Spaghetti Bolognese

Bolognese Ragu looks and tastes an awful lot like Sloppy Joe mix. there, I said it.

The main difference between the two (besides originating from opposite sides of Planet Earth) is the length of time it takes to make each one. Bolognese takes at least 2 hours to cook, while Sloppy Joes can be thrown together in 10-15 minutes.

My sneaking suspicision (and this is all in theory) is that old school Italian ladies would make this during their daily chores and leisurely habits. The length of cooking time each stage endured, depended upon how long it took the cook to sip and finish an espresso, chop and sun dry tomatoes, or whatever else an Italian lady (in my mind) would be doing generations ago (or quite possibly, still in this day & age). Either way, cooking intervals would vary from 30 minutes to an hour.

Before you're turned off by the lengthy cooking time, I should point out that in the life of a bolognese sauce, a knife is needed only to cut vegetables to be pulsed in a food processor. The same is arguably true in the life of sloppy Joe mix, BUT! In between the making, eating, and cleaning up of your briskly made sloppy Joes... make a pot of bolognese and have dinner ready for tomorrow. What's it gonna hurt?

Okay. I know what you're thinking.

This. Looks. Like. Diarrhea.

Looks can be deceiving though. And thank God for this, because bolognese does NOT taste like diarrhea. Your kitchen will smell nothing like a used bathroom either.

Alright, now that we're all fully grossed out. Let's shift our thoughts to happier and tastier places.

That's more like it.

Ingredients:

2 Onions
1 Stalk Celery
1 Large Carrot
*aka mirepoix

2 Lashings of Streaky Bacon (a little English lingo for an Italian recipe)
1lb Lean Ground Beef (the 93/7 stuff)
2Tbl Tomato Paste
8oz Red Wine
8oz Whole Milk

Remove the ends of the carrot, celery, and onion.
Quarter the onion, and chop the remaining two vegetables.
Pulse in a food processor.

Combine:
2 Tbl EVOO
1 1/2Tbl Butter
Heat in a pot over medium heat

Once melted, add the processed mirepoix

Cook over low for 30 minutes.

Rinse out the food processor & wipe it (somewhat) clean.

Add 2 strips of bacon.

Pulse until the bacon is minced.

Make a "well" in the center of the pot

In lamen's terms, push the cooked veggies to the outer edges to make way for the bacon & ground beef

Incorporate everything by stirring.

In lamen's terms, stab at the meat with a wooden spoon and break everything up by force 

Note: no salt or pepper has been added at this point.

Cook for 45 minutes.

After 45 minutes has passed, make another "well" and add tomato paste

Not the prettiest thing in the world is it? Trust, it gets uglier. Maybe this is a good time to put our wine or beer goggles on.

Hurry up and uncork this bottle.

Love that sound.

Hate that taste. I drank it anyway since I'm trying to convince myself wine is tasty.

Once 45 minutes passes,

Add 1/2teas Kosher Salt & mix through

Douse in 8oz of wine

Time for wine. Glug. Glug. Glug. Glug. Glug.

Cook for 30 more minutes

Then FINALLY!

Time to finish the sauce off with a glass of milk.

Then plate up with spaghetti or other pasta of your choosing.

Bolognese is not saucy or liquidy, but very dry. Once twirled with a fork, the dish really comes to life.

Okay, it doesn't really "come to life." That's just what I heard a chef say one time, and it sort've stuck with me. If you do want a saucier sauce, add an extra cup of water & milk. Or add 15oz of crushed canned tomatoes along with the tomato paste.

The addition of garlic is optional and should be added in the w/the mirepoix if you choose to go this route. Personally, I'd rather save the clove of garlic for garlic bread.

Mangia! Mangia!

Chicken Fried Steak

Chicken fried steak will get you out of a recipe rut any day of the week.

It will also wreck any sort of healthy eating plan you're on, but nobody cares about that.

