Living the Justopian Life

Are You a Turtle?

I know, I know, it doesn’t make sense. I don’t think it’s supposed to. It’s like the question … Are you a turtle? These were the things of my childhood. Back in the day when things were simple and — well — just plain non sensical and silly. And at this point, memories of silly is a good thing.

Oh and something else. I have a new obsession. A friend told me about a new show on USA — Royal Pains — and I’m here to tell you that when you find yourself wringing your hands over the clearly ridiculous, stupid, worthless schedule of “Reality TV” shows that dot the TV Guide, this one has me hooked and I want you to get hooked too. It’s a funny, over the top, often far-fetched look at a “concierge doctor” in the idyllic world of The Hamptons. I love the cast, the story lines, the beauty of the Hamptons, the intelligent humor and the hot doctor — Yep, I said it. I’ve gone totally out of my blogging comfort zone, but he’s … yeah, I don’t need to elaborate. Anyway, just watch it, ok?

And now, the food.

I made a noodle casserole yesterday morning. Really, a kind of lasagna. I had all the ingredients, some of which were from the store. It’s tough to pass up clearance food with my employee discount, ya know!

I ran across a blog post in which the author used noodles, I think they were penne, for a type of casserole and she stood them up. I liked the way it looked and although I couldn’t remember the blog I found this on, I thought I’d make it up as I went along. How difficult could it be?

It looks cool, right? Ummm…but what would I do with the rest of the sauce, cheese, and meat now that the noodles were standing like soldiers

I started by scooping the ricotta/egg/parmesan mixture into the spaces of each noodle, but that meant man-handling the food way too much. It’s not that I dislike playing with food, but somehow touching each and every noodle just seemed wrong. So I decided that the ingredients would find their way into the noodles as it cooked and spread the cheese, sauce and meat over the noodles.

Topped with sauce and then the shredded mozzarella.

Can someone please tell me why some colors — red, for instance — turn out so hot with this camera? Is it the white balance?

Speaking of white. I chopped a small handful of fresh flat leaf parsley and incorporated it into the cheese for color.

My mistake here was buying low moisture mozzarella. It’s too dry to be used as a topping for something that’s going to be baked off in the oven, but it’s all I had available to me yesterday.

For an accompaniment I made fried zucchini. Easy. Slice the zuke into strips or sticks. Dip in egg. Dip in bread crumbs — I mixed mine with a couple of tablespoons of cornmeal — and then into hot fat. I use a mix of vegetable and olive oil. Yum!

Not too shabby, eh?

I’m sorry. I know I’m torturing you. But really, this is so easy you can make it too and you don’t have to stop at zucchini. How about yellow squash. Or eggplant? Mushrooms. The possibilities are endless. Go ahead, try it.

Filed under: Food, How To