BAKED MAC & BEANS

I did my undergrad from Mount Carmel College in Bangalore and pretty much anyone who've studied there around that time would be familiar with Raj shop on Loafer's Lane / Vasanthnagar. He makes the best ever Mexican Chaat and he is the only person whom I know that makes it. It was one of our indulgence during the hostel days when we would try to restrict our spending within our pocket money. My other indulgence was the Sweet Chariot's Chocolate Mousse Cake which I later mastered in making and was super duper thrilled about it . You can read about it here...my post from way back in 2009.

In February, while Jobin was in Bangalore for work, we joined him and spent close to 2 weeks roaming around town dining at new restaurants and revisiting our old favourite restaurants.So one day, I asked him if he could take to me Raj's shop to eat a Mexican Chaat. I was not really sure if the joint was still open. When we reached there, the shop was open and Raj was inside bossing around the girls who came to buy the goodies from his store. He is known for the way he talks with the college girls. When I asked him for a Mexcian Chaat he was like,'What are YOU doing here now?'. It's been 11 years since I last visited that store and nothing has changed. Nothing at all!

One of my favourite past time is to play some videos on Youtube while I cook or pretty much do anything around the house. Cooking videos are my current favourite and I happened to chance upon this one by Ruchi. She made me want to give it a try at home and I am really glad that I did! As I was eating spoonfuls of the piping hot pasta just out of the oven, I was reminded of a very familiar taste. I couldn't for some reason figure out what that was and then when I reached the rock bottom of the bowl, while scraping out the leftover baked sauce I realized that it tasted like Raj's Mexican Chaat!

Ruchi makes her Bechamel sauce a.k.a White sauce in a different way. It's much easier and tastes good. I couldn't find the proportions to the ingredients for her recipe so I have added and decreased the ingredients the way I thought we would like it. It's a very forgiving recipe, so feel free to play with it. With all the beans and oregano in it, it does have a Mexican taste to it.

BAKED MAC & BEANS
Serves 2-3

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup cooked macaroni

1 tablespoon cornflour
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 cup milk

1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup chopped onions
2 large cloves garlic, made to a paste
1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper
1/4 cup frozen sweet corn
1/2 cup baked beans (tinned)
2 tablespoons tomato ketchup
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 1/2 teaspoon red chili powder
A few dashes of hot sauce (like Tabasco,Cholula)
Salt & pepper

Shredded Cheddar, as needed

Method: In a saucepan, mix together cornflour, butter and milk. Cook on medium heat till it boils becomes thick. Set it aside.
In a saute pan, heat the butter and saute the onion till soft and translucent. Add the garlic paste and give it a mix. Add the remaining vegetables and saute for a minute or two. Then add in the beans, ketchup, oregano, red chili powder and hot sauce. Cook for 2-3 minute or until it thickens up. Turn off the heat and mix in the white sauce. Add the cooked pasta and mix well.Season to taste.

Transfer this mixture into a small baking dish and top it with cheese. Bake at 180 C/ 350 F for 10-12 minutes or until the cheese has melted.
Serve hot and enjoy!

So Zara thinks no matter what I cook, it is all for her. She will not keep quiet until I let her taste it. So today,she got her first share of pasta. She wasn't very sure about the texture of the pasta so she gave me a wide toothless grin while chewing it.It's really funny to see her push the food back into her mouth if it happens to comes outside.She is seriously one joker who loves to try everything. She thinks we all need to eat the same food,adult food that is! I am waiting for Ian to get back from his Montessori to listen to his 'dialogues' about this dish. He loves pasta,so he might like this too.

LASAGNA-STYLE BAKED ZITI

It is so incredibly cold here in Minneapolis now and cold makes me hungry all the time! I enjoy soups,stews,cheesy pasta dish etc around this time of the year. Lasagna is definitely an indulgent dish perfect for this cold weather. I usually make them with the flat Lasagna noodles but this time, I thought of using a different shaped pasta.A Ziti. The flavours were spot on and it made a tasty meal!

I made this dish using Bertolli Riserva Marinara with Parmigiano Reggiano. It's is my brand of choice for a good bottled marinara.The flavours are well balanced and they have many flavours of marinara sauce now.

This meal can be made ahead of time and frozen. I do that quite a bit nowadays to save time. When I made it, I divided it into two pans and froze one right away. Whenever you are ready for a lazy day,just pull it out of the freezer a few hours before you need it,let it thaw completely and then bake it as mentioned in the directions.

Ian is a pasta lover! He enjoys taking it with him to school and looks forward to eating it at lunch time.He loves Pizza too,especially the ones we get in Costco. It's a huge slice but my little man can eat it,even if Jobin and I have to share one slice! It's been a while since I made Pizza at home...hmmm! These days, I fulfill all of my baking dreams in school,so I rarely bake anymore at home other than our usual stuff like a Roast Chicken, Fish Pie, Baked Pasta,Kebabs,Wings etc. I really miss that point of time in my life when I had ALL the time in the world to myself to do all what I wanted to do! Life is incredibly good right now but I certainly miss my 'me -time'!.

Now back to this delicious pasta dish...I found this recipe on My Recipes.com and this one is a keeper!

LASAGNA-STYLE BAKED ZITI

Ingredients:
12 ounces Ziti
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
3/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 pound ground lean beef
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoon dried oregano,crushed
1 26 ounce bottle of Bertolli Reserva Pasta Sauce
1/2 cup Parmesan
1 15 ounce container Ricotta
1 10 ounce container frozen spinach,thawed and squeezed to remove liquid
1 cup grated Mozzarella

Method: Cook pasta according to the instructions on the box.

In a large pot one medium -heat, cook onions in 1 tablespoon oil,salt and pepper until soft, 5-7 minutes.Add ground beef,crumble it up using a spoon and cook until it's no longer pink, 7-8 minutes. Drain off the excess liquid.Add the garlic and oregano and cook for 2 minutes. Add the pasta sauce and cook for another 3 minutes.Remove from heat.

Add the pasta and toss to mix. Add Parmesan, ricotta and spinach. Toss well to coat. Transfer the pasta to a 9X13 inch baking dish.Top it with Mozzarella and bake at 400F for 20 minutes or until the cheese has melted.

*If you are planning to freeze it, do not bake it. Let it cool completely, then wrap it in two layers of foil and freeze it for upto 3 months. Thaw it in the fridge overnight and bake covered at 350F for 1 hour. Uncover and bake until Mozzarella melts.

Did I tell you that Jobin is going to school now? He joined Columbia University, New York in September. He is currently in New York for 5 days and I am praying that I don't have to go out in this super duper cold weather for any kind of shopping,grocery especially. I am just using up all what I have on hand in the fridge and freezer. It's a crockpot Chicken Wild Rice soup for dinner tonight! Just the thought of having soup for dinner is making me feel warm and nice!