Lasagna

My mother makes about the best lasagna I've ever tasted, but I can never seem to make it quite as delicious as hers.  I'm beginning to think she leaves out ingredients when she gives me her recipes, just to ensure that her dishes remain better tasting than mine.


That having been said, I have been working on her lasagna recipe for quite some time, and what follows is what I think is about the best lasagna I've ever made.  Any comments on ways to make it better are certainly appreciated, but if you like lasagna, I think you'll be impressed.


To start with, the recipe is easily broken down into three steps; 1) the meat mixture, 2) the cheese mixture and 3) the noodles.  We'll start with the meat, then the cheese and finally the noodles.


Take one cup of chopped onions and add it to one pound of hamburger and one pound of ground sausage.  Cook until all the meat is browned, then drain the fat.


To the drained, cooked meat add one 28 ounce can of Italian-style peeled tomatoes, one six ounce can of tomato paste, 1 1/2 teaspoons oregano, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, one teaspoon basil, 1/2 teaspoon sugar, 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder and two cloves finely chopped garlic.  Mix it up and cook it at a simmer (very low heat) covered for two hours.


While the meat is cooking mix one 15 ounce container of ricotta cheese with 3/4 cup of Parmesan cheese.  Do not use the Parmesan cheese that comes in the green plastic container. Use shredded Parmesan or shred your own.  Mix these well with one cup of shredded mozzarella cheese.  Add three Tablespoons of parsley to the cheese mixture.  It will look like this:

Put a large pan of water on the stove and bring it to a boil, with about two Tablespoons of oil in it (olive oil works well for this).  When the water boils, add six lasagna noodles and cook for nine minutes.  As soon as the nine minutes are up, pour the noodles into a colander and immediately fill the pan up with cold water.  Dump the noodles into the cold water and set aside.  If you keep the noodles soaking in cold water they won't stick together.


When the meat is finished cooking, spray the bottom of a 13" x 9" baking pan with cooking spray and assemble your meat mixture (still in the pan), cheese mixture and noodles within reach like this:

Ladle one or two spoonfuls of the meat mixture into the bottom of the pan, then lay three of the noodles over this like so:

Spread half of the cheese mixture over the noodles.  It won't spread smoothly, but will look something like this:

Don't worry about spreading it smoothly, since it will melt in the oven.  Spoon half of the meat mixture on top of the cheese mixture like so:

On top of the meat, place the last three noodles, then the remainder of the cheese mixture and top with the remaining meat mixture.  The finished lasagna will look like this:

Sprinkle one cup of mozzarella cheese on top so it looks like this:

Cover with aluminum foil and bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes.  Then remove the foil and bake an additional 10 minutes.  The lasagna should be hot and bubbly when you remove it from the oven, and the finished product will look like this:

If you like your cheese browned, place it under the broiler for two or three minutes.  Regardless, let it cool for about 10 or 15 minutes before cutting into it, as it will be very hot.


Bon appetit!

Beef Bourguignon

I started out using Julia Child's recipe for this dish, but as is the way with me, I made a few alterations along the way.  This is essentially beef stew in red wine, and there is a lot of wiggle room in the directions.  Feel free to make changes and substitutions and see what works best for you.


The recipe is made in several steps and it is NOT a quick recipe.  I actually did it over several days, but you can do it all in a matter of a few hours (probably no more than five).  There is a point where the stew is simmering for three hours and during this time you can prepare the onions and mushrooms, however I did these ahead of time.  Since that was the order in which I did them, that is the order in which I will give the instructions.


Starting with the onions, you will need about two dozen small onions.  I used the ones that are called pearl onions and once they were peeled, they looked like this:

This is all the preparation of the onions that needs to be done.  They remain whole, just peeled, and ready to cook.  Take a large frying pan and place in it 1.5 Tablespoons of unsalted butter and 1.5 Tablespoons of cooking oil.  I did NOT use olive oil for this, but you can if you like the taste of it.


Also, as an aside, always use unsalted butter.  There are two reasons for this; first, you can always add salt if you need it, but many ingredients already contain salt and you can't remove it from them, and second, when butter is made if it is not of the highest quality, salt is added to it so it will keep longer.  Unsalted butter is better quality for the same price.


Heat the oil/butter in a pan until the butter foams, and the foam begins to subside.  This indicates that the butter is hot enough to use.  The reason why oil is added is because if you only used butter at this temperature it would burn.  The oil allows it to heat to a higher temperature for frying.  At this point, Julia and I did not agree.  She uses a high heat, I use a low heat.  I prefer my food to cook longer and slower, as I find that most foods burn at higher temperatures.


