The Decorators and Skillet Pastitsio

It sounds very fancy to say "Oh we spent Christmas ABROAD in FRANCE" but the truth is we did because we have family living there. We got to experience some of their holiday traditions, eat a bunch of good food, drink a bunch of wine. My two favorite food traditions were buche de noel and racelette. I love cake and log-shaped cake is no exception.  We got a few mini-buches so we could try different flavors - coffee, vanilla, Grand Marnier and Chesnut, all of which were pretty delicious. Raclette is a kind of cheese but also a fondue-esque way to eat a bunch of said cheese. Pictured below, you can see it's kind of little table top stove where you put a tiny personal, color-coded tray of cheese to melt into a gooey heap, which you then drizzle over potatoes and charcuterie meats (you can even crisp up the meats on top of the grill which made it even better.)

The town where they live has a few cool records stores and we always find some interesting things we'd never find in the US (or would cost a ton as an import.) Not only do you find French stuff but also a lot of records from England that don't make it as readily over here which is how we ended up with this Decorators album.  I thought the cover was interesting, I'd never heard of them, and the album came out the year I was born. Sold!

The Decorators may not be well known in the US for valid reasons. The record wasn't bad but it sounded like a mix of a bunch of New Wave, post-punky bands from the same time period, but just not as good as any of those bands. A touch of Devo, a touch of Elvis Costello, maybe a little Television. Some skronky horns. A weird vocal affectation. Again, not bad, per se, but also nothing I'm dying to revisit but also fairly pleasant cooking music (except for when the vocal affectation got annoying.) So that could be seen as me admitting that I made a bad choice at the record store but on the other hand I can  now say "oh you've never heard of The Decorators? Hmm." Their keyboard player was in Dexy's Midnight Runners so there's that. C+

I really like the podcast Spilled Milk but often assume their recipes are going to be too much work for me. I am a pretty lazy cook, especially on weeknights; I have no shame about using pre-cut veggie and jarred sauces and just making frozen pizza if all else fails. But, Records and Recipes gives me an opportunity to try those more complicated recipes because Matt is helping out! He would totally cook more if I asked him to, alliterative music/cooking nights aside, but I do love food and trying new things and do overall enjoy being the household meal planner/maker.

On the recent Lamb episode of Spilled Milk they made a skillet Pastitsio which they described as a lamb mac and cheese and that sounded really good to me. The recipe wasn't that complicated but it still felt like a lot of work...or rather more measuring and chopping than I usually have patience for. I also made a full pound of veal instead of the half it called for and the box of noodles I had was bigger than the recipe so I had a lot more STUFF in the pan, so I upped the liquid a little and just hoped all the noodles cooked. They did! It was delicious but also ultimately felt like a labor-intensive Lamburger Helper. B+

Skillet Pastitsio

From Spilled Milk podcast, episode 209 

(Originally from The Best 30-Minute Recipe, Cook’s Illustrated.)

1/2 pound ground lamb

1 large onion, diced

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

salt and pepper

2 tablespoons tomato paste

6 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

2 teaspoons minced fresh oregano

3 cups low-sodium chicken broth

1 cup heavy cream

8 ounces elbow macaroni

1 teaspoon cornstarch

1 cup (about 2 ounces) grated pecorino romano

1. Preheat oven to 450°F. Cook the lamb in a 12-inch skillet over medium heat until brown, breaking it up with a spatula or (try it!) a potato masher. Drain the lamb, reserving 1 tablespoon fat.

2. With the 1 tablespoon fat in the skillet, raise heat to medium-high and add onion, cinnamon, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add tomato paste, garlic, and oregano and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

3. Stir in broth, 1/2 cup of cream, macaroni, and cooked lamb. Raise heat to high, bring to a boil, and cook, stirring often, until macaroni is tender, 8 to 10 minutes. (Feel free to reduce heat to medium-high if it’s spitting all over!)

4. Whisk remaining 1/2 cup of cream with cornstarch and stir into skillet. Cook until slightly thickened, about 1 minute.

5. Add 1/2 cup of cheese and season with salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle remaining cheese over the top and bake until lightly browned, 5 to 10 minutes (why not watch the below Decorators video while you wait?) Serve.

Overall score: 3.5/5 Lamburger Helper Hands.