"Party Cookbook" (an Australian publication) - Chicken Cacciatora

Date I made this recipe:  October 29, 2017

Party Cookbook by cookery editors Anne Marshall and Elizabeth Sewell

Published by Paul Hamlyn New South Wales (New South Wales is a “state” or section of Australia)

© 1971

Purchased at Bloomington (MN) Crime Prevention Association (BCPA) Annual Sale

Recipe:  Chicken Cacciatora – p. 19

A few weeks ago, I needed to shift a lot of my cookbooks around to make way for ducklings new acquisitions.  I’m going to call this The Great Cookbook Migration 2017.

Let me just say that this was no easy feat.  Not only did I have to deal with years of accumulated dust (I try but you know…), but I had to deal with falling books (jeez, you nudge it just a little) and spatial relations, i.e. figuring out which books fit which way on my shelves.

It didn’t take me long before I had more books on the floor than I did on shelves as I kept arranging and rearranging my collection.  This book managed to slide off the top of its stack to land at my feet in a clear attempt to get me to look at it (Yes, books are sneaky that way), and so I did.

Although I did not have a party planned, it was close enough to Halloween for me to think about Halloween parties, past and present, and so why not, right?  Not that this is an official Halloween recipe because as I’ve said before, I don’t really “do” Halloween, but a party cookbook in the hand is better than none at all.

This book did a pretty good job of hitting a lot of party themes. Here’s the Table of Contents.  Do note that this book was published in Australia which explains some of the British and Maori (New Zealand) party themes.

• Brunch Party (Brunch is a “party?”  Huh.  I always thought brunch was just…brunch!)
• Morning Coffee Party
• Luncheon Party
• Kitchen Tea (given for the Bride-to-be!)
• Christening Tea
• Children’s Birthday Party
• Open House Party
• Cocktail Party
• Dinner Parties
• Formal Dinner Party
• Casserole Dinner Party
• The Man Takes Over [Dinner Party]
• Buffet Dinner Parties
• Summer Buffet Dinner Parties
• Winter Buffet Dinner Parties
• After Theater Party
• Patio Party
• Barbecue
• Haangi (a Maori BBQ pit)
• Wine and Cheese Party

 And here’s some sample recipes and again, do note that the cookbook features food from Australia which was once a British colony which is to say, “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

• ·       Brunch Party – “Lamb Cutlets with Tomatoes;” “Liver with Onions and Bacon;” “Scrambled Eggs and Tomatoes,” and “Savoury Mince on Toast.”  This looks absolutely nothing like any brunch menu I’ve ever seen, and I cannot say it appeals.  Cannot.
• ·       Morning Coffee Party – “Cheese Roughs” and “Gingerbread.”
• ·       Luncheon Party – “Chicken Cacciatora;” “Malakoff” (a cookie and cream concoction)
• ·       Kitchen Tea – A “kitchen tea” is a tea given for a bride-to-be, and the menu includes “Fish Patties” and “Savoury Eggs.”  Ew.  This is what they serve at a bridal shower? That said, this menu also includes “Chocolate Rum Truffles” which is more than acceptable to moi.
• ·       Christening Tea – “Ham and Shrimp Puffs,” “Ribbon Sandwiches,” and “Christening Cake.”
• ·       Children’s Birthday Party – “Sausage Rolls;” “White Mice in Jelly” (hmmm), and “Skippy Birthday Cake.” “Skippy” is a kangaroo and this cake is shaped like one. I have photo proof! I think I need this, children’s birthday or no children’s birthday!
• ·       Open House Party – This two-page “chapter” does not contain recipes, just dialog about how to throw a large open house party.  Been there, done that.
• ·       Cocktail Party – Once again, these four pages cover the basics of Hors d’Oeuvres which is to say, “breads and spreads.”  They give you a list of “ideas” so you can build your own but no recipes to follow.
• ·       Dinner Parties – This category has three parts:  Formal Dinner Parties (“Cauliflower Hollandaise,” “Duckling with Olives,” and “Crepe Suzettes”), Casserole Parties, and The Man Takes Over dinner parties.  As to Casserole Parties, on what planet is “Salmon with Cucumber Sauce” considered a casserole?  I need to know this.  I need to know this right now! I ask the same question about the recipe for “Roulades” which are basically meat rolls.  All I’ll say is that these Aussies have odd ideas about casseroles.  Finally, the very title of this last section – The Man Takes Over – made me laugh but then made me mad.  How sexist! Like what, the woman couldn’t deal with the situation? Naturally, “Minute Steaks” is the key recipe in this section because you know, men are born with a gene that tells them how to grill steaks (and only steaks) and women aren’t.
• ·       Buffet Dinner Parties – This category includes “Summer Buffet Dinner Parties” and “Winter Buffet Dinner Parties.”  Well that works, doesn’t it?  The recipes also tend to work although my eyebrow raised a bit at the recipe for “Lima Bean and Cauliflower Salad” (summer) and “Prawns in Garlic and Anchovy Sauce” (winter) only because most people would never eat anchovies, or a sauce made from anchovies.  I am not one of those people, but that’s another matter for another day.
• ·       After Theatre (not to be confused with “Theater) Party – Oh for crying out loud folks, never ever have I thought to eat these awful concoctions after an evening at the theater…or ever: “Fandango Sardines,” “Satanic Sardines,” or this abomination – “Osborne Oysters” made with, I kid you not, oysters, bananas, grated Swiss cheese and lemon juice. Blink.  Blink.  Blink. 
• ·       Patio Party – Le sigh. We were doing great with recipes for kebabs, risotto and more, and then it all went to hell in a handbasket with this recipe, “Greek Marrow Salad.” I can’t even….
• ·       The Barbecue, Haangi and Wine and Cheese Chapters don’t really contain recipes as much as they do instructions.

 You know what, the above was a lot of dialog about a book that is a mere 121 pages long, but I would not be me if I didn’t comment about the recipes.  Once again, let me repeat that I continue to be stymied by “British” food, or rather, what members of the British empire consider food.  Edible food.  Maybe this was the real reason the Revolutionary War was fought?  “You Brits take your horrible excuse for food and get the hell outta here!”

Out of the wreckage though, I selected a “winner, winner, chicken dinner” – Chicken Cacciatora. (By the way, I don’t think I ever heard the “winner, winner, chicken dinner” phrase until I moved here but maybe people everywhere say that?  That said, only in Minnesota, and I do mean only in Minnesota, is a casserole referred to as a “hotdish,” and only in Minnesota do the natives say [of a child’s game) “It’s Duck, Duck, Grey Duck” instead of “Duck, Duck, Goose.”)

If you read last week’s blog post highlighting another chicken dish I made, then you’ll know about my incident with the chicken I purchased at Kowalski’s (grocery store).  I’m still rather poleaxed by that spectacular service.

I’m here to tell you though, that Whole Foods (Whole Paycheck) is no slouch in the service department, either.  Since Kowalski’s didn’t have what I was looking for, I went to Whole Foods to purchase just a couple of bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts.  Normally, that chicken is on display in the meat department, but this trip, they were out.

“No worries,” said the lady behind the meat counter.  She walked me over to the pre-packed chicken cooler and said that if I saw what I’d like, she’d be happy to split up a package(s) so that I got exactly what I wanted and also give it to me at the meat counter price which is $1.00 less than the packaged product.  Sold!

