garden lasagna

        from the Garden Lasagna

       peel, slice, salt and let drain the eggplant,

roast on a baking sheet till some what limp

set aside for assembly

• sauté an amount of  garlic in a saucepan with oil

season with salt & pepper, add flour and more oil if needed and  cook like a roux

add milk, I guess about 1/2 cup

more  stock than milk,

several slices of American cheese

cook slightly to reach a boil,

temper in two eggs,

simmer, should be  pretty thick and rich to compliment the

vegetables and  enough for a 13×9 size lasagna

• add about several tablespoons of tomato paste, heat through, remove from heat, set aside. Since the stock is rich, a slight salt and pepper is all I use, oops, and  a wicked small amount of smoked hot red pepper flakes, no more than a pinch, you want the flavors of the veggies up front.

make wide pasta noodles, I like noodles between each vegetable so I go down to #2 setting.

I don’t fuss, mix about 1 cup flour and 1 egg in the kitchen aid with the beater, add a bit of water till it’s almost together.

no waiting either, right to the pasta machine. I made the pasta on demand, it ended up being 2 batches

  boil, drain, trim as necessary, dry on kitchen towel                                           spread sauce on bottom of the pan

start assembly

•   noodles
• fresh sliced tomato
• noodles
• roasted eggplant
• noodles
• raw sliced green peppers for crunch

repeat

use a small amount of sauce with each layer

top with fresh herbs

last, cover with noodles

and sauce

mmmmmmmmmmmmm…. now were talking lasagna ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

off to a 325 oven, bring it up slowly till slightly bubbly

I don’t know about 1/2 hour or more

if you made the sauce at the right consistency, it won’t be really bubbly or bubble over

of course give it time to rest before serving

I hit the mark with this one, I could cut a piece from the pan and pick it up with my hand without it falling apart.

the simplicity and freshness of the flavors are apparent.

Now, to food bloggers who post REAL pictures of their food and kitchen my salute !!!!

RICE,TOMATO, AND GREEN PEPPER CASSEROLE

WHITE RICE     TOMATO, AND GREEN PEPPER CASSEROLE
modified from  Cazuela de Arroz con Rajas de Chile Poblano
Pattis’ Mexican Table

INGREDIENTS
4 cups cooked white rice (about 2 cups uncooked)
2 tbsp butter
1 large valdalia onion, diced
3 cloves (or more to taste) garlic, pressed,
3 green peppers, charred, skinned, stemmed, seeded, and sliced.
1 1/2 cup (Roma if possible) tomatoes, chopped
1 cup corn
1 tsp sea salt or to taste
About 1 tablespoon flour    `
1 cup milk
Smoked, dry hOt red pepper flakes to taste
cheese

TO PREPARE
Place the butter in a  pan set over medium heat and saute the onions .Allow it to sweat for about 5-10 minutes,   Increase the heat to medium-high, add the tomatoes and cook for about 2 minutes.  Add the green pepper, corn, salt and black pepper and cook for about 3 more minutes.Add garlic.  Add the flour to form a roux and cook for several minutes. Add the milk and cook till bubbling stirring mixture till it thickens. Add more milk if necessary to obtain a semi thick sauce.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Butter a 8 x 11   baking dish.  Layer the white rice in the baking dish and press it down gently with a spatula.  Pour the sauce tomatoes/pepper mixture on top  For the last layer, sprinkle the shredded cheese (optional) on top.

Bake the casserole in the oven for about 20 minutes until bubbly.

Eggplant spinach lasagna

Eggplant spinach lasagna

cut eggplant lengthwise, season and oil, roast in oven
set aside;

sauté chopped onion and garlic, green pepper in oil
add flour, season etc.
add cream, milk etc. to make a white sauce
add cheese
add chopped tomatoes, tomato sauce
cooked till thickened
set aside;

make wide pasta noodles
about 2 cups flours 2 eggs

assemble (13x9x2) as you would with layers of
pasta, eggplant and baby spinach with the sauce.

Bake till bubbly

sorry no pix maybe if I make it again I’ll take some pictures

Mac and Cheese BlahBlahBlah

Mac and Cheese BlahBlahBlah….. A variation to the standard recipe of Mac and Cheese.

If you have cooked mac and cheese before you will know the measurements….

pasta (elbows)

diced bacon

diced onion

diced celery

diced garlic

diced green pepper

diced cooked chicken

olive oil

butter

flour

milk

stock

american cheese

Asiago cheese

egg

crushed crackers

cook macaroni in salted water, drain and return to a large pan.

Saute the diced bacon to render some fat add the rest of the diced vegetables and cook till tender adding olive oil as needed. Add the diced cooked chicken, heat through and season to taste. Add it to the large pan of macaroni. In the same pan that was used for saute, melt butter, add flour to make a roux. Whisk in the stock and milk and heat till it starts to thicken. While still heating add the cheese(s). Temper and add the egg to the sauce. When completed mix the sauce and pasta together.

Turn into a rectangular baking dish and top with crushed crackers. Extra mixture can be frozen for later use.

Bake in a moderate oven till bubbly and switch to broil and brown cracker topping. Let cool slightly and serve.

Cut through the mac and cheese flavor with a demitass cup of strong turkish coffee.

Happy New Year

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2009

RING IN THE NEW WITH A PIZZA !

What better way to wash down a pizza !

It snowed in the afternnon to evening and the temps dropped making it a cold night. Renee provided transporation for lady as she didn’t want to brave the snow. I ended up watching the tube for most of the night and the others played games. Made up some dough and baked pizza. Diane made many side dishes and desserts. Champagne toast at midnight and we watched the motorcycle jump/ times square ball drop at midnight.

Diane didn’t have to work till 10 Am, I slept in and put the kitchen back in order and cleaned the office and shuffled up some paper work, yeah, tax time comming and also keeping an eye on the interest rate alerts from the mortgage company. we should be starting an on-lne app for a re fi soon. I have projects on the back burner for 2009 .Turntable sitting on the desk now and I have digitized some of the albums to harddisk/mp3 player (I have Justine’s old Zen player she has an Ipod) with many other albums in the cellar. Boxes of pictures/slides/VHS and Uncles Leos old home movies to convert “someday” (“Someday” is the new day that will be added to the week so we will be able to get everthing done!) Renee was looking at Craigs list for a DVD/VHS to tape her TV shows. She got one at Salvation Army but it wasn’t fully functional. L8tr pEtE