A gift for you -- Lasagna

So, I've been on a blogging hiatus because I never have any time.  I go to school, work, play lots of video games, cook, and play on facebook, so that leaves very little time for sitting in front of a computer typing.  Okay, that's really not an excuse.  To make up for it, though, I give you a simple recipe for the best tasting lasagna you've ever had.  Risking offense to my family, I dare say this is even better than Nana's lasagna.  Why is this so much better?  Two words: Homemade Ricotta.  The other thing that makes this the best recipe ever is that you can easily make a meat or vegetarian lasagna with only a small change to the sauce.  Note that the ricotta could be made a day or two ahead of time as well.

I'm a big fan of properly crediting my sources, and this lasagna is a compilation of several great sources.  I made absolutely no changes to the ricotta recipe posted by smittenkitchen.com, adapted a marinara sauce recipe from allrecipes.com, and I debated about making my own mozarella, but I didn't.  Without further adieu, here you go:

Meat Lasagna
Prep Time: 1 1/2 hrs (making the ricotta, sauce, and putting the lasagna together)
Cook time: 1 hr (baking the lasagna)
Yield: 9 x 13" pan of lasagna, which is enough for 8-10 people, I'd say.

Ingredients for ricotta:

• 6 cups whole milk, as fresh as you can find (almost an entire 1/2 gallon)
• 2 cups (1 pint) heavy cream
• 6 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

Ingredients for sauce:

• 1 lb sweet Italian sausage, ground.  If you can't find it ground, just remove the casings.  Omit if you want vegetarian lasagna.
•  4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/8 - 1/4 cup dried minced onions (or 1/3 cup fresh minced onion)
• 5 - 6 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 x 14.5 oz cans stewed tomatoes
• 1 x 6 oz can tomato paste
• 1 tsp each of parsley, basil, and oregano (Italian seasonings could be substituted)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup dry white wine (optional)

Remaining ingredients for lasagna:

• 12 - 16 lasagna noodles (NOT the ready-to-bake variety)
• 3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan or Romano cheese 
• 3/4 - 1 lb fresh mozzarella, sliced or grated at the deli.  If your deli doesn't have mozzarella anymore like mine, you can slice or grate the freshest you can find.
• 1 egg, beaten

Kitchen Items Needed:

• large pot (3 - 4 Qt) for heating milk and cream for ricotta (no lid needed)
• skillet for sausage
• medium pot (2 - 3 Qt) with lid for sauce
• pot for cooking lasagna noodles (no lid needed)
• strainer
• colander
• 9" x 13" baking dish
• blender or food processor
• cheesecloth
• candy thermometer that reads at least 195 degrees (F)

Instructions for ricotta:

1. In a large pot, combine the whole milk and heavy cream.
2. Bring to 195 degrees (F) [90 degrees (C)].  Remove from heat and add lemon juice; stir slowly twice.  Let stand for 5 minutes.
3. Line a strainer with 2 layers of cheesecloth.
4. Pour into cheesecloth-lined strainer, and let strain for 1 hour.  If you have a use for the whey, save it, if not, discard it.  The longer after 1 hour that you strain it, the closer to a cream cheese like consistency it will get.

• Note: This can be done a day or two ahead of time, if the ricotta is stored in an airtight container and refrigerated.

Instructions for sauce (can be done while ricotta is straining):

1. In a skillet, brown the Italian sausage until cooked through.  Pour off any fat, and set sausage aside.
2. In a food processor or blender (I used a magic bullet in two batches), blend the stewed tomatoes, tomato paste, parsley, oregano, basil, salt, and pepper.
3. Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a medium pot.  Saute the garlic and onions for 2-3 minutes until slightly browned.
4. Add the tomato mixture and sausage, stirring to mix well.  Heat to a boil. 
5. Once the sauce reaches a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 25-30 minutes.

Last bit of prep work:

1. Once the sauce is done, in the third pot, cook the lasagna noodles according to the package directions.
2. Rinse with cold water in a colander.  Set aside for making the lasagna.
3. When the ricotta is done straining, mix in the beaten egg.  Set aside for making the lasagna.

Putting it all together:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F).
2. In the bottom of the 9" x 13" dish, spread 1 1\2 cups of sauce.  
3. Arrange 6 - 8 of the lasagna noodles to cover the sauce.
4. Spread half of the ricotta mixture on top of the noodles.
5. Add 1/3 of the mozarella slices (or sprinkle 1/3 of the grated mozarella)
6. Spoon 1 1/2 cups of sauce over the mozarella, and repeat layers 2 through 4.
7. Top with the remaining mozzarella and Parmesan.
8. Cover with foil, being sure not to let the foil touch the cheese or it will stick.
9. Bake for 25 minutes; remove foil, and continue baking another 25 minutes.
10. Cool for 5 - 10 minutes before serving.

The Recipe Rundown

Difficulty: The difficulty in this recipe is not in any part of the cooking, but in getting the timing down.  That being said, the cheese takes an hour to strain, the sauce takes about 35 minutes, and the noodles should take 8 - 10 minutes, so timing isn't all that hard either.  Plus, even if your timing is a little off, nothing is so delicate that it can't sit for a few minutes.  Since it takes a reasonable amount of time though, I can't consider this one of the simplest recipes ever.  If I was grading each piece (ricotta, sauce, and lasagna) independently, they'd each get a 1/5, but putting them together all at once I'll say is a 2/5 for difficulty.  Beginner chefs should have no problems, but be prepared for some tired feet from spending more time on them then you might be used to in the kitchen.

Taste: There's no need for discussion on this one; homemade ricotta makes this the best lasagna I've ever had.  Next time, I may even get crazy and make the mozzarella too.  This gets a 5/5 for taste.

Overall: This recipe is worth every minute of time you invest in it.  You can easily tweak the sauce recipe for a vegetarian lasagna, or use a different meat to suit your tastes.  I think everyone should try making the ricotta themselves once in their lives.  This recipe definitely gets an overall 5/5.

Suited For: You can make this to impress anybody, as homemade ricotta comes with certain bragging rights.  The whole family will love it, too, so this is suited for just about anybody that's hungry.

Serving Suggestions:  For a full meal, begin with your favorite salad, serve up the lasagna nice and hot, and finish off with a cool dessert like a tiramisu or an Italian gelato (or less exotic ice cream).

Italian Stuffed Mushrooms

This was another appetizer at my first dinner party, and seemed to be a pretty big hit.  This is by far the best stuffed mushroom recipe I've ever made, but I've only tried a couple.  The others I have tried all came out too dry and crumbly or just simply lacked flavor.

Roasted Eggplant, Stuffed Mushrooms, and Buffet Meatballs

 

Italian Stuffed Mushrooms
Prep Time: 15 min
Cook time: 15 min
Yield: 12-15 mushrooms


Ingredients:

• 2 strips bacon, diced
• 12-15 large mushrooms
• 1 Tbsp minced fresh parsley
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan
• 1/2 cup onion and garlic croutons, crushed (I couldn't find "onion and garlic" so I used Italian flavored)
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
• 1/2 medium tomato chopped
• 1/4 tsp dried oregano

Kitchen Items Needed:

• skillet
• cutting board and knife
• baking dish or cookie sheet

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees (F) .
2. In a skillet, cook bacon over medium heat.  Remove from skillet and drain on paper towels, reserving 1 Tbsp of grease in skillet.  I poured the rest into a ramekin, just in case the mixture came out too dry, and I was glad I did.
3. Remove mushroom stems from caps, and finely chop half of the stems.  Discard the rest, or if you're like me, snack on them while you finish the recipe.
4. Saute the chopped mushroom stems for 2-3 min, then remove from heat.
5. Stir in the remaining ingredients and the bacon.
6. Firmly stuff into mushroom caps.
7. Place on a greased baking dish or cookie sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes.

The Recipe Rundown

Difficulty:   This recipe is fairly straight forward, and the good news is if you save the rest of the bacon grease like I did, you can always add a little more to the mixture if your stuffing is too dry.  Since that's the only thing that can go wrong with a recipe like this, and there's an easy fix, I give this a 2/5 for difficulty, meaning beginner chef's should have no trouble, and the most common problem has an easy solution.

Taste:  I thought these were some of the best stuffed mushrooms I've had.  Bacon makes everything better, and having fresh tomatoes added, along with parmesan and mozzarella cheeses really gives the stuffing some actual flavor, rather than just tasting like bread crumbs mushed together.  I give this a 5/5 for taste.

Overall:  This recipe is incredible for just 30 minutes of effort, so I'm giving this an overall 5/5.

Suited For:  Anytime you need a bite-size, finger food appetizer, or if your kids won't eat plain old mushrooms.

Serving Suggestions:  For a nice finish and a little extra cheese, sprinkle with the stuffed mushrooms with extra mozzarella before baking.

Buffet Meatballs

I served these at the my first dinner party, and they were pretty good.  They're really simple, and the flavor was very unique.  I also like that this recipe could be easily adapted to fit any tastes.

Buffet Meatballs
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 4 hrs
Yield: about 11 dozen meatballs

Ingredients:

• 1 cup grape juice
• 1 cup apple jelly
• 1 cup ketchup
• 1 8 oz can tomato sauce
• 4 lbs Italian style frozen meatballs

Kitchen Items Needed:

• small sauce pan
• 5-qt slow cooker

Instructions:

1. In a small sauce pan, combine the juice, jelly, ketchup, and tomato sauce.
2. Cook and stir over medium heat until the jelly is melted; remove from heat.
3. Place meatballs in a 5-qt slow cooker, pour the sauce over the meatballs, and gently stir to coat.
4. Cook 4 hrs on low until heated through.

The Recipe Rundown

Difficulty:  What can be more simple than leaving things in a crock pot to absorb all the sweet flavor?  This, and almost every crock recipe I've tried, gets a 1/5 for difficulty, meaning a beginner chef would have to try to mess this up.

Taste:  These were pretty tasty in my opinion, and the apple jelly gave the meatballs a unique flavor you don't normally get with buffet style meatballs.  Coming out of the crock pot, these were of course very moist.  I'm going to give this recipe a 4/5 for taste, because I think you could play with this recipe a little to make it even better.

Overall:  When planning a dinner party, or even just a social gathering, a recipe like this is perfect because you can get it taken care of 4 hours before your guests arrive and just leave it in the crock pot while you handle everything else that needs to be done for the party.  Since the flavor of the recipe, as stated, was very good, but not overwhelmingly amazing, I'm giving these meatballs an overall 4/5.

Suited for:  Buffets, dinner parties, or any other time you would serve 11 dozen meatballs.

Serving Suggestions:  Since the meatballs are a bit sweet from the apple jelly in the "sauce," serving alongside a salty appetizer complements this well.  I served stuffed mushrooms and roasted eggplant with this for appetizers.

Oreo Cheesecake Cupcakes

These little individual cheesecakes were so good that they were gone before I could get a picture of the finished product.  There's something to be said about an individual sized cheesecake cupcake, and I think it's best summed up with: "You can't eat just one!"  Having a few Oreos left over in the package was certainly not a bad thing from this recipe, and having friends ask me when I'm making them again reminds me why I like to be in the kitchen.

Oreo Cheesecake Cupcakes
Prep Time: 20 min

Oreo "crusts" for the cupcakes

Cook Time: 22 min
Cool Time: at least 4 hrs
Yield: 30 individual cheesecake cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 30 cupcake liners
• 42 Oreos (or similar cookies) -- 30 whole cookies and 12 coarsely chopped
• 2 lbs (32 oz) cream cheese
• 1 cup sugar (or sugar substitute)
• 4 eggs, lightly beaten, at room temperature
• 1 cup sour cream



Everything lined up to be beaten

• pinch of salt

Kitchen Items Needed:

• muffin tin(s) for 30 cupcakes (or bake in shifts)
• electric mixer
• large bowl, if there is not one with your mixer
• refrigerator

The batter is looking good

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees (F).
2. Line muffin tin with cupcake liners and place 1 whole Oreo in each liner.
3. Using an electric mixer on medium-high, beat the cream cheese until smooth.
4. Gradually add sugar, beating until combined.
5. Beat in the vanilla, then drizzle in the eggs a bit at a time, beating until combined.
6. Beat in sour cream and salt.  Stir in chopped Oreos.
7. Divide batter evenly among cups.  To make it easier to remove cupcakes once set, do not fill completely to the top, but leave enough of the paper liner to pull the cupcakes out by.
8. Bake 11 min and rotate, then bake another 11 min longer, or until the filling is set.
9. Let cupcakes cool on a rack, then refrigerate, at least 4 hours.  (I let mine refrigerate over night.)

