Husband and I have now been in Corona-lockdown for a little over a week. He finally got home last week after being stuck in Iran for several very anxious weeks. Fortunately I stayed incredibly brave and strong. Stoic even.

I may have burst into tears on horrified workmates on the odd occasion.

I may have shouted at and hung up on some Foreign and Commonwealth Office people, who to be fair (to me) were complete dickheads.

Texas style bone-in ribeye steak

You know when you have something itchy in your bra and you just automatically put your hand in there to rummage around and then notice that young Andreas from the Munich office is looking at you across the meeting room table and you then pretend you're fiddling with your necklace? No, me neither.

I once had an ant in my bra through an entire guided tour in an art museum. I was the guide.

But now it's weekend, nothing untoward in my bra to ruin my mood as I potter around in my kitchen.

We started the day with a healthy bowl of porridge, or I did. Husband refused as I had made it with fruit juice instead of milk, because we didn't have enough milk. The fucking princess wouldn't eat it, because it "tasted weird" (hear the whiny three-year-old voice?) so he had a bagel.

He then went to see Deadpool with the kids, I didn't join because I was pissed off about the porridge I had some work to do and dinner to prepare and I think if the world never saw another Marvel film we'd probably be OK.

Why do superheroes always wear tights? I'm not complaining, particularly if Ryan Reynolds (or Ronald Reagan as husband calls him) is the one in the tights. But just wondering.

But the answers are out there and they are very practical! Superheroes wear tights because
- tights allow for the greatest range of movement while providing the entire body with protection
- tights allow quick and easy costume change (providing the hero is wearing the spandex under their everyday clothes, every girl knows that wriggling into a pair of tights is not easy or quick)
- tights are easy to fly in
- they are really comfy

So while the boys were admiring Ronald Reagan's red tights I prepared us this red wine marinated beef stew inspired by a meal that mum and dad cooked for me last time I visited them in Finland. Mum did most of the cooking, but for some reason dad was summoned to check the seasoning at regular intervals and administer the red wine.

They used strips of beef that were sold already in a peppery red-wine marinade. They then just browned the meat added some red peppers, fond and red wine. It was awesome served with creamy garlic potatoes.

I decided to do the exact the same meal, red-wine beef, garlic potatoes and an apple tarte tatin with vanilla custard for dessert. I got some topside roast yesterday, cut it into strips and put it in a marinade trying to guess what was in the Finnish shop marinade. And I left it in the fridge overnight.

Red-wine marinated beef strip stew (serves 6)

1.2 kg beef top-side or silverside roast

Marinade
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried parsley
2 tsp ground black or mixed pepper
2-3 bay leaves
1 tbsp tomato paste
2 tbsp tomato ketchup
4 garlic cloves
1 - 1.5 cups redwine
1/4 cup olive oil
1/3 cups liquid from a jar of red peppers (optional)

Stew
oil
1 onion
150g roasted red peppers
2-3 tbsp of game or beef fond (you can use 2 beef stock pots)
1 cup red wine
1/2 cup water
salt and blackpepper

Cut the meat into thin strips (kind of like stir fry size strips). Mince the garlic and mix all the marinade ingredients. You can use other herbs if you like, or fresh herbs. 1 tbsp for chopped fresh equals 1 tsp of dried. Mix in the meat making sure it's all covered. Marinade overnight in the fridge stirring it once or twice.

Take the meat out at least an hour before cooking to bring it to room temperature. Chop the onion. in a non stick frying pan heat a tbsp of vegetable oil. Brown the meat in batches removing to a dutch oven or other large pan. Once you have fried your last batch of the beef use the same frying pan to saute the onions until soft. Add the onions to the meat and place the dutch oven on medium heat.

Slice the roasted red peppers and add to the mix. Add the red wine. fond and water. Bring to boil, check seasoning and add salt and pepper if necessary.

Place in a preheated oven for about 45 minutes to an hour or until the meat is superbly soft. Do a final seasoning check, it should be quite peppery, so don't be shy with your peppermill.

Although hopefully not literally on steroids, I used a nice piece of organic brisket, so would hope it to be quite steroid-free. But this is spag bol like you've never had before. Unless you have had this before.

I am reposting this recipe because there is a shocking lack of whole meat bolognese related posts in the food blogging scene. There are  over 11 million results for pasta bolognese, go on try, but they are all made of ground beef. I didn't read them all, but made a sweeping assumption just like that.

To further justify my reposting I also made some crucial improvements (added two bay leaves) to my original recipe and took some new pictures as I made this for our Saturday dinner yesterday. The pictures are sadly as pathetic as the previous ones. I never have much time or energy for choreographing my photos, lighting design goes only as far as to ensure you can't see my shadow in the picture, although sometimes you can, at least a finger or two. I just want to shovel the food into my mouth asap.

I do feel it's my culinary responsibility to point out that you really should not have a bolognese sauce with spaghetti at all, but with tagliatelle (tag bol). But we Brits (I'm not an official Brit, but maybe an honorary one) like to death defyingly go where no one has gone before in manner of Shackleton or Mallory, although they didn't so much defy as die, but never mind that, and fearlessly ignore the Accademia Italiana della Cucina rules about pasta shapes.

I do have a proper reason to go for spaghetti other than mere disobedience, which is as follows. I like whole wheat pasta because it has more taste and has a nicer firm texture. The texture difference it at it's most relevant when you have slightly overcooked your pasta. Again. It is also of course healthier. The problem is I can't find whole wheat in most pasta shapes. Usually there's only spaghetti, penne and farfalle. I think penne or farfalle would be all wrong for this dish. I think penne particularly is just boring, I use it almost never.

So there. My all time favourite bolognese ragu, thick, chunky and fun. Pour yourself a glass of red, fill you plate and sprinkle a good layer of cheese on top. It is the icing on the cake, or as the Italians aptly put it: come il cacio sui maccheroni - like cheese on pasta!