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Bolognese Bonanza

I had been craving a rich, hearty bolognese sauce for some time, and with snow and frigid temperatures setting in, I knew Sunday would be a good day for it. I'd read in the New York Times about a couple of bolognese recipes almost a year ago that changed my view of the stuff -- elevated it in some way. Ever since, I've been trying to perfect my recipe. This Sunday's attempt was no different...except that I was working with Cotton and I was terribly under the weather. I guess now is a good time to point out that I'm not necessarily going for a traditional bolognese -- just a tasty variant on classic bolognese.

Cotton minced up some onion, garlic, carrot, celery, and herbs and spices (probably oregano, basil, red pepper) and sauteed it in a bit of olive oil. I would have used butter, but whatever. Next, she added the meat. We had just under 3 lbs of 'meatloaf mix', which, at my grocery, is equal parts beef, pork, and veal. I don't think you can brown the meat properly if there are onions and whatnot in the pan, and I think browning of the meat is absolutely essential to a great bolognese. Nevertheless, we cooked down the meat and I added milk -- maybe 2 cups. I cooked that until the liquid was gone and then added white wine -- maybe 1 cup -- and the liquid and juice from 2 large cans of plum tomatoes. We reduced that down until nearly gone, then added tomato paste and fried it up a bit until it got dark and rusty. I should mention that this took about 2 hours just to get to this point. Then we added the diced tomatoes that produced the juice mentioned earlier, as well as two cans of crushed tomatoes. Yes, we were going for leftovers.

If I was cooking on my own, I would have browned the meat and removed it, sweat the vegetables, added the paste and fried it, then put the meat back in, then the wine to deglaze, then the milk. I'd reduce that, add my plum tomatoes (diced and crushed) with their juices and reduce the whole mess. This time, it didn't matter because I CAN'T TASTE ANYTHING due to my Cold.

Tragically, the sourdough Cotton and I made did not rise. Luckily I had some whole wheat bread from yesterday on hand, but I was hoping for lots of extra bread for stuffing. (This coming weekend is family Thanksgiving because Cotton and I missed real Thanksgiving.) I'm trying to rehabilitate my starter in hopes that I can make more bread soon.

Photo credits: avlxyz

Braised Breast of Veal

I picked Cotton up at the airport Friday night. She's home from college for winter break. We fought our way home from La Guardia, made small talk with the family, and then fulfilled Cotton's urgent need for chicken parm at Piccolo. Fed and watered, we made our way across the parking lot to the grocery store, searching for inspiration for Saturday dinner and gathering supplies for Sunday's bolognese.

We started in the meat department, since all great meals start with meat. Okay, not really...but I kinda wanted to braise something. Or else roast something. Or something. I perused the usual suspects and considered them carefully when...what is this wedged between chicken thighs and pork chops!? Why, it's none other than the elusive Breast of Veal! I've never seen that in our grocery before, so I bought the biggest piece they had: nearly 4 lbs for a mere $6.

While some people were dreaming of dancing sugar plum fairies Friday night, I was dreaming of the baby goat I had recently at Scarpetta. How tender and unctuous it was! Its perfectly rich jus bathing small dice of fingerling potatoes! This is what I wanted from my breast of veal. I awoke and drafted some braising plans.

Cotton and I started a biga Friday night for Saturday's dinner. I got her up at about 9:30, which I consider a massive triumph. We got the bread going and commenced work on the veal, but...the phone rang. It was Mom, letting us know we were +2 for dinner. By this point, I had actually looked at the meat I bought and realized it was virtually all bone and other...stuff. Good tasting, probably, but not much meat. So back to the grocery store we went, hoping and praying there was still some breast of veal left. Success! There was, and we picked a pretty piece, a little smaller than the original.

Back at the ranch, I rubbed the veal with a little vegetable oil, kosher salt, and black pepper. I carefully browned ALL surfaces in my favorite Le Creuset dutch oven. Retrospectively, I could have browned the meat a bit more, but I was battling the clock. I took the meat out and added some sliced onions. I had great dreams of browning half of them a la French onion soup and then adding the rest, but remember the clock? I did, so I just cooked the onions down a little in some bacon fat. I added some tomato paste and cooked it until it got beautifully rusty, then added garlic, carrot, celery, herbs, and beef stock. I brought it to a boil, covered it, and then put it in a 350F oven. I had to finish it on the stove because we had to bake the bread.

Once the veal was fall-off-the-bone tender, I took it out and let it cool down. I figured slicing it was out of the option, so I pulled it off the bone and chunked it. I strained the liquid and did my best to reduce it, but I was concerned about it getting too salty from reducing the stock. I put the meat back into the gravy and served it over egg noodles along with some sauteed root vegetables (beet, turnip, parsnip, potato, carrot).

The verdict? The veal was good, but not amazing. It just tasted like pot roast, which I guess isn't a bad thing. The flavors were very rich though, and I'll bet that leftover gravy is all gelled up. I wouldn't bother with that piece of meat again unless I know it had more...meat. It was a lot of work pulling all the little bits of meat off the bones, fat, and other junk. Plus, it kind of grossed me out just a little. It would probably make a great veal stock though, or could be used to flavor a tomato sauce or something.

Breakfast: 2 fried eggs & hash browns
Lunch: leftover Chinese
Dinner: braised veal, egg noodles, sauteed root vegetables, whole wheat bread & butter
Snacks: buttered popcorn, tea with honey

Head Cold '08

All week long, it's been building up strength, growing, replicating, incubating until...WHAM! Head Cold '08: 7:13 PM EST 2008-12-5.

I've been lucky enough to avoid a serious, debilitating Cold for a couple of years. Not this time. This is an old-school Cold. It's extra-strong and resilient, resistant to modern Cold therapies like steamy showers, Tylenol Cold, and Vick's. Nope, all that can help you out of this mess is time...and maybe sleep and vitamins.

My father, who never gets sick, introduced this Cold into our home and so far, it has claimed three victims: Dad, Mom, and me. Sore throat, stuffy AND runny nose, mild coughing, aches, fatigue...CLASSIC. So far, Sunday has been my worst day. My nose was running like a faucet, rubbed raw from standard Kleenex. Thankfully, Mom's worst day was Saturday, so she got some Puffs Plus with lotion Sunday afternoon, but tragically, the damage was already done.

Life will go on.

Photo credits: nicora