so...i've been tapping away at the keyboard with blog stuff but it remains "backstage" because...well...i've learned that i go off on tangents WAY TOO MUCH....and off of those tangents, i digress....from there, you'll find little tangi-gressions...next thing you know, i've written something that resembles or is nearing that of a short story...which isn't really a story at all except to me because i'm crazy and it makes complete and perfect sense and while putting "pen to paper" i'm thinking all the while that everyone is just like me and they'll "get it". but nobody is like me....and the only people in my life that "get me" are angee ...
....and mark. 
mark especially...it's FREAKY! a conversation that would take "normal" people 15 minutes to say and which would include (a guess...) 2649 words would only take us a mere 4.7 minutes and using 133 words. is this common? would others find it bewildering? maybe it's a demonstration of psychic abilities or mind reading? or just simple efficiency? i like to think the latter...because i'm all about efficiency...of course, you wouldn't know that about me just yet because the blog post where i talk about how i like efficiency is STILL BEHIND THE CURTAIN WAITING FOR ITS CUE TO ENTER STAGE LEFT! anyway....SEE how i digress? point is...i've a few posts in "draft" mode that are way too long and will, i hope, give birth to lots of cute little tidy non-pooping or crying posts! smoke 'em if you got'em!
MOVING ON...
my goal: just write about one thing...write it once...post it....and leave it.
lots and lots of rain in san fran today. makes me want to sing songs about rain...like...NO! (focus!) it also makes me want to cook comfort food. i've a number of comfort foods....like... (focus!). for dinner tonight, i made a comfort food that my mother would make when i was growing up. it's a dish that is more than likely not found on the top-10 list...or even top-50 of comfort foods for most of you out there. i'm speaking of a dish called "mustocachali". now, i have this recipe written on a typical recipe card in my mother's own handwriting. whenever she said the name of this dish she pronounced it "muska-CHelli" which doesn't sound like how it reads but that is how i pronounce it too. it's a very simple dish. cheap ingredients, quick and easy to make...not fancy. it is what it is. but for me, it's comfort food. it reminds me of a time....a place....a feeling...and it always will. i believe she wrote this recipe down for me, along with a few other family favorites, the first year during my college career where i was living off-campus and had to start cooking meals for myself....oh, that would be 1991, i suppose. here you go...enjoy!
MUSTOCACHALI (verbatim)
1-2# ground beef
1 pkg shell macaroni
1 large can tomatoes
1 bay leaf *(be sure to remove before serving)
2 sm. cans tomato sauce
2-3 strips of bacon - diced
1 sm. can mushrooms
-over
brown ground beef - drain. add rest of ingredients except for noodles - let simmer 1 hour or more. just before serving, boil noodles & add to above -
easy, huh? and strangely DELICIOUS! of course while making it tonight and being the chef-dude that i am, i had to alter and/or decipher some of the ingredient measurements (i.e., 1-2# of ground beef? i mean...c'mon mom! i love you...but there's a BIG difference between 1 and 2 pounds of beef. about 1 pound, i'd say!) so, i made the dish as follows:
1 T. olive oil
1/2 red onion, medium dice
5 strips THICK bacon, diced
1 tsp. chili flake
2 bay leaves
1# ground beef
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes (mine had onion, celery and green pepper added)
1 14.5 oz can tomato sauce
1 4 oz can sliced mushrooms
Kosher salt to taste
in a 2 qt. sauce pot, heat olive oil. add onion and bacon. cook to golden brown. add chili flake, bay and ground beef and cook till beef is browned. drain off any unwanted fat. (i did not drain off any fat because FAT IS FLAVOR...especially that from the bacon! YUMYUM!) add canned goodies, reduce heat and simmer uncovered 20 minutes. meanwhile, cook pasta as per usual...al dente, of course, and add to sauce. taste! add salt if needed at the very end! remember...bacon is salty and there is sodium in the canned food items so don't add salt until the sauce is done cooking. i probably added about 1 tsp after adding in my macaroni. as this is comfort food for me, i don't care much about coming up with any variations. however, you can add all kinds of goodies...i dunno, just off the top of my head i think maybe i'd like some more heat in there...maybe some
MOVING ON...
my goal: just write about one thing...write it once...post it....and leave it.
lots and lots of rain in san fran today. makes me want to sing songs about rain...like...NO! (focus!) it also makes me want to cook comfort food. i've a number of comfort foods....like...
