#1 - Ragu alla Antonio

ragu [ra-GOO, rah-GOO]
A staple of northern Italy's Bologna, ragu is a meat sauce that is typically served with pasta. Though different than the French RAGOUT, both are derived from the verb ragoûter , which means "to stimulate the appetite." Ragu usually contains ground beef, tomatoes, onions, celery, carrots, white wine and seasonings. (1)

Many of the food blogs and recipe books I read have variations on beef with mixed vegetables, sometimes with cheese, sometimes without, usually with tomatoes. Most of them have at least one ingredient that either I or Dorothy won't (or can't) eat(2), so I decided to make my first of Fifty New Things be an exercise in creativity. I went for cheese but no tomatoes to get a less saucy, more gooey texture.

Ragu alla Antonio
1 cup (4 oz) dry elbow macaroni
1 cup diced onion
1-2 cloves diced garlic
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 pound ground beef
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon Cumin
8 oz can whole kernel corn
4 oz can green chilies
10oz shredded cheddar and jack cheeses
salt and pepper to taste

Cook pasta to al dente. Preheat oven to 300°. While pasta is cooking, cook the sofritto of onions, garlic and celery in a tablespoon of olive oil until the onions are soft, translucent, and beginning to brown (about 5 minutes).  Add ground beef and cook with chili, cayenne, salt, and pepper until the meat is fully browned. Add corn and mix completely.

Turn off heat and stir in pasta. Once everything is thoroughly mixed, add all but 2oz of the cheese and stir to combine. Top with the remaining cheese and place in the oven for 12-15 minutes to melt the cheese.

Makes four servings of approximately 520 calories each.

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(1) © Copyright Barron's Educational Services, Inc. 1995 based on THE FOOD LOVER'S COMPANION, 2nd edition, by Sharon Tyler Herbs, as found on Epicurious.com

(2) Like mushrooms. Blech!

Practice makes perfect, and makes dinner, too!

Tonight I decided to throw a few things together while trying out some new techniques. First, I've been working to master the art of cheese sauce. My previous attempts have not been successes: first, my bechamel failed; then, once I had a good bechamel, once I added the cheese I got a grainy goo. Fortunately, our local Whole Foods happens to have a wonderful cheese specialist who gave me a key fact: cheddar, on its own, is not suited for sauces. It tends to clump and turn grainy even in the best base. To make a good sauce, you have to mix the cheddar with a better melting cheese. She recommended Italian fontal in an equal ratio with the cheddar. With that in mind, I got a lovely, smooth sauce. Now that I have that worked out, next I will work on different flavors with different cheese blends.

Cheese sauce (Cheddar/Fontal)

1 tbsp butter

1 tbsp flour

1 cup whole milk, cold

4 oz cheddar, shredded

4 oz fontal, shredded

Shred and blend the two cheeses so that they are evenly mixed and set aside.(1)

Heat a heavy saucepan on medium-high heat. Melt the butter in the pan. Once the bubbles have stopped, add the flour and stir. Continue stirring while the roux cooks for 4-5 minutes.  Add the milk and continue stirring for another 5-10 minutes to thicken the bechamel. Do not let the milk start to boil, and keep stirring to prevent burning on the bottom. Once the sauce starts to thicken, remove from the heat and begin adding the cheese a little at a time. Allow each addition to melt and completely incorporate before adding the next. If the sauce cools too much, put back on medium heat for a bit, but take off the heat again before adding more cheese.

The second new technique I wanted to practice was "baked" rice. According to one site I read, cooking rice in the oven rather than the stovetop produces more predictable and better results. My theory is that the oven provides more even heating (rather than all the heat coming from the bottom of the pot). As a side bonus, the pot was easier to clean, too! I usually have at least a little rice stuck/burned on the bottom but not this time. And the rice was well cooked, just a little sticky, and full-flavored. For this batch, I added some onion and garlic, and next time I think I'll try putting some spices in as well.