The recipe is really easy and can be made on the stovetop if you want (and I wanted) instead of the oven.  The only thing I changed was to add the tomato juice to the dish instead of draining it as directed as you won’t have enough liquid to cook if you do it otherwise.  Also?  “Green capsicum” “translated” is green pepper.  Oh, those Aussies!

Chicken Cacciatora – serves 6

2 x 2 ½ pound roasting chickens (Ann’s Note:  If indeed she meant that I should purchase two 2.5 pounds of roasting chicken, that is a hell of a lot of chicken to feed six people, don’t you think?  I did!  Then I wondered if she meant to buy 2 to 2.5 pounds of chicken but the fact that she said chickens (plural), instead of chicken (singular) made me think she really did want that much chicken.  That’s almost a pound of chicken per person, folks – whoa!) 

½ cup plain flour

Pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 ounce butter

1 green capsicum (pepper), diced

1 white onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 carrot, diced

3 cups tomatoes, skinned (tinned tomatoes may be used)

1 bay leaf

Salt and pepper

2 tablespoons sherry

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

6 black olives, and 6 green olives, for garnish

Cut chicken into serving pieces.  (Ann’s Note:  Once upon a time, my dad did this but that was once upon a time. These days, pre-cut chicken is the way to go but by all means, if you have mad butchering skills, have at it!).  Wipe and dip chicken pieces into seasoned flour.  Heat oil and butter in a heavy-based frying pan and fry chicken until golden brown on all sides.  Remove chicken from pan and keep warm in a large heavy-based saucepan or flameproof casserole.

Fry green pepper, onion, garlic and carrot in frying pan, adding a little extra oil if necessary.  Cook until onion is soft and golden.  Add tomatoes.  If tinned tomatoes are used, drain liquid off first.  (Ann’s Note:  I don’t recommend that you drain the tomatoes because your dish will be dry and may burn.  I added the liquid and am glad I did.)  Add bay leaf and salt and pepper to taste.

Bring to a boil, simmer a few minutes, the pour sauce over chicken pieces.  Add sherry.  Cover and simmer gently on top of stove or cook in a moderate oven for about 30 minutes or until chicken is tender.  Garnish chicken with chopped parsley and spiral cut olives.  Served with boiled noodles.

"The Best of the Best from New York" - Italian Sausage-Pepper Pasta

Date I made this recipe:  August 13, 2017

Best of the Best from New York Cookbook – Selected Recipes from New York's Favorite Cookbooks

Published by Quail Ride Press*

ISBN:  1-893062-27-9; © 2001

Recipe:  Italian Sausage-Pepper Pasta – p. 110, from the Great Taste of Parkminster cookbook

And I'm back!  Miss me?

My husband and I just came back from a grand tour of New York state and also New York City, and I just had to pull out this cookbook to make something in remembrance of our trip.

Our 18-day adventure was made principally so that Andy could participate in FANY Ride 2017.  FANY stands for Five Hundred Miles Across New York, and was a weeklong leisurely bicycle ride/tour that started in Niagara Falls and ended in Saratoga Springs.  Andy heard about it a few years back and wanted to give it a whirl.  This plan worked for us because we were able to stay for a bit with my brother and sister-in-law who live outside of Rochester, NY and use that as our home base for a good portion of the ride. 

For the curious, this was the route: 

Day 1 – Niagara Falls, NY to Batavia, NY

Day 2 – Batavia, NY to Canandaigua, NY

Day 3 – Canandaigua, NY to Auburn, NY

Day 4 – Auburn, NY to Hamilton, NY (home of Colgate University)

Day 5 – Hamilton, NY to Little Falls, NY (except we played hokey and went to Cooperstown)

Day 6 – Little Falls, NY to Gloversville/Johnstown, NY

Day 7 – Gloversville, NY to Saratoga Springs (home of Skidmore College)

Ta da! 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, on days where Andy was riding his bicycle, I explored nearby towns and points of interest such as "It's A Wonderful Life" Museum in Seneca Falls, All Things Oz Museum in Chittenango, NY (where I purchased a new cookbook – The Wonderful Cookbook of Oz – in the museum store), the Syracuse Zoo and also Syracuse's [university] campus, all of which I recommend. 

While in Little Falls, NY, I checked out some fun antique stores where I acquired three cookbook for my collection (nothing noteworthy, just ones I didn't have) and I also purchased another new cookbook – Saratoga Grazing Cookbook – at Northshire Bookstore in Saratoga Springs, NY where the ride ended.  Saratoga Springs is known for their horse racing (horses "graze," don't you know) and I think we were there on opening weekend because we hoped to go to the track only to find it packed with people and I mean "packed!"  Next time.

After we got done with the ride, we stopped in the Lake Huntington, NY area, to visit Andy's brother who has a weekend home there, and on one of our side trips, I found this fabulous and unique bookstore, One Grand Books (www.onegrandbooks.com) in Narrowsburg, NY.  This store stocks books of every genre that have been recommended by famous people whom the owner knows and whom he refers to as "curators."  I love this idea, and especially loved that many of the books are "classics" that I read in high school and college.

The book I purchased was a cookbook (!) called New Orleans Cookbook by Leah Richard, that was recommended by Marcus Samuelsson who I met when he visited Minneapolis last year.  Some of the other "curators" were actress Kathy Najimy, actress Michelle Dockery, The Daily Show host, Trevor Noah, and CNN reporter, Christiane Amanpour.  The shop is small but I still could have spent a few more hours there.  Or maybe work there, I don't know!

After that stop, we went on a "cannonball run" to NYC for three action-packed days before heading out to Ypsilanti, MI to see my Aunt Mary, then on to Chicago to see some friends, then home.  We were gone 18 days and while it was great to be gone, it was also great to be back in our own home.

No trip to NYC is complete without a stop at my favorite [used] cookbook bookstore in town – Bonnie Slotnick Cookbooks – and I also had time  to go to Kitchen Arts & Letters on the Upper East Side.  Sadly,  I ran out of time to go visit the Strand ("18 miles of books") which was probably a good thing for my blown budget.  Let's just say that I consider these road trips, and particularly the stop in NYC, to be buying trips and buy I did, no problemo!  ( think I scored about 20 books between the two stores.)

And then when we got to Michigan to visit my  aunt, she gave me her cookbooks, one of which was a vintage Hawaiian cookbook/booklet that I saw last year and had it on my "look for" list – score!  The title is Hawaiian Party Book – How to Entertain the Hawaiian Way.  It's a booklet rather than a book but I don't care.  Although the book does not contain a copyright date, it sold for a big whopping dollar back in the day.  My price? Free!

These books are still sitting on my floor just waiting for me to add them to my "database" which will involve a lot of time and a bit of work, neither of which I have right now but soon, folks, soon, because as soon as I add them to my list, they become "eligible" for the blog!   

Meanwhile though, I thought this cookbook – The Best of the Best from New York Cookbook,  a compilation of recipes from 67 New York regional cookbooks, was a way to get back into the [blogging] game.

I must confess though, that this is not the type of cookbook I usually purchase.  This book is similar to a church cookbook in that it contains contributions from several sources and while I have nothing against church cookbooks, if I collected them, I would have to buy another house because there are a ton of them.  The other reason I usually refrain is that they are often spiral-bound (this one is) and spiral-bound books are boring on a shelf because you can't read the title.  The whole point of having any type of book collection is so that people can see easily what you have and spiral-bound books just don't have that "wow" factor.

