Creamy Pumpkin Penne

I've been cooking more than I've been posting, and have a few winners waiting in the wings for future write-ups. But this is one I made tonight, and loved, as did the rest of my family (well, sans Sam, who's still a bit young for penne).

The recipe is pretty basic. It involved a pound of pasta (penne, in this case) and a cream sauce made with roux-thickened milk, cream cheese, and parmesan, plus a can of pumpkin. To this I added a package of frozen cubed butternut squash that we had in the freezer and some cauliflower that I roasted for about twenty minutes. I think there are a number of things you could add to the base: shrimp, bacon, peas, mushrooms, or chicken are just a few off the top of my head. I liked the squash and cauliflower because they seemed particularly fall-y.

The best part of this recipe was that Charlotte loved it. I gave her about ten meager little pennes in the sauce only, not wanting to tempt fate. She devoured them, and asked for more, and even tried (and apparently liked) a couple pieces of cauliflower. Success!

Here's a brief recipe, with some of the amounts estimated because I just played it by ear:

Cook pasta and drain, set aside.

Meanwhile in a large pot, melt 2-3 T butter over medium heat. Add a clove of garlic, chopped, and saute for a minute or two. Make sure your heat isn't too high--burned garlic is nasty. Then, add either 1 T snipped fresh sage (we have some in the garden still) or 1 t dried, and stir for a minute. Add 1 T salt and black pepper to taste, plus 2 t nutmeg and stir. Then add 1/3 cup flour and stir for a minute, letting the flour soak up all that butter. When the roux begins to bubble a bit, but not brown too much, add 1 1/2 cups of milk. (I may have used more, but I just kept splashing milk in if the sauce seemed too thick, so have it on hand). Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until milk is thickened. Add 1 block cream cheese chopped into eight or so chunks (I recommened full fat here for the creaminess, but I guess you can use reduced. Again, I reiterate: fat free cream cheese is the devil) and stir for a minute. Add one can of pumpkin puree (NOT pie filling!) and stir. At this point, I could tell if my sauce was getting a bit too thick, so I added a little more milk until I reached the consistency I wanted. Also at this point I stirred in my butternut squash and cauliflower. Keep stirring until the cream cheese is melted. Add 4-6 ounces parmesan cheese, and stir to combine. Then dump your pasta in and mix it all up.

Delicious!

Creamy Southwest Chicken

I am suspicious of simple recipes. For some reason, I tend to think that the extra time, attention, and ingredients that go into complex recipes make for more nuanced results. But I am also conversely attracted to simple recipes. I have a busy life, yet want to cook homemade meals for my family. A simple recipe seems like the perfect solution.

What do I mean by simple? A recipe that contains less than a half-dozen ingredients, and whose list of steps is usually three or less. A one-pot meal, something that doesn't require my constant hovering attention.

I came across a version of this recipe a while back and thought "That's it? There's no way that can be good." But this weekend when I was meal-planning for the upcoming week, I thought of this recipe and spontaneously bought the ingredients. If it wasn't great, it would at least be decent, I thought.

Well, it was better than decent. And it also passed another recipe test: make enough for leftovers, or even for a second meal. I served this with brown rice, and the leftover sauce and rice is currently stuffed into bell peppers and baking in the oven. I think this one gets the simple recipe gold medal for meeting and exceeding all requirements.

Creamy Southwest Chicken
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
8 oz block cream cheese (reduced fat is okay, fat free is definitely not, eww.)
1 jar salsa (um, the regular sized jar...don't know the measurements on this. Pick a variety you like...anything goes).
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 bag frozen corn (again, the normal sized bag), defrosted

Place chicken breasts in the bottom of the slow cooker stoneware. Cut cream cheese into six pieces and place on top of chicken. Dump salsa overtop everything, then dump on the black beans and then the corn. Cover and cook on high for 3-4 hours, low for 5-7 hours. Before serving, stir the sauce together to blend the cream cheese in.

I served this over rice, with a sprinkling of shredded monterey jack cheese. Cilantro would also be a nice addition.

Sweet Potato Curry Soup

I can't believe I'm posting another recipe so soon, but I had a couple requests for this one after I mentioned on facebook how fantastic it is. I have to say, I'm embarrassed by how easy it is. It's hardly a recipe, really.

Originally I wanted to make pumpkin curry soup but my hippie grocery store was out of organic canned pumpkin, so I went with sweet potato instead. I was a little disconcerted by how similar the canned sweet potato was to Sam's sweet potato baby food, but I soldiered on. You could also use freshly cooked and mashed squash, pumpkin, or sweet potato in this. If you do, leave the veggies a little chunkier, as I think it'll add some interesting texture. Or, contrarily, throw the whole shebang in the blender when it's done cooking for a bisque.

