March 2012 Menu

Even though we are heading towards Spring, I still like the idea of a good braised meal. March can be a month where we are teased by the flowers peeking through the hard ground but still have many days to go before those in the colder sections of the country start to see the big warm-up. That’s why we wait till May to head back to Connecticut. Even here in AZ I can appreciate and love the smells of a good braised dish in March.

I have chosen a braised pork ragu for this month. It will be served over pasta (I will buy my pasta), but you can check out the website for this recipe and try his homemade pasta recipe. I will probably choose a wide pappardelle noodle.

This should be served with a simple tossed salad of your choice and of course a great loaf of warm Italian bread.

Wine - any nice Italian red. 

For dessert, the chocolate lover in me chose a flourless chocolate cake. This can be made a few days in advance and just refrigerated.


The comments and pictures below are from the website:


http://www.macheesmo.com/2010/09/pork-ragu-plus-pasta-night/

Pork Ragu

Yield: Serves 8-10

Ingredients:

2.5 pounds boneless pork butt
8 ounces bacon or pancetta
1 large carrot, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 small onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 28 ounce can stewed tomatoes
2 Cups water
1 cup white wine (you could use red, but I used white for this and really liked it)
2 bay leaves
1 Teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
1/4 Teaspoon cinnamon (trust me)
Salt and pepper
Basic Pasta Recipe (From How to Cook Everything)
2 Cups flour (all-purpose flour, Semolina flour, etc.)
3 large egg yolks
2 large eggs
1/2 Teaspoon salt (or 1 Teaspoon kosher salt)
Helpful Equipment:
Pasta Maker (Attachment or the stand-alone variety)

The Ragu

I don’t make a lot of slow-cooked meat sauces here on Macheesmo but sometimes there’s nothing better. The thing that I don’t normally do is just toss a bunch of ground meat in with tomato sauce and call it good. We can do better.
So much better.
This is one of those recipes of love that requires a bit of time but is very flexible ingredient-wise and very low maintenance actually.
Start with a boneless pork butt and chop it into about 1 inch chunks. I like leaving on most of the fat because it melts down as it simmer and makes the sauce really flavorful. You could trim it off though if it bothers you.

You could trim off some of that fat... but WHY?

Get a large heavy pot (cast iron works great if you have one but you can use anything really) going over high heat and once it’s hot, add your pork pieces in batches. Brown them evenly on each side. Don’t be afraid if a little smoke happens.
This is probably the most important part of the recipe. Making sure all the pork is nice and browned is pretty key. As the pieces brown, pull them out onto a plate until they are all done.

The start of something wonderful.

This is important because the meat caramelizes a bit but also because you end up with what some people consider garbage but I consider to be liquid deliciousness.

Liquid flavor.

You would have to be insane to throw this stuff away.
Instead what you want to do is add some bacon to it and let it brown over medium-high heat and then add the carrots, onions, celery, and garlic and a pinch of salt.
This will start to smell really really good.

Bacon and veggies...

Once the veggies are soft, add the wine and it will hiss and steam. Use the wine to scrape up any little bits of food stuck to the bottom.
Then add all your pork pieces back into the pot along with the stewed tomatoes, water, and spices.
Simmer this, covered, for about 3 hours.
We’re not done.
Then simmer it for about 2 more hours with the lid off to get the liquid reducing.
Next, take out a piece of pork and try to pull it apart. If it doesn’t fall apart then cook it longer. It’s almost impossible to overcook this so don’t worry about that. Once the pork is tender just kind of mush up the pieces so they shred apart some.
This was mine after about 3 hours of simmering covered.