Bolognese sauce--so easy, so good

There are a million takes on this meaty ragu that takes its name from the city of Bologna on the north eastern side of the Italian boot. I fell in love with this simple dish at a little restaurant in a tiny hamlet called LaMole in Chianti. You can find a bunch of recipes all over the internet but in my opinion the things that make a really good sauce are the use of whole milk, dry white wine, good meat and time. The sauce requires little hands-on time but will benefit greatly from a lot of time simmering on the stove.

Finely chop:
3 stalks celery
2 carrots
1 large onion
4 cloves garlic

Saute in 1/4 C extra virgin olive oil until golden--about 5 minutes. Then add:

1 lb ground pork and 1C chopped pancetta or prosciutto
(You can substitute or add ground veal or ground beef as well--all in all you want about 1.5-2lbs of meat for this recipe)

Once the meat is no longer pink, add in:
1 6oz can tomato paste
1C whole milk
1C dry white wine
1 C water

Simmer covered for about 1.5 hours. Season with coarse salt and then take the lid off. The sauce will be very saucy at this point--it is best very thick and this is achieved by simmering away most of the liquid so only the solids and the oils remain--about another 1-1.5 hours.

Best served over homemade/fresh pasta such as linguine, pappardelle or spaghetti.

A good accompaniment is a fennel apple salad (from Simple Pleasures by Alfred Portale)
Finely slice 1 Granny Smith Apple and 1 bulb fennel. Combine with a little olive oil, the zest of 1 lemon and some shavings of parmesan. Season with coarse salt. I served over arugula dressed with lemon juice and a bit of olive oil. This was a really light, sweet and nutty salad which complemeted the richness of the pasta well.

Better Cinnamon Chip Scones

I made these the other morning fully expecting them to be not quite as good as the regular recipe (posted here a few months back) but they were in fact better! Try this out:

1C unbleached all purpose flour (I use King Arthur)
1C whole Wheat flour
2T sugar
1T baking powder
2T wheat bran (Bob's Red Mill brand)
2T ground flaxseed meal (same brand as above)
1t cinnamon

Mix all of the above together then cut in

7T unsalted butter

mix in 1/2 C king Arthur cinnamon chips

Mix together the following and then add to the flour/butter mixture:
1 egg
1/3 cup heavy cream + 1% milk to equal 1/2C total
1t vanilla

**If the mixture is not coming together readily, just add milk by 1/2T until you can form it into a knead-able dough.

Mix and knead until dough comes together. Form into 2 balls and flatten each into a disk. Cut into wedges. Bake on parchment lined sheet at 425 for about 12 minutes. Makes about 8-10 scones depending on size.

Bistro Entertaining

VEW

This 2 course casual dinner is tasty, short on prep and encourages conversation and even help from your guests.

Appetizer

Mussels Steamed with Vermouth and Thyme

Place 2 T butter in a large pot and melt. Add 1 finely chopped shallot and 2 finely chopped cloves of garlic. Saute until tender but not yet golden. Add 2 cups vermouth or white wine and a few springs of thyme. Bring to a boil and then add in 2lbs cleaned mussels (always discard any mussels that do not close upon touch when you're cleaning them). Cover the pot and steam for a few minutes. Remove mussels to a large bowl. If you wish, add one more chopped shallot to the broth and cook until translucent. Throw in some chopped parsley and pour over the mussels. Serve with good crusty (or toasted) bread.

Main Course

NY Strips with Mushroom Madeira Sauce

The recipe referenced here uses blade steaks which are less expensive than NY strips--but my husband vetoed using them. The sauce is great and super easy--but if you want something richer whisk in a little butter (1T) and cream (3T) at the end and that should do it.

Sides

Zucchini Friti

SO GOOD.

What can I say? The cooked zucchini clumps up--which is good because it makes for great presentation and makes it easier to eat. Cut 4 medium zucchinis into matchstick about 1/8" thick. A Mandolin would be helpful but isn't necessary. Pour canola oil a couple of inches deep in a large pot and heat to 375. Dip handfuls of zucchini in a bowl of milk, then in a bowl of flour. Cook in the oil for about 3 minutes or until they are a light golden color. Remove (a spider is very useful for this) and drain on paper towels. Salt just after removing.

Green Beans with Shallot Dijon Vinaigrette

Blanch about a pound of green beans in salted, boiling water until crisp tender--about 4 minutes. Drain and run under cold water to stop cooking. In a jar add 1tsp Dijon mustard, 1T minced shallot, 1tsp fresh thyme, 1tsp fresh tarragon, 2T white wine vinegar and a little salt and white pepper to taste. Shake up and then add about 2T olive oil. Shake again and pour over beans. * This is not your typical vinaigrette ratios of oil to vinegar--it makes a much thicker, tangier dressing that sticks well to the beans.

Dessert

Chocolate Polenta Cake with Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream

If there's one thing I could impress on you it would be to make this cake. I love Italian cooking and have thus come across polenta in dessert recipes numerous times but never made one until now. Why? Because polenta just doesn't sound that appetizing in a dessert. It certainly doesn't sound decadent. This cake is fabulous. It is similar to a flourless cake in that it only uses a tiny bit of polenta and a slightly larger amount of ground almonds. Together they make for an uber-moist, perfectly dense rich dessert. This goes to the top of my list for easy and tasty desserts. The homemade ice cream was a great addition, but store bought would be fine as would whipped cream. Oh, and when it says to line the cake pan with parchment, let the paper rise higher than the edge of the pan--don't trim the excess. The cake rises--souffle-like and the edges will keep it from spilling over like mine did.

A Few Changes for the Better

VEW

When we at the TP started this blog, it was with grand intentions...mainly for ourselves and our own enjoyment. We all love to cook and we thought that by recording our weekly menus we would be creating an archive that we could use and that others could also benefit from. Apparently, life with small children and a bevy of activities has caused us all to fall off the blogging wagon. It appears that our set up of recording a whole week's worth of menus complete with descriptions was too time consuming and thus we stopped writing all together. So from now on we will be posting meals that we find exceptional, occasional menus, reviews, entertaining ideas, etc.

Stay tuned for what we hope will be some fabulous ideas for summer cooking. We have joined a local farm and will be getting loads of organic goods to cook with...likely we will not know what to do with some of it and therein lies the fun.