Sweet Potato Curry Soup
1 large onion, chopped
3-4 celery stalks, chopped
3-4 carrots, chopped
1 T olive oil
1 T salt
1/2 t black pepper
1 t ground cumin
1 t ground coriander
1-2 T curry powder (use hot if you lik-a the spice, use more if you lik-a the flavor)
32 ounces chicken stock (veggie would be fine, too)
2 15-ounce cans sweet potato mash, or pumpkin, or whatevs
1 15-ounce can coconut milk (don't use light, please!)

Saute the onion, celery, and carrot in the olive oil over medium heat until onion is translucent. Add salt and pepper and cook, stirring, for another minute. Add cumin, coriander and curry and stir well, cooking for another minute. The add about half of the stock and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about five minutes.

In the stoneware of a slow cooker OR in a large pot mix the remaining stock and the sweet potato. Add the mixture of onions, carrots and celery and stir together well. I cooked this in my slow cooker for 2 hours on high and it was pretty well cooked (carrots not too firm, etc.) I would guess that about 45 minutes worth of simmering on the stove would be about the same. Before serving, remove from heat/turn off slow cooker and stir in the coconut milk.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate chip cookies are a very personal thing. Everyone has his or her favorite kind, and I've found people's feelings about the "right" or "best" kind of chocolate chip cookie to be very vehement and expressive. My college roomie, Shana, really talked up her grandma's famous chocolate chip cookies. When I had a chance to try the famous cookies, shipped to Shana in a cleaned coffee canister, I was disappointed. They were my least favorite kind of cookie: thin and crispy.

I think there are three main kinds of chocolate chip cookies. The first is the type loved by Shana, the thin, crisp, crunchy cookie. The second is its direct opposite, the chubby, cakey cookie. More akin to muffin than cracker, the cakey cookie typically has a uniform texture throughout.

The third type is my personal favorite. It's the perfect cookie: baked just long enough to have a slightly crisp edge, but not too long or you'll lose the chewy, buttery middle. The perfect ratio of chips to dough. Not too puffy, not too crisp. And I finally found the recipe that produces just such a cookie, on the fabulous Smitten Kitchen website. Here it is.

I only did two things differently from the recipe. The first was to double the recipe, because I needed to bring cookies to our church potluck last night. That was no problem at all. The second was to bake the cookies a bit less than the 18 minutes recommended in the recipe (if that sounds like a long time, remember you're baking at 300 degrees, not the usual 350). I hit upon 16 minutes as about the perfect length of time to bake to preserve that chewy cookie center.

Also note that this recipe includes nuts. I happen to like nuts in my cookies, but many people don't, and I really think this recipes would work well without. Definitely use semi-sweet chocolate chips, though. Milk chocolate is of the devil.

What's your opinion on chocolate chip cookies? Have a favorite type I didn't mention here?

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

I like to make pizza on a weekly basis. When I have time to make my own mozzarella, I use it on pizza, and it is divine. I've been trying to make a weekly pizza that showcases whatever is best in season. So lately we've been having lots of pizza featuring roasted tomatoes and peppers, homemade pesto, and other fresh herbs. I'm looking forward to a winter squash, apple and sausage pizza when the weather gets a bit cooler.

I have struggled for some time to find a whole wheat pizza dough recipe that I like. I have tried many, some rather fancy and complex, others more simple. Inevitably I would end up with something heavy as a sack of bricks, tough and overly chewy. It was too dense, and lacked that elasticity yet lightness of pizzaria crusts.

I think I've finally hit upon a recipe and a method that works for me. Now, when I posted about my success on facebook, a number of my friends chimed in with additional suggestions, such as pre-baking the crust (something I had never even considered), using a pizza stone (I'd love to, but mine was rent in two by the forces of my oven years ago), etc. So this is by no means a definitive recipe. I think I will be experimenting for years.

The two keys to this recipe are: add the flour slowly, in increments; and be certain to knead the dough for enough time. I think part of my problem in the past was adding too much flour too soon. You want the dough to be supple, but not sticky. And I know for a fact I never, ever kneaded the dough long enough. I would knead it for what seemed like an eternity, but then I'd look at the clock and 90 seconds had passed. When you knead the dough well, magical things happen.

Also, I call this a whole wheat crust, but I use a mixture of white and whole wheat flour. I think the ration I've hit upon is pretty good, but it's easy for the wheat flour to tip the balance and make an overly heavy crust, so feel free to err on the side of more white flour if you're concerned about that.

Whole Wheat Pizza Crust

Mix in a bowl:
1 envelope active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1 pinch sugar
3/4 cup white flour

Let this mixture sit, undisturbed, for 20-30 minutes. After that time has passed, the mixture should be bubbly--I believe this might be what is called a "sponge" in the bread-making world. If it's not bubbly, your yeast is probably old, and your dough won't rise.

Coat a second bowl with olive oil and set aside.

Add to the sponge:
1 T olive oil
1 T kosher salt

Mix well, then add 1 cup of wheat flour in quarter-cup increments. Once the wheat flour is mixed in, you can begin adding up to an additional cup of white flour as needed. What I do at this point is usually mix in a quarter-cup of the white flour, then flour my countertop and begin kneading. As sticky, wet patches of the dough appear, I sprinkle on a little more flour, and as the flour on the counter gets absorbed, I reflour there, too.

Knead the dough for ten minutes, or until the dough is stretchy and smooth. I use the flatten, fold and turn method of kneading, and really take out my aggressions. Again, watch your flour levels, and add more (to the dough or to the surface) as needed.

Once you've kneaded your dough, place the dough in the oiled bowl, turning once to coat. Cover the bowl tightly with saran-wrap, and place in a warm location.

Let the dough rise for at least an hour. When the dough has doubled in size, it's ready.

I usually flatten it out with a rolling pin. This makes enough dough for one very large round pizza, or enough to fill a rectangular baking sheet (I think it's 9x13). Now, I usually just put the dough down, then a little olive oil, and then my toppings. I haven't tried pre-baking it. But since you need to bake this for about 14-16 minutes (at 425 degrees), the cheese gets pretty done. So prebaking the crust for about five minutes, then topping and baking ten minutes more, might avoid that issue.

This results in a thinnish, crisp-ish kind of pizza crust. It's no pizzaria crust, but I think it's my best whole wheat attempt.

Two great recipe links

I'm back! And I'll try to make the posting a bit more regular, but no guarantees. I've been cooking a bit, but nothing I've really come up with myself, so I feel bad writing about it and "taking credit" for it.

But the least I can do is provide you with links to some of the fantastic things I've found online.

The first is this amazing steak and sauce recipe from The Pioneer Woman. This is unbelievably rich and delicious. I made this Friday night to celebrate wrapping up a particularly stressful/busy/exciting week. I made two small modifications: instead of using ribeyes, I used KC strips, as they were on sale at my grocery store. And I added about 8 oz. of a baby arugula/spinach bag to the sauce right before I added the blue cheese (I wanted to feel like this recipe was offering something healthy...so, greens!) It was delicious!

The second link is also something we had Friday night, and every night since! It's a fabulous pound cake from Smitten Kitchen. Now, I used her basic recipe, but I took a couple of her suggestions and added lemon and white chocolate, and people, this cake IS AMAZING. All I did was add the zest of two lemons (I mixed this in with the sugar so it'd impart its flavor into the sugar and be a bit offset by the sweetness), the juice of one lemon, and the chopped segments of the other. The segments sort of evaporate while the cake bakes, leaving you with tangy little lemony pockets of deliciousness. The white chocolate was just chopped baking chocolate, about 1/3 cup, stirred in at the end. I chopped it pretty finely, but I think you could use white chocolate chips and get the same effect.

I have been working this summer on perfecting my whole wheat pizza crust recipe, and I plan to post that sometime this week.

Vegetables

I'm getting a lot of good stuff out of my garden lately, as well as from the farmers' market and my mom's garden (they came down last weekend and left us with some produce). This has expanded my repertoire of veggie recipes, and I thought I'd record that here, even though I don't have any pics to prove I've actually made these things.

I made a modification of the Pioneer Woman's green beans (originally blogged about here) that includes roasted red peppers and a couple of tablespoons of my red pepper pesto stirred in at the end. I made this with yellow beans from my mom, onions from my garden, and my own homemade pesto (see below for "recipe").

I just made these Potato Bundles, another one from Pioneer Woman. I made some slight modifications, including the addition of garlic. This used potatoes from the farmers' market, my own onions again, and parsley from my herb garden. I also have to say that I disagree with PW when she says there isn't a difference between curly and flat-leaf parsley. I think the flavor of flat-leaf is more subtle.

