Mushroom Lasagna...tastes way better than it looks

So today was one of those days where I tore through recipe books trying to figure out what to do for dinner.  I was in the mood for cooking so I wasn't too worried about it being fast nor easy.

This recipe is a combo of a few different recipes.  I included the thyme, as well, thyme plays so well with mushrooms and the inspiration recipe didn't include it for reasons I don't understand.  I'm glad I did include as that subtle grassy flavor of thyme plays well through out the dish.

I used cremini mushrooms also called "baby bella" or "baby portobello" mushrooms.  It really is just a tiny version of the huginormous portobella's out there.  Same 'shroom just a different size.  And if you can find the already sliced variety like I do at the market your work is even shortened a bit.

Mushroom Lasagna
12 lasagna noodle cooked according to package directions
1 c grated Parmesan
White Sauce
1 stick butter
4C whole milk
1/2 c all purpose flour
1T sea salt
1 t black pepper
1 t fresh grated nutmeg
Mushroom Filling
1 lb sliced cremini mushroom
1 t salt
1 t black pepper
2 T loose packed fresh thyme leaves (or 1 T dry)


Preheat oven to 375F
Cook noodles according to package directions.  Set aside.


To make white sauce heat milk over medium heat.  Melt butter in large sauce pan until melted.  Add flour and cook until dissolved.  Add hot milk all at once and whisk until smooth.  Add salt, pepper and nutmeg and stir constantly over medium high heat until  thick and starting to bubble, about 3-5 minutes.  Set aside off flame.


In large skillet add olive oil and 1T butter over medium high heat.  Add half the mushrooms, salt, pepper and thyme.  Stir often until mushrooms have lost most of their moisture and starting to brown, about 5 minutes.  Pour out into bowl. Repeat with remaining mushrooms.


Constructing the Lasagna.  Lightly spray with Pam a 9X13 baking dish.  Place about 1 cup of white sauce in the bottom of the pan.  Add 3 noodles to the bottom of the pan.  Spread on 1/4 the white sauce on top of the noodles.  Add 1/3 mushrooms, 1/4 C Parmesan.  Repeat with next two layers.  The final layer will be noodles with white sauce and Parmesan.  Bake in oven until golden brown on top and bubbly at the edges about 30-45 minutes.

Chicken Garam Masala

Wow two posts in one day, but this is tonight's dinner and tasty it was.

I've seen a few of the TV Chefs cook with a spice called "Garam Masala" when making Indian cuisine and decided I had to give it a try myself since I am a fan of Indian food of late.  I tested the waters with Garam Masala by making simple rice dishes from the side of the bottle to get an understanding of the flavor profile it would bring to dishes.  Warm and slightly spicy with the key flavors being cinnamon and coriander with some others I can't quite identify.  (I read somewhere that there are probably as many versions of Garam Masala as there are grandmothers in northern India...go find a blend you like and stick with it).

Cost Plus Imports is a great source for finding hard to find or unusual spices.  Such is the place I found the Garam Masala I used for this recipe.

Garam Masala Chicken

• 4 large chicken breasts, skin removed
• 1 T + 1t Garam Masala
• 1 t salt
• 1 onion coarse chopped
• 1 red bell pepper coarsely chopped
• 1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes

Sprinkle 1 T Garam Masala over the chicken breasts.  Set aside in glass dish and cover with plastic wrap to marinate for 30 minutes.


Heat large oven proof skillet over med-high heat.  Add some vegetable oil to lightly coat bottom of pan.  add chicken breasts.  Sear for about 5 minutes then turn over to other side.  Add veggies and canned tomatoes. Sprinkle remaining 1t Garam Masala over the veggies.  Cover and put in a 375F oven for 30 minutes.  Serve the veggies over steamed rice on the side of your plated chicken breast.

Smokey Chili Mac...its all from the smoked spices

I'm a huge fan of smoked spices and salts.  Why? Its easy to add smokiness to the final product without having to resort to using "liquid smoke" which does leave a funky aftertaste at times.  The obsession started with simple smoked paprika for salmon a few years ago and has since grown to include other smoked spices in the pantry.  This recipe uses a few to bring about a complete change in a family standby.

In my pantry I have recently added ground dried chipotle.  That is a potent smoked and dried jalapeno that instead of being packed in a liquid adobo sauce it is simply ground to a powder.  Use it sparingly and you can always add a bit more if the final dish doesn't pack enough heat...its a lot easier than trying and failing to remove some if you add to much.

Another trick I use to punch up the flavor and give it an all day simmering taste is to use beef bouillon to the Chili Mac.  I do use the "Better than Bouillon" brand as it is much lower in salt than the cubes are.  If you use the cubes wait to season with salt until after you have dissolved in the cube to prevent over salting your dish.

Smokey Chili Mac

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 onion chopped
• 1 14.5 oz can chopped tomatoes
• 1 14.5 oz can tomato sauce
• 1 14.5 oz can beans (I used basic kidney beans)
• 1/4 t chipotle  chili powder
• 1 t  smoked paprika
• 2 t chili powder
• 2 t Better than Bouillon beef flavor
• 2 C water
• 1 1/2 C macaroni
• salt
• pepper
• Monterrey Jack/Cheddar shredded cheese blend.

Brown beef in large stock pot.  Add onion and cook until translucent.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Add spices and cook an additional minute stirring the whole time until they are toasty.  Add tomatoes, water and bouillon.  Cover and simmer 30 minutes.  Add macaroni, increase heat and cook 12-15 minutes until tender.  Serve in large bowl with a sprinkle of the shredded cheese.

Lemon Ginger Mousse made stupid easy

Yup...I can't take credit for the flavor profile or the invention of the original. It belongs to a chef Joann Chang who appeared on food network TV's new show "Sugar High" with Duff Goldman. The original recipe HERE.

