Baked Comfort

The Academy Awards are coming up in a few weeks.



They will honor the best of the best of last year's movies. Of course this year, the academy has added the ever-so-controversial ten nominations (it used to be just five) for the "Best Picture" category. I don't have a major problem with this besides the fact that I can hardly think of ten movies I liked enough to even come close to receiving such an honor. The nominees this year are:

BEST PICTURE:
Avatar
The Bind Side
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious
A Serious Man
Up
Up in the Air

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE:
Jeff Bridges in "Crazy Heart"
George Clooney in "Up in the Air"
Colin Firth in "A Single Man"
Morgan Freeman in "Invictus"
Jeremy Renner in "The Hurt Locker"

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:
Matt Damon in "Invictus"
Woody Harrelson in "The Messenger"
Christopher Plummer in "The Last Station"
Stanley Tucci in "The Lovely Bones"
Christoph Waltz in "Inglourious Basterds"

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE:
Sandra Bullock in "The Blind Side"
Helen Mirren in "The Last Station"
Carey Mulligan in "An Education"
Gabourey Sidibe in "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"
Meryl Streep in "Julie & Julia"

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:
Penélope Cruz in "Nine"
Vera Farmiga in "Up in the Air"
Maggie Gyllenhaal in "Crazy Heart"
Anna Kendrick in "Up in the Air"
Mo'Nique in "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"



The Oscars are not only a time of year we honor the new movies that might someday become classics, but we also a time to honor the classics themselves. So let's make some classic food, shall we? Baked Ziti is a comfort food for anyone with an appetite for warm, meaty, flavorful, noodley, cheesiness. It is easy to make (the theme of this time of year) and very satisfying. I like to make a huge batch and save the rest in the freezer to last for a few more meals. I have made it a couple different ways in the past year, and it seems to me that baked ziti is really just something you need to adjust to your liking. I like a lot a lot of meat so I lean towards a pretty heavy amount. I also like the tomato sauce to really stand out (even though I was in a hurry this time and did not end up with a good sauce). Some people like ricotta cheese in their ziti, but I prefer to leave the ricotta to the lasagna. However, I think it would be nice in a vegetarian version (possibly with some mushrooms added as well). You an buy your favorite tomato sauce or make your own. I also added just a little bit of Italian sausage to the dish just for some added flavor. Zach suggested the dish did not need it, but I still like just a little bit of it. Here is how I made it, but this is something you should definitely tweak about to make your own:



1 lb ziti pasta, cooked al dente according to package*
1 lb ground beef
2 links spicy Italian sausage (optional), casings removed and chopped into small chunks
1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves fresh garlic, sliced into slivers (about four slivers per clove)
3 C (about 24 oz) of flavorful tomato sauce
2 C shredded mozzarella (optional: sub one cup mozzarella for 1 C or 8 oz provolone cheese)
1 C shaved parmesan cheese

Preheat the over to 350 degrees F.
In a large pan, cook the all the meat with the chopped onion and garlic until the meat is browned.
Add the tomato sauce to the meat and stir thoroughly.
Add 1 cup mozzarella cheese (use the provolone here if you have chosen to substitute it) and 1/2 C of the parmesan to the meat/tomato mixture.
Stir the mixture into the cooked ziti pasta and transfer to a large casserole dish.
Sprinkle remaining mozzarella and parmesan cheese evenly over the top of the dish.
Bake uncovered for 40 minutes.



*I cannot explain why, but I much prefer actual ziti pasta which is chopped straight across on each end as opposed to penne pasta which is cut at a slant (even though I could not find the ziti pasta this time around). I also steer clear of the small ridges on the surface of the pasta. It is supposed to catch more of the sauce around it, but I find it has the opposite effect. I feel the sauce sticks to the flat surface much better.

Little Helpers

"Hold my hand Buela so you don't get lost", my niece said as she looked up at my mom, gearing up to make her way through the crowd of people in Old Town, St. Augustine. Olivia (we call her "Livi") just turned three years old, but I cannot imagine what life would be like without her. I would also never have realized important things like the purple horsie on the carousel is the best horsie in the whole world and that eating superman ice cream makes your tongue turn blue (even if you just sneak a small bite...it really is incriminating). Even though I live across the country, I think about her everyday.

I don't have any cute quotes for you yet from my second niece, Charlotte. She is just shy of six months and the sweetest little baby. She let me walk around the house with her in my arms for almost an hour. I mean, if you know babies, you know that is not something they let you do if your name is not "Mommy". She is adorably chunky which I can appreciate since I was a nice "healthy size" when I was younger (except I am sure she will grow out of it before I did). Even though this is my first time being with her, I have felt connected to Charlotte since the day she was born.

These two girls are so precious to me and the obsession of their paternal grandparents, affectionately known as "Buela" and "Grandpa".

I introduce to you these girls because without their help, we may not have been able to enjoy the recipe for this posting. Livi was a little helper in the kitchen, crushing pita chips into bread crumbs and taste testing the carrots, pasta, and cheese. She also actually ate the finished product so I can confidently mark this recipe as "kid friendly". Charlotte didn't do much in the kitchen, but she did sit in her little baby chair playing with her toys and smiling. It was just so darn cute. I think you will agree.




Something to Smile About Greek Baked Ziti

(slightly adapted for budget and convenience from a Rachel Ray recipe)



1 pound ziti
2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 pound ground beef or lamb
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped or grated
1 carrot, peeled and finely chopped or grated
1 tsp ground thyme
2 pinches ground cinnamon
1 tsp allspice
1 15-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes
4 tbsp butter, divided
4 tbsp flour
3 cups milk (not skim)
2 pinches ground nutmeg
1/2 C grated Parmigiano Reggiano
1 C crumbled feta cheese
1 1/2 C pita chips
1/4 C flat-leaf parsley, chopped
salt and ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Boil pasta according to box instructions for "al dente". Drain and set aside.
In a separate large pan, brown meat over medium heat until no longer pink.
Add onions, carrots, garlic, cinnamon, thyme, allspice and salt and pepper to taste to the browned meat and continue cooking until veggies are tender (about 5 minutes).
Add canned whole tomatoes to the meat, breaking them up into the meat mixture with a spoon.
Allow meat sauce to simmer for about 10 minutes.
In a separate pot, heat 2 tbsp of butter over medium heat. When butter is melted, add the flour and cook for 1 minute.
Use a wire whisk to add the milk, nutmeg and pinches of salt/ pepper.
Simmer sauce until it thickens (about 5 minutes). Remove from heat and add the Parmigiano Reggiano and a 1/2 C of the feta cheese to the sauce.*
Crush pita chips into chunky crumbs by placing them in a plastic ziploc bag and getting an adorable three year-old to firmly tap the bag with her plastic sippy cup (you can in fact do this yourself if you don't have an adorable three year-old on hand).

Transfer the crumbs to a small bowl and toss with the remaining cheese and parsley. Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter and add it to the breadcrumb/cheese mixture.
Toss the cooked pasta with half of the white sauce. Transfer half of the pasta to a casserole dish and pour the red sauce over top. Cover the red sauce with the remaining pasta and pour the remaining white sauce over the top of the dish. Sprinkle the breadcrumb-cheese mixture over everything and bake until light golden brown and bubbly, about 30 minutes.





*Parmigiano Reggiano is a pretty expensive cheese. I replaced most of it with feta in this adaptation, and I bet it would be fine if you just went ahead and replaced it all with feta. I have to be honest; I left the feta out of the dish and replaced the Parmigiano Reggiano with Romano and Parmesan this time (this is the second time I have made it), and it was much better with the feta.

You say tomato; I say tomato; no one says tomahto.

While Zach and I do not really have differing opinions on the pronunciation of the word, "tomato", we do have to participate in a little compromising when it comes to making the perfect tomato sauce. Our song would sound more like:

I say meat balls; you say meat sauce. I say yellow peppers; you say green peppers. I say sugar; you say why not. I say green olives? You say no. I say add red wine; you say that's weird.

I guess I will never be much of a songwriter, but all this back-and-forth does amount to something when it all comes together over some whole wheat thin spaghetti with a side salad drizzled with a homemade balsamic dressing .

The tomato sauce should always come together better when you have a partner with which to discuss the addition of each ingredient since experimenting is key in finding the right mix to work for you. Three words I like to use to describe the perfect sauce are: fresh, chunky, and comforting. This sauce has developed out of a recipe that started with Zach (possibly, the origins go further back?) It was the centerpiece of the first meal he ever made for me when we first started dating. It can be made in bulk, depending on how big your slow cooker is. You can save leftovers in freezer bags, and it almost tastes better after freezing and reheating! It can be made with meatballs or as a meat sauce (by just mixing in cooked ground beef). It can be used as a spaghetti sauce or as anything you would use a tomato sauce for like baked ziti and lasagna.

Zach's I Say Tomato Sauce:

1 6oz can tomato paste
2 15 oz cans tomato sauce
2 large fresh tomatoes, chopped (leave the chunks about bite-size, not too small)
1 large white onion, chopped
1/3 of a green bell pepper, chopped
2 tbsp minced garlic
1/2 C chopped mushrooms
1/3 C dry red wine
1 tsp brown sugar
1 lb cooked ground beef (optional)
1 tbsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
1 bay leaf



Just chop it all up and dump it all in a slow cooker.
Mix it all together.
Cook on a low setting for 6-8 hours or on a high setting for 3-4 hours.



Be sure to serve your spaghetti with a nice salad: