Bolognese Sauce Recipe

Howdy folks.

So the week before the 50km run, my family and I would watch Masterchef together at the living room every night after dinner. And at almost every commercial break, they would play this Coles ad where they fed a family of four with Fettucini Bolognese under $10.

And honestly, almost the whole time we were running while in pain and hunger, the stupid ad kept coming to mind. And you could not have chosen a worse time to be craving for that damned Fettucini Bolognese. ARGH.

And I've always loved Spaghetti Bolognese. Simple, tasty, nothing fancy, just COMFORT food. It's just that prior to this, I've ONLY ever made it with the pre-made sauces you get from the supermarket. And after a while, the taste just gets worse and worse until I've stopped trying.

Until after the run, the thought of eating a REALLY yummy plate of Spaghetti Bolognese still would not leave me. So I vowed I would finally take the effort to attempt this precious recipe the way it was meant to be made, and not out of the jar.

And embarrassingly enough, I took this rather seriously. I spent about 10minutes a day for almost a week just looking up as many bolognese recipes I could find, hoping that I would find one that I would like. Googling "best bolognese recipe", "famous bolognese recipe", "tastiest bolognese recipe", etc.

After a while, I found out that I liked bits and parts from different recipes here and there. Immediately, I sat down and compiled all my favourite ingredients and methods into ONE single recipe that I actually liked. This was my first draft. Was so exciting cause the whole time, I had the draft stuck on the fridge with a pen next to it.

This is now the second time that while I was preparing/cooking, I would refer back to the draft to add/change the methods/amounts of the ingredients, just so the recipe would follow almost exactly what I was doing and I can refer back to it again in the future. The first was for my Apple Crumble Recipe. And I love doing this. Cause I know that recipe has been tested and tried and proven successful, so all I have to do is just refer to it again if I ever want to remake/perfect it in the future.

And it felt so good eating this dish cause for the first time in a very very long time, I actually tasted a bolognese pasta sauce that I actually liked!! And it turns out it's not that hard to make. The next detailed recipe post would most probably be my Creamy Butter Prawn recipe. I've made it enough times to know what makes the dish good or bad to share. Looking forward to it.

Anyway here's my slightly modified version of Bolognese Recipe. Also, let me just stress that this is not the most perfect or best recipe out there. But all I can say that every single detail has been tailored to be exactly how I want this dish to taste. Same goes for all the recipes I have ever posted and will post in the future. For instance, I personally do not like pasta sauces to be too wet and runny, that's why I had reduced my sauce under high heat for 25minutes to obtain the taste and consistency I wanted. And anyone is free to make any changes they want to any recipes they come across =)

Bolognese Sauce Recipe

Serves 8

Ingredients:

-250g pork mince

- 250g beef mince

- 150g streak bacon, diced

- 2 x 400g diced tomatoes (from can)

- 2 cups (500ml) beef stock

- 1 cup (250ml) red wine

- 200g (4 pieces) portobello mushrooms

- 1 carrot, diced

- 1 celery, diced

- 1 brown onion, diced (use 1/2 if large)

- 4 cloves garlic, minced (optional)

- 4 tbsp olive oil

- 2 tbsp sugar

- 4 dashes of any dried herbs (from pantry)

Method:

1. Add olive oil into heated wok

2. Add mushrooms, carrot, celery, onion, garlic

3. Push vegetables aside to make room to add bacon

4. Cook bacon until slightly seared and fragrant

5. Stir ingredients in wok, simmer under medium heat for 4min

6. Add minced meats, make sure not lumped together, use spatula to break apart

7. Add beef stock, wine, diced tomatoes

8. Stir before reducing the sauce under high heat for 25min (or slightly half of original volume)

9. Add dashes of your favourite dried herbs, sugar, salt and pepper to taste.

10. Enjoy with your favourite pasta! For bolognese, I like something noodley like spaghetti or angel hair =D

Snapshot of dry ingredients used

MMMMM... Final product topped with some cheddar cheese (that I found in the fridge and shredded).

Mountain of pasta for dinner the next day again. Great to come home to massive amount of your comfort food after a long day of hard work topped with extra extra cheese.

Reason why I made this to serve 8 even though it was for my sister and I, was cause I knew I would eat a lot and would love to eat leftovers of it. Also, I thought I would use the extra to make lasagne if I didn't want to eat it with pasta anymore. Too bad there wasn't enough cause I had so much pasta =(

Anyway, while I was cooking this, I actually decided that I would take my Food Photography more seriously from now on. I admit, I have been very lazy since I started and just focused on getting the technical part right. But honestly, I haven't put it ANY effort at all to make the pictures look more enticing. So from now on, I'm gonna try and take many more while playing around with angles and shooting modes.

