Women In Food ~ Anne Burrell's Bolognese

Welcome to the 2nd installment of Women In Food! Back in the early days of this blog, I'd planned on doing a monthly feature that would showcase one of the incredibly talented women, who are boldly and deliciously paving the way for new generations of female chefs, food writers and industry entrepreneurs.

My plan was (and still is) to provide you with a little background, some video and loads of delicious recipes from some of the best and brightest female chefs in the world. I really wanted to make Women In Food a regular feature, but as my 1st (and only other) installment would indicate, life (and Lupus) got in the way and that never really happened.

As you'll see by the date on my first post showcasing Chef Alex Guarnaschelli, HERE, it's been a very long time since I hatched this little plan. But...

In the future, I really do hope to do better when it comes to paying homage to these incredible female chefs, who are making their mark in what is still a mostly male dominated field. (If you'd like to know a little bit more about why it is that I admire these ladies so much, just click HERE)

So, without further ado, this installment's Woman In Food is...

Chef Anne Burrell

Host of the Food Network & Cooking Channel shows

Secrets Of a Restaurant Chef 

Worst Cooks in America

Anne's Books

Anne's Website

Anne's Bolognese

• 1 large onion or 2 small, cut into 1-inch dice
• 2 large carrots, cut into 1/2-inch dice
• 3 ribs celery, cut into 1-inch dice
• 4 cloves garlic
• Extra-virgin olive oil, for the pan
• Kosher salt
• 3 pounds ground chuck, brisket or round or combination
• 2 cups tomato paste
• 3 cups hearty red wine
• Water
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 bunch thyme, tied in a bundle
• 1 pound spaghetti
• 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
• High quality extra-virgin olive oil, for finishing

In a food processor, puree onion, carrots, celery, and garlic into a coarse paste. In a large pan over medium heat, coat pan with oil. Add the pureed veggies and season generously with salt. Bring the pan to a medium-high heat and cook until all the water has evaporated and they become nice and brown, stirring frequently, about 15 to 20 minutes. Be patient, this is where the big flavors develop.

Add the ground beef and season again generously with salt. BROWN THE BEEF! Brown food tastes good. Don't rush this step. Cook another 15 to 20 minutes.

Add the tomato paste and cook until brown about 4 to 5 minutes.

Add the red wine. Cook until the wine has reduced by half, another 4 to 5 minutes.

Add water to the pan until the water is about 1 inch above the meat.

(At this point in the video Anne tastes the sauce and adds more salt to the pan. As I say ~ in just about every recipe that I post on this blog ~ tasting the food and adding seasoning, if needed, is an integral part of cooking because each step or addition to a recipe can completely alter it's flavor profile as you add more ingredients, or as the different flavors begin to concentrate.)

Stir and TASTE frequently. Season with salt, if needed (you probably will).

(I love Anne's personality. She's bright, funny and she truly loves what she does for a living. Not all of us can say that, can we?)

"Superstar"

Toss in the bay leaves and the bundle of thyme and stir to combine everything.

Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer, stirring occasionally. As the water evaporates you will gradually need to add more, about 2 to 3 cups at a time.

Don't be shy about adding water during the cooking process, you can always cook it out. This is a game of reduce and add more water. This is where big rich flavors develop. If you try to add all the water in the beginning you will have boiled meat sauce rather than a rich, thick meaty sauce.

Simmer for 3 1/2 to 4 hours.

During the last 30 minutes of cooking, bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat to cook the spaghetti. Pasta water should ALWAYS be well salted. Salty as the ocean! TASTE IT! If your pasta water is under seasoned it doesn't matter how good your sauce is, your complete dish will always taste under seasoned.

When the water is at a rolling boil add the spaghetti and cook for 1 minute less than it calls for on the package.

While the pasta is cooking remove 1/2 of the ragu from the pot and reserve.

Drain the pasta and add to the pot with the remaining ragu. Reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water.

Stir or toss the pasta to coat with the sauce. Add some of the reserved sauce, if needed, to make it about an even ratio between pasta and sauce. Add the reserved pasta cooking water and cook the pasta and sauce together over a medium heat until the water has reduced.

Turn off the heat and give a big sprinkle of Parmigiano and a generous drizzle of the high quality finishing olive oil. Toss or stir vigorously.

Divide the pasta and sauce into serving bowls or 1 big pasta bowl.

Top with remaining grated Parmigiano. Serve immediately.