Saute the onions (make sure they remain whole) for about ten minutes.  Keep rolling them in the pan to ensure that they brown all over, but don't burn.  After ten minutes add 1/2 cup of canned beef bouillon, a little bit of black pepper (to taste), 2 Tablespoons parsley, 1/2 bay leaf and 1/4 tsp thyme.  Julia ties these up in a bouquet, but I used them right in the bouillon.  Heat this to a simmer, cover and simmer for about 45 minutes.  Drain them and set aside.  Don't worry if you have herbs clinging to the onions, just make sure the bay leaf is discarded.


Now for the mushrooms.  Use 1/2 lb. fresh mushrooms, 2 Tablespoons butter and 1 Tablespoon oil.  Clean the mushrooms well and quarter them.  Heat the butter and oil as above and saute the mushrooms in small batches.  Do not try to cook them all at once, as they won't brown.  Each batch will take about five minutes to complete and when done, you'll have beautifully browned mushrooms.  Set them aside with the onions.


On to the stew.  I used stewing beef for this recipe, but I don't recommend it.  In the first place, I don't have any way of knowing what cut of meat it is.  In the second, it wasn't the best tasting, or the best consistency.  Find a three pound rump roast and cut it up yourself.  You can also have a butcher cut it, but what fun would that be?


You will also need a 6-ounce piece of bacon.  Since my market doesn't carry bacon in this form, I used sliced bacon (about 8 slices) and cut them into four pieces across the slices.  When cut, my bacon looked like this:

Heat 1.5 quarts of water to a simmer and add the bacon.  Simmer for ten minutes.  Drain the bacon and set it on a paper towel to dry.  Pat the top too, as the bacon must be completely dry.  While the bacon is cooking, you can also dry the meat with paper towels the same way.  All meat must be dry to cook properly.  If you bought a rump roast, cut the pieces to be bite size.


Now you will need a large (about 5 quart) pan with a lid that will be able to cook on both the stove top and in the oven.  An enamel coated cast iron pot works best.  In the pot, saute the dry bacon in 1 Tablespoon olive oil (or any cooking oil, but olive oil works well here) for a few minutes until lightly browned.  I did this in small batches, since there was too much to do it all at once.  Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.  Add the beef to the oil (which now also has bacon fat added) and brown the beef in small batches.  It must be brown on all sides.  Add it to the bacon.


It looks like I forgot to take a picture of the next ingredients, but they were two sliced carrots and one sliced onion (which I first cut in half and then sliced).  You could use three or four carrots if you'd like.  Place these in the skillet once the meat has been removed and brown these as well.


Drain the oil/fat from the pan (keep the vegetables) and return the meat to the pan on top of the vegetables.  Add 1/4 teaspoon pepper and stir.  Add 2 Tablespoons of flour one Tablespoon at a time.  Toss the mixture with each addition of flour.  Place the pan in a hot (450 degree) oven for four minutes. Remove from the oven and toss the mixture again.  Return to the oven for an additional four minutes.  Remove and reduce the oven to 325 degrees.


You will now add the following:

Start in three cups of a good red wine.  I used a French Bordeaux since, after all, this is a French recipe but you can use any full-bodied red wine.  Pick something that you really like, and if possible, get two bottles so you can serve one with the meal.  Add to this three cups of beef bouillon, 1 Tablespoon tomato paste, 2 cloves mashed garlic, 1/2 teaspoon thyme and one crumbled bay leaf.  Bring this to a simmer on the stove, then cover and place in the lower part of the oven.  Cook for 2.5 to three hours.


At this point Julia calls for preparing the onions and mushrooms, which I did at the beginning of the recipe.  When the meat is tender (a fork should pierce it easily), remove from the oven and pour the contents into a strainer over a sauce pan.  Wash out the pot you cooked the stew in, and return the cooked mixture to it, without the liquid.  This will be used to create a sauce.  Place the onions and mushrooms over the meat mixture in the pot.  


On the stove, place the saucepan with the sauce in it and skim off the fat.  Cook it at a simmer until it reduces to just over two cups.  It should coat a spoon thinly.  Mine did not, so I mixed one Tablespoon of cornstarch in three Tablespoons of cold water and then added it to the sauce.  Cook and stir for one minute to thicken it slightly.  This worked well for me.  Pour the sauce into the large pot and mix thoroughly.  Heat to a simmer and heat for a few minutes (up to five).


I boiled noodles to serve this over, but potatoes would work as well.  You could also serve it over rice, if you prefer and pair it with a full-bodied red wine.  


