A fellow food lover and friend (love you, Annabanana!) has led me over to the Epicurious website, where I now have a profile and everything. My name there is my standard online profile name, Lairdriin. I have even put up a more detailed recipe for my Lasagna Rolls, so you can check it out, and review it and everything!
Look me up at Epicurious, and we'll share more food love!
Happy eating!
Monday, August 23, 2010
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Lasagna Rolls
I have been making lasagna rolls for a very long time. Italian is one of my favorite genres of food to make, even if it is Americanized Italian, partially because of the cheesy, tomatoey goodness, and partially because it is an easy style of cooking to make vegetarian, and still appetizing and filling, even to non-vegetarians. One way I have made Italian a little easier is by making lasagna rolls instead of regular layered lasagna. It's not quite the same, but you still get the layers of ricotta, sauce, and pasta with much less effort. Any way you like lasagna, you can make it as a lasagna roll instead, and it is an easier, quicker method. That's great for those days you don't have all afternoon to cook, or when it's too darn hot out to have the oven on all day, like these crazy Coloradan summers!
I boil just enough lasagna noodles as I will need, and maybe just one or two extra just in case they tear during cooking or while I'm assembling the rolls. The pasta should boil just less than it takes to be completely done, as they will cook just a little more in the oven. While the pasta is boiling, I'll make my ricotta mixture. The ricotta mixture is nothing special; it's pretty standard. It is the same mixture I use for stuffed shells, regular lasagna, etc. Just like any good ricotta mixture, I use one to three eggs, depending on the amount of rolls I'm making. I will also add a good handful or two of mozzarella, and some parmesan or asiago. Of course I season the mixture, with a little salt, garlic, and usually basil. I will also often add a few spoonfuls of thawed and strained frozen spinach.
At this time, I will also be making tomato sauce. I usually use canned tomato sauce that I season lightly. For something like this I don't like a bunch of chunks in my sauce, but putting veggies or sausage or whatever in the sauce would be fine; I just happen to like it simple when I put it over the rolls. I just season the sauce with salt, pepper, a little crushed red pepper, basil, marjoram, and oregano. Not a lot of seasoning; the cheese doesn't need a ton of extra flavor competing with it. The sweetness of a simple tomato sauce, I think, is perfect for this type of dish.
At any rate, when the noodles are not quite cooked, I drain them and rinse them a little with cold water to stop the cooking, then fill them. I simply lay out a noodle on a plate, spoon some ricotta filling over most of the noodle, then roll it up, and set it in a dish. It can be set on end or on it's side, it doesn't matter. I roll them all up, spoon sauce over the whole thing, lots more mozzarella on top, and bake until bubbly and hot. Delicious!
I made a dish of lasagna rolls a couple of days ago, and I made a ton, so I have had the joy of having leftover lasagna rolls that take even less effort than normal to get to the cheesy goodness... only a little time in the microwave. Can't beat that!
Happy eating!
I boil just enough lasagna noodles as I will need, and maybe just one or two extra just in case they tear during cooking or while I'm assembling the rolls. The pasta should boil just less than it takes to be completely done, as they will cook just a little more in the oven. While the pasta is boiling, I'll make my ricotta mixture. The ricotta mixture is nothing special; it's pretty standard. It is the same mixture I use for stuffed shells, regular lasagna, etc. Just like any good ricotta mixture, I use one to three eggs, depending on the amount of rolls I'm making. I will also add a good handful or two of mozzarella, and some parmesan or asiago. Of course I season the mixture, with a little salt, garlic, and usually basil. I will also often add a few spoonfuls of thawed and strained frozen spinach.
At this time, I will also be making tomato sauce. I usually use canned tomato sauce that I season lightly. For something like this I don't like a bunch of chunks in my sauce, but putting veggies or sausage or whatever in the sauce would be fine; I just happen to like it simple when I put it over the rolls. I just season the sauce with salt, pepper, a little crushed red pepper, basil, marjoram, and oregano. Not a lot of seasoning; the cheese doesn't need a ton of extra flavor competing with it. The sweetness of a simple tomato sauce, I think, is perfect for this type of dish.