Ingredients:

1.5 Cubed beef steak

2 Eggs

1c Flour

1/2c Milk

Seasonings:

Seasoning Salt

Garlic Powder

Onion Powder

Salt & Pepper

The Line up:

Seasoned Meat

Scramble eggs into milk

Seasoned Flour

Holding plate

Method for the meat:

Dredge in flour

Dip in egg wash

Dredge in flour, again

Dip in egg wash, again

Dredge in flour again

Set aside on the holding plate

See for yourself:

Note: The sell-by date on this beef is 07/15/2011. My blog posting date is 07/19/2011. Hand to the man upstairs, I made this meal the 14th. Since I'm a procratinator, I waited to blog til later. 

Season both sides of the beef with seasoning salt. To name names, I use Lawry's.

Season the flour with a teaspoon each of garlic powder, onion powder, and Kosher salt.

Whisk the eggs and milk together.

Create the line-up.

Dredge in flour.

Dip in egg wash.

Dredge in flour again.

Set aside to a holding plate.

Repeat the process.

You're gonna make a mess. But that's okay.

Preheat a skillet (cast iron, nonstick, or stainless steel - doesn't matter) with enough vegetable oil to cover its surface over medium-medium high heat.

Add the coated beef to the pan. Don't crowd.

Fry 3 minutes on the first side.

Fry 2 minutes on the second side.

Discard the oil.

Wipe the pan clean.

Repeat the process.

-I happened to have XL fat-boy sized cuts of beef that I didn't feel like flattening out at the time. I'm a girl. Sometimes we're in no mood for certain things at certain times. It happens.

It's no big deal though. Just bake the fatty-sized chicken fried steaks @ 350F for 20min.

I line a cookie tray with a cookie cooling rack to prevent sogginess.-

Feel like serving mashed potatoes alongside? Me too.

Peel and dice some tators.

I generally peel and boil 1 small russet tator per person.

Also, cut the potato into small chunks. The smaller the cut, the quicker it'll cook.

Cut lengthwise.

Stack each cut on top of one another.

Slice again lengthwise.

Then, turn and slice across.

Add to a pot and fill with water.

Cover & set over high heat to boil.

Once boiling, add a couple of teaspoons of salt. (Don't add salt until the water is boiling)

Cooking times obviously vary since the size and cut of potato differ from person to person.

Once boiling, mine took around 10 minutes to cook through.

When a butter knife is able to easily slice the boiled potato, they're done.

Drain & return to the hot pot.

(If I had a ricer or a food mill, I might use that to make my mashed potatoes...but I don't)

Since I don't mind going a little old school, I use my handy-dandy potato masher & go to town.

Add a hefty pinch of salt & some pepper

Pour in 6oz (or so) of Evaporated milk

Next, add in as much butter as you want. It can be anywhere from 1Tbl to an entire stick.

I opt for 2Tbl.

So at this point, a person could easily stop here.

Add a little ketchup to the chicken fried steak & you're ready to grub.

BUT! If you're a gravy lover like me, then you're gonna want need some gravy with this meal.

Every good Southern girl has got some bacon fat laying around in her kitchen. Me being all three of these things, I of course, have a stash of bacon fat in my own kitchen.



If you don't have any on hand, fry some bacon & use the rendered fat. Orrr if you must, substitute butter.

What you'll need for Gravy:

2Tbl Bacon Fat

3Tbl Flour

2cups Whole Milk

(By the way... I'm well aware that the fat to flour ratio should be 1:1 and that the milk should be heated before added to the roux. "Coulda. Woulda. Shoulda.")

Seasoning Salt

Onion Powder

Garlic Powder

Kosher Salt

Pepper

A whisk, spatula, and a wooden spoon

Cook the fat & flour together over medium heat for 2-3min.

When the roux bubbles, add in the milk & violently whisk.

Scrape the sides with a spatula and whisk some more. 

The roux will dissolve completely into the milk.
Season with Seasoning Salt, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, a bit of salt and A LOT of black pepper.
Start stirring in a figure-8 fashion with a wooden spoon until the gravy boils.

Once boiling, the gravy has reached its full thickening potential.

Dip the back of a spoon in the gravy and run your finger down the middle. If the gravy doesn't run in between the gap, then you've done good.

Picutred below is 2 Dad or Jason serving sizes, or 3 Kelsey, Lindsey, or Mom serving sizes, or 1 Denny serving sized amount of Chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, and gravy.  





GET IN MY BELLY