'Made Man' Lasagna

WARNING: THE VIEWS EXPRESSED IN THIS EPISODE DO NOT REFLECT THE ABILITIES AND VIEWS OF Mrs. Mitchell. We now return you to your regularly scheduled post.

Hello readers! Mr. Mitchell here to give you a taste of something I have had since I switched over to solid foods.

Ok, maybe a little afterward.

Mom's lasagna was always a favorite. I have no idea where she got the recipe, but it was passed down to me and during college it was a reliable and solid, though time consuming, meal. And then, like Meg and I do with everything, I took the spirit of the recipe and did magical things with it. It is now an even more time consuming recipe, but completely worth it. Expect to spend 60-90 minutes prep, minimum 2 hours rest, 45 minutes cooking and 10 minutes cooling time. This is a great dish for dinner parties or other gatherings as this recipe should make 12 respectable sized servings, however without side dishes cut that number to 6-8. Don't have 11 of your closest friends coming over? (invite us over?) Don't worry, as fantastic as this meal is fresh, it is even better the next day...and the next.... and so on and so forth. I will even give my permission to reheat in the microwave, just don't obliterate it.

Lets be honest, folks. The most important factor in great food is great ingredients. Fresh herbs will always be better than dried, etc, etc. So the biggest changes from Mom's lasagna are based on fresher ingredients, healthier choices, and GARLIC!!! What? You didn't think I'd be allowed to commandeer the blog without gratuitous amounts of garlic did you? Ha! Don't be surprised if someday you see a post on here about her getting a tattoo of a bulb of garlic. Srlsy.

"You want me to put that WHERE?"

Ingredients*:
Meat Sauce:
2 lbs 97 or 99% fat free Ground Turkey
4-5 Cloves of Garlic
1 tbs Crushed Red Pepper
2 tbs mixed fresh chopped herbs: basil, oregano, and Italian parsley.
36 oz Your Favorite Spaghetti Sauce (We're Newman's Own people)
1 small-medium onion
3-4 oz diced mushrooms
Salt (minimum 2 tsp) and Pepper to taste

Ricotta Filling:
15 oz Ricotta
1/2 c Fresh grated Parmesan Cheese
1 egg
2 tbs fresh chopped Italian parsley
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Additionally:
6 Whole Wheat Lasagna noodles
4 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese
Grated Parmesan and Chopped Italian Parsley

*Please note, all measurements of herbs are guestimated, and will be further discussed below.

Obligatory ingredient shot.

Part of this dish is timing, it has three separate prepared components that must come together in symphony. The meat sauce is the most complex and time consuming, so let's start there. Begin by dicing the onion and sweat it with some oil in a small skillet.

Mmm sweaty.

Meanwhile, wash and dice your mushrooms. As the onions become translucent and aromatic, add the mushrooms and a bit more oil and sauté the mixture.

In your largest skillet/wok put the ground turkey on med-high heat. Dice all of that wonderful garlic and herbs.

Now smell your hands. Mmmmmm....

Add to the turkey with the crushed red pepper and salt.

Mix and brown the turkey. Drain off any grease with paper towels during cooking and then strain with a colander when done. If you are a big spender and go for the 99% ground turkey you will most likely be able to skip this step.


Combine the onion-mushroom mixture and spaghetti sauce with the cooked turkey. Mix and simmer.

After a few minutes of simmering, taste mixture. Good, eh? Ok so what does it need? You should find a rewarding and explosive menagerie of flavors, sweetness from the turkey and tomato sauce, spice from the red pepper, umami from the mushrooms, full flavor from the herbs and of course, the garlic should stand out. So if you are unable to detect all of these flavors, start adding things. Make sure there is sufficient salt to bring out all of the flavors in the first place. Too sweet? Add salt, pepper and/or red pepper. Too strong onion flavor? Let it simmer more, it should absorb the flavors of the sauce. Too strong garlic flavor? TRICK QUESTION THERE CAN NEVER BE TOO MUCH GARLIC! Add more garlic anyway. The meat sauce should be delicious and able to stand alone flavor wise. If you aren't seriously considering grabbing a soup bowl and a spoon, then you are missing something. Fans of the site would be wise to consider this meat sauce as a filling for the dumplings. But you don't have any to spare today, you have a lasagna craving to satisfy!

