Look great, do you think there would be a difference if using milk as opposed to the heavy cream?
Jonny

Monavano, my mother swears by Marcella Hazan and I believe she lifted the nutmeg from Marcella's recipe. How long do you let it cook for in total and do you use heavy cream or milk?

Thanks

Jonny
www.SundaySauceNY.com

This past weekend I made a bolognese sauce using a recipe from Saveur. We were pretty disapointed as it was WAY too beefy tasting (the only meat used was beef with the exception of a small amount of chicken livers and proscuitto di parma). I also felt the sauce needed alot of seasoning where are the spices like thyme, bay leaf or nutmeg (my mom's key ingredient in her Bolognese).

I'd be interested in hearing what you guys do to make killer bolognese sauce.
Here's the ingredients we used:

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 small yellow onion, peeled and minced
1 rib celery, trimmed and minced
1/2 medium carrot, peeled, trimmed, and minced
2–3 slices prosciutto di Parma (about 1 oz.), finely chopped
2 chicken livers, finely chopped
1 1/2 lbs. ground chuck
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 cup hot milk
1 cup beef, veal, or chicken broth
1 28-oz. can Italian plum tomato purée

Jonny
www.SundaySauceNY.com

Hey all, just wanted to update...we haven't made a gravy the last two weeks due to family engagements and such, but we're aiming to try some of the ideas you guys put forth this weekend. One thing I'd like to try is "cutuna" the skin braciole. I used it one time about 5 years ago but I want to give it another whirl and see what Nikki thinks. In any case, I'll update everyone with plan and results. Ciao!

Jonny
www.SundaySauceNY.com

I was told by the guy at A&S Pork Store to use neck bones as well.
Discussing all of this with Nikki the wife and we will let you all know which combination we use next.

Eat well!
Jonny

Wow, every post on here is so informative. Thanks to all.
There are so many phenomenal and DIFFERENT ways to approach the meat portion of Sunday gravy that I think Nikki and I are going to set up a running experiment on our blog this fall and winter where each week we'll try a different variation and report the results both here and on the blog.

CinammonGirl - I am on the same page about the bones. Letting that bone simmer in there for a few hours made the gravy just explode with flavor.

Missmasala - that's how Nikki (my wife) approached meatballs and their part in the sauce

Fourunder - the braciole notes are great. I think we're going to have to start a new thread about making homemade braciole . Didn't you say you don't have a use for beef braciole? Can you expand on that?

Elfcook - if a little old lady an a 90+ yr old MIL taught you how to do it, then it must be right. We are definitely going to try the raw meatball approach. Just need to be VERY gentle when stirring.

Coll - do you find that going with a 100% pork-based gravy makes it ultra-sweet? I would think you would need some semblance of beef to balance out flavor?

jonny
www.SundaySauceNY.com

Greygarious: Thanks, I have tried this method with my own meatballs and still found that they did shed a bit too much into the sauce when I (lightly) stirred, transforming it into something more similar to a bolognese or meat sauce and I didn't want that texture/consistency

HankStramm: I think we used shoulder side of the loin, will check with Joe the pork guy tomorrow.

Forunder: Thanks for the technical notes on the specific types of cuts. Will have to try that Rib End Roast. We did consider baking but they just seem to come out different when cooked in a electric oven. Since you first cook the pork braciole, how long do you keep it in there until adding the sausage/meatballs?
Love the thread, will link to it off the blog...

This fall/winter my wife and I are making it a point to try different variations on the meat that we use in our sunday sauce (or gravy). Typically we used hot sausage, meatballs, pork rib and pork braciole.

This past Sunday our pork store in Westchester County NY was out of ribs so the owner recommended using pork chops instead. His advice was to drop them in raw and let them cook in gravy, but instead I browned them for about a minute and then added to the gravy. Suffice to say, the gravy was excellent and the pork chop, which we ate in our meat course after the pasta, was unreal. Has anyone ever tried using pork chops in their sunday sauce? I think the bone added some wonderful additional flavor notes to the mix.

For the record, the meat used in the gravy was as follows:

pork braciole
beef braciole
pork chop

My wife wanted to add her beloved meatballs but I won the battle this time as I feel that they make the sauce greasier due to oil that is absorbed in frying. I've raised this point on our blog and some readers replied that they avoid the grease runoff by not frying the meatballs and just dropping them in raw and letting them cook in sauce. I would think that would cause them to break up in the sauce though. Any thoughts?

I have a picture of the gravy with penne and a bit more wriiten about it here:
http://www.sundaysauceny.com/my_weblog/2009/09/first-sauce-fall-2009-a-new-twist-on-sunday-sauce.html

Jonny
www.SundaySauceNY.com

I think we're all nit-picking here. Would I love it if I woke up one morning and found out that Da Michele or Trianon (Naples' two best pizzerias) opened in Westchester? Hell yeah!
But we're dealing with reality, so I temper expectations. F&F delivers a decent pie which is elevated in stature due to the competition in lower Westchester. F&F is going to do just fine. They were very busy every time we've been there and the customer service was great. And the product is solid enough that it will cater to Edgemeont/Harstdale/Scarsdale/Ardlsey/East Yonkers - well heeled audience who won't balk at prices and 99% who aren't such pain in the a^# like we all are on this forum!. ; )

BTW - do you guys like Antica? I may swing by there later and grab a sli.

