Church Sloppy Joes

Church Sloppy Joes

I grew up in a small farming town in rural Illinois. My family went to the Methodist Church every Sunday. All throughout the school year on Wednesday afternoons we had choir practice followed by Youth Club followed by dinner. It was a long afternoon. Really, though, I looked forward to it. So many friends went to our church. And the ladies of the church knew how to make the BEST sloppy joes. It was a good Wednesday night that included those sloppy joes. (Granted it was like every other Wednesday night, but when you're young that seems like a long time.) Those ladies went on to publish the "Treasured Recipes" of our church. Now, we already know that I despise random cookbooks, but I have owned this one even longer than the Williams-Sonoma Complete Pasta. Granted, I have never dared to try "Hobo's Delight" (which ironically sounds good with just potatoes, onions and eggs), the "Kraut Salad" (made with canned sauerkraut and mango??) or any of the various "Ham Loaf" recipes. No, I do believe the only recipe I have ever braved is the "Church Sloppy Joes." I could write it down of course, but the slim, spiral bound book conjures up such nostalgia. We always cherish the things that hearken back to our youth. Plus it contains such witty metaphorical favorites as "Elephant Stew" (supposedly made by spending three months cutting up a real elephant and was meant to feed our entire town) and the "Happy Home Recipe." I'm absolutely certain that making the recipe from something I scrawled in a notebook would not taste nearly as fine as the one on page 41 submitted by the Mrs. Susan Elkins. So, I save it, and it almost always falls open to the spatter-stained page containing "Church Sloppy Joes" (and of course "Crock Pot Pizza?"--Hmmm, keep an eye out for that one!). Hopefully my reminiscing will make it taste just as good for you. (And yes, you should make all 3 pounds worth. It freezes beautifully!)

Church Sloppy Joes by Susan Elkins
as found in "Treasured Recipes of the Casey United Methodist Church"
3 lb. Hamburger
3 onions
Pinch of garlic salt
Salt and pepper
1 (24 oz) bottle ketchup
1 (6 oz) can tomato paste
1/4 c. Water
2 Tbsp water
2 Tbsp vinegar
3 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp Worcestshire
Dash of Tobasco
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp dry mustard

Brown meat, onions and garlic (salt). Drain. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer very slowly, 30 to 40 minutes. Note: scorches easily.

"This is an old recipe that my family originally got from the women of our church." -Susie Elkins

Pressure Cooker Beef Stew

Beef Stew with Root Vegetables and Collards

Two summers ago I was putting up massive amounts of tomato sauce made from the season's abundant harvest of Roma tomatoes, which would last us through the winter. I convinced myself that because of the borderline pH of tomatoes--and the fact that I didn't dare add lemon juice or citric acid to my sauce--I needed a pressure canner to do my job. You see, if opting for canning versus freezing one needs to be certain that there is no chance for Clostridium botulinum spores to develop which can cause deadly botulinum toxins (the cause of botulism). Most likely my jars would have been just fine in the traditional boiling water bath, and I now believe I simply had a deep-seated desire to own another piece of cool kitchen equipment. But drive directly to Southern States, I did. And own this enormous Presto 16-Quart Pressure Cooker/Canner, I do. It takes up a LOT of cabinet space. I have rationalized, though, that I am also able to use it as an extra water bath canner as well. Not all has been lost. Because, really, would anyone actually use that ginormous thing to cook? Yes, in addition to pressure canning it does pressure cooking. (I tend to think of pressure cooking as a slow-cooker set to warp speed.) I love reading the accompanying cooking manual. The recipe for Swiss Steak calls for 12 pounds of round steak. When making Lemon Pork Chops the recipe claims there is enough room in the pot for 20. Literally. Sometimes I wish I had a family large enough to cook for in these massive quantities (though usually I don't). Okay, but if I did--Swiss Steak and Lemon Pork Chops? Instead of warp speed it feels more like time warp with these old-school recipes. Did I mention the Chinese Pineapple Lamb?

So, fast forward two years. It's almost 5pm. My family is hungry. I haven't cooked anything, prepped anything, thawed anything. I'm in big trouble. I have collard greens, sweet potatoes and beets I need to use. We ate soup for lunch, darn. Oh, and dinner needs to be on the table by 6:30. Nothing like a dinner challenge. My husband says that beef stew sounds good. What?? Does he really have no idea that a meal like that takes all-day planning? Going into overdrive I search FoodNetwork in hopes of finding an answer: Time for Super-Emeril! (I was actually searching on beef and collard greens, wondering what sort of braised wonder I might whip up that evening.)

