Roarin' 20s Murder Mystery Dinner

1928, Chicago. Jazz drifts from the old Victrola in the corner. The room is dimly lit, but lively. Alcohol is prohibited, but tonight, if you know the secret knock, it pours freely. Welcome to S.P. Keasy's Place. You've been invited here because you, along with the seven other people at your table, are suspected… for murder. 

Who dunnit? Was it the society dame and flapper with a sordid past? Or perhaps Chicago's most colorful millionaire gambler? Or was it the shady lady and owner of a prominent "private club?" Along with avid golfer "Socks," a young reporter with a questionable connection to the deceased, a crooked DA, a sultry, mysterious songstress, and the star pitcher for Chicago's major league baseball team, all eight of you played a role in the notorious gangster Hal Coppone's murder. 

My friends and I had a murder mystery dinner party! V and Ben's house was transformed into a speakeasy, and we were all transformed into flappers, mobsters, and madams. To go along with the 1920s Chicago theme, I went Italiano and made a lasagna and a "bathtub gin" cake. Ben stocked the Bar with prohibition era cocktails, and with Duke and Louis playing the background, we Charlston'd our way through four rounds of questioning to find out who killed the notorious bootlegging gangster. If you've never played a murder mystery game, I highly recommend it, super fun! It also helped that we had an improv actor in our group!

Also, if you've never made lasagna with homemade bolognese sauce and béchamel, I highly recommend that, too. It does take a bit of effort, but it's totally worth it. I've always liked lasagna, but never loved lasagna. That's because I had never had it quite like this. Forget the slimy pasta swimming in layers of red sauce and ricotta. This lasagna was thick and hearty, full of rich, meaty sauce and cheese. There's a touch of nutmeg in the béchamel, which seems weird at first, but totally works. Murder mystery or no, make this lasagna. And if you're feeling extra adventurous, throw on a fringed dress and and put a feather in your hair… it is the roarin' 20s, after all!

Bolognese Lasagna with Béchamel 

Adapted from Mario Batali's recipe

Bolognese

5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons butter

1 carrot, finely, diced

1 medium onion, diced

1 rib celery, finely diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 pound ground beef

1 pound ground pork

1 tablespoon oregano

Hearty pinch red pepper flakes

1/4 pound pancetta or slab bacon, ground or diced finely

3/4 cup tomato paste (add more by the tablespoonful if desired)

1 1/4 cup milk

1 1/4 cup dry white wine 

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Béchamel

5 tablespoons butter

4 tablespoons flour

3 cups milk

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

8 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano, for grating

Lasagna 

1 package no-boil lasagna (flat)

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1. 5 cups shredded parmesan cheese

Fresh parsley, sliced thinly (optional)

For the bolognese: In a 6 to 8-quart heavy-bottomed pot (I used my dutch oven), heat the olive oil and butter over medium heat. Add the onions, celery, and garlic and cook over medium heat until almost browned, about 10 to 15 minutes. Turn the heat to high, and add the beef, pork, and pancetta, stirring to keep the meat from sticking together until browned. Add the oregano, red pepper flakes, tomato paste, milk, and wine and simmer over medium-low heat for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Season with salt and pepper, to taste, and remove from the heat. Note: the béchamel is fairly salty, so don't over salt the bolognese. 

For the béchamel: In a medium saucepan, heat butter until melted. Add flour and stir until smooth. Over medium heat, cook until light golden brown, about 6 to 7 minutes. Meanwhile, heat milk in separate pan until just about to boil. Add milk to butter mixture 1 cup at a time, whisking continuously until very smooth and bring to a boil. Cook 30 seconds and remove from heat. Season with salt and nutmeg and set aside.

For assembly: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. In a large lasagna pan, assemble the lasagne, beginning with a layer of bolognese, a layer of grated cheese (both), a layer of pasta, a layer of bechamel, a layer of bolognese, cheese, etc. until all sauce and pasta are used up. The top layer should be pasta, bechamel, cheese. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes, until the edges are browned and the sauces are bubbling. Remove and cool for 10 minutes before slicing. Sprinkle with parsley if desired. 

Race Week

I’m running a half marathon this weekend! AHHH!

I don’t really know how I got suckered into it… Amanda and some of the gals were signing up, and somehow they dragged me along with them. One of my 25 goals for age 25 is to run a half marathon, so I guess I’m happy I signed up. We’ll see how happy I am Sunday. My training has resulted in a hopefully healed foot injury, zero pounds shed, an amazing 10 mile-I-can’t-believe-this-is-so-easy run, a 6.5 mile-almost-ended-in-severe-runners-trots (look it up) run, and several 4-5 mile-OMG-this-is-so-hard runs.

As race-day nears, I’m trying to ‘eat healthy’ and ‘carb up’… both of which are funny things for me. I don’t eat particularly unhealthy, but there's just something about acknowledging it and telling yourself ‘No’ makes it so much harder. I’ve been wanting cheese like you wouldn’t believe, and yesterday I almost had Evan convinced to go to the store and get me a Squirt at 9PM because I was DYING for soda. I NEVER drink soda!

I also think carbo-loading during race week is a silly concept, for me anyway… I mean, how is this any different than usual? I guess I was meant to be a runner or something, because let me tell ya, I carbo-load on a weekly basis, race or no. I keep hearing about how exciting it is to get to eat tons of pasta on race week, and how stoked people are to be carbin’ up, but for me, nothing has really changed. Maybe that’s why I can run 10 miles without stopping, but I can’t seem to drop a pant-size?

I guess I’m just going to keep trying to eat fairly normal this week… with a little less butter and cheese, among other things (see reference to runner’s trots, above). I did make a pretty basic, simple, and fantastic (albeit cheesy) lasagna that I’ve noshed on for the last 3 meals… so for all those runners out there that are really hyped about the carbs this week, this one’s for you.

Too Cheesy for Race Week Lasagna

1 box super easy no-boil Lasagna noodles
4 cups tomato sauce (I used Mel’s homegrown)
1 pound Italian Chicken Sausage
½ onion- diced
2 cloves garlic- minced
1 large zucchini- diced
½ cup fresh basil
Olive oil, salt, pepper
2 eggs
About 8 oz Ricotta
About 8 oz Cottage Cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella
1 cup shredded cheddar
½ cup grated parmesan
½ cup fresh mozzarella (one small ball)

For sauce: Heat olive oil over medium, and add onion. Cook until translucent. Add zucchini, garlic, and sausage, cook until sausage is cooked through. Add basil and tomato sauce, and simmer until flavors meld. Salt and pepper to your liking. Also throw in some thyme or oregano if you have it. I think I even threw in a pinch of cinnamon. And maybe a few red pepper flakes…In a separate bowl, mix together ricotta, cottage cheese, parmesan, and eggs. Add more cottage cheese if you like. Hey... it's race week, you'll burn it off!

Preheat oven to 375. Spray 9X13 baking pan. Layer in sauce, uncooked noodles no-boil noodles, ricotta mixture, mozz and chedd, sauce. Repeat until everything is gone. About 4 layers later. Top with shredded fresh mozzarella and foil. Bake 50-60 minutes until bubbly in the middle and crispy on the edges. Remove foil for the last 5-10 minutes, to melt the fresh mozzarella.

Eat during race week… or, if you’re like me, any and every week will do just fine.