We've been getting a ton of cucumbers out of our garden, so I've been making my mom's cucumber & onions. I asked her for the recipe this weekend and she said she didn't really use a recipe with measurements per se. I now know where I got this tendency from! But the components are sliced cucumbers and sliced white onions tossed in a dressing made from mayo, sugar, and apple cider vinegar. I think it'd be pretty easy to do this recipe "to taste," but I will say that the cukes have a tendency to release their own moisture after you've sliced and mixed, so you might need less dressing than you'd think. This salad keeps for a while in the fridge.

Pesto! I have to admit that a huge motivation for my having an herb garden was to have bountiful supplies of basil on hand. I planted three basil plants: two in the ground and one in a pot (with the hopes that I could bring this one inside in the fall). The potted basil is a sad shadow of its heartier garden cousins, all pale and spindly. But the basil in the ground is a total overachiever: huge, green, bushy and prolific. I have aggressively cut the basil and it just keeps growing. I love it.

My favorite thing to do with basil is make a basic pesto. I make mine in the blender because my food processor is crappy. This weekend I walked my mom through my basic pesto method. Essentially, you need these ingredients: fresh basil, olive oil, garlic, parmesan, and pine nuts. Now, you can make the pesto with a nut other than pine nuts, such as walnuts or almonds, but I recommend using pine nuts for the real pesto flavor. You don't have to use a ton--a tablespoon or so will be enough to impart the flavor of the nuts to the pesto. And if you toast them slightly to bring out the flavor, you can use even less. And I usually only use about a quarter cup of parmesan, again just to give the pesto its flavor.

With my blender pesto, I also add a tomato cut into chunks, for two reasons. One is to give the mixture enough moisture to blend. The other is to cut back on the amount of olive oil needed, to make the pesto a bit lower fat. As far as quantities of ingredients go, you just need to eyeball it as you blend to see if you need more oil (to help the pesto emulsify) or more basil (if it's just not green enough) or more parmesan (to help it thicken up).

I also make a variation that uses roasted red peppers instead of tomato. Don't skimp on the peppers--I use about a half-jar for a one-cup batch of pesto. The peppers and basil complement each other nicely.

This pesto is amazing on so many things: stirred into almost any veggie, mixed in with scrambled eggs, spread on a sandwich, mixed with sour cream for a dip. Tomorrow I plan on using it on pizza (recipe to follow).

Horseradish Potato Salad

Just in time for the fourth of July, here's a potato salad recipe that will shake things up a little bit. I got it from Smitten Kitchen, a cooking blog that's inspired me many times. The original recipe is here.

I made a couple of alterations to the original. I didn't have chives, so I doubled the dill (also in part because I'm infatuated with dill lately, and I have a dill plant growing steps outside my back door). I used the full cup of sour cream AND added a couple tablespoons of mayo (NOT miracle whip, but real mayo) because I like my potato salad to be nice and creamy.

A caveat: this recipe is not a traditional, sweetish, mustardy potato salad. If you bring this to a cookout and it's the only potato salad there, people might be disappointed--not because it's not delicious (it is!) but because it's not representative of what most people think of when they think potato salad. This salad is really zippy, and would make a great side with some German brats and kraut.

Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies

I made homemade buttercream icing for Charlotte's birthday cupcakes (a post I hope to put up here soon) and have since then been a little obsessed with icing. Eating leftover cupcakes cold from the fridge with ice cream on top was a little slice of heaven during the past week of 100-degree temperatures. So when I saw this recipe for Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies in a cookbook ('wichcraft) that my mom brought down, and saw that it called for sandwiching two rich, sweet, nutty peanut butter cookies together with a peanut butter buttercream, I knew I had to make it.

My mom took that cookbook home with her, but I found a similar recipe online here. That's the one I followed, and I was very pleased with the results. The authors of that recipe suggest using nutella or jelly to sandwich the cookies, but please, please don't listen to them. Make the buttercream. Use the buttercream. LOVE the buttercream.

Incidently, I used Simply Jif for these cookies, which I understand to have a little less added sugar than other peanut butters. It worked just fine, and I didn't add extra sweetening at all. If you use regular peanut butter, you might want to taste the dough for sweetness before adding all the sugar, as it seemed like it might be too much with regular peanut butter.

Kale, Summer Sausage, and White Bean Soup

I don't know about you, but there's nothing I want more when it's 90 degrees outside and 100% humidity than a nice, steaming hot bowl of soup. Mmm. Refreshing!

