Love... By Way of the Male Tummy

As the saying goes... "The way to a man's heart is through his stomach".... and I have to say... I totally believe this is absolutely true for most of the men I personally know.  When you please their palate and their tummy, love will definitely bloom!

You may ask why I believe this to be true...  and I would say... it is  because I know I can reduce my own husband, who is typically a "Manly Man's Man", to a mushy gushy mess simply with a really delish meal.  Let me elaborate on this.  My husband Joe and I love to watch 'The Food Network' channel as well as 'The Travel' channel... and one of his particular favorite shows just happens to be Anthony Bourdain's "No Reservations".

Several nights ago he was watching an episode that was filmed in Naples Italy, where ragu was the main dish in the spotlight.  For over a week after that episode aired and was viewed by him, he would not stop talking about how badly he wanted me to make him some ragu like he saw dished up in that show.  I personally did not see this episode, so I could only go by how Joe described how it was made and the ingredients he told me was in it... and really... making spaghetti sauce is more of a 'method' than a 'recipe' of basic and standard ingredients.  Anyone will tell you that they all have a treasured "Family Recipe" that has been handed down through the generations, and all will proclaim that their particular recipe is far better than anyone else's... kind of like how people are about their specific chili recipes!  I mean... hello!!!... there have been cook-off's in every state and country each year for the Blue Ribbon winners of chili and/or spaghetti recipes!  But I digress!... back to ragu night at our house.

Going only by Joe's description, I set out to make him a batch of ragu just to get some peace and quiet in this house!  Mind you that he insisted the ragu HAD to cook slowly (or as he said... "it has to burble and gurgle ever soooo slowly over a two day period of time")... and it HAD to be served over penne pasta, and with crusty bread for sopping.  I indeed cooked, or actually... 'let the sauce burble and gurgle ever soooo slowly for two days', and on the night I presented my beloved with this much anticipated, and much drooled over ragu... I hit a home run!!!!!  He ate, he sopped, he ummed... and then he ate, sopped and ummmed again.... and yes by gum... he ate, he sopped and ummmed again for the third time.  His belly was sooo bloated from all that pasta and ragu, but the grin on his face was priceless!

For the rest of that night you would have thought us a newly dating couple instead of an old married couple of 33 years!!!  He cooed at me, he rubbed my back, he nuzzled my neck... and while I truly enjoyed all the romantic attention... I just couldn't believe that one pot of ragu could reduce him into such a mushy gushy mess like that!  I would have to say he truly not only enjoyed every single bite, but he enjoyed all the time and love I put into making that pot of ragu for him.

He insisted that I freeze the left over ragu into two separate batches so that he could enjoy more ragu on nights when we were pressed for time and need a quickie dinner.  But... only one batch remains frozen for a future meal... because tonight he is enjoying round two of ragu... here I must mention that it was only last night that we enjoyed the ragu for the first time, and even tho his belly was full to the rim of bursting with all the ragu he ate last night, he went to bed talking about how he would really like to have it again tonight.  Now that is some pretty powerful ragu!!!!  I made this batch of ragu more by method and guessing, than by having a recipe, so below I will include a basic recipe/method for anyone who would like to make a batch of their own ragu... note that all ingredients are guesstimations (I think I just made that word up and spell check doesn't like it!) and you are free to add and/or delete ingredients at your own preference and whim.

This is a very rustic, hearty, and earthy kind of spaghetti sauce, so ingredients should be sliced/diced to a thickness so that the vegetables will hold up during the long slow cooking process... that is... unless you want them to dissolve into the sauce for a less chunky sauce.

2-3 stalks of celery, thickly sliced
2-3 carrots, thickly sliced
1 - med-lg onion, roughly chopped
2-3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
3-4 cups of red wine  (beef stock may be substituted for the wine)
3-4 lg cans of diced tomatoes
1 small can of tomato paste
2-3 whole dried bay leaves
salt/pepper to taste
a pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)
1TBSP of sugar
Vegetable oil
*1-2 veal shanks
*4 beef short ribs
*1-2 pork shanks (NOT smoked)

*any kind of bone-in meat may be used... you are looking for bone in meats for richer flavoring of the sauce... the meat will literally fall off the bones and then you can either toss the bones out, or put them in a side dish for those who enjoy it can eat the melted marrow inside the bones.... as my husband likes to do.  I bought family size pkgs of these meats and separated them into several single serving sizes and then froze them for use whenever needed.

** for an even heartier/earthier sauce you may want to add fresh mushrooms to the vegetable mixture and sweat them when you sweat the other vegetables.

Add 2 TBSP of oil to heavy stock pan and heat over medium heat... add celery, carrots, onions, and garlic... sweat the vegetables/garlic to release their flavors for about 3-5 minutes.  Remove vegetables/garlic from the pan and set aside.  Salt and pepper all sides of all the meats.  Add another 2 TBSP of oil to pan and turn heat up to medium-high, and brown all meats on all sides.  Brown meats in batchs... DO NOT over crowd the pan... remove all meats from pan and set aside.

Drain oil from pan, on high heat deglaze pan with the red wine/beef stock, or combination of both, then reduce heat to medium-high, and reduce liquid to 1 cup.  Add the vegetables, meats, tomatoes, tomato paste and all seasonings in to reduced liquid... add more liquid to pan if needed... liquid should almost, but not quite cover the meat, bring to a boil, then reduce to a slight simmer, cover pot and let simmer for several hours.  Turn heat off and let pan stand until cooled.  Place pan in refrigerator over night.  Next morning, bring pan out of refrigerator, skim fat off the top and discard...  then let pot come to room temperature... then place on med-high heat and bring to a slight boil... reduce heat to a slow simmer and again let simmer for several hours.... the sauce should just slightly bubble... such as making a blurp, blurp, blurp sound and not a constant simmer.  When ready to serve, cook the penne pasta and heat the bread... remove the meats from the sauce and place in a bowl and set aside, remove and discard all bones (unless the bone marrow is to be enjoyed), drain pasta and place in a deep bowl, add sauce to cover pasta and toss (amount of sauce to pasta is personal preference).  In Naples the sauced pasta and sopping bread are eaten first, the meat served after by itself... however... the meats may be added directly to the pasta and sauce and eaten as a one meal dish... either way you serve it... just get ready to enjoy and sop until hearts content!

Even tho this dish should take two days to cook slowly (so that the richness of all the ingredients can meld into each other), it's actually quite easy... in fact it's as easy as the preparations for making a roast beef.  After the veggies have been chopped and sweated, the meats have been browned, the pan deglazed and all the ingredients returned to the pot... the work is all done... just a peek at, and a stirring of the sauce every couple of hours is all the labor it takes there after.

Hopefully your beloveds tummy will be as happy as my husband Joe's tummy, and you will be well wooed for all your labor of love!

Bon Appetit!... or as we say down South... YUM YUM YUM... and DIG IN!!!