Using my time wisely

There are lots of ways you can spend your time. Some bad, some good. GWB's plan to spread democracy to Muslim countries: bad use of time. GWB reading a book like Three Cups of Tea so he might actually understand what's going in middle east countries: good use of time. My plan to be a lifelong Chicago Cubs fan: well, maybe not a bad use of time, but at best a questionable use of time. Me spending last Monday making Ragu alla Bolognese for a couple of friends: awesome use of time! So to keep it positive, I'll dwell on that.

Last Monday we made plans to have a couple of friends to dinner, and since indoor slow-cooking season is coming to and end, even here in unusually cold and wet PDX, it was the perfect time to pull out this recipe from my to-do list. First off, when it comes to pasta sauces, for me bolognese comes in second only to my beloved carbonara. You spend all day slowly watching something bubble away in a big pot, and when it comes time to serve it up, everyone can taste the love. Forget the trendy food nerd movement, this is real "slow food". I came across this recipe in the NY Times Magazine a few weeks ago. It's adapted from chef Marco Canora of Manhattan's Hearth, Insieme and Terroir restaurants. It's his versions of his grandmother's bolognese, and it was simply stunning. The article also states: "Another indication of a nearly finished ragù is that the evaporated liquids leave behind a sauce as thick as pudding. 'It’s done when it reaches that sexy consistency,' Canora says." Thick, super intense (it has a lot of tomato paste...don't be afraid, it works....that gets cooked to lengthen and intensify its flavor and texture), this was a huge hit, and incredibly easy to put together. All it takes is time, and on a day off with friends on the way for dinner, what could be a better way to make use of it?
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Beef Bolognese
adapted from Insieme in Manhattan

ingredients:
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 ½ cups finely chopped onions
¾ cup finely chopped celery
¾ cup finely chopped carrots
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
1 pound ground beef
1/3 pound pancetta, finely chopped
1 1/3 cups tomato paste
1 ½ cups whole milk
2 cups red wine
2 2/3 cups whole canned tomatoes, drained of juices and torn
4 cups meat stock
Penne or pappardelle, cooked al dente
Grated Parmesan.

method:
1. Combine the butter and olive oil in a large, heavy saucepan set over medium heat. When hot, add the onions, celery and carrots, season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring frequently, until the vegetables start to brighten in color, about 20 minutes.

2. Add the garlic, and just before it starts to brown, add the beef and pancetta. Season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the meat is thoroughly browned, about 25 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 5 minutes. Add the milk and cook at a lively simmer until the milk is absorbed, 10 to 15 minutes. Add the wine and simmer until the pan is almost dry. Stir in the tomatoes and the stock, scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 3 hours (I let mine go for 3-1/2 hours), stirring occasionally. Skim the fat off the surface as it cooks. Toss with al dente penne or pappardelle and serve with grated Parmesan.
Serves 6.
The sauce, after about 90 minutes...looking good!

Super Bowl Bolognese

What says love more to your crew than a pot of something simmery that has been on the stovetop for over four hours? NOTHING, that's what! And what is more deliciously simmery that a big 'ol pot of Bolognese sauce? That's right, class, nothing again! So yesterday for some post Super Bowl dinner fun, I rocked an awesome batch of Bolognese sauce all day on the stove. For this version, made twice now with resounding success, I've combined the best of two recipes, making it about 80% Dean and Deluca Cookbook, and 20% Marcella's Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking. With the predictable 100% satisfaction factor! And man, does the house smell good with this bit of loveliness going all day, plus there's plenty of leftover sauce even after taking care of five hungry appetites. You can freeze it in smaller containers, or if you're Bolognese whore like me, eat it again in a couple of days because it's too fucking good to stay away from!!
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Bolognese Sauce
adapted from "Dean and Deluca Cookbook" and "Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking"

ingredients:
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 cups chopped yellow onion
1/2 cup diced carrot
1/2 cup diced celery
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground pepper
1 pound ground beef (pref. ground chuck)
1/2 pound ground veal
1/2 pound ground pork
1/4 pound chicken livers, chopped
1/2 cup whole milk
2 cups canned San Marzano tomatoes, chopped with juice
1 1/2 cups beef stock
1 cup dry white wine
freshly grated nutmeg

method:
1- Heat olive oil and butter over moderate heat, Add onions and sauté u7ntil opaque, about 8 minutes. Add chopped carrot, celery, kosher salt, and pepper and cook for 5 minutes.

2- Add ground beef, veal, and pork and crumble with a wooden spoon. Cook until meat is no longer pink, ad add chicken livers and milk (the milk is Marcella's idea, she says: "cook the meat in milk before adding tomatoes and wine to protect it from the acidic bite of the latter". Makes sense to me. -BB). Simmer for five to ten minutes until milk is mostly evaporated away.

3-Add tomato sauce, 1 cup beef stock, and white wine. Stir well and simmer, uncovered, over very low heat (an occasional bubble should break the surface) for 1-1/2 hours. Add remaining beef stock and simmer for another 1-1/2 or more hours. Add nutmeg and adjust seasonings.

Cooks note: some chefs, myself included, like to add a little cream at the end to finish the sauce. Thickens it up slightly and seems to ad just the right richness. Marcella recommends fresh tagliatelle, which we had. Also good are DeCecco penne and fusilli.

The Comfort Zone

Dinner at Three Doors Down last night is the perfect answer to the question, "You keep going back to the same places, don't you?" The affirmative answer is obvious to me, because it's when you really get to know a place and the people who work there that you enter the comfort zone.
Yesterday my consigliere DOR and I grabbed two comfortable seats at the bar of 3DD and settled in for what we both knew would be a most satisfying experience. Three Doors has a great warm feel. Most of the servers have been there for years, which always adds to the familiarity. And then there's the food. To say that Chef Dave Marth's food satisfies would be a gross understatement. If you saw Dave on the street, he of the large frame, permanent stubble, and rabid Yankee fandom, he seems more like a guy you'd be throwing beers back at the bar with than a guy who has an incredibly deft, delicate touch in the kitchen. So many things on his menus define comfort food with an Italian bent, and I can't get enough.
Anyway, we settled in at he bar, me with my new favorite thing, a cool refreshing Hendricks Gimlet, wrought with great expertise by bartender/enabler Matt. We had a couple of appetizers, including some briny good Totten Inlet oysters and their crazily good version of a grilled cheese. Picture two slices of white bread filled with fresh mozzarella, grilled and resting on the plate in a bath of lemon butter sauce and you get the idea. Insane! The 1/2 bottle of 2005 Domaine Neveu Sancerre "Vielles Vignes" was the perfect compliment to both. Sancerre is something DOR and I both have great love and respect for. If there is a better expression of sauvignon blanc, it hasn't made it's way past my palate.
For entrees, DOR chose the roast chicken which was awesome. 3DD being the only place I eat roast chicken outside of my own kitchen because Dave rocks with the bird. I was left with no choice but to have their pasta special, because Matt said those magic words I long to hear when he described it: "braised pork belly Bolognese with ground pork mixed in on rigatoni and......." and I pretty much didn't hear anything else as the pig had my head. This was fucking spectacular pasta, so rich, so filled with porcine goodness that it had me wolfing it down. I somewhat resentfully offered to let DOR try some. Luckily he took a small bite...sorry DOR, you know how petty I am when it comes to food! We started in on a bottle of '99 Feudo di San Gregorio Taurasi, a great single vineyard red from Sicily made from the aglianico grape, that I brought with me, which I was loving but DOR was so-so on. Being the one to only want for my friends happiness, I gave DOR the wine list and he picked the 2003 Limerick Lane "Collins Vineyard" Zinfandel, a choice greeted with much eye rolling by Roger and Matt. I used to love zinfandel, but lately have gone all Italian and Frenchie in my wine drinking. But I've gotta say this was delicious. Super-rich, a surprising restraint on the oak, spicy raspberry fruit, delicious finish. Pretty much the perfect bottle of zin.
By this time, we were feeling it. Dave came out of the kitchen and we had some baseball talk, and Matt insisted on comping us a small taste of their house made limoncello, which was sublime. Again, welcome to the comfort zone!