So, this wasn't the ideal recipe for this time of year, but the planets aligned and I ended up getting some yummy summer sausage at a local store and I remembered this recipe that I had been wanting to try for a while. Here's my kind of haphazard recipe:

1/2 yellow onion, chopped
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups chicken broth
1 ring summer sausage, sliced into rounds about 1/2 inch wide
Two bunches of kale, chopped or torn into pieces
1 can white beans (I used great northern), drained
1 T salt (but I like things salty, so perhaps this should read to taste)
1 t pepper
1 T fresh dill or sage, chopped

Chuck it all in a slow cooker. I cooked it on low for about 5 hours and it was perfect. Sorry there's no picture! We ate it all up too quickly.

Farmers Market Haul, June 13

Pictured above are my purchases from the farmers market this morning. I might make this a regular feature on the site, taking a picture of my Saturday morning haul and then later in the week posting what I did with the various fruits and veggies and herbs I got.

At some point in the next few days, the above will become a swiss chard lasagna, roasted turnips and beets, garlicky kale and white beans, sauteed sugar snap peas, and simple roasted new potatoes.

Strawberry Cream Cheese Pie

This recipe is adapted from one in a Country Cooking cookbook I have. Adapted because I decided to make it, spur of the moment, while shopping last week. I saw the cheap strawberries and remembered this recipe I had read a while back. I knew it had a cream cheese layer, so I bought cream cheese. I suspected it required sour cream, so I bought that, too. When I got home, I realized I only had one cream cheese package, while the recipe called for two. Oh, well. In hindsight, I can't imagine how the printed recipe could be better, because the ratio of cream cheese layer to strawberry seemed perfect the way I made it.

Another thing that makes this pie special is the dark chocolate layer. I completely forgot about this, so I didn't buy the appropriate dark chocolate squares or anything. But I did have about 1/3 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips left in my chocolate chip snackin' bag (c'mon, don't judge). And since my unofficial motto for cooking is "dirty as few pans as possible," I didn't melt it in a double boiler. Too fussy!

So here's how I made it:

Bake a pie crust for the recommended time. I used the rolled-up kind for this pie and thought it was delicious, more so than the pie shells.

Right away when the pie comes out of the oven, sprinkle your chocolate chips evenly-ish over the bottom of the pie. Pop back in the oven for a minute. Then pull the pie back out, and spread the now-melty chips around the bottom and up the sides a little bit. Then put the pie crust in the fridge to chill.

Blend together: one package of cream cheese (I used reduced fat, but don't use fat-free...that stuff is the devil), 1/3 cup sour cream (ditto low-fat versus fat-free), 1/2 cup sugar, and 1 teaspoon vanilla.

Once your chocolate has set and is cool, spread the cream cheese mixture on top. Refrigerate and chill for at least two hours.

Then, once that's chilled, top with fresh strawberries, hulled and placed stem-end down. I also cut the strawberries in half but kept the halves together on the pie for both appearances but ease of eating. I'm not sure how many this will take...it all depends on the size of the berries.

Then melt 1/3-1/2 cup of strawberry jam in the microwave (took about thirty seconds) and "glaze" the berries by pouring the jam over top. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

How does my garden grow?

I was just out planting a few things in my garden. Yes, it's nine at night. And the sun had dipped below the horizon by the time I watered the new acquisitions. But not only is it the only time I can garden without the eager assistance of a nearly three-year-old, but I enjoy evening gardening. It's cooler, and quiet, and my garden has a lovely view to the west.

I thought it would be appropriate to write about my garden on this blog--the food blog--since this is a veggie garden and most of what grows out there will end up being consumed by my family and (possibly) written up on here.

I have in the ground: romaine lettuce, mesclun lettuce mix, raddichio, broccoli, sugar peas (which have been nibbled by the rabbits, I'm sorry to say), beets, onions, swiss chard, and two bell peppers (red and orange). Within the week I will plant the seeds for cucumber and watermelon, and get a few tomato plants in as well. Next to the house is a little plot that I've dubbed my herb garden. I have basil, oregano, thyme, dill, sage, and rosemary. I hope to plant some cilantro and flat-leaf parsley this week. I've also planted marigolds and nasturtium in both gardens.

I'll occasionally post garden updates and, of course, indicate when a recipe includes garden produce.

Are you gardening? What are you growing this year?

Dutch Oven Pancake--now with photos!

I am digesting this as we speak. And it is good.

I based this recipe off a couple different ones I found online. I've seen them variously referred to as German Pancakes, Dutch Baked Pancakes, and Oven Pancakes. I like my moniker, personally.

