It’s been years since I made a lasagna. For one thing, I didn’t even know enough people in San Francisco to make a batch for everyone, much less freezer space for conveniently foil-wrapped packages. I’ve followed a ton of different recipes from books, boxes, magazines and countless adults… and I really figured it out around 2002. I haven’t looked back since. Hee hee.
I’m not going to claim that my recipe is super authentic, but it definitely does NOT contain American or cheddar cheese… OR HOT DOGS (HI MOM LOL). I don’t want to hate on my culture or anything (Filipino if you didn’t kno) AND I’M TOTALLY OPEN TO NEW APPLICATIONS FOR FOOD. BUT man… HOT DOGS GO ON BUNS. Non-negotiable DONOTCOLLECT$200 nope nada nien kind of issue. I’m BARELY ok with hotdogs in my rice… and even then… I wince.
*ahem*
MEANWHILE…
Hardware:
wide spatula
1 bowl each for tomato sauce and ricotta mixture
9” x 13” baking dish / pan
Software:
butter / oil to coat pan
1 box of no-boil lasagna noodles (homemade? you get a gold star!)
1 lb. mild Italian sausage
4 cups of tomato sauce (recipe here)
15 oz. of ricotta cheese (standard size)
1/2 cup Asiago cheese
1/2 lb. cremini mushrooms
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 egg
1 – 10 oz. box frozen spinach (fresh? about 2 cups firmly packed, blanched)
3 balls of mozzarella, sliced 1/2 inches thick – garnish
Basil leaves
Coat baking dish with butter / oil / non-stick spray and preheat oven to 375. Crumble bulk sausage (not in casing) in a pre-heated pan and cook through. Stir in tomato sauce until combined. Set aside.
Thaw spinach and squeeze out most of the liquid. Clean and slice mushrooms thickly – they tend to shrink during cooking. Saute with butter and right when the ’shrooms become nice and golden, add garlic to heat through. Set aside to cool (at least 10 minutes). When cooled, mix mushrooms, spinach and garlic mixture with the egg and both cheeses together. Time for assembly.
Add sauce to bottom of the pan (prevents sticking). Drop in 4 sheets of the pasta (they will overlap a tiny bit, totally ok). Spoon in 1/3 of ricotta mixture and spread as evenly as you can. Spoon in 1/4 of the sauce. Repeat for a total of three times and top off with remainder of the pasta sheets. Top off with last 1/4 of the sauce and lay the mozzarella on top. Cover with foil and throw in the oven for about an hour.
Before you serve it (right after or 3 hours later), throw it under a low broiler to get everything a nice beautiful golden brown. Slice with a sharp knife and remove with a thick spatula to maintain it’s shape – I mean, you’ve worked so hard to make it, right? Make it sing on your plate!
The best part about this recipe is that there’s not a lot of moisture in it, which can make some pasta casseroles watery and bland. If you’re using a jar’d tomato sauce, you might want to cook it in a saucepan and reduce it by 1/3… just so you have less water to make it runny. Mezzetta and San Marzano make a beautifully sauce that you can use right out of the bottle. Spend the extra $3 and splurge on good tomato sauce!
SERVE WITH A SIMPLE SIDE SALAD, TOASTED BREAD AND A SMILE.
Kaies? Kaies.
~Spec
P.S. Wrap each leftover piece in foil and place in a large ziptop freezer bag. They’ll keep for a while (at least 6 months) and be an easy reheat for when you don’t have time to cook a proper supper.
Classic southern plate: grilled BBQ Chicken, corn bread and greens – I love it, you love it, your uncle Bill loves it. As much as I love it, I can’t bring myself to start up the grill in this cold Seattle (omg snowy?) weather… AND I USED TO BE A CHICAGOAN. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this is a fine example of a hometown climate acclimation fail. Fabrication deets follow:
I started by patting the bone-in chicken thighs dry, added Kosher salt and freshly cracked pepper and roasted in a 350 degree oven until the juices ran clear (mine took about 40 minutes). I then slathered on a thin layer of your favorite BBQ sauce and threw it under the broiler so the sugars could caramelize and get all crispy. Nice outer layer of crust with succulent dark meat underneath!
I used a recipe similar to the one from the Boston Globe for the corn cakes (you might also call them “Johnny Cakes” and added shredded pepper jack cheese. They’re just like pancakes, but with a coarser consistency and a satisfactory body to them – heftier than your usual breakfast flapjacks, but in no way gut bombs that would weigh you down for the rest of the day. Wishbone in Chicago does a great job with these – Man, I was always jonezin’ for these on Sunday mornings in the city.
The Brussels sprouts… well they deserve their own post. No longer are they the bane of all non-adventurous vegetable eaters – if you like sauteed cabbage (or greens in general), you will like this preparation. The bitterness will be gone, but without losing it’s flavor profile. They’re wonderful in a “hash” type recipe and are perfect for “one pass” with the knife, as opposed to a little more work with a big head of cabbage.
I cut the bulbs to 1/4” inches and made sure each piece had a part of the root at the bottom – it keeps the leaves together… nice and neat. I blanched all the slices in boiling salted water for a few seconds and then cooled them in an ice water bath to stop the cooking. I then drained them and placed them in between paper towels to dry. To finish, I melted a bit of butter in a pre-heated non-stick pan and sauteed them a bit until both sides were golden brown (about 2 minutes, tossing around twice). If you have it, a nice squeeze of lemon juice would brighten them up (and the Johnny cakes) just fine!
I packed a serving for Liana, forgetting to save some sprouts for her (don’t worry, we had spinach)… so you’ll see more Brussels sprouts in the near future. You might as well too, since they’re in season! Hee hee.
Some fresh mozza, Italian sausage and pasta for lasagna. Mushrooms for anti-pasta snack. OH AND LEFT4DEAD BY A LITTLE KNOWN VIDEO GAME COMPANY NAMED VALVE. LOL.
Short ribs, just like before… but shredded and served with popcorn (for Christmas decorating later this weekend) as the starch. Don’t worry, just experimenting – I thought that the lightness of the popped kernels would pair well with the hearty meat and bold sweet and savory sauce. It was good, but would be better suited for a single bite in a long and shallow Chinese soup spoon. Hee hee. Don’t worry, I ate the rest with a pot of steaming rice. Tasted even better the next day!
Here in Seattle, a lot of restaurants are incorporating popcorn bowls to whet your appetite with interesting flavor additions – curry powder, furikake, cajun spices, etc. Wylie Dufresne, exec. chef of the wildly popular WD-50, has been serving a “popcorn soup” made of microwave popcorn, freeze-dried corn, butter, salt and pepper for quite some time.
So, although my dish was kind of a light hearted experiment… I realize there’s more to popcorn than I originally thought. If you see a popped kernel on your plate in the near future, just think…
2 lbs. Ground lamb, 2 tablespoons of Dijon mustard and a generous addition of Kosher salt and freshly cracked pepper. Use your hands and incorporate well, then shape into 4 small or 2 big patties (I did 3). Throw on a pre-heated saute pan 4 minutes on each side or until medium rare. Serve on a toasted bun with spinach, sliced red onions and tomatoes. Instead of throwing cheese on the burger, I wanted the lamb’s flavors to come through – so I threw some feta with some fries and broiled them for a couple minutes until nice and crispy.
If you’ve never had a lamb burger in Seattle, I’d really recommend Matt’s in the Market in Pikes Place Market. It’s everything that I wanted my burger to be (I’d love it if I could throw it on the grill) AND… has the ability to be paired with one of the best bloody mary’s this side of the Mississippi – the bartender owned a pub in Decatur, IL FOR PETE’S SAKE!
I *just* polished another patty off with some white rice and sauteed spinach and corn and I actually like that BETTER than the burger. Hee hee. Dill + feta rice will definitely come back in the next few weeks!
This butter and radish thing is getting out of hand. I remember watching it during a No Reservations episode and then in a trashy magazine that I found while perusing the Barnes and Noble shelves. I’ve never really had radishes growing up – Filipino recipes don’t really call for it (mainly because it isn’t comprised entirely of fat SORRY PEOPLES LOL. I first noticed them as a garnish in my tacos at authentic Mexican joints on the northside of Chicago (being drunk at 4am really does things to your observation skills). The crisp bite and refreshing taste is what always balanced out the bold meat and the earthy corn tortillas. OH MAN, CAN SOMEONE OVERNIGHT ONE TO ME PLZ? One lengua taco, muy muy caliente. CALIENTE!
