Pastitsio from Amy Sedaris' book I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence

I sometimes describe pastitsio as "Greek lasagna," since it has all the principal parts: pasta, tomatoey sauce, ground meat, cheese, and rich creamy goodness holding it all together. But pastitsio, in all of its Greek fabulosity, is something special. The name comes from the Italian pasticcio, a type of baked savory pies which may contain meat, fish, or pasta. Many Italian versions include a pastry crust,  and some include béchamel similar to the cream sauce in pastitsio. The word pasticcio comes from pasta and means 'pie.' Anyway, it's great for potlucks and get-togethers, and is a great cold-weather comfort.

Though there are many variations on pastitsio originating from the Mediterranean region (and even from Egypt), this recipe is Amy Sedaris' Greek family recipe. And I think its fantastic. For many other fantastic recipes and lots of vintage-themed humor, check out her book, I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence. As you probably would have guessed, I wasn't paid to say that.

As you can tell, pastitsio is NOT light on fat or calories, but that's why it's so great for sharing with a crowd. With a salad or a veggie, a small piece is plenty satisfying. This recipe makes a large dish; enough for 6-8 people, I would say.

Ingredients

Macaroni
1 (16 ounce) package ziti pasta
5 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup parmesan cheese or kefalotiri
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
salt and pepper
3 eggs, lightly beaten

Meat Sauce
1-1 1/2 lb ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 crushed garlic clove
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 small can tomato paste
1/2 cup red wine
8 ounces beef broth or stock
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 teaspoon sugar
salt and pepper

Cream Sauce
1/3 cup butter
1/2 cup flour
3 cups milk
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
salt and pepper
1 egg

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F
2. In a large pot, boil and drain your ziti, return to pot. Melt butter. Pour over ziti and toss. Add 1/2 cup of the cheese, the nutmeg, salt and pepper. Save a little of the cheese to sprinkle over the top before baking. Toss again and set aside. Let it cool a little before adding the eggs. Toss well.
3. To make meat sauce, brown meat in a frying pan until almost fully cooked. Drain off the fat and set the meat aside. Fry onion and garlic in oil. Add meat and remaining ingredients. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
4. To make the cream sauce, melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in flour and cook until smooth. Add milk all at once and bring to a boil, stiring constantly. Add nutmeg, salt and pepper. Let it cool, then stir in th beaten egg.
5. Add 1/2 cup of this cream sauce to the meat sauce and mix.
6. To assemble, use a 13x9x3 inch oven dish, buttered. Spoon 1/2 of the macaroni evenly on the bottom, then top with the meat sauce. Cover that layer with remaining macaroni. Pour on cream sauce and spread over the entire top. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top and bake until a little brown, about 45 minutes.

We had our pastitsio with steamed veggies, and a salad with Greek vinaigrette (made by Mom) and a sprinkling of Feta. I followed Amy's winning recipe exactly, except for one thing. Instead of using ground beef alone, I used a "meatball mix" - a combination of ground beef, pork and veal that imparts a slightly more complex flavor. I'm not hating on the all-beef version, though. It's a classic, and I'm sure somehow my mixed-meat-method is offensive to the authenticity of the Greek dish. Overall I wouldn't even say that the difference is noticeable, so I would use what I hand on hand. Either way - Yum. I recommend pairing it with a robust red wine.

Quote of the Day: Tomato and oregano make it Italian; wine and tarragon make it French; sour cream makes it Russian; lemon and cinnamon makes it Greek; soy sauce makes it Chinese and garlic makes it good. ~ Jenny Morris

A Somewhat Belated "Happy New Year" from the Guerilla Kitchen

Hello and Happy 2012 to you all! I'm a little late to the party, I know, but better late than never, I hope. (And it's still 2012, after all.) I hope you had a festive holiday season with friends and family, and that you watched A Charlie Brown Christmas at least as many times as I did. (Four).

As for many of you, the holidays were a busy, yet enjoyable time for Brady and myself.

Allie and I traditionally spend Christmas Eve with our Dad, Vince, the zany-looking fellow you see here. Naturally Allie's manfriend Sebastian is the guy taking the picture.

Some of these packages contained fun, fabulous new kitchen gadgets for the GK. Like a hand mixer! No more creaming butter and sugar by hand for THIS lady!

New Year's was spent in Boston with our dear family friend Kathy, who has been gracious enough to host us in all or multitudes (Allie, Sebastian, Brady, Dad and myself) for four straight years now. Between all the visiting, gifting and eating, we've been fairly booked solid until just recently, but we wouldn't have it any other way. Though we are still on the Cape with my family for the time being, we will be heading back to western MA within a week, so we are enjoying the best of the place while we can.

We've taken some great walks through woods, marshes and colonial cemeteries. 

Cape Cod is lovely in the winter, don't be fooled by its summer-only reputation.

Obviously, "the best of Cape Cod" involves seafood, so expect some fresh food posts for the brand new year! Coming soon: fish tacos (probably beer battered), Amy Sedaris' killer pastitsio (not seafood but still fab), and basically anything that I can cook in my extremely glamorous new lidded three-ply aluminum Le Creuset saute pan. And as always, I'm open to requests and suggestions, so have at it!

