Whenever I think about pork and apples, my mind usually imagines inch-thick chops with cooked apples along the side. (Hey, it's not a bad thought.) But this pair can also combine in other interesting ways. That's the lesson I learned form this recipe in Stephanie Izard's Girl in the Kitchen, which spruces up a quick ragu with browned bits of pork and loads of sliced Honeycrisp apples. The result is surprisingly light and relatively easy to put together. More

The recipe is a three-parter, beginning with Ragù all'Abruzzese, a slow cooking tomato sauce that's simmered with three types of meat, beef, lamb, and pork that enrich the sauce with all sorts of lovely meaty, fatty notes. The curious thing about this particular ragù is that the meat is removed before serving so that it can be used in another dish such as filling for cannelloni or tortellini. More

Last week Ed was invited to a cookbook launch party for Gwyneth Paltrow's My Father's Daughter. In attendance were none other than Jay-Z, Jerry Seinfeld, and Alex Rodriguez of New York Yankees fame. Great set of friends, right? When asked about the food, though, Ed mentioned that the Duck Ragu was quite good, which made me want to investigate this recipe for myself. More

There's something about rabbit—richer than chicken and more subtle than pork, it has a flavor that's unique. This simple ragu has uncomplicated ingredients that let the rabbit's flavor come through. More

[Photograph: Blake Royer] Molto Mario really was a great show. What's not to like about a younger Mario Batali flying around the kitchen saying intelligent and exuberant things about how great Italian food could be? The episodes recently appeared on... More

Photograph from truth82 on Flickr I've saved Joy Manning and Tara Mataraza Desmond's gnocchi with lamb ragu for Friday, because I think it'll make a great weekend project. Properly-made gnocchi are a joy both to roll and to eat, and... More