A Family Meal

My in-laws and I descended upon Cleveland last weekend to watch Shefali's brother, Manek, play in the Tavern Club Invitational. My parents saw the weekend as a special occasion and a reason to have everyone over for family meals.

Manek won the Pro-Am championship, and Saturday was also his birthday, so we had reason to celebrate. Nine of us sat at the table and enjoyed salad, spaghetti and meatballs with Christopher Sauce, stuffed hot peppers and great wine. For dessert, my mom presented Manek a massive tub of banana pudding, complete with candles.

In all, there were nine of us, and we made short work of the meal. The weather in Cleveland this time of year makes it all the more satisfying to eat well among family. We hope to make the Tavern Club Invitational an annual event.

My dad gets full credit for the meal, as he cooked everything himself.

Meatballs:

1 pound ground beef
1-3 eggs**
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
2 tbs parsley or oregano
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 onion, chopped or 1-2 tbs of onion powder

**My dad remembers watching his grandmother and Aunt Lucy make meatballs by mixing as many as three eggs into each pound of beef. He prefers one egg per pound of meat. Looking back, he believes it was their way of stretching the pound of meat (and the budget) so that it could feed more people.

Mix the eggs into the meat, then add the dry ingredients, adjusting the quantities until the meat has the right consistency (similar to burgers). Roll the meat into balls slightly larger than golf balls and arrange on a baking sheet. Brown the meatballs in the oven, then remove before they are fully cooked. Simmer them in Christopher Sauce to finish.

Stuffed Peppers:

12 hot banana peppers

3/4 pound hot italian sausage

3/4 pound mild italian sausage

1 egg

grated parmesan cheese

bread crumbs

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 tsp salt

Pecorino Romano Cheese

About 1 quart of Christopher Sauce

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Cut the top off the peppers and put the tops aside for later. Clean out the inside of the peppers.

Bring a pot of water to a boil and put the peppers in the boiling water for about 5 minutes (they should stay firm). Remove and let them cool.

In a sauce pan, add 1-2 cups of Christopher Sauce. Chop the top of the peppers you had set aside and add it to the sauce. You should make the sauce spicy to your taste. Hot peppers' heat can vary significantly. Let the sauce simmer for a while stuffing peppers.

In a bowl, combine the sausage (hot and mild), egg, salt and pepper, and 1/2 cup of the spiced-up Christopher sauce. Add parmesan cheese and breadcrumbs in equal parts until you like the consistency. It should be somewhat firm but not too much, as it will have to flow in a piping bag to fill the peppers. If you don't want to try to fill them whole you can cut the peppers in half lengthwise and fill them laying flat in a baking dish.

Put the sausage mixture in a piping bag and fill the peppers (or fill them laying flat in a baking dish). Put the peppers in a baking dish and cover with the spiced-up sauce. Cover the peppers and sauce in grated Pecorino Romano cheese. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour depending on the size of the peppers.

You should alter the recipe based on how hot you want the dish. I found the dish is highly dependent on the hotness of the peppers. If they're pretty hot, then you don't need to spice up the stuffing and sauce too much. If they are milder and you want some more spice you can add some heat to the sausage filling (crushed red pepper , etc.) or the sauce.