That said, I recall at the time that this was the only cookbook I could find that covered all of New York state rather than focusing  just New York City or one of the other boroughs. 

Turns out, I really like this book.

I like this book because it seems pretty comprehensive:  recipes from 67 regional books were included in this "best of the best" edition. (On the other hand, I'm drying to know which books didn't make the cut and why!)  All 67 books are listed, along with a cover photo, in the back of the book and it should not surprise you that I have my eye on a few. And if New York is not to your liking, you can go to the publisher's website and find a state's "best of the best" that will work for you:  Quail Ridge Press – www.quailridge.com (or Amazon or Barnes & Noble).

Lest you think that only community or church cookbooks made the cut for this book, note that The Ellis Island Immigrant Cookbook, a book I own, is included as are two Moosewood cookbooks.  The Moosewood Restaurant is located in Ithaca, NY.  I do not have the two cookbooks listed but they are on my "find now!" list, as is the very popular La Cocina de la Familia cookbook.

Other things that I loved about this book were the photos and bits of trivia placed scattered throughout. And I also liked the wide range of recipes by region although let me comment that one of the things I love most about visiting NY state and city is the plethora of Italian restaurants and food stores.  Alas, as much as I like living here, Minneapolis-St. Paul just does not have the bustling Italian communities like New York and other east-coast cities have.  This is why then, I ate Italian food almost the entire time on our trip, no apologies! 

I also noticed that there are a lot of Polish recipes in this book and in fact, we ate at a fantastic placed called the Polish Nook, in Niagara Falls, NY where Andy's FANY Ride started.  Of course, once we hit Manhattan, the sky was the limit for cuisine, but as our time there was limited, we only ate non-Italian food twice, once at an Indian buffet, and the other at a French restaurant we like.

At any rate, it should come as no surprise then that I considered making many a pasta dish for this blog and the one I made was great.  It was simple and easy and tasty and you can't ask for much more than that.  These recipes were also in the running for a bit:

• Italian Vegetable Soup – p. 58 – from Great Taste of Parkminster
• Tomato-Basil-Onion Frittata – p. 94 – from Tasting the Hamptons
• Reuben Lasagna (I know, right?) – p. 106 – from The Cookbook AAUW
• 100% Vegetarian Lasagna – p. 107 – from Famous Woodstock Cooks
• Pasta e Fagioli (Pasta and Beans) – p. 111 – Wild Game Cookbook & Other Recipes

 As you can see, I pretty much got hung up on the first couple of chapters but I have no doubt you'll find something in the remaining ones.  To aid you in this endeavor, here is the Table of Contents:

• Beverages and Appetizers
• Bread and Breakfast
• Soups
• Salads
• Vegetables
• Pasta, Rice, Etc.
• Meats
• Poultry
• Seafood
• Cakes
• Cookies and Candies
• Pies and Other Desserts

After much hemming and hawing, I still came back to the "Italian Sausage Pepper Pasta" recipe listed above and folks, I think this was meant to be because this recipe came from the Great Taste of Parkminster cookbook.  Parkminster is a church and school located in Rochester, NY.  My brother and sister-in-law live just outside of Rochester and since we had just visited them, this was perfect nay, even cosmic!

Also interesting (and hilarious)?  This church is located on Chili Avenue which everybody on the planet except for people who live in the area pronounce "Chilly."  Not so the good people of the Rochester area!  If you say "chilly," as in a dish with meat and sometimes beans, they will correct you with "It's Chi-lie."  (There's also a town in the area with the same name, pronounced the same way.)

These same people will also have you know that the Jell-O Museum which I have visited, is not in Le Roy (as in "Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown" Le-Roy) but Luh-Roy, which is how the French pronounce the word for "king."  Since there is no arguing that Jell-O is the king of gelatin desserts, I think I think I can live with that.  I'm not sure about "Chili" though.  Not sure.

And so this brings us now to the conclusion of my travelogue and adventures with cookbooks.  Our trip was great, the towns we saw were beautiful, we had fun times visiting friends and family, and we ate like kings (!) while we were on the road. 

I was very happy with this pasta dish and hope you are as well.  Enjoy!

Italian Sausage Pepper Pasta – Makes 8-10 servings

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 medium zucchini, sliced

1 green pepper

1 red pepper

6 medium spicy Italian sausage, sliced*

½ cup fresh basil, chopped, or 2 tablespoons dried

Salt and pepper to taste

2 tablespoons olive oil

16 ounces corkscrew pasta ("Fusilli"), cooked and drained

2 cups shredded mozzarella

½ cup grated Parmesan

2 tomatoes, sliced

*Ann's Note:  This ingredient was interesting because how do we interpret "6 medium spicy Italian sausage?"  Is it 6 medium-sized Italian sausage or 6 medium-spice (i.e. somewhere between mild and hot) sausage?  My whole life, there were two options only:  mild a/k/a "sweet" or hot a/k/a "spicy," so this confused.  Since I always opt to use "sweet" sausage, I avoided potential disaster but I'd still like to know what they meant  Clarity, folks, I need clarity!

Also, in the instructions below, you see that you are to sauté the sausage and vegetables for about 6 minutes or until sausage is browned and then apparently, slice it.  ("6 medium spicy Italian sausage, sliced")  Well now, that was fraught with peril!  I thought it probably best to sauté/brown my sausages separately and did that for well over 5 minutes, but yet they weren't cooked through so when I tried to slice them, many of those slices fell apart.  Fine then, see if I care!

I think the better directive would have been to remove the casings and then brown the sausage as you would ground beef but that's not what it said and so that is not what I did!

Directions:  Sauté garlic, zucchini, peppers, sausage, basil, salt and pepper in olive oil about 5 minutes or until sausage is browned.  Drain.  Combine with hot cooked pasta.  Place half of pasta mixture in 9 x 13-inch buttered casserole.  Cover with half of combined cheeses.  Repeat layers and top with sliced tomatoes.  Brush with olive oil and bake covered at 400° for 20 minutes. Uncover, bake 20 minutes longer.  Serve immediately.

"The Gay Cookbook" - Italian Meat Sauce - Gay Pride 2017

Date I made this recipe:  June 24, 2017 –  (Gay) Pride Festival

The Gay Cookbook – The Complete Compendium of Campy Cuisine and Menus for Men...or What Have You by Chef Lou Rand Hogan

Published by Sherbourne Press, Inc.

© MCMLXV (1965)

Recipe – Italian [Meat] Sauce – p. 45-50

I wish I could tell you that I absolutely planned to use this cookbook during Gay Pride week in Minneapolis but that is not what happened.  Instead, I was on the hunt for another book when I spotted this one and coincidentally, it was Pride week/weekend and so how perfect!

I cannot recall exactly when or where I purchased this cookbook , but the minute I saw it, I knew I had to have it.  Had. To.  I had to have this because of the cover art which is adorable ("Campy cartoons by David Costain") and because it was old – 1965.  And then there's the "tag line:" "the complete compendium of campy cuisine and menus for men...or what have you."  Could I pass that up?  No. 

