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Nobody

Danforth Kitchen Whore
Sep 5, 2001
1,481
3
Toronto


A few days earlier I'd made a huge load of Ragu Bolognese, so I'd saved enough for a Lasagna - which effectively divided the work by about a 2/3ds...

Shortly, some of the stuff from the UK...
 
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Nobody

Danforth Kitchen Whore
Sep 5, 2001
1,481
3
Toronto
I apologize.. i had some personal issues between the beginning and the current flickr accounts...

yep, that was a good, basic salad.
 

Nobody

Danforth Kitchen Whore
Sep 5, 2001
1,481
3
Toronto
Peanuts, almonds, pistachios, Brazils, cashews, coconuts and pine nuts are not nuts. Peanuts are actually a type of pea that grows underground; almonds & pistachios are the stones of once-fleshy drupes; coconuts are the stones from a fibrous drupe; while Brazils, cashews & pine nuts are seeds.
 

Nobody

Danforth Kitchen Whore
Sep 5, 2001
1,481
3
Toronto
YOU.

Give me the recipe for this one RIGHT NOW muthafcka!! :D
Ingredients
2 ounces dried porcini mushrooms, wiped of grit
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 pound pancetta or slab bacon, finely chopped into tiny bits
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 celery stalks, finely chopped
2 carrots, finely chopped
5 garlic cloves, minced
4 fresh thyme sprigs, leaves stripped from the stem
2 fresh oregano sprigs, leaves stripped from the stem
1 fresh rosemary sprig, needles stripped from the stem
2 bay leaves
1 pound ground pork
1 pound ground beef
1 cup milk
1 (28-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, hand-crushed
2 cups dry red wine
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 pound dry tagiatelle pasta
1 handful fresh basil, hand-torn, for garnish
Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, for serving

How to:
Reconstitute the mushrooms in boiling water for 20 minutes until tender, drain and coarsely chop.

In a large heavy-bottomed saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium flame. Add the pancetta and saute for 2 minutes to render out the fat. Add the porcinis, onion, celery, carrots, and garlic; stirring to combine. Toss in the thyme, oregano, rosemary, and bay leaves. Cook for 5 to 10 minutes, stirring, until the vegetables are very tender but not browned.

Raise the heat a bit and add the ground pork and beef; brown until the meat is no longer pink, breaking up the clumps with a wooden spoon. Add the milk and simmer until the liquid is evaporated, about 10 minutes. Carefully pour in the tomatoes and wine; season with salt and pepper. Bring the sauce to a boil, then lower the heat and cover. Slowly simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, stirring now and then, until the sauce is very thick. Taste again for salt and pepper.

When you are ready to serve, bring a large pot of salted* water to a boil, add the pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until tender yet firm (as they say in Italian "al dente.") Drain the pasta well and toss with the Bolognese sauce. Shower with basil and pass grated cheese 'round the table.

If you don't have Tagliatelle, use egg noodles [which is what i did]. I almost always use some dried parsley for decoration at serving but sometimes it's whatever i have handy.

(*salted as in salt dissolved - a friend of mine uses sea salt and it sits in large crystals on the bottom of the pot. what happens during the heating up process is that the salt hyper-concentrated and corroded the stainless steel $240 pot. watch out for that!)
 
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OGRipper

back alley ripper
Feb 3, 2004
10,647
1,116
NORCAL is the hizzle
Interesting. I adopted the Paul Bertoli method for bolognese, which uses similar ingredients but calls for browning the meat first, to get a true fond in the bottom of the pot. Then you remove the meat and deglaze with the vegetables. A little more work but it definitely adds flavor.
 

Nobody

Danforth Kitchen Whore
Sep 5, 2001
1,481
3
Toronto
fine, take a little more time, dice up some chicken livers and brown the meat first - when the meat is about 1/2 way through, toss in the livers.

skip the pancetta - you'll end up over flavoring the food - and that's when the flavors start getting 'muddy' and you end up overcompensating with salt - thus making it - well, you get the picture.
 

