Comfort Food at its Finest: Spaghetti Casserole

Dads in kitchens everywhere are finding There’s a Dad in the Kitchen.  Hits to the blog are continuing to increase, but the most noteworthy indicators, at least to me, are the Google searches that are ending up at TADITK.

For example, the following search words all led people to There's a Dad in the Kitchen:

“browning 1 lb. of ground beef in a frying pan” – Can you think of anyone other than a desperate dad searching for this on the Internet?  “Let’s see.  She said to brown the ground beef.  How do I do that?”

Or:

“easy sure fire pie crust” – If it was just “easy pie crust,” it could have been anyone, but “sure fire?”  That had to be a dad.

How about?:

“best breakfast for dad to make kid” – Obviously, a dad, frantic to serve something other than cereal for breakfast, (upon finding that the milk has expired, of course).

For me, this was the clincher:

"bad school cafeteria style grilled cheese sandwiches" – Had to be a dad.  Whoever it was, he had persistence.  I tried the same search and the TADITK blog was not in the first 200 results!

And just this week, there were 9 hits alone on Beefaroni.  I’d like to think that at least half of them were dads.

I’m continuing to love the Alpha Course cookbook.  The Tuesday night meal team at PFC continues to cook for about 50 people, and last week was the first time I utilized an Alpha recipe without finessing it.  This week’s post captures comfort food at its finest:  Spaghetti Casserole.

SPAGHETTI CASSEROLE

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While not a meatloaf-and-mashed-potatoes kind of comfort food, spaghetti casserole is still an entrée that leaves you filled, and with a smile on your face…and isn't that what comfort food is all about?  As Sam Cornish once described a similar food, “It slides down pretty easy!”

Ingredients:

1 lb. box spaghetti

2 medium onions, chopped

1 garlic clove

2 to 2¼ lbs. lean ground beef

1 jar (approx. 25 oz.) spaghetti sauce

1 teaspoon dried oregano

¾ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon black pepper

²/₃ cup butter

²/₃ cup all-purpose flour

1 quart milk

2½ cups shredded Mozzarella cheese, divided

1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions:

Make the pasta according to package directions, using lightly salted boiling water.  Follow the directions for an al dente level of doneness.  Mix with a little olive oil to keep spaghetti from sticking.

In a large frying pan or electric frying pan, sauté the onion and garlic in a little butter or olive oil until soft.  Remove from the pan.  Add the ground beef and cook until lightly browned.  Drain excess fat.  Add spaghetti sauce, oregano, salt, and pepper.  Simmer over low heat for 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350°.

Make the cheese sauce by first making a simple white sauce.  Melt the butter in a 2 quart or larger saucepan, and gradually whisk in the flour to ensure there are no lumps.  Slowly add the milk, stirring constantly.  Cook over medium high heat, continuing to stir until the sauce simmers and thickens.  Stir in 2 cups of the Mozzarella cheese, and a little salt and pepper, to taste.

Prepare the casserole as follows:

Ready for the cheese sauce on top

Place half of the spaghetti on the bottom of a large oven-proof casserole or lasagna dish.  Layer half of the meat mixture on top, and repeat layers.  Pour the sauce over the top of the casserole and sprinkle with the remaining ½ cup of Mozzarella and the shredded Cheddar.

Bake at 350° for 30 minutes, (longer if casserole has been prepared in advance and refrigerated), until the top is lightly browned and bubbly.

It must have been good!

GARLIC BREAD

Garlic bread goes with Spaghetti Casserole perfectly.

Ingredients:

1 large baguette (French bread stick, approx. 30” long)

¼ cup butter

¼ cup margarine

2 garlic cloves, crushed

½ teaspoon oregano or basil

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon black pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400°.

Place all ingredients in a bowl and blend together with a rubber spatula.  Slice the bread in half lengthwise (not all the way through) and spread the garlic butter generously on one side using the spatula.  If there is butter leftover, continue spreading on the other side.  Close the bread and cut the loaf into 1” slices (all the way through).  Wrap the whole baguette in foil, keeping the slices closed, and place in the oven for 15-20 minutes.

