Carmela Soprano's Chicken, Anna Sultana's Spaghetti Pie

The lasagne was a success. Paul liked my new hobby.

Last week Sobey's had a 2-for-1 deal on chicken breasts, so I went back to my new cookbook Entertaining with The Sopranos and looked for a chicken recipe. Carmela's Crunchy Baked Chicken looked simple and extremely familiar.

Carmela had the same basic ingredients as Ma's Crunchy Fried Chicken: mix some dry bread crumbs with grated cheese. Throw in a few Italian spices. Dip the chicken pieces in a beaten egg, roll the chicken in the crumb mixture and bake.

Bake?

Eureka!!! I had found something better than Ma's recipe. I loved my Ma's fried chicken. To eat, not to make. When I made it, grease flew all over me and the kitchen. And when I served it, well, some parts were burned and some parts were raw. Ma's fried chicken was a fond memory never to be recreated by me. But, baking? No problem. No muss. No fuss.

Baking the chicken wasn't enough of a challenge. I flipped through the book and found another old favorite, Spaghetti Pie. With that recipe in mind, I cooked enough spaghetti to serve with the chicken and to use for the pie.

Paul raved about the chicken. He thought I'd made my Ma's recipe. Okay. What he doesn't know won't hurt him. We've been married almost 38 years. A little lie once in a while is par for the course. We're talking cooking, not sex.

A couple of nights after the chicken success, I decided to make the Spaghetti Pie recipe.

Hmmm. Carmela is married to a well to do fellow. She has nails out to there. And her Spaghetti Pie recipe showed that the Sopranos were eating high off the hog. It had a few extra ingredients: 2 ounces each of both Genoa salami or soppressata and prosciutto or boiled ham, plus 4 ounces of provolone and a 1/2 cup of Pecorino Romano or Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Carmela also said, "You will not need salt, because the meats and cheeses are salty." Hello? Has Tony checked his blood pressure lately?

When Ma made Spaghetti Pie we knew it was either Friday or time to pay the house's heating oil bill.

Ma's Spaghetti Pie was simpler than Carmela's. Cheaper, too. No meat. Some milk stretched the eggs. Parsley, garlic and pre-grated, store-brand Parmesan cheese boosted the flavor. Comparing the 2 recipes, I'd say Ma's was safer for folks watching their cholesterol intake and blood pressure. Folks like Paul and me.

When it came to the Spaghetti Pie, I decided to stick to Ma's recipe. Like I said last week, I'm not Julie Powell slavishly trying to recreate Julia Child's classic recipes. Going back to my food roots was the goal. There's more to life than fancy cold cuts and cheese. What I saved on the soppressata, prosciutto and provolone, I blew on some wine.

The Spaghetti Pie was a success. The wine was good, too.

Four recipes down. Eighty-two more to go.

Carmela Soprano, meet Anna Sultana by Margaret Ullrich

Okay... I'm out of excuses. We'd finished the turkey leftovers. It was time to tackle my new cookbook Entertaining with The Sopranos.


Where to start?


I hadn't made a lasagne in quite a while. Lasagne was a basic part of every big dinner at Ma's house. Ma's dinners came in courses - soup, salad, pasta, main course, dessert, fruit, nuts. There were a lot of people at Ma's table. When we ate, we ate. There was enough for everybody.

Lasagne is a nice filling casserole for two. Just the thing for a Winnipeg winter dinner.


Carmela's Lasagne, for the most part, was what I grew up with, except for Carmela's use of basil leaves. Her recipe called for a large bunch of fresh basil. Now, my Ma, Anna Sultana, might've made lasagne with lots of fresh basil when she lived in Malta. But, when I was growing up, we lived in College Point, a German Irish town. It was the 50s. Ma was stuck shopping at the local A & P - a small supermarket - after working a full week at Lily Tulip and raising 3 kids. Ma was a little busy. She made lasagne with what she found at the A & P - she used dried oregano and parsley.

Carmela's Meat Sauce also is a little more upscale than what Ma made. Ground beef sirloin? Hamburger was more Ma's style. My parents weren't both working full time for their health.


Time for a reality check.


I wanted to make a lasagne. Lasagne is basically macaroni and cheese with a meat sauce. My family liked Ma's recipe. I liked Ma's recipe. My husband Paul liked Ma's recipe for lasagne. I don't even know If we'd like all that basil. I'm not on a quest like Julie Powell was to recreate Julia Child's classic recipes. I just want to get back to my food roots, so to speak.


Okay... I'll use the Soprano book as a reminder of favorite recipes and as an introduction to a few new ones. When I have a perfectly good recipe - or can't be bothered hunting down obscure ingredients - I'll stick to what I know.

I made Ma's recipe for lasagne. Paul and I enjoyed it. It was a success.


Since lasagne required a meat sauce it was a two-for-one deal.

Two recipes down. Eighty-four more to go.

Christmas With the Sopranos by Margaret Ullrich

Okay... We didn't exactly sit down with Tony and Carmela.

We had a nice Christmas. It started with the Christmas Eve Mass. The church was packed. In addition to serving as Lectors, Paul and I were also asked to serve as Eucharistic Ministers. No problem. Just doing our bit to keep the lines moving. There were two more Masses scheduled for Christmas Eve and the parking lot was packed.

Christmas Day was simple and good. Friends and feast. What more could one ask for?


While the turkey was in the oven, I was flipping through a cookbook Entertaining with The Sopranos. I'm a sucker for cookbooks, which makes it easy for folks needing a last minute gift for me.


Food is a big item for us Maltese, just like for Italians. I can remember family gatherings where folks sat down at noon and didn't leave the table until after supper. Meals were complete - from soup to nuts. I had to admit I'd gotten a little lazy in the kitchen.

What happened?

The photos of the meals brought back lots of memories. Julia Child these recipes aren't. I know they are doable. I'm not saying I'm another Julie Powell. But surely I could put a little more effort into our meals.

Life is sometimes weird. While I'd grown up envying German classmates their pastries, Paul had grown up craving Italian food. Paul was all in favor of my cooking my roots, so to speak.

Resolution for 2010: Cook my way through Entertaining with The Sopranos.


After dinner a friend asked me to tell her a little more about Cousin Nadia from Would Santa Ever Find Me? I had to confess Cousin Nadia, as most characters I've written about, was a mixture of a few people. My pal wouldn't let me off so easily. She wanted to know more about what living in Queens was like.

I could understand that growing up in Queens, New York, USA might be exotic to a transplanted Filipino living in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Who knows? Maybe other folks are curious about life in Queens in the 60s, too.

Resolution #2 for 2010: serialize my book A Tale of Three Islands.

Nadia will be a blog regular starting Tuesday.


Hey... that's easier to do than the recipes.