SAUSAGE LASAGNA!

LASAGNA!  Yes, please!  We modified, though, I figure that unless you're short on supplies, it's hard to mess it up!  Serve with a bottle of red wine!

Below is the recipe I used, with my modifications in red.  I gave up beef for Lent, so I only used Italian sausage.  Instead of creating a 9"x13" casserole (since there were lots of other things I wanted to cook/eat this week!) we halved the recipe and made it in an 8"x8" dish.  With a few cuts of the lasagna pasta pieces, it turned out fine. 

The original recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/lasagna-al-forno-recipe/index.html

Ingredients (half the original recipe):

• 1/2 pound dried lasagna noodles
• Olive oil
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, sliced (didn't halve because we love garlic!)
• 2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
• 1 teaspoon dry oregano
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 pound ground Italian sausage
• 3 ounces tomato paste
• 15 ounces ricotta cheese, (1 container)
• 1/4 cup Italian flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon dry oregano, chopped
• Salt and black pepper, to taste
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 cups tomato sauce, prepared
• 2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
• Grated Parmesan and mozzarella, for topping

Directions

1. Cook the lasagna noodles in plenty of boiling salted water until pliable and barely tender, about 10 minutes. Stir with a wooden spoon to prevent sticking. Drain the noodles thoroughly, coat with olive oil keep them moist and easy to work with.
2. Coat a large skillet with olive oil. Saute over medium heat, onion,garlic and herbs. Cook 5 minutes. Remove from the pan.  Brown sausage until no longer pink, about 15 minutes. Drain fat into a small container and discard. Stir in the tomato paste completely. Set aside to cool.
3. In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta, parsley and oregano. Stir in beaten egg. Add Parmesan, season with salt and pepper.
4. To assemble the lasagna: Coat the bottom of an 8x8-inch pan with a ladle full of tomato sauce. Arrange 4 noodles lengthwise in a slightly overlapping layer on the sauce (cut off extra length), lining each end with a noodle to form a collar that holds in the corners.  Spread 1/2 of the meat mixture over the pasta. Dollop 1/2 of the ricotta mixture over the meat, spread to the edges with a spatula. Sprinkle 1/2 of the mozzarella on top of the ricotta. Top with a ladle full of tomato sauce, spread evenly. Repeat with the next layer of noodles, meat, cheeses and sauce. Top last layer with noodles, sauce and shredded mozzarella and Parmesan. Tap the pan to force out air bubbles. Tent foil over the pan (to prevent cheese from burning) and bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 30 minutes, remove foil and cook for 10 minutes more, and set on broil for the last 5 minutes, watching carefully for the cheese to brown.  Remove from oven. Let lasagna rest for 5 minutes so the noodles will settle and cut easily. Cut into 2-inch squares and serve.

Dinner was late that night (plan plenty of time for lasagna!), so we shortened the hour that it called for and raised the temperature, after having checked other lasagna recipes.  Like I said, it turned out fine and seems hard to mess up.  The original recipe also didn't call for the foil over the lasagna, but we were scared that the cheese on top would burn, so we tented it and broiled for the last few minutes, which turned out fine (again, David keeping me in check!).  Lastly, it said to let it rest for 30 minutes, but it was fine after 5 minutes of resting.  Ours didn't spill over, but we put foil underneath the pan while it baked in the oven just in case.

Browning the sausage and adding the onion mixture back in

The ricotta mixture

Ready for the oven! 

Served with Texas Toast (no time to make homemade garlic bread!) but still delicious!

We had leftovers for lunch the next day, and it was still delicious!

Changes for next time:

1. Distribute the ricotta and tomato sauce mixture more evenly since it calls for half on the first layer, but there are two more layers after that (though, it all mixes together in the end and still tastes fantastic!).

FISH AND CHIPS!

Would I make it again?  DEFINITELY.  Serve with an ice cold beer.

Before making fish and chips for David's parents (they're from England, I'm sure they're connoisseurs!), I decided that we better give it a try for ourselves first!  Thanks to David, Maritel, DJ, and Aileen for going on this impromptu adventure with me!