BROCCOLI SALAD

If you’re looking for something to complement the spaghetti casserole, try this broccoli salad.  This recipe calls for Mandarin oranges.  We had just served them the previous week, and decided to leave them out.  Also, the original recipe called for almost twice the sugar.  It was so much that it literally did not completely dissolve!  Many people, especially the kids, loved it.  Look at it this way:  It’s one way to get kids to eat broccoli.  It really was way too sweet, so the sugar is reduced in this recipe.  Keep in mind that the pictures below reflect preparation for 50 people.

Ingredients:

Approx. 1¼ lbs. broccoli crowns

8-10 strips bacon or equivalent bacon bits

½ red onion

1 cup dried cranberries such as Craisins®  (raisins can be substituted)

½ cup sunflower seeds

2 cans (11 oz.) Mandarin oranges (optional)

For the dressing:

1²/₃ cups mayonnaise

1½ teaspoon vinegar

½ cup granulated sugar

Directions:

Cook the bacon until it’s crisp, drain on paper towels, and crumble, (or use bacon bits).  

Cut up and trim broccoli into bite-size pieces.  Chop the onion.  Add all salad ingredients and toss in a large bowl.  (Mandarin oranges are optional.)

Prepare the dressing by combining the three ingredients, whisking thoroughly.  Add dressing to the salad and toss thoroughly.  It is best to prepare the salad at least an hour in advance, tossing it several times while keeping it refrigerated.  If preparing more than an hour in advance, add the sunflower seeds and Mandarin oranges just before serving.  Toss salad one final time just before serving.

Enjoy!

Take This Pepper and Stuff It!

Just like a Southern belle once told me about shoo-fly pie, “I believe it’s an acquired taste,” stuffed green bell peppers also fall into the same category.  They just aren’t everyone’s cup of tea.  This week, as I informed a number of inquiring readers that I’d be posting a recipe for Stuffed Peppers, I got one of two reactions.  Only one was positive.

I have to say that the “results” were about 50-50.  Realizing I’m taking a chance at reducing readership this week, I’m still going with my originally planned recipe.  As for those who don’t like Stuffed Peppers?  Well, they can stuff something else.

Jeff Simon is a great guy.  He is a talented musician and when he plays the mandolin, people don’t just listen, they stop and listen.  Jeff is also gifted at working with kids and has led the games at our Vacation Bible School for the last couple of years.  He is also the third generation “Simon the Plowman” in Spring City, where he and his parents Dave and Liz, operate an excavating and landscaping business.  Jeff operates the backhoe like a surgeon.  He is also a talented cook and whips up any number of his own creations in the kitchen to the amazement of his wife, Amy.  Amy is also an accomplished musician, and they have been making beautiful music together both before and since they’ve been married.  Their music-making recently produced a son, Landon.  

As a result, Jeff is now a fellow “Dad in the Kitchen.”

Jeff makes an amazing stuffed zucchini.  He halves it, hollows out the core and stuffs it with Steak-Um beef steaks, bacon, mozzarella cheese and spaghetti sauce and bakes it.  He’s still perfecting the recipe, but says he’ll share it when he's ready to go public.

Naturally, Jeff has a garden, and it produced a bumper crop of peppers this year.  I lucked out when I stopped by the farm one day just as he was wondering what he was going to do with all of them.  The result was a stuffed grocery bag of green bell peppers, with some red and yellow ones, too.  I also found a few Jalapeños on the bottom.

As a kid, whenever we would have stuffed peppers, I would eat the “guts” and pass on the “containers.”  Now that I’m older, I have acquired the taste and love them.   I did not research recipes for this post, and just went with what I had available and what I thought would be good.  My friend Marge doesn’t cook the ground beef before baking the peppers, and I think that would produce a more meat loaf-like consistency.  If you do that, you may need to allow more baking time.  We both agreed that we love the aroma of stuffed green peppers in the oven!

STUFFED PEPPERS
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Ingredients:

8-10 green bell peppers

1 Tablespoon cooking oil

1 1/3 lb. lean ground beef

1 medium onion, minced

1 teaspoon oregano

1 Tablespoon parsley flakes

½ teaspoon Kosher salt

½ teaspoon ground black pepper

¾ cup frozen corn

1 (10.5 oz.) can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

½ red bell pepper, chopped

½ cup long grain brown rice (prepared according to package directions)

2½ cups prepared spaghetti sauce, divided

Directions:

Prepare two servings of long grain brown rice.  For the rice I used, that was a half cup of uncooked rice.  Cook the rice according to package directions.

Mince the onion using a food chopper or dice it finely.  Sauté in a frying pan with 1 Tablespoon cooking oil.  Cook until the onion starts to turn translucent.  

Add the ground beef and brown.  Near the end of browning the beef, add the salt, pepper, oregano and parsley flakes.  Drain the fat.

Prepare peppers by removing tops and seeds.  Place peppers in a baking dish.  One of the peppers I used was a little uneven on the bottom and I had to trim it so that it would sit level.

In a large bowl combine the browned ground beef, corn, chopped red pepper, kidney beans, cooked rice, and 1 cup of spaghetti sauce.

Preheat oven to 350°.

Pack the mixture into the prepared green peppers using a teaspoon, filling each pepper solidly and rounding the top.  Place peppers in a 350° oven and bake for 30 minutes.  

Spoon the remaining spaghetti sauce on top of each pepper and bake for another 30 minutes, or until the peppers are tender and the internal temperature of the meat mixture has reached 160°.

Enjoy!

Golden Glazed Chicken, Crisscross Potatoes and a Great Salad

The Alpha Course is going well at Parker Ford Church, not that there was any doubt about the course.  What is remarkable is that cooking for approximately 50 people each week has also been going well.

Part of the reason for the success is the great team that is responsible each week.  I’m grateful for the kitchen crew of Ralph Bainbridge, Rob Brunner, Nancy Elliott-Carter, Ginny Imperial, and Stephanie Wanner.  Pastor Josh and Carol Doering have also pitched in.  Another explanation for the success is the detailed cookbook that comes with the program.  The North American edition is filled with popular dinner recipes from all over Canada.  I appreciate the calculations for groups of 10, 30, and 100.  In addition to the Canadian recipes, some originated in England where the program was started.  Not all of these “foreign” recipes translate to the United States.

For example, Alpha’s recipe for Shepherd’s Pie calls for baked beans.

I tried to imagine a Shepherd’s Pie made like chili and smothered with mashed potatoes.  I attempted to picture kidney beans or black beans under there.  Couldn’t do it.  I just can’t embrace baked beans in a Shepherd’s Pie.  Instead, I used my Shepherd’s Pie recipe, quadrupling it.  I’m glad I did.  Upon telling a few diners that Alpha’s recipe called for baked beans, their reaction told me I made the right choice.  Still…I’m curious.  If I ever try it, I’ll let you know.  A similar change from the printed page was required this week.  In fact, I can’t actually say that I’ve used any Alpha recipe “as is.”

This past week we served Golden Glazed Chicken, Crisscross Potatoes, and a Mandarin Orange Salad.  When people compliment the food, I take note.  When they ask for recipes, I know it was a hit.  There were five recipe requests, so I told those who asked to read this week’s post!

GOLDEN GLAZED CHICKEN

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The smallest quantity provided in the Alpha cookbook is ten, so I’ve cut that recipe in half, however this still makes sufficient sauce for six chicken breasts.  The original recipe called for 2 teaspoons of curry powder.  Most people in our “neck of the woods” don’t have an appreciation for curry powder, but I know that it’s a popular spice in Great Britain.  I decided to jettison the curry and substitute a combination of spices.  It must have worked!

Ingredients:

6 skinless, boneless chicken breasts (halves)

¼ cup butter

½ cup honey

¼ cup Dijon mustard

¹/₈ cup mild prepared mustard

½ teaspoon ground cumin

½ teaspoon chili powder

½ teaspoon paprika

¼ teaspoon ground ginger

¹/₈ teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons lemon or lime juice

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°.

Place chicken in a baking dish in a single layer and bake in a 350° oven for 15 minutes, until partially cooked.

While the chicken is getting started, in a saucepan (or in a microwave), melt the butter.  Add all of the remaining ingredients and whisk until smooth.  

