Spag Bog… Well, not really.

Spaghetti Bolognese is a popular dish across Europe, the USA, Australia and as far as I know, much of the rest of the world, and just as it is popular in many countries and households so, there are just as many recipes for it.

Spaghetti Bolognese, however, is not truly an Italian dish.  Any self respecting Italian will politely explain that if you are making a rich meaty sauce, such as Bolognese, then you need to marry it with a broad pasta tube which is capable of swallowing the sauce whole!  I’m not very well up on Italian pasta names as I have never lived in Italy, and indeed, despite it is only a few hours drive away, have rarely visited it.  All that having been said, I love the textures and flavours generated by the thin spaghetti and the rich sauce.

The next thing is that, apparently, a Bolognese sauce should have little if any tomato content.  Well again …  I’ve never been served Spaghetti Bolognese in Italy (surprise surprise), but I have eaten it in France, Germany, Portugal, the United Kingdom and the USA and every time it has been a delicious tomatoey meaty sauce!

Finally, I know that a true Bolognese sauce takes many hours to make.  I never have enough time, although I do prepare this sauce in advance and leave to develop overnight.  I finish the sauce, store in the fridge, and then gently reheat it when I’m ready to serve.  But I also know that, following the recipe and cooking the sauce immediately before serving is great too.

Many years ago I had a young lady staying here with me and one day I duly served my version of Spaghetti Bolognese.  She watched me cook it with interest and not a small smile on her face, before announcing that what I had made looked delicious but was not Spaghetti Bolognese, which got us into a big discussion about what it truly was. However I duly continued with my recipe and after lunch there were several clean plates.   It’s also true to say that the same afternoon, (It was the middle of summer) we were all sunbathing by the pool when the said young lady got in the pool, immediately complaining that my lunch was making her sink.  I simply pointed out that as she was swimming sans maillot, she didn’t have the added buoyancy afforded by such apparel.

So here is my recipe for a  dish I better call

Spaghetti with a rich meaty sauce

Serves 4 people

Preparation about 15 minutes

Cooking time about 30 minutes

 

For the Sauce

400g minced beef (lean)

2 medium onions, chopped

3 cloves of Garlic (finely sliced)

4ozs mushrooms (chopped)

4 rashers streaky bacon

Herbes de provence

Tinned tomatoes

Tin Tomato puree (4oz)

Cup of sweet white wine

Grated parmesan cheese

For the Pasta

You need a pasta that is large enough to hold the meaty sauce, or, do like I do and ignore everybody and use Spaghetti

 

Method

Chop the bacon into small pieces then In a large casserole, fry till crisp,

Add the minced beef and onions and fry everything till the onions are translucent

Add the apple, peeled, cored and chopped into small pieces

Add the wine, garlic, herbes de provence and tinned tomatoes

Bring to the boil and stir in the tomato puree

Bring to the boil again and add the mushrooms

Simmer about 15/20 minutes(while you cook the pasta)

(At this point the sauce can be kept overnight to allow the flavours to develop)

Bring a pan of water to the boil

Add the pasta and boil for 7 to 10 minutes depending on preference

Drain pasta and rinse with more boiling water, then add a small amount of olive oil to the pan and heat. Add the pasta back into the pan with the oil and shake pan to coat pasta

Serve pasta, and sauce, and sprinkle parmesan cheese over the top

 

I often add chorizo, but on this occasion I knew one of my guests didn’t like Chorizo so I omitted it.

I served it with garlic bread and a glass of wine!

 

Hope you enjoy it as much as we did

Cheese on Toast

The other evening I couldn't decide what to prepare for a simple supper in front of the TV. After a lot of debate with myself, I finally opted for cheese on toast and it was delicious I started with my home made multigrain bread which I sliced and then toasted on one side. Then I spread butter on the untoasted side and added a dash of French mustard

After this I added the four cheeses....  First some thin slices of Dutch Maasdammer,  next a couple of slices of my favourite Cantal entre deux, a thin slice of Brie was added before finishing with a covering of grated Emmental...  Pop under a high grill until the cheese has melted and is starting to bubble.

I was going to describe this as a light supper..... but maybe not!!!

