I made ragu for dinner

There are times where I wish I could say "I made my mother's ragu, handed down through the generations from mother daughter. It's an old family tradition from the Old Country."

But we're Irish & German, have been here since 1780 or so, and my foremothers embraced the convenience of early modern agribusiness prior to WWII with a startling eagerness. Oh there were jars of home canned stuff in my Nan's larder when I was a child, but no one had seen her can a thing after 1951.

Tellingly perhaps, I cannot remember any of the jars every being opened, let alone eaten.

This is my family's traditional ragu.

It even says 'traditional' right on the label.

I'm rather fond of it actually. There are so few 'family recipes' in my background that I take what I can get.

But sometimes, usually around now, when it gets really cold for the first time in months, the complete lack of Italian blood in me calls out for a dish of rich meaty ragu, served over polenta. And ConAgra's contribution won't cut it.

I make this sort of ragu

I should have remembered to take the photos *before* we ate.

And before I spooned half of it into a bag for the freezer

The pot was actually nearly brim full of ragu when it was done cooking.

It's good over pasta shells, rigatoni or gnocci, and in lasagna, but I like it best over polenta.

It takes freakin forever to make this ragu but it's worth it. Most of the time is just waiting around for it to cook but there is a about 30 minutes of activity leading up to that and another 10-20 or so after. You end up with about 8-9 cups of ragu from this, which works out to about 3 dinners in my house.

You need:

2 28 ounce cans of tomatoes - crushed or whole doesn't really matter, you'll be pureeing them. Get good ones, home canned if possible (assuming you know they were canned in this century)

2 pounds or so bone in beef short ribs, trimmed of large areas of fat

1 pound of boneless chuck meat,likewise trimmed

1 pound of sausage, links or ground, your choice

1 small yellow onion - peeled & chopped

2 cloves of garlic smashed & chopped

2 carrots peeled & grated

2 ribs of celery likewise

4 ounces of portabella or crimini mushrooms, chopped

1 cup of white wine

2 strips of thick sliced bacon, chopped

a handful of chopped parsley

salt & pepper

olive oil

First you need to puree the tomatoes and then strain them, pushing them through a metal strainer set over a bowl. You want to strain out the tougher bits of skins & the seeds. Salt & pepper the tomato puree. Set that aside & preheat the oven to 300.

It a large dutch oven, about 7 quarts, though mine is a bit smaller than that, brown the sausage, breaking it up as you do. Then remove it and set it aside to drain. Pour off the excess fat, but leave a little & add some olive oil. Over medium high heat brown the chuck all over, remove it, add a bit more oil if needed and brown the ribs all over. This takes about 10 minutes or so.

If you're like me, use this time to chop & grate up all that stuff you didn't get around to doing ahead of time.

Remove the ribs, pour off the fat and wipe the pan out with paper towels, set it to medium heat then add the bacon. Stir the bacon and let it brown. Once it is browned add a bit more oil and add the onions, carrots, celery & garlic. Stir them often as they brown & get soft, about 7-8 minutes. Then add the mushrooms and parsley and stir them around for a bit. Add the beef, but not the sausage. Stir it all around well, then add the wine, turn up the heat to high and let it cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the pureed tomatoes, stir and let come to a simmer.

Put the lid on it and slide it into the oven for 2.5 hours. Put the sausage in the fridge until about 10 minutes before the ragu is done in the oven.

When the time is up remove the ragu. Remove the meat from the sauce, all of it, even the bits that have fallen off the bones. Set it aside to cool a bit. There will be a good bit of oil floating around on top of the sauce. Remove it with a spoon or turkey baster. Then puree the sauce, either in batches in a blender or with a hand blender in the pot, carefully. Once the meat can be handled (10-15 minutes) remove the bones, any chunks of fat or connective tissue and discard. Shred up the meat and return it to the sauce. Add the sausage. Stir and reheat to a simmer for about 10 minutes. Salt & pepper to taste

I usually make polenta, putting 4 cups of cold water with a cup of coarse corn meal in a pan and setting it over medium low heat and stirring it from time to time until it gets thick, then stirring it more frequently (usually in between shredding up the meat & things).It takes 30-40 minutes for the polenta to get thick enough to pull from the sides of the pot.

Pile some polenta on a plate, scatter some provolone & mozzarella over it and ladle a big helping of ragu over that.

