Yesterday I made a "skinny" spinach and beef lasagna. I needed to fix a meal that would be easy to heat up since Jason will be solo parenting 2 nights due to me having rehearsal. I like making lasagna cause it can be fancy or plain depending on what ingredients you decide to put into your dish.

Skinny Spinach and Beef Lasagna

9 lasagna noodles, cooked

1 lb lean ground beef cooked and drained

10 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
 

15 oz fat free ricotta cheese

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 egg

salt and fresh pepper

1/4 tsp dried basil

2 shakes garlic powder

1/4 tap dried oregano

32 oz spaghetti sauce

3/4 lb part skim mozzarella cheese, shredded divided in half

 

Instructions
 Preheat oven to 350°.
In a medium bowl, combine spinach, ricotta, Parmesan, half of the mozzarella, egg, salt, pepper, basil, garlic powder and oregano.
Spoon about 1/4 of the sauce on the bottom of a 9 x 12 baking dish
Lay one layer of noodles
Spread 1/3 cup of ricotta mixture evenly over noodle.
Repeat  sauce, noodle, ricotta layers two more times ending with sauce.
Spoon the last layer of sauce over the noodles in the baking dish and top with reserved mozzarella cheese. Put foil over baking dish and bake for 40 minutes, or until cheese melts.
 

People who know me know I am not fond of turkey, but this recipe I found in a bon appetit magazine (November 2015) and I LOVE IT!!! I would eat turkey all the time if it is made this way!! Below is the original recipe, but I will also make notes for the small changes that I made too.

Gravy-Braised Turkey Legs with cipolline onions

2 whole turkey legs (about 3.5 lb) drumsticks and thighs separated, patted dry
                (I used all drumsticks cause I like them)
Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1 cup plus 2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 large yellow onion, chopped
1 large leek, white and pale green parts only, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tsp. black peppercorns
1 cup dry white wine
1/2 bunch thyme
2 dried bay leaves
6 cups turkey stock, or low sodium chicken broth, divided
1 lb. cipolline or pearl onion (I omitted these)
1 Large egg yolk room temperature
2 Tbsp. heavy cream, room temperature
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Generously season turkey all over with salt and pepper. Let sit on a large rimmed baking sheet about 1 hour to bring to room temperature. (This made me nervous so I just let it sit 20 minutes)

Heat oil and buttered in a large Dutch oven or other heavy pot over medium heat. Place 1 cup flour on a plate and dredger turkey in flour, coating only the skin (do not shake off excess) Cook, outer side down, until well browned (do not cook on inner side), 5-8 minutes. Transfer to a plate.

Add yellow onion, leeks, celery, garlic, and peppercorn to pot, season with alt, and cook, stirring often and scrapping up brown bits from bottom of pot, until vegetable are softened and beginning to brown around the edges, 10-12minutes.

Sprinkle in remaining 2 Tbsp. flour; cook, stirring, 2 minutes. Add wine, bring to a boil, stirring, and cook until the pan is almost dry. Add thyme, bay leaves and 3 cups stock, season with salt, and bring to a simmer. Place turkey back in pot, browned side up, and add stock as needed to almost completely cover without submerging browned skin (this will keep it from getting soggy). Bring liquid to a very gently simmer and cook until turkey is cooked through and an instant read thermometer inserted near bone of thigh registers 165 degree, 35-45 minutes. Transfer turkey to plate.

Add cipolline onions and remaining stock to pot and simmer until tender, 20-25 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer onions to plate with turkey. Simmer braising liquid until reduced to about 3 cups, 15-20 minutes.

Beat yolk and cream in a small bowl; stir in 1Tbsp. Braising liquid to warm. Whisking constantly, gradually add yolk mixture to braising liquid and remove from heat (if gravy boils after this point, it will curdle). Strain gravy into a large bowl. Wipe out pot. Return gravy to pot; taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper if needed. Return turkey, browned side up, and cipolline onions to pot and keep warm over low heat until ready to serve.

Serve with parsley

Baby Back Rib Chili

Yes now that my season is done I get to make some dinners for Jason and I. My parents came this weekend with some food for us and happened to bring a small slab of ribs. We were not sure what to do until we came across the idea of rib chili. Here is the recipe I came up with, a variation of several different recipes Jason found.

1 or 2 slabs baby back ribs, seasoned with salt and pepper
1/2 lb ground beef
2 large white onions
1 large bunch celery
2 jalapeno diced
1/4 or so of a bottle of beer
1/4 cup or so olive oil
14 fresh plum tomatoes (2 cans (28 ounces) whole tomatoes)
1 can (28 ounces) tomato sauce
2 cans (14.5 oz) kidney beans, (pureed if you like)
1 can (14.5 oz) black beans
1 palmful cocoa powder, or 3 to 4 ounces chocolate syrup
1 palmful chili powder
1 teaspoon each salt and pepper
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons brown sugar
8 to 10 shakes Worcestershire sauce

1. Partially precook ribs in a 450-degree oven for 45 minutes. Meanwhile, brown ground beef and remove from pan. Sauté the onions, celery, and jalapeno in olive oil for 10 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients. Cook for a half hour or so, then remove the ribs from the oven, pour off the grease, cut them into two-rib sections, deglaze pan with beer and add ribs and pan juices to pot.
2. Cook over medium heat for several hours, scraping up anything that sticks to the sides. After a couple of hours, you should be able to easily remove the bones from the ribs using tongs. Serve.

Turkish-Style Lamb Pizza

A few weeks ago Jason and I spent one of my evenings off at the bookstore. I found the America's Test Kitchen's different magazines. In these magazines I found a bunch of recipes that seemed really great. Well this week was the first time I was able to actually cook dinner (my schedule has been so crazy this year), I chose to start with Turkish-Style Lamb Pizza. Boy is was great!! I bit spicy, but Jason love spice, so this was great for him. I only used half of the meat, but all of the other quantities. I also went with whole wheat lavash.

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 (11x8 inch) Lavash bread
1 lb ground lamb (I used 1/2lb)
1 onion, chopped (I used a candy onion), chopped fine
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 Tablespoon tomato paste
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes (I used petite diced Jason does not like chunks)
salt and pepper
1 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/4 cup pine nuts (I omitted)

1) Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 475 degrees Brush oil over both sides of each lavash. Transfer lavash to baking sheet and bake until golden, about 5 minutes.

2) Meanwhile cook lamb in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Drain lamb and remove from skillet, leaving 2 Tablespoons rendered fat in skillet. Add onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, cinnamon, pepper flake, and tomato paste and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add diced tomatoes and return lamb to skillet. Cook mixture until liquid evaporated, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

3) Spread lamb mixture on each toasted lavash. Sprinkle with cheese and pine nuts. Bake until cheese is warmed through, about 5 minutes. Serve.

TACOS AL PASTOR!

Do you have an extra 3 lbs. of pork loin in your freezer? I did. Not anymore. It just turned into heaven.

Veronica and I spent many Sundays last summer visiting the Headhouse Square Farmer's Market. It's a nice farmer's market, but honestly, we were there for the tacos. Each week there were a team of people there from Los Taquitos de Puebla, usually making four different main items... but most people get the Tacos al pastor. They're CRAZY GOOD! They also have a restaurant on 9th street (walkable from our house) which we visited earlier this spring before the farmer's market reopened... because we just couldn't wait any longer. The market reopened for the summer a few weeks ago, but to our surprise and dismay, NO TACOS! I went online the next day and emailed the contact person to the farmer's market and was relieved to find out that they'd be back... they had just missed a deadline with the health department and needed to get another clearance before they could return. Phew!

Well, in the interim... about the time we made the drip down 9th street to the restaurant, I decided that I should attempt these tacos. I found a recipe and kept it in my inbox until I found an opportunity. Today. Veronica and I decided that we'd take advantage of a few of my days off by doing some more painting in our house. When we talked about painting the kitchen and I realized that there were two 1 1/2 lb. pieces of pork loin in our freezer, I gradually came to realize that today would be a great day for the attempt. No stove or microwave required. Just a bit of counter space (we used our stovetop as counter space) and a hot grill (despite a bit of a drizzly-mist).

These are NOT as good as the tacos at the market, but they are AMAZING! Seriously, rediculously delicious! I kind of want another one right now, but I'm full. I'm considering bulemia for these tacos. Not really. Maybe a little.

Here's the recipe: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Tacos-al-Pastor-242132?mbid=ipapp. I marinated the meat for a full day, which I'd recommend. Holy cow! Just the SMELL of this marinade may set you over the moon. You KNOW they're going to be great when you whirr it all up in the blender, take off the lid and inhale. Y-U-M!

One or two notes: I bought a packet of dried guajillo chiles and used our spice grinder (retired coffee grinder) to make them into powder. It worked simply and perfectly.

This marinade is AWESOME and could be used by itself on pork. I'm already considering it for ribs next time... but then, why not make tacos.

The weakest link of these was the tortillas. I picked up some corn tortillas from Whole Foods, but next time I might try making my own. I know that my sister has done it. (In fact, Melissa, if you're reading this and if you decided that vegitarianism isn't your thing anymore, Veronica and I have already discussed making them for you if you'll make the tortillas). :)

Oh, we skipped the raw onions. Neither Veronica not I are huge fans of raw onion, but they put them on at the market and I think I'd consider them for next time. They do add a nice bit of freshness and a tiny bit of bite.

We used Frontera Grill chipotle salsa which I'd highly recommend... for this recipe for for general use as well.

Enjoy these! They're the perfect balance of spicy (the chiles) and sweet (the pineapple) and sour (the lime). We've got leftovers in our fridge. I can't wait for dinner tomorrow night!

Turkey Pot Pie

Well it is a week after Thanksgiving and I still have some smoked turkey. I have been craving pot pie (the kind with puff pastry crust), looked around and found this one.....it is great!!!! I used celery instead of green beans, and made one big pie instead of individual ones. You should try this, it is delicious.

Makes 4 servings

5 applewood-smoked bacon slices
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
12 ounces peeled whole baby carrots (about 2 1/2 cups)
1 8-ounce package trimmed haricots verts or other slender green beans, halved crosswise
(3 stalks of celery chopped)
4 teaspoons chopped fresh marjoram
1 3/4 cups low-salt chicken broth
2/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon crème fraîche
3 cups coarsely shredded chicken from 1 small purchased roasted chicken (skin removed)
1 sheet frozen puff pastry (half of 17.3-ounce package), thawed

Preheat oven to 450F. Cook bacon in heavy large skillet over medium heat until crisp. Drain on paper towels. Chop bacon. Add onion to drippings in skillet; sauté until tender and golden, about 8 minutes. Add next 3 ingredients; stir 1 minute. Add broth; bring to boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium high and boil until vegetables are almost tender and some liquid is reduced, about 8 minutes. Stir in 2/3 cup crème fraîche, chicken, and bacon. Bring to simmer. Season with pepper. Divide among four 2-cup soufflé dishes.

Unfold puff pastry onto work surface; roll out to 12-inch square. Cut into 4 equal squares. Top filling in soufflé dishes with pastry; fold edges down onto rims of dish. Brush top of crusts (not edges) with remaining 1 tablespoon crème fraîche. Cut small X in center of crusts; pierce all over with fork. Bake until crusts are golden brown and filling is heated through, about 22 minutes.
Test-Kitchen Tip: You can also make one large pot pie. Place the filling in a 9-inch-diameter deep-dish pie dish. Set the 12-inch pastry square over the filling, then fold down the edges onto the rim. Baking time will still be about 22 minutes.

Note: The sauce is runny after making the recipe I saw the comments and many people used potatoes in the pie which helped thicken the sauce. Others added equal parts butter and flour to help thicken (about 1 tablespoon of each).

Braised Ribs (roast) with Spicy Adobo

The other week Jason (who LOVES spicy food) made some pimenton. So now we have a 32 oz. jar of pimenton and I was wondering how in the world we were going to use it all. I looked and saw this recipe.



Braised Ribs with Spicy Adobo
(Caribbean)


Makes: 4 servings
Time: At least 1 1/2 hours


3-4 pounds spareribs, more or less, separated into individual ribs (I used a roast)
Salt and black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 medium onion, peeled and quartered (I chopped it since Jason like it that way)
2 teaspoons fresh oregano or marjoram leaves
1 tablespoon pimenton
2 cups chopped tomatoes with their liquid (canned are fine)
1 tablespoon wine vinegar

1. Place a large deep skillet with a lid over medium-high heat and add the ribs, (roast). Cook, turning as necessary and sprinkling with salt and pepper, until they are well browned, at least 10 minutes. Transfer to a plate.


2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Turn the heat under the pan to medium and add garlic, onion, oregano, more salt and pepper, and pimenton. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is well softened, about 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes and vinegar and cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes begin to soften, 5 to 10 minutes. Add the ribs, cover, and put the pan in the oven.

3. Cook until the ribs are tender and just about falling from the bone, an hour or more. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days; reheat gently before serving.