Baked Lasagna with Italian Sausage

While at my friend Cindy's home earlier this week I helped her make red sauce from fresh tomatoes, something that I have never done before. I was married to a fellow years and years ago who's mother was married to an Italian fellow. Sam taught me to make red sauce or gravy as he called it sometimes. I applied Sam's recipe to what I made from my late season tomatoes from my garden and have fairly good results. What I write below is a bit of a guess on the measurement in some cases as I have no idea how much the tomatoes weighed but i am guessing at somewhere in the area of 3-4 pounds. OK

3-4 pounds of fresh, washed and scolded tomatoes (I heated me water in the pan that I was going to make the sauce in (the Dutch oven that came with my set of Analon pans). After scolding the tomatoes in the sink, I stopped the action by adding cold tap water and allowing it to cool enough that I could slip the skins, core and quarter my fresh tomatoes.

2 8oz. cans tomato paste

2 garlic cloves, crushed or 1 tsp. minced garlic from the jar

1 med. onion, cleaned and rough chopped

1 med. bell pepper, washed, seeded and rough chopped

1 tsp. kosher salt

8 or 10 fresh sweet basil leaves, washed, and thinly chopped

1/2 C. fresh parsley, chopped

1 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp. ground pepper

1 tsp. fresh minced oregano

2 tsp. baking soda (This takes the acid out of the sauce. Use a spoon to scrape the pale foam that come to the top off and dis guard it.)

This will simmer for nearly 4 hours. I used a potato masher to crush the tomatoes as they are beginning to cook really well. Now, IF, you want Sam's recipe, start out with 4 or 5 fresh pork neck bones. These should have meat on them but very little if any fat. The bones add the best flavor and after the sauce is made, are a nice treat to cook or whom ever is around to sneak in a nibble.

I let the sauce completely cool after it has cooked down to the desired consistency. If you have a Denny in your house, you will have to keep an eye on the pot as he thinks he is saving the sauce and keeps turning the heat off. I put mine in a covered container and in the refrigerator over night.

The Lasagna:

1.5 pks of oven ready lasagna noodles

Sauce you have purchased or prepared, If you purchase, I would get at least 2 quarts.

Cheese filling

2 15 oz. cartons of Ricotta cheese

1 C. grated Parmesan or Romano or a mixture of the two

2 lrg. eggs

2 tsp. Penzey's Italian seasoning

Meat (My local market doesn't know any other type of Italian sausage except the really hot Sicilian style and I don't care for that at all so I made my own:

1.5 pounds lean ground pork

1.5 tsp. Penzey's Italian Sausage seasoning

Mix this by hand and allow to set for about 20 minutes before you fry it off. There should be very little grease in the pan when you are done.

Assembly:

350F, 45 minutes, 9z13 deep baking dish or aluminum pan spayed with PAM.

Arrange the noodles in the bottom of the pan and place one on end on each of the sides of the pan. Cover the noodles with sauce, you have plenty if you made what I did, so don't drown them but cover them well. Add about 1/2 of the meat followed by 1/2 of the cheese mixture and then follow that with a good covering of shredded Mozzarella cheese (I like it cheesy so about 1.5 cups of cheese. Repeat this one more time and finish with sauce over the top and sprinkle on a liberal amount of grated Parmesan cheese.

I guess you should know that I like my lasagna meaty, creamy with cheese and rich with red sauce so I hope that you enjoy this one.

God Bless,

Linda

Chocolate Zucchini Loaf Cake

Chocolate Zucchini Loaf Cake

2/3 c. all-purpose flour ( I used 1C. GF flour... of course)

1/3. c. whole wheat flour

1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. ground cinnamon ( I used Penzey’s Vietnamese)

1 1/2 c. shredded raw zucchini

1/4 c. vegetable oil

1/4 c. applesauce

1/2 c. granulated sugar

1/2 c. brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

3/4 c. semi sweet or dark chocolate chips (optional- I used mini chips)

1. preheat oven to 350 and grease a loaf pan. sift together first 7 ingredients. set aside.

2. using a hand mixer, beat the oil, applesauce, sugars, eggs, and vanilla for about 2 min.

3. fold in zucchini, add the flour mixture, beating just until combined. fold in chocolate chips.

4. pour mixture into prepared pan and bake for 55 to 65 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.

5. remove from oven and place pan on a wire rack to cool for at least 15 min. then transfer from pan to wire rack and let cool completely. store in fridge when cool.

serve warm with vanilla ice cream. or straight out of the fridge, with fresh strawberries. (Raspberries would be better with this I think.)

* I squeezed some of the water out of the zucchini after I shredded it as it seemed like it would make the cake too moist.

Blue Berry Buckle from Betty Crocker's Cook Book (0ld)

2 C. flour

1/4 C. sugar

2 1/2 tsp. baking powder

3/4 tsp. salt

1/4 C. shortening or butter

3/4 C. milk

1 egg

2 C. blue berries

Topping:

1/2 C. sugar

1/3 C flour

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 C. soft butter

Heat oven to 375F

Grease a square 8" pan

Blend all ingredients except the topping, beating vigorously 1/2 minute. Spread in the prepared pan.