It's seriously hearty. Make no plans after dinner.

what a good day so far!

It took me all of about 60 seconds to vote. There were 20 cars in the lot but they must have belonged to the people manning tables by the roadside and the dozen or so folks working for the precinct. It seemed a bit overstaffed to say the least. I showed them my ID, noticed DH had voted earlier (#112), got my card (#306, I didn't realize there were 300 people in my precinct, let alone they would have voted already) and made my 3 choices (we only had President, Senator and Representative to elect this time. No bond issues or anything). It took me longer to tweet about it than it did to do it.

I hadn't realized Nader had made it onto the ballot here, nor that the Constitution Party candidate, Chuck Baldwin,  had made it either (and why are they listed as Independent Greens?) They managed to put someone up for Senator as well.

Then I went and got a bacon chili cheese dog, which took much longer to get than it did vote. You want to talk lines? Stop by the General Store at lunch time.

But the really really big news is this:

While taking Mayhem to the bus stop I passed the UPS truck headed toward my house.  I very nearly made a U-turn and chased after him. But I stuck to my duty to get the kid on the bus and go vote.

Looky what the Big Brown Truck of Joy left for me

My long anticipated and saved for, DSLR!  The battery is charging now and I'm getting ready to read the manual instead of reading blogs.

The orange light is supposed to flash while the battery is charging, right?

Homemade pizza

The boys love pizza so I make it often.  I often use pureed veggies as a base for a sauce, usually defrosted & drained spinach pureed up with a spoonful of pesto or alfredo sauce.  Other times I grate slightly steamed broccoli or carrots and scatter them over the sauce before topping with cheese.

A family favorite is chicken, spinach and artichoke pizza. This uses a couple spoonfuls of alfredo pureed up with spinach as sauce. One cooked and chopped chicken breast is usually enough for an average pizza.  I make an extra one when we have chicken for dinner so I have one handy later in the week. The artichokes are a small jar of quartered marinated heartes in oil.  Not the canned ones. The jarred ones have a better texture.  I chop them up small. The boys are more likely to eat small toppings rather than big ones (I chop pepperonis into 8ths for them). I also top it with extra defrosted and drained spinach. Sometimes the boys pick it off, sometimes they don't, which is why I puree it into the sauce as well.

These are the crust recipes I use:

This one makes a decent sized pizza of average thickness.

2 teas sugar

2 teas salt

1 tlbs olive oil

3/4 c water - warmish

2 c flour

1 teas yeast

This one makes 2 12' pizzas of average to thin thickness or one rather large thick crust pizza

2 1/4 teas yeast

1 1/3 c water - warmish

3 1/2c flour

2 tbls olive oil

1 tlbs salt

1 tbls sugar

For both recipes mix all the ingredients together and knead for 10 minutes. Let them rise for about 2 hours in a warmish place (I use my microwave oven, nice even temp inside and doesn't take up any more counter space). I've found the dough is pretty forgiving of longer rises, I've left it for up to 5 hours & the only real change I noticed was a crisper crust when cooked, even the thick crust version. Then punch it down and roll, toss or otherwise stretch it out to size. cover with a dishtowel & let sit for 30 minutes

Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 475.

You can at this point top it and bake it for 10-12 minutes.  I however bake the bare crust for 5 minutes, let it cool for about 10-15 minutes, then top it and bake it for another 5-7 minutes. You get a good crisp crust this way and it's easier to get off the pizza paddle and into the oven.

This dough is also sturdy enough to go on the grill, use the same temperature, but make small individual pizzas and knock a couple minutes off the cook time.

I've been baking

I made cupcakes Saturday and muffins yesterday. The cupcakes were for a pot luck party my bunco group was having. The muffins were for the family.

I ate several of both batches.

The cupcakes were cheesecake brownie cupcakes. I used the recipe for Mrs Field's Cheesecake Brownie Cups found here at RecipeZaar.com.  However, I am not sure what it is with me & measuring, but I ended up with 16 cupcakes instead of 12. They were very well received.

I had 2 bananas that needed to be used yesterday so I made muffins. I was going to make peanut butter banana muffins, in the hopes of tempting Mayhem to actually eat a muffin rather than just demand to make them.  But he'd gone on a PB&J spree over the weekend & there was insufficient peanut butter remaining. I decided to replace it with Nutella. Chocolate, bananas, hazelnuts...yum!