Here's a short video of Chef Anne making this version of bolognese. I get such a kick out of her fun, slightly quirky personality and I find that watching her actually prrepare her recipes, just adds to the overall experience. Enjoy!

A Short Bio from the Food Network

"With her trademark spiky blond hair and pumped-up personality, Anne Burrell has worked at some of the top restaurants in New York, studied the culinary landscape and traditions of Italy, and battled alongside Mario Batali as his sous chef on Food Network’s Iron Chef America. Anne makes restaurant dishes accessible and reveals concise, easy-to-master techniques for the at-home cook on her Food Network series Secrets of a Restaurant Chef. On her show Chef Wanted, Anne helps top restaurateurs find candidates with the right experience and creativity to become executive chefs. On Worst Cooks in America, Anne joins Tyler Florence in mentoring teams of hopeless home cooks from around the country, putting them through culinary boot camp.

In 2011, Anne published her first cookbook, Cook Like a Rock Star, which gives home cooks the confidence and support to be rock stars in their own kitchens. Her cookbook earned a place on the New York Times Best Seller list. In fall 2011 Anne starred in her own right on Next Iron Chef: Super Chefs.

Growing up in upstate New York, Anne developed a passion for food and cooking at an early age. After obtaining an English and communications degree from Canisius College in Buffalo, she pursued her interest in the restaurant business by enrolling in the Culinary Institute of America. Following graduation, she spent a year in Italy attending the Italian Culinary Institute for Foreigners while working at La Taverna del Lupo in Umbria and La Bottega del' 30, a Michelin one-star restaurant in Tuscany. During this year, Anne grew to truly appreciate and understand the philosophy of Italian cuisine and culture, which left a lasting impact on her culinary point of view.

Upon her arrival in New York City, Anne was hired as a sous chef at Felidia, working with Lidia Bastianich. She then served as a chef at Savoy, where she cooked over an open wood fire and created flavorful menus inspired by Mediterranean countries. Here Anne developed her personal culinary style: rustic food made with pure and simple ingredients with intense flavors.

Anne then took the opportunity to spread her culinary knowledge and passion as a teacher at the Institute of Culinary Education. After three years, Anne went back to the restaurant business, serving as the executive chef at Lumi. Shortly after, she joined the Batali-Bastianich empire by accepting a job at Italian Wine Merchants. The job also included salumi production and traveling to off-site events with Mario Batali. When Mario became one of Food Network’s esteemed Iron Chefs, he knew exactly who to enlist as his sous chef: the talented and dynamic Anne Burrell.

As the executive chef at New York hot spot Centro Vinoteca from its opening in July 2007 through September 2008, Anne served up her "creative-authentic" Italian menu of small plates (piccolini), antipasti, pastas and main courses accented by her trademark bold, pure flavors."

Enjoy!

Mary

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Budget Friendly Beef Stroganoff

My mother used to call this "Poor Man's Stroganoff", but with the cost of food these days, I don't think there are too many types of meat that I'd call a bargain anymore. I swear that even though it's just the two of us now, our grocery budget climbs higher every week! That being said, this dish is quite a bit more budget friendly than the original 1950's Russian dish that it's derived from. The classic version was usually made with more expensive cuts of beef, like tenderloin and top sirloin.

As is usually the case with so many of my mom's recipes, I do make this a bit differently than she did. She never used any of the extra seasonings that I do and the mushrooms were a definite no-go for this (or any other) dish. Now, it wasn't in any way because the majority of our family wouldn't have liked it that way. But as I've noted quite often before, when I've shared my versions of my mother's recipes, my wonderful, yet oh SO picky Daddy never cared for "extras" like the ingredients that I tend to add to dishes like this one.

No matter what little extras I might add to it, or how differently I season it, this is one of those true comfort food style meals, that's easy to prepare and to have on the dinner table in a hurry if needed. And the icing on the proverbial cake, is that this is exactly the type of food that always brings back happy and comforting childhood memories for me. And you know what we call a recipe that does all of that around here, right? Yup... We call that, a Win/Win!!