MUSTOCACHALI (verbatim)
1-2# ground beef
1 pkg shell macaroni
1 large can tomatoes
1 bay leaf *(be sure to remove before serving)
2 sm. cans tomato sauce
2-3 strips of bacon - diced
1 sm. can mushrooms
-over
brown ground beef - drain. add rest of ingredients except for noodles - let simmer 1 hour or more. just before serving, boil noodles & add to above -
easy, huh? and strangely DELICIOUS! of course while making it tonight and being the chef-dude that i am, i had to alter and/or decipher some of the ingredient measurements (i.e., 1-2# of ground beef? i mean...c'mon mom! i love you...but there's a BIG difference between 1 and 2 pounds of beef. about 1 pound, i'd say!) so, i made the dish as follows:
1 T. olive oil
1/2 red onion, medium dice
5 strips THICK bacon, diced
1 tsp. chili flake
2 bay leaves
1# ground beef
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes (mine had onion, celery and green pepper added)
1 14.5 oz can tomato sauce
1 4 oz can sliced mushrooms
Kosher salt to taste
in a 2 qt. sauce pot, heat olive oil. add onion and bacon. cook to golden brown. add chili flake, bay and ground beef and cook till beef is browned. drain off any unwanted fat. (i did not drain off any fat because FAT IS FLAVOR...especially that from the bacon! YUMYUM!) add canned goodies, reduce heat and simmer uncovered 20 minutes. meanwhile, cook pasta as per usual...al dente, of course, and add to sauce. taste! add salt if needed at the very end! remember...bacon is salty and there is sodium in the canned food items so don't add salt until the sauce is done cooking. i probably added about 1 tsp after adding in my macaroni. as this is comfort food for me, i don't care much about coming up with any variations. however, you can add all kinds of goodies...i dunno, just off the top of my head i think maybe i'd like some more heat in there...maybe some
chopped green chilis?
black olives? chopped garlic?
grated parm...pecorino on top? fresh tomatoes
fresh mushrooms .....???
you could take it into "CHEF-OVERDRIVE" and deglaze with wine....use chicken stock...and so on and so forth! but, i like it just the way my mother made it.
belly full and quite content, i wondered about the name of this dish...its origins, variations, etc. i wondered if perhaps my mother just made it up...or learned it from her mother...or sister...or from another mommy in our neighborhood...or...or...or...my mind roamed with possibilities. i googled "mustocachali". no match by name. i "googed" some of the ingredients and the closest thing i found to my mother's concoction was "goulash". i don't consider this goulash. i consider it a little piece of heaven that has fallen from the sky ....much like the rain that, even now, i can hear making oh so much noise outside and that which inspired me to cook this meal tonight and, ultimately, share with you....whomever you may be.
***** UPDATE *****
belly full and quite content, i wondered about the name of this dish...its origins, variations, etc. i wondered if perhaps my mother just made it up...or learned it from her mother...or sister...or from another mommy in our neighborhood...or...or...or...my mind roamed with possibilities. i googled "mustocachali". no match by name. i "googed" some of the ingredients and the closest thing i found to my mother's concoction was "goulash". i don't consider this goulash. i consider it a little piece of heaven that has fallen from the sky ....much like the rain that, even now, i can hear making oh so much noise outside and that which inspired me to cook this meal tonight and, ultimately, share with you....whomever you may be.
***** UPDATE *****
so, i'm cruizin' thru the grocery store a couple of weeks ago...like i do; LIST...in hand....AND...listed in the order of how the items fall in the store (just like mother taught me!)starting to the far left in the produce and ending in the bakery/deli so as not to waste any time! (i'm like that, you know! OH! by the way, **PET PEEVE** if you've parked your shopping cart on one side of the aisle and your rear end (ahem! EUPHEMISM!) occupies the space between your cart and the goods on the shelf before you as you compare the sodium content of this "33% less sodium" condensed soup vs. the "other brand"...OR...if you're meanding aimless thru the meat section trying to decide, "whats for dinner tonight?", and you see me coming your way, please step aside! i'm one of those shoppers that knows why i'm there... what i'm getting... and where it's at...MOVE IT! and, thank you!) anyway...
MOVING ON...
picture if you will:
i'm zippin' down the pasta / asian / kosher aisle
(a goofy, catch-all aisle, huh? like...why is that hot tub/ spa stores also sell billiard tables?)
when... all of the sudden .....SHABLAMMY!!!!
i was .....ENLIGHTENED! TRULY...TRULY ENLIGHTENTED!!!
God...
Buddha....
AND... Yahweh...
i swear it, all heard my plea,
"what the heck is mustacochali?"
and wanted desperately for me to know.
for lo, and behold!
on the shelf....right in front of my eyes...
(I'm CERTAIN Yahweh flipped the bill for those slotting-fees, lest Zagbrobbagaghra and BellyBuddhaBoy consider him a MISER!!)
gleaming oh so brightly...
like the Virgin Mary...
munching on fortune cookies...
singing, "I have a little dreidel. I made it out of clay. And when it's dry and ready. Then dreidel I shall play!", ...
was the answer to my question; a box...of pasta....labled, "MOSTACCIOLI"!!!
so there you have it:
3 out of 4 dieties agree, that my mother's recipe, "mustacochali", is, without a doubt, i think, this heavenly and totally tubular pasta!
PRAISE BE TO R'AMEN!
PRAISE BE TO R'AMEN!