You should also know that once upon a time, "gay" was the term used to describe someone's personality i.e. "he/she is so gay [happy, fun, or good spirited], or to indicate that a good time was had by all as in "Oh, we had a gay old time at the Frost's function this past weekend."

If not for the cover art and the tag line, I might have thought this book referred to that kind of "gay" but one look most certainly suggests not and that is all fine by me.  Sadly, I did not have a gay old time cooking from this book. Did not.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with writing a book in "narrative" form i.e. story-telling, but there is something wrong with recipe instructions being written in the same vein.  The recipe I made, for example, started on page 45, ended on page 50, and was pretty much one solid block of text and so I had to parse each and every sentence to figure out ingredients, cooking times, and whatnot.

And for this folks, I'm going to have to "ding" them which is to say "deduct points."  Not that I award points, but you get my drift.

And I have to tell you that every single recipe was like this and so I almost put the book aside for another day (i.e. after I'm dead) but no.  No.  I fortuitously found the book and so I soldiered on but nobody said I had to be "gay" about it!

Your chapter and food choices are as follows:

• Chapter One – Canapés, Hors D'Oeuvres and Aphrodisiacs (This is a long title for only 9 recipes, one of which is not a recipe at all as it was for sherry: To prepare sherry, open the bottle and pour!)
• Chapter Two – Soups...That Juicy Stuff (Apparently that saying comes from Shakespeare's Two Gentlemen from Verona.  There are four recipes here.  Four.)
• Chapter Three – Salad and Dressings; including Le French
• Chapter Four – Chili, Curries, Spaghetti Sauces and Other Blood Tinglers
• Chapter Five – The Shell Game; Oysters, Lobsters, Shrimp and What To Do With Clams
• Chapter Six – That Tired Old Fish (By which the author means the usual suspects – sole, trout, salmon, cod)
• Chapter Seven – What To Do With A Tough Cut Of Meat (There are many recipes here for stews and braised meats and roasts and the like.)
• Chapter Eight – Chicken Queens, Chicken A La King and Our Other Feathered Friends
• Chapter Nine – Sauces, Gravies and Other Brownish Delights
• Chapter 10 – Vegetables; Plain and Fancy
• Chapter 11 – Loose Ends; Including Potatoes and Other Weight Lifters
• Chapter 12 – In Your Oven! (As you would imagine, this is the cookie, cake, other category)
• Chapter 13 – Drunks and Drinks

After much consideration and much skimming of the narrative to suss out potential recipes, I settled on the very long recipe for Italian Meat Sauce.  Six pages long, in fact.  Six pages long in teeny, tiny print.  I felt like I was editing a short story!  The first four pages are all about the basic sauce and then if that wasn't bad enough, the guy added two more pages about how to turn your basic sauce into a meat sauce.  Surprisingly, this recipe did not call for any wine which is sometimes used in Italian sauce cooking, but I decided that I needed a drink and so I had one!

Now then, time for true confession:  I was so done in by the time I got done with the basic sauce that I had no patience to deal with the meat portion of our program and so did this instead:  I fried up the last bit of Trader Joe's Bacon Bits and Pieces and added that straight to the sauce without following a single direction for the meat sauce.  Not only did the sauce taste good with that addition but I saved myself several hours in the process.

Also?  The full recipe was supposed to make about 3 quarts (12 cups) and although the author froze some of it, we don't freeze in this household and so I cut the recipe way, way down.  We are a small family of two, not 22.  Sheesh.

Here then, is my best attempt to filter the ridiculously long and involved instructions and the ingredients I used.  Please note that I cut this recipe into 4ths and still had plenty left over for more servings, so for the first and maybe last time ever, I'll do the math for you so that you don't end up with 3 quarts/12 cups on your hand because you never know, you may hate it and then where would you be?  With a freezer full of spaghetti sauce, that's where!

Italian [Meat] Sauce – Ann's Notes: The revised amounts, shown below, likely made 3 cups of sauce instead of the 12 the recipe called for.  That should be enough for about 4 servings, depending on how much sauce is used per serving.

• ¼ cup celery
• ¾ cups chopped onions
• 1/16 cup chopped garlic (Ann's Note:  I think I chopped one large clove of garlic and threw that in.)
• 1/16 cup (optional) grated carrots
• ¼ cup chopped Leeks (optional) (Ann's Note:  I added the carrots but left out the leeks.)
• ½ cup chopped green pepper
• A few small mushrooms (optional) sliced
• 1 large can "standard tomatoes" (Ann's Note:  I used a 14 ½-ounce can of diced tomatoes)
• 1 small can tomato puree (Ann's Note:  I didn't have puree on hand but I had tomato paste and so I mixed some paste (maybe 1-2 T) with some water and used that instead.  I just now noticed that the author said some cooks like to use this instead of puree.  Count me as one of them!)
• 4 cups stock or water (Ann's Note: Eyeball this.  I think I added a bit more water later.  Or maybe it was wine?  I was too stressed out to keep track!)
• 1/16 cup mixed Italian herbs (Ann's Note:  If you have "Italian Seasoning" mix on hand, just use that.  If you don't then mix together some basil, oregano, rosemary leaves, tarragon, a half a bay leaf and if desired, some whole cloves.  Or—just use whatever floats your boat!)
• 3 chilis tepenos (Ann's Note:  I have no idea what a chili tepenos is but I left it out as it is better to be safe than sorry.  If you want a little heat, throw in some dried red pepper flakes.)

For the meat sauce (Ann's Note:  I did not make this portion of the recipe but these are the amounts to use if you are making 3 quarts.  If you aren't making 3 quarts, cut this way, way down.)

• Salt, pepper, oil, flour, MSG
• 1 can sliced mushrooms (optional)
• 2 lbs. (good) ground meat (or more)  (Ann's Note: I know what the author meant by "good" ground beef but I laughed anyway.)
• 3 cans consommé

 Okay then, sorry for all the notes but hopefully this will help you get set up. I think I just eyeballed a lot of things because I could and you can too!

As to the instructions, here, to the best of my ability are the instructions, parsed for your reading enjoyment.

1. Finely chop all the vegetables you plan to use. 

2. If you want, wrap up your seasonings in a cheese cloth, simmer the mixture with them and then throw the seasonings away.  Or, you could do what I did which is to add them to the sauce, sans cloth or other protective covering because it is the only way I know. 

Then, and I am not kidding, a page and a half later, we get to how to actually put the thing together.  "We" (the author uses the royal "We" all the time) will make this as simple as possible – moving on...

3. Put some fat or oil in a heavy pot, add the fresh vegetables, cover and cook for a few minutes then add the prepared vegetables (canned mushrooms), then your ground beef (if you are using it), then the tomatoes, salt, sugar, herbs and bring it all slowly to a boil. 

If you are using ground beef, sauté your vegetables first, brown the meat and then add the tomatoes, salt, sugar, and herbs. 

4. Regardless of whether you made this with meat or went meat-less, reduce the heat to simmer and cook 1-2 hours, stirringly occasionally.  Add more broth or water if the sauce starts to stick.

Ann's Note:  Since I used bacon instead of ground beef, I cooked my bacon, then added it (bacon bits only, not the fat) to the pot after the sauce mixture had been cooking about a half an hour.  I think my sauce was pretty much done after about an hour but I let it go a bit longer to let the flavors settle in.   

