Baked Ziti and Meatballs: Sopranos Style

For the Meatballs
1 pound ground beef or a combination of beef and pork
1/2 cup plain bread crumbs, preferably homemade
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon very finely minced garlic
1/2 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano or Parmigiano-Reggiano
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil


Combine all the ingredients except the oil in a large bowl. Mix together thoroughly. Rinse your hands with cool water and lightly shape the mixture into 2-inch balls. (Note: If you are making meatballs for lasagne or baked ziti, shape the meat into tiny balls the size of a small grape.)

Heat the oil in a large heavy skillet. Add the meatballs and brown them well on all sides. Transfer the meatballs to a plate.

Note:  The recipe goes on to say that you should finish cooking the meatball in the sauce . . . we didn't do that.

Laura
Thank goodness for comfort food.  I imagine that when an Italian girl eats baked ziti, she feels the way some people (Meredith) feel about macaroni and cheese.  I had made sauce a while ago and froze it, so I knew this wasn’t going to be an all day affair.  It might as well have been.  I defrosted two pounds of meat so I doubled the recipe.  Anyone know how many grape sized meatballs that makes?  A LOT!  That’s how many.  Also, I added hot Italian sausage to my baked ziti.  So, after cooking three batches of mini meatballs, I cut up some sausage and cooked it in a frying pan.  I've made this so many times before so I already knew how delicious it would be.  What’s not to like about pasta, sauce, cheese, meatballs and sausage?  I loved it, as always.

Meredith

Mmmm... mac & cheese! Oh wait- that’s not what we were making? Italian Mac & Cheese! Close enough I suppose. Let’s get down to it: I, too, had sauce already made and in the freezer (non-Italians do this too!) so that part was done. I made the meatballs for Christmas dinner so they were already done too. So what DID I do today? Oh- I boiled pasta and grated cheese. But let me go back to the meatballs – they were absolutely delicious. It took a batch, but I finally figured out how to get the meatballs browned on all sides and not to stick to the pan. That I’m very proud of. I may make them my signature dish. Don’t tell Tony.

Forecast: Chili With a Chance of Cornbread

Laura
I’ve made chili before, but certainly not enough to wing it.  Here’s the recipe I used.  It's just a little different than the original recipe.

Ingredients
2 pounds ground beef
2 (16 ounce) cans kidney beans, rinsed and drained
2 (14.5 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with jalapenos, undrained
1 can Mexicorn with bell peppers
2 medium onions, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper
2 jalapeno peppers, chopped
Shredded Cheddar cheese
Light sour cream

Directions
In a skillet, cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. Transfer to a slow cooker. Add the next ten ingredients. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours or on high for 4 hours. Garnish individual servings with cheese and sour cream if desired.

I love chili so I’m always going to have high hopes for it.  It’s a really easy recipe.  Next time, I’d either add more jalapeño peppers or maybe some cayenne.  It was a little spicy but I definitely needed more heat for my chili.  We also decided to make cornbread.  This was new to me.  I used the regular Jiffy mix and added a jalapeño to it. 

The verdict:  Chili was great but could have been spectacular with a little more heat.  Cornbread was easy and super tasty. 

I’d definitely make this again.  I feel like chili is something that I’d like to research a little more.  I’m thinking maybe try out different recipes until I find my favorite.  Maybe it’ll replace my quest for the world’s best nachos.  You know, now that I know where to find them.  (Lucky’s at Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, CT.)  Anyway, maybe next time I’ll get up the nerve to try a recipe with cinnamon in it.  Oh, and one more thing.  Anyone know why we brown the meat before putting it in the slow cooker?  We throw all sorts of raw meats into the slow cooker.  What makes ground beef so different?  Just curious, really.  Whatever the reason, it works and it’s pretty yummy so I’m not going to go changing anything.

Meredith
I’ve never used a recipe for chili so I certainly wasn’t going to start now! I typically cheat and start with a packet of Chili-O but since I was blogging this batch, I figured I’d go au naturale and just spice it up from the cabinet. So- I started by putting 93% lean ground beef in the skillet and once browned I added random amounts of: chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, ground cumin, cayenne and salt & pepper. While that simmered, I sauteed a diced Vidalia onion and two jalapeños in olive oil. Then I combined the meat and the cooked veggies and let that hang out while I started opening cans. Into the crockpot went: two cans of diced tomatoes with green chiles and two cans of dark red kidney beans (all undrained). The same combination of spices went on top of the tomatoes and beans and stir. Next I added the meat and cooked veggies to the pot. Stir well.Two more cans of tomatoes and more spices in the pot. Stir again. Finally I add one more diced onion, a diced green bell pepper, two more jalapeños and a can of corn. Oh, and more of those spices! Stir well, simmer for at least 4 hours.