The recipe is super easy, which is why I've already baked, photographed, eaten and blogged about them before 8:30 a.m. Although the fact that Sam woke up at 5:30 a.m. might have something to do with it too.

Here's what you need:

4 eggs

1 T. sugar

1/2 t. salt

2/3 cup milk

2/3 cup flour

2 T. butter, softened

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Beat eggs in a bowl until blended. Add all the other ingredients and mix until smooth. (I used a whisk, but you could use a mixer as well. 7 a.m. is just a little too early for an electric mixer in my house). Grease two 9-inch round cake pans. Pour half of the batter into each.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake an additional 8-10 minutes. Slide warm pancakes onto a plate and serve with your choice: syrup, powdered sugar, fresh fruit, etc.

Results:

Jana: These are really delicious, more crepe-like than pancake.

Jeff: Nom nom.

Charlotte: Not a huge fan, but then she'd already had a yogurt this morning.

The verdict: Make it again!

Two months!

For the last two months, we've been subsisting on yogurt, Cinnamon Life cereal, and various canned goods we've scrounged from the pantry. In other words, I have been so busy with school work that I barely had time to grocery shop, let alone cook.

Yesterday, I handed in my final seminar paper of the academic year. Then I stripped naked and ran shrieking through Wescoe Hall. Just kidding. But I wanted to.

Look for the return of TigEats this week. I'm gonna cook my fool head off this summer, and I can't wait!

Green Beans a la Pioneer Woman

I mentioned before how I was always on the lookout for good veggie recipes. I have a hard time being motivated enough to incorporate vegetables into our diets. We eat a lot of salads, and a good amount of fruit, but I'm terrible about getting the green (or orange, or yellow, or red) stuff on our plates.

One veg that I have particular problems with: green beans. I love green bean casserole, but who doesn't? It's not exactly a health-fest, is it? Fresh beans, on the other hand, I'm not a fan of.

I think I finally figured out what's wrong with beans and me: the cooking time. Most veggies I like barely cooked, just faintly tender. Green beans are too tough and weirdly...hairy? Furry? I don't know, but the texture of barely cooked green beans is grody to me. My mom made green beans when she was here early last fall, and she cooked the HECK out of them, and they were delicious.

So other than just cooking them until they lose their will to live, what can I do with green beans? This weekend, I tried The Pioneer Woman's green beans recipe. I adapted the recipe somewhat: I didn't have bacon grease (shame, that) so I used butter and olive oil. I'm not a huge fan of red pepper, so I omitted it. Somehow mine never carmelized the way she said it should, but it was still delicious. Even Charlotte liked it!

The next veggie to tackle: cauliflower.

Lasagna

I love lasagna. It's one of those meals that I make and then think "Why don't I make this more often?" There's something about lasagna that seems inherently complicated, something about the multiple bowls used to make the different layers. Whatever it is, it keeps me from making lasagna more often.

However, last weekend we had family in town for Sam's baptism, and I decided to make lasagna for a couple reasons. One was that it's something many (if not most) people like, so I wouldn't have to worry about grossing someone out with fish or pork or spiciness. The other reason, one that I will write about more sometime over the next couple of weeks, is that I've started making my own cheese. My first two (fortunately successful) attempts were fresh mozzarella and whole-milk ricotta, which, of course, are two key ingredients in lasagna.

This recipe would work just as easily with store-bought mozzarella and ricotta, of course. But I have to say that the fresh mozz was so amazing in this lasagna. It was creamy and light and melty and fabulous. So consider using fresh mozz (the little balls packed in water) in this recipe sometime instead of the bagged shredded kind.

Basic Lasagna

Meat Sauce:
1 T. olive oil
1/2 - 1 onion, chopped (I used half, not wanting to overwhelm anyone, but I think a whole onion would be good, too).
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 pound pork sausage
1/2 pound ground beef
1 t. salt
pepper to taste
1-2 jars basic spaghetti sauce (seriously, the cheap stuff is fine here, and any flavor/style is good, too).

Saute the onion in olive oil on medium-high heat for a few minutes. Turn the flame down to medium and add the garlic. Saute a few minutes more. Add the meat and break up with a potato masher or spoon, stirring. Cook until the meat is no longer pink. Add salt and pepper, then spaghetti sauce, and stir. Turn heat to low and simmer while you mix the cheese layer.

Cheese mixture:
16 ounces ricotta cheese
1 egg
Chopped fresh basil and parsley OR dried basil and parsley (I find fresh herbs make all the difference)
Salt and pepper to taste

Mix ingredients together in a bowl and set aside.