The Recipe Rundown


Difficulty:  While this recipe isn't overly difficult, it's certainly a bit time consuming, and requires a bit of prep work before even getting to the recipe (like having on hand room temperature eggs that have been beaten).  I'm giving this recipe a 3/5 for difficulty, which means beginner chefs should be okay if they take their time and go through the recipe carefully.  More experienced chefs should have no trouble at all.

Taste:  Words like "yummmmmmmmm" and "wow" come to mind when describing this recipe.  I'm not a huge fan of sweets myself, but even I can't get enough of these.  Hands down this gets a 5/5 for taste.

Overall:  Making these bad boys at least once is definitely worth the effort; however, there is a good bit of planning and effort that goes into this.  This is not a dessert you whip up for tonight, but something you need to have planned ahead.  With that in mind, I'm giving this recipe an overall 4/5.

Suited for:  Anyone who likes cheesecake and/or cookies and cream.

Brown Sugar Glazed Salmon

For everyone out there who likes fish, and in particular salmon, this will surely become a favorite.  For all of you who don't like fish, neither did my friend Erica, and she cleaned her plate!  Erica is the pickiest eater I've ever met, but I lured her in with the promise of free dinner if she'd agree to try my salmon recipe, and to everyone's surprise, she liked it.  I may have to use her as my taste tester from now on!

Brown Sugar Glazed Salmon
Prep Time: 5 min
Cook Time: 10 min per inch of thickness (usually about 15 minutes)
Yield: # of salmon filets prepared

Ingredients:

•  1 Salmon fillet for each person, mine were about 1/3 lb each
• 1/2 - 3/4 cups brown sugar (or a brown-sugar substitute, like Splenda's)
• 1 tbsp garlic salt

Kitchen Items Needed:

• small bowl
• cookie sheet
• aluminum foil

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F).
2. Mix brown sugar and garlic powder in small bowl with a fork.  The amounts given are estimates -- I always mix to taste.  You want the mixture to be sweet with just more than a hint of garlic.
3. Cover the cookie sheet with aluminum foil.
4. Rub each side of the salmon except the skin-side with the brown sugar mixture, and place skin-side down on the cookie sheet.  Sprinkle a little of the remaining brown sugar mixture on top of the fillets.
5. Cover with another piece of aluminum foil.
6. Bake for 10 minutes per inch of thickness in the thickest part of the salmon fillet.  An average of 15 minutes has worked well for me, unless you have some very thick salmon fillets.  The salmon should be fork tender when done.

The Recipe Rundown

Difficulty:  This is a fairly simple recipe; however, it may take a try or two until you discover the proportion of brown sugar to garlic salt that you prefer.  Everything else about the recipe is very straight forward, but for that reason alone, I give this recipe a 2-out-of-5 for difficulty, meaning beginner chefs should have no trouble if careful.

Taste:  If a picky eater that doesn't like fish will clean her plate, I don't think there's much else to say.  This is one of my favorites that I've been making for a couple of years now.  This definitely gets a 5-out-of-5 for taste.

Overall:  Since salmon is pretty healthy (even if covered in brown sugar), this recipe is super easy even after a long day at work, and it has been known to convert fish haters to fish eaters, I have to give this one an overall 5-out-of-5.

Suited for:  Everyone!  The sweet glaze for the fish can sway even the pickiest kids if presented well, and I have yet to find an adult that didn't like this recipe.

Serving Suggestions:  Salmon typically pairs well with rice, whether it's wild rice, rice pilaf, or just plain old white rice.  Since the salmon has a sweet glaze, some savory vegetables would round out a meal nicely, like green beans, asparagus, or a steamed medley of veggies.

Roasted Eggplant

I'm going to start with this recipe for roasted eggplant because it's so ridiculously simple.  I picked this up in France when visiting Callie, and it was so good we made it more than once during my two week stay.  You can get my full review after the recipe:

Roasted Eggplant, Stuffed Mushrooms, and Buffet Meatballs

Roasted Eggplant
Prep Time: 10 min
Cook Time: 30 min
Yield: About 8-10 slices for a medium sized eggplant.

