Red sauce for new parents

There is a trend in my life right now...lots of pregnant friends and family and brand-new babies turning up left and right. Melanie and Jeremy just had a lovely little guy themselves and so I made some seriously meaty red sauce for them to keep in their freezer for emergency dinnertime. If you have the same baby epidemic going on, try making your poor friends something delicious. They will thank you in an adorable, sleep-deprived way.I chopped up 2 big onions into dice......and about 6 cloves of garlic as well as a good 1/2 cup of parsley. I want this little baby to appreciate strong southern Italian flavors! The onions and garlic cooked in about 3 tablespoons olive oil over medium-low heat until soft, then I added in 3 pounds of ground meat to brown (one pound each of beef, veal and pork). After the onion was softened and the meats were browned, I put most of two big cans of peeled tomatoes through my food mill for a smoother sauce texture.I saved about a cup's worth to chop up so there would be some nice tomatoey bites in there too.The sauce bubbled away for about 2 hours so it got nice and full-flavored.Because I am a cheese monster, I made labels for the freezer bags that I froze the sauce in. This made just enough for 4 1-quart bags. It's a good size to be able to pull out of the freezer for dinner for 2.Lay them flat to freeze so they will store better. Here they are the next day, ready to be packed up for Mel.I ended up making a gift basket with some pasta, a wedge of parmesan and a much-needed bottle of wine.

Polpette al sugo (aka meatballs)

I had two good reasons to make meatballs: 1.) Byron is trying to learn more about cooking right now and this seemed like a fun lesson 2.)I have 6 pounds of ground veal in my freezer. It's not like I'm stockpiling veal or anything, it's that I have a new co-worker who brings me odds-n-ends from her husband's business and this time it just happened to be 6 pounds of ground veal. Good polpette are usually made with a mixture of meats--beef, pork and veal. They usually appear as a second course, but in the US this has morphed into the familiar combination of pasta with meatballs and sauce. You must have a light hand with polpette--mine are nothing like the beauties turned out by my grandparents and aunts and uncles. They aren't even as good as my mothers, nowhere near. But maybe in a few years, especially if I made them more often. Maybe I should start stockpiling veal...We used 2 pounds each of beef, veal and pork, making 6 pounds of ground meats total. I figured this way we'd all have leftovers to freeze or whatever. You can divide it all in half for more reasonable amopunts. I mixed 1 cup of bread crumbs with 1 cup milk and let it soak for about 15 minutes. They got a little too pasty because they were the really fine breadcrumbs from DeKalb Farmer's Market. It's better if you make it with your own fresh breadcrumbs but I guess I was lazy. After the bread crumbs are soaked, add them to your ground meat along with 1/2 cup minced parsley, 6 minced garlic cloves, 1 teaspoon salt and 4 beaten eggs.I ended up doing my mixing right on the counter--it's easier just to use your hands and I didn't have a big enough bowl for my doubled recipe anyway. Do yourself a solid though and try to roll your sleeves up before you start mixing...Byron added lots of ground pepper as I mixed...Michelle was on cheese duty. Use about 1/2 - 3/4 cup grated parmesan (or half pecorino and half parmesan would be good too). After you have integrated all your ingredients, get as many willing hands as you can and gently shape your polpette into small ovals. It's about a handful worth of meat mixture. I'm not sure if Melanie grabbed any of the raw meat but I know Jeremy did...doctors aren't squeamish.Brown them in batches in a neutral, inexpensive oil (veg or canola is fine) for about 5 minutes per batch. They do not need to be done all the way through because they will finish up in the sauce.Sauce? What sauce? I make a basic tomato sauce while all this is going on. Mine is pretty basic, so feel free to substitute your own favorite technique here. I usually just mince one small onion and sauté in olive oil until golden, add 2 cloves minced garlic, sauté another 1 minute, then add in a 28 ounce can of whole, peeled tomatoes. Add salt and pepper, mash up the tomatoes and let it all simmer for at least 10 minutes. If I have tomato paste on hand, which I believe I did this time, I add 1 tablespoon to the onion/garlic mixture and stir it around for 1 minute before adding the rest of the tomatoes. If I have fresh basil, I always put that in, or a drizzle of the red wine in my glass. Anyway. You add the polpette to your red sauce and let them simmer in there for about 15 minutes. As they are finishing in sauce, boil your pasta (any wide, long pasta is good here), then drain and toss with a little of the sauce. Top with your finished polpette and enjoy.As a bonus picture--here's my mother's version which she made when I was at home last week. Hers are far superior, smooth and wonderful. You'll have to come over sometime and try them.

Christmas cookies with Mel

Over the weekend I went to Melanie's house to make christmas cookies...which really meant I occasionally helped out but mostly just got in her way taking pictures and drinking wine while she did all the work. Baking is just not my strong suit, but it is definitely Melanie's so I am happy to take her direction. She wanted to make pecan snowballs, lemon-glazed shortbreads and ginger chocolate chunk bars, the recipes for which may all be found here.