Nutella Banana muffins

Preheat oven to 400 and prepare 12-18 muffin cups. (recipe claims 12, I made 18)

In a large bowl mix together

2 cups flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tblsp baking powder

1/4 teas salt

In a smaller bowl mix  until well combined

1/2c  Nutella

2 tblsp  oil

2 eggs

3/4 c warmish milk

2 medium bananas mashed (or pureed like I did)

This will take some time if you do it by hand. The Nutella and the milk & the eggs do not want to combine, but they will if you keep at it. I don't own a hand blender so I stuck it out with a whisk.

Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. This will be a thick but liquid batter. Fill muffin cups 3/4 full with the batter. Bake for 20 minutes or so. Test with a toothpick.

These are very good banana muffins with a chocolate & nut background flavor. If you want a chocolate & nut muffin with a banana flavor I suggest omitting one banana and increasing your Nutella by a couple of tablespoons. And you can add some mini chocolate chips as well.

Forgot the muffin recipe

I worked myself into enough irritation about the muffins and forgot to post the recipe.  *I* like them even if the boys are only so-so about them.  I bet if I made them with Nutella and raspberry jelly Havoc would like them more.

Peanut Butter & Jelly Muffins

This makes a dozen regular sized muffins. Use paper muffin cups. Preheat oven to 375.

1.5 cups AP flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 teas baking soda

1/2 teas salt

Combine in a large bowl& set aside

1/2 cup smooth natural peanut butter

2 eggs at room temperature

Mix these together well in a second bowl then add

3/4 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla

4 tblsp really soft/ melted but too not hot butter

and mix thoroughly.  Add to dry ingredients and mix until just combined

Let sit for 10 minutes. Then spoon into muffin cups, filling each one about 3/4 of the way.  Add a teaspoon of grape jelly to the center of each cup, making an indentation as you do.

Bake for 20 minutes

Supper Score

Aug 26 - Spaghetti Carbonara - no actual bacon pieces in the boys'

Mayhem paused but once he started eating he ate it all & told Havoc it tasted really good

Havoc took a long time to get started, being suspicious of the smell of cooked garlic, but in the end ate it all

Aug 25 - cheese pizza with spinach & tomato sauce

Mayhem ate 3 pieces without a word

Havoc grumbled that he only likes Papa John's sauce and ate most of one piece. What we wonder is does he mean their tomato or their alfredo? He won't be clear

Aug 24 - BBQ grilled chicken with grilled sweet potatoes & beets

Mayhem ate the obligatory one bite of each item, said he didn't like them and that was that.

Havoc ate a few bites of chicken & one bite each of the rest

Aug 23 - Turkey croquette with spinach mashers

Mayhem ate a few bites of croquettes and one of potatoes

Havoc ate maybe 2 bites of croquettes and 2 of potatoes

Aug 22 - went out to eat

Mayhem had pizza & ate nearly all of it

Havoc had chicken fingers & ate most of them

Aug 21 - Scotch eggs and spinach salad

Mayhem ate all his salad & a bit of sausage & egg

Havoc ate his sausage, the white of his egg and some salad

The kind of mom I want to be (I think)

I made muffins. I made those muffins specifically to give to Havoc when he came home from school. See, I have this vision in my mind of the kind of mom I want to be - the kind that greets their children with home baked goodness and milk when they get home from school. The kind that sits down with them at the kitchen table and asks them how their day went, in a casual, non-cross examining manner. I want my kids to have a memory of a mom who fed them fresh from the oven baked goods and listened with interest & sympathy to their thoughts after school. I've been waiting for almost 6 years to get a shot at being this kind of mom & now it has finally happened.

I have no idea if I actually am that sort of mom, or if this particular fantasy of mine will last beyond next week, but it's worth a go. I have the essential elements - I like to bake and I am a good listener. But I am also lazy and selfish and get involved in other things to the point where it is too late to bake something or I'm just not able to stop & listen right then. So while I want to do it, I have some doubts about my ability to follow through. (I've known me for 41 years, follow through is an issue for me)

It's important to me to try, because I always wanted the "meet-you-at-the-door-with-cookies" type of mom. What I had was the "shout-to-you-from-the-laundry-room-"Don't eat anything you'll spoil your dinner" type of mom. (and she was correct. I got home after 4pm and we ate at 5:30). Mom has never been much into baking either. I made all the homemade cookies in the house starting when I was 8. I'm not saying I felt deprived by this, or that my mom didn't take an interest in my life; she was always willing to listen, but she didn't ask much. "How was you day?" was a dinner time question and the amount of attention you got depended on how everyone else's day was, how picky you were being about the food and how badly your sibling was behaving.

