Spaghetti and Meatballs

So, yeah. It is Friday night, not Wednesday, but what can you do. It is a two-fer this week since I'm combining my Good Wife Wednesday with my Kid-Friendly Friday. I had planned to make the Spaghetti and Meatballs from the Betty Crocker Picture Cookbook on Wednesday, but didn't get to it til Thursday. Then I still didn't post, but it qualified as a very kid friendly meal, so I'm just lumping it all together. Aidan had fun helping scoop out the meatballs and it made him more willing to try eating them. Aside from that, the sauce was a good way to get some veggies in, and the next time I try to make this I would probably try sneaking in some carrots too.

I haven't always been much of a fan of meatballs with my spaghetti and generally just prefer the meat in the sauce. While that is still true, I did really enjoy this recipe. The meatballs were mild and tender. They had really good flavor without anything being too overpowering. Also, the sauce turned out really nice and tasted great. Now, I'm not going to tell you that this is the best recipe ever, but it is a pretty darn good jumping off point. It is simple and easy to make. Nothing too fancy or difficult at all and it certainly beats the heck out of buying some mystery meat frozen meatball version.

The recipe makes quite a bit so unless you are feeding 8+ people then plan on having some leftover meatballs in sauce. Since the sauce is nice and thick though I plan to make some of these rolls and have them as meatball subs, so really, you get a bonus meal idea.

Make sure to use good quality ingredients when you are making this because the flavors of your ingredients will really make a difference (ie, use gross bread crumbs, or worse, crummy parmesan and it won't taste as good). I ran out of bread crumbs and actually used about half the amount in ground up Ritz crackers. For the parmesan it is always best if you can buy a block and grated it yourself right before you are going to use it. I like to put a few small chunks in a spice grinder to "grate" it into an almost powder like consistency. You can use any leftovers to sprinkle on top of your pasta.

Spaghetti and Meatballs
Mix and form into 1 1/2 inch balls...
3/4 lb ground beef (I used all beef)
1/4 lb ground pork
1 cup fine dry bread crumbs (I used a mixture of dry bread crumbs and Ritz cracker crumbs)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp. minced parsley (I used flat-leaf Italian parsley)
2 small cloves garlic, cut fine
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper

Heat 4 Tbsp of extra-virgin olive oil in a large frying pan. Add the meatballs and 1 cup minced onion. Allow the meatballs to brown on all sides, gently turning them or shaking the pan a little to move them around.

Sprinkle the browned meatballs with 2 Tbsp of flour, then add the following and simmer the entire mixture for about 1 hour...
5 cups cooked tomatoes (I used crushed)
6 Tbsp minced parsley
6 Tbsp minced green pepper (I used red)
2 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
3 tsp sugar
2 small bay leaves, crumbled
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Serve hot over hot drained boiled spaghetti noodles. Sprinkle with grated cheese.

GWW: Noodle Ring with Creamed Chicken

First things first - what is GWW? Well, let me take you back one week when darling Leigh, the one and only Lemon Tartlet, announced that she had coerced - lol - ummm I mean invited me, Laurie, Nikki and Clara to join her in celebrating the 1950's Americana that is Betty Crocker's Picture Cook Book.

And so was born GWW - which is smart-alec speak for "Good Wife Wednesdays" the snarky name I suggested to LT as what we dub this new undertaking. I believe it came up along the lines of, "Oh, I'm sure there is something in that book like - "The Good Wife always has a cocktail at the ready for her husband when he arrives home from a long, hard day at the office." (Incidentally, there actually was something in the book about a clever wife having cocktails ready for her husband when he got home from work - so, I wasn't too far off).

This is all in fun, so welcome to our first undertaking: The Noodle Ring.

I think a home cooked meal will always be more comforting than the finest gourmet plate. Why? Because - I don't know. But to me, that is just the way it is. There is just something truly satisfying about preparing a meal for yourself or your friends or family with your own hands, from scratch. It doesn't even have to be perfect. Heaven knows that noodle ring up there sure didn't quite work out - but it still tasted really good!

I had never heard of a "noodle ring" before (and therefore had no idea what to expect). You know me, so I had to get out there on the web and look it up and did you know that there is actually a National Noodle Ring Day (seriously, it is Dec. 11th - I couldn't say how official it is - but there you go).

Anyway, this noodle ring was also to have "creamed chicken" - yup - didn't really know what to expect with that either. However, as I looked at both recipes late last week it actually sounded pretty good to me - simple comfort food - which after a week of all of us being sick, something simple and comforting and not too crazy or spicy sounded like the perfect choice.

The noodles for me didn't really work out and I can only assume that it is because I didn't use the right type of noodles. It was still very tasty though. The creamed chicken was delicious and slightly salty - which I am willing to bet is because back in the day they most likely used homemade chicken broth while I used canned - and though low-sodium, probably still not as low as it could have been. Even at that, it was still really good.

To round out the meal I made some glazed french green beans and toasted slices of homemade white bread (for which the recipe can be found here and is my new absolute go-to recipe for our "daily" bread). It was a very soul satisfying meal. One that, while not fancy, was definitely something I could see making again (hopefully with the right noodles next time).


Noodle Ring (pg. 386)
(The little description reads) "My boys loved this filled with creamed chicken for Sunday supper for their friends!", says Mildred Stewart Sumner of our Staff.

Mix together gently...
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
(I added a dash of freshly grated nutmeg)
3/4 c. milk
1 tbsp. butter, melted
drained hot Boiled Noodles (10 to 12 oz. uncooked) (p. 380)

Place in well buttered 10" ring mold. Set in pan of water (1" deep). Bake until silver knife plunged into center comes out clean. Unmold; fill center with hot creamed chicken, seafood, etc. Serve immediately.

Temperature: 350 F (mod. oven).
Time: Bake 45 min.
Amount: 6 to 8 servings

Creamed Chicken (pg. 97)
(The little description reads)
Helps master many delicious recipes.

Melt tbsp. butter or chicken fat

Blend in tbsp. GOLD MEDAL flour, 1 tsp. salt, and 1/8 tsp. pepper and cook over low heat until bubbling. Remove from heat and stir in 1/ 1/2 c. well seasoned chicken broth, and 1 c. cream or top milk. Bring to a boil and boil 1 min., stirring constantly. Stir in gently 1 c. cut-up cooked chicken. Just before serving add if desired 2 tbsp. sherry flavouring.

Serve hot in patty shells, pastry cases, biscuit rings, or timbale cases; or over toast points, noodles, fluffy rice, etc.

Amount : 6 servings.