Which just means my friends will have to wait longer for me to finish taking my photo before they can eat. Lucky them. It's really challenging cause most of my meals/cooking are at night, where there is no natural light. And my backdrop is very limited, but will try. Hopefully I will get better at this.

Hope everyone is getting set for the upcoming exams! Peace!

Much Love,

Winston.

SRYSRYSRYSRYSRYSRYSRYSRY!!!

Once again, I need to apologise for being a complete douche for breaking my promises to upload more regularly for the Nth time. Also, I REALLY have to stop procrastinating to clean up the layout and design for this food blog. It's just so empty not having the big header design so I can't wait to finally be able to get right down to it this winter break.

So, here's more piks from the time Mum visited for almost two months and a bit of everything else. Enjoiiii~~~

Home-cooked meals:-

This was from yet another dinner party at our place. Mum brought over some yummy curry paste from KK. Not too spicy but so tasty. It's funny how I was telling my other KK friend the other day that I've never actually enjoyed/eaten so much curry till I came to Australia. Especially the really really yummy ones where you can eat it with a mountain of rice flooded with sauce. YUMMM.

My creamy butter prawns. If you don't mind me saying, just keeps looking and tasting better each time I make it. Still as simple as ever, anyone can make this yummy dish. Highly recommend it.

Tips: (i)Use GOOD butter, I have experimented enough with the good and bad to tell you that it makes a helluva difference.

(ii)Use Fresh SHELLED prawns - the flavour comes from the head. Never buy deshelled/deveined prawns, especially in Australia. There's no more taste at all and the texture is totally off from being washed too many times.

Mum's spinach dish in anchovies broth with salted eggs. In Cantonese it's called something like, "Shiong Tong Yuen Choi".

Dinner setup

Mum's Mee Siam - YUM!!!

Sis' Donna Hay's Chocolate Mudmuffin MMMM

Fish Head Curry - YUMM!!! More rice and sauce, prease

Lemongrass Chicken. Mum went to Springvale and Boxhill with a friend and got so much YUMMY food! DID YOU KNOW THEY SOLD CORN FED CHICKEN IN SPRINGVALE?! Yuuuuuuumm... Totally nostalgic now. Here, I thought Aussie chicken sucked all this time but now there is hope... In Springvale.

One of mum's favourite thing to cook this trip - Ox Tongue... YUM!!! MORE MORE MORE, PREASE. You have to clean the ones you get from Vic Mark yourself. But according to Mum in Boxhill Market, if you pay an extra $1, they will clean everything for you and all you have to do is just to whack it in the pan and COOK.

Fish Maw Soup. I loveee homemade soup

Mum also bought a treat for us from Springvale. REALLY fleshy lobster. I made this Cheese Baked Lobster using a recipe I found from one of my favourite Food Blog site, Rasa Malaysia.

Made it for the first time and was complete success. SUPER EASY and YUMMY!!! Now, I'm just thinking of what else I can bake with this recipe. SO GOOD. MMMMMMM

Mum is awesome. She cooked EVERY single thing that Sis and I requested during her trip here. And one of them was fried quails. I absolutely love this dish - since I was a child. YUMMMMM. Thanks, Ma!!!

Lamb Shank and rice after 50km run

One of mum's favourite dishes to cook this trip - Assam Ox Tail. Wish I had gotten a better picture though. It's like every time my parents come, they always are in the season/mood of cooking a particular meat/recipe for that trip. This time is definitely Ox Tail and Tongue MMMMM... Wonder what it'll be, next trip =)

Just thought I'd put up this picture. One of our many, MANY dinner parties at our place during the 7 weeks that Mum and Dad were in town. So many group photos were taken, memorable meals were had over that dining table that you see over there. What a blessing.

Lunch with Annabella and friends:-

Have you ever seen Italian Pizza garnished with Shallots? Lol. So Chinese lah. But still tasted good =)

Spaghetti Al-Funghi

Forgot the name of this pasta whoops. Pretty good tho

FREE Choc Pizza. Too bad they don't give out free ones anymore. I love any Hazelnut chocolate/ice-cream/dessert. And what can be better than melted Nutella... Oooooooh...