Now, people differ on what to do with your lasagna noodles. Do you cook them thoroughly in a pot of boiling water? Do you not cook them at all, and add moisture to your sauce? I think I struck on the perfect compromise. Lay 12 lasagna noodles in your casserole dish. Boil a kettle of water and dump on top of the noodles. Let them sit for about 5-10 minutes. The noodles will be softened but not completely cooked. They'll finish cooking in the oven.

After you've softened your noodles (heh), begin layering your lasagna. You'll also need your sliced or shredded mozzarella cheese (12-16 ounces) and shredded parmesan (8 ounces) at this time.

First, ladle some of your meat sauce into the bottom of your dish. Layer lasagna noodles on top, slightly overlapping the noodles (like shingles). Then spread on a layer of the ricotta mixture, topped with sliced/shredded mozz. Ladle half the remaining meat sauce on top. Then repeat: noodles, ricotta, mozz, meat sauce. Sprinkle the parm on the very top.

At this point, you can bake the lasagna at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, or you can refrigerate until you are ready to bake. If you bake the lasagna right out of the fridge, you might need to add some extra time.

Enjoy!

Orange Broccoli

I have a hard time knowing what to do with vegetables. As in, how to prepare them. Beyond the basics (steaming, roasting) I have no idea. I've spent a lot of time over the years searching for good veggie recipes that don't involve slathering the veggies in cream or cheese or mushroom soup and thus dislodging any health benefits of said veg. And I've collected maybe two recipes. Total, that is...not two per vegetable. That's pathetic.

Last night, in despair, I made up my own recipe for broccoli. I had a bag of prewashed florets in the fridge and I wasn't about to let them go bad (that happens more often than I'd like to admit). It ended up being very easy and quick and most importantly, delicious. I could tell I was eating broccoli, but the flavors of the recipe augmented the veg nicely.

Essentially, I dumped half the bag into a bowl and microwave-steamed the broccoli for a minute. Then I melted a tablespoon of butter in a skillet, added some orange zest, dumped the broccoli in the pan, and squeezed half the orange over top. Another minute or two in the pan (not too much, nothing worse than soggy broccoli) and it was ready.

The results:
Jana: This is the easiest recipe ever and it tastes good. Hallelujah.
Jeff: He actually ATE BROCCOLI THAT WAS COOKED. This is a miracle.
Charlotte: Ate about half of what I gave her, which seems pretty good to me.

The verdict: Make it again!

Salmon Chowder

This chowder is one of those happy accidents that came together entirely without planning or even a recipe. It was cold, I felt like soup, I looked in the freezer and found this package of frozen salmon fillets that I'd been meaning to use...et voila!

When I cook like this, I'm terrible about measuring (meaning I don't measure). I just throw stuff together. But here's my best approximation of what went into this dish:

1 T each olive oil and butter
1/2 large onion, chopped
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
2-3 celery stalks, chopped
2 large carrots, chopped
1/2 t. salt (possibly more)
1/4 t. black pepper
1 t. dill weed
1 bay leaf
1/4 c. flour
1 1/2 - 2 cups chicken broth
A couple good-sized salmon fillets
1 cup corn
1-2 cups whole milk or half-and-half

Put the olive oil and butter in a pan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook until translucent. Add celery and carrots and cook for a few minutes. Add salt, pepper, bay leaf and dill and cook, stirring, for about a minute. Sprinkle flour over everything and stir for a minute. Then add broth and stir to mix. Bring to boil, then reduce heat to simmer for about ten minutes.

At this point, I dumped everything from the pan into the crock pot, added the salmon fillets(uncooked, but defrosted) and the corn, and turned it on high for a couple hours. When that time was up, I broke up the salmon with a spoon into chunks, added the milk, and turned the heat off. And that's it!

This was really yummy, very easy, and didn't taste as "fishy" as I was worried it would. I didn't have potatoes, but I think a couple potatoes diced would be good in this, too.

The results:
Jana: Delish!
Jeff: Ditto!
Charlotte: Took a bite of Jeff's, then asked for her own bowl.

Verdict:
Make it again!

Chicken Rice Casserole

There are a thousand manifestations and variations of this recipe out there, but I've been looking for one for awhile that seems to match the one I remember from my childhood. When I was a kid, this is the dish I would request my Grandma Deur make every year for my birthday dinner. The chicken part is good, but it's the flavor of the rice that I remember particularly. I love the bits around the edge of the dish that get a little bit more done. Mmm.

