Lasagna Roll-Ups

Last week I was craving Italian food,

but not the usual spaghetti and meat sauce.

No, I wanted something a bit different.

I wanted lasagna roll-ups,

with homemade ricotta cheese.

Of course I did.

Now before you panic,

ricotta is very simple to make.

An added bonus is that it can be made in 

the afternoon and be ready for that evening's meal.

What could be better?

I started with Ina Garten's recipe, but I halved the amounts.

These are the amounts I used:

2 cups vitamin D milk (otherwise known as whole milk?)

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 1/2 tablespoons good white wine vinegar

Pour the milk and the heavy cream into a heavy stainless steel pot.  Add the kosher salt.  Stir and bring to a boil over medium heat.  Watch carefully so that the mixture does not boil over.  Stir occasionally.  Once the mixture comes to a boil, remove from heat.

Add the vinegar and stir.

The vinegar will curdle the mixture, forming curds and whey.*

*Little Miss Muffet sat on her tuffet eating her curds and whey...

You can see it happening here.

Strain the mixture through two layers of dampened cheesecloth in a strainer over a tall bowl.

Allow to sit at room temperature for at least 20 to 25 minutes.  The longer it sits, the thicker the ricotta will be.

The whey has drained out.  This will be tossed.

And now on to the homemade pasta sauce for the dish.

I am winging it this time. so this is my recipe.

The ingredients are:

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup onion, diced

1 small carrot, finely grated

1 clove garlic, grated

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1 (15 ounce can) tomato sauce**

Fill 3/4 of that 15-ounce can full of dry red wine

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

salt and sugar to taste***

**My favorite is Red Gold, but I realize that this is a regional brand and may not be available in your area.  This brand has no added salt and no added preservatives.  Test drive different brands before you decide upon your favorite brand.  Then use it faithfully like a groupie.

***I am not the boss of you.  Only you know how much salt and sugar you like.  Plus, each brand and batch of tomato sauce will be different and require different amounts of salt and sugar.  Taste, taste, taste!

Now here is the interesting thing: if you find that you have gone too far one way and the sauce is too salty, just add more sugar.  Or if it is too sweet, then add more salt.  Sugar and salt are the perfect yin and yang.

That is the one fact that I forgot to mention in my salt post the last time.  So now you know: if you have inadvertently over-salted something; just add in some sugar to counteract the salt.  It works every time.

Heat a sauce pan over medium-high heat.  Add the olive oil and onion and grated carrot to the sauce pan.  Saute for several minutes, or until the brown bits just begin to form on the bottom of the pan.  Stir every few minutes.  There is a huge difference between caramelization and burning!

Add the grated garlic, the oregano and the pepper.  Heat for one minute, stirring constantly.  Do not let the garlic burn.  Add the tomato sauce and the wine.  Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer.  Add salt and sugar to taste.

And now on to the ricotta filling.  Here I have about one cup of homemade ricotta.  To that I add one egg, about 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano, 1/2 cup grated mozzarella and 1 teaspoon dried oregano.  Mix well.

Like so.

Meanwhile, soak several lasagna sheets in a baking pan in boiling hot water.  I heated the water in the microwave before pouring over the sheets of pasta.  Cover with plastic wrap and let sit for about ten minutes, or until the pasta is pliable.

Then, take the pasta out and spread out some of the cheese mixture on top.  Carefully roll up the pasta.

Lay the rolled pasta out in a baking dish that has first been coated with the tomato sauce.  Unlike this dish.  Note the lack of sauce on the bottom of the dish.

Now it's been fixed.  Ladle more pasta sauce over the top and grate Parmesan and mozzarella cheeses on top.  Bake in a 350 degree oven until the cheeses are nice and bubbly.

Meanwhile, cut a French baguette in half and then in half lengthwise.  Grate one clove of garlic and microwave that with four tablespoons  of unsalted butter.  Brush that over the top of the cut sides of the bread.  Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes.  If desired, grate Parmigiano Reggiano over the top before baking. 

Dinner is served.  Easy Peasy.  And sodalicious.

