from Molto ItalianoMario Batali doesn’t mess around when it comes to his Ragu Bolognese. Veal, pork, and pancetta? No wonder this hearty meal filled us up so thoroughly. Mike, who was nice enough to prepare this dish for us, substituted parsnips for carrots.
The recipe comes from the Molto Italiano cookbook.
I loved my dinner tonight! And not just because Jim cooked while I didn't lift a finger – it was also truly delicious. Sure, a recipe called Fish Flavored Pork might turn some folks off, but they'd be missing out on a complex, spicy dish that would go well with some steamed rice and a beer. We subbed porcini for tree ears and ground pork for strips.
I found it on Use Real Butter, a lovely food blog with more recipes that I'm curious to try.
Gumbo is the kind of meal I simply don't have the patience to make myself. Fortunately my friend Mike possesses such virtues and is kind enough to share the fruits of his labours. His recipe calls for lots of okra, sausage and shrimp over a heap of white rice. It's spicy, rich and delicious.
Here are some basic recipes to work off of.
Why do I mention it now?
Because the weather and season is finally begging for barbeque goodness.
Here's what I said back on 3/5/07:
There are a few things I usually won't even bother to try and make on my own, ribs are one of them. Most recipes usually require a BBQ, which is not feasible in my apartment, but these babies are baked and despite a long prep time (a whole day of marinating and two hours cook time), a fairly simple ordeal.
The results betray this fact: this is a delicious, restaurant caliber dish that I could not believe I had made myself. Share with friends, though, there will be plenty.
Porchetta has been at the top of my list since it topped all the big end of the year restaurant round ups, but the place is super tiny and with little chance of grabbing a seat and the weather being as crummy as it has been, we've yet to make the visit until just this week. The titular and most popular dish is, of course, porchetta, an Italian culinary tradition of roasted pork with crispy skin, lots of herbs and spices then slow cooked. There are sides too, but we just stuck to the?main attraction.
It's out of this world yummy. Don't bother to spoil the layered textures and moist juices with any extraneous toppings – this is one sandwich meant to stand on its own sans condiments. The sandwich is smaller than I expected, which is probably a good thing as far as my calorie intake?goes, and it was plenty filling. It's served on a ciabatta roll that holds up to the intense innards without overpowering it (I hate to bite into and sandwich and get all bread) but you can also order the pork as a platter without bread, but I can imagine it's quite difficult to take away.
The place is crowded but the line moves pretty fast; it's bound to become a classic East Village destination and I can't imagine that between the overwhelmingly positive word of mouth and the amazing food that it will be going away anytime soon. Still, I'd stop by sooner than later – heavy cracklins and pork sandwiches tend to suit the slightly cooler days of early Spring more than the dead of Summer.