Oven cooked rice

2 tbsp olive oil

2 cups white rice

3 cups water

1 cup onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped

Preheat oven to 350°

Heat an oven safe pot with a tight fitting lid over medium-high heat. Add the oil to the hot pot and turn the pot to coat the bottom. Add the rice and stir for 2-3 minutes to coat the rice in oil and toast lightly. Add the onion and garlic, then all the water. Once it comes to a boil, stir once then put the lid on the pot and put into the oven. Cook for 13 minutes, then remove the pot from the oven and set it aside for another 5 minutes before removing the lid. Fluff and serve.

As I said, this worked like a charm. The water was completely absorbed, the rice was perfect, and clean up was a breeze!

To go with my rice and cheese sauce, I decided to brown some ground beef and stir up a casserole.

Cheesy Beef and Rice Casserole

1/2 pound ground beef, with cumin and chili powder to taste

1/2 cup pureed black beans (2)

2 cups cooked rice

3/4 to 1 cup cheese sauce

1-2 oz shredded cheese for topping

Preheat oven to 350°.

Cook the ground beef and drain the fat. Stir the meat and rice together, then add the beans and cheese sauce and combine thoroughly. Place in an oven safe casserole dish or pot and top with the shredded cheese. Bake to heat through(3) then turn on the broiler for 3 minutes to get the top bubbly.

Yum! We were both pretty hungry, so Dorothy and I ate the whole dish between us for dinner. As part of a larger meal (or if we had eaten more at lunch) this might have been three servings.
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(1) Mixing the cheeses evenly is key. According to Jeaneane (Cheesemonger extraordinaire), this is the way to make sure that the clumping qualities of the cheddar are properly diluted and get a smooth sauce.
(2) Last night was burrito night; for black bean burritos I drain a 15oz can of beans and run them through my food processor with a bit of chili powder and cumin. This is every bit as good as any "refried" beans I've ever had, and doesn't have the added fat of refritos .
(3) In my case, the rice and cheese sauce were still warm from having just been cooked, so it only took 5 minutes to heat the casserole through. If your rice or cheese don't start out warm, you'll need to allow more time to heat it up.

Come on down to Tony's Diner!

We're cooking up burgers today! Not just any burgers, but good old fashioned roadhouse "sliders" on fresh baked potato rolls!

To start with, we need the rolls. Good bread takes time, but even so this recipe isn't all that intensive. Mostly it just needs time to rise:

1 pkg (1/4 oz) yeast
1 1/2 cup warm potato water(1)
1/3 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1 cup potatoes, mashed(2)
4-5 cups all purpose flour

In the bowl of your stand mixer, proof the yeast in 1/2 cup of the potato water with 1 tbsp of the sugar. Once the yeast is foamy, add the remaining water, sugar, salt, and butter, and beat until well mixed. Add the potatoes and continue mixing for 2-3 minutes. Add the flour 1/2 cup at a time, allowing each addition to fully incorporate before adding the next. At around 3 or 3 1/2 cups, the dough will be thick enough to switch to a dough hook if you have one. Continue adding 1/2 cup of flour at a time until the dough is pulling away from the bowl. Depending on the humidity, this should be at about 4 or 4 1/2 cups.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead by hand until you have a smooth, satiny dough. You may have to add up to another 1/2 cup of flour. Once it is smooth, form into a ball and place into a buttered bowl. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours.(3)

When you are ready to continue, take the dough out and punch it down, then let it rest for 10 minutes. Prepare a 9 x 13 baking dish with baking spray or butter.

To prepare the rolls, place the dough onto a cutting board. Use a sharp knife to cut the dough into equal sized portions and arrange those portions into your baking dish.(4) Place in a warm place to rise until doubled in bulk.(5)

Bake at 400° for 16-20 minutes until golden brown.

Once these babies are in the oven, we start preparing the meat. We're doing regular hamburgers as well as grilled chicken, portioned out to fit nicely on the rolls.

