Spaghetti and Meatballs

So yesterday I made a classic spaghetti and meatball dish for my son's 2 month b-day dinner (for Arlene and me of course). This was my first time using a panade, which is an Italian technique of using milk and bread to form a paste which helps stretch and moisten ground meat. It's great for meatballs or making well-done burgers without drying out the meat. Here's the recipe below:


From Tyler Florence:

Ingredients

* Extra-virgin olive oil
* 1 onion, chopped
* 2 garlic cloves, smashed
* 2 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh parsley leaves
* 1 cup milk
* 4 thick slices firm white bread, crust removed
* 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
* 1 1/2 pounds ground pork
* 1 large egg
* 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus more for serving
* Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
* 4 cups heated Pomodoro Sauce, recipe follows, or good quality jarred tomato sauce
* 1/2 pound mozzarella cheese, cut into chunks
* Leaves from 3 sprigs fresh basil
* 1 pound spaghetti

Directions

Bring a big pot of salted water to a boil for the spaghetti. Heat 3 tablespoons oil in an ovenproof skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, and parsley and cook until the vegetables are soft but still translucent, about 10 minutes. Take the pan off the heat and let cool.

Pour enough milk over the bread in a bowl to moisten and let it soak while the onions are cooling. Combine the meats in a large bowl. Add the egg and Parmigiano and season generously with salt and pepper. Use your hands to squeeze the excess milk out of the bread and add that to the bowl along with the cooled onion mixture. (Hang onto the pan - you'll need it to cook the meatballs.) Gently combine all the ingredients with your hands or with a spoon until just mixed together. Don't overwork or the meatballs will be tough. Divide into 10 equal pieces and shape them into 10 nice looking meatballs.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Heat a 3-count of oil in the frying pan over medium heat and brown the meatballs on all sides, about 10 minutes. Put them into a baking dish and spoon about half of the tomato sauce over. Shower with the mozzarella and drizzle with olive oil. Put the meatballs in the oven and bake until the meatballs are cooked through, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti in the boiling water until al dente, about 8 minutes. Drain and put it onto a large serving platter. Pour on the rest of the sauce and mix well. Spoon the meatballs on top of the spaghetti and garnish with basil leaves. Serve immediately along with extra cheese.
Pomodoro Sauce:

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, chopped

2 (28-ounce) cans whole peeled San Marzano tomatoes, drained and crushed by hand, liquid reserved

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, torn into pieces

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until the vegetables are soft, 4 to 5 minutes. Carefully add the tomatoes (nothing splashes like tomatoes) and about 1/2 cup of the reserved liquid and season with salt and pepper. Cook until the sauce is thick, about 15 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, stirring for a few minutes with a wooden spoon to further break up the tomatoes. Reduce the heat and let simmer for 20 to 25 minutes. Stir in the fresh basil and season again.

Yield: 4 cups



Noah's not a happy camper since he's not old enough to eat solid foods.

Risotto Balls

Yes, it's been forever since I last posted anything. I've been struggling on what to focus this blog on, but I think I've finally figured it out...FOOD! Here goes...

Shrimp and asparragus risotto the night before...




Rolling the day old risotto in balls and cover in flour and panko bread crumbs...


Staging area...


Fry to golden...


Finished product..

Reel Mowing Sucks!!!

So in an effort to go green around the house and in my garden I purchased a Scotts 20" reel mower to replace my electrical mower. My electrical mower works great, but I wanted to get something that was cordless and didn't rely on gas.



Long story short...The Scott's reel mower requires a lot of work, which includes keeping the blade clean and keeping your lawn short. This means you need to mow your lawn about twice a week. Now who the heck has enough time to mow their lawn twice a week. Needless to say, I returned the Scott's mower to Home Depot and continue to use my electric mower. Also, the reel mower busted after the fourth and last time I used it.

I'm back!!!

Okay, I know I've been away on this thing due to work, getting ready with the baby and fatherhood. Let me just say fatherhood is awesome!!! With that said, I'm not quite sure what direction to take this blog. It's been sort of a mixed bag of topics, but I think I'm going to try to focus it on running, technology, going green and fatherhood, and trying to find a balance among the four. We shall see, but I'll try to provide more content soon.

5 Things I hate about business travel

So, I'm on travel this week on business to beautiful San Diego for the week. It's been a while since I've been on travel on business and it reminded me of my time with Capgemini when I traveled Monday through Friday on six month engagements every week. Although my nice expense account, travel status, Delta Skymiles and Hyatt Diamond Points are no longer, my trip reminded me why I left the traveling world of telecom consulting. I'm a very patient traveler and can tolerate all kinds of situations, but here are my top 5 pet peeves on business travel.

5. Security Lines (primarily when people don't prepare for them, like having bottled water, don't take off their shoes, or don't take their laptops out of their bags)

4. Babies crying on the plan (I know I'm expecting one -- It's just annoying)

3. Over priced nasty food at the airport ($6 for a Miller Lite? Really?)

2. Delays (especially the ones that involve sitting on the tarmac for more than 30 mins)

1. Being away from home

What are yours?