There it was. I felt like that humble parent in the 'Twas the Night Before Christmas poem. "When what to my wondering eyes should appear but a recipe from Emeril; dinner shall be near" The title: Emeril's Best Beef Stew. Cook time: 50 minutes. It can't be true: BEST beef stew in 50 minutes? This recipe combined with the numerous packages in my freezer of "Beef Stew Meat" that can be thawed quite quickly in a sink full of water just might save me this year. Bonus, it actually contained collard greens too. So, I read on. Well, I'll be darned: USE A

PRESSURE COOKER. Yes! Of course! Why do I always need someone to spell it out for me? Needless to say, at this time of year my pressure canner/cooker is used simply as a storage receptacle for all my canning supplies. Also needless to say is that I had yet to actually COOK any meat in it. Another first.

I'll jump to the end of the story and let you know it was fantastic. The stew was tasty; the meat was tender. In fact, the meat was so tender that my husband claimed he couldn't tell the difference between the meat and the potatoes. Verdict: I highly recommend trying your pressure cooker for a beef stew. The prep for cooking in the pressure cooker is just the same as the slow cooker.

Meat just after browning

Brown meat over relatively high heat first, searing in the juices. Then saute the flavor chiefs: onion, celery, garlic, etc. Then add the liquid and you're basically done. It is that fast. I found that I saved loads of time by prepping the vegetables while the meat was on it's first round. Also, definitely get creative with what happens to be in your icebox. The recipe called for parsnips and turnips. Those would be yummy, but I just didn't have them on hand, and the roots I used as alternatives were delicious and colorful.

As a reminder, my pressure cooker is really of a monstrous size, but it didn't seem to have any negative effects. Several friends of mine own the much more manageable Presto 6-Quart Pressure Cooker. It's plenty of room to feed a typical family, so I would opt for this one if you don't need the canning feature.

Here is my adaptation of Emeril's Best...

Pressure Cooker Beef Stew

Adapted from “Emeril’s Best Beef Stew”, New New Orleans Cooking, by Emeril Lagasse and Jessie Tirsch, published by William Morrow, 1993.

Ingredients

· 2 ½ teapspoons paprika

· 2 teaspoons kosher salt

· 1 teaspoon garlic powder

· ½ teaspoon black pepper

· ½ teaspoon onion powder

· ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

· 1 teaspoon dried oregano

· 1 teaspoon dried thyme

• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

• 1 ½ pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1-inch cubes

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 1 medium yellow onion, cut into medium dice

• 2 stalks celery, cut into medium dice

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

• 1 tablespoon chopped garlic

• 1 bay leaf

• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves

• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary leaves

• 1 cup dry red wine

• 2 1/2 cups beef broth

• 3 beets, peeled and cubed

• 2 large purple sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes

• 2 cups chopped collard greens

• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves

• Crusty French bread, for serving

Directions

Combine the spices (first 8 ingredients), flour, and beef cubes in a bowl. Toss to coat well. Add the oil to a pressure cooker and heat over medium-high heat until hot. Add the meat in two batches and cook, turning occasionally, until evenly brown, about 5 minutes. Transfer the meat to a plate and set aside. Add the onion, celery, salt and pepper and cook, stirring, until the vegetables are wilted, about 3 minutes. Add the browned meat, garlic, bay leaf, thyme, rosemary, red wine, and broth. Cover the pressure cooker and cook for 20 minutes at 15lbs of pressure, turning down heat once the pressure point is reached. Turn off the heat and allow pressure regulator to fall. Once safe to open, add the beets, sweet potatoes, and collard greens, stir well, and replace lid. Bring back up to 15lbs. pressure and cook an additional 20 minutes. Garnish with chopped parsley and serve with bread.

