One Great . . . dinner casserole

Is imitation the sincerest form of flattery? Paula Deen's son Bobby has started his own form of imitation, with a new Cooking Channel show, "Not My Mama's Meals" - lighter, more healthful versions of his mother's down-home stuff.

Food Network Magazine kicked off the show with a "He Made She Made" feature this month contrasting the Deens' versions of that ol' crowd-pleaser, Baked Spaghetti. Paula's had more cheese and a pound and a half of ground beef. Bobby's used whole-wheat angel hair pasta, half as much cheese and 8 ounces of chicken sausage. I also discovered it was simple and fast to put together when I needed a quick family dinner in the week after the holidays.

I made a few changes: Instead of removing the sausage from the casings, I just sliced it into half-moons. I used shiitake mushrooms because I had some on hand. I skipped the basil because it's out of season. And instead of baking the whole thing in a big 13-by-9-inch baking dish, I divided it into two batches. I baked one in an 9-inch square baking dish and put the other in a foil-lined 9-inch baking pan and froze it for another night. The smaller serving still had 4 graciously large servings - more if one of your diners isn't a teenager.

Light Baked Spaghetti

From Food Network Magazine, January/February issue.

Kosher salt
6 ounces whole-wheat angel hair pasta (such as Barilla Plus)
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 onion, peeled and minced
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1/2 pound sweet Italian chicken sausage, casings removed (or left whole and cut into half-moon slices)
2 green bell peppers, cored and diced
1/2 pound button or cremini mushrooms, sliced (or shiitake caps, sliced)
1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning (or 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano)
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes (or 2 14-ounce cans diced tomatoes)
1 cup torn fresh basil (optional)
Cooking spray
1/2 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella
1/2 cup shredded cheddar

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add the pasta and cook according to package directions; drain.

Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat while pasta is boiling. Cook onion, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes or until soft. Stir in the garlic and cook 2 minutes. Add the sausage and cook, breaking up or stirring slices until browned, about 5 minutes. Stir in the bell pepper, mushrooms, seasoned salt and Italian seasoning and cook, stirring often, until the vegetables are soft, about 4 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, 3/4 cup water and basil (if using) and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer until the sauce reduces a little, about 15 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Spray a 2-quart casserole dish with cooking spray. Add the pasta to the skillet and toss to combine. Spoon half the pasta mixture into the prepared casserole dish. (If you have to, use tongs to lift the pasta and then spoon about half the sauce from the skillet on top.) Sprinkle with half the cheese. Spoon the remaining pasta mixture and sauce on top. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Spray a sheet of foil with cooking spray and place it loosely over the top (try not to let the foil touch the cheese.)

Bake until the cheese is melted and everything is bubbling, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Polka Dot's Sweet Potato Chips get kudos

Cupcakes aren't the only thing cooking at Polka Dot Bake Shop in Charlotte. The bakery's Sweet Potato Crackers have been picked as Paula's Hidden Gem for the January/February issue of the magazine Cooking With Paula Deen.

The crackers are made with real sweet potatoes (N.C.-grown, of course). They're available in five flavors (yes, they're all sweet potato, but some have spices too) and are Star-K kosher-certified, as well as dairy- and nut-free. The black-pepper flavor is gluten-free, too.

The suggested retail price is $5.99 for a 5-ounce package. They're available at the bakery, 1730 E. Woodlawn Road in the Park Towne Village (the shopping center at the top of the steep hill), and also at Reid's Fine Foods, Earth Fare and Fresh Market stores.

Photo: coolhunting.com

What he said: Bruni, Bourdain and Paula

Interesting reading from the New York Times: Former restaurant reviewer (and now op-ed columnist) Frank Bruni joins in on the brouhaha over Tony Bourdain dissing Paula Deen.

Background: In a recent interview, Bourdain - who has been on a tear for the last few months, railing against everything from the James Beard Foundation to newspaper food writers - came out swinging against Paula Deen, calling her "the worst, most dangerous person in America" for the fat level of her food. Deen returned by noting that not everybody can afford the kind of high-art cuisine that Bourdain might prefer we all eat.

Bruni stepped up with some interesting thoughts on the elitist elements in the debate:

"When (Paula) Deen fries a chicken, many of us balk. When the Manhattan chefs David Chang or Andrew Carmellini do, we grovel for reservations and swoon over the homey exhilaration of it all. Her strips of bacon, skirting pancakes, represent heedless gluttony. Chang’s dominoes of pork belly, swaddled in an Asian bun, signify high art."

Want to read the rest? Here's the link.

Paula Deen Edition: Give her a break

What a coincidence: Paula Deen was the guest of honor on "Top Chef" last night (fellow Georgian Richard Blais greeted her with deep-fried mayonnaise, which I think should become a tradition in my native state).

And I made a Paula Deen recipe this week. The reason: Bake sales.

The bake sale obligation does not end when your child leaves elementary school. When you are a known cook, you will be asked to cough up a few dozen of something on quick notice. It's wise to always have a few easy, crowd-pleasing recipes that people will pay for like it's gold coated with crack. And is there a better description for a Paula Deen recipe?

I had an office bake sale coming up (a good cause, raising money for the very fund-worthy Arts & Science Council) when I spotted Paula Deen's Homemade Kit-Kat Bars making the rounds on a couple of Web sites. Club crackers coated with boiled sugar and melted chocolate goop? I am so there.

Paula Deen's Homemade Kit-Kat Bars

75 Club crackers (about 1 1/2 sleeves)

1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter

2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

1/2 cup milk

1/3 cup granulated sugar

2/3 cup creamy peanut butter

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 butterscotch chips

Line a 13-by-9-inch rectangular baking pan with crackers. (The original recipe called for breaking crackers to fill in the edges. But I later realized it wasn't necessary. I'll explain later.)

Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the graham cracker crumbs, dark brown sugar, milk and granulated sugar. Bring to a boil. (Because the graham cracker crumbs make the mixture sort of thick, I never saw it actually boiling. It was more a question of listening for bubbly boiling noises. Just keep stirring so it doesn't burn.) Boil for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.

Pour half of the sugar mixture over the crackers and spread out with a flat or offset spatula. (This is the one place I had trouble. The sticky sugar goop made the crackers shift around like cracked sidewalk pavers. It would have helped to have a little room to push the first cracker layer back into place, and broken pieces of cracker made that more difficult.)

Arrange another layer of crackers over the sugar layer. Top with the other half of the hot sugar mixture. Top with a third layer of crackers.

Combine the peanut butter, chocolate chips and butterscotch chips in a small saucepan. Melt, stirring, over medium-low heat. Spread evenly over the top cracker layer, scooching a little melted chocolate into any open edges.

Let stand two hours (I cheated and went for one hour, which worked fine). Refrigerate at least two hours or overnight. Cut into long pieces. (A good tip for protecting your baking pan: Use a bench knife, a long, straight-edged cutter, to press down through bars cookies without sliding a knife and scratching your pan. In this case, I cut straight down through the middle long-wise, then cut each half into thin sticks about 1 1/2 inches wide.) Package 2 bars in sandwich bags or wrap in plastic and seal to strangers or your closest co-workers.