At any rate, when the noodles are not quite cooked, I drain them and rinse them a little with cold water to stop the cooking, then fill them. I simply lay out a noodle on a plate, spoon some ricotta filling over most of the noodle, then roll it up, and set it in a dish. It can be set on end or on it's side, it doesn't matter. I roll them all up, spoon sauce over the whole thing, lots more mozzarella on top, and bake until bubbly and hot. Delicious!
I made a dish of lasagna rolls a couple of days ago, and I made a ton, so I have had the joy of having leftover lasagna rolls that take even less effort than normal to get to the cheesy goodness... only a little time in the microwave. Can't beat that!
Happy eating!
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Point Reyes Cheese Review
This evening our good friends Phil and Jenn joined us for our (usually) weekly game night. We usually have dinner and then play either Dungeons & Dragons or a board game. Tonite we played a few hours of Runebound, after a (if I say so myself) delicious dinner of veggie reubens and apple-carrot salad, and then later a (if I say so myself) extra-tasty tray of cheeses, breads, and nuts. Our cheese tray consisted of Saganaki, a flambeed cheese made from a greek sheep's milk cheese named Kasseri; Mimolette, a buttery, aged cow's milk cheese somewhat similar to cheddar; and Cabrales, which is perhaps the strongest blue cheese in the world. Cabrales is Dan's favorite blue. It is delicious with a little honey and some toasted almonds.
We also bought a creamy blue cheese named Point Reyes which neither Dan nor I had ever had before. The woman at the cheese counter in Whole Foods, after seeing us drooling over the Cabrales (and telling us how excited she was that somebody actually knew about and enjoyed Cabrales, and then correctly assuming we were "cheese people"), suggested the Point Reyes after I said I thought a second blue, but sweeter and creamier, would round out our cheese tray. Point Reyes Original Blue is a farmstead cheese (meaning it is made at the farm that the milk comes from) named for the area in California, where the dairy is located. It is a cow's milk blue which is aged about 6 months, very creamy, and though it is sweet (especially compared to the Cabrales), it is also quite pungent, more so than, for instance, Cambozola. We had it at room temperature and it was quite soft, creamy and spreadable. I thought it was delicious on the crusty sourdough bread we had. I also thought it was very pretty. It is a nice bright white color with bright cobalt blue mold (they use penicillium roquefort) running in lines through the middle of the wheel. This is definitely a cheese I would recommend for those blue cheese lovers out there who want a creamy, spreadable blue for a cheese tray. I will certainly have Point Reyes again sometime.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Sherried Mushroom Soup
I love making my mushroom soup as much as I like eating it. It is truly just as enjoyable to make, despite a lot of boring prep time, because the soup as it is cooking fills the kitchen with a smell that is just as delectable as the taste of the finished product.
I use a combination of mushrooms. I will usually make quite a large batch of the soup if I'm going to go through the bother of making it, so I will start with something like 4 to 6 cups of button mushrooms. I also like to add some cremini, for color and flavor, and I will use maybe a quarter of the amount of button. I usually use a third type of mushroom to add depth of flavor. Shiitakes work really well, as even though they are expensive, just a few of them really add a nice nuttiness to the soup. One or two portabellas also work, obviously adding a bit of a different flavor than the shiitake. Either will work.
