Rigatone with Cinghiale

Hey dudes, how's it hangin'? Sorry I've been lax about posting, but it's quality - not quantity. Or something. Anyhoosers - this cinghiale sauce is something special. Traditionally it is made with wild boar, but since Trader Joe's was fresh out of boar, we used ground pork and beef. This is a Rachael Ray recipe, which is surprising because I'm usually not a huge fan of her recipes - especially for SND (too many shortcuts). This one is fantastic, though, so thanks Rach!

Start by heating a three count of olive oil in a large sauce pan, then add 3/4 pound ground pork and 3/4 pound of ground beef with a good pinch of salt and pepper. Break it all up and get it nice and browned, then add a finely chopped medium onion. Sweat the onion for a few minutes, then add one grated carrot and 4 chopped cloves of garlic. Stir all the veggies around , then add 3 or 4 sprigs of fresh thyme (take the leaves off, doy), one bay leaf, two nice pinches of all spice, and one tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa powder. I know, right? Cocoa in a pasta sauce? It's so surprisingly delicious - mixed with the all spice, your sauce becomes so warm and comforting. So mix in your spices, and cook everything together for five minutes or so.

Meanwhile, heat a large pot of water for your rigatoni. Salt the water well when it's boiling, then add a one pound box of rigatoni. Cook just to al dente, then drain.

Back to the sauce! Stir in 1/4 cup tomato paste (use a heaping 1/4 cup - I found that just 1/4 was not quite enough). Get that all mixed in and add 1/2 cup of dry white wine, 2 cups of chicken stock, and 1/2 cup milk. I used reduced fat milk - she calls for whole milk. Reduced fat worked just fine. Lower your heat and simmer for ten minutes - the sauce will thicken and get all delicious. Don't worry if your sauce isn't super thick - you're going to add the pasta to the pan and that will help thicken.

Discard the bay leaf and add the drained pasta to the sauce along with around one cup of grated parmesan. Mix everything together, taste for seasonings and enjoy!

I'm a huge fan of this recipe, the all spice and cocoa really gave an amazing twist to your traditional pasta sauce. Go do it now!

Swedish Meatballs!

Oh hai everyone! Sorry I missed last week, I was celebrating our country's independence by setting off some totally legal fireworks. For this week, I decided to make a SND from my heritage: Swedish Meatballs! Also, the Mr. loves him some meatballs and has wanted me to try this for a while.

It was a really delicious experiment, but I'd love to hear from ya'll to see if/how your recipe differs, but this is what I humbly suggest via Alton Brown, Marcus Samuelsson, and my own head.

Okay first of all what is with grocery stores not carrying ground pork?? Super irritating. Sometimes they have it, sometimes they don't. Well, Whole Foods always has it, but after I had gone to Trader Joe's and Ralph's I had had it! So when you, my little darlings, try this at home go for half ground pork and half ground beef. I used all ground beef (80/20 fat content heh) and they were tasty, but everything is better with a little pork fat, ya hrrd?

Anyhoo, you want a pound and a half of ground meat - half pork/half beef. If you were politically incorrect you could use some ground veal in there too, or lamb. Delicious. Mix your ground beef in a bowl with 2 eggs, 1/2 cup of panko bread crumbs, 1 1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice, and 1/2 cup (about one half of a medium large) finely chopped red onion. Before you add the onion to the mix, soften it in a pan over medium heat with a two count of olive oil and S/P. Mix everyone together using your hands - it's the best way to get the best mix! After you've mixed, form little meatballs and set aside on a plate or sheet pan. Don't make them big, you want them to be around bite sized (and you need them to cook all the way through), I'd say around 1/2 or 3/4 inch.

Now it's time to cook those suckers! Using the same pan you cooked your chopped onion in, heat two tablespoons of butter and a three count of olive oil over medium-high heat. Brown your delectable meatballs on all sides. Be careful not to burn - you want them to brown evenly but not burn and still cook all the way through, so keep a weather eye on your heat and adjust accordingly. You may have to cook your meatballs in shifts, and when they are done set them aside - you can keep them warm in an oven set to low. Time to make the Swedish Sauce!

Turn the heat down to low in your pan and add a heaping 1/4 cup of flour to the accumulated fat. Whisk that around until you've cooked and browned the flour slightly, it should take two minutes or so. Next add three cups of warmed beef broth - whisk it in a cup or so at a time to thicken your sauce. Okay here comes a weird addition: add 3 tablespoons of pickle juice. No don't argue, just do it! It adds a little somethin' somethin' in the background of the sauce. Whisk that in, then add 1/2 cup of sour cream. Whisk whisk whisk and taste for seasonings, you'll probably need to add some S/P. Whisk over low heat until the sauce is at your desired thickness.

As you cook the sauce, cook some egg noodles or baby red potatoes. Serve your amazing Swedish Meatballs over the noodles or potatoes and ladle your kick ass sauce over the lot. Have some raspberry (or lingonberry) preserves at the ready for those who want, sprinkle some fresh parsley and enjoy! Hooray for the Swedes!

'Til next time...

D