Buck, Bolognese, and cookies that are the bomb

I really like receiving texts and emails about how my blog is keeping Chip’s memory alive. When someone writes to say “Your post reminded me of the time Chip and I ____,” the pain of losing him is mitigated (I use this word intentionally as it was one of his favorite words to use and I loved the way he said it). When someone responds to my post via Facebook that he/she made a recipe or thought about Chip in some way, I know that his memory is alive and well. Two days ago, Buck Sterling, who was part of the group that Chip toured the Soviet Union with in 1978 and whose wedding Chip and I attended in Missoula, MT (during 2019: The Year of Travel…a future blog post), sent an email that lifted my spirits immensely. After reading my posts about Chip’s stir fry sauce and about 2018 (The Year of Music), Buck wrote:

“Hi Cindi:

I  wanted to let you know that Stacey and I tried Chip’s stir fry sauce recipe last night.  It was yummy.  Stacey is vegetarian so we had to skip the chicken stock but I substituted some Traer Joe’s Umami which I think filled the gap adequately.  Otherwise, we were pretty loyal to the recipe, including your ginger enhancement innovation (we love ginger too).  Alas, I overdid it, accidentally, with the White Pepper.  It won’t happen again.  In the stir fry we used golden zucchini from our garden, shrimp, mushrooms, asparagus, celery, carrots, and red onion.  Again, yum!  Thanks for passing the recipe along.  It’s good to have – one more thing to remind me of Chip.  We may not use it again too soon – have other sauce to use too – but I expect we will use it occasionally for a long time to come.  I may take the liberty to tweak it though.

I read your appreciation of the 2018 Year of Music.  It brought back memories of the many shows I saw with Chip: Grateful Dead, BB King, Bo Diddly, Bonnie Raitt, the Bongos, to name a few.  He was certainly a repository of musical lore, and had good taste to boot.  The first time I saw the Dead with him his sister Sandy and my sister Abbie joined us.  Of the list you provided of you 2018 Year Of Music exploits, the band I’d like to see the most is Tedeschi-Trucks.  We haven’t seen them yet.”

To keep Chip’s memory alive last night, I made Chip’s Weeknight Bolognese recipe (delicious!) and Stella made his Dulce De Leche cookies (even more delicious…so amazing!). The recipes are both very easy, once you have your ingredients in place. Chip was a huge fan of “mise en place” (see more information on it here) and he would always talk about how important it was when cooking and baking (I think he did so as a reminder to me not to clean up items on the counter, as I am wont to do while people are in the kitchen cooking and baking).

Our results are pictured here following each recipe:

Weeknight Bolognese

Ingredients:

* 2 tablespoons good olive oil, plus extra to cook the pasta

* 1 pound lean ground sirloin

* 4 teaspoons minced garlic (4 cloves)

* 1 tablespoon dried oregano

* 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

* 1¼ cups dry red wine, divided (I used chianti)

* 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes, preferably San Marzano

* 2 tablespoons tomato paste

* Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

* 3/4 pound dried pasta, such as orecchiette or small shells (I used orecchiette and they cup the sauce well)

* 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

* 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves, lightly packed (I added more for additional basil flavor and since I have so much in my herb garden)

* 1/4 cup heavy cream

*1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra for serving

Instructions:

*Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large (12-inch) skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ground sirloin and cook, crumbling the meat with a wooden spoon, for 5 to 7 minutes, until the meat has lost its pink color and has started to brown.

*Stir in the garlic, oregano, and red pepper flakes and cook for 1 more minute.

*Pour 1 cup of the wine into the skillet and stir to scrape up any browned bits.

*Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, 1-2 teaspoons of salt (add more if you like salt…I used 1 teaspoon and thought it was enough), and 1½ teaspoons pepper, stirring until combined. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer for 10 minutes.

*Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil, add 1-2 teaspoons of salt (add more if you like salty pasta; I added 1 teaspoon to my water), a splash of oil, and the pasta, and cook according to the directions on the box.

*While the pasta cooks, finish the sauce. Add the nutmeg, basil, cream, and the remaining ¼ cup wine to the sauce and simmer for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until thickened. *When the pasta is cooked, drain and pour into a large serving bowl. Add the sauce and ½ cup Parmesan and toss well. Serve hot with Parmesan on the side.

Dulce de Leche cookies

Ingredients

* ½ cup butter at room temperature

* 1 can dulce de leche

* ½ cup sugar + additional for rolling

* ⅓ cup brown sugar

* 1 egg

* dash salt

* ½ teaspoon baking soda

* 1½ cups flour

Instructions

1. Cream butter until light and smooth. Add ⅓ cup of the dulce de leche** and mix well.

2. Add sugars and mix well. Add egg and mix well.

3. Add salt, soda, and flour, and mix just until combined.

4. Drop small spoonfuls into a dish with sugar, and roll to coat. Place rolled dough balls on a baking sheet, and bake at 350F for 10-15 minutes. Let sit on the pan 1-2 minutes before removing to a cooling rack. (Stella made balls a little smaller than a golfball...that's about the right size for a 3-bite cookie; you can make them as big or small as you like)

5. Use remaining dulce de leche to spread on cookies, and sandwich them together.

**If you can’t find pre-made dulce de leche at your market, there are recipes for making both the classic method and the sweetened condensed milk method here. Stella used the latter method and it worked well (You just have to allow 1-1/2 hours to make the dulce de leche before you decide to embark on making the cookie recipe ).