Bon appetit!

How to Cook Rice

Rice is one of the easiest things to cook, and you don't need any special equipment to make it perfect every time.  All you need is rice (I use white long grain), water and a saucepan with a tight fitting lid.  If you have a glass lid with a hole in it, don't use it.  The hole lets the steam escape too quickly.


The amount of rice you use depends on how many servings you want.  One cup of uncooked rice will be about three cups of cooked rice, which is plenty for three people.  Use that formula to determine the amount of rice.  Now take double that amount of water, so if you use one cup of rice use two cups of water.  Put the rice and water in the saucepan.


If you want to add a dash of salt you can, but I don't.  In fact, I don't add salt to anything I cook.  You can also add a tablespoon of butter, but that is also optional.  Place the pan on the stove and over medium heat bring it to a boil, stirring occasionally.  When you stir, really stir from the bottom to ensure that none of the rice is sticking to the bottom of the pan (which will cause it to burn).


When the rice boils immediately lower the flame pretty much as low as it will go without going out.  You only want the water to simmer from this point on.  Place the lid on the pot and set a timer for 14 minutes.  Do not lift the lid!  This is very important.


At the end of the 14 minutes, remove the pan from the stove, raise the lid and fluff the rice with a fork.  Put the lid back on and leave the rice sit until you are ready to serve it, or for at least five minutes.


Your rice will be fully cooked, not burned and ready to enjoy.  


Bon appetit!

Pork and Pineapple Stir Fry

This is a fairly simple meal that cooks very quickly, but does have quite a bit of preparation.  Stir frying is done in a wok (if you don't have a wok a large frying pan will do, preferably with a nonstick surface) at high heat.  The food is constantly stirred because if it isn't moving, the heat will cause it to burn.  When I use the wok I always use a wooden spoon for the stirring.  At high temperatures some plastics can melt, and metal utensils can scratch the nonstick coating, so the wooden spoon seems like the best choice.


This meal is served with rice, and I will include a separate entry on how to cook that.  I find that rice is actually one of the easiest things to cook, and I will try to ensure that my instructions are succinct enough that anyone who follows them will have perfect results every time.


There are two steps to making this recipe; the first is to make a soy mixture that will be used to coat the finished product.  The second is to create and cook the stir fry itself.  We'll start with the soy mixture which looks like this before it is made:

Starting at the top and moving clockwise we have, a 20 oz. can of crushed pineapple, drained with the juice reserved (it should have been chunk pineapple, but I grabbed the wrong can at the market), the reserved juice from the can of pineapple, three tablespoons of brown sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons of cornstarch, 1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger and 1/2 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes (both are in one bowl), three tablespoons of soy sauce and 1/2 cup of hot water.  


Combine the water, soy sauce, ginger, red pepper flakes, corn starch, brown sugar and two tablespoons of the pineapple juice in a small bowl.  Mix well and set aside.  The remainder of the pineapple juice can be discarded, but save the pineapple.


Now for the stir fry.  Stir fry is nothing more than meat and vegetables (or just vegetables, if you prefer) in a sauce and served with rice.  The sauce is already done, so now it's time to prepare the rest.  I used the following:

This time, we'll start at the bottom and continue clockwise.  The large yellow bowl contains 1 1/2 pounds of pork.  You can buy a cut of pork and cut it yourself, or you can buy it already cut at the market.  If you buy it already prepared, you won't necessarily know what cut of meat you're getting, just that it's pork.  If you buy it whole and cut it yourself, you can buy a better cut of meat.  Just make sure that you cut it into bite size strips.  They should be longer than they are wide to ensure that they cook properly.


Following clockwise we have red bell peppers cut into strips, sugar snap peas (in their pods), the soy sauce mixture from the first step, the pineapple from the first step, onions cut into half slices (cut an onion in half, and then slice it), carrots sliced thinly, broccoli crowns cut up and one tablespoon of brown sugar.  How much of each vegetable you use is up to you, but I used half an onion, half of a large red pepper, one stalk of broccoli, about a cup of peas and one large carrot, plus the 20 oz. of pineapple.  My finished product would probably serve about six people.


It is imperative that you have all of the ingredients laid out before you begin.  Everything must be cut to bite size before you start cooking.  Think of having dinner in a Chinese restaurant where you eat with chop sticks.  Nothing is so big that it needs to be cut before you can eat it.  That's how your ingredients must be before you start cooking.  The wok is cooking with such high heat that you won't have time to prepare vegetables once the food starts cooking, so it all must be done in advance.