It sounded so good and when we were invited over to some friends for wine and cheese tonight and challenged to come up with something for dessert I thought of this.

There were a couple of problems to this that prevented me from doing the actual recipe. First is that the REAL cream in the recipe needs to be heated and then cooled overnight with the ginger and I just don't have the time. The second issue is that one of our hosts for tonight is dieting so the use of REAL cream is kinda outta the question.

My solution was to use fresh ground ginger, fat free cool whip and ready made lemon curd. Yup...I cheated and came up with a stupid easy dessert that is cool, refreshing and quite tasty too with a drastic reduction in calories.

Lemon Ginger Mousse

1 8 0z container Fat Free Cool Whip

1 14.5 oz jar Dundee Lemon Curd

1/4 t ground ginger

2 ginger snap cookies crushed.

Thaw the Cool Whip. Fold in ground ginger and lemon curd. Spoon into serving dishes (I used a ramekin but any dessert dish would work). Garnish with crushed ginger snap cookies. Chill 1 hour before serving.

I can't claim credit for this Limoncello but it does rock the house down.

I can't claim this recipe as my own. What I do with it however is my own more or less. The recipe comes from celebrity chef Mario Batali and it can be found HERE.

So what have I done with it other than serve it straight up over ice as an apertif? A few things actually.

A trick or two...don't use plastic in the process of making the recipe. The lemon oils with the help of the vodka will permeate the plastic and ruin it for anything else. Learned this the hard way so pay heed to this little warning. Storing the final product I found that using the Efferve stoppered bottles makes for a tight seal as well nice presentation. (I'm totally fond of the Efferve lemonade and blood orangeade so having empty bottles around is not an issue...rather than recycle I reuse this time around).

Limoncello marinated fruit is awesome over icecream or pound cake. Take strawberries, peaches and whatever other fruit you like that is in season and cut up into bite sized pieces in a bowl. I use a ratio of about 1 part limoncello to 4 parts cut fruit. Let it marinate overnight or at least 6 hours for all of that boozy lemony goodness to soak into the fruit before serving.

Limoncello cocktails...light and refreshing. Use equal parts club soda and limoncello over ice and a sprig of mint.

Limoncello cake....make your basic yellow cake. When done baking and cooled to room temp remove the cake from the pan. On a wire rack place cake, poke it with a cake tester (toothpick will work too) all over the top. Carefully and slowly pour 1/4c limoncello over each layer of cake.

Take the cake layers and frost as usual. (I haven't made a limoncello glaze yet but imagine it can be done and its on my test agenda to take the lemon taste up one more level).

I

Mocha Cheesecake - or mini cheesecakes of you like

Cheesecake is really not that hard to make, this version falls into the stupid easy category. Why? I use eagle brand sweetened condensed milk rather than sugar as it yields a creamier texture without as much work trying to cream it all. All the sweetness without the risk of a grainy cheesecake.

A secret to keep the large cakes from cracking too much is to add 1 tablespoon of corn starch to the batter. The starch blends nicely with the fats in the cream cheese and creates just enough stabilization to keep the cake from cracking too badly in the center.

Melting the chocolate can be as easy as using a double boiler or if in a hurry a microwave. If using microwave heat on high for only 30 seconds at a time, stirring after each micro-blast. This will keep the chocolate for scorching. Total microwave time in a 1200 watt unit worked out to be about 30 seconds.

Mocha Cheesecake

• 1 pkg graham crackers (8 crackers)
• 1/4 c sugar
• 1/3 c melted butter
• 
  
• Filling
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk
• 3 8 oz pkgs cream cheese
• 2 c semi-sweet chocolate chips melted
• 4 eggs
• 1 t vanilla
• 1 T instant coffee
• 1 T corn starch
• 
  
• Ganache
• 9 oz semi-sweet chocolate
• 1 C heavy whipping cream

Combine crackers and sugar in food processor and pulse until fine crumbs. Pulse in melted butter until evenly blended. Press into 9 inch spring form pan.

Combine cream cheese, coffee, sweetened condensed milk and vanilla. Let sit about an hour until it comes to room temperature. In mixer beat until creamy and fluffy. Beat in corn starch. Beat in eggs one at a time until well blended.

Add the filling to the spring form pan. Put in preheated 300F oven and bake for about 65 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool to room temperature and then chill in fridge for at least 4 hours.

Make ganache by mixing chocolate chips and whipping cream. In microwave heat 1 minute on high then stir. Give it 1 more minute on high then stir until chocolate is completely melted and incorporated into the cream. Cool to room temp then drizzle over the chilled cheesecake. (There will be leftover ganache that you can save to make truffles or even use as a frosting for cupcakes).

Mini Cheesecake variation. Line 24 cupcake pans with paper liners. Divide the graham cracker crumb mixture between all of the tins. Press lightly to compact. Divide the filling between the paper liners filling just until the top of the liner. Bake in 300F oven 25-30 minutes until the centers test clean with a toothpick. Chill and garnish with the ganache.

Yikes..Donut Summit

The usual stuff has kept me from this blog the last few weeks. Don't worry we've been eating, just not blogging a whole lot as I've not been experimenting much in the kitchen.

This weekend was the blogging.la Donut Summit in Elysian Park here in Los Angeles. It was a meet up of donut fans bringing their favorite dozen with them to share and vote to determine who makes the best in all of LA. Donut Man in Glendora won for best filled for its "Peach filled" donut, yes big chunks of fresh peaches inside a donut. Stan's in West LA Won Judges favorite with their Peanut butter filled, chocolate glazed. Newcomer to town, Babycakes won Best Overall.

More pics of the silliness in my flickr set.