Make the meatballs. Preheat your oven to 350° F with the rack set in the center. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

2.) In a small mixing bowl, combine the panko and milk and let sit for 5 minutes. In a large mixing bowl, combine the rest of the meatball ingredients and add the panko/milk mixture. Mix gently with your hands until just barely combined, overmixing will toughen the meatballs. Form into 1-inch meatballs and set on prepared baking sheet.

3.) Bake 20-25 minutes, turning halfway through cooking time, until cooked through and browned, or until an internal thermometer reads 155° F. Set the meatballs aside while you prepare the sauce.

4.) Get the pasta ready. Bring a large pot of water to boil and salt very well (it should taste like a mouthful of ocean water). Cook the spaghetti while you make the sauce. Strain and keep a towel over the pasta so it stays hot while everything finishes.

5.) Make the sauce. In the bowl of a food processor, mince the garlic cloves in a few short pulses. Remove the garlic and set aside. Add the entire can of tomatoes with their juices. Pulse a few times until almost completely pureed, but not liquid.

6.) In a large skillet heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the red pepper flakes, thyme, bay leaf, and pour in the tomatoes. Season to taste and cook covered for about 10 minutes until slightly reduced. Add a splash of balsamic vinegar at the end if you like the flavor.

7.) Add the meatballs to the sauce a few minutes before serving so they heat through. Once ready, remove the bay leaf and ladle sauce and meatballs over hot spaghetti. Sprinkle more parmesan and chopped parsley over the top and serve with a nice green salad and good red wine.

© Jessica J. for jonesing for..., 2010. | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: meat, pasta, savory, tomato

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