If making the meat sauce:

Skim off the fat that rises to the surface while cooking and reserve it.  Add some flour to the fat then cook that mixture in a small pan over medium heat until you have a dryish paste or mash. 

Add some tomato sauce from the pan then add that mixture back into your pot and continue cooking.

Ann's Note: "We" use this as a thickening measure so if you want to skip it, my guess is you can but you'll still want to skim the grease from the sauce so it's not a big greasy mess.

If you wish, you can add canned mushrooms, some salt or MSG, and continue to simmer until you're satisfied that it is done and the flavors are incorporated.

Now then, was that hard?  No! This concludes my tutorial about how you go about parsing a recipe so that it can work for you.  As I said, we loved the finish product and now that I know what's involved, this sucker is a snap!  The best thing though, was that it was tasty.  "We" (our author) noted that the carrot tends to make the sauce sweeter but I think that's true if you were to make the full recipe using ½ cup grated carrots.  Here, I grated one carrot and that was that!

"Roma- Authentic Recipes from In and Around the Eternal City" & "Eating Rome" - Lentil Soup with Sausage and Green Beans and Mortadella Salad - Commemorating the day Rome was named Italy's capital

Date I made these recipes:  March 27, 2017 – Rome declared Italy's capital on this day, 1861.

Roma – Authentic Recipes From In And Around The Eternal City by Julia Della Croce

Published by Chronicle

ISBN: 0-8118-2352-0; © 2004

Purchased at Arc's Value Village Thrift Stores, Richfield, MN

Recipe:  Lentil Soup with Sausage – p. 61

Eating Rome – Living The Good Life In The Eternal City by Elizabeth Minchilli

Published by St. Martin's Griffin

ISBN:  978-1-250-04768-7; © 2015

Recipe: Green Beans with Mortadella Salad – p. 105

Sometimes my ideas about what to cook come from the most interesting places, take for instance, Food Network Magazine(FNM).  Well, that's not exactly correct is it, because why wouldn't I get inspiration from a cooking magazine?

One of the features I like the most through from Food Network Magazine, is their monthly calendar of noteworthy food events and recipe suggestions that is often my inspiration for what I cook during that particular month.

On March's calendar, FNM suggested we have fish for Ash Wednesday (March 1^st), make a pie for Pi Day (3/14), celebrate St. Patrick's Day with a corned beef-and-cabbage pizza (Oh HELL no!), and then make a Roman dish (they suggested cacio e peper – pasta with cheese and pepper) on March 27^th to commemorate the same day back in 1861 that Rome was declared Italy's capital.  I decided on Roman food, final answer, and so set off to do some research so I have something to talk about here.

What I found was interesting to say the least:  some sources listed 1861 as the day that Rome was declared Italy's capital, while others said it was 1871.  Try as I might, I could not confirm (or deny) either year but do believe FNM got the actual date – March 27^th – right.  I hope.

Part of the problem, dear reader, is that Italy's history is complicated.  Once upon a time (and not that long ago), it was a kingdom, but a kingdom divided into separate principalities, then it was unified and also reunified such that I can't keep track.  Besides, my people are from Sicily whose history is a tad more straightforward with the exception, of course, of keeping track of various conquerors.

And then there's The Vatican to consider and we would consider it if we a) had the time and b) if this blog was a history lesson but we don't have time for all that, oh darn!  We can though, talk about Roman food.

Italy, like all other countries (including the U.S.), has regional food favorites but you may be surprised to learn that the focus of Roman cuisine is vegetables - artichokes (carciofi), fava beans, zucchini – you name it, you'll find it.  Meat is also very popular – steaks, pork, "bacon," (or products similar to bacon), as are pastas and pizzas tailored to the regional palate.

The cookbook Eating Rome, is intended to be more of a tour guide than a cookbook, containing a wide variety of "eating" suggestions such as how to eat pasta (don't cut it—this applies across Italy and Sicily), how to order coffee, and where to find some of Rome's culinary favorites.  Her Table of Contents includes also chapters such as "Please do not eat within ten feet of any monument," (love it!); "Mi piace la cicoria!" – the Roman passion for vegetables;" "How to eat pasta like a Roman," and "Learning to love Roman pastries."  I am keeping this book on hand should I ever get to Rome (I've been to Italy but not to Rome) as it is filled with good advice and great recipes.

Personally, I am glad to know I am not the only person of Italian (Sicilian) descent who does not make homemade pasta; Elizabeth (the author) doesn't, either.  She grew up in St. Louis in the 60's which makes her about the same age as me, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading about how she enjoyed eating Spaghetti-O's growing up.  She also noted how one day, she'd be at home in the states eating that canned product, the next off to Rome eating the real deal. 

I have a similar story:  one summer when my grandmother was visiting from New Jersey, my brother and I enjoyed a lunch of Spaghetti-O's.  Spaghetti-O's were all the rage back then and since we were kids, we thought they were kind of fun to eat.  My grandmother who hailed straight from Sicily, was a good sport and so joined us in eating them.  When we finished, my mother asked her what she thought and grandma's response still makes me laugh:  "Not-a bad-a."  I have a feeling grandma was likely horrified but she would do anything to please her beloved grandchildren and that was that!

At any rate, stories like this are what made this cookbook enjoyable for me.  Well, stories and recipes!  Recipes like the one I made – Green Beans with Mortadella Salad which combined many ingredients I love:  green beans, oranges and lemons and mortadella also known as Italian bologna.

Small side story here about mortadella:  Yesterday, I was at an event that featured some locally-made foods including mortadella.  It was really good mortadella, and yet I kept looking at it wondering "what's different" about this?  I mentioned this to another event guest and we agreed:  Where are the pistachios?"   We surmised that since the mortadella was locally-made and since pistachios aren't local to this climate, they were left out; we concluded this was an acceptable option.  Anyway, more on the salad with mortadella to follow.

Other dishes from this book that had potential were "Cavatelli with Tuna and Lemon," "Cacio e Pepe" which is basically pasta, pecorino romano cheese, and pepper," and "Pasta Al Forno," a dish of eggplant, pasta, smoked scamorza cheese (you can probably substitute smoked mozzarella), basil and Parmesan.  Yum!  I decided on the salad though because I wanted something fresh and not too heavy and that dish did the trick.

And now, let's chat for a minute about the other cookbook – Roma - about Rome, or Roma, as the Italians pronounce it.  (Ann's Note:  in the Italian language, an "e" is often pronounced as an "a" – really, more of an "ah" -  and so while we pronounce "Rome" without it, Romans pronounce it "Rome-ah."  Also?  In Italy, my last name is pronounced the same way:  "Verm-ah."  This concludes our Italian pronunciation lesson.)

This cookbook is pretty much a straight-up cookbook which is to say it gives you recipes with a little dialog and some photos showing you what your food should look like. The Table of Contents is also pretty straightforward:  "Appetizers, Snacks, and Fried Specialties;" "First Courses of Soups, Pastas, Polenta, and Risotto;" "Second Courses of Meat and Poultry;" "Second Courses of Fish and Shellfish;" Side Dishes," and "Sweets."    There are a few pages in the back detailing "Eating and Sleeping Places," "Festivals," and "Cooking Schools and Wine Courses," but the information here isn't as extensive as the other book.