The Salt of the Earth

Perhaps one of the most important seasonings
in the kitchen is salt.

Salt is a mineral and is essential to animal life
as it helps to regulate the water content,
or fluid balance, of the body.

Salt is also significant in culinary history,
as it was once the primary way to preserve fresh foods.
Salt was used to draw moisture out
of meats and other foodstuffs,
so that the foods could be kept without refrigeration
for a long period of time.

In ancient times a Roman soldier was paid a 'salary'
so he could buy his weekly ration of salt.
You've got it: 'salary' is Latin for salt.

As late as the Victorian times,
an obvious sign of wealth was for a saltcellar
to be present on the dinner table.
And the fancier the better.

All salt on earth once came from the seas,
no matter how ancient
and no matter where those beds are now found.

Different types of salt found in the kitchen:

Kosher salt

Rock salt

Iodized table salt (ptooey!)

French Grey sea salt

Himalayan pink salt

Mediterranean sea salt

Extra course sea salt

On the top left: Iodized table salt. 

This salt should only be on the table.  

And even that is questionable.  

Never use this salt in cooking.  

Never!

Middle left: Course sea salt.  

This is the salt that should be

on the table in a grinder. 

This salt has more flavor and you will find 

that you need less of it.

End of discussion.

Bottom left: kosher salt.  

This is your standard cooking salt,

except if you are frying eggs.  

Never try to substitute table salt

for kosher salt as the grains are different sizes 

and the saltiness will differ.

Kosher salt is not a table salt.

And now for a very important cooking tip:

when cooking something like potatoes or pasta 

(and yes, that includes noodles),

always! salt the water.  Add about a tablespoon 

of KOSHER salt to the water.

Remember, if you are draining the water,

most of the salt will go down the drain.

But some of that salt will be absorbed into the 

potatoes or pasta.

And that is a very good thing.

Because no amount of salt later can ever

redeem the dish.

In the end you will find that you will have 

added less salt to the dish.

And it will taste better.

It's a win-win.

Center top: ground sea salt.

This is the other cooking salt.

Use this when you need a finer cooking salt.

Center bottom: French grey sea salt.

This is strictly a finishing salt. 

Treat this like gold.

This is a good salt for homemade croutons 

or a salted caramel.

Right top: rock salt.

This is the salt you would use 

for old-fashioned ice cream makers.

You can also use it to salt your driveways and walks 

in the winter.

Don't eat it.

Right bottom: Himalayan pink salt.

This also is a finishing salt.

Bring this out when you want to impress your guests.

Pass around the grater and let each guest grate a bit

of the cube of salt over their food.

If you like them enough, that is.

And if you forget everything else,
remember this:
you do not salt food to make it taste salty,
you salt food to bring out the flavors of the food.

Yet Another University Club Luncheon -

This Time with a Good Cause in Mind

Last Wednesday
we had our third Luncheon of the year.

This time we had invited Mr. Julio Alonso,

the director of the Hoosier Hills Food Bank,

to be our speaker for our luncheon.

This was especially important to me as 

I know from my Internet friends that the option of

being able to take leftover unused restaurant food

and distribute that to needy families is most often illegal

in other parts of the US.

You would be shocked to know how much restaurants

and grocery stores have to throw out each 

and every day,

simply because there is no other

recourse.

Unless your local food bank has been able to 

work with the local health department and been 

able to convince the restaurants and the retailer,
then all that food goes to waste.

And yes, in this day of litigation,

the food bank strives to reassure the donors that

under the Federal rules of something or other
or the Good Samaritan Act

that the restaurant and retailers
cannot be held liable for the donated goods.

Now, on to the food we got to eat.

On the menu was a traditional spinach salad

with sliced hard-boiled egg, mushrooms and

red onion with ranch dressing.

For the entree we had a choice between

Indiana Pot Roast with carrots, celery and onions

over horseradish mashed potatoes

or a baked acorn squash stuffed with wild rice,

spinach and mushroom pilaf in saffron 

and potato chowder.

Obviously I chose the pot roast.

Dessert was a warm peach cobbler.