Spray the wok with nonstick cooking spray and place it on high heat.  You will use high heat for the remainder of this recipe, so keep your wooden spoon at hand.  Also, the nonstick spray is oil based, so it replaces oil in this recipe.  If you would prefer to use oil, use about one or two tablespoons of peanut oil.  When the wok is hot, put in the pineapple with the brown sugar and stir and cook for 5 minutes.  Remove the pan from the stove and place the pineapple into a large bowl, then spray the wok again and return it to the heat.  Add the pork when the pan is hot again and cook and stir for 3 minutes.  Add the carrots and cook and stir for 3 minutes.


Add the peas and broccoli and cook and stir for 3 minutes.  At this point your dish will look like this.

Add the red peppers and onions and cook and stir for 2 minutes longer.  Now add the pineapple back in and stir in the soy mixture.  Stir thoroughly and cook for another 3 minutes, until meat and vegetables are entirely coated with the soy mixture.  Immediately remove from the heat and serve.


Your finished meal (with the rice) will look like this:

The stir fry should be served over rice, but I put it alongside just for the picture.  The vegetables you use are up to you, but remember that thicker vegetables (like carrots) will take longer to cook so they should be cut thin and cooked first.  Add vegetables in the order of the amount of time it will take for them to cook.  Also, you're using high heat so the cooking time will be much shorter than usual.


Bon appetit!

Pear Tart a la Patt

I wanted my first recipe to be a dessert, and one that would be both delicious and challenging.  I have been baking for as long as I can remember, but I never made a tart before, so this would be a new experience.  Had I realized how much the final product would cost me (including a few new scars on my arm), I might have picked something a bit simpler.  The almond meal is about ten dollars for a small bag, and the vanilla bean was nine dollars for one bean.  Since it's February and pears are out of season, they had to come from South America, so they cost $1.99 per pound and I bought nearly three pounds.


The pear tart itself is not terribly difficult, but it did take more than two hours to complete.  Before beginning the work it is important to ensure that you have all of the ingredients and the proper tools.  I did not own a tart pan, but I was fortunate enough to remedy that this week, so I was able to begin.


There is a French phrase used in cooking that is extremely important to learn.  Mise En Place essentially means "everything in its place" and is vital if you want your dishes to turn out properly.  By taking the time to gather your ingredients, measure them out, prepare them (cut, grate, dice, etc.) and have them at the ready, you will not only increase your chance of success, but you will find that cooking becomes more enjoyable and less of a chore.


With that in mind, we begin the recipe.  This is done in three separate steps; the crust, the topping and the filling.  I will start with the crust:

This picture is a good example of mise en place.  From the top (and going clockwise) we have 1 2/3 cups of flour, 1 1/4 sticks of chilled butter, cut into cubes, a container of ice water, a large mixing bowl, a pastry blender, a smaller mixing bowl, one egg yolk, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 cup sugar and a bottle of vanilla extract.  Do not use the entire bottle.  You only use 1/2 a teaspoon, but I don't see any point in measuring that out into another container.

In the large mixing bowl mix the flour, sugar and salt.  Using the pastry cutter, cut in the butter until the mixture is about the size of small peas.  In the small bowl, mix the egg yolk and vanilla, then mix this into the flour and butter mixture until it resembles corn meal.  Stir in the ice water, one tablespoon at a time to a maximum of three tablespoons, or until the dough holds together.

Form the dough into a ball and flatten into a disk.  Wrap it in plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator for an hour.  Then put it on a floured surface and roll it out to be about two inches larger than the pan.  Lay the dough into the tart pan (with removable bottom) and trim the dough to be even with the top of the pan.  I used an 11 inch pan.  Line it with pie weights, or place a piece of parchment paper on the dough and cover with rice or dried beans.  Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.  Remove the weights (or rice or beans) and place on a rack to cool.

This is what my crust looked like just before going into the oven.  Be careful when using this type of pan.  Since the bottom is removable you cannot hold the pan from underneath.  I took it out of the oven this way, and the ring that makes the side of the pan slid down onto my bare arm.  I now have three nice burn marks on the inside of my left wrist that I think may be permanent.  Cooking is not without its costs.

While the crust is baking (and cooling) you can continue with the pears.  Take four Bartlett pears, peel them and cut them in half lengthwise.  Try to use ripe pears.  I used ones that tended to be more green and the end result was not as good as I think it would have been had they been a bit riper.  It still tastes good, but the riper pears would be easier to cut with a fork when eating the tart.  

