Thursday, July 09, 2009

[bolognese sauce] everyone has an opinion on this


Everybody has his or her recipe for Bolognese sauce and here is mine:

# 500g/17.5oz minced beef, not too lean

# 50g/2 ounces minced pancetta if you can get it, otherwise increase the beef

# 1 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

# 1 medium chopped onion

# 1 medium, finely chopped carrot

# 1 finely chopped stick of celery

# 1/2 cup dry red wine

# a mix of tinned Roma tomatoes and the real thing, chopped

# 2 teaspoons of tomato purée

# 8 washed and torn basil leaves from your pot on the balcony

# A pinch of sea salt but no more – don't pour the stuff in - if in doubt, always undersalt

Unusually, I'm not going to suggest to you how to prepare it and in what order, as you have your own views on this. What I can say is that:

# I like to use the old electric fryingpan of the solid variety, with valved pyrex lid because it slow cooks well.

# you need to allow about five hours after the initial sauteeing, so your proportions need to be spot on – this only comes from experience of your pan and of the heat levels.

# I love this the next day or from frozen.

Suggestions

# Gnocchi as your pasta - I adore it
# Tossed salad, limited by your creativity
# As genuine parmigiano as possible, grated or parmesan
# A variant is to throw in some porcini, if in season.
.

12 comments:

  1. I adore cooking but what I'm doing tonight is not really cooking - it's cheating.

    I have two fillets of sea bass already in the bag with the herb butter and it goes in the oven. New potatoes and you'll disagree with this last but finely chopped cabbage instead of snow peas or mange tout.

    Followed by cranberry cheese and tea and that's enough for a small supper.

    What are you having?

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  2. er, well, I'll be honest, I haven't thought that far ahead yet...and I've got company, too! :/ :)

    your meal sounds scrumptious, though

    On sort of a funny note. I thought I'd treat my Irish friends to the novelty of a fun American Barbecue. We had the cheeseburgers and hotdogs well enough. But then as sides I served potatoes and red beans...at least I didn't serve coleslaw as well.
    Although, my potatoes were oven fried with Creole spice added.

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  3. Wow! Packing to move in with you by dinner.[except I hate past- except tai noodles- and I hate rice] but if you put this much effort into your meals. I am sure you will accomodate me. :)

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  4. Both welcome but Uber is geographically closer.

    May I tell you one from the past? When I was with friends in San Clemente, they had Mexican black beans for dinner [with other Tex Mex] and there was lots over.

    Sometimes here we do baked beans on toast in the morning but they're usually white beans in tomato sauce.

    I had the lady do the Mex beans the next morning and the whole family stood and watched me eat them. I never tried that again.

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  5. That does sound delicious. I would never argue about using cabbage I love it especially savoy cut into thin strips.

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  6. Yes, if I would make for a long trek, let alone the swim... ;)


    These were the traditional Boston baked beans.
    Now for your experience, hmmmm, I recommend for next time left over black beans to be added in with eggs, cheese, potatoes and chorizo (mexican spicy sausage) and a dab of sour cream all wrapped up in a tortilla with some salsa or Tapatio sauce. (tortilla meaning the Mexican style flat bread, not Spain's tortilla meaning omelette)

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  7. Yum and I like the savoy too.

    Finished the bass a short while back, by the way and you know how it feels when the taste lingers long afterwards?

    Hence the next post, tell the truth.

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  8. Try adding some chicken livers to the Bolognese. Tasty!

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  9. IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!!!!!


    My wife last week cooked me Thai Green Curry from a recipe in Jamie Oliver's new cookbook "Ministry of food" or something like that........It is the finest green curry/meal I have ever eaten....I cannot stress enough how amazing it is....my wife followed the instructions exactly and even though it may seem like it needs to reduce....IT DOESN'T....its perfect....please get that book and try....if you don't like it then you have no taste and should eat chips for the rest of your life as penance for not enjoying a mind bending dish.

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  10. I love Mexican food. I also love Morroccan food. Please do remember that, James.

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