Mercadante Woodfired Pizza

123 Lygon St Carlton VIC 3053

(03) 9347 6974

Calvin's Birthday dinner with the ENG gang:-

Yummy... I love this prosciutto and semi dried tomatoes pizza... Always go back for this one

Pesto based pasta #1

Pesto based pasta #2. Both oh so good.

Chocolate Banana Cake (without banana) from Secret Recipe ;p. Was only about $35 for this MASSIVE cake cause a friend managed to get it for us CHEAP woot!!

Finally had an occasion to order Secret Recipe cake. We were so close to just ordering one anyway and just eat it at uni during one of our Monday lunch breaks. Now can't wait for next person's birthday. We got so many cakes we wanna eat from there mannn...

One really good reason for celebrating your birthday here. Cause if you do, you get FREE sparkling wine for the table!!!

Emporio Della Pasta

Ground Floor, Crown Casino

(03) 9292 7815

Dinner with the KK Szechuan Gang =D :-

This dish is called, "Ant Up the Tree". Don't ask me why - would love to know too. Basically stir fried glass noodles with spicy minced meat. SO TASTY. A little salty though but still good.

We HAVE to have at least one non-spicy dish each time we eat Szechuan food. Otherwise, we'd die, seriously. Would always be this fried beans with minced meat. Sounds simple but really good lol. Life saver, I swear.

Chilli Beef on Toothpicks. I LOVED this one. So incredibly crispy and delicious. YUM.

You gotta have fried pork intestines in Szechuan meal. This one was killer. Looks more mild than previous one but WAYYYY hotter.

And EVERY Szechuan meal is incomplete without the Water Boiled Fish!!!! YUMMM... Out of all the ones we've tried, the one at this restaurant is hands down still the BEST.

Before, we've been really open minded about giving other Szechuan restaurants a try, time and time again. Thing is EVERY TIME we go somewhere different, it just disappoints. And this is what happens after you've had the best. And this restaurant is by far much better and authentic in every sense possible for this cuisine. Next time you want to enjoy a Szechuan meal, don't even bother going anywhere else. And I bet you almost every one who knows Szechuan in Melbourne will tell you the same thing.

Dainty Sichuan Restaurant

176 Toorak Rd, South Yarra, 3141

(03) 9078 1686

Lunch after church today:-

Combination of Spicy Seafood and Blackbean Noodle. I loveee Korean noodles. So much smoother and chewier.

Beef slices. This is what I love most about Korean BBQ - it's that belly cut of Beef/Pork. To die for, seriously.

Han Guuk Kwan

13A Victoria St Melbourne VIC 3000

(03) 9639 1747

Some not-so-healthy-post-mama food =(

Bak Kut Teh. Whoah damn nice weh the pork ribs after being cooked for about 4 hrs. So tender and soft that falls off the bones but not mushy. Can't wait to make this again - this time with Singaporean Teochew Bak Kut Teh

And, uh... Dinner tonight. I know, I know. Not the healthiest thing. But damn nice weh the chicken schnitzel from Vic Mark and I can't control myself when it comes to curly fries =X

Will TRY to upload more often from now on - hopefully with more good stuff to see! Definitely gonna spend more time at home to experiment this winter break. Looking forward to it! Cheers, everybody!

Much Love,

Winston.

17th April Dinner Party

So, Mum decided to invite some of her friends over for dinner today. Wanted to do homecooked Chinese food but decided to do Western. And since my Sis and I are better at that than Mum, we agreed to let my mum relax, entertain guests and just wait for the food to come.

After running 12km in 1 hr this morning, slaving 3.5 hrs in the kitchen (and made 2 SEPARATE trips to the supermarket during that time gahhhh), you can see why I'm pretty darn knackered right now.

That's why, Imma shut up and let the pictures do the talking. Enjoiii =)

We love aged beef. 4 scotch eye fillets and 2 Wagyu (Grade 4) cuts. Didn't get it from our usual favourite butcher on Clarendon but these were pretty good too. Not too expensive, around $10 for eye fillet and $15 (or less) for Wagyu.

Chicken Fillet Mignon. Chicken meat wrapped with bacon and garlic cheese on top. All meat bought from South Melbourne Market.

Our family has come to the conclusion that though the market there is more limited in choices, but the food you get there are MUCH fresher and higher quality. Hence, comparatively more expensive but you get what you paid for. And it's good to enjoy some quality food from time to time.

Appetizer: Raw oysters with dash of lime and tiny teaspoon of Chilli, Lime and Ginger Sauce. Oysters don't get any fresher from South Melbourne Market too. Shucked right in front of your eyes. Excellent.

