Bolognese Sauce - Authentically from Northern Italy!

There are many versions of Bolognese sauce available. Most of them are variations of meat/tomato sauce recipes. They come no where close to being the real thing. A real Bolognese should not be tomatoey or red! It is brown in color. My Nonna and Aunt in Italy made the real thing! The best Bolognese sauce! I loved it so much, I remember how she took great care in showing me how to make it. I was only twelve years old at the time, but I never forgot the ingredients. It was the measurements I gradually forgot over the years. So I've played and played with the recipe and I think I've managed to finally get it right. Here is my version! Enjoy!

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups diced Onion
3/4 cup diced Celery
2 1/2 lb Ground Beef or Veal or a mixture of both
3/4 cup Dry White Wine
1 1/2 cups Beef Stock
2 tbsp chopped Parsley
Parmigiano-Reggiano
3/4 cup diced Carrot
3 tbsp Tomato Paste
1 1/2 tbsp minced Garlic
1 cup milk
1 lb Pasta (cooked to al dente)
Olive Oil

ButterSalt & Pepper

Directions

Heat the olive oil and butter on medium until the butter is melted and blended. 

Stir in the chopped celery, carrot, onion, salt and pepper.
Cook until all the vegetables are nice and carmelized. 
Raise the temperature on the burner and then add all the meat,

Let it brown, approximately 5 to 10 minutes. 

Add the tomato paste and stir and blend it in. Let it cook for a few more minutes. 

Add garlic with wine and cook to reduce for several minutes.
Add the beef stock and turn heat down to low.
Cook, partly covered, and let the liquid evaporate. 
That's when to add the milk and let it simmer for 30 to 40 minutes or so. 
Add a touch more milk as the sauce reduces.
Stir in parsley.
Season with sea salt and pepper before serving.
It is traditionally served on tagliatelli pasta or penne - a hearty pasta that can bear the weight of the sauce.  

Garnish with the real parmiggiano/reggiano cheese and serve. 

Chicken Breasts in Sweet Chili Sauce

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons Thai style sweet chili sauce
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
4 boneless chicken breast halves (or you can use an equivalent amount of chicken tenders)
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Directions:

Pound chicken breast to an even thickness.

In a small bowl, combine the sweet chili sauce, mustard, and lemon juice, set aside.

Season both sides of the chicken breast with salt and pepper.

In a large skillet, melt butter over medium-high heat, when foam cooks down, add chicken breast.

Cook 5 minutes on each side.

Add 1 tbs. water and shake skillet to loosen browned chicken bits.

Push chicken to one side of skillet.

Add sweet chili sauce mixture.

Shake to coat the chicken with the sauce.

Cook until the sauce is reduced to just a glaze. (30-40 seconds).

Transfer chicken to a serving dish and serve with vegetables and rice.

Meatloaf - Martha's Stewart's Mothers

Years ago, I was watching Martha Stewart.  She had her lovely mother on tv that day and together they made a traditional meatloaf. 

I quickly scribbled out the recipe and made it the next day.  We've enjoyed it ever since.  It's quite easy if you can chop the ingredients in a food processor, but if you're like me and don't have one, then you can chop everything finely by hand. 

It's great served with mashed potatoes.

MarthaStewart's Mother's Meatloaf

2 onions
2 sticks of celery
2 carrots
parsley
2 cloves garlic
4 slices white bread torn into pieces or 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 cup ketchup
1 egg
2 teaspoons dry mustard
1 tablespoon salt
2 teaspoons black pepper
2 1/2 lbs ground beef

Mix all ingredients and bake in a 9 x 6 loaf pan at 350 for an hour and a half.

Halfway through the cooking, pour glaze over it.

Glaze

2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

Beef Stew

This is my family's favourite beef stew recipe. And this is a great time of the year to have a big pot of it boiling on your stove.

2 1/2 pounds beef for stew
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup salad oil
1 large onion chopped
1 garlic clove minced
3 cups water
4 beef bouillon cubes in water or 4 cups beef broth
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
1/4 teaspoon pepper
5 medium potatoes cut in chunks
8 carrots cut in chunks
2 turnips cut in chunks
1 10 ounce package frozen peas

1. Cut meat into 1 1/2 inch chunks. Coat stew beef with flour. Reserve leftover flour. Heat oil in 6 quart dutch oven over medium-heat.

2. Brown meat all over in oil, a few pieces at a time. Remove pieces as they brown. Reduce heat to medium.

3. To drippings in pan, add onion and garlic. Cook 3 minutes, stirring until onion is almost tender. Stir in reserved flour.

4. Gradually add water, bouillion/broth, salt, Worcestershire, pepper. Cook, stirring until mixture is slightly thickened.

5. Add meat; heat to boiling, stirring Reduce heat to low. Cover, simmer 2 1/2 hours until almost tender, stirring occasionally.

6. Add potato, carrot, and turnip. Over medium heat, heat to boiling. Reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer 20 minutes.

7. Stir in frozen peas, cover and simmer 5 to 10 minugtes or untail all the vegetables are tender. Serve immediately.

Mirella's Lemon Garlic Chicken Breasts

This is a long time family favourite and very simple and healthy to make.

3 lbs chicken breast

Lemon Sauce:2 cups fresh lemon juice
1 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
4 to 5 cloves garlic minced
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
Salt and pepper (to taste)

Place chicken breasts in a 9 x 11 casserole dish. Salt and pepper both sides. Mix lemon juice, olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic, and Italian seasoning. Pour over chicken. Cover with foil. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Remove from oven. Remove foil. Return to oven and broil for 1 to 2 minutes.

Best Ever Meatloaf

It's pretty hard to go wrong when making a meatloaf. Here's my tried and true fabulous meatloaf:

Meatloaf:

2 lbs ground beef
2 eggs
2/3 cup milk
1/2 cup oatmeal or 3 slices of bread torn
1/2 cup onion
1/2 cup grated carrot
1 cup shredded cheese (I usued an aged cheddar)
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Topping:

1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon prepared mustard

Preheat oven at 350 degrees

Mix all the ingredients for the meatloaf and form into two loaf pans.

Mix all the ingredients for the topping.

Set aside half of the topping.

Pour the remainder over the two loaves.
Bake for 45 minutes.
Remove from oven and brush more topping over the loaves.
Bake for another 15 minutes.
Remove from oven and brush remaining topping over the loaves.
Bake for another 15 minutes.