On Saturday I spent all day in the kitchen preparing Bolognese sauce, bread, and raspberry-lemon shortbread.
Bolognese Sauce
I used The America's Test Kitchen recipe as a base, but made some changes. I also doubled my recipe to feed eight people
What you will need: 1 tbsp butter or olive oil, two carrots (diced), 2 celery stalks (diced), 1 onion (diced), salt, 1 lb ground pork, 1 lb ground beef, 3 cups whole milk, 2 cups white wine, 1/2 cup red wine, 2-28 oz cans diced tomatoes, Italian seasoning, bay leaf
Heat the butter or oil and cook vegetables until soft. Add the pork and beef and cook until no pink shows. Drain off grease. Add the milk and simmer until it evaporates and only clear fat remains, about 25 minutes. Add the white wine and simmer for about 20 minutes until the liquid is almost evaporated.
Place the tomatoes in the food processor and pulse until they are cut into small pieces; don't puree them. You can also cut them on the cutting board, however you do need the juice so you may want to drain it in the pot before cutting the tomatoes. Add the tomatoes and their juices to the pot along with the Italian seasoning and bay leaf. I did not measure the spices. I always add to taste. Reduce heat to a low simmer and simmer for 2 hours. After about an hour add the red wine, stir, taste, and add any extra seasoning. I let my sauce simmer for 4 hours. Serve over spaghetti.
Note: My sauce was still a bit 'soupy' after simmering for four hours. Next time I made add a thickening agent or a little tomato paste.
Raspberry-Lemon Shortbread
What you will need: 1 lb frozen raspberries (thawed and drained), 14 tbsp butter, 1 1/4 cup sugar, 1 3/4 cup flour, 3 eggs, 1/4 cup lemon juice, confectioners' sugar
Preheat the oven to 400. Cut the butter into cubes and make sure it is chilled. Place the butter, 1/2 cup sugar and 1 1/2 cup flour in the food processor and pulse until it is combines. It will look like coarse crumbs. Press the mixture into the bottom of a 9 inch spring form pan (ungreased) or cake pan. Bake for 20 minutes. After removing the shortbread from the oven reduce the heat to 325 degrees. In a bowl whisk the eggs and sugar together until thick. Add the lemon juice and 1/4 cup flour. Spread the raspberries over the shortbread and pour the lemon cream on top. Bake for 30 minutes or until the lemon cream is set. Cool completely and dust with confectioners' sugar.
Dutch Oven Bread
This is the best bread in the world and it's so easy to make. I can't believe I waited this long to make it. In fact, I think I'll mix up another batch tonight and bake it tomorrow morning.
What you will need: 1/4 tsp dry yeast, 1 5/8 cup warm water, 3 cups flour, 1 3/4 salt
Dissolve the yeast in water in a large bowl. Add the flour and salt, stirring until blended. The dough will be sticky. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit 8-18 hours at room temperature.
Lightly sprinkle the counter top with flour and place dough on it. Sprinkle more flour on the dough and fold it over onto itself 2 or 3 times (do not knead). Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let sit for 15 minutes. Using a little flour, shape it into a ball. Generously dust a smooth dishtowel with cornmeal. Place the dough, seam down, on the towel and dust the top with more cornmeal. Cover with another towel and let rise for 2-3 hours.
20 minutes before the dough is ready, heat the oven to 450 degrees. Put a heavy 6-8qt Dutch oven with the lid in the oven as it heats. When the dough is ready, remove the pot and life the lid. Lift the dough by the towel and turn it carefully into the pot-it should tumble into the pot. Cover with the lid and bake for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, remove the lid and bake for 12-15 minutes more. Once it's done, take out of the pot and cool for one hour.
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