Flank Steak Fajitas

Among other things, this year we are focused on reducing our food waste. It has taken a long time, but I have finally learned that our family simply does not eat "leftovers." Not even Thanksgiving turkey. We have the best intentions of doing so, but time and again, I empty out the food storage containers into the trash. Why is this? For starters, who really wants to eat the same meal back to back? Plus, many foods--especially meat--can be ruined by reheating. I can think of a couple recipes I make using ground beef in which the flavors are enhanced by time. But on the whole, reheating meat is just not something I recommend. As a result, I am taking charge of our waste reduction by carefully planning ahead. If it's a meal that can freeze and reheat, such as soup or lasagna, I will make enough to feed us twice. Immediately after dinner the remainder goes straight into the freezer. If the meal isn't freezer-worthy, then we are trying to prepare only what we will eat that evening. This sounds simple, but it can be quite challenging based on the varying appetites of five.

That prelude was to announce that although I thawed one pound of flank steak for my country fried steak, I had the sense to only use half of it. Pounding the meat out thin made it go farther, and country fried steak was not something we needed for leftovers.

So, there I was the next afternoon perusing my refrigerator to figure out what to pair with the remaining flank steak. Voila. I had bothered to save the remaining "chimichurri with roasted tomatoes" sauce a la the Giada de Laurentiis Pot Roast recipe. How good would that taste as a marinade for the flank steak? I was thinking yummy. So, the flank steak went into the spicy parsley sauce for an hour. It could have marinated longer, but as usual I was pressed for time. In the meantime we preheated the grill and sliced up whatever peppers and onions we had available. We settled on 1 onion, 1 green pepper & 1 jalapeno. As I always do, I consulted recipes online as I was cooking up our dinner. I found inspiration in Sunny Anderson's Flank Steak Fajitas. She uses a traditional chimichurri sauce with the addition of cilantro. What particularly moved me was her "drunken peppers" accompaniment. I willingly sauteed my few onions and peppers in olive oil, seasoned them with salt and pepper, and then poured about 1/3 cup of lager beer on top. The cooked peppers steeped in the beer (covered) while my husband grilled the steak. Our steak needed just 3-4 minutes per side over medium-high heat (400F internal grill temp). Remember to let the meat rest! After 10 minutes we sliced it thinly across the grain and served it in hot flour tortillas with a little pepper-jack cheese and, of course, the drunken peppers. Delish. And the best part: no leftovers.

I am certainly regionalizing myself to be cooking up Country Fried Steak (and here we do not call it chicken fried steak). Once again the choice of meat helped me narrow my dinner options. After the thaw-a-thon last week I went for the slimmest, fastest cooking cut: the flank steak. The flank is the long, thin muscle that makes up the abdominal wall of the cow. It is often a tough, overused muscle that is marinated, cooked quickly over high heat, and then sliced across the grain. The slaughterhouse that processed our meat follows halal method, which in Islamic doctrine governs the treatment, processing, and consumption of animals. I appreciate this processor because I know the animals will receive the most humane treatment available. (At this point I know you're wondering how on earth I have put country fried steak and Islamic halal in the same paragraph.) Because of the processor's focus on meeting Islamic dietary restrictions, my flank steak came a bit non-traditionally. Instead of one long 3-4lb flank steak with the fatty portion in tact, mine are cut down into half-pound pieces with no fat remaining. At first I thought this would pose a challenge. The meat is so lean it was bright purple, and the whole piece only weighed as much as two sticks of butter--pounded flat. I thought for sure if I cooked it over high heat it would be a tough, dry piece of crispiness in no time. That's when I stumbled upon that meat genius: Emeril, and his version of Country Fried Steak. The recipe is exceedingly simple, but it worked perfectly with our flank steak. Perhaps because our steer was on the young side or maybe because grass-fed meat just doesn't get as tough, but the meat was tender and tasty at the recommended three-minutes per side frying time. (Oh, and if you are still noodling on that halal business, check out the website Green Zabiha to learn more.)

I announced to my husband we would be eating country fried steak for dinner. He seemed intrigued and said he had never eaten it before. I was astounded. Really? Well, hasn't it been around, like, forever? I attempted to look up the origins of the country (or even chicken) fried steak. Yes, this dish has many names and probably just as many claiming it's fame. It seems, though, that in the U.S. the dish has been around in name for the better part of a century. However, people were certainly pan-frying pounded out pieces of battered red meat long before that. I realized the Southern classic is shockingly similar to my husband's all-time favorite food: Wienerschnitzel. Though the Austrian version is served with just a lemon and a side of spaetzle, we humble Americans of course go for the cream gravy and mashed potatoes. I was all out of potatoes, so we settled for grits (with some obligatory cheese thrown in for the girls). We used the remainder of our bunch of kale for another Kale Salad. It's always good to pair bacon gravy and fried meat with some raw, dark greens! We made our cheese grits super simple. This meal was a definite keeper.