Budget Friendly Beef Stroganoff
(aka Poor Man's Stroganoff)

• 1 & 1/2 Lbs Lean Ground Beef
• 8 oz Button Mushrooms, thickly sliced or quartered
• 1 Envelope Onion Soup Mix
• 1 Cup Water
• 1 10.5oz Can Cream of Mushroom Soup
• 1/4 Cup Dry White Wine or Vermouth
• 1 Tbls Worcestershire Sauce
• 1/2 Cup Half & Half (possibly more)
• 1/2 Tbls Beef Base (*Better Than Bouillon)
• 6 Tbls Butter, melted
• 2 Tbls Balsamic Vinegar
• 1 Tsp Onion Powder
• 1 Tsp Garlic Powder
• 1 Tsp Kosher Salt
• 1 Tsp Fresh Ground Black Pepper (or to taste)
• 1-2 Cups Sour Cream
• 1 12oz to 14oz Pkg Extra Wide Egg Noodles

In a heavy skillet over medium high heat, add the ground beef, a bit of salt and pepper and cook the meat until it's nicely browned, breaking it up a bit with a spatula or a spoon as it cooks.

Getting some nice brown color on the beef, will give the dish added richness and flavor, too.

Sprinkle in the package of French onion soup mix.

Unless you end up with a whole lot of grease left in the pan after browning, you shouldn't need to drain it. A bit of juice/fat from browned meats like ground beef or pork sausage, will add to the flavor of the finished dish. I had almost zero fat left behind using what turned out to be a very lean ground beef, so I didn't drain mine, but I'll leave that choice up to you.

Pour in the cup of water and stir it well to incorporate.

If you have an open bottle of dry white wine, by all means, use it in place of the vermouth. But just as an FYI, you'll almost always see me using dry vermouth in place of white wine in pretty much any recipe that calls for it. It is THE perfect substitute, because it's actually white wine that's been fortified and will keep ten times longer sitting on the kitchen counter, than any white drinking wine would after it's been opened - and do it without turning into vinegar. Any unfortified wine, will go sour, eventually, even if it's been in the refrigerator. Plus, dry vermouth is just plain old good to have around, for use in the occasional (not so dry) martini.

Add the vermouth/wine to the pan and turn the burner up a squidge, so that it will reduce to a slightly syrupy consistency. This will 1) burn off (evaporate) the alcohol and 2) in this more concentrated form, give a subtle yet important depth to the finished dish, that wouldn't be there without it.

Obviously, if you just don't want to use any alcohol, or if you prefer not to go out and purchase a bottle of something that you'll probably never use again, you can leave it out entirely.

Once the vermouth has reduced, add in the mushrooms and stir well to distribute them in the pan.

At this point, I add a pinch more salt and pepper. If you've been around here for a while and are at all familiar with my recipes, you'll know that I always season in layers, or during intervals of the cooking process. Remember: each ingredient deserves to get it's own fair share of these staple flavor enhancers too!

Now, it's time to add the balsamic vinegar. Two tablespoons might not seem like much but trust me... this sweet and tangy delight is already highly concentrated and it will add just the right touch to compliment and balance out the tang of the sour cream that we're going to be adding later.

Give the meat another stir to distribute the vinegar, but there's no need to do any more reducing at this point. As I stated above, Balsamic Vinegar is already reduced quite a bit during the aging process.

Once you have all of those savory seasonings in the pan, it's time to start adding the ingredients that will make this rich and creamy.

In a small bowl, add the cream of mushroom soup, Worcestershire and the half & half and use a whisk or a large fork to incorporate them thoroughly.

Add all of the remaining seasonings to the soup mixture and stir it all up with your whisk.

If this combination of meat and sauce is a bit too thick at this stage, you can thin it out a bit with a little more half & half or milk.

(I'd forgotten to add in the beef base earlier, so I stirred it right into the 2/3 cup of half & half before pouring it in. If you've read through this recipe before starting to cook, you can add it into the meat mixture at the same time you add in your balsamic vinegar.)

It turned out that my sauce was a bit too thick at this stage, so I went with 2/3 Cup of additional half & half to thin it out a bit. I did this by eyeballing it. I've been cooking this dish for so long now, that type of thing just comes naturally. If you're more of a newbie to the process, never fear. You can start out with smaller amounts of liquid and add it in a bit at a time, until you feel like the sauce is at a "pourable" consistency. If you end up adding a bit too much, it's not a big deal either... it will reduce or evaporate on it's own with just a bit more cooking time.

These "soup base" versions of bouillon will dissolve quite easily, even in liquid that isn't very hot. I prefer this style so much more over those old crumbly, uber salty cubes and packets of powder and I honestly don't know how I lived without it in the past! There are a few of these paste style bases on the market now, so I'm sure you can find one pretty easily in most grocery stores.

The reason I felt that my sauce needed to be a bit thinner, was because I wanted it to pour/ladle nicely over the cooked, buttered noodles. It's just not the same if the sauce mixture just sits on top of your noodles. You really want to be able to mix it all up together as you eat and if it's too thick, that just doesn't happen as easily.

