I listen to NPR on the way to work every morning and also in the afternoon drive home and each month they have a segment known as “Hidden Kitchens” by the Kitchen Sisters. The sisters are Nikki Silva & Davia Nelson, and are produced in collaboration with Laura Folger, Nathan Dalton, and interns, Alessandra Wollner and Eloise Melzer and the segments are mixed by Jim McKee.

Always a treat listening to each new segment of Hidden Kitchens, and the one that aired this morning entitled Birth Of Rice-a-Roni: The Armenian-Italian Treat, really interested me. Of course they all interest me because I have always been enamored with food history. The story goes back to the 1940’s and an Armenian woman Pailadzo Captanian, also known as “Grandma Cap” in San Francisco who made a rice and pasta pilaf and turned over her recipe to a local pasta company, who in turn gave it a name and a new boxed side dish for American consumers.

The online story also has the original recipe that Mrs. Cap made as well as a Baklava recipe.

A couple of weeks ago Ben asked if I would make some more meatballs and spaghetti, it had been awhile, maybe a year or so, but who’s counting right! On a whim and on the fly while at the store I decided to go ahead and pick up the ingredients to make a batch of the family fav. I knew we already had some of the ingredients on hand like onions, celery and garlic. But I needed the meat and tomato products, so I went through the store picking up the items I needed to complete the recipe.

I make my tomato sauce with canned tomatoes, I find it cheaper and easier to make than using fresh tomatoes. And I also have more control over the sauce consistency too with canned tomato products. I do not use the bottled tomato sauces either, as I find them too thin, I like a very thick and chunky sauce that won’t run or seep liquid when plated. So here is my recipe that was just made this past Saturday and tastes better each day, having some for lunch today too!

Meatballs and Spaghetti

Yield: 2 gallons

Ingredients

Meatballs

1          lb.        Ground beef

1          lb.        Ground pork

2          Tbsp    Worcestershire sauce

2          each     Eggs

2          Tbsp    Italian Seasoning

1          Tsp      Cajun Spice Mix

½         Cup      Italian breadcrumbs

1          Tsp      Garlic salt

Sauce

1          Tbsp    Olive oil

5          Cups    Onions, medium diced

5          Cups    Celery, medium diced

1          Bulb     Garlic cloves (or 10), minced

2          Oz        Anchovies, minced

2          Tbsp    Capers, minced

1          Cup      Red wine

2          Tbsp    Italian Seasoning

1          Tbsp    Basil leaves, chopped

1          Tbsp    Thyme leaves, chopped

1          Tbsp    Oregano leaves, chopped

1          Can      Tomato paste, 6 ounces

1          Can      Tomato sauce, 29 ounces

1          Can      Diced tomatoes, 28 ounces

1          Can      Crushed tomatoes, 28 ounces

1          Can      Peeled plum tomatoes, 28 ounces

3          Each     Bay leaf

2          Tbsp    Worcestershire sauce

To taste            Salt and pepper

Fresh shredded mizithra, semi-soft ricotta or manouri cheese.

Procedure Steps – Note: Pre-heat an oven to 350° F.

1. Prepare the meatballs by combining the ground beef and ground pork with the next six ingredients in a large bowl and mixing well until completely incorporated.
2. Roll out the meatballs into any size you like, I prefer small ½ ounce size meatballs. Then place them onto an ungreased sheet pan or cookie sheet pan and roast them in the oven for 30-40 minutes, or until well browned. When finished drain the excess grease and remove any egg residue that may form around them.
3.  While the meatballs are in the oven heat the olive oil over a medium high heat in a 12 quart sauce pot and then sauté the onions and celery until soft. Then add the garlic, anchovies and capers and continue to sauté a few minutes.
4. Add the red wine and stir well then add the spices and the tomato products starting with the paste then the sauce and the remaining canned tomatoes. Stir well between each tomato product addition.
5. Add the bay leaves and Worcestershire sauce and stir well, then reduce the heat and simmer uncovered. Stirring periodically to prevent any scorching at the bottom of the sauce pot. When the meatballs are done and drained well add then gently to the sauce and fold them into the sauce, allow the sauce to continue to simmer for 1 hour after the meatballs are added.
6. Season to taste with salt and pepper if needed.
7. Serve with freshly cooked angel hair pasta or your pasta of choice and then top with freshly grated cheese. I really like the bold flavor of mizithra cheese, but ricotta or hard parmesan are great too!

I’ve been wanting to write this entry for about week now, but last Sunday we had a small BBQ. I slow cooked on indirect heat some chicken leg quarters and then grilled some boneless skinless chicken breasts towards the end of the BBQ. Chicken leg quarters were on sale for $0.49 lb. for a 10 lb bag, not too shabby a deal, and I always like a good deal! I used my “Finger Lickin’ Rub” spice mix and marinated the leg quarters and breasts overnight before stoking up the lump charcoal on the pit. The leg quarters were positioned to the opposite side of the grill from the hot coals and allowed to bake and smoke in the 300 to 325 degree pit for 2 hours, then the breasts were placed over the coals for about 20-25 minutes until grilled through.

I also did some corn on the cob with the husks still on, but the corn silks removed. I’ll pull back the husks to remove the silks then I brushed on some melted butter and then sprinkled on some garlic salt and black pepper, then pulled the husks back over the cob and wrapped them individually in foil and placed them on the upper rack of the pit. I rotated them from the area over the coals every 15-20 minutes or so for about an hour and a half, then transferred them to a warm 170 degree oven to hold until dinner time. The dinner was great, we even had a surprise visit from my in-laws and they really enjoyed the respite from driving 1,200 miles in two days from a leg of their vacation from Fargo, ND. I also made a batch of potato salad to go along with the chicken and corn.

Oh, did I say leftovers? On Wednesday I made a cold chicken salad with the leftover chicken breasts and it was some good too! Leftovers are great when you can take one item and turn it into something new. For example, have you ever had leftover macaroni and cheese? Turn that leftover into a great Chili Mac! Or how about leftover Crawfish Etoufee? Turn that leftover into Crawfish Pies! Or what about leftover spaghetti? Turn that leftover into a Meatball Sandwich! The idea is to turn a leftover into a completely different dish, that way you won’t get bored with the same ole leftovers!

I know it’s in the middle of summertime here in El Norte and few folks will eat a hot soup on a hot day, but I still love to eat a nice warm soup any day of the year. They are so filling, hearty, and can make a meal in one bowl, how can you go wrong with a good bowl of soup? So, I decided to create a new category named Top 10 Lists(TTL) of my favorite foods and the first TTL will be that warm and savory and sometimes cold and sweet tasty temptation good on both hot and cold days…soup! Yes, even cold soups have their place and some are quite good too! Now in this list of soups I also include bisque, gumbo, chowder, broth, cream and cold soups, any one bowl meal that is made with a stock or cream and eaten with a spoon.  

And then there are the soups that New Orleans restaurants have uniquely contributed and Tom Fitzmorris has an excellent article which was originally published on November 20, 2006 in City Business newspaper featuring his list of the top twenty distinctive New Orleans restaurant soups.  

What does your Top 10 Soup List look like?