in keeping with my ‘eating down the house‘ challenge, the only ingredient that i needed for last night’s dinner was some cream, something that i rarely if ever buy or cook with - if only out of a healthy dose of fear.  but i had perused my freezer, fridge and pantry and had a pretty solid idea of what direction i’d be heading.  i reached for the frozen niman ranch sweet italian sausage, the opened can of tomato paste and the leftover fresh thyme from last weekend. 

but the plan was sealed when i spotted the small but coveted bag of dried morels and another of porcinis tucked away in a corner top shelf of my freezer, leftovers from a bulk buy i’d made from earthy’s.  i hesitate to say it, but i figured i’d been hanging on to them for at least three years now and their well overdo time had finally come.  i’m sure their three frigid trips around the sun wasn’t working in their favor but i was hopeful that they’d still pack that smoky rich and fragrant punch that i love so much.  (later, when i checked the current price of dried morel’s my jaw literally dropped.) 

so then i’m at the store facing this wall of orderly bottles and cartons.  the assorted dairy soldiers are all lined up in colorful uniform, standing at attention armed with various counts of deadly fat grams. and i come to the sober realization after reading the nutritional labels and doing the math that the very small box of fat laden heavy cream was just not going to pass through either my front door - or my lips.  there had to be a line drawn.  and by god, this was it.  i grabbed the organic half and half and feeling only vaguely better about my choice, headed for the checkout line with a nagging suspicion that no one ever cooks with half and half.  half and half, it’s what’s in your coffee.  half and half, the name itself feels so non-committal. 

(the dried morel and porcini mushrooms)

early in the evening when i began to assemble all the elements, i knew a red wine would be in order, most of it to be sacrificed to the sauce.  the only thing i currently had in stock that was sacrificable was an ’03 clos du bois cabernet.  a bit nicer than my usual cooking wine, but i salvaged one big glass for me and offered up the rest to the bolognese gods.  (note to self: buy wine for cooking.)

(the mushrooms rehydrated)

i began by soaking the mushrooms in warm water.  then i sauteed onions in some olive oil and added the sausage meat.  next i poured in the wine and cooked it down to perhaps a half cup of liquid.  then i added the chopped rehydrated mushrooms along with most of a can of tomato paste.  the fresh thyme was de-stemmed and a big fistful was added to the pan along with salt and a generous helping of coarsely ground black pepper.  finally in went some half and half and while i carefully brought the heat back up and the sauce began to thicken, i thinned it all down with the reserved and carefully strained mushroom soaking water.

at about that time, angela called and i offered for her to come by and pick up some dinner for her and bruce.  they got the half unused bag of strozzapreti (literal translation: priest choker) and a tupperware of the just finished sauce.  i was thrilled to not have leftovers – and to be able to feed my friends.

it was a heavy meal, no doubt.  but the fat content was considerably lower than it might have been had i not had the sane concept of substituting for what was the ‘better, richer’ ingredient.  heavy cream, we did not miss you.

eating down the house – to be continued…