So, since the guys at Frank’s Produce threw it in for free ’cause they thought I was cute ’cause I’m a regular customer (even though they keep thinking that I just moved her 12 MONTHS LATER LAWL), I decided to test out this flavor combination. Easiest “recipe” ever:
1. Cut tops off of radishes and rinse in cold water – halve them if you wish.
2. Sprinkle your highest quality salt (Kosher or sea) on top.
3. Serve with equally high quality butter, softened (I used Irish)
Just spread the butter on top and pop in your mouth. Apparently, it’s a popular French snack that jet propels these orbs of freshness to the spotlight (wow that was unnecessarily dramatic). It made for a really simple appetizer for tonite’s chopped salad (romaine, avocado and tomato) and chicken corn chowder.
Ever since I had that first bite a few hours ago, I keep dreaming of using a radish disc as a base for a raw scallop and a cannelle of butter with a finely chopped green onion garnish. How come raw seafood isn’t paired with good quality butter? It’s a staple when it’s cooked. When used sparingly, I believe it would enhance the creaminess of some fish. You agree with me right? Hmm… must experiment later!
Picked up our Christmas trees at McMurtrey’s Red-Wood Christmas Tree Farm. Deb and Matt cut down a really happy tree, while Liana and I went the “Charlie Brown Christmas Tree” route. Hee hee. Mission success! You can see the pictures at the Flickr album. All we have to do is decorate the damn thing. LOL.
Rock the same tomato cream sauce from here (preferably frozen from the peak of tomato season before the addition of cream), get your pasta water goin’ and preheat a skillet over medium high heat.
Pat your seafood dry and add a knob of butter in the pan until it sizzles with joy. Yes, with JOY. Throw in your shrimp and calamari and don’t touch it for 2 minutes and flip for another minute – shrimp and calamari should be golden. Toss in your drained pasta and ladle in some sauce in the pan until well coated. Garnish with parsley and serve with Parmesan (if you have it).
Seafood loves tomato. Tomato loves pasta. Pasta loves cream. Cream loves seafood. Transitive flavors? Not quite philosophy of logic 101, but YES. LOL.
Youtube link here. I’m not convinced that Kanye West is best suited for long strings of choruses, but the the driving beats, the perpetual wave of synths and the “sing, but you want to shout it at the top of your lungs” lyrics are too powerful for me to ignore. I’d be remiss to not post the lyrics here too.
***
Let me know
Do I still got time to grow
Things aint always set and stone
Let me know, Let me know
Let me
Seems like…
Street lights, glowing
Happen to be just like mornings
Passing, in front of me
So I hopped in
The cab and I paid my fairs
See I know my, destination
But I’m just not there
In the streets
I’m just not there
In the streets
Im just not there
Life’s just not fair
Life’s just not fair
Fried shrimp with vinegared cabbage slaw, sliced avocado and romesco sauce on a petite baguette
PO’ BOY! I’ve been meaning to use the rest of the romesco sauce that I made with my steak a few days ago.. and after some thought, I really feel like it would go really well with seafood – perhaps with fried shrimp (I mean, what doesn’t pair well with it? lol). Although not exactly a perfect translation from the traditional Louisiana recipe, I’d like to think that it carried that same jazzy soul. I might take major deductions for the Stella tho. SORRIES! Fabrication details follow!
Quick pickle! For a bit of tartness, toss finely chopped cabbage with Kosher salt, freshly cracked pepper, sugar and rice wine vinegar – about 35 minutes. You’ll wanna do this first since it take the longest. Feel free to add carrots and red onion to serve with BBQ!
For the shrimp, peel and de-vein them – I like using large 21- 25 count (21 – 25 per pound). Soak in milk with a dash of smoked paprika for at least 30 minutes. Drain and coat in cornmeal (which you can totally use for hush puppies!) and let sit for a few minutes. Preheat a pan with 1 inch of oil and fry the shrimp until golden brown.
While your shrimp is frying, cut your baguette in half and hollow out the excess bread inside – to make room for tastier ingredients! Hee hee. Throw under the broiler and toast until golden brown. Spread on your pre-made romesco sauce (or hot sauce + mayo), add your cabbage and shrimp and throw in some parsley and lemon juice for brightness.
Crispy bread, succulent shrimp in a cornmeal crust, creamy avocado, a garlicy and bold romesco sauce with a bit of tang from the cabbage bring it all together. I added a few drops of Tabasco cause I like the heat. So, after this meal, I have 1/4 a head of green cabbage left. MAN IT NEVER ENDS (which is a good thing). Looks like I’m having soup tomorrow! YAY.