Lunch was good

and our speaker told us about how

Hoosier Hills Food Bank

works hard to take "the hunger out of poverty."

The members who attended the luncheon 

donated non-perishable food items to the 

food bank.

All in all, it was a good day for a good cause.

Baked Shrimp Scampi

I have been reading several rave reviews online

about Ina Garten's Baked Shrimp Scampi

and decided to try the recipe.

Surprisingly for me,

the only changes I made to the recipe were

to halve it since I was making this for 

just my daughter and myself 

and to use dried parsley as the fresh parsley

has been killed by the cold temperatures.

Just remember to use 1/3 less of the herb if you are 

using dried when the recipe calls for fresh herbs.

These are the amounts I used in the halved recipe:

1 pound large shrimp (16-18 shrimp per pound, from Fabian Seafood.)
1-1/2 tablespoons good olive oil*
1 tablespoon dry white wine
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
6  teaspoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cloves garlic, grated
1/8 cup onion (or shallots), grated
1/2 teaspoon fresh rosemary, minced
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 large egg yolk
1/3 cup Panko bread crumbs
lemon wedges for serving


*Ina Garten will hunt you down if you dare to use anything less than good olive oil.  Don't make her angry.  She has money and can afford the good lawyers.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Peel, devein, and butterfly the shrimp, leaving the tails on. Place the shrimp in a mixing bowl and toss gently with the olive oil, wine, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Allow to sit at room temperature while you make the butter and garlic mixture.

In a small bowl, mash the softened butter with the garlic, shallots, parsley, rosemary, red pepper flakes, lemon zest, lemon juice, egg yolk, panko, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper until combined.

Starting from the outer edge of a 6- in baking dish, arrange the shrimp in a single layer cut side down with the tails curling up and towards the center of the dish.** Pour the remaining marinade over the shrimp.

**My note: this takes patience as shrimp, especially dead shrimp don't take direction well.  Just be patient and do your best.

Spread the butter mixture evenly over the shrimp. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until hot and bubbly. If you like the top browned, place under a broiler for 1 minute.

The shrimp scampi is out of the oven and out from under the broiler.

We wanted a light dinner, so our side consisted of one-half of an apple.  We are partial to Honeycrisps, so that is the apple de jour.

We thought that this dish had potential, but that it wasn't great.  For one thing, the panko coating was simply too heavy, so the next time I will cut that back.  Also, the lemon was a bit over powering.  I am thoroughly convinced that Ina Garten suffered from scurvy in a past life and she is trying to make up for it now.

We had a bit left over and my dear husband got to eat the left overs when he got home late last night.  He remarked that he thought that Parmesan cheese would be a good addition to this recipe.

So, here is my road map for the next time I make this recipe:
     Reduce the amount of Panko to 1/4 cup
     Replace the egg yolk with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
     Reduce the lemon juice to 2 teaspoons


I will report on how the revisions to the recipe work.

Meanwhile, Minx looks on from his new box.

A Frosty Morning

I awoke early Thursday morning to find that it was quite foggy

outside.

Better than it being foggy inside, I always say.

Although, I do remember one morning many years ago,

when I watched the fog roll through the window screen

and into my bedroom.

Fascinating, that.

After the fog lifted, 

we found that it had gifted us with some beautiful frosted

trees and other items.

A frost-covered willow tree.

A closer look.

The dracaena is covered in frost.

Close-up of the frost on the dracaena.

Frost on a spider web.

Welcome to winter.

Love it or not.

Winter Comes Calling

This past weekend it was in the low 60s.

Now it is snowing.

Well, they say in Indiana that if you don't like the weather,

wait five minutes.

Early afternoon and the snow is beginning to fall.

Just an hour later and things are beginning to turn white.

Brrr.

Two hours later and there is about an inch of the 

cold, wet, white stuff

covering everything.

I'm not ready for this.

The Last Tailgate of the Season

This past Saturday was
the annual IU vs. Purdue (hiss) game,

otherwise known as the Oaken Bucket game.

The winner of the game gains possession of 

the Oaken Bucket for the next year.

Each year, a link with the winning team's initial

on the chain is added to the bucket.