Cheese Grits

Boil 3 cups water

Add 1/2 tsp. salt

When boiling, slowly stir in 1 cup organic corn grits/polenta

Simmer on medium-low heat until water is almost fully absorbed, stirring occasionally, 10-20min.

Add 1/3 cup shredded cheddar-jack cheese (or use your favorite--Parmigiano-Reggiano is divine)

Stir to allow cheese to melt and then serve while hot

Country Fried Steak

Recipe Courtesy of Emeril Lagasse

Prep Time:

5 min

Inactive Prep Time:

--

Cook Time:

40 min

Level:

--

Serves:

4 servings

Ingredients

• 1 (1 1/2 to 2 pounds) flank steak
• Salt and pepper
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• Essence, recipe follows
• 2 eggs, beaten with 2 tablespoons milk
• Vegetable oil for frying
• 6 ounces finely chopped bacon
• 1/4 cup minced onions
• 3 cups whole milk

Directions

Cut the flank steak into four equal portions, crosswise. Using a meat mallet, pound out the steak, about 1/4-inch. Season with salt and pepper. Season 2 cups of the flour with Essence. Dredge the steaks in the season flour. Dip the steaks in the egg wash, letting the excess drip off. Dredge the steaks in the seasoned flour, coating each side completely. Add enough oil to a large skillet to fill about 1/4-inch of the pan. Heat the oil. When the oil is hot, carefully lay the steaks in the hot oil. Pan-fry the steaks for 3 to 4 minutes on each side, or until golden. Season with salt and pepper. In another skillet, render the bacon until crispy, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add the onions and continue to saute for 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the remaining 1/2 cup of flour and continue to cook for 2 minutes. Season with salt and black pepper. Whisk in the milk and bring the liquid to a simmer, cook the gravy for 3 to 4 minutes. If the gravy is too thick add a little more milk and if too thin, cook a little longer. Remove from the heat and season with salt and black pepper. Spoon the gravy over each steak.

Emeril's Essence Creole Seasoning (also referred to as Bayou Blast):

• 2 1/2 tablespoons paprika
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 2 tablespoons garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme

Combine all ingredients thoroughly and store in an airtight jar or container.

Yield: about 2/3 cup

Recipe from "New New Orleans Cooking", by Emeril Lagasse and Jessie Tirsch. Published by William and Morrow, 1993.

Lessons in Roast Beef

Using frozen meat definitely calls for advanced planning. It's called thawing time, and the bigger the cut the longer is needed. I generally am not a fan of the microwave, and one should NEVER thaw grass-fed beef in the microwave. It's the first cardinal rule. The microwave will begin the cooking process in the meat and cause tough spots in your already lean piece of beef. Planning ahead isn't a bad thing, though. It gives a surprisingly positive bit of structure to our often chaotic week. For example, the sirloin tip roast we ate this week took two entire days in the refrigerator to thaw as well as three hours on the kitchen counter to come to room temperature before cooking. Fortunately after all that wait it took roughly an hour to prepare. We had committed on Saturday, though, to be eating that roast on Monday night. This may be common custom for many, but I have unfortunately been a "what am I making for dinner tonight" kind of person. As I said, the structure was good. I plan to try it a little more often now.

The downside was that I had two plus days to fret about making my first roast beef. Yes, I have been cooking for over 15 years, and I really don't believe I have made roast beef. I seldom eat it. We are not a lunch meat sandwich family, and it certainly isn't what I choose at the carving station. And if we do use a roast, I almost always use the slow cooker or make a pot roast. But I was thinking traditional, slice it for dinner and have some left over for panini, roast beef. Given our schedule that day, I had decided that roasting would be the most convenient way to prepare our meat. With our sirloin-tip roast it should be as simple as browning it in a skillet and finishing it in the oven for a short while.

