cooking thread - advice

Adding molassed sugar is the absolute best thing you can do for tinned tomatoes prior to cooking
 
helpimcrap said:
tonight as part of my learning/boredom killing i cooked spaghetti bolognese for 6 people.

does this sound right and would you do different?

1. pan on cooker and heat on medium. bit of lard in pan.
2. add onions and mushrooms to pan once lard melted. chopped of course and stirred every minute or two to stop it sticking to pan.
3. after a few minutes add meat to it. turn every few minutes until brown from the reddish colour it was.
4. add sauce and mix in.
5. at same time add pasta to boiling water(put on just after the pan was).
6. 10minutes later put garlic bread into preheated oven.
7. allow to cook for 20 minutes (10 mins before garlic bread 10 mins after)being sure to turn meat etc.
8. after the 20 mins are up serve it all.

does this sound ok? bear in mind i'm still learning.
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I would have added garlic with the onions. I also would have let them brown first before adding the mushrooms and then the mince.

Also, you said you add the sauce, what sauce did you use?

I find it is much better to add a tin of chopped tomatos, some tomato puree, some mixd herbs and then season. Then finally put a glass of red wine in.

I would also allow it to cook for more like 40-50 minutes and if possible bung it in a pre-heated over for another 30-40 minutes on top of that. It will taste great, but if you want it to taste even nicer. Freeze it and reheat it a couple of days later and you will have one awesome spaghetti bolognese.
 
A decent bolognase sauce should start with diced onions, carrots and celery. Also, add some wine (either white or red, personally i prefer a dry white) after you've browned your mince to deglaze. For the cooking time, the longer the better, you can cook it for hours if you like if you cover it on a low heat. Also, when you get towards the end, it's a good idea to balance the flavours to make sure everything is ok - i add a couple of drops (and i mean drops) of sherry vinegar if the sauce is a bit fatty, and you can also beat in some butter to make it richer.

Also don't forget the golden ratio of pasta - 1 litre water, 100g pasta, 10g salt in water per person. You need either a really big pot of water to cook pasta for 6 people or multiple pots otherwise you end up with a starchy gooey mess.

And one last thing about olive oil - whatever you do, don't use good olive oil for cooking, it's a waste. Just use some cheap light stuff.
 
Burnsy2023 said:
This but the bacon should come in much earlier and you also need tomato puree, tbsp of sugar to take the sharpness out of the tomatoes and Wocestershire sauce.
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The bacon would have come in earlier but I forgot it as I was making the list and just lobbed it in at some random point.

I've never found tomatoes to be particularly sharp, but maybe thats because I use ketchup instead of puree (I know it isn't the same). I also use tobasco sauce sometimes.
 
M0T said:
  1. Add Oil to a large pan
  2. Fry garlic until golden
  3. Add meat and cook until brown
  4. Drain some of the fat off
  5. Add some chopped carrots, onions and whatever takes your fancy
  6. Throw in a tin of tomatoes
  7. Put in some Oregano and basil and salt and pepper
  8. Add between 1/4-1/3 bottle of red wine
  9. Put a lid on the Pan
  10. Come back when the sauce has reduced a bit (about an hour)
  11. Fry some bacon and fling that in
  12. Cook some spaghetti
  13. Lob it all together in a big bowl
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this is the way i do it, to the letter. Maybe with the bacon moved as you said.
 
Fry chopped celery, onion and carrot until soft. Add beef mince, pork mince, liver and panchetta and fry, then add 1-2 tablespoons of tomato puree and cook a little. Splash some milk in then add 125ml of white wine and reduce. When that is done add a pint of stock then cook for 8-10 hours until its a really dark sauce.
 
Adding molassed sugar is the absolute best thing you can do for tinned tomatoes prior to cooking
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Fought you wrote 'Molessed' sugar there. Was about to get a major case of the lol's :D
 
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