All photo credit for this post goes to my very talented future brother-in-law, Sebastian Ebarb of Sebastian Ebarb Design.

Fun & Festive Cake Pops

Hello readers! As many of you know, while this week has ended with cozy family holiday time, it began with a move from Philadelphia to my new home in western Massachusetts and a bit of chaos in between. All went smoothly, though, and now I am happy to be on Cape Cod with my loved ones for the holidays.

... But lets get back to the reason we are all here. Food.

Every year for the last 7 Christmases or so, my sister Allie and I have baked, dipped, or otherwise assembled a seasonal treat for our extended family members as low-cost, high-cheer-impact Christmas gifts. We've made many types of treats, from ginger lemon cookies the first year to pretzel rods dipped in chocolate and rolled in chopped pistachios, but we always have a riot of a time working together in the kitchen. In pretty festive packaging, even the simplest sweets make very welcome gifts. This year we thought we would try something new and adventurous, the cake pop. Also known as cake balls or cakesicles, they happen to be very trendy at the moment, stealing some thunder from the fading cupcake craze.

We began with the very clever and simple technique described on The Kitchn (not a typo). But, rather than making our cake from scratch, we turned to the good people at Trader Joe's. Basically, this method involves baking a cake, crumbling it up, making a simple cream cheese frosting, and combining the two into tasty little morsels on sticks. We baked two batches each of TJ's Truffle Brownie Mix (dipped in milk chocolate) and Vanilla Cake & Baking Mix (dipped in white chocolate), decorated with festive silver and gold dragees and crushed candy canes. You could decorate your pops with sprinkles, coconut, colored sugar, mini marshmallows, or even mini M&Ms. These are so much fun to make, gift and eat.

Since most of us are baking for a crowd this time of year, this recipe is for two boxes of mix and enough frosting to glue it all together.

Ingredients & Supplies:
2 boxes Trader Joe's Truffle Brownie Mix or Vanilla Cake & Baking Mix (these each call for butter, eggs, and milk, so read the package before you finalize your shopping list)
2 cups confectioner's sugar
4 tablespoons butter
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
About 1 tablespoon milk (or more, as needed)
12 oz. dark, milk or white chocolate for dipping (you can use meltable chocolate, found at craft stores, or regular bar chocolate with a small square of edible wax optional for a more melt-resistant shell)
Cardboard or plastic lollipop sticks (get these at Michael's, A.C. Moore or other craft stores; may need to be cut to size)
Cookie sheets or trays
Wax or parchment paper
Cookie and/or cake decorations of your choice


Directions:
1. Bake your cake according to the package directions. (In a large baking dish, you can bake both boxes at once). Let cake cool completely, ideally overnight.
2. Using two forks or your hands, break the cake up into fine crumbs. (We did forks then hands).

3. In a separate bowl, whip together the butter, sugar, milk and cream cheese until smooth. Pour into the cake crumbs and mix with a spoon. [Note: If using the brownie mix, add about 2/3 of the icing, mix, and check texture. The full frosting recipe may not be needed.] Continue mixing with your fingers, until frosting is fully incorporated into the cake.
4. Try rolling the dough into a ball. If it is malleable and holds its shape (as it should be), it's ready to go. If it is too dry, add milk a teaspoon at a time until the dough is easy to mold. When the dough is ready, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm. Dough can be refrigerated for up to three days.
5. To make your pops, first line 3 or 4 baking sheets with wax paper or parchment. Take about a tablespoon of dough, roll it into a smooth ball. Insert the stick and place ball on paper-lined baking sheet. As you fill up the sheets, stick them in the freezer to harden the balls.
6. To decorate your pops, melt the chocolate (and wax, if you're using it) in a double-boiler on the stove, or in the microwave, taking care not to over-heat it. Dip the ball in, and place back on the papered baking sheet. Dip in sugar, chopped nuts, or coconut, or sprinkle with your decoration of choice.

Gold and silver dragees and smashed candy canes for decorating.

So pretty!

[A Note about Decorating: Since you want your sprinkles or what-have-yous to stick well to the chocolate before it hardens, we found that the best assembly method was for one person to do the dipping and the other to do the decorating, trading jobs occasionally.]

Please enjoy this fantastic video of the cake-pop making process, made by my future brother in law Sebastian Ebarb of Sebastian Ebarb Design. It features overly dramatic Trans-Siberian Orchestra music chosen by yours truly, and hand-modeling appearances by both Allie and myself. (Photos in this post are also his handiwork).

Cake Pop from Sebastian Ebarb on Vimeo.

We way underestimated the total number of sticks we would need, so we ended up with some cake "bites" that can't really be called pops. Still, they are just as delicious as they are adorable. You will probably need about 50 sticks, to be on the safe side.

Pops in process. The naked vanilla ones look a lot like plain donut holes!

After the slight snap of biting through the chocolate shell, you reach the super moist, rich center. These can be frozen, but don't refrigerate them or the chocolate shell will get weepy and strange. Of course, these are meant as an occasional treat, so indulge in moderation, but "tis the season," so whatever.

Happy Holidays, everybody! With love from my kitchen to yours,
Genevieve

UPDATE: It was unfair of me to talk of festive packaging and not show you what ours looked like all ready to be gifted, so here is a glimpse: