Lasagna

Lasagna- the Megan way

1 jar spaghetti sauce
1 cup onion, finely chopped
1 lb ground beef
9 lasagna noodles
1 cup ricotta cheese
2 Tbsp Parsley Flakes
1 egg
1/4 c parmesan cheese
2 cups shredded mozarella

Cook ground beef with onions until browned. Pour in spaghetti sauce and simmer for ten minutes. Cook Lasagna noodles as directed on the box. Mix ricotta cheese and egg and parsley and parmesan cheese together. (You can use cottage cheese but Josh specifically asked for ricotta this time). Butter 9 X 13 pan. Place 1/2 cup of meat mixture in pan. Then layer noodles, egg and ricotta cheese mixture, mozarella cheese and meat mixture. Repeat two more times. For the top, finish with meat mixture and some mozarella cheese. Cook at 350 for 30-40 minutes, let sit 10 minutes before serving and Enjoy!!!

Dessert

I've noticed that we haven't done much with dessert on this blog yet. Which is strange because it is my favorite part of any meal. Plus, I don't really think of baking as too different than cooking.

Something about pudding and cool whip really make me think of spring. This one is from a Kraft Food and Family magazine.

Old-Fashioned Ice Box Dessert
graham crackers broken into squares - it could also be good with a graham cracker crust
1 pkg. (8 oz) cream cheese
2 cups milk
1 pkg (4 servings) instant pudding - it calls for vanilla but I think any flavor could be good
1 tub cool whip - be sure to defrost it or it's not as firm
1 cup chopped strawberries
1 cup chopped kiwis
1/2 cup toasted coconut

Arrange graham crackers in an even layer on the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Beat cream cheese in a large bowl with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add milk, mixing until well bended after each addition. Add dry pudding mix and beat 1 minute. Gently stir in half of the cool whip. Spread over the crackers in the pan. Cover with remaining cool whip and top with fruit. Refrigerate several hours or overnight. Sprinkle with coconut just before serving. Also good without the fruit or coconut.

Easter Dinner with a Twist

This year for Easter dinner, we had a pretty traditional meal. I made a couple of little changes that spruced it up a bit.

I didn't do anything to the ham. I know there are all kinds of yummy glazes and the such but we went with a plain ham this year. As a note to people cooking for a small group, this year I decided to just get a ham steak. Usually, I get all into the big hams and we end up eating ham for weeks with it getting pretty old. So this year, I thought ahead (go me) and realized we don't need 10 pounds of ham, we just need about 2 (and still had leftovers). I cooked it in the broiler and it was yummy and quick (the thick cut was done in less than 15 minutes).

For the vegetable, I went with asparagus (I cuss, you cuss we all cuss for asparagus). I wanted to try my hand at a hollondaise sauce but had already boiled all of our eggs for dying. Oops. Instead, I made a little mustard sauce that was simply dijon mustard thinned out with milk. I thought it might have needed something else and tried adding some lemon juice but the mustard was so strong that I couldn't taste the lemon. Once it was the right consistency, I microwaved it a bit to warm it up. The sauce also went well with the ham.

Finally, the potatoes. This is just the recipe from the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook but rather than cheddar, I used gruyere cheese.
Au Gratin Potatoes
1/2 cup chopped onion - I used two good sized green onions
clove garlic, minced
2 T butter
2 T flour
salt
pepper
1 1/4 cup milk
3 medium potatoes, sliced

Melt butter and saute onion and garlic. Add flour, slat and pepper and let it soak up the butter. Add milk all at once. Cook until thick and bubbly. Stir in cheese and cook until melted. Place potatoes in a greased 7x11 baking dish and pour sauce on top. Bake, covered, in a 350 oven for 40 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 15 - 20 minutes.

Mangoes

Here are two Indian dishes that use mangoes. I didn't really get to like mangoes until after we went to India so they remind me of there. The first one is from allrecipes.com and the second one is from an Indian cookbook I got for Christmas called Indian in 6 (Indian dishes with 6 ingredients or less).

Chicken and Mango Curry
2 mangoes peeled, chopped and divided
can coconut milk
1 T vegetable oil
1 T curry paste - the spiciness of the dish will depend on the curry paste, if you can find Indian curry paste it would be more authentic and you can always add more if it needs more spice
14 oz chicken, cut into cubes - to make this vegetarian, I used paneer instead
4 medium shallots, sliced
1 large cucumber, seeded and chopped

Blend half of the mangoes with the coconut milk in a blender until smooth. Heat the oil in a large pan over medium heat. Stir in the curry paste and cook about a minute (until fragrant). Add the chicken and shallot and cook until chicken is cooked and shallot is soft. If not using chicken, just cook the shallots. Pour in the mango puree and cook until warmed through. Add the rest of the mangoes, the cucumber and paneer, if using, just before serving. Serve over rice.

Monsoon Salad
1 large mango, diced
4 thick rings fresh pineapple cut into 1/2 inch pieces (or use canned rings)
2 bananas sliced
salt
1 T lemon juice
2 in piece very fresh ginger root
1 T brown sugar

Combine the mango, pineapple and banana in a mixing bowl. Season with salt and add the lemon juice. Shred the ginger root finely and squeeze to collect the juice. Add to the bowl. Sprinkle in the sugar and mix lightly. Serve immediately.