Here's the original recipe that I used, but just for the fish (you'll soon find out that FoodNetwork.com is my go-to for recipes):
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/fish-and-chips-recipe2/index.html
My modifications (for whatever reason - didn't have something on hand, wanted something simpler, etc.) are in red -

The fish:

• 6 to 8 cups vegetable oil, for frying
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (for the batter)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 8 ounces amber beer (Used RedHook MudSlinger) 
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons pepper
• +/- 2 teaspoons garlic powder and cayenne pepper
• 1 cup all-purpose flour (for dredging the fish)
• 2 pounds cod white flesh fish cut into 4-ounce strips 
• Served with chipotle garlic mayo, garlic mustard mayo, tartar sauce, and malt vinegar (not all mixed together!)

The fries:

3 large russet potatoes

Salt

1. Peel and cut potatoes - then put them in a bowl covered with ice water and refrigerate for 1/2 an hour to rinse off some of the starchiness.
2. In a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, beer, eggs and half of the salt, pepper, and garlic powder and cayenne pepper. Whisk until smooth. Refrigerate for at least 15 minutes and up to 1 hour (had it in the refrigerator for about half an hour)
3. Heat oil in large pot or in an electric deep-fryer to 275 degrees F.
4. Cook the fries for 5 minutes just until they're light in color and soft.  Take them out and let them cool.  Meanwhile, heat the oil to 375 degrees F.
5. Dredge the fish in the all-purpose flour, seasoned with salt, pepper, cayenne, and garlic powder 
6. Working in small batches, submerge the fish in the batter and carefully place into the hot oil  (as I've learned watching numerous deep fried establishments on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives and the like, holding it halfway into the oil first so that it doesn't sink to the bottom and make the batter stick to the basket is key before dropping it in completely!)
7. Fry the fish until golden brown on the first side, about 2 minutes, then flip and cook until golden on the second side, 1 to 2 minutes longer. Remove the fish from the fryer and transfer to a wire rack positioned over a baking pan so that the fish can drain.  Repeat the process for the remainder of the fish.  
8. Next, cook the fries at 375 degrees for 5-7 minutes until they look golden brown and crisp.  Salt right after you take them out of the fryer.

We kept the cooked fish in the oven set at 270 degrees, as we previously heard that it would keep the fish crisp and warm, but alas, it got soggier, so David suggested dropping it back in the oil after the fries right before serving for a minute or so and that worked out perfectly!  (He keeps me in check.)

Step 1

The batter before it thickened up in the refrigerator - it should look thicker than this!

Chipotle Garlic Mayo (LOVE Chipotle Chile Powder) on the left and Dijon Mustard Garlic Mayo on the right

Possible changes for next time:

1. Possibly cut the fries more uniformly so they cook to the same crispness - unless you have a crowd who likes the mix!

Let me know how I did on my first blog!  It feels super long and detailed, but I wanted to make sure to note my modifications.  I'm sure I've forgotten other things too, so feel free to ask questions.  I know I definitely forgot to take more pictures in the process; that'll take some learning.  Thanks for reading if you've gotten this far!

Let's give this a try!

Kat - a foodie friend suggested that I start a blog, and she probably wasn't that serious, but I thought about it and decided to try, just to share my adventures.  I am by no means a great cook, nor do I make fancy things.  I just like to cook and I love to eat.

Thus, I will share my thought process, which includes changing what we're having for dinner constantly, and which involves lots of wandering around the store!  For example, the shrimp was on sale when I went to the store this past Thursday, and voila!  For dinner, we had buffalo shrimp and honey garlic shrimp.  It was originally supposed to be fish sticks.  It doesn't always turn out well (I don't post those on facebook, haha), but I keep trying.  I find recipes online, sometimes make it exactly to a tee, sometimes I substitute things or leave stuff out, and sometimes I make things up.

We'll give this blog a trial run.  Feedback is always great!  Thanks!