Pour over the partially baked chicken.  My test batch was only with three chicken breasts, but I made the full amount of sauce for six breasts of chicken, so your's won't look like as much.

One word of caution:  Don’t go by the ounces printed on containers of honey.  Honey is sold by the pound, and those are not fluid ounces, they are ounces by weight.  I found this out when I needed 5 cups of honey for the mass quantities I was making for Alpha.  5 cups would be 5 x 8 oz. =  40 ounces, right?  I bought a 16 oz. bottle and a 32 oz. bottle of honey, totaling 48 ounces.  When I added the entire larger bottle and half of the smaller one, (40 oz.), it just didn’t seem like enough.  I measured the capacity of the larger bottle, and it was only about 2½ cups of liquid!  Adding the entire 1 lb. bottle only brought the total up to 3-³/₄ cups.  I needed another 1 lb. bottle.  While Carol Doering was running to Kolb’s Farm Store to buy it, I tasted the sauce and was glad I added more honey!

Return the chicken to the oven and continue to bake for another 30 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 165°.  I used my new digital thermometer with meat probe, and it worked well, signaling when the internal target temperature had been reached.  No more over baked, dry chicken!  I recommend basting the chicken with the sauce at least once during baking.  Two or three times would be ideal.

If you would like to thicken the sauce, drain it into a saucepan and heat to boiling.  Dissolve a teaspoon of cornstarch in cold water and add the mixture all at once, while continuously stirring with a spring whisk.  Pour back over chicken or serve as an accompanying sauce on the side.

CRISSCROSS POTATOES

These potatoes are super simple to make and can be seasoned with your favorite herbs and flavors.  Use your imagination!

Ingredients:

Baking potatoes (medium), halved lengthwise

Butter, melted

Seasonings & herbs of your choice

Directions:

Scrub the potatoes and cut them in half, lengthwise.  Make diagonal slashes 1/8” deep in the cut surface of each potato.  Place potatoes, cut side face up, in a baking dish.  Brush the cut surfaces with melted butter and sprinkle on the seasonings of your choice.

For my test prep, I used (left to right) Lowry’s Seasoned Salt with parsley flakes, ground thyme with rosemary, paprika with garlic salt, and plain old Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.  

My favorites were the Lowry’s & parsley, (don’t use too much seasoning salt; it’s potent), and the Kosher salt & pepper (pictured, right).  If I would have added a little salt to the thyme and rosemary ones, it could have moved to the top of my list.  It also occurred to me that having some spray butter or spray olive oil to finish them when they came out of the oven would have been a good thing.

Bake potatoes in a 350° oven for 60-90 minutes, until they are tender when pierced with a fork.  Mine were ready in an hour, but the large quantity made for Alpha took much longer.  In fact, we needed the ovens for the chicken, and wound up finishing the potatoes in the microwave, which apart from some momentary panic, was not a problem.

MANDARIN ORANGE SALAD

Another awesomely simple recipe, and it is also awesomely good!  You don’t have to have a blender or food processor to make the dressing, but it helps.

Ingredients:

1 head lettuce, (I used a mixture of Boston lettuce and spinach)

1 can (11 oz.) mandarin oranges

½ cup chopped pecans

2 green onions, thinly sliced

½ cup vegetable oil

¼ cup sugar

¼ cup red wine vinegar

½ to 1 teaspoon salt

2 Tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

¹/₈ teaspoon black pepper

Directions:

Toast the chopped pecans in a 350° oven for about 10 minutes.  Mix the dressing in a blender or food processor, combining the oil, sugar, vinegar, salt, pepper, and parsley. 

Just before serving, mix the salad ingredients and toss with the dressing.  If the vinegar and oil have not emulsified, you may need to blend them again just before use.  It’s just that simple.  Enjoy!

Breakfast Sandwiches in the Great Outdoors

At the end of the summer a small group of us went camping.  The trip had been planned as a youth outing, but competing options and conflicting commitments had reduced the number of youth to zero.  Rather than relinquish the reservation at Susquehannock State Park, we decided to carry on.  The campers included one of our pastors, his wife and their three children; my son and his wife; and myself.  Our group turned out to be the only one in the park, so that was quite nice.