I am a stickler for washing the mushrooms, so I actually take the time to wash each individual one. (Hence the "boring prep time" comment.) This is actually the most difficult portion of making this soup. Since I am making a liquidy product out of them, I actually run them under water to clean them instead of delicately wiping them with a damp paper towel, as you should normally do with mushrooms that you don't want to soak up all that water. But it's for soup, so who cares? Slice or chop the mushrooms (slice if you want to leave some pieces in the finished soup, they look nicer than chunks), and also chop about a half cup of white or yellow onion, and 3 or 4 garlic cloves. These three veggies, a little salt and pepper, and one stick of butter go into a large pot on medium-low heat, covered, for at least 30 minutes. This is the part where the kitchen fills with buttery, mushroomy smell, and it's really worth it to make the soup just for that. I also love to eat mushrooms just like this: leave them whole instead, otherwise the exact same instructions, and you have lovely buttery, garlicy mushrooms as a side dish or just to eat as is. Yummo!
Anyhoo, after the mushrooms cook down for at least a half hour, and anywhere up to an hour and a half depending on the size of the mushroom pieces and how many there are, you will see that the mushrooms have created a ton of lovely juice. Simply scoop out everything in the pot and puree it in a blender in small batches until it is smooth. You may need to add water to the blender batches to help it along; go ahead and do this, as you are going to be adding water to the soup either way when you are done blending. If you want mushroom pieces in your finished soup, leave a scoop of them out of the blender, obviously. Everything then goes back in the pot, and add a few cups of water and a bouillion cube. Salt and pepper to taste, and you can also add a little thyme, or parsley if you like. After everything is seasoned the way you like, you add about a quarter or a half cup of sherry. Basic cooking sherry works fine. Then, stir in a cup or two of cream. That's it! Compare this to any canned cream of mushroom soup.... it's not even close. This is one of those recipes that makes my husband roll his eyes and say, "Oh my gosh, that's good." It really, really is.
Happy eating!
I use a combination of mushrooms. I will usually make quite a large batch of the soup if I'm going to go through the bother of making it, so I will start with something like 4 to 6 cups of button mushrooms. I also like to add some cremini, for color and flavor, and I will use maybe a quarter of the amount of button. I usually use a third type of mushroom to add depth of flavor. Shiitakes work really well, as even though they are expensive, just a few of them really add a nice nuttiness to the soup. One or two portabellas also work, obviously adding a bit of a different flavor than the shiitake. Either will work.
I am a stickler for washing the mushrooms, so I actually take the time to wash each individual one. (Hence the "boring prep time" comment.) This is actually the most difficult portion of making this soup. Since I am making a liquidy product out of them, I actually run them under water to clean them instead of delicately wiping them with a damp paper towel, as you should normally do with mushrooms that you don't want to soak up all that water. But it's for soup, so who cares? Slice or chop the mushrooms (slice if you want to leave some pieces in the finished soup, they look nicer than chunks), and also chop about a half cup of white or yellow onion, and 3 or 4 garlic cloves. These three veggies, a little salt and pepper, and one stick of butter go into a large pot on medium-low heat, covered, for at least 30 minutes. This is the part where the kitchen fills with buttery, mushroomy smell, and it's really worth it to make the soup just for that. I also love to eat mushrooms just like this: leave them whole instead, otherwise the exact same instructions, and you have lovely buttery, garlicy mushrooms as a side dish or just to eat as is. Yummo!
Anyhoo, after the mushrooms cook down for at least a half hour, and anywhere up to an hour and a half depending on the size of the mushroom pieces and how many there are, you will see that the mushrooms have created a ton of lovely juice. Simply scoop out everything in the pot and puree it in a blender in small batches until it is smooth. You may need to add water to the blender batches to help it along; go ahead and do this, as you are going to be adding water to the soup either way when you are done blending. If you want mushroom pieces in your finished soup, leave a scoop of them out of the blender, obviously. Everything then goes back in the pot, and add a few cups of water and a bouillion cube. Salt and pepper to taste, and you can also add a little thyme, or parsley if you like. After everything is seasoned the way you like, you add about a quarter or a half cup of sherry. Basic cooking sherry works fine. Then, stir in a cup or two of cream. That's it! Compare this to any canned cream of mushroom soup.... it's not even close. This is one of those recipes that makes my husband roll his eyes and say, "Oh my gosh, that's good." It really, really is.
Happy eating!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)