Bolognese Sauce

This excellent recipe yields four servings.

1 tbsp chopped onion

1 clove chopped garlic

2 tsp chopped celery

2 tbsp chopped carrots

1 tsp chopped red or green pepper

1 large ripe tomato, peeled and diced

2 oz dry white wine

1 pound lean ground beef or veal

12 oz seasoned tomato sauce

2 tbsp good olive oil

Black or red pepper to taste

1 pound of your favorite pasta, I like to make my Bolognese with Tagliatelle.

Heat oil in a 10 inch skillet.

Add onion and garlic and saute for 3 minutes.

Add remaining vegetables and tomatoes and saute for 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently.

Add white wine and reduce until all the liquid is almost evaporated.

With a wooden spoon, move the vegetables to one side of the skillet and add the ground meat to the empty area of the skillet.

Using the wooden spoon, break up the meat and continue to saute until all the meat is lightly browned.

Add the tomato sauce and simmer another ten minutes.

Serve with your favorite pasta.

After draining your cooked pasta, I add one ladle of Bolognese sauce to the cooked pasta and stir in evenly.

Then plate the pasta and serve one ladle of sauce on top of the pasta.

For added flavor and plate presentation, I sometimes drizzle a small amount of alfredo sauce around the rim of the plate just before service.

BBQ Side Dishes

Coleslaw

3/4 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup yellow mustard

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp Kosher salt

1 tsp ground white pepper or 2 tsp ground black pepper

1 tsp celery salt

1 medium head cabbage, cored, then shredded finely

2 stalks of celery, cut across the grain in thin slices

In a large bowl mix all of the seasonings together.

Fold in the cabbage and celery, mix well, then cover and chill.

Potato and Egg Salad

Serves 8

4 lb potatoes, Red Bliss or Yukon Gold

3 stalks celery, washed, peeled and diced

4 whole scallions with greens, cleaned, and diced

1/2 red pepper, diced

3/4 cup regular or light mayonnaise

3/4 cup fat-free sour cream

3 tbsp yellow mustard

2 tbsp pickle relish

1 tsp prepared horseradish

1 tsp Kosher salt

2 tsp paprika, Hungarian preferably

6 hard boiled eggs, peeled and diced

Black pepper to taste

Bring potatoes to a boil and simmer for about 15-20 minutes. Drain and cool immediately. This recipe works better when potatoes are cold, so if time permits I cook potatoes a day in advance and refrigerate.

Slice the potatoes and place in a large bowl.

In a smaller bowl, mix the mayonnaise, sour cream and the remaining ingredients.

Spoon the mixture over the sliced potatoes and fold gently until all the potatoes are coated.

Cover and chill until service.

Pickled Watermelon Rind

This is a great side dish with summer BBQ.

2 pounds peeled watermelon rind, cut into 1x2 inch strips

4 cups sugar

2 cups apple cider vinegar

5 whole cloves

1 stick cinnamon

2 bay leaves

Bring a large pot of water with two bay leaves to a boil.

Add the watermelon rind and simmer for 15 minutes.

Divide rinds into Mason jars. (Either four small or two large jars)

In a 4 quart pot, bring the vinegar, sugar and remaining items to a boil. Stir until it’s all is dissolved.

Remove the stick of cinnamon and cloves and carefully pour the vinegar mixture over the cooked rind.

Cover and let cool before refrigerating.

Lip Smacking BBQ

All across America, BBQ season has arrived. Here are a few ideas worth trying this season. If you would like a healthy version of any of the listed sauces or side dishes, just reply and I will send you my recipe.

Dry Rubs and BBQ Sauces:

Memphis Style Dry Rub

Texas Style Dry Rub

St. Louis Country Style BBQ Sauce

Jack Daniels BBQ Sauce

Carolina Golden BBQ Sauce

Eastern North Carolina BBQ Sauce

Memphis Style Wet BBQ Sauce

Coffee BBQ Sauce

Dr. Pepper or Cola BBQ Sauce

Georgia BBQ Sauce

Texas Mopping Sauce

Park Lane BBQ Sauce

Sweet and Sticky Sauce

Popular Side dishes:

BBQ Baked Beans

Potato and Egg Salad

Classic Mayonnaise Coleslaw

North Carolina Red Slaw

Hush Puppies

Creamy or Vinaigrette Cucumber Salad

Corn and Cheese Casserole

Pickled Watermelon Rind

Carolina Style Banana Pudding

Traditional Cuts of Meat for BBQ:

Pork Spare Ribs: Taken from the pork belly, they are called “spare” because they are butchered in a manner to spare the bacon.

St. Louis Ribs: These are spare ribs that have been trimmed of the skirt meat, rib tips and pointed end, so the shape is a neat rectangle, yielding slender ribs with a good amount of meat.

Baby Back Ribs: Small curved ribs cut from the prized top-loin of the hog. Less meat than spare ribs, but leaner and more tender.

Country Style Ribs: Approximately one inch thick strips of pork cut from the shoulder end of the pork loin. Sometimes resembles a slim pork chop. They cook much faster than bone-in ribs.

Pork Butt: Sometimes boneless, but frequently this cut consists of the upper half of the shoulder, with the blade bone, and sometimes part of the leg bone still attached. A hefty cut weighing 5-10 pounds. Requires a few hours of slow cooking, great for pulled pork or slicing for Cuban sandwiches. (And that crispy skin, yum) To speed the cooking process, I sometimes slow-boil for two hours, then finish with a seasoned slow roast.

Beef Spare Ribs: These are the bones attached to prime ribs. Many catering halls, who serve boneless prime ribs, will start with bone-in prime ribs, then remove the bones after roasting. This yields a tender rib bone easy to season and finish in the oven or grill.

Beef Short Ribs: Slightly squared ribs, with good marbling come from the short plate-front belly of the steer, cut between the bone. Another style called Flanken, is thinner and cut across the bone.

Beef Brisket: A 1.5 to 2 inch cut of meat from the chest or lower breast of the steer. The brisket consists of two parts, the flat cut is leaner than the point cut which requires much more cooking time. The point cut is normally cooked for a few hours then slow smoked.

Chicken Wings, Thighs and Drum Sticks: Very popular cuts for BBQ, rich in flavor and easy to BBQ, yielding good crispy skin.

Spatchcocked Chicken: Whole chicken with the backbone, and breast plate removed. This allows the bird to lay flat during roasting or grilling, which produces even heat throughout the bird during cooking.