Lasagna

I was tempted to try out a new lasagna recipe but then I remembered the last one I made and shared with some niece and all the comments her family and from Charlie so I chickened out and did the old one again.

July 2014. Charlie said it’s perfect. Cassie said it is best one so far.

Béchamel

 1 C. heavy cream

 1 C. chicken stock

 2 T. butter (3 T.)

 2 T. flour ( 3 heaping T.) 

(add salt) 

( + a little nutmeg) 

Melt butter, stir in flour.  Add heated chicken broth a little at a time.  Add heated cream, whisking often, bring to boil and let thicken.  Set  aside.

Meat filling

1 med. onion,chopped

3 cl. garlic, minced

1 1/2 lb. ground beef (1 3/4 lbs)

3T. fresh chopped italian parsley

3 T. fresh chopped oregano

1 1/2 lb. mild or sweet Italian sausage (1 lb. Hy Vee plain bratwurst -4 wursts, skinned)

1 1/2 C. grated Pecorino Romano cheese

salt and pepper

Oil for frying

Sauté onion and garlic in oil until soft.  Add meats and cook until done but not browned.  Stir in cheese, parsley and oregano.  Set aside

Cheese filling

1 1/3 C. fresh grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 C. fresh chopped basil

1 1/2 -2 packages fresh mozzarella

16 oz. whole milk ricotta (13 oz + approx.  4 oz cottage cheese)

Marinara pasta sauce (from a Jar)

Package shredded mozzarella

12 lasagna noodles, cooked (only needed 9)

Preheat oven to 400.  Put some marinara on bottom of lasagna pan.  Put 4 lasagna (3 noodles per layer is all the pan would hold) noodles on bottom, overlapping each one.  Add half the meat mixture, 1/2 the béchamel, 1/3 the parmesan, 1/2 the basil, 1/3 the ricotta and 1/3 the marinara

Make second layer like the first and top with last 4 noodles.  Top with last of the sauce, and last of the ricotta.  Cover with foil and bake at 400 for 1 hour, 15 minutes. Turn oven up to 450.  Remove foil add shredded mozzarella and cook until browned and bubbling, about 15 minutes.  Broil a couple minutes at the end if needed for browning. 

Let set 20 minutes, cut and serve. 

Chicken Teriyaki

While I was making this, Charlie was reminiscing about teriyaki restaurants in Seattle.  There were a lot of them and he said they all had a simple iceberg lettuce salad and nearly all of them had the same dressing that he liked. He said he at that salad.  Then he looked on his phone and found the recipe posted under Teriyaki restaurant salad dressing, so I made it and he ate it. He even asked for more lettuce.  Neither of us cared much for the teriyaki sauce so I won't post it here.  I will try to find one we both like.  Here is the dressing though.

China Coast Salad Dressing

Ingredients

• 1 cup Mayonnaise
• 10 tbsp Rice Vinegar
• 4 tbsp Sugar
• 4 tbsp  Sesame Oil
• 2 tbsp Soy Sauce
• 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder

Instructions

• Combine all ingredients in a blender, blend until all ingredients are well mixed in together. 
• 
  Serve dressing cold.

Grilled Steak, Watermelon Poke Bowls, baked potato and mac & cheese

Charlie has not eaten more that a couple of salads in the last 2 or 3 years, so I googled salads for people who hate salad and settled on this one.  He said it looked good and ate more than half of it.  The picture of it is before I put the dressing on it. 

Watermelon Poke Bowls

By Erin McDowell

PREP: 20 MIN COOK: 0 MITOTAL: 20 MIN

When it’s hot outside, our typical lunch staples just aren’t gonna cut it (we’re looking at you, tomato-and-mozz panini). We want something cool and crunchy, and bonus points if it’s photogenic. Presenting watermelon poke bowls. It’s a (fish-free) summer lunch that also happens to be drop-dead gorgeous.

4 servings

DRESSING

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 tablespoon peanut oil

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1 tablespoon minced ginger

Juice of 1 lime

1 teaspoon sriracha (or more to taste)

1 tablespoon sesame seeds

BOWLS

6 cups cubed watermelon

1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced

½ European cucumber, halved and thinly sliced

1 avocado, thinly sliced

¼ cup pickled ginger

½ cup peanuts

1 cup microgreens or sprouts

2 tablespoons sesame seeds

The baked potato was topped with butter, sour cream and apple wood smoked bacon bits from Smoked Goose

Filipino Chicken Adobo (on the grill)

Grilled Adobo Chicken (variation… It is usually braised)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GZJG0lAUCc

I made a half recipe and forgot to take pictures until we were almost done. We had it wit just kimchi and rice.

Note:   My marinade did not stay dark after boiling.  Maybe I should have made a whole batch and saved half for serving.

1 C. Soy

1 C. vinegar

1/4 red onion coarse chop

1 jalapeno

1/4 C. brown sugar

3 may leaves

3 crushed garlic

4 thigh & 4 legs

slit each piece three times each side to let marinade in better

marinate overnight, reserve marinade and bring to boil.

grill indirect heat to 160º,  move to direct heat, baste with  boiled marinade each side to get char marks and bring internal temp. to 170

Slice meat and place atop mound of rice and pour more marinade over.

Smoked Brisket

Smoked with apple wood for 8 hours.

also made BBQ beans. I use this recipe but adjust the ingredients for a much smaller batch

    GATES BAKED BEANS 

    2 (55 OZ) cans baked beans 

    1/2 c. firmly packed brown sugar 

    1/2 c. molasses 

    3 tbsp. rub seasoning 

    3/4 c. bbq sauce 

    1 tsp. liquid smoke 

    1c. beef drippings 

    1c. brisket fat 

    Combine all ingredients in a cast iron kettle and about 20 minutes before the 

    ribs are done, place over hot coals and cook, stirring occasionally until a "crust"

    forms on the top.

I leave out the rendered fat and add chopped bits of brisket instead.

Corn

I cook ears of corn on the girll until charred then cut it off the cob, add it to a small pot with butter, honey and maybe a teaspoon or two of cream and cook until all ingredients are blended 

Texas Style BBQ Pork Ribs

About a week ago I got an email from ThermoWorks which contained a link to a you tube link titled Texas Style BBQ Ribs with Rusty Monson. I had a slab of ribs in the freezer so when they were thawed, I gave the method a try today. He cooked St. Louis ribs to 202º.  I had always cooked them without taking their temperature and thought that would be too high and would probably be overcooked (fall off the bone is what I think of as overdone).  202º is what I cook beef brisket and that can take 12 or more hours.   Most of the procedures used for the ribs were the same as for brisket so I was expecting it to take hours but it was ready after about 4 hours… the usual time for these type of rib.  He wrapped them with two layers of foil and butcher paper .  I didn’t have any butcher paper but did have parchment paper.  Parchment paper isn’t wide enough to hold itself shut so the foil did a nice job of holding the parchment paper shut.  We also had garlic bread, potato salad and coleslaw.