Hello Reader, It's Yukari!
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Aric's mother made a meat sauce that the whole family knew by name.

She'd sear the meat. Build the sauce.
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And then she'd let it go on the stove for hours.
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Low, slow, the kind of long that fills a house.

The part I still wonder about: How did she get up in the middle of the night to stir it?

Not once.
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Every time she made it.
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Two in the morning, standing at the stove in the dark, making sure nothing caught on the bottom...
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That's the sauce Aric grew up on.

So that's how he made it.

For years.
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Same pan, same hours, same 2 am.
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He'd stand there half asleep, thinking about his mother standing there half asleep, and the sauce would come out exactly the way it was supposed to.

Then he started working in restaurants.

And somewhere in there, a kitchen he was working in showed him something.

You sear the meat.
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You build the sauce.
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You bring it to a boil on the stove, the same as always.
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Then you put the whole pot—lid on, tight—into the oven.

250°F, four or five hours.

Or 200°F overnight.
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​You go to bed.
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The oven does the waking up.

Same sauce.
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His mother's sauce.
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Nobody stirring at 2 am.

When I asked him how you know it's done, he said, “Four or five hours. But really, until the meat is tender.”

Which is the answer I get for absolutely everything.
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Chefs.

Here's the part I keep turning over, though.

His mother wasn't wrong.
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She was never wrong.
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Nobody had ever told her there was a second road, and a recipe can't tell you that.
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A recipe gives you a way.
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It has no idea there's another one.

That's what a person gives you.
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Not the method.
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The existence of a different method.

Aric worked in kitchens for twenty-plus years to collect those.
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I've been married to him for a while now, and I'm still learning that things I've done the hard way for a decade have a back door.

So I want to ask you something.

Tap the one that's yours.
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I’m answering all four.
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The first one lands on September 19th.​
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Chicken breast, and the back door out of dry.

The rest follow from there. I’m answering all four.

The rest follow from there. Tap yours so I know which one to do next.

And if your long way isn't on that list, hit reply and tell me. I read every single one.

(This, by the way, is exactly what Aric and I do in Denver kitchens now. Sitting with one household and finding the back door in whatever's been going wrong. It's called Kitchen 911. More on that soon.)
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​Try the oven if you make anything that simmers. Chili, curry, braises, a Sunday sauce of your own.
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Lid on tight.
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Low and slow and unattended.

Then go to bed.

For Our Denver Friends!!!

🎃 Our fall/holiday calendar for private dinners is open! ​
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Please let us know what's on your mind and your vision for your special dinner event by hitting reply!
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Thanks for being at our Kitchen Table on this cozy little corner of the internet.
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We appreciate you following along and letting us share not just what we cook but why we cook. 🧡
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With gratitude and friendship,
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Aric & Yukari
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🐱🐶 (P.S. Senna and Ka-En would have a pool of meat sauce in their dream, smelling the wonderful aroma from the oven as they sleep..😂 ) ​
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