When you're done mixing the soup and other ingredients, put on a big pot of water and bring it to a boil for your noodles. I think that most people have cooked a pot of some type of pasta or noodles by the time they try out a more complex cooking experience, but just in case you haven't done it before, all you have to do is to follow the directions on the package and you're good to go. I start testing my noodles about 2 minutes before the instructions say that they should be done, because mushy pasta (of any kind) is a major no-no in our house! The Hubbs does not like even slightly overdone pasta! LOL

I like the "no yolk" extra wide egg noodles for their firm texture, but you can use your favorite brand.

I know I say this all the time, but whenever you are cooking pasta of ANY kind, whether it's spaghetti, egg noodles, macaroni, etc. ALWAYS make sure that your water is properly (which in this case means liberally) salted. As any true Italian chef will tell you, it should taste like sea water. OK. Don't be scared. I'll explain.

You see, pasta on it's own (especially dried, store bought pasta) is very bland and the only opportunity that you're gonna have to add flavor to it, is during the cooking process. We're working with very bland ingredients when we make pasta dough, so even if it seems like a lot of salt, the pasta is not going to absorb the salt to a point where it will taste overly salty or do you any harm. I promise. This is also one of the reasons why you should never rinse pasta after draining it. Believe it or not, by rinsing, you'll actually remove a fair amount of the flavor that you just infused with the salted water... not to mention you'll be removing all of the starch, which is what helps any sauce that you are using, cling to your pasta, instead of sliding off and being left behind on the plate.

What I do to keep my noodles from sticking together, is to toss in a little butter. OK... So it's more like a lot of butter. I mean... what's a li'l ole stick of butter between friends anyway? Besides, this IS for an entire bag of noodles ya know... Plus, it's gonna feed a whole bunch of people! Hmm, I hope that was convincing enough. Uh... it was? Phew! That's a relief! ;)

In all seriousness, I like to toss about half of the butter right into the empty pot because the residual heat left over from the cooking process helps to melt it more quickly and that way, it doesn't cool the noodles down as fast either! (So, have I justified it enough yet? LOL)

I add in the rest of the butter in tablespoons, as I add the drained noodles back to the pot, giving it all a good stir as I go. This way, all of the noodles are coated well and nothing sticks together.

Now comes decision making time...

You can do a couple of things here, depending on your personal preference or needs. You can either:

1) Dump all of the sauce right into the the noodle pot, add in a heaping cup (or two) of sour cream, mix it all together and serve it immediately in a lovely bowl, garnished with a bit of fresh chopped parsley. Or,

2) Put your hot buttered noodles in a pretty serving dish with a cover, (to keep them hot) place the meat and sauce mixture in another covered serving bowl and place that on the table as well, then pass a pretty little condiment bowl filled with sour cream at the table so that people can add what they want to the food on their plates. (This is what we do, as you can see in the photos below)

As you can see, we use option number two in our house, but my methods might not be what work best for you. Only you know the taste and preferences of your own families, so that's why I try to give you the option to choose for yourselves in the recipes I post here. You might even have a third or fourth option that you'd prefer to use. If so, please do share your ideas in the comments, because I know that I'd love to hear them and I'm sure that other readers would as well!

Just as an FYI, there are specific reasons that I serve this dish in the manner that I do. They are:

1) The sauce reheats much better when the sour cream has not been added to it. I've found that sour cream tends to create a sauce that in the reheating of any leftovers, will separate and turn a bit oily or greasy in the microwave. Uh, yeah. Yuck!

2) My family members all have different preferences when it comes to the sour cream itself and also to the proportion of "sauce to noodles" on their plate. Some like a bit more sour cream than others and some prefer to have fewer noodles and more sauce mixed together. This way, everyone at the table can "customize" their own Stroganoff! And the best reason of them all... I don't get any complaints! Now that's certainly reason enough for me!

Enjoy!

Mary



Don't Forget To Follow Me On Social Media! I Post Blog Updates, Ideas For Kitchen "How To's", Restaurant Recommendations And Reviews And Always Lots Of Photos!

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Don't forget that you can print this (or any) recipe using the "Print Friendly" button at the foot of each post. It's a great little feature that allows you to remove any pictures (or any text that isn't relevant to the recipe) before printing. That can save on ink and paper & in today's economy, who doesn't want to save a little cash when you can?!