Sorry no photo.
This is one of the best lasagnes ever. Mr. Big Food substituted homemade Italian sausage for ground beef, and of course he used homemade stewed tomatoes rather that canned, and all fresh seasonings. If we were to have a lasagne contest, this would be my #1.
Recipe below.
BAKED LASAGNA SUPREME
Serves 8
1 large onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 lb ground beef
½ C olive oil
3 ½ C stewed tomatoes (can use a No. 2 ½ can)
6 oz can tomato paste
1 Tbsp chopped parsley
3 bay leaves
1 tsp sweet basil
¼ tsp crushed red pepper
1 lb package lasagna noodle
8 oz shredded mozzarella cheese
16 oz carton ricotta or cottage cheese
½ C grated Parmesan cheese
Cook onions, garlic, and beef in olive oil until meat is
done, stirring to break up meat. Place tomatoes, tomato paste, parsley, bay
leaves, basil, and red pepper in a heavy pot, simmer for several minutes, add
meat mixture, and simmer 3 hours. Preheat oven to 350o. Alternate
layers of meat sauce, noodles, mozzarella cheese, ricotta or cottage cheese,
and Parmesan cheese in a lightly greased 3 quart casserole. Repeat layers until
all sauce is used, ending with noodles and sauce. Bake 30 minutes.
A trick I've learned rather late in life is cooking hamburg - and sausage, I suspect, though I haven't tried it - so that it comes out fairly fine in texture. For this recipe, I'd start the onions and garlic, then when they're clear and soft, I'd take them out and put in the ground meat. Then add water. About 1/4 to 1/2 cup. Immediately start breaking the ground meat down into the water. It shouldn't be too hot - not boiling. Keep breaking the meat down into the water until you have something of a slurry. Add more water if you have to. The meat will gradually lose it's pinkness, and the water will go from reddish to clear. Continue cooking till the meat is completely cooked and the water is pretty much cooked off - then add the onion and garlic back and proceed as before. I'm not sure exactly how I learned this, but it was better than the chunky pieces of hamburg I was getting, and which I then felt I had to put into a blender to get fine enough to make a smooth mix for lasagne.
ReplyDeletesuek-- why don't you have a blog? Why aren't you passing these tips along to a larger audience? You are chock full of good to know stuff and you make keen observations. Much as I enjoy your company, it seems like you deserve a larger audience. Speaking of which, I've not seen you at Book's place.
ReplyDeleteJust sayin'.
Because a blog has to be a regular thing. It also has to be original. Both of those things tend to be weaknesses of mine. I don't think I _want_ to have to add a new something every day - or even every week. And I'd rather respond to what others have to offer than be responsible for creative stuff.
ReplyDeleteYou're right about the Bookwormroom. When I got back from the Texas-Ok trip, I had to take over the front counter position at the store and start coming in a couple of hours earlier in the day. Our Amber had lived with us and worked at the store with us for some ten years. She had the front counter desk and took care of customers - I just did the buying and had the non-visible office...did the customer work only when things got busy. Amber postponed her trip to Australia so I could go stay with my daughter when she had her baby, and as soon as I returned, she left. She is there for a year with a work permit. We'll see what happens then. I think she hopes it will be a permanent thing...but you never know.
The upshot of her leaving is that I wait on customers as well as the buying. Customers are nothing if not disruptive when it comes to trying to maintain a train of thought! and Book's blog is mostly political, which does require _some_ effort at logical thought process! Besides, sometimes the comments go on at some length, and it just doesn't seem right to duck in and out of the "conversation". There's a rudeness about dropping in, commenting and then disappearing. It's tough sometimes, though, not to add my two - or five - cents worth!
I'm thinking about borrowing an incubator and hatching some eggs. Not sure yet...the first two chickie weeks are a bit daunting to contemplate. Can't put them in the garage - that's the cat's territory, and he's a hunter. I figure 24 eggs, maybe 18 hatch? of those probably 9 are hens - just figuring probabilities here - so I have to raise them all till I can tell, then try to sell/giveaway the roosters, then I have hens for next year. If they all survive. I'd settle for 3-4. They seem to see locally for about $10-15 each for laying hens.
What about inbreeding in chickens? I don't know. I know it's a problem with most mammals, but chickens? Have you ever heard anything? The rooster I have is going to be the father of the chicks - which would be my future hens. Maybe I need to see if anyone will trade? Or will I just be taking on someone else's problems? Did I mention that I don't know much about chickens? I have a book - but it doesn't seem to answer the questions I'm developing... Or maybe just don't worry about it and figure that in two years I need to change roosters or just sell all of them and start over.