Surely you all have had times in your life where you come across something familiar and loved, yet there is something a bit…different about it. Maybe you watch a remake of a movie, or play a remake of a game, or have a meal where you realize something about the feel has changed, but you can’t put your finger on what. Oh, the remake is still GOOD, it’s just not quite like you remember. Read on for a recent experience I had involving this same feeling.

Baked Mostaccioli with Ground Turkey

Ah, baked mostaccioli. Memories of my younger days come flowing back, like the whispers of love on a faraway wind.. Okay, maybe it’s not that strong of a feeling, but still, my love of butchered Americanized Italian food knows no bounds. So let’s say you are in your home, ready to make yourself a delicious dinner. You venture into the kitchen, and to your horror, you find the ground beef you thought you had in the fridge was really ground turkey! “Damn you, demon’s spawn of ground meats!” you cry as you fall to your knees. Guess you’ll have to go out and get yourself some ground beef. But you are so very lazy, and it is getting late. “Well it is supposedly healthier..” you say to yourself as you look upon the ground turkey. Your contempt is still there, but you are hungry. “Screw it!” you say, and go to work on making yourself a nice meal.

What you’ll need
-1 lb box of mostaccioli
-1 lb ground turkey
-8 oz shredded mozarella cheese (more if you prefer)
-2 14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes
-1 15 oz can of tomato sauce
-1 medium onion, diced
-2 cloves garlic, minced
-1 clove garlic, sliced thin
-1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
-1 tbsp olive oil
-1 tbsp red wine vinegar
-1 tsp dry basil
-1/2 tsp red pepper flake (add more if you like spice)
-1/2 tsp ground fennel seed
-1/2 tsp ground cumin
-salt and pepper to taste

First thing you want to do, in a medium saucepan, add the olive oil and heat over medium heat for a moment. Next, add in the onion, garlic, and a pinch of Kosher salt, and cook, stirring often, until the onions just start the turn translucent around the edges. Crumble in your ground turkey and add the Worcestershire sauce, basil, red pepper flake, fennel seed, and cumin. Cook, still stirring often, until the turkey browns.

While that is cooking, thoroughly drain your two cans of tomatoes through a fine mesh strainer, into a seperate bowl. Once the turkey has browned, remove the turkey from the pot into a seperate bowl, and pour the liquid from the tomatoes into the pot. It is important that you get as much of the liquid as you can, to keep your final dish from becomming a soggy mess. Place this pot of tomato liquid over high heat, and add the red wine vinegar. Let this cook, stirring often, until the liquid has reduced by half. Once it has reduced, add in the reserved tomatoes that you had drained earlier, and cook for about a minute. Next, add back in the turkey and onion mixture, add in the can of tomato sauce, and put this over low heat to simmer, stirring occasionally.

While that is simmering, cook your pasta per the instructions on the box. Once the pasta is done, drain and add directly into the tomato and turkey sauce mixture. Add more salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Stir to combine, and pour this mixture into a baking dish of your choice. Top with the mozarella cheese, and bake at 325F for around 30 minutes, or until the cheese just starts to brown and get all bubbly. Remove from the oven and let it sit for around 15 minutes, to firm up. Serve with a slice of buttered rustic bread, and it’s just like old times.

So what does this have to do with a feeling of different-ness? Well recently I spent a good portion of time with Bubble Bobble Plus! for WiiWare, a recent version of the original (and fantastic) Bubble Bobble.

Much like the mostaccioli, all of the trademarks are there. However, there is still something not quite as great as the original, “real thing”. I think the biggest problem I have with Bubble Bobble Plus! is the feel of it. I know, that is a hard thing to quantify, but as someone that played hours and hours (and hours) of the NES version of Bubble Bobble, it’s something I can’t overlook. Maybe it’s the strange looking 3D models of Bub and Bob and all of the enemies, or maybe it is the slowness of the control. Whatever it is, I can’t put my finger on it. That’s not to say Bubble Bobble Plus! is a bad game - it definitely is the best of the modern Bubble Bobble games - it’s just that like the turkey in the mostaccioli above, it’s just not the original. Of course, people will argue that the NES version that I hold so very dearly to my heart is not the same as the original - in their opinion “superior” - arcade version, and to that I say no duh. Americanized baked mostaccioli with ground beef is nothing like original, authentic Italian fare. The thing is, the Americanized mostaccioli is what I and countless other American children grew up with, and the NES Bubble Bobble is what most mid-20something gamers are more familiar with.

So should you get the new Bubble Bobble Plus! or stick with the Virtual Console release of the classic NES version? Should you go with the slightly healthier ground turkey in your baked mostaccioli, or stick with the classic ground beef? Well, that is up to you. All I know is, I would rather have slightly different turkey mostaccioli and Bubble Bobble Plus! than no mostaciolli and no Bubble Bobble at all. However, if given the options, I would rather have the originals in both cases. Even still, both are fantastic substitutions for the real deal.