Ingredients:

• 1 eggplant
• 3 - 4 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 - 4 cloves garlic (depending on the size of the eggplant and the cloves)

Kitchen Items Needed:

• cookie sheet
• cutting board and knife
• garlic press (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees (F).
2. Cut the eggplant into slices, 1/4" to 1/2" thick.
3. Spread 1 Tbsp olive oil on cookie sheet to grease (I used a paper towel).  Use more if needed.
4. Place eggplant slices on cookie sheet and top with pressed or chopped garlic, drizzle with remaining olive oil.
5. Roast on center rack for 30 minutes, or until eggplant is lightly browned and tender.

The Recipe Rundown 

Difficulty:  This was by far the easiest recipe I made for my dinner party, and beginner chefs can handle this with no problem.  Definitely gets a 1-out-of-5 for difficulty.

Taste: The garlic really compliments the flavor of the eggplant, but this is a little plain without a sauce.  Callie made a sauce out of "fromage blanc," which is something we don't have in the states.  My efforts to recreate something similar have all ended in disaster, so until I discover something American that's close, I'm giving this 4-out-of-5 for taste. 

Overall: The simplicity of this recipe makes it something worth cooking up again and again, whether it's as an appetizer, a vegetable side dish, or just as a healthy snack.  Since the taste is great and it's so easy, I'm giving this recipe an overall 5-out-of-5.

Suited for: Adults (unless your kids happen to like eggplant)

Dinner Party

When I decided that I should combine my love of eating (and hence my love of cooking) with my love for writing, the obvious decision was to jump into the over-saturated market of cooking blogs already established.  I certainly have no delusions of grandeur that this blog will suddenly become a world-renowned cooking blog.  In fact, I expect the exact opposite.  I'm just a young man that has learned enough about cooking to be usually successful while only slightly dangerous in the kitchen.  With that said, I hope that this blog can help other aspiring chefs realize that even Iron Chef Morimoto started out learning his way through the kitchen.

In order to kick-off the blog, I figured that the best idea was to try out several recipes I had been sitting on for quite awhile.  The bottle of 2004 Chateau Rouget from Pomerol that I brought back from my holiday vacation abroad was also just itching to be opened.  I invited a few close friends to be my taste-testers with the incentive of a good French wine, and our dinner party was all set.  And thus began my adventures in the kitchen.

Before I get into each individual dish, let me lay-out the spread (I may or may not have gotten a little carried away).  For appetizers, we had a sampling of 4 hors d'oeuvres: roasted eggplant, stuffed mushrooms, bruschetta, and buffet meatballs.  Following appetizers, we opened the Chateau Rouget to go with Chicken Saltimbocca, which I served with rice and the gravy it cooked in.  For dessert, I whipped up Oreo Cheesecake Cupcakes.  I'm not sure any of us ate anything else for two days after our dinner party; I made way too much food.

I will post each recipe individually in the next few days following this post, but for now, I wanted to just talk about how I handled cooking dinner for 6 people, especially when I was making 10 different things.  To start, when I was planning what to make, I selected the Oreo Cheesecake Cupcakes because I would make them the night before and let it refrigerate all day (it needed at least 4 hours).  I also picked out the recipes for the Chicken Saltimbocca and the Buffet Meatballs that utilized my two crock pots so I could prep those in the morning and then cook the other recipes while those simmered away.  The stuffed mushrooms were easy to prep early (about an hour early), and then they just needed to go into the toaster oven 15 minutes before serving time.  The roasted eggplant and bruschetta could go in the oven at the same temperature on two different baking sheets, which rounded out my kitchen line-up.

I definitely recommend taking into account the prep/cook times and the amount of attention needed when you're selecting recipes for a dinner party like this.  Having dessert already prepared, the main course and one appetizer prepared and simmering all day in a slow-cooker, and hors d'oeuvres that needed the same temperature in the oven made the stress of cooking melt away.

If you plan to serve several courses, I also suggest planning an hour between courses.  I served appetizers at 7 pm, and we ate and conversed for about 30 minutes, when I returned to the kitchen to prepare the salads, rice, and croissants that would go with the Chicken Saltimbocca.  We ate our main course around 8 pm, and while it sounds like a large wait between courses, it seemed very natural for a social gathering while giving me the time I needed to both enjoy the hors d'oeuvres and still finish the last minute touches on the main course.

All in all, I have to say my manly adventures in the kitchen are off to a great start.