Jonny
www.SundaySauceNY.com

I am working on getting an interview and a pre-opening tour at the Yonkers location for my blog "Sunday Sauce'".
If this comes into fruition I will let you all know asap. BTW my cousin called last night from the Pepe's in Fairfield raving about the clam pie. To think that I won't have to travel down to Lombardi's to get a decent clam pie..fingers are crossed!

Jonny
www.SundaySauceNY.com

Johnny's is good for Westchester, but that's not saying much as the pizza in the Souther Tier of the County is pretty horrific. My wife and I went to Tarry Lodge and were thoroughly unimpressed, but we will try it again.

As Budinado wrote, head to Zero Otto Nove on Arthur Ave. for pizza alla Napoli, and if you want a slice, go to Joe's in Fleetwood.

Jonny
"Sunday Sauce - An Italian Food Blog"
http://www.SundaySauceNY.com

I can confirm it's opening Nov 2. Signage is up. I will see if I can take a pic later today.
Hopefully clam pie is better than Tarry Lodge which receives a resounding thumbs down.

Jonny
www.SundaySauceNY.com
ww.curtos.com

My wife and I have been there 3x in the past few weeks. I am a royal pain the A$% when it comes to pizza and everything seems to pale in comparison to the pies we've eaten in Naples, Italy. But I tempered my expectations when we walked into F & F and you know what? It's good. Not drop dead great, but good, and when you take into context that it's in Westchester which I think is Death Valley for good pizza (have not been to Tarry Lodge yet and Zero Otto Nove, our favorite is technically Bronx), it certainly makes F & F stand out more. We wrote a little review on our blog, will flesh out more in the future.
Go with an open mind, don't expect it to be the Second Coming of piedom and you should be cool with it. On the night s we don't hit Zero Otto Nove, we'll be here.

Jonny & Nikki
http://www.sundaysauceny.com/

I own Curto's Appliances which is diagonal from the spot where Pepe's is going up on Central Ave. It looks like they have a ways to go. I will take a photo tomorrow and post online.

Jonny
www.curtos.com
www.sundaysauceny.com

Miele does use a proprietary rating system but don't be thrown off by it.
They make great products, can't shake a stick at German engineering, but if you are basing your decision on the quietness, you can find other dishwashers that are akin to it at a fraction of the price. Alot of people here mentioned Bosch - they make solid dishwashers but you have to at least buy the 500-series. As I am typing this my Bosch is running...I can hear it, but it's certainly not loud. The noise is actually somewhat soothing (!). My mom has a Miele, I believe it's an Excella, and you literally cannot hear it. This can be something of a nuisance if you don't have a visible control panel b/c I know of many people who have complained about opening them up during the cycle.
If you must have a Miele you won't find a new one discounted b/c they have a UMRP policy, but you can find great buys as appliance dealers clear out floor models for new models. My dealership just had a bunch of Miele's go on clearance and they were scooped ASAP. I believe there is one left, in the La Perla series.
If you are going to look at other brands take a look at Kitchen Aid Architect - KUDS03 if you want a stainless front.

jonathan
My Blog - www.appliancefetish.com
My business - www.curtos.com

Wow Johnny's in Mt. Vernon is getting some love here. I'm not crazy about the place. The pie is tasty but you do have to wait awhile for it (even when they aren't busy) and FWIW I've always found the people who work there to be a bit on the surly-side.
Honestly, I think he makes the SECOND best pie in MtVern. I've always liked Joe's, which is off of Gramatan Ave. in the Fleetwood section. I always grab a slice with some eggplant on top of it. Yum.
A bunch of people in the area have been asking us to go to All'Antica in Scarsdale and do a write-up on our blog, so that's probably going to happen soon. I'll let you all know what the slice..errr...scoop is.
Jonny
http://www.sundaysauceny.com

Guys and gals...my business is directly across the street from Rickey's and down a few storefronts (Curto's Appliances...been on Central Ave years).
I have a direct view of the construction every day. Frank Pepe's is talking about a Spring 09 opening. Be rest assured that my wife and I will be there pronto to do a review on our blog.

Jonny Mangia
http://www.sundaysauceny.com

The best pizza on Arthur Ave is unquestionably Zero Otto Nove. They don't serve slices, instead opting for the authentic "napolitano" style of serving an entire pie (which is definitely able to handled by an individual). My wife and I have an Italian food blog and we just visited the place and shot a bunch of video which you can check out below.
Jonny Mangia

http://www.sundaysauceny.com

For the most part, pizza in Westchester is pretty uninspiring. If you like it by the slice, Joe's in Fleetwood makes a classic NY variety.
I have heard that Sabatino's in Hawthorne is excellent so we are going to check that out soon.
If you don't mind venturing over to the Bronx, Roberto's Zero Otto Nove is phenomenal. Pizza is not by the slice though. My wife and I have an Italian food blog so we did a feature on it recently - you can see it here:
http://www.sundaysauceny.com/my_weblog/2008/09/sunday-sauce-visits-zero-otto-nove.html

Jonny
http://www.sundaysauceny.com