Big Ten Champs, Again

Ohio State 14 Michigan 3

Jim Tressel and The Ohio State Buckeyes continue their domination of the lowly wolverines. Since taking over the head coaching reins at Ohio State, Tressel is 6-1. The Michigan graduating seniors have not beaten the Buckeyes in their four years of playing for Michigan. The vaunted Buckeye defense gave up only 89 total yards. Mike Hart was held to 42 yards while Mario Manningham caught 5 passes for a paltry 34 yards and rushed for -1 yards. Chad Henne was 11 for 34 and only 68 yards passing.

Todd Boeckman was less than spectacular in the air, only 7 for 13 for 50 yards. The big gun for the Buckeyes once again was Beanie Wells. Beanie ran for 220 yards. This is what the Wolverines saw of him most of the day:

Several years ago a Michigan alumnus was asked how to get to Columbus. He said that from here, Ann Arbor, head south on I75 until you hear the noise out of the left side, turn east and then follow the smell. That comment was made right after Jim Tressel became head coach for OSU. Seems that the aroma from the east is a whole lot sweeter to some of us.

Boeckman once again threw an interception on the Buckeyes last possession of the first half. He appeared to be rushed and tried to force the pass. Bad decision. Field conditions were soggy because of the constant drizzle. He has about five weeks to get it right before the Rose Bowl. Tressel will have a long talk with him.

At any rate, back to back Big Ten Championships. How sweet it is.

Cuz Bonnie in Denver sent a pic about a Michigan license plate and a story about an OSU grad working in Michigan. Click here to read the story. Humorous, but not accurate. So is this tag:

Baked Mostaccioli and Meatballs

Christopher Kimball has done a good job with his 'Inside America's Test Kitchen'. Anyone who would roast 30 to 40 chickens to get it 'just right' has to be passsionate about the job. And good for us. We benefit from all of this because we can go right to the end result without all the agony. Thank you, Christopher.

I have my own test kitchen phenom in Sanford d'Amato, owner and chef at Sanford's in Milwaukee. On Sundays Sandy publishes one of his works of art in the local paper in a section labeled Entrée. I have benefited from his expertise and have told you about his/my successes several times in this blog.

Recently, I tried his Baked Mostaccioli and Meatballs along with his Basic Tomato Sauce. The flavors that this master puts together are extraordinary. The sauce is full bodied, popping with mouth smackin' stuff. Sandy uses breakfast link sausages for flavor and then removes them as he says 'for another use'. What other use? They never made it to the refrigerator!

The meat balls are the best ever. A mixture of pork, beef and bread crumbs along with traditional spices makes this hearty meal go a long way. Could easily feed 10 to 12 people. That is if gluttony is absent from the table because of the irresistible urge to have 2nd's and 3rd's.

This recipe rates alongside his Lasagna posted some time ago. Full of flavor from the many ingredients that he insists should be first class. With such results, who can argue?

Click the link in the article to get the sauce recipe or click here to get the Baked Mostaccioli and Basic Tomato Sauce.

Still Alive

Seems to be a repeating pattern with the Buckeyes this sports season. Ranked #1 for most of it and then . . . Let's hope the hoopster Buckeyes complete the task. To date, though, they have made my life a little tooooo frenetic.

Remember when you were a kid and your parents told you to close your eyes because they did not want you to peak too soon for the impending treat that you were sure was gonna be the best one of your life? Excitement was in the air. You knew darn well that you could not last as long as they wanted you to. I suspect that they also knew of the temptations to check things out before the designated time. Strange how they judged our attention span to be that of theirs.

At any rate, my experience was that in a matter of seconds I was peaking through the cracks of my hands to secure a glance at what was great expectation. Never to be disappointed. And, the Buckeyes are treating me the same way this BB season. When you are on top of the heap great expectations are attached to the top award. Expectations great or small are not to be trailing by 20 points. Not in the first half, never. Those cracks between the fingers diminish almost to the point of totally blocking all that was to be seen.

Most times it gets to be a bit much because of the lateness of the night, the irregular play of the putative heroes and maybe some previous late night celebratory tennis shenanigans. The penalty of the actions is, of course, the trepidation the following morning reading about the outcome. O, joyous day! They have risen once again. Only to put me through this again Saturday? Hopefully, not.

Need Anything Else Be Said

Buckeyes 42 Wolverines 39

39

1st 2nd 3rd 4th #2 MICH (11-1) 7 7 10 15 39 #1 OSU (12-0) 7 21 7 7 42 November 18, 2006 - Ohio Stadium

42

What a glorious albeit gut-wrenching 3½ hours. The Columbus Dispatch so aptly put it in the headline "One to Go". Although the score indicates a close match, a couple of miscues by the inevitable Heisman winner contributed to the closeness. Without those two errors, a tipped and intercepted pass and an errant snap from center, the score could have easily ended at 42 - 28.