In my traditional going backwards manner, I then set about learning what makes good roast beef: what are the best cuts; what seasonings or sauces work well; how hot should the oven be; at what internal temperature should it be removed. It's no surprise that the best roast beef is made from the best cuts of the cow. We had all our best cuts made into steaks, so I guess I'll have to save the perfect roast beef for another side. I had already committed myself to the sirloin tip though (mainly because it was the first roast I came to in the freezer, and I was up to a new year's challenge). Though obviously I quickly learned that using a roast from the hind-leg of the cow wasn't going to lend itself to the traditional melt-in-your-mouth sort of roast beef. That's right. Sirloin tip doesn't actually come from the sirloin section of the cow but the rump section. It is a transition between the two, so as long as it is not overcooked it can make for a very nice roast. Let me repeat that: as long as the sirloin tip roast is not overcooked, it can make for a very nice roast. I found a recipe that called for the particular cut and fit my time frame. Plus, it had a delicious sauce, which would help since the meat probably wouldn't stand on its own (and it would make my husband very happy). The recipe I chose is below. It's Giada De Laurentiis' Italian version of roast beef with a spicy parsley tomato sauce that is basically a chimichurri sauce with the addition of roasted roma tomatoes.

Note: This recipe would be absolutely terrific in the summertime when the romas are bursting in the garden and the parsley is full. I refused to buy the very lackluster Mexican romas in our grocery store and opted for canned plum tomatoes. The upside is that canned tomatoes are picked when ripe. The downside for this recipe is that the canned tomatoes are packed in juice and puree. So instead of shriveling down into roasted sweet tomato goodness in the oven they tasted pretty much just like cooked tomatoes. They were quite tasty in the sauce, but I will make it again when my locally sourced ingredients can do the recipe justice.

As far as cooking the meat goes, I have already become a victim of the pitfalls I mentioned in my first post on this subject. Recipes are generally written for grocery store, grain-fed beef. This one is no exception. After overcooking the end parts of my meat (the one thing that will ruin a sirloin tip roast!), I have found the following tips on grass-fed roasts:

• Lower the oven temperature recommended by the recipe by at least 50 degrees. The absence of fat in the meat means less moisture. Lower heat will release the juices more slowly.
• As with most roasts, brown it quickly on all sides in a skillet before putting it into the oven to roast. This step will help the meat retain that juiciness and therefore, flavor.
• Cook your roast to an internal temperature of 20 degrees less than you would prepare conventional beef. (In the recipe below I would recommend taking the roast out of the oven when the internal temperature reaches 115-120 and then let it rest, covered, for at least 10 minutes. Also, grass-fed meat will cook 30-50% more quickly than conventional.
• Shoot for rare to medium-rare. If you can't stand pink meat, then you are better off making your grass-fed roast in the slow cooker (think low and slow). I found that the end parts of my roast were rather tough and tasteless, even though the middle was a nice medium-rare. Cooking it rare in the very center should ensure that the medium-rare extends through the ends. Also, you would be surprised that kids love rare to medium-rare meat. They haven't built up that aversion to pink! What's not to love? Tender, tasty pieces of beef.

All in all, it was a good experience. I served the roast beef with mashed red new potatoes and our favorite simple kale salad (recipe below). We even utilized the leftovers to make panini. Spread the leftover sauce on the insides of two pieces of country bread. Assemble the sandwich by layering thin slices of the beef as well as a slice of white cheddar cheese. Cook in a panini pan/maker. Yummy!

Kale Salad, feeds 2

1/2 bunch kale (plain or curly)

1 lemon

1 1/2 tsp. creole mustard or other stone-gound mustard

salt and pepper

1/4+ cup good quality extra virgin olive oil

Thoroughly wash and dry the kale. Remove the leaves from the ribs. Chop the kale finely. (I recommend slicing it all one direction in "ribbons" and the turning it 90 degrees and repeating.)

In a salad bowl, add the juice of the lemon, the mustard, and salt and pepper to taste. Combine with a whisk. Slowly add the olive oil in a thin stream while constantly whisking. Adjust to taste, adding more oil or seasonings.

Add kale to bowl and toss to thoroughly coat.

Roast Beef with Spicy Parsley Tomato Sauce

by Giada De Laurentiis as found on The Food Network

Ingredients

Roast Beef:

• 1 (2 to 2 1/2-pound) sirloin tip or chuck beef roast
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 Roma tomatoes, cut in 1/2
• 2 teaspoons herbs de Provence
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Spicy Parsley Tomato Sauce:

• 1 1/2 cups fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1/2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Directions

To make the beef roast, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Season the beef with salt and pepper. Season the tomatoes with salt, pepper, and herbs de Provence.

