Hi, I'm back. For a bit at least.

Haven't done much on the show -- my schedule and my cameraman's schedule
don't coincide enough, though we're still trying to get something
together. But I have cooked a bit. Enjoy the results.

Brian
Ragu Bolognese (a bit rushed)
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Got raves for this one, which was pretty cool considering I forgot to
add garlic (therefore marked optional here) and didn't give it more than
about an hour simmering time. This makes a very rich, tomatoey
Bolognese, excellent served over fettucine or another similar wide egg
pasta. You can, if you wish, serve it Italian-American style over
spaghetti, but I was shooting for authenticity over more-of-the-usual
when I made it so I went for some Barilla dried egg fettucine (couldn't
find the crank to my pasta maker :-( ).

The name of the game with a ragu bolognese is reduction; in that regard,
you can see some connections with French technique there, and the long
simmering process is very much like making chili. It's a sauce that's
built, more than anything else, starting with a mirepoix with everything
being added in stages. The end result is quite different from the
average American Chop Suey (a term that I never used to like, until I
found out what chop suey actually meant in Cantonese). Also, the
addition of dairy is pretty typical for an Italian bolognese as well,
but doesn't seem too common in foreign interpretations.

Don't feel too tied to the measurements, either. I eyeballed everything
(as most cooks would) and the amounts below are very approximate.

1 lb/450g ground chuck
1 lb/450g ground pork
1 28-oz can ground tomatoes
1 glass/6 oz/175mL red wine
6 oz/175mL milk
1 large carrot, peeled and minced
2 ribs celery, minced
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed (optional)
basil, oregano, and thyme to taste
bay leaf
olive oil salt

In an electric frying pan on medium heat, add some olive oil and cook
the carrot, celery, and onion with a bit of salt until the vegetables
are softening and the onion is translucent (turn down the heat if it
starts to scorch). Add garlic and meats, and cook until meat is cooked
through; drain fat if necessary. Add wine and cook briefly until it
begins to reduce and permeate the meat, then add milk and do the same.
Add tomatoes and herbs, then reduce heat to a simmer and cover, allowing
it to simmer for at least an hour (like chili or stew, the longer the
better). Serve over a wide egg pasta such as fettucine or papardelle.

Variations: A similar sauce, ragu d'agnello, is made in other parts of
Italy with ground lamb; I've seen recipes from Abruzzo and Tuscany. To
make it, increase the garlic to three cloves, replace the beef and pork
with 1 lb/450g ground lamb, and eliminate the milk. Serve it over
spaghetti alla chitarra (a semolina-and-egg pasta traditionally cut on a
guitar-like wire frame) if you can find it.Pollo al Ajo
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This is based on a recipe from Penelope Casas' excellent book "The Food
and Wines of Spain". It comes originally from a small restaurant called
Edelweiss, and the only significant modification I've made to it is to
adapt the recipe to all white meat to reflect more American tastes. An
interesting variation might be to use more garlic cloves and replace the
breast with wings; that can be served as part of a tapas plate.

Served with short-grained rice (Arborio or Japanese rice made into a
pilaf is fine), it's an excellent weeknight dish, and it goes nicely
with a fairly light-bodied red wine such as a Pinot Noir, or of course a
Spanish wine. You might also consider hard cider, which is drunk in
Asturias quite copiously.

3 lbs/1.5 kg bone-in chicken breasts or 1 3-4 lb frying chicken, cut up
8-12 cloves garlic, peeled and lightly crushed (i.e. mostly whole)
kosher salt
1/4 c or so olive oil

Cut chicken into serving pieces (you should get 2 per breast) and sprinkle with salt. Heat a saute pan and add olive oil; when olive oil is hot, add chicken and saute until mostly cooked through. Add garlic and cook until chicken is finished; serve chicken with garlic, pouring a bit of the garlic-flavored oil over the chicken.Linguine with Mushroom Tonnato Sauce
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This is sort of a combination of a tonnato recipe I found in a Cooks Illustrated book and a puttanesca sauce. It's pretty good, and if you're afraid of anchovies, all they really do is enhance the flavor of the tuna.

1 lb/500g dried linguine
2 6 oz/170g cans solid white tuna in water, drained but not rinsed
1 28-oz can ground tomatoes
1/2 medium yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced or crushed
3-6 anchovy fillets, mashed
4-6 button or cremini mushrooms (substitute wild mushroom of your choice if you wish), chopped or sliced thin
3/4 c/175 mL white wine (optional)
1 tsp basil
bay leaf
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
olive oil

In a saute pan or electric frying pan, heat oil over medium heat and saute onion and garlic until translucent. Add tuna and anchovies and saute until any liquid is driven off, then add tomatoes and wine. Add mushrooms and seasonings and simmer over low heat for 15 minutes to 1/2 hour, serving over cooked linguine.