My Meat Sauce

My grandfather use to be very secretative when it came to his sauce, actually when it came to his food in general. Now my meat sauce isn’t really his recipe exactly but it’s close. What’s the key? Pork. Its amazing what pork can do to a red sauce.  The below is not a typical meat sauce nor is it a bolognese (no carrots or celery).

Ingredients

1 can crushed tomatoes

1 can tomato paste

1 cup of red wine

2 pork braccioles (thin pork cutlets wrapped up with parsley, cheese, and prosciutto)

2 minced shallots

1 minced garlic clove

6 links of plain sausage meat (remove casing)

1 cup of sliced mushrooms

3 tbs of extra virgin olive oil

In a pressure cooker saute shallots and garalic in olive oil until translucent. Cook sausage meat in with onions and shallots. When sausage meat is browned, add tomato paste and stir.  Then add the mushrooms, crushed tomatoes, red wine, and braccioles.

Now set your pressure cooker on low and cook for the appropriate times on your pressure cooker (mine is about 15-20 minutes). Let your pressure cooker cool and when it is ready, remove the lid. Bring the sauce to a boil and cook for an additional 30 minutes to thicken the sauce.

Egg: A Brooklyn Staple

First I want everyone know, I didnt just want to like Egg – I wanted to love it. It has all the makings of a ‘Vicky Top Ten’. Breakfast is one of my favorite meals of the day (and theyspecialize in it), most of their ingredients are from local farms, and the foods got southern flair. Unfortunately it didnt live up to the hype.

It was around 2pm on a Saturday and the hubs and I were more than peckish. We originally planned to eat at Relish but of course they were filming a movie IN the diner for the entire day. So we wander around Berry and saw Egg…and thought why not.

We didnt really wait to be seated since it was already past 2. We did however wait for the food. I ordered the Grits and Eggs with a side of homemade sausage. My husband went for the pulled pork sandwich because he wasn’t in the mood for breakfast. We waited almost an hour for our food and we were STARVING when it arrived so we started scarfing it down. After the first few bits it hit me – the sausage was bitter and dry and the grits were bland. Not to mention the fact that my eggs were runny. Ugh. I was so sad. My husbands sandwich was also dry. Seriously? This was the famous Egg??

Once again – since I love Egg in theory I promise to give it another chance.

DBGB’s Menu! Yes…

I can’t wait, I can’t wait, I can’t wait…

I needed something to look forward to this June and Daniel Bouluds DBGB is going to have to be it. I don’t know why – but I’m pretty hyped about this menu. A total change from his typical fare! Evoking the Bowery’s kitchen supply era he’s going totally industrial with copper pots and stained ash shelves, etc

From what I hear, he’s even getting a full service ice cream cart  that will walk up and down the will banquettes filled with homemade sundae goodies (just perfect for my summer diet!). Its set to open THIS WEEK so I will keep all you Daniel Boulud foodies posted.

The Menu:
To Start:
Cold:
Butter Lettuce & Chive – $7
Iceburg & Blue – $9
Cucumber Soup – $8
Chop Chop Salad – $8
With Lobster – $16

Hot:
Asparagus & Fried Egg – $13
Jim’s Matzoh Ball Soup – $8
Tomato Bisque – $9
Oysters Parisienne – $15
Grilled Octopus – $12
Red Curry Mussels – $10/$17
Spicy Crab Cake – $15
Escargot – $14
Duo Of Mackerel

Plateau Fruits de Mer to Share:
Petite – $30
Grand – $60
Royale – $90

Oysters – $3 each

Charcuterie de Gilles Verot:
Rilletes de jambon provencal – $7
Jambon de Paris – $9
Saucisson Sec de Lyon – $8
Pate Campangnard -$7

To Continue
Links, Bangers, Saucisses, Weiners:

Sausages (descriptions are from press materials)
Toulouse – $12
Boudin Basque – $14
Beaujolais – $13
Parisienne – $15
Chipolata – $13
Viennoise – $13
Munichoise – $12
Anglaise – $13
Tunisienne $13
Espanole – $13
Vermont – $15
Polonaise – $11
Tuscane – $12
DB Dog – $18

Burgers
The Yankee – $11
5 oz. beef with lettuce, tomato, onion, on sesame bun with New York pickle
The Piggie – $16
5 oz. beef patty topped with Daisy May’s pulled pork, jalapeno mayo, lettuce, on a cheddar-cornbread bun with mustard vinegar slaw
The Frenchie – $14
w/ crispy pork belly, caramelized onion, arugula, with cornichon and mustard
The Monster – any burger with double stacked – add $5
Menage a Trois – all three with the works – $45
Fries – $6

Tete au pied:
Fromage de tete – $10
Veal tongue sauce gribiche – $12
Roasted bone marrow – $11
Tablier de sapeur – $9
Pig trotters – $12
Ris de veau forestiere – $18

To Carry On
Mer
Saumon a l’oseille – $19
Paprika and sage crusted monkfish – $23
Skate Pistou – $20
Fish & Chips – $18

Terre
Steak Frites – $29
Lemon and Rosemary Roasted Chicken – $19
Roasted leg of lamb – $22
Duck & Cherries – $23
Handmade Strozzapretti Pizza – $16
Paleron Carbonnade – $18

Sides
French Fries
Buttered Mashed Potatoes
Carrots “Vichy”
$6

Crispy Artichokes
Ratatouille Provencale
Super-Green Spinach
$8

To Top it Off
Ice Cream Cart:
Small – $5
Medium – $8
Jumbo – $12

Toppings – 50 cents
Sauce – 50 centrs

Sugar Fix:
Baba au Rhum – $9
Coffee Almond Cake – $8
Tatre Au Fruit – $10
Gateau Russe – $9

Souffle Chaud – $9
Crepe Farcie – $9

Cheese
Choice of 3 – $9
Choice of 5 – $15