Thursday, May 24, 2012

A Three Hour Tour... Bolognese Recipe

I got home last night and started cooking this bolognese sauce from Willams-Sonoma's Pasta cookbook (Simon and Schuster 2001) just before 7pm. At 10pm we ate a frozen pizza because I wasn't even close to being finished. We ate it tonight. Cook it on a rainy day when you have a lot of time to kill, and it's worth the wait.

Ingredients:
1 large yellow onion
1 carrot, peeled
1 celery stalk
2 large tomatoes
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons EVOO
3 thin slices pancetta, finely chopped
1/2 pound each of ground pork, beef and veal
Salt and pepper
Freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 cups light meat stock or beef stock
5 fresh sage leaves
1 bay leaf
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Dice the onion, carrot and celery. Peel and seed the tomatoes and finely chop them (keep separate from previous ingredients).

In a Dutch oven or large heavy flameproof casserole dish over medium-low heat, melt 2 tablespoons butter with the EVOO. Add the pancetta and sauté until just starting to crisp, about 3 minutes. Add the onion, carrot and celery and sauté until aromatic and very lightly golden, 8-10 minutes. Add the ground meats, stir to break up, season with s+p, and add a generous pinch of nutmeg. Raise the heat to medium and sauté until the meat is lightly browned. (The meat will first release some liquid; after this evaporates, it will begin to brown.) Add the wine and simmer until it is almost completely evaporated. Add the stock and cook until reduced by half. Add the tomatoes, sage and bay leaf. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for about 1.5 hours, stirring occasionally. If the sauce seems thin, cook it, uncovered, until thick and fragrant - about 10 minutes.. Skim the surface of excess fat. Add the cream.

Cook your pasta and drain when al dente. Melt in the remaining 2 tbs butter and 2 tbs cheese, toss until it coats the pasta. Then add the sauce.

The part that took forever for me was waiting for all the liquid to evaporate or get absorbed by the meat. I ended up draining some of it out before adding the wine. After letting the sauce simmer for an hour and a half last night I was exhausted and refrigerated the whole thing. Tonight I forgot to add the cream but it was delicious and we didn't miss it. This sauce packs some serious flavor!  It might be the best dinner I've ever made.

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Squash

Another beautiful sunny day! 65 degrees +! The average last frost for Wakefield RI was this past week so I'm getting after it with planting. Today: Squash in one of the giant tubs (it took more than half of my 32 quart bag of potting soil!). I put in 9 or 10 seeds and will have to pick the 2-3 strongest ones that grow. I also put a bunch of the "Kentucky Wonder" pole beans in a pot, but I was low on potting soil so I did half old soil and half new with a bunch of Miracle Grow and the Osmocote slow release fertilizer mixed in. I put the 3 Echinacea plants in a pot together. I'm running out of deck space!

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Rose

I was so jealous of the Knock Out Roses that mom bought for Molly's wedding this summer I had to get some of my own. Thus, at Home Depot while stocking up on potting soil I got 1 bush of "Cherry Red" (they look hot pink) Double Knockout Roses for $24.99. I had been planning to resist but they're so pretty! I got home and immediately put it in one of the deep terracotta pots (lined with a trash bag to keep moisture in). I also put three of the pepper plants in one of the huge pots. I went with two "Tangerine Dream" which I know will stay small and one "Summer Sun Hybrid" which will be red and probably too big. I will have to come up with some sort of cage support as that one gets bigger. Sadly I didn't have any luck with the smaller "Red Popper" peppers, only one of the seedlings survived and it is looking scrawny to say the least. I will have to give some of the "Tangerine Dream" peppers away, so many of them are thriving!

Crockett says it's time for tomatoes so I'm going to bring some back next week from Mom and Dad's house. On a side note, the violas are going to town!

What else did I do yesterday? Drop my phone in the ocean. So long, photos.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Lettuce and Scallions

Planted outside in the planter: 3 rows of Boston Lettuce from Eden Brothers, 1 row of Heatwave Blend lettuce from Burpee and 2 rows of Heshiko scallions from Eden Brothers. I moved all the succulents to the ground next to the front door and filled that pot with seeds for nasturtiums, sweet pea "Royal" and morning glory.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Cold

I've been slacking. The weather is cold and rainy. I think the irises in the pot out front are not going to grow so I just added seeds of sweet pea "Little Sweetheart Mix" (14") and Portulaca "Magic Carpet Mix" (6"). This sun isn't great but I hope I can get something to grow there because it's a prime location for visibility!