Following Alton Brown's instructions from his "Man Food Show" episode, we roll a pound of ground chuck out nice and thin (using a sheet pan, or just eyeballing the size and shape). We sprinkle the top with kosher salt, fresh ground pepper, and onion and garlic powder, then fold the meat over longways, pat it together, and cut into eight squares with a pizza cutter. Finally we put them on a 350° griddle for 3-4 minutes on a side.

For the grilled chicken burgers, we take a split chicken breast and cut each side into three pieces. The thicker portions get flattened out a bit by folding a piece of waxed paper over each piece, then hitting them with a rolling pin a few times. With a bit of olive oil on the griddle we cook them like the burgers, 4 minutes on a side at 350°.

Each burger is served with a bit of your favorite sauce (mayo is mine), some grilled onions, and a slice of cheese. They're small but packed with flavor! Come on down and order yours now!

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(1) This is the water you cooked the potatoes in.  Since I do a lot of potato bread, I'll boil up five or six potatoes at a time, then portion both the potatoes and the water into baggies (1 cup of potato or water in each) and freeze them so I can get out just as much as I need at baking time.

(2) Don't add any salt or butter. This isn't a side dish, it's an ingredient.

(3) Potato bread is a wondrous thing. It does its first rise in the refrigerator, and you can let this go until the next day, allowing you to prep the dough the day before a big dinner. The next day you just get it out, let it warm up, and pop it in the oven.

(4) For the sliders, I went with 16 fairly large rolls by cutting the dough into halves four times. You could also do 24 more dinner-roll sized rolls by cutting the dough first into thirds, then cutting those into halves three more times.

(5) If you refrigerated for the minimum 2 hours, the second rise should take 40 minutes to an hour. If you refrigerate longer, the rise will take longer as the dough has to warm up, so allow enough time and watch the volume of the rolls. I find it helps to put the oven on "warm" (about 170°) for about 5-10 minutes to create a good rising spot. I cover the pan with a towel a spritz a tiny bit of water onto the towel to keep the top of the dough moist but not wet.

Brisket Tacos

No stories today, just a nice report of an improvised recipe. One of our many former housemates used to use green chilies to make a very flavorful but non-spicy stew.  During my weekly "What should I cook this week?" conversation with Dorothy, she mentioned that.  I decided to make a variation to use as taco/burrito filling, and it turned out quite nice.  I did this on Sunday afternoon, when I could let it cook for a long time; with the right cut (and shape) of meat, you could do this in the slow cooker just as well.

Green chili brisket tacos
1.5lb flat cut brisket beef (1)
2-3 medium baking potatoes (or 5-6 new potatoes), diced into bite-sized pieces
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
4-5 cloves garlic, bruised (2)
1 5oz can of diced green chilies
Vegetable or beef stock (about 1 cup depending on your dish)
Red wine (optional) (about 1/2 cup depending on your dish, or to taste)
Olive oil, salt, pepper
Corn or flour tortillas
Oaxaca cheese

Preheat oven to 325°.

Oil a baking dish large enough to hold the meat and vegetables. Salt and pepper the beef and place it in the center of the pan. Arrange the potatoes, onions, and garlic around the meat. Spoon the chilies across the top of the meat. Pour in enough of the stock and wine to come about halfway up the  meat. Cover with aluminum foil or a lid, and cook for 2 hours. When the meat is cooked, remove it from the dish and shred it. Return to dish and mix well with the vegetables. Return to the oven for another 15-20 minutes to let the meat soak up the remainder of the liquid and blend the flavors. Serve on tortillas with oaxaca.

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(1) I'll be honest here, I didn't pay close attention to the actual cut; I asked my butcher if he had anything good for brisket on sale, and just used what he gave me.
(2) I just set the flat of my big knife across the clove and give it a light hit. The idea isn't to smash it flat, just open it up and release some of the oils.