Hot Cross Bun Day

It's Good Friday, a Christian festival which in many parts of the world is celebrated by a national holiday, although, as it happens, not here in France.

Traditionally, Hot Cross Buns are made and eaten on Good Friday.  I'm not completely sure of the reasons, but think that, like Pancake Day, it's another food feast related to abstinence at Lent.  In this case, those foods which were forbidden during Lent, eggs, butter, milk etc, are once again used to make a delicious dish, in this case a tasty bun.

I determined to make my Hot Cross Buns this morning but things were working against me and it wasn't long before I realised I was running out of time.  Hot Cross Buns are delicious to eat, but take up a lot of time in preparation with bursts of activity interspersed with 20 or 30 minutes wait whilst the dough proves.

Admitting defeat, I turned to the internet for a simple recipe where I could throw everything in a pan and walk away...  and yes, the pan turned out to be my bread maker.  I use my bread maker a lot, but have only ever used it to make...well, bread!  But the recipe seemed easy and gave me the time I needed for other things.  I'll repeat the recipe here, but a big thanks to Bella Online for the original recipe.  I have changed just a couple of small things in that I glazed the buns with warmed honey and omitted the cross!

Well, omitted, is a polite way to say "forgot".  I made the buns, prepared the oven and popped them in before putting together a piping bag to add the cross.... it was only then that I remembered the cross has to go on the buns BEFORE they go in the oven.

The finished buns are not the most gorgeous buns I have ever made and they didn't rise very well.  However, I want to say that I have no doubt that the problems reflect the state of my attention in the kitchen today and are no reflection on the recipe from Bella Online.  They do, however, taste truly amazing.

My own buns     From Bella Online

dough 1/4 cup water - at room temperature or slightly above 1/2 cup lukewarm milk 1/4 cup melted butter 1 egg, lightly beaten 3-1/2 cups all purpose flour 1/4 cup sugar 1-1/2 tsp. active dry yeast 1 tsp. cinnamon 1/2 tsp. nutmeg pinch of ground cloves pinch of allspice 1/2 tsp. salt 1/2 cup golden raisins 1/4 cup finely chopped, mixed candied fruit glaze 2 Tablespoons of honey, gently warmed

Although it's not what is recommended in the original recipe, I always use a mixture of flour and water to make the cross, and pipe it on just before putting the buns in the oven.

 

Preparation -
Place all the dough ingredients, except the raisins and fruit, in the bread machine pan. Set on the dough only cycle. Add the raisins and candied fruit at the bread machine's signal for adding extra ingredients. Remove the dough from the bread machine at end of dough cycle. Place it in a bowl, cover with a cloth and let it rest for 10 minutes.

Divide the dough into 12 pieces. Shape the pieces into balls and place them 3 inches apart on a lightly greased baking sheet. Cover and let rise in warm place until almost doubled, about 45 minutes to an hour. Bake in a preheated oven at 375º for 15 to 18 minutes, or until light brown on top. Remove from the oven. Place the baking sheet full of buns on a wire rack to cool. Prepare the glaze, then spread it over the warm buns. Let the buns continue to cool on the baking sheet.

 

Oh, The top picture above is of my own attempt but the second picture is the "official" photo from Bella Online, which I thought looked better.

Multigrain Bread

This is my favourite home-made bread.

Multigrain Bread

300gms multigrain bread flour
200gms plain bread flour
300ml water
a handful of mixed nuts
1 tbs walnut oil
3tsp coarse sea salt
7gms (1 sachet) of dried baker's yeast

I make the bread in a bread machine, setting the machine to run overnight so that I awake to the delicious aroma of freshly baked bread.

Put the water,oil and nuts in the pan
Add the flour.
Create a dip in the middle of the flour, and spread the salt outside of this dip.
Put the yeast into the dip, ensuring it stays dry.

Set the machine to cook on a whole grain programme to finish when you want to get up....

If you are not going to delay the start, there is no need to worry about keeping the yeast dry.

I'm sorry, bread is funny stuff and I have never successfully made any, using any measurements other than metric.

I have added a new blog caled "Ian's French Kitchen.  There is a link under "Our Links" in the sidebar.  I will post all future recipes to there as well.