High up on my list of possible dishes to serve up was "Stewed Baby Back Ribs and Sausages with Polenta" but making it was just too involved and was also very meat-heavy, consisting of a lot of poundage of baby back ribs and sausages, all of which are slow cooked to make a ragu.  And then polenta is served on the side making it one, hearty dish.  I wasn't exactly in the mood for "hearty," plus, after my meatball experience from last week, I was not going to go willingly into the night to make something that would take hours of my life I would never get back.  Also out because I just made it, was a pork loin braised in milk.  "Beef Stew with Cloves" sounded really good but I finally passed on that and decided on the Lentil Soup with Sausage recipe.  I love Lentil Soup and have a really good recipe for one but I like experimenting with other recipes just to see what's out there.

Of course this blog would not be complete without suggestions from me about tweaks I'd make to the recipes but overall, these were winners.  In fact, Andy kept saying "This is really good soup" over and over again which tickled me pink.  And I loved the green bean salad although as you'll read, I have a few suggestions to improve it.

And so reader, we now bid "arrivederci" (goodbye) to Roma – for now.  I wish I could say instead "arrivederla" (see you soon) but I don't think we'll be going there any time soon, darn it!  No matter – we'll just console ourselves in the meantime with the food.

Lentil Soup with Sausage (Minestra di lenticchie con salsiccia) – for 6 people

1 ½ cups brown lentils

10 cups water

1 tablespoon sea salt, or to taste

One 8-inch sprig fresh sage, or 2 bay leaves

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

5 links sweet Italian sausage, removed from casings and crumbled

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 onion, chopped

3 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley

2 teaspoons fresh marjoram, or 1 teaspoon crumbed dried marjoram

1 cup tomato puree or tomato sauce

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Pick over and rinse the lentils.  Transfer them to a large pot and add the water, 1 tablespoon salt, and sage.  Bring to a boil.  Immediately reduce the heat and cook gently for 15 minutes.  (Ann's Notes:  the lentils needed more time and so I kept them cooking for another 10 minutes or so. Also, I used bay leaves instead of sage.)

In the meantime, in a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-low heat.  Add the sausage and sauté until it is browned on the outside and still pink inside, about 8 minutes.  Reduce the heat to low and stir in the garlic, onion, parsley, and marjoram.  Sauté until the onion is translucent, about 4 minutes.  Stir in the tomato puree. Add the sausage mixture to the lentils and mix well.  Simmer for an additional 5 minutes to marry the flavors.  Remove the sage (or bay leaves), taste for salt, and season with pepper.  Serve hot.

Ann's Notes:

1. I was out of marjoram so I substituted oregano.
2. If I were you, once you've cooked the sausage for 8 minutes (or so), remove the sausage from the pan, then cook the onions, etc. and then add it back to the pan.  I followed the directions and the sausage was fine but I felt it was almost a tad overcooked.
3. I've made variations of this dish before and felt that the dish could have used some carrots for color and flavor.  Without it, this dish is very brown.  Very tasty, but very brown.
4. My favorite lentil soup recipe calls for orzo pasta to be added at the very end. You could probably get away with that in this recipe.
5. I like a little Parmesan or Pecorino cheese on top of my lentil soup.

Green Beans with Mortadella Salad – Serves 4-5

1 pound green beans, cleaned (Ann's Note:  I hope by "cleaned" she meant "trimmed" because that's what I did to the beans!)

1 slice mortadella (about ½ cup chopped in small pieces) (Ann's Note:  Pre-packaged mortadella is often sliced thin which is fine but probably not what the author intended.  If you can, ask for a deli for one slice of mortadella, about ¼-inch thick.)

1 shallot, finely chopped

1 garlic clove, crushed

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon

Zest of 1 lemon, peeled with a potato peeler and finely chopped*

Zest of 1 small orange, peeled with a potato peeler and finely chopped*

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons fresh orange juice

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

¼ cup chopped, roasted onions (for garnish)

*Ann's Notes:  Next time around, I'm not going to peel then finely chop the lemon and orange peel as the pieces were too big and they also tended to overpower the dish.  You might try grating it instead and also grating a little at a time until you are satisfied with the taste.

Steam the green beans until tender.

Meanwhile place the mortadella shallot, garlic, olive oil, tarragon, chopped citrus zests, and citrus juices in a large bowl and stir to mix well.

When the beans are tender, drain them and then add them, still steaming hot, to the mixture in the bowl.  Toss well and season with salt and pepper to taste. (Ann's Note: The author suggests you "add the beans to the dressing while they are piping hot, so that they sort of cook the shallots and garlic, and coax the fat nodules out of the mortadella.")

Let cool, toss again, and top with the almonds.  Serve at room temperature.

"A Man and His Meatballs" & "Two Meatballs in The Italian Kitchen" - Meatballs two ways for National Meatball Day

Date I made these recipes:  March 19, 2017 – for National Meatball Day (March 9, 2017)

A Man & His Meatballs – The Hilarious but True Story of a Self-Taught Chef and Restaurateur -  with 75 Recipes by John LaFemina with Pam Manela

Published by Regan – An Imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers

ISBN: 13: 978-0-06-085335-8; © 2006

Recipe:  Veal, beef, and pork meatballs with ricotta filling – p. 169-170

Two Meatballs in The Italian Kitchen by Pino Luongo & Mark Strausman

Published by Artisan

ISBN: 13: 978-1-57965-345-3; © 2007

Recipe:  Fresh Pasta with[Veal]Meatballs and Mushrooms  - p. 52

Let me just jump right to the moral of this story:  When push comes to shove, make your own family's damned meatballs on National Meatball Day and just be done with it!

Let me now return you to the beginning of our story, already in progress.  Turns out March 9^th is National Meatball Day.  I had no idea. 

Now, it's not that other cultures don't have their own meatballs because they do, but given that I'm Sicilian, it just seemed logical to me to make Italian meatballs because that is what I know and love.

My late Aunt Rose has a great meatball recipe. I've made it a thousand times, but since it is in a family cookbook and not a cookbook that I purchased, I decided to give it a miss to make something that was in a "cookbook" cookbook because well, you know, that would be the point of my blog!

So I searched my collection titles for "meatballs" and came up with the two cookbooks listed above, A Man & His Meatballs, and Two Meatballs in The Italian Kitchen, and call me crazy, but I do not think it is too much to expect that two cookbooks containing the word "meatball" in the title should then include lots of recipes for meatballs, plural.

I am going to have to start lowering my expectations about these things because I was way off on my expectations and assumptions.

The first book I pulled off the shelf, A Man and His Meatballs, contained one – ONE – and only one meatball recipe and it was the one I made. What?  Honestly, I was a little disturbed by this discovery although I will say the recipe was quite tasty.  The making of it/them though, was fraught with peril as you shall see.

The second book I pulled off the shelf, Two Meatballs in The Italian Kitchen, contained six meatball recipes plus two recipes for meatloaf that were included in the meatball section.  Well now, I don't know about you, but a meatball is a meatball and a meatloaf is not a meatball, right?  Exactly.