Beans

I realize these are more wintery recipes and as it is getting to be spring we should be looking forward to the fun springy recipes but oh well.

I was talking to a friend the other day and we were talking about how healthy beans are (particularly lima beans). So then I made this bean casserole as a way to eat lima beans without them tasting like the horrible lima beans I remember from my childhood. I thought it turned out pretty good and Anna liked it so much I worried about how her little intestines would handle so many beans.

Fruity Baked Bean Casserole
1/2 pound bacon
3 medium onions chopped
can lima beans, drained
can kidney beans, drained
can baked beans
can cannelloni beans, drained (I think that's what they were, they were big and white and I had an extra can. The recipe calls for two cans of the baked beans)
can pineapple chunks
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup molasses
1/2 cup ketchup
2 T mustard (I used dijon)
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 green pepper, chopped

Cook bacon in skillet and place in crock pot. Pour off most of the grease and cook the onions in the bacon grease until soft. Add to crock pot along with all of the beans. In a separate bowl (I used a 2 cup measuring cup) combine the rest of the ingredients. Stir into crock pot. Cover. Cook on high 2-3 hours.

I served this with cornbread. The pineapple is what interested me in this and I thought it added a nice sweet and tangy element.

This other bean recipe is one that I have been making for a while. I recommend halving the recipe if making it for a small group or you will have leftovers forever (believe me).

Ban Casserole
1/2 pound hamburger
1/2 pound bacon
1 onion
1 large can pork and beans
1 can kidney beans
2 cans BBQ beans (I use the Bush's baked beans)
1 cup ketchup
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp dry mustard
2 T vinegar
2 T molasses

Brown hamburger, bacon and onion. Pour off the grease. Drain beans. All all ingredients. Mix well and cook until heated through. Also goes well with cornbread.

Corned beef -- tastes like ham

I know this is a bit delayed, but I wanted to mention the lovely corned beef we had for St. Patrick's Day. I may have had it once before, but I've certainly never made it. It got mixed reviews at our house. I absolutely loved it; Uchenna tried to pretend it didn't exist and only ate colcannon (the mashed potatoes-cabbage side dish).

Here's how you make it:

• Buy the ready-to-boil beef brisket that has already been brined.
• Rinse it, put it in a pot and barely cover it with water.
• Dump in the little spice-peppercorn packet that comes with it (is it called corned beef because of the peppercorns? I never could figure out what corn had to do with anything).
• Boil it for about two hours (just make sure the water doesn't completely boil away), and voila!

It's very greasy-fatty, just so you know. And red. I was a bit surprised that it was fully cooked but red. Actually it looked, smelled, and tasked somewhat like ham, but with a beefy texture. Yummy. Hmm, maybe that ham resemblance is what put Uchenna off.

When only one person eats the corned beef, you have to figure out what to do with the leftovers. I snuck them into a (also lovely) pasta dish and hoped he wouldn't notice. I think he noticed. He ate some, but not much, and went rummaging for snacks an hour later.

But for people who do like corned beef and/or ham, here is the pasta recipe:

• Cook and drain pasta (I used penne. Bowties or egg noodles would probably be just as good).
• Dice the left-over corned beef. Sauté with diced onions and sliced mushrooms (since the beef is fatty all on its own, don't add any extra oil) until the onions are soft, the mushrooms are browned, and the beef is warmed through and somewhat browned (this may take some tasting to make sure the beef really is hot all through--a cook's gotta do what a cook's gotta do).
• Add a little garlic and green beans and cook another minute or two (asparagus might work in place of the green beans, if you're into that sort of thing).
• Sprinkle the sautéed mixture with a tablespoon or so of flour and stir until everything is evenly coated.
• Add enough milk to make it all saucy (two cups or so, depending on how much you're making). Stir and simmer for a few minutes until the sauce cooks down and thickens up a little.
• Add the cooked and drained pasta to the sauce. Add green peas.
• Mix until the sauce and pasta are well combined. Turn off the heat (quick, before the peas start to lose their green, and get that awful cooked-peas color!). Taste and add salt and pepper as necessary.
• Serve immediately with a crisp salad.

Whole Wheat Pasta with Kale and Fontina

Every time we have this, I love it. I pick in it while it's on the stove, eat too much at dinner and am all over the left overs. Jason thinks it's nothing special and would prefer it only occasionally. We have it now and then. It's from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food.

4 slices of bacon (not pre-cooked)
3 cloves garlic, diced
1 bunch kale ( 1 pound) thick stems trimmed and chopped
salt and pepper
2 cups chicken broth (It says low sodium but then why add the salt? Last time I used salt and normal sodium broth and it was too salty. I'm thinking next time I'll not add the salt and use regular broth)
1 pound whole wheat spaghetti
1/2 cup grated fontina cheese

Cook bacon in a large skillet and set aside. Pour off most of the grease. It says to leave three tablespoons but I can never tell that so I just leave a little bit. Start the water for boiling the pasta. Cook garlic in the grease until golden. Add the kale in batches and cook until wilted (2 minutes). Add broth, cover and simmer 10 minutes (until kale is tender). Meanwhile, cook the pasta. The recipe recommends reserving some of the water to add later if you want but I don't usually do/need that. Toss the cooked pasta with the kale, fontina and bacon.