PAPER AND PI: I found something new....Donna Hay

So last week while I was searching for something great to cook, I found some wonderful cooking blogs. While I was on Always with Butter I discovered food stylist, author, magazine author Donna Hay. For those who don't know who Donna Hay is I would say she is the Aussie Martha Stewart. For all my international reader, I know I know you can't believe I just discovered Donna Hay. Well, let's just say I am in love with her magazines. The food photography is so incredible that it makes me want to try every recipe. The wonderful things is Donna Hay magazine has just started an iPad app. I was able to download 2 magazine for free and I spent about 2 hours oohing and aahing. I bookmarked so many recipes that I didn't know what to cook first. The great thing about having the magazine on the iPad is they made it very interactive for people who love to cook. They have a recipe button and a cook mode button. Cook mode breaks everything down to steps and shows what you will need for each step. JT loves this because he gets confused by recipes sometimes. He's always second guessing himself about when to put in each ingredient. I believe JT will more than just "so sad sous chef" with the cook mode feature. :)

After bookmarking too many recipes, I decided I needed to calm down and just pick one to cook for dinner. I decided to make Slow-Cooked Beer Ragu Pasta for my first Donna Hay recipe. I found the recipe online here too.

slow-cooked beef ragu pasta

by Donna Hay

1kg beef brisket, cut into 4 pieces
plain (all-purpose) flour, for dusting
¼ cup (60ml) olive oil
1 brown onion, thickly sliced
3 cloves garlic, peeled
1 cup (250ml) dry red wine
2 cups (500ml) beef stock
1 cup (250ml) water
1 x 400g can cherry tomatoes
4 bay leaves
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon caster (superfine) sugar
400g caserecci+ pasta
sea salt and cracked black pepper
½ cup basil leaves
finely grated parmesan, to serve

Preheat oven to 180ºC (350ºF). Dust the beef in flour, shaking to remove any excess. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a heavy-based saucepan over high heat. Cook the beef for 2–3 minutes each side or until browned. Remove from the pan and set aside. Reduce heat to low, add the remaining oil, onion and garlic and cook for 6–8 minutes or until softened. Increase heat to high.Add the wine and cook, scraping the bottom of the pan, for 2–3 minutes or until liquid is reduced by half. Add the stock, water, tomatoes, bay leaves, tomato paste and sugar and stir to combine. Return the beef to the pan, cover with a tight-fitting lid, transfer to the oven and roast for 2 hours. Remove the lid and roast for a further 30 minutes. Remove beef from the pan and shred the meat using 2 forks, discarding any fat. Return meat to the sauce and mix to combine. Set aside. Cook the pasta in a large saucepan of salted boiling water for 10–12 minutes or until al dente. Drain, return to the pan with the beef sauce, salt, pepper and toss to combine. Top with basil and sprinkle with parmesan to serve. Serves 4–6.

I decided to prep this early since Addison had an orchestra concert that night. I gave myself enough time to chop and brown everything so I would just have to put it in the oven, set the timer for 2 hours, and go to the concert. I even went a little crazy and went a la Pioneer Woman and took pictures of all my steps. If I only had time and patience to do this everyday.