You can tell Mel is a baker because she has one of these handy.By the way, this is how you roll a snowball in Georgia...I did actually make the logs of dough for the shortbreads. Last night Mel and I discussed the possibility of rolling the dough into an oval-shaped log, slicing them a bit more thick, then dipping in different pastel-colored icings to make Easter egg shortbread cookies. File that idea away for April 2009...Greyhounds felt rather left out, I think.Meanwhile, the snowballs got baked and coated in powder sugar.These ginger bars were really incredible--extremely rich, so Mel eventually cut them into tiny squares.Not bad work for a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Resurrection: wine in a box

This is monumental in importance. Remember how I cried bitter tears over the loss of my favorite (in truth, my only) boxed wine? I'm pretty sure I went on and on about it a couple months ago. Well, cry no more, you big baby, because it is back! Melanie called me all in a tizzy to report that she saw stacks and stacks of them at that will-o-wisp, that shady lady, the World Market. It was Sunday and blue laws forbade her from carrying away our beloved at that moment, but she let me know instantly that it was once more available. Those assholes just wanted to repackage it for fall, apparently. Now it has leaves on the box. But we all know--it's what's inside that counts. And the inside is pure love.

Braised beef short ribs with horseradish

Short ribs are a delicious, cheap cut that benefits from looooong cooking. I don't have a slowcooker, but I bet this would be a great candidate for that device. I make mine in my cast iron dutch oven, when I have several hours where it can cook away, more-or-less unattended. I got these ribs from the meat guy with the pretty eyes at Morningside market, and it was about 1 1/2 pounds. You'd need more if you were cooking for more people than just, say, Jeremy and Melanie. Mel also brought over small red potatoes, so those made their way into the dish at the end, which was a good addition. Meat and potatoes! Classic.

Heat up 2 tablespoons olive oil in your trusty dutch oven over medium-high heat. Get you your short ribs and pop them in, browning them well on all sides. Don't burn them, just brown them well. It took me about 10 minutes for mine, but it might take longer if you have more than a pound. Salt and pepper them as you turn them around in the pot. When they are browned, take 'em out and set aside. Back in the same pot, begin to sauté one minced onion over medium heat until soft and lightly golden, about 8-10 minutes. By the way, if you browned more ribs than I did, you may need to drain out some fat before adding in your onion. I didn't have that much meat so I didn't think it necessary, but if you are feeding a crowd, that pot might get too greasy, so take a look before tossing in your onion and proceeding. When the onion is ready, nestle your short ribs back in, turn heat up to medium-high and add 1 cup beef broth plus some of the wine you are drinking and bring it all to a boil. Turn down the heat to low, cover and simmer for...hours. At least 2 hours. Stir it every now and then, but mostly do other stuff like clean the kitchen or brush your furry dog. Or read the November issue of National Geographic and check out that crazy Mexican crystal palace! Poke the ribs after an hour and a half and hopefully the meat should be starting to fall off the bone. At this point, I added 4 diced red potatoes in with the meat and let them cook for another 30-40 minutes while the ribs finished up. Remove the meat and potatoes to a serving platter (preferably using a big sieve-type spatula so Melanie can enjoy watching--she loves that thing, don't know why), and crank up the heat to high. Stir in 2 tablespoons of prepared horseradish and 1 tablespoon minced parsley and continue stirring for 2 minutes to reduce the liquid left over. Pour this sauce over the ribs and potatoes and serve.

Cabbage with prosciutto & pine nuts

I have made this many many times before, but never had any pictures to document it. It's Melanie's favorite house specialty, probably because it totally has that addictive salty-sweet thing going on. Also, it couldn't be easier. Just shred a bunch of red cabbage...And slice some prosciutto...Sauté the cabbage with the prosciutto in a big pan with some olive oil until softened. Add a handful each of pine nuts and golden raisins (or dried cranberries). Season to taste with salt and pepper, then remove from heat and stir in a drizzle of balsamic vinegar. It is a beautiful accompaniment to any meat dish and is completely delicious. We had it with wiener schnitzel, which was a pretty awesome combination. Here's the original post describing how to make it step-by-step, but clearly it's a pretty easy and flexible recipe.

Eulogy: wine in a box

Summer is really and truly over, and not just because tomorrow is the fall equinox. No, it's because my beloved wine in a box is no longer available. If you will recall, Melanie found this wine at the beginning of the summer. Like it is with every summer, we thought it would last forever. With its attractive packaging (cream-colored box with snappy dark red graphics) and promise of endless pours, it seemed the good times would never run dry. I had it with antipasti. I had it with chicken, beef and vegetables. I had it for every single dinner, appropriate or not. I would have had it for breakfast, but I thought people might talk. Wine-in-a-box was there for me all summer long. Even when I tired of all the hot and humid weather, I never tired of the wine.

It came from World Market. When you went to buy it, there they were, amply stacked up in rows upon rows of wine-filled cubes. I had visions of buying hundreds and building some kind of structure out of them. The stacks and stacks of boxed wine encouraged one to buy in multiples. "Why not?" they said. "We're only $14.95 each! We're cheaper than hardwood flooring!"

Now I can see that this only contributed to the illusion of endless wine bounty.

One day I went to World Market to purchase a box for Aviva's birthday. I thought it would be funny and certainly would be easy to wrap. I didn't panic right away when the boxes weren't stacked up to greet me at the door as in past visits. I didn't even really panic when I couldn't find them anywhere in the store. Clearly, I was in denial. When I asked the lady behind the register about the fate of wine-in-a-box, she casually said "Oh, we don't have it anymore. You just have to snap these things up when they're in stock because who knows when they'll ever be back in again!" I acted cool but what I really wanted to do was shake her and scream "Lady, how the hell am supposed to build my wine igloo now?"

Maybe next year they'll be back. Until then, RIP, wine-in-a-box. You are sorely missed.