Spaghetti Sauce with Pork

I like a good spaghetti sauce. Bubbly red gravy over a plate of pasta cooked al dente. And this recipe makes a very good sauce. And if you want to take it a little further, say maybe add some meatballs, or pork, or sausage, well then you have a feast. The best part is that you can make the sauce by itself and then braise your meatballs, pork, or sausage in the sauce and turn it into a even better one. The meat will add extra flavor and create a more substantial meal. Which is what I've done here. For tonight's meal, I made boneless pork in spaghetti sauce and if I do say so myself, it was excellent.

Serves Many

Ingredients:

2 cloves of garlic minced.

1 small onion, finely chopped.

1 medium carrot, grated

2 tablespoons of fresh thyme

1 bay leaf

1 6 oz can of tomato paste

2 28 oz cans of crushed tomatos

48 ounces of water

salt and pepper to taste

2 lbs country pork ribs cut into large cubes

4 tbsp olive oil

In a large pot or dutch oven, heat 2 tbsp of oil on medium heat and brown the cubed pork on all sides in small batches. Do not crowd the meat, otherwise it will not brown. Remove the meat and pour off any rendered fat. Leave the fond that has formed as this will add flavor to the sauce. Add another 2 tbsp of oil to the pot and sweat your chopped onions for about 5 minutes on medium heat. Add minced garlic, carrot, and thyme. Continue to cook for another five minutes. Move the vegetables to the side and add the tomato paste. Allow it to caramelize a little, about 1 minute, then mix with the vegetables. Add both cans of crushed tomatoes and then add 48 ounces of water. Stir the ingredients and then add the browned pork to the sauce. Raise heat to high until it reaches a steady boil. Reduce the heat to simmer and allow the meat to braise and the flavors to marry, about 2 hours. Stir occasionally and when meat is tender, the sauce will be done. Make your pasta and then enjoy this sauce with the meat.

Don't crowd the meat and you will get nicely browned results.

After putting all the ingredients for the sauce together, add the meat back to the pot.

Bring to a good boil, then simmer.

Plate and enjoy.

Risotto with Fried Egg and Lardons

There is something about the smooth taste and mouth feel of perfectly cooked risotto that is hard to beat. The creamy sauce that forms while the rice cooks makes this dish really stand out, something special that you can be proud of. And if the rice is prepared carefully so that it has a little bite to it, then you have the base for any combination of ingredients that will push the meal over the top.

Tonight's risotto was no exception. As a matter of fact, I am quite willing to say that tonight's risotto was absolutely the best I have ever made. The sauce was excellent, the rice was perfectly cooked, and the taste was just fantastic. The addition of a delicately fried egg with a warm and runny golden yolk brought a rich unctuousness to the meal. And the addition of golden brown lardons as a garnish added the final layer of "oh so good" to the meal. And yes, I am very proud of how this turned out because it made my wife smile and feel so much better as she was recovering from having a wisdom tooth removed. And that smile was the icing on the cake!

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 cup of Arborio Rice

6 cups of hot chicken  stock

1 cup of white wine

1 shallot (chopped fine)

1/4 cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese

4 whole eggs, fried

6 tbsp butter

Begin by finely chopping the shallot. Heat 6 tbsp of butter in a large saucepan on medium heat. Add the shallot and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the rice and stir, cooking for another five minutes until most of the butter is gone. Add the cup of white wine and begin stirring slowly. The stirring of the rice and the heat from cooking causes the rice to release starch which makes the creamy sauce that makes risotto so wonderful. As you stir, the grains of rice rub against each other and the starch gets released into the hot stock. Take it easy when you stir. Stir slowly and enjoy a glass of wine as you work. Patience will make this dish come out fantastic. When most of the wine has been absorbed, add a ladleful of hot chicken stock. This should be almost boiling hot. Keep a small pot of the stock hot on a separate burner and ladle out the stock from there. When most of the stock has been absorbed by the rice, add another ladleful. Repeat this until the stock is gone (about 20 minutes). Taste the rice as you cook so you can experience the change in the rice as it transitions from a hard grain to an almost soft grain. Once it reaches the softness you desire, remove from the heat and add the Parmesan cheese, stirring briskly. Plate the risotto and then top with a fried egg and lardons as a garnish. The yolk needs to be runny so then when you cut into the egg, the yolk can run freely over the rice and add its deliciousness to your meal. Serve this hot and be prepared for the accolades.

Shallots cooking in butter.

Getting the Lardons ready.

The shallots are getting soft.

Toasting the rice before adding the white wine.

After the hot chicken stock has been added, the rice begins to release its starch.

As the stock cooksdown, the sauce gets thicker and creamier..

The finished dish.

 This was so good, I am ashamed to say Ginny and I had two servings! Please try this, it is so worth doing!