Garden Salad that we ate with secret recipe salad dressing, bought from Ms Marples the other day. I like it. Light, mildly sour with a hint of tangy spice to it. If only I were good enough to break it down to ingredients by just tasting it. Drats.

Clockwise from top: Mashed potato with bacon, garden salad, aged scotch fillet with salt and pepper, brussel sprouts, chicken fillet mignon.

OH NOOOOOOOOO. I made really yummy Mushroom Sauce but completely forgot to take a picture of it noooooooooooooo... Got the recipe here.

Dessert: Apple Crumble. Sis made the filling while I made the crust. And cause my Sis wasn't a fan of rolled oats, made some minor adjustments to my previous Apple Crumble Recipe.

In this case, substituted rolled oats with (leftover) Weetbix of same amount but added 60gm more of butter. Split the fillings up to Cinnamon (indicated by the "C") and Nutmeg. I personally prefer Cinnamon. Can anyone spot the Smiley Face? ;p

Apple crumble - huge success. Seriously, I recommend this dessert cause it's much easier to make than you think and tastes delicious. Every one loved it.

Oh and I can't believe I ran to Coles JUST to get a shrub of mint JUST so I could use two tiny leaves to take THIS picture. That's food blogger dedication right there. Now I have no idea what to do with the rest of it. Pfffft.

L - R: Datuk Hiew (who was once a student taught by my Mum's Dad), Datin Hiew (who used to be Mum's high school teacher BAAACK in the day), Mei (their daughter who lives in Melbourne), Sis, Mum and Miss Rose (who's Mum's friend from way back when they studied in England and now residing in Melbourne)

It's so great to have true friendships to cherish after so many years isn't it. So, thank you all for being my friend now and hopefully for many, many years to come.

Love always,

Winston.

Extremely overdue

Erm, some of my favourite food from the past month and a half after being back in Melbourne. Overloaded post, once again. Updating this food blog takes more time than you think, so just finding time to do that is kinda rare. Like now, just about to start at 2:30am when I've got class at 9am =/

Anyway, hope you enjoy them and that I don't doze off halfway cause I'm really sleepy now!

Start of semester, we had a potluck dinner at a friend's place. I made the pasta dish in the middle. Easiest but also one of the nicest pasta recipes you'll ever come across. One of those dishes that is so effortless that you'll laugh your head off but make people think you're a masterchef once they've tasted it. Will share it in the future!

I really like this jelly recipe that my maid back home shared with me. Easy dessert for a dinner party or potluck with friends. It's nice and milky cause of the condensed milk. Will share it in the future too!

Went to friend's place for some good old fashioned OZ BBQ. Ultimate burger we have here. Also, potatoes baked in saturated DUCK FATS. Yes, that's right, you heard me. Apparently they sell them in bottles and I enjoyed every bite of it without guilt

"Kuih Makmur", no direct translation but it's a traditional Malay peanut delicacy that my maid in Malaysia would make every Hari Raya. She made a batch for us and my parents brought them over. Bless her and they're FANTASTIC

A corn snack from Malaysia that my Sis and I absolutely love. Thanks Mum and Dad for bringing them over

Not sure what's the name of this, but it's also a delicacy that my maid made for us. I made a batch with her in Malaysia and would definitely make them again when I have the time. It's ridiculously easy but DELICIOUS

Had some bread that were about to go bad so Sis made some yummy bread pudding!

Called my Mum one day after class asking if there was anything to eat at home cause it was 3pm and I had to rush home to grab a bite before rushing off somewhere cause I didn't have time to eat dinner later that day. And 20min later, this is what I came home to - yummy fried rice all nicely prepared and waiting for me! MUM, YOU'RE THE BEST!

Dad's beef stew. No water required at all, good tip and extra flavourful!

Dad LOVES to make steamed fish, and we love to eat them

Steamed salted fish. Just add a BIT of soy sauce, diced ginger and pop it in the rice cooker just before the rice is cooked. Goes so well with rice YUM

Mum's homemade soup. LOVE IT

Mum's super yummy stewed pork belly and ox tongue. Everyone LOVED the ox tongue! Sounds disgusting but tastes heavenly! So incredibly chewy and tender just like meat, which it almost is cause tongue is muscle anyway

Sis' really yummy pumpkin soup. I think one of the best ways to have bacon is with cream based soup

Sis' lamingtons - really yummy!