Sprinkle with the topping

Bake 25-30 minutes or until it tests done using a tooth pick or strand of spaghetti

Serve warm

Blue Berry Buckle from Betty Crocker

Balsamic Chicken with Caprice Toast

It is summer and I really try not to cook anything in the house that is going to take any length of time to cook. These are something's that cook quickly and are fairly light on the waist line as well as the AC bill.

I can't resist caprice when the sweet basil is ready and so are the home grown tomatoes and I just love most anything done with a flattened chicken breast.

I was at a local grocery here on Sunday and saw a Taste Of Home Italian cookbook and nabbed it for the afternoon's reading. Didn't get to it until sometime yesterday. Knee deep in a Nora Roberts novel.

So, today for lunch I had to try one of the lighter recipes and we love it and thought that you might like it as well. Now remember I told you that I love caprice so that plays in here as well.

The first recipe is from Taste Of Home Italian and called Balsamic Chicken

If you are using an entire chicken breast, you will want it skinless and boneless. Trim the fat and the chin stuff that is where the cartilage area of the breast bone was. Put the two halves on a sheet of plastic wrap and cover it with a sheet of plastic wrap and using the flat side of your meat mallet flatten to about 1/4 inch thick. Cut each half in half again so that you have 4 portions.

In a resealable plastic bag combine:

1/4 C flour

(I added 1/2 tsp of Penzey's Mural of flavor)

1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper

1/8 tsp. sea salt

Mix well and coat the chicken portions.

In a large non-stick skillet:

1 Tbsp. canola oil (I chose to use EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) it is just me, I like the taste it imparts)

the chicken breast portions go in next and they are cooked medium heat on each side for about 4-5 minutes (until the juices run clear)

Remove the chicken and keep it warm (now here I deviated again and I sprinkled the hot chicken portions with Parmesan cheese).

In the still hat skillet add:

1 small onion, thinly sliced and cook until tender

(Here I deviated once more. The recipe calls for dried spices (thyme and rosemary) I used fresh rosemary (3 sprigs stripped and 1 spring of Greek oregano stripped)

Add in;

1/4 C. water

1/2 tsp. dried thyme

1/8 tsp. dried rosemary

2 Tbsp. good Balsamic Vinegar

Continue to cook for 3-4 minutes until the mixture begins to thicken a bit.

Serve this over the chicken breast.

Caprice toast:

4 thin slices of Italian bread drizzled with garlic infused EVOO (not allot just drizzle it)

cover each slice with slices of "fresh Mottzrella cheese (this is the white ball that you see in the cheese section. Sometimes it's called Buffalo Mottzrella when it is made with Buffalo milk. It might seem like it is packed in liquid.)

Cover each then with Sweet Basil leaves.

Followed by thin slices of fresh tomato

350F until the cheese is melted and tomatoes show some cooking going on.

I had a chicken breast and slice of this on each plate and in Den's words "You are out of the ball park on this one. Great meal!!!"

If you try it, I hope it turns out to be something you like.

God bless,

Linda

Amish Granola

6 C. Old Fashion Oatmeal
1/2 C. honey
1/4 C. Canola oil
1/4 C. Brown sugar
2/3 C. sliced almonds
1/2 C. sunflower seeds, not the salted ones
1/2 C. chopped walnuts
1/2 C. wheat germ
1/2 C flake coconut
Combine in a large mixing bowl and blend well.
Preheat your oven to 350F.

On a large baking sheet with sides, evenly spread the granola mix. Bake for 30 minutes stirring at 10 minute intervals to provide even toasting. Store in an air tight container.
This is great eaten the way the Europeans do, with yogurt. You can use milk if you like as well or eat it out of hand.

This one was in an Amish cookbook that my mom has. I have made it many times over the years and plan to make a double batch and take it for our canoe and camping Memorial Day Group Camp out.
God Bless,
Linda

Blueberry Bread Pudding

While I was at my mom's last week we had dinner one night at my brother, Dave and his wife, Gwen's place. The finish was a Blueberry Bread Pudding that is really worth the effort. Not to sure whose recipe she was working but here goes:

3 eggs
4 C. heavy cream
1 1/2 C. sugar
3 tsp. vanilla extract, don't scrimp, use the good stuff, it make all the difference
2 C. fresh or frozen blueberries
1 pkg. (10-12oz) white baking chips
1 loaf (1#) french bread cut into 1 inch cubes

Sauce:
1 pkg. (10-12 oz) white baking chips
1 C. heavy cream

In a large bowl, combine the eggs, cream, sugar and vanilla. Stir in blueberries and baking chips. Stir in the bread cubes and let stand for 15 minutes or until the bread is softened.

Transfer to a greased 9x13 baking dish. Bake uncovered at 350F for 50-60 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center come out clean. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

For the sauce, place the chips in a small bowl. In a small sauce pan, bring the cream just to a boil. Pour over the baking chips, whisk until smooth. Serve over the bread pudding.

I love bread pudding warm. Yummmmmmmm