You know- this was probably one of my favorite batches of chili I’ve ever made. It was spicy, zesty, tasty, comforting, chunky, smoky, veggie-licious WITHOUT all that sodium from the spice packs! I had mine with shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese, Fritos and a little dollop of (light) Daisy. OH! the cornbread! Saturday afternoon I picked up a bag of Southwestern-style jalapeño cornbread mix from the Napa Valley Pantry at Marshall’s on clearance. I would definitely recommend this to a friend. It tasted like corn cake with jalapeños in it. Really, really worth the three bucks. (P.S. Luckys! Luckys! I want nachos NOW!)

Pot Roast

Laura
This pot roast was an issue from the get-go.  For starters, how can one expect the Italian girl from NY to know what pot roast is?  I picked up pork shoulder the first time around.  That wasn't right.  In my defense, it said pork roast.  I was making a roast, wasn't I?  On my second trip to the grocery store to rectify the situation, I had to text Meredith a million times to verify that I got the right meat. 

I have no idea what it's supposed to taste like.  I have no idea how to make it.  Hell, I don't even know what pot roast is.  The good news is that it's really easy to make.  The recipe I used, I found here.

Ingredients
2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 (1 ounce) package dry onion soup mix
1 1/4 cups water
5 1/2 pounds pot roast

Directions
In a slow cooker, mix cream of mushroom soup, dry onion soup mix and water. Place pot roast in slow cooker and coat with soup mixture. Cook on High setting for 3 to 4 hours, or on Low setting for 8 to 9 hours.

See, it doesn't say "beef" or "pork".  Anyway, moving right along . . .
I added carrots and celery to the bottom of the slow cooker.  When there were 90 minutes left, I sliced some mushrooms and added them to the slow cooker, too.
 
I would definitely make pot roast again.  Next time, I'll just make less of it.
 

Meredith

Pot roast might be my favorite meal ever. It’s a commonly requested birthday dinner. So the idea of not knowing what it is was just so bizarre to me that we HAD to make it. Laura HAD to know why I love/make/eat it so much. That being said, I tried to do a couple things differently than my old standard. This time, I actually seared the meat first and after taking it out of the pan added roughly chopped onions, baby carrots and garlic and roasted the veggies in the oven for about 20 minutes. Everything then went into the crock pot with beef broth, onion soup mix, salt, pepper, etc. A couple of hours later I dropped a handful of mushrooms in for the duration of the cooking. I don’t think I noticed much difference in that extra effort. I made green bean casserole and these weird potato pancakes on the side. And I blame the photo quality this week on the mimosas ;)

 And Laura? Don’t make less next time... just give what you don’t want to me, ok?

Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff

Ingredients
2 pounds cubed beef stew meat
2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed golden mushroom soup
1 cup chopped onion
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup water
1/2 pound cream cheese

Directions
In a slow cooker, combine the meat, soup, onion, Worcestershire sauce and water. Cook on Low setting for 8 hours, or on High setting for about 5 hours. Stir in cream cheese just before serving. (Makes 8 Servings)

Based upon this recipe, using many of the recommended recipes tweaks from the reviews (see first reviewers notes).

Meredith's Stroganoff

This Sunday meal was my idea. I've, for some reason, been craving a saucy beefy concoction. My mother used to make a hamburger "stroganoff" and it was always a real comfort dinner. This was WAY better – I've forwarded her the recipe.

I doubled the original recipe and followed most of the changes. I added criminis sauteéd in extra virgin olive oil with garlic, a little onion and some thyme. I deglazed the pan with a little marsala wine before adding to the crockpot. These were thrown in about 30 minutes from dinnertime and right before the addition of the cream cheese and sour cream.

The end result was just what I'd wanted: comforting, rich and delicious. I added a simple salad and some crusty bread to finish the plate.


Laura's Stroganoff

The changes: I switched out the water for ¾ of a cup of beef broth and I used a package of onion soup mix, as well. I added a BIG dollop of sour cream with the cream cheese at the end, too.

The process: This definitely started to look delicious once I added the cream cheese and sour cream to the stroganoff. I was leery about how soupy it looked, but Meredith assured me that the cream cheese would thicken it up. She was right.

The verdict: It was REALLY good! I had it over whole-wheat egg noodles (I know, I’m such a dork. The cream cheese and sour cream were fat free, too.) The beef was tender and came apart easily, which is to be expected when it cooks in the slow cooker for 5 ½ hours. The sauce did thicken up, but I thought there was too much of it. It was very filling and surprisingly good. Having never had it, I didn’t know what to expect.

I bet this freezes well so next time I might add more meat. There was certainly enough sauce to warrant it. The bottom line, I’m glad we made it. Now I can say that I made beef stroganoff and it was good!