The pears will look like this:

Now take one quart of water and 1 1/2 cups of sugar and bring them to a boil.  Stir to dissolve the sugar, and lower the heat so the mixture remains at just below the point of a simmer.  Immerse the pears into the sugar water and cook until they are fully poached.  When you can easily slide a knife through the thickest part of the pear, they're done.  This step took me quite a bit of time because the pan I used only held two complete pears at a time.

This is what the pears look like during the poaching process.  Once complete, remove from the water and allow to cool completely.  Once cooled, take each half and cut it in half lengthwise, then use a paring knife to remove the core and stem.  Once done, cut each quarter lengthwise into three slices so that a full pear would yield twelve slices.  You will have a total of 48 slices when you are finished.  As a side note, I didn't throw away the sugar water when I finished.  I let it cool and strained out the seeds, then poured it into a humming bird feeder.  We'll see if they eat it.


Now you have the crust finished, and by now it's probably cool enough to work with, and the pears are sliced and ready to go.  This means it's time to prepare the custard, and again we employ our mise en place like so:

Again starting at the top and going clockwise, we have 2 tablespoons of butter, 1/3 cup of sugar, 2/3 cup almond meal (which is a flour made from ground almonds), 1/2 cup of flour, two eggs, and 2 1/3 cups of milk.  On the cutting board at the bottom of the picture is a vanilla bean.  Use the paring knife to split it down the center.


Heat the oven to 400 degrees.  In a large mixing bowl add the almond meal and butter.  Do not mix.  In a medium saucepan add the vanilla bean to the milk and cook over medium heat just to a simmer.  Do not boil.  Remove from the heat and discard the vanilla bean.  What a waste of nine bucks, but you'll like the flavor it imparts.


In a large saucepan beat the eggs and add the sugar and flour.  Mix well and add about a cup of the hot milk.  Whisk this well and then add the rest of the milk.  Continue whisking over medium heat just until it thickens, then pour it into the large bowl over the almond meal and butter and continue to whisk the mixture.  The next time I do this, I will probably use an electric mixer on it, as it will probably make the mixture smoother.  It has a slight grittiness to it the way I made it.


Pour the custard into the pie shell and spread it out evenly.  Arrange the pieces of pear on the top in a circle.  I arranged the slices from the outer edge for the first circle, then from the center for the second circle, and I still had slices left over.


Bake the tart for about 30 minutes or until the custard is lightly brown and set.  Let cool on a rack for at least one full hour before slicing.  The finished tart will look something like this:

I waited the requisite hour and tasted the finished product, and I have to say, it's not bad for my first attempt.


Bon appetit!

My Cooking Adventures

I have called this blog my Adventures in Cooking because that's what cooking is to me -- an adventure.  Since I was a young boy I have always been fascinated with the magic that is cooking.  You take a pile of raw ingredients and with a little work, a bit of skill, a lot of practice and a good set of instructions, you create a culinary masterpiece.  Well, if not a masterpiece, at least something that didn't make my brothers sick.


As I grew and moved out on my own, I found that this skill made me quite popular as a roommate.  My friends would often come to visit around dinner time, and my coworkers would often request particular items for various occasions.  All of this made me realize that cooking is one of the best skills ever.


If there is one basic rule for cooking, it must be this; wash your hands.  It is impossible to cook food without touching it, and your hands pick up the germs on everything they touch.  These germs are transferred to the foods that you are preparing, and while most of these foods will be cooked and the germs will thereby be killed, some foods are not, or are not cooked enough to kill germs.  Proper hand washing with hot water and soap is a must.  In fact, it should be done consistently throughout the preparation time.


Another rule is to have the best tools possible.  I attended a class recently in knife handling skills, and one of the things I learned is the value of a good knife.  Sadly, I don't have one.  I was particularly impressed with the Henckels Classic series, and one day I hope to be the proud owner of a set of these, but since the knives are about $100 apiece, that day will have to wait.


I also believe that good cookware is a must, and I am working on that as well.  At present, I must do with what I have on hand.  I will discuss more of this later, but for now, I am limited by what I currently own, and it wouldn't be prudent to go deep into debt just to own better cookware.  


I plan this blog to be a work of cooking experiences and recipes, and when possible I will include photographs of the food I am preparing.  I will attempt to ensure that all recipes and instructions are complete and accurate, and I will do my best to answer any questions, should anyone feel the need to ask any.


As I stated in my profile, I have never taken a cooking class, but I do feel that I have accumulated a certain amount of cooking knowledge that I am more than willing to share.  


Bon appetit!