Place a medium, heavy roasting pan or Dutch oven over high heat. Heat the olive oil. Sear the beef over high heat on all sides. Turn off heat. Place the seasoned tomatoes around the seared beef and place the pan in the oven. Roast until a meat thermometer reads 130 degrees F. for medium rare, 135 for medium, about 30 to 40 minutes. Take the roast out of the oven, tent loosely with foil, and let rest for 10 to 15 minutes. The internal temperature of the meat should rise 5 degrees F more and the juices will redistribute into the roast.

To make the sauce, place the parsley and garlic in a food processor and pulse until the parsley is finely chopped. Add the red pepper flakes, salt, red wine vinegar and the roasted tomatoes from the beef pan and process until pureed. Add the olive oil in a steady stream with the machine running.

To serve, slice the roast and place on a serving platter. Drizzle a little sauce over the meat. Serve the remaining sauce in a small bowl alongside.

Bolognese Lasagne

For someone who loves to cook I don't own that many cookbooks. Epicurious.com was started right when I was learning to cook and was a perfect match. I love being able to search through thousands of recipes by selecting the ingredients I would like to use. I don't necessarily have one trusted chef that I go to again and again. I do like referencing certain professionals, but I don't rely on them. So when my mother years ago gave me the Williams-Sonoma Complete Pasta Cookbook, I remember thinking--this thing looks like a coffee table book--it doesn't even fit on my kitchen shelf!--I'll quite likely be sending it to the Goodwill in six months. That's pretty much how I feel about most cookbooks. However, let me be the first to admit I was completely wrong about this book, and all these ten plus years later I still own it. If I want to cook up delicious pasta it is the first place I look for a recipe. So let me share with you the yummy Bolognese Lasagne from our holiday gathering. You will not be disappointed and may want to get a copy of this cookbook for yourself. It might even suit your coffee table.

Bolognese Lasagne

adapted from Williams-Sonoma The Complete Pasta Cookbook

Note: I added Bechamel Sauce, also from this cookbook, to the Lasagne

Make Bechamel Sauce

1/4 cup unsalted butter

2 shallots, peeled and minced

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 cups milk

1 cup heavy cream

salt

• In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, melt the butter. Add the shallots and saute until they are soft, about 5 minutes.
• Add the flour and cook, stirring frequently, for 3 minutes. Do not let it brown. Using a whisk, slowly mix in the milk and cream.
• Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring frequently, until the sauce thickens, about 8 minutes.
• Remove from the heat and add salt to taste. Cover, placing plastic wrap over top surface, and refrigerate until ready to use.

Make the Bolognese Sauce

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 yellow onion, peeled and diced

1 celery stalk, finely chopped

1 small carrot, peeled and finely chopped

1 lb (grass-fed!) ground beef

3/4 cup milk

3/4 cup dry white wine

3 lb Roma tomatoes, peeled, seeded and diced or 28oz canned tomatoes

6 oz canned tomato sauce

ground nutmeg

salt

red pepper flakes

• In a large heavy frying pan over medium-low heat, heat the olive oil. Add the onion and saute, stirring frequently, until it is translucent about 8 minutes.
• Add the celery and carrots and saute, stirring frequently for 10 minutes.
• Add the ground beef, breaking it up with a fork or flat wooden spoon. Saute, stirring frequently, until the beef just loses its pink color.
• Stir in the milk and simmer until it has evaporated, about 8 minutes.
• Add the wine and simmer until it has evaporated, about 8 minutes longer.
• Add the tomatoes, the tomato sauce and nutmeg, salt and red pepper flakes to taste. Increase the heat to medium, stirring, bring the sauce to a simmer then reduce the heat to very low. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 1-2 1/2 hours (longer is better).