Both teams arguably have some of the best defensive players in the country. Or so it seemed until yesterday's 'epic' matchup. The first time in over 3 decades that both teams had unbeaten records. Michigan was rated as the top defensive team in the country pre-season. Ohio State was reportedly weakened by the graduation of many of its departing seniors. Michigan had not allowed any run longer than 25 yards in any game this season. Ohio State had allowed only 1 touchdown in its last 4 games and less than 6 points in something like 16 quarters. It did appear that a defensive battle was going to be witnessed on November 18, 2006 in the horseshoe in Columbus, Ohio.....

.....that is until Michigan received the opening kickoff and scored within the first 2½ minutes of the game. What a sinking feeling. Ohio State answered with a masterful Troy Smith-engineered series the first time they got their hands on the ball. After that, seems that the defensive sides decided to have a contest on how porous they could be. Michigan allowed over 500 yards with 350 yards passing by Smith. Chad Henne and Michigan found the vulnerable spots in the Buckeye pass defense..... particularly the secondary. Mike Hart, running back for Michigan, showed some of the Buckeye running defense vulnerabilities.

Now that The Ohio State University Buckeye football team has been proclaimed the best in the land by vanquishing a once mighty wolverine, a huge question looms to the forefront: Should the Wolverines be allowed to have another go at #1? During one of the BCS bowl games? Keep in mind without the miscues by our Heisman man the score could have been as mentioned. Would Michigan then be #2 today? I would like to hear from you.

In a laughable attempt to delay the game after Michigan's futile on side kick attempt, a Wolverine groveling on the ground appeared to be hurt. However, he could not determine which leg was injured as he was seen first grabbing his right calf and then his left. Guess he was prepping himself for the NFL where it seems to be win at all costs.

In a display of unabashed bravura Hart said in a post game interview that the outcome would be different in a rematch. Of course it would. Smith would not give up 11 points. What Hart might see from the bench is more of this type of scenery from the Badger-prone Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

If you want a copy of this Michigan quarter, holler.

Peanut Butter

Jif, Captain Crunch and Skippy...the three mainstays of peanut butter in my growing up years. All creamy. Not crunchy. If I wanted crunchy peanuts, I would eat them out of the shell. Peanut butter and jelly. On Wonder Bread. Couldn't get much better. With the exception of maybe dippin' a piece of celery or carrot directly into the peanut butter jar. And in the absence of dippin' sticks, I could always dip my finger into the jar.

Thought I knew my peanut butter until my sweetie started me on the journey of organic food. Some org. pb's are salted, some not. My experiments with adding salt didn't work. And then there's all of that oil floating on the top. What a mess. The way around this is to scoop out the contents into a large mixing bowl, re-emulsify and then put back into the jar. Takes about 5 minutes.

After what seemed to be an interminable period of tasting and testing for the ultimate pb, my sweetie brought home a jar of Maranatha creamy & roasted peanut butter. Just the right consistency when mixed with the right amount of salt.

Now, whenver one jar is opened the grocery list is automatically addended with a request for another jar of Marantha.

Summer Salads

Maybe potato salad oughta be a year round salad not just for summer. Salad Nicoise is French potato salad, perfect for summer with it's oil/vinegar based dressing instead of mayonnaise. The name itself, Salad Nicoise, sounds like it might take time to prepare, not a plus in summer. In reality, it is nothing more than the dressing - with tuna, green beans, olives and egg wedges....and the potatoes.

Let me start with the tuna. Recently I made a tuna salad sans the canned tuna. Bought fresh tuna and grilled it, broke it into pieces and used it in Sara Moulton's recipe. Some will prefer canned tuna over fresh but I like the fresh.

A typical French type potato salad uses 2 pounds of boiling (red) potatoes boiled until just tender. Remove skins if you want, slice about ¼" thick and place into a large mixing bowl. Add ¼ cup of wine vinegar. Pour over hot, sliced potatoes. Stir gently until all liquid is absorbed. Set aside.

In a small bowl add 2 tablespoons wine vinegar or 1 tablespoon vinegar and 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1 teaspoon prepared mustard such as Dijon type, ¼ teaspoon salt. Whisk until salt has dissolved and then add 6 tablespoons olive oil in a dribble. Add chopped spring onions or 2 tablespoons of minced shallots. Pour dressing over potatoes and stir gently.

To make this into a Nicoise, oil both sides of a 6 to 8 ounce piece of tuna. Sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides. Cook on a very hot grill for about 3 minutes per side. Break into chuncks. Other additions: two or three hard-cooked eggs quartered, 6 to 12 anchovy filets (drained) and ½ cup of Kalamata olives, pitted. Even more: tomato wedges and al dente green beans. Add all of these to the bowl before you add the dressing. Increase the dressing quantity to make 1 cup which means doubling the above measurements.

Top the salad with a couple of tablespoons of chopped, fresh, green herbs or parlsey.