Nobody

Danforth Kitchen Whore
Sep 5, 2001
1,481
3
Toronto
but essentially on the mark... just make a light roux, add the Gorgonzola and near-crunchy bacon... you're close!
 

spocomptonrider

sportin' the CROCS
Nov 30, 2007
1,412
118
spokanistan
Nobody- I did your Strogonoff recipe tonight, the flavor was great but my sauce turned out very soupy. Where did I go wrong? Did I need to reduce the broth down to virtually nill when sauteing? Great thread btw.
 

Nobody

Danforth Kitchen Whore
Sep 5, 2001
1,481
3
Toronto
Nobody- I did your Strogonoff recipe tonight, the flavor was great but my sauce turned out very soupy. Where did I go wrong? Did I need to reduce the broth down to virtually nill when sauteing? Great thread btw.
The sour cream at the end, once largely off the heat, is the thickener. In this part of the world, sour cream has a consistency of thick yogurt - not quite liquid.

If it's too 'wet' add a bit more as it cools.

[btw, still reloading images]
 

spocomptonrider

sportin' the CROCS
Nov 30, 2007
1,412
118
spokanistan
The sour cream at the end, once largely off the heat, is the thickener. In this part of the world, sour cream has a consistency of thick yogurt - not quite liquid.

If it's too 'wet' add a bit more as it cools.

[btw, still reloading images]
awesome, thanks for the reply. I put the leftover sauce in the fridge and it thickened up nicely.:thumb:
 

Nobody

Danforth Kitchen Whore
Sep 5, 2001
1,481
3
Toronto
What method would you use for cooking the chicken? I'm going to try your bolognese recipe next, looks amazing.
Generally, for chicken breast, boneless skinless [faster for this job] a fairly dry pan-sear or grill pan or grilling, then when cooked to not-dry but -nearly done [to finish in the sauce] cut into cross-grain strips.

For thighs - anything you like - they take longer to cook and are more forgiving of screw-ups - plus, a longer cooking on them will reduce the fats more thoroughly.
 

Nobody

Danforth Kitchen Whore
Sep 5, 2001
1,481
3
Toronto
oh, and if it's not in the recipe, the key to Bolognese is the longer it simmers, the smoother it tastes, if that makes sense.
 

SkaredShtles

Michael Bolton
Sep 21, 2003
65,375
12,529
In a van.... down by the river
Never had chicken liver, I'm kinda a sissy when it comes to trying new foods but I may give it a go if its as good as you make it sound...
Don't over do it with the livers. For that recipe I'd recommend maybe about 4oz of livers.

And for the record - I think chicken livers are NASTY... but they work in bolognese... :drool:

I'd probably substitute 1/2c heavy cream for the milk (added near the end), too... but I like my bolognese a bit thicker than the photo.
 

Nobody

Danforth Kitchen Whore
Sep 5, 2001
1,481
3
Toronto
I'd done Salmon Wellington years ago for my ex and frankly, can't claim that as 'first try' since i can't remember any of it.



Overall, presentation would have been better if I'd been sharper on sizes - the tenderloin was too large for the pastry sheet to fully wrap, so I rolled it 'seam-down' while cooking.

Original Recipe:

http://tinyurl.com/yzzezjc

My variations, aside from construction issues, was the stuffing and the 'barding' (barding is the use of fatty meats to flavor very lean meats - like the bacon around a filet mignon - in this case i use quotations because i'm not sure that applies to the version by Alton).

My dressing consisted of finely diced onion, diced brown mushrooms, garlic puree, diced fresh apple, and some crumbled toast - all sauteed in butter until soft and pliable, the onions translucent and the mushrooms at less than 50% moisture. Salt and pepper to taste.

The barding [as I didn't have prosciutto available] was - yep, bacon. Lots of it.

In the construction, I laid out the bacon, slathered a bit of country-type Dijon mustard [why not, I asked myself?] then laid out the two halves of the tenderloin. Applied the stuffing, rolled it up in the parchment paper and taped it closed, popped it into the freezer to 'stiffen it up a bit' but not really drop the temp too much.

After i rolled out the pastry sheet, i took some smooth-type Dijon pasted it fairly thoroughly. Then i followed the rest of the recipe.

As to the results - the picture doesn't do it justice. It didn't 'go over well' - it flew.