Assemble the Lasagne

4 cups Bolognese Sauce

2 1/2 cups Bechemel Sauce

1 tablespoon salt

Dried Lasagne Noodles (as many as it takes to make six complete layers in your pan)

1 1/2 cups freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

1/4 cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley

• Preheat an oven to 350F. If you have a convection oven, it should be set on Convection Bake, as you want it to circulate heat but also cook from the bottom.
• Lightly coat the inside of a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with olive oil.
• In a large pot over high heat, bring 6 quarts of water to a boil. Add the 1 tablespoon salt and the lasagne noodles and cook according to the package directions until al dente, about 10 minutes. Drain, rinse in cool water and drain again. Separate noodles so they do not stick together.
• Cover the bottom of the baking dish with one layer of lasagne noodles, touching but not overlapping. Make 6 layers of the Bolognese Sauce, Bechemel Sauce, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and noodles, ending with the cheese. Top with the parsley.
• Bake until the top of the lasagne is golden brown and the sauce is bubbling, 35-45 minutes.
• To serve, cool for 10 minutes and divide among individual warmed plates.

The Year of the Cow

Technically February 3, 2011 begins the Year of the Rabbit in the Chinese Zodiac Calendar. However, for our family it will be the Year of the Cow. Well, half a cow.

As 2010 drew to a close we purchased a side of local, grass-fed beef from a family friend just entering the finishing business. We were comfortable with the purchase because we have known these farmers for many years, have been to the farm and have seen how happy and beautiful their Charolais breed cattle are. When we found out they needed to finish one of their steers instead of send it to market, we jumped at the chance to share it with them. No more waiting in lines at the farmers' market to get the right cut of meat. And--at a cost of $7/lb--it isn't inexpensive, but it beats the prices at Whole Foods and the Farmers' Market, and I have the satisfaction of really knowing what we are purchasing. After all, the difference will show up in our health. Grass-fed beef has lower fat and higher Omega-3s, betacarotein and Vitamin E than grain-fed, feedlot meat. We aren't just talking a little. The difference is noteworthy. Grain fed beef has almost 4 times the fat of grass fed. The Omega-3 profile of grass-fed beef is astounding. The levels are 2-4x the amount found in grain-fed beef. In addition, the ratio of Omega 3:Omega 6 (think of it as good:bad) in grass-fed beef has been shown to be 16:1. This ratio is even better than wild Alaskan salmon. So, we are hooked on the grass and will not be eating any further grain-fed beef in this household. As a result, we packed 140 lbs of most of the namable cuts into our deep freeze and hoped for a continuous power supply for all of 2011.

I thought it might be interesting to keep track of which cuts we ate and when--how we prepare them, what we think tastes best. It's almost literally a different animal. It isn't of course, but you are what you eat (to use a cliche that works wonderfully in this situation). Are you corn or grass? Anyway, it doesn't always cook up just the same as the grain-fed stuff you may be used to and that your recipe most likely assumes you are using.

We used our first package of ground beef (first of 40!) to make a fantastic Lasagna Bolognese for a Christmas dinner party we were hosting. The meat had come in literally the day before--right when I realized that the initial lasagna I had made would not be enough food to feed the 15 people coming for dinner. However, I do love it when food presents itself as the solution to my problems. That large package of ground beef would be our initial foray into this side of beef. It was divine. Really. It made me so excited to prepare every other cut in that freezer.

Let me just take a moment to say that when I stared down at the cooler full of meat I received, I was a little hesitant to open it. I thought for sure that knowing I had seen this animal when it was alive (though couldn't pick it out of a lineup and certainly didn't name it) and being able to relate so closely to its life I wouldn't be able to mentally and certainly not physically eat it. I was extremely nervous about this, as I knew that either way I owed my farmer friend upwards of $1,000. In fact, I ignored the cooler for the entire afternoon. As I have learned through many lessons in my life, ignoring your problem does not make it go away. It was approaching the 11pm hour when I finally felt I needed to deal with this meat or else it would completely spoil and then I really would be out a grand. Facing that cooler, I lifted the lid, and I almost hate to admit it--but I was like a kid in a candy store. So many beautiful cuts of meat (they were smart and put all the ground beef on the bottom). There were NY Strips followed by NY Strips. Then Ribeyes, Filets, Flank, Hanger. There were countless roasts, ribs, brisket. It was like purchasing the grab bag and then finding out it was actually filled with tons of goodies. I guess I had envisioned about 4 steaks and the other 100 lbs ground beef. Of course the irony is that the very first thing I opted to cook was the ground beef--and it was outstanding. Now you can see why I am giddy about cooking up this grand steer.

I have been unable to Google the Williams Sonoma Pasta Cookbook recipe, so I'll be typing it out tomorrow.