Of the meatballs listed in this book, here were our choices as listed in the Recipe Index:

• Pan-fried:  In a word, yawn. These days, I either bake my meatballs or I immerse them into the tomato sauce or chicken broth so they can gently "poach."  I like the taste better and it is less messy that way.
• Veal Meatballs with Green Apple:  I cannot.  I just cannot with this recipe. Ugh.
• Meatballs with Spaghetti Coco Pazzo (Coco Pazzo is a restaurant name):  So these essentially are "house" meatballs which is fine, but like I said, I could have easily made my Aunt's recipe (with her sauce to boot) and called it a day.
• Fresh Pasta with [veal] Meatballs and Mushrooms:  this is the dish I made and it worked out fine...eventually
• And then there were your dueling meatloaf recipes, one from Mark and one from Pino, your two authors.

 I'm afraid I'm going to have to DQ (disqualify) these last two recipes on the grounds that they are not meatballs as intended for National Meatball Day and therefore do not count.  That then left me with four, and then I whittled the four recipes down to one and that "one" would then join the other "one" (and "only" recipe) from the other meatball book for a total of two recipes i.e. meatballs two ways.

Now let me just say that in the past, I've made two recipes at a time without much of a hiccup but today was not that day.  I am big enough to accept 80% of the blame because of things I did or did not do to move these recipes along, but the other 20% has to fall on the recipe/cookbook's authors because it just does!  It can't be all my fault, right?  If anything, I am guilty of being overambitious although I didn't realize that until the whole saga was over and done with. 

Let's start out then, talking about some of the issues starting with the first recipe for the Veal, beef, and pork meatballs with ricotta filling.  This recipe (I made a half recipe) called for meatballs the size of apples and I just could not bring myself to do that to a meatball and so I made them about golf-ball size.  This may have been why the [smaller] meatballs were a tad overcooked as I didn't adjust the cooking size from 60 minutes to something less than 60 minutes. 

Then there was the filling which was supposed to be light enough (my interpretation) to pipe into the meatball using a pastry bag.  Again, no.  What I did instead was to cut off the top of the meatball, spoon on (more like paste on) some filling and put the top on so that it looked more like a meat cream puff than anything.  So when it came to looks, this recipe failed, but the flavor was there except for the slight toughness of the meatball.  I can live with that.[1]

The [veal] meatballs used in the Fresh Pasta with [Veal] Meatballs and Mushrooms (and peas) recipe was another matter and we must discuss this, we must!

I could probably count on one hand – make that two fingers – the number of times I've made a meatball recipe using just veal, but I'm not a fan.  Why?  Because in my [limited] experience, I don't think veal alone hangs together in a meatball very well, even with the addition of bread crumbs.  Veal plus beef or pork, like the first meatball recipe I made, turned out much better but these turned into kind of a mess.  In the end, I improvised and the dish turned out just fine but the meat sure didn't resemble a meatball as was intended by the recipe and the author.

Like I said at the beginning, I should have just made my aunt's very delicious meatballs and called it a day.

If by now you are scared off by these recipes (don't be—it was mostly me), then head back to each book to find alternates to each dish as there are plenty.  Let's start our discussion then, with the contents of A Man and His Meatballs.

This book is half stories, half recipes.  The story portion is all about the creation of his restaurant, Apizz, now closed, and all the trials and tribulations that come with restaurant creation, and let me just say that what was true then (2006), is true now:  opening a restaurant is hard work and costs a fortune. For those of you who think (erroneously) that this would just be a "dream come true," please read then re-read then re-read again the first half of this book. 

Okay, end of the "fair warning" section.  Part II of this book is filled with recipes for "Appetizers & Antipasti," "Soups;" "Salads;" "Pasta & Risotto;" "Meats & Poultry;" "Fish;" "Basic Recipes (like sauces, etc.)," and "Desserts," and honestly, I am pretty  hungry right now.  My only critique, and it's small, is I wish he had swapped out other pasta dishes for the risotto and gnocchi recipes included here.  That said, he paired gnocchi with "Honey-Braised Short Ribs" (p. 153) and I am all about short ribs so there's that.

Like I said before, had I just made his apple-sized meatballs as directed, this would have likely been a home run.  Live and learn.

As to Two Meatballs in The Italian Kitchen, this book is fun because these two "meatballs" (I keep thinking of the word "goombah" which has several meanings but I'm settling on "close friends") each include their favorite recipes for all kinds of dishes, some of which may appeal to you more than the pasta dish I made (which again, was good, if not nothing like they intended).  Here is there Table of Contents:

• Stand-Alone Soups
• The Great Meatball Debate
• Dried Pasta and the Unification of the Two Meatballs
• Fresh Pasta Like Mama Used to Make:  Essential Techniques and Well-Matched Sauces
• Risotto and Farrotto (Farro is a grain)
• Two Meatballs Go Fishing
• Meat and Poultry:  Rustic Oven Cooking
• Cucina al Fresco:  Grilling Italian-Style
• The Twenty-First Region of Italy:  Italian-American Cooking
• Sunday Means Dinner
• The Two Meatballs Go Veggie
• Dessert at Last

I'm intrigued by the chapter about Italian-American Cooking because Pino came to the US from Italy and like a lot of chefs from the "homeland," comments about the hybrid cooking developed by other Italian/Sicilian immigrants to America.  Even my own grandparents adapted their cooking to their new homeland, especially once the grandchildren came on the scene.  They still kept some of their homeland favorites but there was not one grandchild who didn't turn up a nose at the thought of eating tripe so there it is.

Okay, then, you can do the extra-curricular reading on your own and select other recipes if you choose, but here then, are meatballs "two ways" for National Meatball Day.

Veal, Beef, and Pork Meatballs with Ricotta Filling – 8 to 10 servings- from A Man and His Meatballs

For the meatballs:

3 cups cubed crustless filone or regular Italian bread (about ½ loaf)

1 pound ground veal

1 pound ground beef

1 pound ground pork (Ann's Note to Twin City residents:  Lunds & Byerlys carries a mixture of these three meats.)

1 egg

½ onion, chopped

¼ chopped fresh parsley

¼ cup chopped fresh basil

1 ½ cups grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Pinch of oregano

Salt and pepper to taste

2 cups Basic Tomato Sauce (p. 197) (Ann's Note:  I thawed some of my own sauce that I had in the freezer so I skipped this step.  You can use your own sauce in whatever form that takes, or you can make his sauce, ingredients and recipe below.)

For the stuffing:

1 cup ricotta cheese

½ cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

1 ½ teaspoons salt

Black pepper to taste

To finish the meatballs:

1cup Basic Tomato Sauce

½ cup ricotta cheese

¼ cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

For the sauce (makes 5-6 cups):

¼ cup chopped shallots

1 tablespoon chopped garlic

¼ cup olive oil

Two 28-ounce cans whole plum tomatoes

1 teaspoon dried oregano

2 tablespoons salt

Pinch of black pepper

Pinch of crushed red pepper (optional)

To make the sauce:

In a large stockpot over medium heat, cook the shallots and garlic in the oil until they soften, 6 to 8 minutes.  Add the tomatoes, oregano, salt, black pepper, red pepper, and ½ cup of water.

Raise the heat to high and cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally and breaking up the tomatoes slightly with a wooden spoon.  Lower the heat to medium and simmer for 30 to 45 minutes.  The sauce can be stored in the freezer in an airtight container for up to 3 months. (Ann's Note:  you will need about 3 cups of this sauce for a full meatball recipe.)

