Merry Meet and Merry Part, and Merry Meet again

Friday, April 13, 2012

Wiccan Cooks--Just Like OctoberFarm (sorta kinda)

There is a wonderful, witchy lady in the blog-o-sphere who is beloved by all her followers. Joyce of the blog,
OctoberFarm blog  is a fabulous cook and baker, crafter, decorator, artist, gardener, collector, and so much more. Her Chow, Teddy is a superstar in her own right. If you have never visited this blog, do yourself a favor and have a look. Her sidebar is loaded with links to many many recipes, with photos and preparation hints.

That being said, Joyce injured her hand rather seriously and has been unable to blog much lately as she recovers. Many of us are going into withdrawal, not getting our daily dose of Joyce's posts.  In her honor, last night as I was preparing dinner, I thought, "do an OctoberFarm post". 

So here is my version of Mezzo Penne with Roasted Garlic Tomato Sauce. Put your aprons on now!

Okay, so Joyce prepares everything from scratch, often times using her own home-grown herbs and veggies. She bakes her breads and rolls from scratch. Using an endless variety of interesting seasonings, flavorings, spices, and all kinds of ingredients you have never heard of, Joyce turns out the most delicious looking entrees, sides and desserts. She also cooks and bakes in mass quantities, but usually will give the recipe for those of us who cook for less than 100!



So in your pan, brown up some ground beef, lightly seasoned with salt and pepper. Add your beautifully roasted tomatoes, with garlic, lightly crushed. (um.....I used Contadina's). Stir this around, sprinkling with garlic powder, some basil, some oregano, whatever flavorings you enjoy with your Italian sauces. Now add some lovely pureed tomatoes that will blend in beautifully. (again.....er....Contadina).


Chop up some mushrooms and onions, and add them to your bubbling meat sauce.  Things should be smelling really good now.....yum!   Simmer Simmer Simmer.


While your meat sauce is simmering, bubbling and aromatically inducing joyful hunger pangs, thaw out some of those wonderful, from scratch, home made rolls (um......er.....I got mine at Wegmans supermarket)


I enjoy using Barilla pastas, and this one is the Mezza Penne, or little penne, just perfect for a meal on Thursday night.
(Don't tell Joyce, but hiding behind the pasta box, is Kraft Parmesan cheese, the kind you shake out. I did add some of that to my sauce, instead of grating a big block of real parmesan. Though the people at Kraft will tell you theirs is real cheese too. I didn't want her to know that I use that stuff....shhhhh!)


Anyhooo, so now you have sliced and buttered these rolls, added garlic to one half, because the other half must remain plain for those of us (ahem) who do not care for garlic bread all that much. Place them in the oven to get nice and crispy and lovely.

Boil the penne for approximately 9 minutes (sorry, forgot to take a photo, but it looked like boiling water, with pasta in it, and steam all flying up all over)


Voila!! Here is the presentation. The meat sauce was mixed into the drained penne, stirred all around. Grate some cheddar and parmesan (this is real parmesan here, by the way). Add a couple of hot buttered rolls, and bob's your uncle!   Enjoy!


Disclaimer:  Joyce prepares, explains and photographs a million times better than my little homage to her. Please do visit her and leave her some well wishes for a very speedy recovery!

14 comments:

jaz@octoberfarm said...

wow..thanks so much!!!! i am so honored! i am always amazed when someone makes my recipes! i am so thankful for your post! i just made one handed bulgogi but could not take photos. but it gives me hope i will be back soon. my appointment is on tuesday so hopefully this enormous cast will be off then! teddy thanks you too!!!

Bossy Betty said...

I stopped by to say thank you for your comment you made weeks ago on my blog, but I stayed for the food! Yum!

Magaly Guerrero said...

I am SOOO hungry now.

Aine O'Brien said...

hahahaha!! cheat cheat - never beat!!! Sometimes I make a recipe from a gourmet source and I end up claiming it was a "long run for a short slide" and create my own, not so gourmet version! (and it takes a bit of talent to do this as well!!)

Sandy Sandy Art said...

Wow Robin! What a wonderful tribute to your recovering friend, Joyce. I loved seeing your photos and reading your step-by-step recipe for "Mezzo Penne with Roasted Garlic Tomato Sauce". I have not had much of an appetite lately, but feel really hungry now! I hope you will continue posting more of your culinary interpretations of Joyce's recipes here! :-D

Lady Caer Morganna said...

MMMM. mmmmm, me thinks I shall try this delicious recipe!!

Thanks, Robin!!!

Brightest Blessings,

Kim

Anonymous said...

Robin, what a wonderful dedication to Joyce. Isn't she simply amazing??? I have always loved her blog, her energy and wit. And that Teddy...what a sweetheart. Well your meal looks simply decadent! Have a beautiful weekend.

SharleneT said...

An excellent homage -- now, about that fromage! Between you and me, I don't think she saw it in the picture... Joyce is... well, Joyce... there is no comparison, we can only visit and drool... Great post, Robin.

Magic Love Crow said...

Robin, you are so cute ;o) I love pasta! Too bad I didn't live closer ;o) I went over to your friend's blog, her dog is so cute!!I hope she recovers soon ;o)

Anonymous said...

Robin, I don't know how I missed this post but boy am I happy that I saw it today!!! You did a great job and you did Joyce a nice homage to her blog, which by the way, I love!!!

Great Big Hugs,
Jan

Anonymous said...

Joyce is spoiling me and I love it :-) :-) :-)
This do look yummy but it is a long time since I saw one of those bags with Parmesan cheese. I remember them from when I was a kid and I loved pouring out some of that cheese in to my hand and lick it up :-) :-) :-) Now I must find one of those bags in a store :-) :-)

Have a great day!
Christer.

Jeanne said...

A very yummy dinner if you ask me! I write this as I eat my piece of home cooked pizza - DiGiorno style :0)

Unknown said...

That looks so good! I can just smell the aroma! I'm going to have to make that, but over a whole wheat roll. Whole wheat pasta just does not do it for me. Keep cooking!

c. Joy said...

It's 9 pm on a Sunday night... I was not the least bit hungry until I read this post... darn. Off to read about Joyce.