If you love and know how to appreciate a good rack of ribs that's not overcooked and beautifully charred, there's only one place to go to in Melbourne (that I know of so far) in my opinion. And that's at:-

Squire's Loft Albert Park

1 Queens Road

Melbourne, VIC 3004

6 mains, 3 side dishes (not included in picture), 2 bread baskets and only ONE bowl of salad for 8 hungry eaters

One of the better Korean restaurants I've had in Melbourne, and SO much cheaper than the ones in the city too! Really enjoyed it. One of the dishes there at:-

Kim Chi Lunchbox

652 Glenferrie Road

Hawthorne, VIC 3122

For REALLY good Malaysian Food (which is also one of my cousin's many recommendations), go to:-

Kuala Lumpur Restaurant

123 Koornang Rd
Carnegie, VIC 3163

This butter prawn and roti dish was TO DIE FOR

Tasty spicy (which wasn't spicy at all) claypot chicken

Good old fried Kangkung with Sambal

The one and only dish that makes it completely worth it to go all the way to Carnegie to eat - the Malaysian Fish Head Curry. Honestly, BEST curry we have ever tasted. And you'll be surprised by the bowl after bowls of rice you'll be eating just with this dish alone. FANTASTIC, TRY IT

The one and only place in Melbourne (that I know of so far) worth going to for GOOD Peking Duck. Also very popular choice for a lot of people. Found at:-

Old Kingdom Chinese Restaurant

197 Smith Street

Fitzroy, VIC 3065

Beautiful. Can't get this in KK. 3 ducks for 7 ppl

NICE and crispy with really juicy meat. Love the sauce too YUM!!!

Second dish of the 3 course Peking Duck Meal - Stir fried duck meat with bean sprouts. The intense flavour from the "wok hei" aka "wok heat" made this simple dish so outstanding!

Third dish - Duck bones soup with tofu MMMM...

Also ordered the Prawn in Signature Sauce dish. YUMMY

Cousins also introduced us to this Japanese Restaurant that completely BLEW MY MIND. Was SOOOO unbelievably fresh and delicious and all I can think about right now is when I'll be able to go there again. It's also really popular and a lot of people know about it so I'm glad to finally be able to try this place. It's at:-

Shiranui

247 Springvale Road
Glen Waverley, VIC 3150

I'm not usually a Chawan Mushi person. But one bite of this and we IMMEDIATELY ordered another one. Best we ever had. Please try it

Forgot what dish is called but it's in the Lunch Menu. Slightly seared beef in light sauce. SO GOOD

Tempura Udon. I don't even know how they managed to turn such a simple looking dish so beautiful. You tell me.

Sis always orders the same thing in Japanese restaurants and now I consider her as a Chirashi Sushi connoisseur. According to her, one of the best she's ever had too!

Thing is, Chirashi Sushi is such a versatile dish and can look/taste completely different from one Japanese Restaurant to the next. What's special with this is the unique flavour of the rice and the undeniably freshness of the seafood

Sashimi Platter YUMMY!!

Beef Nigiri Sushi MMMM!!

Chicken dish YUMMEHHHH

Our family LOVES ordering fish head (usually Salmon) in Japanese restaurant. SO GOOD SO GOOD. What a great eating experience enjoying every single thing on the table that day. Definitely good to go in the lunch time cause this place is NOT cheap and you'll be paying and arm and a leg if you go for dinner. But you HAVE to book in advance!

FINALLY got the chance to go to Miss Marples after being here for my third year and hearing every one talk about it. Always good to have a car. Address is at:-

Miss Marples Tea Room

382 Mt Dandenong Tourist Rd

Sassafras, VIC 3787

Here we have a picture of Dad's extra strong Vienna coffee. What he ALWAYS orders at cafes. I don't know how he can take it. It's just espresso shot and cream

Pumpkin Soup - REALLY tasty

Fish n Chips! I always love a good Fish n Chips and the one here is pretty darn good too

The "All Famous" Miss Marples Scones. A lot of people have warned me before that it's kinda overhyped and should just enjoy the jam - and I agree. But that didn't stop me from enjoying my meal there cause it was great to appreciate the Old English interior they had going on while spending time with the family. Would still love to go back there anytime =)

Jam was really good. However, I've been told that the scones at another famous nearby restaurant called Pie in the Sky is surprisingly good. Apparently it's much lighter and more crumbly so I definitely can't wait to try it out one day

That's all the piks for now. Also, just wanted to say thanks to my Sis and cousins cause most of the restaurants above were their recommendations and I really enjoyed them. Hope you liked them and will TRY to update more consistently from now on hehe.

Blessings,

Wince!