A Good Bolognese Takes Time Not too long ago, I posted a quick bolognese sauce. Last night we had company so I decided to make the real bolognese, the kind that takes a lot of time, the kind that makes the house smell amazing and the kind that tastes out of this world. I served it with a big salad and some homemade focaccia. The problem -I was caught up with the company (and my glass of wine) and I completely forgot to take a picture of everything plated. Ingredients I recommend doubling or even tripling this recipe so you always have some on hand -it freezes well. 2 tablespoons olive oil 2 tablespoons unsalted butter 1 large onion, chopped 2 carrots, chopped, 2 celery ribs, chopped 2 garlic cloves, chopped 2 tablespoons tomato paste 1 pound meat loaf mix 1 cup whole milk 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon black pepper 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg 1 cup dry white wine or chicken broth 1 (28 ounce can ) crushed tomatoes Heat oil and butter in a large pot over moderately high heat until foam subsides. Season with salt and pepper.
The Caked Crusader - Nightly Calypso Orange Pound Cake Warning: Baking this cake will fill your kitchen with the irresistible smell of oranges. This is a slightly modified version of a recipe I saw recently in Saveur. It’s a buttery pound cake shot through with freshly grated orange zest and soaked with sweet orange syrup. Next time, I’m going to monkey around with the recipe and try it with lemons. Be sure to pour the glaze over the cake when it’s still warm to help the cake absorb the syrup. A note on creaming butter and sugar together This is an interesting recipe. This recipe, however, tells you to use your stand mixer to whisk softened butter into the flour mixture—and THEN add the liquid ingredients. I was really curious how it would work. What’s the difference between cake flour and regular flour? This recipe calls for cake flour. Cake flour is made from soft wheat, which has less protein and gluten than all-purpose flour, so it’ll produce a finer-textured cake. I usually use regular old Softasilk from the grocery store. Orange Pound Cake
Speciality Restaurants - Home Pulled Pork at The Hungry Mouse I know. This is dangerous territory for a Yankee Mouse to tread. Let me say right now: I make no claims to being a barbecue expert. But, I knew I wanted to make pulled pork. I also knew that our grill wasn’t set up, and we don’t have a smoker yet (yet!). I figured, “OK, it’s a pork shoulder. In the end, this was a very happy experiment that turned into one downright heavenly piece of pig. This pulled pork started with something I saw on the Food Network. I thought about it for a few days before I broke down and bought the pork shoulder. I took what I learned and, true to form, made the rest up and hoped for the best. As it turns out, it was more than a decent gamble. I infused a couple cups of the braising liquid with some vinegar, tomato paste, and chili flakes for a thin, piquant sauce. All about pulled pork There are a million ways to make pulled pork out there. Let’s start with the meat. The most common cut used is pork shoulder, sometimes called Boston butt or picnic shoulder. Mmmmm…
Smell the lemon - Lounge Updated: Sat, Mar 01 2008. 04 42 PM IST As I wax lyrical every week about gourmet food and fancy foreign dishes, I realize how blind I have been to some extraordinary dishes in India itself. I have recently been travelling to Kolkata on work, and have rediscovered Bengali food. Bengali cuisine is considered elaborate and refined, and the state is the only place in India where food is served in separate courses, the chronology based on ancient beliefs, to aid the digestive process. There are also ingredients particular to this region, which are very special. There’s also nolen gud or palm jaggery, which is used in sandesh and rosogullas in winter and stored in cakes in Bengali kitchens for the rest of the year. In fact, what is so remarkable about Bengali food is the subtlety and balance, the use of spices but less of chillies and the obsession with quality and detail. Banerjee then steams the fish and serves it on a banana leaf. Chef Joy Banerjee’s Bekti Gonduraj—Steamed Fish with Lemon
{Quatrefoil Week} Stained Glass Cookies Sorry about the lack of a post today My internet has been down today...very frustrating! It's been down on and off for the last two days! Today's post is Quatrefoil Stained Glass Cookies Ingredients: 2 sticks of butter softened 1 cup sugar 1 egg 1 tsp vanilla extract 2 tsp baking powder 3 cups all purpose flour Jolly Rancher Hard Candies Make the sugar cookie dough and roll out the dough I didn't have a Quatrefoil shaped cookie cutter, so I printed out some quatrefoil shapes off of the computer Cut out the shapes and lay them on top of the rolled out cookie dough Using a sharp knife cut out around the quatrefoil shapes Place the cookie onto a cookie sheet. And place 2-3 jolly ranchers inside the middle Place a preheated 350 degree oven for 8 minutes. Take the cookies out of the oven and let them cool for 10 minutes until the middle is hard again
The Quick Fix Fabric on Walls - Using fabric instead of wallpaper. If you want to add life to your white walls, try wallpapering your walls with fabric! Placing fabric on your walls is a simple process, as a matter of fact, it is just like wallpapering except you are using fabric and starch which allow you to easily remove and reuse as needed. Before we begin, decide which walls you would like to "fabric". Do you want to cover the whole wall, or would you prefer to go up half a wall and apply a border trim? You may choose to create a collage of color and place a decorative frame around it, or use the fabric to create a wall mural. If being budget conscious is necessary for you, understand that fabric prices vary and could actually run into quite a bit of money depending on your tastes - this can be easily remedied by discount fabric stores and clearance sales. The good news is when you remove the fabric from the wall, all you will need to do is wash it. Keeping all that in mind - let's get busy. Materials:
Perfect Pancakes I have SUCH a love-hate relationship with pancakes on so many levels. 1. I LOVE the way good pancakes taste. 2. (Did I already say that?) Making pancakes from scratch is the only way to go. Lucky for you, I happen to be obsessed with pancakes, and decided not to rest until I came up with the perfect pancake recipe. Okay? Okay. The Cast of Characters: CAKE FLOUR (essential ingredient), sugar, baking powder, salt, eggs, milk, vanilla, and butter. Start by throwing 3 cups PLUS 2 tablespoons cake flour into a mixing bowl. You’ll just have to trust me on this. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt. Next add 3 tablespoons of baking powder. Oh, never mind. Next comes 2 tablespoons sugar. Stir together the mixture, then set aside. Now throw together 2 cups of milk… 2 large eggs… And 3 teaspoons vanilla extract. You must trust the Pioneer Woman. Stir the milk mixture together until the eggs are beaten and part of the mix. Like this! Huh? Just don’t beat it up, okay? And, uh, microwave it. All ready! I’m hungry for pancakes.
Mushroom-and-Swiss Sliders with Spicy Fry Sauce I went berserk the other night, whipping up some scrumptious sliders and topping them with some wine-soaked mushrooms and Swiss cheese. What can I say? I was feeling mischievous. To slather on the slider buns—which were actually just storebought dinner rolls split like hamburger buns—I whipped up some spicy fry sauce. Fry sauce is nothing more than ketchup and mayonnaise. It’s my purpose on Earth to expose these things. Start by making the spicy fry sauce: throw some mayo into a small bowl… Then add some ketchup. And some cayenne. Stir it together till it’s all combined, then set aside. Chop up an onion… Melt 4 tablespoons butter in a large skillet. Toss and stir them around, cooking them for about five minutes or so. Then grab the mushrooms, then chop ‘em all up. And throw ‘em in the skillet with the onions. Then pour in the wine, baby! I’m sorry, but wine and mushrooms simply go together. But you can leave them out if you’re not into wine. Or if you’re sensitive to wine. Meat. Sorry. Yum!