Winter has hit our little ranch on the Flint Hills. We got our first snow the other day and the temps just keep getting colder! With the fall and winter seasons comes the chore of feeding cattle. We brought the heifers home in October, to rest summer pastures. If we left cattle in the same pastures year around prairie grasses populations would begin to decline and undesirable weeds would encroach, resulting in a disturbed prairie ecosystem. We also like to have the girls close to home during the winter, so we can get to them easily in case there is a big snowstorm.
Each morning Arturo is out the door to feed and put out hay for everyone. The heifers get fed a protein supplement and he also unrolls as much hay as they will eat. The protein supplement is important as it what they need nutritionally to grow and develop though the winter. The hay also has nutritional value and helps them stay full and warm. During the week Arturo handles the feeding on his own, however most Sunday morning’s after church we make it a family affair!
In our little ranch house we LOVE pasta…pasta dishes of all kinds! This is one of our favorites to make on a cold winter day! We hope you enjoy it as much as we do!
Beef Ragu
Ingredients –
4 pounds beef soup bones
2 stalk of celery
1 onion
2 peeled carrots
4 cloves of garlic
1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
3 tbsp. tomato paste
2 cups chicken stock
1 cup red wine
1 pound pasta (fresh or dried)
Parmesan cheese for serving
Salt and pepper
Serves 4-6
Drizzle your soup bones with olive oil and season liberally with salt and pepper. Brown soup bones on all sides in a large heavy bottom Dutch oven coated with olive oil. As your meat browns.
Place your clean vegetables in a food processer and puree them into a smooth pulp. You can add a little bit of the liquid from the pureed tomatoes to help the process along. When the meat is brown remove it from the pan and drain off the fat that has rendered out.
Add two tablespoons of fresh olive oil to the same Dutch oven and add your vegetable pulp that you pureed. Season the pulp with salt and pepper and bring it to a simmer to get most of the moisture out and sauté the vegetable pulp until it begins to brown.
When the veggies have browned just a tick, add three tablespoons of tomato paste and cook for a minute or two. Once the tomato paste has cooked out a bit, add your crushed tomatoes, chicken stock and wine season again with salt and pepper and bring that up to a simmer and add back your browned soup bones. Once the pot has come to a simmer, move it to your lowest powered burner and simmer, covered for at least 2 ½ to 3 hours.
Every so often turn the soup bones over so they cook evenly. Once the meat is tender remove it from the Dutch oven to a plate to cool a bit. Once cool enough to handle pull the meat from the bones and finely shred using two forks or your fingers. Taste the sauce and adjust seasoning to your preference. Add the meat back to the Dutch oven stirring to combine with the sauce. If the sauce seems thin increase the heat and continue simmering uncovered until thickened. You want the sauce to coat pasta evenly and not be runny. As your sauce is finishing up prepare your pasta. Once the pasta is just shy of done, drain it and return to the same pot over medium heat. Immediately add about 4 cups or more of the sauce, tossing to combine, thoroughly coating the pasta. Toss the pasta frequently allowing the pasta to finish cooking evenly in the sauce (about 1-2 minutes should do the trick). Add more sauce to your liking and divide the pasta amongst your serving plates and garnish to taste with the Parmesan. Enjoy with a nice salad and crusty bread!
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