Sunday, March 30, 2008
I Love Lamb
I love lamb. Love, love, love lamb. I also happen to love pasta. And red sauces. And fresh herbs. And cheese. So, this was the perfect dish.
First, start by making your own marinara. You can always use a bottle version, but what fun is that?
Start with a mirepoix with garlic. Here we have one large onion, two carrots, 2 celery stalks, and 3 cloves garlic. You need to chop them very finely, or you can throw it in a food processor like I did. Throw it in a pan with 1/4 cup olive oil. Sautee until soft.
Next up is the tomatoes. I used the rest of the canned tomatoes from this summer. If you don't have that, you can use about 32 ounces of crushed canned tomatoes.
Also, add the other stuff. Salt, pepper, sugar, oregano, basil, and bay leafs to taste.
Cook for an hour to two hours. How ever much time you have. Remove from pan.
Now that you have a marinara sauce, you start with the actual dish.
At about this time, have your husband make a raspberry mojito with raspberries from last summer.
First, start by sauteing two shallots and 3 cloves garlic in a bit of olive oil.
After it is soft, add a pound or so of ground lamb.
Brown the lamb.
Add a cup of red wine and reduce by half.
Add four cups of the marinara sauce. Let it all cook together for 10 minutes or so.
When your noodles, which you already started, are about done, add in 1/2 cup torn mint and 1/2 cup ricotta.
After they are stirred in, add in your full pound of rigatoni, which you have cooked.
Stir all together and serve immediately.
This is one of the best things I have ever made. It is very, very good. If you have the time an a weekend I highly suggest taking the time to make this.
First, start by making your own marinara. You can always use a bottle version, but what fun is that?
Start with a mirepoix with garlic. Here we have one large onion, two carrots, 2 celery stalks, and 3 cloves garlic. You need to chop them very finely, or you can throw it in a food processor like I did. Throw it in a pan with 1/4 cup olive oil. Sautee until soft.
Next up is the tomatoes. I used the rest of the canned tomatoes from this summer. If you don't have that, you can use about 32 ounces of crushed canned tomatoes.Also, add the other stuff. Salt, pepper, sugar, oregano, basil, and bay leafs to taste.
Cook for an hour to two hours. How ever much time you have. Remove from pan.
Now that you have a marinara sauce, you start with the actual dish.
At about this time, have your husband make a raspberry mojito with raspberries from last summer.
First, start by sauteing two shallots and 3 cloves garlic in a bit of olive oil.
After it is soft, add a pound or so of ground lamb.
Brown the lamb.Add a cup of red wine and reduce by half.
Add four cups of the marinara sauce. Let it all cook together for 10 minutes or so.
When your noodles, which you already started, are about done, add in 1/2 cup torn mint and 1/2 cup ricotta.
After they are stirred in, add in your full pound of rigatoni, which you have cooked.
Stir all together and serve immediately.
This is one of the best things I have ever made. It is very, very good. If you have the time an a weekend I highly suggest taking the time to make this.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Macaroni and Cheese, Please
Macaroni and Cheese. So good. So gooey. So cheesey.
I love macaroni and cheese, but I can't seem to make it well.
In the past month, I've made mac and cheese twice. The first time I followed this recipe from Alton Brown. I substituted half of the cheddar cheese for fontina. It was good, but it wasn't the ooey gooey goodness I had hoped for. It did have a very nice and crunchy crust which I really liked.
Last night, I tried this recipe from Paula Deen. I only used three eggs, not six, because that would be weird. I also used slightly different cheeses (medium cheddar, sharp cheddar, a colby jack mix, and velveeta). And, I actually added some spices, since this called for none (mustard and chili). It was fine, but it wasn't good. The eggs did weird things and you would end up biting into an egg chunk. It wasn't creamy. The crust on the top was just hard and gross.
So, what should I do next time? First, I really liked the sour cream in Paula's. I think I want to keep that up. I also really like Alton's panko crust. But what else? Without using a whole brick of velveeta, how do you make it gooey?
Please help.
I love macaroni and cheese, but I can't seem to make it well.
In the past month, I've made mac and cheese twice. The first time I followed this recipe from Alton Brown. I substituted half of the cheddar cheese for fontina. It was good, but it wasn't the ooey gooey goodness I had hoped for. It did have a very nice and crunchy crust which I really liked.
Last night, I tried this recipe from Paula Deen. I only used three eggs, not six, because that would be weird. I also used slightly different cheeses (medium cheddar, sharp cheddar, a colby jack mix, and velveeta). And, I actually added some spices, since this called for none (mustard and chili). It was fine, but it wasn't good. The eggs did weird things and you would end up biting into an egg chunk. It wasn't creamy. The crust on the top was just hard and gross.
So, what should I do next time? First, I really liked the sour cream in Paula's. I think I want to keep that up. I also really like Alton's panko crust. But what else? Without using a whole brick of velveeta, how do you make it gooey?
Please help.
Labels: cheese, help, macaroni, pasta
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