Slow Cooked "Bolognese" Sauce

I have reeeeally wanted to make some good "spaghetti" or "bologense" sauce lately and have been studying up on ingredients, history, etc. For true facts on honest to goodness bolognese sauce from, you guessed it, Bologna, Italy head on over to the wiki page and read on.

In the meantime, I found a great recipe from Kate over at Framed Cooks.

Since we all know (and if you didn't, you do now) how true food bloggers at heart love to borrow, link back and promote our fellow foodies. Its a food bloggers biggest complement to have anyone cook and enjoy their dish but better yet, have a fellow blogger cook and enjoy their dish and then tell everyone how amazingly delicious it was.

Head over to Kate's place and check out the recipe. I will tell you I made a few variations.

- I took one slice of bacon and chopped it finely and browned with the ground beef.

- I did not use a slow cooker because I got started late. I just used a big stock pot on the stove top.

- I only had one can of tomato sauce so I used 14 oz of Ragu to make up for it instead of schlepping back out to Sprouts.

- I have a friggin garden growing in my fridge because I cannot resist the urge to buy produce (or meat or...) despite the fact that I'm only going to the store for allergy medicine and diapers. So I added finely chopped button mushrooms.

- As I was cleaning (and organizing) my fridge as the sauce was simmering, I found a small schmidge of butter that my mother in law had compounded with garlic. So you know what's next - it went in the pot. It was about a tablespoon.

I'll add a picture once I plate it but Kate's picture says enough.

Chili (Recipe from LBJ Ranch kitchen)

Papa bear's mom made this and brought it over and I begged for the recipe. I'm making it today. The first picture shows how I really feel about this recipe.
I made one variation. I cooked the onions seperately while I brown the ground beef, then I combined. I love the flavor that the onion gives the oil so I don't want that drained out when the meat gets drained.

Chili (Recipe from LBJ Ranch kitchen)

1 large yellow onion chopped
1 ½ lbs coarsely ground beef
1 heaping teaspoon garlic salt
1 tablespoon Cumin
4 tablespoons Gerhardt chili powder
1 can stewed tomatoes (mashed)
1 can Rotel (tomatoes and green chilis)
1 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons corn starch + 6 TBS water
1 small can tomato sauce
1 family size can Ranch beans

Saute chopped onion in oil until clear in a seperate pan.
In a pot, brown meat thoroughly, stiring often, then drain.
Add all spices and stir well (don’t add cornstarch)
Add stewed tomatoes and Rotel tomatoes (I mashed the stewed tomatoes in the pan once I added them)
Mix cornstarch and water, then combine with tomato sauce.
Add tomato sauce mixture to chili
Stir well
Add can of Ranch beans
Cook covered at least 2 hours
Best served over rice.

Freezes well