• 
  
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 2/3 lb lean ground beef (or lamb)
• 2/3 lb hot Italian sausage
• 2/3 lb sweet Italian sausage
• 1 large onion, finely chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 1 carrot, peeled, and cut into 1/4-inch dice (about 1 cup)
• 1 rib of celery, finely diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup fresh sage leaves, finely chopped
• large pinch red pepper flakes (optional)
• 1 (28-ounce) can crushed Italian plum tomatoes
• 1 1/2 cups dry red wine (I used pinot noir)
• 1 C whole milk 
• 2 C chicken stock
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tbsp minced basil 
• For the ricotta mixture:
• 2 C fresh ricotta*
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp minced basil (fresh)
• 1 tbsp minced oregano (fresh)

A few weeks ago when old man winter decided to start showing his ass, I realized I'd forgotten to pick up a good loaf of bread to go along with my delicious Tuscan Wedding Soup.  I like to avoid driving in snow at all costs, so I figured there had to be a yeast-less recipe out there somewhere for a bread that would compliment the meal.  I looked up quite a few, took the base recipe and kind of threw in whatever else I wanted.  I ended up with a pretty decent, dense quick bread that accompanied it perfectly.  Here's what you'll need: 


2 C A/P flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp rosemary
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1 C milk


You might need:
extra flour for surface shaping


Sift all of your dry ingredients together in a bowl, then fold in the liquids.  Brush the top with some olive oil or melted butter.  And uhhhh....that's basically it.  A lot of the recipes said to flour a counter or board to shape the loaf, but it had pretty much done that on it's own, so I didn't bother.  One HUGE caveat - choose a baking sheet with sides.  A loaf pan takes too long to bake this in, and when I opted for the regular side-less cookie sheet, I wound up with melted butter and oil run-off all over the bottom of my oven.  


Bake for about 25-30 minutes at 425.  

Last weekend we headed to Young's Dairy for the first time with our buddies Matt & Ginger and their baby nerds. We goofed around, looked at the baby goats (Satan's most adorable creation) and their creepy sideways pupils, then sat down for an early-bird dinner at the Golden Jersey Inn. Basically, I was only interested in the fried cheese curds, but I knew if I just ordered three plates of them for dinner, I'd be hawking Activia harder than Jamie Lee Curtis by Monday.

I'd attempted chicken fried steak a while back, and it didn't quite come out the way I planned, so I threw in the towel. Considering it's Mr. FvF's favorite, though, I had to give it another whirl. On the advice of my best gal, the Almighty Lando, I picked up some minute steaks, made a quick egg bath, and tossed some salt, pepper and Mrs. Dash into some flour, and away I went.

All in all, they turned out well, but I encountered a different problem than in my first failure at this dish. Instead of the breading lumping up and coming off all over the place (double dipping is the key there - turn once in the flour mix, once in the eggy bath, then again in the flour), the actually steak started coming apart on me. Only one, though - and I took a picture of that one, because it's the mister's plate and his plate always looks better because it's fuller than mine.

Anyhow, once you have them coated, toss them in a hot, hot cast iron skillet for about 3 minutes on each side, or until the breading browns a bit and gets all crispy and delightful.


The real star of the show, never to be outdone, were the smashed red-skinned garlic rosemary potatoes. Maybe someday I'll be not-lazy enough to tell you how to make those.

Ah, the Hasty Tasty - a true Gem City landmark. Whether it's a hungover, no-eye-contact breakfast or an early bird dinner, the Hasty has been satisfying Dayton's craving for home cookin' for over 58 years. Serving homemade everything (including pies) and all-day breakfast, you really can't lose. I've been coming here for years since I started moving further East into Dayton, and Denny's became a cess pool and Nick's Diner (also dba Linden Grill) closed.

After a year together, Mr. FvF had never made it to Hasty with me for a meal other than breakfast. Sure, the breakfast is monster delicious and a hell of a value ($3.50 breakfast specials daily), but they have some great dinners and sandwiches. Last weekend after a long day of doing yard work with the fam, Ma and Pa FvF, Mr. FvF and I piled into the Tahoe and drove one whole block down to the Hasty for some dinner, as we were all too worn out to cook.

Everything was outstanding, and the mister and I were the only ones to clean our plates (shocking, I know).