Baked Mostaccioli and Meatballs

Christopher Kimball has done a good job with his 'Inside America's Test Kitchen'. Anyone who would roast 30 to 40 chickens to get it 'just right' has to be passsionate about the job. And good for us. We benefit from all of this because we can go right to the end result without all the agony. Thank you, Christopher.

I have my own test kitchen phenom in Sanford d'Amato, owner and chef at Sanford's in Milwaukee. On Sundays Sandy publishes one of his works of art in the local paper in a section labeled Entrée. I have benefited from his expertise and have told you about his/my successes several times in this blog.

Recently, I tried his Baked Mostaccioli and Meatballs along with his Basic Tomato Sauce. The flavors that this master puts together are extraordinary. The sauce is full bodied, popping with mouth smackin' stuff. Sandy uses breakfast link sausages for flavor and then removes them as he says 'for another use'. What other use? They never made it to the refrigerator!

The meat balls are the best ever. A mixture of pork, beef and bread crumbs along with traditional spices makes this hearty meal go a long way. Could easily feed 10 to 12 people. That is if gluttony is absent from the table because of the irresistible urge to have 2nd's and 3rd's.

This recipe rates alongside his Lasagna posted some time ago. Full of flavor from the many ingredients that he insists should be first class. With such results, who can argue?

Click the link in the article to get the full recipe or click to get the Baked Mostaccioli and Basic Tomato Sauce.

Still Alive

Seems to be a repeating pattern with the Buckeyes this sports season. Ranked #1 for most of it and then . . . Let's hope the hoopster Buckeyes complete the task. To date, though, they have made my life a little tooooo frenetic.
Remember when you were a kid and your parents told you to close your eyes because they did not want you to peak too soon for the impending treat that you were sure was gonna be the best one of your life? Excitement was in the air. You knew darn well that you could not last as long as they wanted you to. I suspect that they also knew of the temptations to check things out before the designated time. Strange how they judged our attention span to be that of theirs.
At any rate, my experience was that in a matter of seconds I was peaking through the cracks of my hands to secure a glance at what was great expectation. Never to be disappointed. And, the Buckeyes are treating me the same way this BB season. When you are on top of the heap great expectations are attached to the top award. Expectations great or small are not to be trailing by 20 points. Not in the first half, never. Those cracks between the fingers diminish almost to the point of totally blocking all that was to be seen.

Most times it gets to be a bit much because of the lateness of the night, the irregular play of the putative heroes and maybe some previous late night celebratory tennis shenanigans. The penalty of the actions is, of course, the trepidation the following morning reading about the outcome. O, joyous day! They have risen once again. Only to put me through this again Saturday? Hopefully, not.