Alright folks, obviously as you can tell by the dates I missed posting my meal for Monday and Tuesday. This isn’t to say that I didn’t cook. I did cook. But I wasn’t feeling well and went to bed before I blogged.
Monday’s dinner was a Spaghetti Bolognese. An extremely simple meal which I love. Even my kid loves it, then again my kid loves spaghetti in general.
On a scale of one to ten on the cooking level, I would say this is about a four.
Everyone knows how to make spaghetti, and even how to cook the sauce. But the hard part is making sure that the meat and the veg that goes with it are cooked correctly without being over-cooked or burned.
In this meal, I didn’t have ground beef, instead I used venison (deer.) If you have ever made hamburger helper boxed dinner, then you probably know how to brown up meat. When I make this with ground beef, I get ground sirloin which has a leanness to fat content of 90/10. I don’t drain the fat from the meat because there is hardly any there. The fat also adds a bit more flavor to the sauce or at least I think so.
1 lb. ground sirloin
1 (15 oz.) can whole tomatoes
1 (15 oz.) can tomato sauce
2 med. onions
5 garlic cloves
6 or 7 lg. mushrooms
1 green pepper
2 tsp. ready to use oregano
2 tsp. ready to use basil
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp. dry thyme
Fresh ground pepper to taste
1/2 c. olive oil
1 lb. spaghetti
Parmesan cheese, grated (optional)
Extra virgin olive oil
Peel and chop onions, garlic cloves, mushrooms and green pepper. Put large skillet on burner and heat olive oil on medium high setting. Add onions, garlic, mushrooms, and green pepper. Sauté for 5 minutes or until onions turn clear and garlic starts to smell strong. Pour all ingredients into a bowl and reserve for later. Keep on stove top to keep warm.
Return skillet to heat and add crumbled ground beef. Brown and return sautéed vegetables to the skillet. Add whole tomatoes and chop them up. Add tomato sauce, oregano, basil, bay leaf, thyme and ground pepper. Mix ingredients well. Cover skillet and turn heat down to simmer. Simmer for 30 minutes.
Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil. Add spaghetti, a little at a time. Stir and add extra virgin olive oil to avoid sticking. Cook for 10 minutes or until just cooked through (no hard white center). I usually throw it against the wall and if it sticks then it done. You don’t want to over cook the spaghetti. Add a little more extra virgin olive oil to the drain spaghetti and mix well.
This can easily make a large meal that can last over several days. The bolognese freezes really well and only needs to reheated for several minutes and is perfect for lunch at the office.
Now that I feel like a regular Betty Crocker and Suzy Homemaker… On to the next dish which is a little more complicated.
Tuesday’s meal consisted of broiled pork ribs, butter and herb mashed potatoes and steamed corn.
Whenever you are dealing with raw meat please take precautions to make sure you don’t end up with a food born illness. Wipe down all counters before and after handling raw meat. Wash hands before and after and make sure you even wipe down the faucet knobs on your sink. You’d be amazed at how many people for get to do this.
There was a lack of time for me to actually make the mashed potatoes, so I used boxed mix. Store brand butter and herb instant mashed potatoes. Those were easy to do just follow the directions on the back of the box. They aren’t nearly as tasty as homemade, but will do in a pinch. If you want homemade, here is a very yummy recipe recipe:
6 1/2 cups peeled and cubed potatoes
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
2 tablespoons minced fresh oregano
1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
DIRECTIONS
Clean, peel and cut potatoes into cubes. Uniformity is a must for even cooking time.
Place potatoes into a pot of cold water, add a teaspoon of salt to the water, and bring potatoes to a boil.
Cook potatoes until fork tender, about 15-20 minutes.
Drain and place in a large mixing bowl.
Use a hand masher to break the potatoes up.
Add the herbs, some sale and pepper to taste.
Use hand mixer to whip the potatoes. Add more butter and milk as needed to get creamy potatoes.
Steamed corn is simple to make, I used my microwave.Take a medium bowl, 2 cups of frozen corn kernels. Add 1/4 cup of water, cover with plastic wrap and stick in microwave for about 5 minutes. Drain. Add a tablespoon of butter and table spoon of salt. Mix well.
Pork is a very tricky meat to cook at times. I absolutely despise cooking meat on the bone. It’s just me, but I find it more difficult to tell if the meat is cooked all the way. A lot of people think that bone-in meat is more flavorful, I don’t agree. I don’t taste much of a difference.
The ribs that I did, I completely eye-balled all the seasonings, which consisted of season salt and Montreal steak seasoning. I coated all sides and then massaged the seasonings into the meat.
Broil them or grill them. I broiled mine.
Now the best way to tell if they are done is with a meat thermometer, but if you don’t own one you can cut the meat open in the center, if it’s white all the way through then it’s finished, if not, then leave it on five or six minutes longer. Do not go by how clear the juices are. This is not an accurate way to tell if your meat is thoroughly cooked.
Enjoy your meals. Tomorrow night; grilled steak rounds, steamed broccoli and rice.
Keep it real and rockin’
❤
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