Pastor Josh made a great chicken and vegetables meal in foil over the coals of our campfire.  We took a hike to watch the sun set over the Susquehanna River, and then returned to the campfire to make S’Mores.

I’ll never forget that on one of our many camping trips to Vermont, my daughter, (who was a great little camper, by the way), asked if we were going to make “oars.”  We had no idea what she was talking about until she emphatically reminded us that we always talk about making “some oars.”  Whenever we make them and she’s "in the house," we still refer to them as “oars.”

I volunteered to make breakfast.  Since there were kids along, I thought they might enjoy breakfast sandwiches, and planned accordingly.  I packed up the Coleman stove that my dad bought in 1962 at Goldberg’s in Philadelphia.  He purchased it along with a canvas wall tent, dining fly, and other assorted camping equipment that we used on our first family camping trip to New England.  That stove has been from coast to coast, and still works like a charm.

BREAKFAST SANDWICHES ALFRESCO

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Ingredients
For each sandwich you will need:

2 strips bacon (or 1 slice of Canadian bacon)

1 English muffin, (use a fork to separate the halves)

2 eggs, scrambled with 2 Tablespoons of milk

1 slice cheese

margarine or butter

salt and pepper

There is really no recipe this week, just a description of how we made and assembled the sandwiches.  The first thing to do is to cook the bacon.  Even though it will cool while the other ingredients are made, it will warm up nicely when placed in the sandwiches with other hot ingredients.  When it has cooked to the desired level of doneness, allow the bacon to drain on a plate lined with paper towels.  

One word of caution:  Do not attempt to pour hot bacon fat into a plastic cup!

Toasting the English muffins is the next order of business in the outdoor kitchen.  When I was a kid, part of the camping equipment that Dad purchased was a “toaster” that was to be used on top of the Coleman stove.  Forget it.  By the time the bread was toasted, it was as dry….well, it was as dry as toast, if you know what I mean.  Instead, “toast” the bread by buttering the insides with margarine or butter and pan-fry the halves.  To get a nice toasty texture, you can apply a little pressure with your spatula in order to increase muffin to pan contact.  When the muffin halves are toasted to your liking, stack them and, if possible, keep them on the stove in a pan or other metal container.

While the muffins are toasting, you should have time to prepare the eggs for scrambling.  Crack the eggs into a bowl and add 1 Tablespoon of milk for each egg.  Whisk the eggs until fully scrambled.  It helps if the pan you are using for scrambling is hot, (droplets of water sizzle on the surface), and coated with butter, margarine, or cooking spray.  Pour the egg mixture into the frying pan to a depth of about ½” to ¾”.

When the eggs are done, (not too dry), place some on top of half of a muffin, top with a slice of cheese, then the bacon and the top half of the muffin, and you’re good to go.  

As you can tell, we had some chopped onions leftover from the previous night’s dinner, so we sautéed them and included them for those who wanted them.

"Happy Campers"

If you’re not already aware, everything tastes better in the outdoors.  Egg McMuffins were no contest to these breakfast sandwiches.  Enjoy!

Ziti for an Army

If you’re in any way connected to PFC (Parker Ford Church), you know that this past week we started The Alpha Course.  The course started in the 1970’s in Holy Trinity Church in Brompton, England, a Church of England parish.  Initially, it was used as an introductory class to present the basic principles of the Christian faith in a relaxed atmosphere.  However, in the 1990’s, former lawyer, Nicky Gumbel, realized that the course could appeal to non-churchgoers, and he adapted it.  Since that time the ten-week course has spread to 169 countries and is supported by all major denominations.

The letters in “ALPHA” each stand for something.  For my involvement with the program, I’m mostly interested in the “P,” which stands for “pasta.”  During the course, each week kicks off with a simple meal.  This provides a sort of safety valve for those families who are attempting to fit one more thing into their schedule.  The meal is also an opportunity for participants to share a meal in a relaxed setting, giving an opportunity for folks to get to know each other.  I’m coordinating the meals along with a team of five other helpers.