Here's the recipe:

1 1/2 cups minute rice
1 package onion soup mix
1 cup water or chicken broth
Four chicken breasts (split) or eight chicken thighs or mixture (boneless skinless is okay, but bone-in skin-on is more flavorful)
1 can cream of chicken or cream of mushroom soup
1 additional cup water or chicken broth

Place uncooked rice in the bottom of a 9x13 casserole dish. Sprinkle soup mix over top, then pour 1 cup of water or broth on top of that. Place chicken on top of rice. In a bowl, mix the soup and the water/broth, then pour over everything.

Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 1-1 1/2 hours (check chicken for doneness at 1 hour; add additional time if necessary).

One of my friends on facebook described this recipe as "Dutch yummy," which I think is particularly apt. Another term might be "midwestern comfort food." These days I tend to shy away from most casseroles, and particularly those that include cream of whatever soup, velveeta cheese, and/or a topping of those fried onions that come in a can. However, many of my favorite recipes from my childhood could be described as "Dutch yummy," featuring one or all of those ingredients. Green bean casserole? Stove top stuffing? I mean, who can begrudge me my memories?

Results:
Jana: Tasted just like I remembered, and that was good.
Jeff: I didn't think he'd like this one, but he went back for seconds.
Charlotte: Ate all of the chicken I gave her, avoiding the rice. I encouraged her to try the rice, and when she did she said "Mmmmm!" loudly, and finished most of that.

The verdict:
Make it again!

My Favorite Salad

I have a couple of other recipes I want to review on here soon, but I'm putting this one up first because it really deserves a place of honor on this site. I am obsessed with this salad. I never tire of it, and I eat it frequently--sometimes more than once a week. It's really simple and is, ultimately, just a boring salad but something about the mingling of flavors is perfect in my book. It's composed of: romaine lettuce, shredded swiss cheese, dried cherries, mandarin oranges, chopped pecans (although I sometimes use those roasted flavored almond slices in the bag instead), and poppyseed dressing. That's it. To make it an entree salad, I add sliced chicken breast.

I'm eating this salad right now.

My favorite dressing for this salad is the Maple Grove Farms of Vermont Fat Free Poppyseed. It has nothing to do with the fact that it's fat-free; that's just a happy coincidence. It's the perfect balance of tangy and sweet and doesn't overpower the rest of the ingredients.

I am such an evangelist for this salad that I encourage each and every one of you (all four of you who read this blog) to make this salad this very week and report back to me how much you love it. DO IT!

Thai Chicken Pizza

Well, some things have changed around here since the last post. My bout with dairy-free has ended, but not before I was also everything else-free for a while. Oh, what horrible memories that brings back. But we've determined that Sam's fussiness is not dietary, so I'm back in the saddle again.

Last night I made Thai Chicken Pizza, which is so embarrassingly easy I feel ridiculous posting a recipes. It's mostly prepackaged ingredients, hardly any prep or cooking involved. But we're all about convenience around here these days, so I'll post it anyway.

All it takes is one prepackaged pizza crust (like Boboli); 1/2 c. Thai peanut sauce; 1 c. broccoli, finely chopped; 1/2 red pepper, finely chopped; 1 6-oz package grilled chicken breast strips, chopped; 1 c. shredded Italian or pizza blend cheese. Bake according to the crust package's directions.

The Thai peanut sauce is a little too fiery for Charlotte, so I just fixed her a plate of broccoli and chicken, which she rejected in favor of yogurt. Jeff and I, however, demolished the pizza without her help.

The results:
Jana: I like it, especially considering how easy it is to make. I think this would also be good with other veggies, like mushrooms or onions, and possibly with shrimp instead of chicken. Ooh, or beef.
Jeff: Thai? Anything Thai and peanut sauce is alright in Jeff's book.

The verdict: Make it again!

Cowboy Caviar

So, I'm swearing off dairy for a few weeks in hopes of solving Sam's gas issues. As a result, I've had to scramble to find things to make that don't include dairy. This has proved more of an issue than I anticipated, but I'm rising to the challenge. The first entry is something I've been craving anyway: Cowboy Caviar!

There are a number of variations of this recipe (as you'll discover if you Google it), but mine is a can of black beans, a bag of frozen corn kernels defrosted (I like to spring for the white and yellow sweet corn mix as the corn tends to be less chewy), a thing of fresh salsa (in the summer I use diced fresh tomatoes and onions), a whole bunch of chopped cilantro, a couple diced avocadoes, and salt. Stir and eat with tortilla chips, on tacos, over huevos rancheros.

The only thing that would make this better is cheese. Sigh.