Tenderloin on any animal tends to have the least amount of flavor and the best over all texture. The combination of the bacon and the dressing kept it moist and added flavor to every mouthful.

Side dish was a basic medley of roasted potatoes, carrots and celery.
 

Nobody

Danforth Kitchen Whore
Sep 5, 2001
1,481
3
Toronto
How about a pictorial on making home-made pasta. I got a maker still in the box that scares the Sh!t out of me to even take it out.

How about a kick arse french toast Nobody style?
Hmm... i have a Cajun variant i should dust off for the 'Toast...

The only real reason to have a pasta machine is if you are a) Italian or b) plan on making stuffed raviolis. [there is much personal debate on this subject, but, frankly, i've lived in Italy and there's some versions they always make fresh and some they buy dried, just like we do]

It's an insane amount of work for spaghetti or fettuccine or the like.

but... winter's coming and i do crazy things in the winter.
 

SkaredShtles

Michael Bolton
Sep 21, 2003
65,375
12,529
In a van.... down by the river
<snip>

It's an insane amount of work for spaghetti or fettuccine or the like.
It is a bit of work... I almost always end up doing pappardelle 'cause I can just use a pizza cutter to cut the ribbons... and unlike fettucine there's VERY little cutting with pappardelle ribbons.

It's definitely worth it on those occasions that you do it. I usually make fresh pasta when we're having wild musroom ragout sauce.
 

Nobody

Danforth Kitchen Whore
Sep 5, 2001
1,481
3
Toronto
It is a bit of work... I almost always end up doing pappardelle 'cause I can just use a pizza cutter to cut the ribbons... and unlike fettucine there's VERY little cutting with pappardelle ribbons.

It's definitely worth it on those occasions that you do it. I usually make fresh pasta when we're having wild musroom ragout sauce.
Let me qualify the 'Insane' remark...

If you don't typically cook a couple hours a day, and have knowledge and control of the kitchen, you are essentially jumping with two feet into a job that will take you a bit of time.

Right now, i cook a bit sporadically, part-time, as it were, so i avoid anything that takes a great deal of prep.

Baking [or just working on dough of any kind] is easy [or, rather, easier] if your setup stays in place. My baking work-surface [hardwood counter - not as good as marble, but it's an apartment] is periodically shifted from that to meats, spices, sauces, other prep, and plants [yes, gardening. I told ya, it's an apartment].

So, in my line, setting up and taking down doubles the effort. Back in SB, i had a small room off the kitchen that was always ready to make bread, pizza dough, pastries etc [and yes, pasta] and it was actually very easy.

Just wanted to clarify that.
 

Nobody

Danforth Kitchen Whore
Sep 5, 2001
1,481
3
Toronto


Variations here center on the 'ham' or 'bacon' base - i used a roasted pulled pork tenderloin, sliced thinly.

I used cross-cut fingerling potatoes and quick fried them 'a la hash'.

Otherwise, fairly simple set up.
 

TSchultz

Chimp
Sep 2, 2003
75
1
S. MN
If you don't mind How do you make your sauce for the benedict? I've been looking for a good one, that is hopefully relatively easy to make.
 

cecil

Turbo Monkey
Jun 3, 2008
2,064
2,345
with the voices in my head


Variations here center on the 'ham' or 'bacon' base - i used a roasted pulled pork tenderloin, sliced thinly.

I used cross-cut fingerling potatoes and quick fried them 'a la hash'.

Otherwise, fairly simple set up.
that looks real good right about now, i could eat breakfast food for all my meals
 

Nobody

Danforth Kitchen Whore
Sep 5, 2001
1,481
3
Toronto
thing about breakfasts - not everyone who eats breakfast is thin, but just about every thin person eats breakfast.

has to do with kick-starting your metabolism, i think.
 

Nobody

Danforth Kitchen Whore
Sep 5, 2001
1,481
3
Toronto
If you don't mind How do you make your sauce for the benedict? I've been looking for a good one, that is hopefully relatively easy to make.
I've been away a lot, but i will work on the hollandaise recipe this week and post it. them. not just a one-size-fits-all sort of thing.