The Alpha Course actually comes with its own cookbook.  Tested and approved recipes for main courses, side dishes, salads, and desserts are included.  The cookbook also include directions, tips, and shopping lists for preparing for 10, 30 and 100 participants.  Not every week is a pasta dish, but as “comfort food” is suggested, I thought I’d start with baked ziti. 

Journey Kids logo © Parker Ford Church, 2011

We had no idea exactly how many to prepare for on week one.  RSVP’s were encouraged but not required.  In addition, children who are participating in our mid-week Journey Kids program, which runs concurrently with Alpha, were also included in the meal invitation.  I decided to prepare for sixty.  Therefore, I wanted to keep the menu simple, as well as the amount of preparation required.  In addition to the baked ziti, I decided to have turkey meatballs with rolls for those who desired to make meatball sandwiches, a tossed salad, and brownies for dessert.  Don’t recoil in horror, but the turkey meatballs were frozen pre-made ones purchased at BJ’s.  So was the tossed salad.  That left the ziti and the brownies.

I have a great recipe for baked ziti that I’ve adapted and refined over the years.  The recipe as presented in this post will fill a large lasagna pan or 9"x13" baking dish.  As a main course, it will serve 8-10 people; as a side dish, 12-15.  I decided to make two double batches.  I also decided to use foil pans for easy clean-up.  The ziti was made the day before and refrigerated.  It can also be made further in advance and frozen either before or after baking.  Allow 24-48 hours for it to thaw in your refrigerator.

BAKED ZITI

Ingredients:

1 lb. box of ziti pasta (I used penne, as it was on sale)

24 ounces of ricotta cheese

1 lb. shredded mozzarella cheese

1 egg, beaten

1 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried basil

2 Tablespoons dried parsley flakes

1 (32 oz.) jar or prepared spaghetti sauce, divided, as per directions

¼ cup Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Make the pasta according to package directions, using lightly salted boiling water.  Follow the directions for an al dente level of doneness.

Preheat oven to 375° if you will be serving the baked ziti and not refrigerating or freezing it for a later time.

While the water reaches boiling and as the pasta is cooking, prepare the other ingredients.  In a large bowl, combine the ricotta and mozzarella cheeses, 1 slightly beaten egg, and 1½ cups of the spaghetti sauce, reserving the remainder.  Next add the sour cream and the three dried spices.  Incorporate all ingredients until well blended.

Add the drained pasta, folding it into the mixture.  When the pasta is even coated with the cheese mixture, lightly grease a lasagna dish or a 9”x13” baking dish and spoon in the ziti mixture.  

Spread ziti evenly and then top it with the reserved spaghetti sauce, followed by the Parmesan cheese.  Bake in a preheated oven for 30 minutes, allowing it to stand for 15 minutes before serving.  When heating a refrigerated dish, increase baking time to 45 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches at least 165°.

ALPHA "ONE BOWL" BROWNIES

For the brownies, I used the Alpha Cookbook.  I honestly can't remember ever making scratch brownies before.  There are so many great mixes out there, I just never bothered.  These were almost as simple to make and were very moist and very chocolaty.  They would have been even better if I had added nuts and chocolate chips.  (Try adding 1 cup of each.)  I also used a foil pans for the brownies for easy clean-up for the three batches I made.

Ingredients:

¾ cups of cocoa

¾ cup margarine or butter (of course, I used butter)

2 cups granulated sugar

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup all-purpose flour

¼ teaspoon salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°.

As you add the ingredients, allow time for each to mix thoroughly before adding the next.  In an electric mixing bowl, add the cocoa and melted butter.  Mix until smooth.  Add the sugar, then the eggs one at a time.  Stir in the vanilla, flour (one-third at a time), and salt.  If using nuts and/or chocolate chips add them at this time, saving a few to sprinkle on top.  Scrape down the sides and allow the batter to mix for a final minute or two.

Lightly grease or spray a 9”x13” pan.  Add the batter and bake at 350° for 30-35 minutes.  Do not overbake.  As the batter is very thick, you really can’t determine doneness in any other manner than time.

Other suggestions for this recipe include sprinkling the top with white chocolate chips or M&M’s.  Even though the top of the brownies will appear dry when they come out of the oven, don’t be fooled.  They are very moist and don’t require any icing...but that would be good, too!

Enjoy!