I met Havoc at the bus stop and we walked back to the house. He was delighted to find chocolate muffins waiting for him and we spent about 8 minutes eating muffins and talking about his day.

Then Super Dog came on.

When I was constructing this little after school fantasy in my head I had forgotten I was dealing with my children, who are occasionally shockingly like me. See...despite wanting a 'meet-you-at-the-door-for-cookies-and-chat' mom, I was not a 'cookies-and-chat' sort of kid. I was a 'But Mom, Scooby Doo is coming on" sort of kid. I really preferred to veg in front of the tv for an hour before I spoke to anyone, a habit that stuck with me through college & all of my working life. I need coffee before I can talk to people in the morning & I need a mindless sitcom rerun after work before I tell you how my day went. So, as with most fantasies, they don't work well in real life. I'm going to continue to provide an after school snack & a willing ear, but I'm going to try & time it better.

The muffins were good though.

Chocolate Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

2.5 cups flour

1/4 cup unsweet cocoa (not Dutch processed)

1 teas baking soda

1/4-1/2 teas ground cinnamon

1 cup softened butter

1.5 cups sugar

2 eggs

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 teas vanilla extract

1/2 cup buttermilk

2 cups shredded zucchini

4oz bittersweet chocolate well chopped

Preheat oven to 375

Mix the flour, cocoa, baking soda & cinnamon together in a large bowl

In another bowl cream the butter & sugar together until fluffy (I use a stand mixer but a hand mixer is fine too, or if you really want a workout - a whisk). Slowly add the oil while mixing, then the eggs one at a time. Add about a third of the four, when it is combined add half the buttermikl, repeat until all the flour & buttermilk are added. This has a very creamy almost icing like texture. Fold in the zucchini & chopped chocolate

Pour into baking cups and bake for about 25-35 minutes, checking until a toothpick comes out clean.

This makes about 20-24 regularly filled muffins (fill cups 3/4 full). It makes 15-18 overfilled muffins (cups filled all the way up). In my case, since I only had 12 cups, it made 12 overfilled muffins and 14 overfilled mini muffins (bake 15-20 minutes)

Blogger Tags: muffins

Dino Muffins

Havoc has informed me that today is the allosaurus' birthday. (We have about 20 plastic dinosaurs, 2 are allosaurs). They are 26 today and they would like banana muffins at their party. The orange crocodile was content with Cheerios at his party last month but I suppose allosaurs think big.

I made muffins with the help of Havoc, Mayhem and 2 allosaurs.

(the lighting in my kitchen sucks in the morning)

There has never been such a mess making muffins before. Those allosaurs need to learn to control their tails. Melted butter got knocked over, the 'wet stuff' bowl had stuff sloshed out of it, molasses seeped slowly across the counter and pureed banana splattered everything when Havoc took the lid off the mixer too soon. Usually I just get flour all over the place. Other issues include - melted butter instead of softened butter, plus spilling it so it wasn't actually 1/2 cup, more yogurt than the recipe calls for, probably not enough flour due to humidity and an unknown quantity of pureed banana because Mayhem dumped it in before I measure it. We were also out of mini chocolate chips - I'm looking at you DH - so I have to use regular ones & they don't distribute as well.

Despite all the issues though they turned out well.

Happy Birthday Allosaurs!

Here is the recipe for the muffins

Banana Yogurt Muffins

1 2/3 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup really very soft butter

2/3 cup natural bran (or crushed Bran Flakes)

1/2 cup chopped walnuts or mini chips or both combined

1 egg

2/3 cup pureed bananas

1/2 cup plain or vanilla yogurt

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 Tblsp molassas

Preheat your oven to 375

Mix the flour, baking soda & baking powder together. Add the really very soft butter and stir it in gently until the mix is all crumbly. Stir in the bran, nuts and chips.

In another bowl mix the egg, bananas, yogurt, brown sugar & molasses together. Add to the dry ingredients and stir gently until just blended.

Spoon into 12 lined muffin cups, bake for 20-25 minutes.