Italian Meatballs

Ahh....meatballs. Succulent, savory, moist and juicy. Pasta's most iconic sidekick. Nobody turns down a great meatball. And the first step to making a great meatball begins with the ingredients. It's also the first step in starting an argument over what makes a great meatball. Many a family has "gone to da mattresses" over what's in their meatballs. For me, I like to keep it simple. Ground beef, ground pork, chopped parsley, chopped onion, minced garlic, grated parmesan cheese, bread, eggs for a binder, salt and pepper, and my own special touch, toasted pine nuts. Fresh, delicious, and tasty! And while some people fry their meatballs, I prefer to bake them. Then I add them to the sauce and let them simmer for a while to marry the flavors. This recipe can go either way. And best of all, you can freeze them before you cook them, then take out how ever many you need for a relatively quick meal. Whichever way you go, I think you'll enjoy these Italian beauties.

Makes 24

(or one huge Godzilla sized meatball)

Ingredients:

1/3 cup of pine nuts
Ground Beef  1 lb (90/10)

Ground Pork 1 lb

4 eggs

4 slices of bread

1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese (grated)

1/4 Fresh Parsley (finely chopped)

1 small yellow onion (chopped)

1 clove of garlic (minced)

Salt and Pepper

Toast the pine nuts in a small, dry saute pan on medium high heat until golden. Let cool. In a large bowl, place the onion, beef, pork, toasted pine nuts, chopped parsley, cheese, garlic, and eggs. Wet the bread with water, squeeze out the moisture, then tear into tiny bits and add to the bowl of ingredients. Add a pinch of salt and fresh ground pepper. Using your hands, mix the ingredients well. Taste test the mix by heating some olive oil in a small saute pan and frying a small portion. If it needs salt and pepper, add to the ingredients in the bowl and taste test again until satisfied. Take a golf ball portion of the meatball mix and GENTLY pat into a ball. Do not squeeze. You are not trying to make diamonds out of a lump of coal. One of the reasons some meatballs come out tough and hard is because the cook was really squeezing down hard. When you've finished forming the meatballs, set aside what you need for your meal and freeze the rest. Bake these in a 325⁰ oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Eat as is or add to spaghetti sauce to marry the flavors. Plate, add more cheese, then enjoy!

Toast the pine nuts, let cool and then add to the meatball mixture.

Taste test and then bake.

Before...

After...

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Next week, Great Spaghetti Sauce (Sunday Gravy).

Beef Bouguignon

Beef Simmered in Red Wine with Vegetables 

"It's Cold Outside"

If there was a list for "Best Winter Comfort Food Ever", then Beef Bourguignon would have to be one of the major players on that list. It meets all the requirements for comfort food. Thick, hearty, flavorful, plays well with others, a true classic. And since the winter's cold had descended here in Raleigh, North Carolina this past week with freezing rain and low temperatures, it was time to bust a move and make this most excellent dish. I mean, what's not to like. Tender and juicy beef that melts when you put it in your mouth. Flavorful fat that teases the tongue with every bite. An edible quilt of taste and warmth. And if you can eat this and not think of Sunday family dinners when you were still wearing your Sunday best, then you need a serious beat down with the nostalgia stick! All I can say is when the cold gets bold, make this dish and then send me a thank you note. Or a dinner invitation.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 lbs Beef Chuck

1 Carrot, peeled and sliced

2 sweet onions, thinly sliced

1 clove of garlic, crushed

1 1/2 tbsp all-purpose flour

2 1/2 cups red wine

Bouquet garni ( parsley, thyme, bay leaf)

2 tbsp oil

3/4 cups of water

Salt and pepper

Add the oil to a flame proof casserole and heat it on medium high. Add the meat and brown it on all sides. Transfer the meat to a warm platter and add the vegetables and flour to the casserole. stir and let them lightly brown. Pour in the wine and scrape the bottom of the casserole to release the fond that has formed. You want this to dissolve into the wine and add flavor to the liquid. Add the water and then add the meat back to the casserole. Add the garlic and bouquet garni. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover, and let simmer for 2 hours. I like to add the salt and pepper close to the end so that I don't over salt. As the chuck simmers, liquid escapes as steam which concentrates the salt. Of course you will need to taste as the chuck simmers. After 2 hours, transfer the meat to a serving dish. Strain the sauce over the meat, garnish with parsley and serve. Enjoy the taste and accolades.

Look for and select bright red, well marbled meat. Chuck roast is tough. It needs a long, low simmer to help break down the connective tissue for it to be tender. And the flavor is all in the fat. So don't go lean for this dish!

  

Yellow onion adds the bright notes to this dish and the carrot adds the sweetness. Caramelizing both in the rendered fat from the chuck roast sweetens things even more.

Pat your chuck roast dry with a paper towel. If the surface of the Chuck Roast is wet, it will not brown because the liquid will form a micro-barrier of steam, preventing browning. Browning the meat sweetens the surface and adds flavor to the meat.

 The finished product. Tender beef that you can compliment like I have with mashed potatoes and steamed green beans.