Adding milk to a bolognese??? !!!

[changeforthebetter]

Disclaimer: I am dosed up on cold meds so probably not thinking rationally!

Is this barking?

I made a bolog/cottage pie stylee sauce and used beef instead of veg stock. I think it is really rich but the kids find it a bit too beefy ( not sure what they thought beef mince would taste of!) I know that sometimes food manufacturers add milk as cheap filler flavour enhancer to things and wondered if it might tone down the "beefiness" a bit. It's nicer mince than I usually get and I don't have time to make anything else for tea tonight. Will this work?

I have a "traditional" bolognese recipe somewhere which uses milk and a very long, slow cooking time so no I don't think you're barking

Milk and a bit of sugar will work really well. Just believe....

I've made it with milk before. It was a recipe I'd found and I think it was 100ml added towards the end.

Tbh it didn't taste or look any different to my normal recipe so I don't bother doing it again.

I put milk in mine, but before the tomatoes go in. Not sure it will work at this late stage.

Really? Thanks. I thought I might have dreamed this in a lemsip-induced haze but I do read a lot of cookery books (a lot more reading than cooking gets done!) so perhaps I actually read it somewhere.

You could try it with turkey mince or quorn if beef is to beefy ?

Bacon reduces the beefiness a bit. I think Nigella adds milk to hers - I add a knob of butter to mine at the end. This enriches it. [hgrin]

Hope your cold clears up soon.

I add milk to my Bolognese every time (a tip from my dad). It takes the edge off the tomato and makes it richer.

dh makes superb bolognese sauce and always puts whole milk in after it has cooked for an hour or so, maybe up to half a pint for a very large saucepan. It makes the sauce that bit more creamy but isn't really detectable if you didn't know it was in there. Also seems to ensure that the mince is very tender which is great for our toddler and baby - dd just spits out mince if it's been cooked too fast and goes hard!

I believe this is authentic in some parts of Italy and have even seen recipes for cream added too, although haven't tried it. Very good as you suggest for toning down a robust sauce. I thought before trying that it might curdle but it never has.

My mother always served our spag bol with a dollop of cream or sour cream which only after moving out (and a few holiday in Italy) did I realised was a bit . That said, she did live in Naples for a few years growing up so maybe not totally un-authenitc

Milk and wine in mine..

Double cream in mine!

bacon, carrot, celery, white wine and milk in mine

works every time

i do put the mince in as well

i've read somewhere that a little milk just before the mince has finished browning helps take away the 'toughness' of the meat!?

Did it, it was lovely and will do it from now on. The little sods still wouldn't eat it but that is because little children can turn down a perfectly nice meal they have eaten a hundred times before because the moon is in Aries or something! [hgrin]

Thanks anyway!