Frank's Lasagna

Frank's Lasagna

Ingredients:

1 pound sweet Italian sausage

3/4 pound lean ground beef

1/2 cup minced onion

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes

1 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste

2 (6.5 ounce) cans canned tomato sauce

1/2 cup water

2 tablespoons white sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil leaves

1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1 tablespoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

12 lasagna noodles

16 ounces ricotta cheese

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 pound mozzarella cheese, sliced

 

Directions:

In a Dutch oven, cook sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Season with sugar, basil, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, 1 tablespoon salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons parsley. Simmer, covered, for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain noodles, and rinse with cold water. In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with egg, remaining parsley, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

To assemble, spread 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Arrange 6 noodles lengthwise over meat sauce. Spread with one half of the ricotta cheese mixture. Top with a third of mozzarella cheese slices. Spoon 1 1/2 cups meat sauce over mozzarella, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Repeat layers, and top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil: to prevent sticking, either spray foil with cooking spray, or make sure the foil does not touch the cheese.

Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 25 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.

Twice Baked Potato Casserole

This was originally made for the Christmas Banquet at Southminster in 2004.

Ingredients 

10 lbs. New Red Potatoes

1 stick Butter

1 Cup Sour Cream

½ Cup Herb & Garlic Cheese (Rondale or Alouette)

1.5 Cups Grated Cheddar Cheese

1 Tblsp mixture of garlic salt and garlic powder (mixed ½ and ½)

¼ Cup chopped chives

½ Cup Bacon Bits

1 Tblsp Parsley Flakes

Salt and Pepper

 Instructions

Cut potatoes in quarters and boil with the skins on.  When done, mix with all other ingredients.  Spread in a greased casserole dish and bake at 350 for 1 hour.

Can be prepared a day ahead and refrigerated until ready to bake.

Lemon Risotto with Chicken and Cheese

 

Lemon Risotto with Chicken and Cheese

 

Ingredients

4 cups water
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 1/2 cups arborio rice
3 sprigs fresh thyme (or substitute dried thyme leaf) 
1 cup dry white wine
Kosher salt
1 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
Freshly ground pepper
1 cup coarsely grated fontina or Havarti cheese, plus more for garnish
8 ounces deli-smoked chicken breast, coarsely chopped (about 1 1/4 cups)

Zest of one Lemon
1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh parsley

 

Directions

Bring the broth and 4 cups water to a simmer in a saucepan; keep warm.

Meanwhile, melt only 4 tablespoons butter in a pot over medium-high heat.

 

Add the onion; cook until translucent, about 4 minutes. 

 

Add the rice and thyme; cook, stirring, until the rice is glossy, about 1 minute. 

 

Add the wine and cook, stirring, until the liquid is absorbed. 

 

Add 1 teaspoon Kosher salt. 

 

Ladle in the hot broth mixture , about 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly, allowing all of the liquid to be absorbed before adding more.  You know when you drag a spatula through the mix to the bottom of the pan and you do not see liquid lead the joining of the two sides.

 

 Continue until the rice is just tender, 20 to 25 minutes.   When you get to about one to two cups left of the liquid, start testing the rice to see if its done.  You might not need all the broth.

Remove the thyme twigs if you used whole pieces. Stir in the parmigiano, the remaining 1 tablespoon butter, 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt, lemon zest and pepper to taste. Gently stir in the fontina/havarti  and chicken.

 

This should be served to the table as it comes off the heat!  

 

Reserve about 2 cups risotto for Risotto Cakes. Divide the rest among bowls; top with parsley and more cheese.

 Go wild in mixing in other ingredients such as instead of the chicken, try bacon and peas or ham and asparagus.  The combinations are endless and based on what you think will go with a creamy side.  

New Mexican Stew Recipe

New Mexican Stew Recipe  

Turn on your slow cooker to high or low as you prefer or you can just cook it on the stove top!

Ingredients:

1 lb. fresh pork  (or use whatever other ground meat or beans as you wish)

1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder- hot or mild, to taste
1 1/2 cups peeled butternut or Acorn squash, diced
2 large or white gold potatoes, peeled, diced
3 medium carrots, chopped
1 cup roasted chopped green chiles- mild or hot, to taste
1 quart chicken broth
Sea salt and ground pepper, to taste

For serving:

Juice from 1 large juicy lime
2-3 tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro
 Sour cream and Avocado are nice garnishes.

Instructions:

First- brown the ground meat in a skillet and pour off the fat, if any. Add the meat to the slow cooker/Crock Pot and add the remaining ingredients- through sea salt and ground pepper. Stir to combine. Cover and cook- on high or low- according to manufacturer's instructions until done.

About 20 minutes before serving, stir in the lime juice and cilantro; taste test. Add a dab of sweetener, if needed, to balance the spice. If you need a tad more liquid, add more broth. Heat through.

I like this with Cornbread (I used Bob's Red Mill GF and Lactaid milk) to make the entire meal GF and LF!

Briami-a Greek Vegetable casserole

Briami

Warm oven to 350 degrees

Ingredients

21bs Zuccini
1 lb Potato  (some people use eggplant or Okra here)
1 lbs Sweet potato
2 Sweet Peppers
2 cloves of garlic crushed
28 ounces of chopped tomatoes (I use two 14 oz cans)
1/2 tsp Sugar
2 onions sliced
salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp fresh parsley
2 tsp fresh dill
1/2 cup olive oil

Directions

 Cut zuccini and potatoes up to roughly the same size.
Remove membrane and seeds from peppers.

Combine together with all ingredients save the oil in a large bowl.

Oil oblong baking dish generously. 

Mixture into dish and bake covered for 75 minutes.

Uncover and continue baking for 15 more minutes.

Thanks to Tess Mallos

Tyropita (Cheese pie)

Preheat oven to 400.

Ingredients

2 cups milk

½ cup  Fine Semolina

2 TBSP butter

1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese

1 cup crumbled Feta cheese

1/3 cup grated Kefalotiri or parmesan cheese

3 eggs

¼ tsp ground nutmeg

2 TBSP finely chopped parsley (optional)

Salt

White pepper to taste

10 sheets filo pastry

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

¼ cup melted butter

Directions

 Combine milk and semolina in heavy-based pan, add butter and stir constantly over heat until thickened and bubbling.  Reduce heat and let mixture boil gently for two minutes.

Add cheeses and stir well until fully blended.  Remove from heat and occasionally stir while cooling.

Beat Eggs well and stir into cheese sauce.  Add nutmeg, parsley, pepper and salt to taste.  Go easy on the salt as the Feta has plenty!

Butter a 10 by 12 baking dish and line with five of the filo sheets, brushing each sheet with the olive oil and melted butter mixture.

Spread cheese mixture over the five sheets evenly.  Then add the other five sheets of filo to the top of the mixture, tucking in the sheets to the sides of the pan as you go.  Don’t forget to butter each sheet!

Score the top of the pie as desired.  Large or small diamond shapes are traditional.

Sprinkle water on the top of the pie to prevent curling and then bake in hot oven for 30 minutes or until puffed and golden!  Don’t burn the top of the pie!

Cool in dish for ten minutes.  Cut along scored lines and serve hot or warm.

Buttermilk Biscuits

Eat too many of these and you will die!

 2 cups all-purpose flour

 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons butter, very cold from the freezer

1 cup cold buttermilk

Preheat your oven to 450.

 Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl, or in the bowl of a food processor.

 Grate the butter and toss with the flour until it resembles coarse meal.

 Make a well in the flour and add the buttermilk and mix just until combined. At this point if it appears on the dry side, add a bit more buttermilk. It should be very wet.

 Turn the dough out onto a floured board. Gently, gently PAT (do NOT roll with a rolling pin) the dough out until it's about 1/2" thick.

 Fold the dough about 5 times, gently press the dough down to a 1 inch thick.

 Use a round cutter to cut into rounds.

 Place the biscuits on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper touching each other.

 Bake for about 10-12 minutes or until they are a beautiful light golden brown on top and bottom.

 Do not over bake.

 Hints: You want your ingredients to stay cold so you want to handle it as little as possible or you will have tough biscuits. So work quickly. If you use a food processor the ingredients stay colder and there's less chance of over mixing. You also must pat the dough out with your hands, lightly. Don't roll these with a rolling pin or you will have tough biscuits. You can also make them up and freeze them on a cookie sheet. Once they are frozen, drop them into a Ziploc bag or container for up to one month. Then just bake frozen biscuits as you need them in the oven at 450 degrees for 20 minutes

An alternative way to serve them is to melt four tablespoons of butter and two tablespoons of gorganzola and pour that over the finished biscuits.