Then, the winning team's initial is proudly displayed

outside the oaken bucket until it is claimed by the

next winning team.

Enough of the football:

on to the food.

Our theme this week was "Thanksgiving Leftovers".

So I adapted my recipes to match that theme.

First up:  Brie en Croute.

1 puff pastry sheet

1 8-ounce round of brie

3 to 4 tablespoons F.R.O.G (Fig, Raspberry, Orange, Ginger) Preserves

Allow the puff pastry sheet to thaw and roll out to a square.

Place the brie in the center.

Spread enough preserves on top to mostly cover the top of the brie.

Then, gather the corners of the pastry together and tuck in "artistically".

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

Normally, one would let this sit for 20 to 40 minutes before serving with sliced apples and/or crackers, but this is a tailgate.  At this point, the baked brie en croute went into the refrigerator.  I will heat it back up over low flame on the mini grill at the tailgate.

Next up are the Krab Bites.

I sliced each fake crab leg into four sections.  Then the "pre-cooked" bacon is cut in half crosswise.  Each crab section is wrapped with a half piece of bacon and secured with a tooth pick.

The final dish of the day was Ina Garten's French Apple Tart.

1 puff pastry sheet
3 Honeycrisp apples
1/2 cup sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup F.R.O.G. (Fig, Raspberry, Orange, Ginger) preserves
2 tablespoons rum

After thawing the puff pastry, roll out on a sheet of parchment paper on a baking sheet.

Peel, core, and slice the apples and arrange in diagonal rows on the pastry.

Sprinkle with sugar and dot with the cubed pieces of butter.

Bake in a 400 degree oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour, turning halfway.  If the pastry begins to puff up, stab with a knife (gently, not like Norman Bates would stab Marion).

Let cool for a few minutes before gently (there's that word again) prying off the parchment with a spatula. Wait any longer and you run the risk of the tart becoming one (and not in a good way) with the parchment.

Heat the preserves and the rum together until melted.  Pour over the top of the cooked pastry.

After the tart has cooled, cut with a pizza cutter.

We really need to work on figuring out a way to prevent the spillage of the sugars over the edges, resulting in burnt caramelized edges.  Ina doesn't address this problem.  Well, this isn't the first time I've had problems with an Ina recipe.  Too bad I don't work for her, because I could save her much embarrassment.

Can you believe it?  The last Saturday in November and the temperatures were in the low 60s.

The feast is spread.  Besides our contributions, our tailgate buddies brought regular chili and chicken chili, sliced BBQ pork loin, turkey, stuffing, iced pumpkin bars (cake, really), apples with caramel, and cheese spread and crackers.  Later, more food arrived with more tailgate buddies.

Already, half the French apple tart has disappeared.

The crock pots are working their magic.

This is a mighty feast.

Meanwhile, our tailgate neighbors had made their famous spam and bologna egg sandwiches for breakfast and later had venison/beef burgers and brats.  Sadly, I missed out on the venison/beef burgers. 

Once again I opted to stay outside instead of going into the game.  This allows the others to know that I am there to guard things while they are watching the Hoosiers lose once again, I was able to sit outside without fear of getting another migraine (after just finally getting rid of a month-long one) I had the chance to get some writing done. 

After writing for a bit, I grew restless and wandered next door.  Our very nice neighbors invited me over to watch the game on their TV and to eat some food.

And back to some food.  I love stuffing.  This stuffing was super moist and very well seasoned.

On the left is the brie en croute.  It may not look pretty, but it is oh, so delicious.  Especially on a thin slice of apple.

The tailgates were going strong.

Everywhere you looked.

Except for the student section.  Seems that many of the kids were still at home with their families. 

Despite a few sprinkles and a bit of wind, this was a wonderful day for a tailgate.

And yes, IU managed to lose yet once again.  But hey, we almost managed to have a perfect season!  A perfect losing season, that is.  We won one game against a minor team from South Carolina.  Whoot?

On the bright side, downtown is brightly lit.

I'm already looking forward to next year.  Maybe we'll even have some wins to go with the good food and great company?