To make the meatballs:

Preheat the oven to 350F.  Run the cubed bread under water and gently squeeze out the excess liquid.  Put the bread in a large mixing bowl.  Add the remaining meatballs ingredients to the bowl, except for the tomato sauce, and mix well with your hands.  Divide the mixture into 8 equal portions.  Using your hands, roll each portion into a large round meatballs, about the size of an apple.  Place the meatballs in a medium to large baking dish.  Ann's Note:  recall if you will, my comment from above which was that I decided not to make my meatballs the size of an apple, opting instead for golf balls.  I think I should have stuck with apples as the smaller-sized meatballs were a tad overdone.  Plus, my golf game sort of stinks which should have been another sign.

In a separate bowl, combine 2 cups Basic Tomato Sauce (see above) and 2 cups water. Spoon the tomato sauce and water mixture over the meatballs until the liquid comes three-quarters of the way up (if more liquid is needed, add water).  Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and bake the meatballs for 1 hour, turning the dish after 30 minutes.  Remove the baking dish from the oven, drain and discard the liquid, and let the meatballs cool to room temperature.  (The meatballs can also in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.)

To make the stuffing

Combine the ricotta cheese with the Parmigiano, salt, and pepper in a medium mixing bowl.

Using an apple corer or small knife, core out a hole to the bottom of the meatball that is about ½ inch in diameter.  Fill the hole with the cheese mixture, use a pastry bag).

Ann's Note:  As I mentioned above, this step did not go as planned.  First, my meatballs were just a tad overdone and boring a hole big enough to pipe the mixture into just wasn't going to work too well.  Second, the mixture was just a tad thick for a pastry bag.  I'm not sure if what I made was what the chef/author intended, but he wasn't here coaching me along so there you go.  Third, if we were having company, I might have tried to go along [with the recipe directions] to get along, but we were not having company, and so, dear reader, I punted.  I cut the top off the meatball, spooned a ton of the mixture into my non-apple-sized meatballs, put the top back on and that was that, no apologies.

To finish the meatballs

Spoon the 1 cup of tomato sauce evenly over the meatballs and heat for 10 to 15 minutes at 350F.  Remove the pan from the oven.  Place 1 tablespoon of ricotta cheese over top of each meatball (it should look like the cheese is oozing out of the center), sprinkle with Parmigiano cheese, and heat for an additional 3 minutes.

Ann's Final Note:  This step never happened and not just because I ran out of ricotta, but because I ran out of patience as well. All that said, the taste was great and they didn't look too bad, but these suckers in no way resembled the photo in the cookbook and you probably shouldn't expect yours to, either!

Fresh Pasta with [Veal] Meatballs and Mushrooms (and peas!) – serves 6 as main course

For the meatballs

8 ounces ground veal

¼ cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

1 large egg yolk

½ cup bread crumbs

1 small garlic clove, minced

2 teaspoons chopped fresh Italian parsley

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the rest of the dish

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for drizzling (optional)

1 medium onion, chopped

12 ounces white button mushrooms, wiped clean, stems removed, and sliced ½ inch thick

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 ½ cups fresh sweet peas or thawed tiny frozen peas

½ cup cups vegetable stock or vegetable broth made with Knorr powdered bouillon (Ann's Note:  I used chicken stock because I had just enough on hand.)

6 fresh mint leaves

1 ½ pounds pasta all chitarra or tagliolini made from Fresh Egg Pasta Dough (p. 94) Ann's Note: These two fresh pastas are similar to spaghetti and I used the dried spaghetti I had on hand.  It saved time and possibly saved my husband from another round of my swearing!

To finish it

4 tablespoon unsalted butter

¼ cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

½ cup pasta cooking liquid

Place the meatballs in a large bowl, add the Parmigiano, egg yolk, bread crumbs, garlic and parsley, and season well with salt and pepper.  Mix thoroughly but delicately so as not to compress the meat, which would toughen it.

Take a piece of the meat mixture about the size of a small grape and roll the mixture between the palms of your hands into a small ball.  Place on a plate, and repeat with the remaining meat mixture.

Line a large shallow plate with paper towels.  Set aside.

Heat 1 cup of the olive oil in a 10- to 12-inch skillet over medium heat.  Place only as many meatballs in the pan as you can without crowding them and panfry until browned and crisp on one side, about 3 minutes.  Flip and cook until the other side is browned and crisp, about 2 minutes more.  Remove the meatballs from the pan with a spatula and place on the prepared plate to drain.  Repeat with any remaining meatballs.

Ann's Notes [brace thyself]:  This all started out well but quickly broke down in the making thereof.  Let's start with the meatball size itself as I feel like this got the whole ball rolling downhill in a hurry.  The recipe said to shape the meat mixture the size of a small grape, and maybe I used the wrong-size "grape" as my model for the size of my meatballs because they were hard to handle.  They looked pretty but when I tried to flip those suckers after the requisite three minutes, they stuck to the pan and nothing short of dynamite got them off the bottom.  I tried a small spatula, tiny tongs, regular-size tongs – nada. So while a few meatballs here and there held their shapes, the rest started to fall apart.  And so this is when I had my "Psycho" moment which is to say I got out a plastic meat chopper and just started hacking away at those grape-sized meatballs that were both sticking and disintegrating at the same time. Let me add that as I was tacking out my wrath on the poor meatball, Andy gave me a look that said "Are you crazy?" while at the same time backing away from the stove!  Once I satisfied myself that the meat (now resembling ground beef) was cooked, I removed it to the paper towel as directed to drain and then carried on below.

Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in another large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the onion and sauté until translucent, about 4 minutes.  Add the mushrooms, season with salt and pepper, and sauté 5 minutes.  Add the peas, toss and cook until the mushrooms release their liquid, about 2 to 3 minutes.  Add the stock and mint and cook for another 5 minutes.  Taste and, if necessary, adjust the seasoning.  Add the meatballs, toss well, and set aside, covered, to keep warm.  Ann's Note:  Well, all these instructions are well and good but that's not how I did it.  I think I let the onions cook for 4 minutes but then I shorted the time on the mushrooms, added the peas before they were ready, added stock...then more stock...then more stock to prevent everything from sticking (still, and with the temperature as low as I could get it), skipped the mint, added the meat mixture back to the dish, heated for a minute or so, then served.  Mama ain't got time to play today!

Fill a 10-quart stockpot with 7 quarts of water.  Add 2 tablespoons kosher salt and bring to a boil.  Add the pasta and cook until al dente.

To finish the dish, reserve ½ cup of the cooking liquid, then drain the pasta and stir it into the sauce.  Add the butter, the Parmigiano, and a few tablespoons of the reserved cooking water, and heat over very low heat.  Taste and adjust the seasoning, then toss thoroughly, drizzling with more olive oil if desired.

Ann's Final Note:  By this time, I just wanted to eat, already and so skipped adding the butter and the Parmigiano.  As I told my husband, the other meatball dish has ricotta and Parmigiano so did we really need more calories in this dish?  We did not! In hindsight, I should have just committed to making one dish or the other, but not both, but I didn't and so then had to run with several Plan B's during my time in the kitchen.  Nobody died in the making thereof, but like I said, I should have just stuck with my aunt's recipe and called it a day.  Who knew National Meatball Day would be so educational?  Not I, reader.  Not I!

---

[1] By the way and this is Breaking News:  I just now discovered a video of chef/author John LaFemina making these signature meatballs with Martha Stewart and oh sure, now I find it!:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zp2R5RPVlaA