At some point between simmering, tasting, and adding more garlic, get a mixing bowl and begin preparing the ricotta mixture.

Step one. Put all ingredients in bowl.

Step two. Mix.

Set aside.

As the meat sauce is coming together, turn heat down to low. Boil your lasagna noodles. And, class, what is the important part of boiling noodles? That's right, little Timmy, copious amounts of salt in the water. We are looking for flavor in the noodles, not just carbs for tomorrows marathon (right?). When it comes to done-ness of your noodles, al dente is of course desired, but when in doubt slightly overdone will be better than underdone because there is enough time for the noodles to dry out between cooking and combining with the other parties, and that is not good eats.

So its looking like we are ready to assemble the dish now. Checklist: meat sauce, noodles, ricotta mixture, and mozzarella cheese. Ok lets do this.

In a lightly greased 9x13 glass casserole dish, lay down 3 lasagna noodles like so.

Now place 1/2 of the ricotta mixture atop the noodles and spread evenly.

2 cups of mozzarella cheese.

1/2 of the meat sauce.

And repeat...

Yeah...

Ok, looking good....

Molto bella!

Top with a dusting of grated Parmesan cheese because... well you really don't need a reason do you.

Cover and rest for at least two hours. I know. Its hard. So very, very hard. But you must! When you have components such as these coming together they must have time to socialize and mingle! I like to refrigerate as long as I can. Today I did the prep work by noon and gave the dish 7 hours to get friendly and come together as one amazing meal.

Do it...

After said waiting period, cook at 375 covered with foil for 35 minutes, remove foil, and cook for an additional 10. If you unwisely choose to not cover with foil, reduce cooking temp to 350 max and cook for 35-40 minutes, but I really don't suggest it. Of course, times vary with altitude and oven and cookware blah blah blah. Point is, this is just to get everything to a nice hot temperature. All of the meat is cooked, so its no longer a safety issue. (If you think one raw-ish egg over 12 servings is an issue, you clearly have your own problems) Once thoroughly heated, remove from oven, place foil back on dish and give it a few minutes to rest. I have increased the meat-to-sauce ratio, and cut down on fat content of the meat, but there was once a "soupy" problem with this recipe and resting helps the meat and noodles absorb any delicious, yet unrefined juices. Chop up a few sprigs of Italian Parsley, and garnish before digging in.

And you will dig in....

Early...

And often...

I personally do not think this needs a side dish. However, bread seems to be required at all Italian meals. So bake you a french loaf 80% done, cut on the bias, lather one side of each slide with melted butter/oil and chop up (can you guess???) garlic and Italian parsley, maybe even rosemary and toast for 3 minutes or so on broil. Cabernet Savignon pairs excellently.

Actually this may have been better than the lasagna itself.

So the next time you need to make a good impression and pull out one hell of a dish, whip up this lasagna and thrill your friends and family. Works especially well with 'the family,' if you's guys know what I'm talking about.

Fugeddaboutit.

I hope you have enjoyed this guest blogging. I enjoy contributing to our meals on a nightly basis, I'm cool with being Robin to her Batman.

She married this.

Peach Blueberry Cobbler

I'm so sad that my precious blueberries are pretty much out of season.  I will now post my last fresh blueberry recipe from this season in their honor.  Sorry it wasn't sooner.  Josh took his laptop from me because his work laptop crapped out and I've been too lazy to transfer all my food pics to our desktop.  He's also been working more and since I despise cooking for one, I haven't been trying many new recipes.  That, and the fact that it still hurts to eat solid food really deters me from making fun new food.  

This one is from a blogger called Smitten Kitchen.  I like some of her stuff but she uses an awful lot of veggies and I just don't know if I'm there yet.  I do take notice of her fruit recipes, though and I was very pleased with how this one turned out.   

To start, mix the fruit filling and put it in an oven-safe dish:
1 1/2 (about 4 cups) pounds peaches, peeled, pitted, and cut into slices
1 pint blueberries, rinsed and dried
2/3 cup packed dark-brown sugar
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt

Then mix the biscuit topping:
3/4 cup (3 1/4 ounces) all-purpose flour
1/4 cup fine stone-ground cornmeal
3 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tbs cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/2 cup buttermilk

Stir together the flour, cornmeal, brown sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut the butter into the dry mixture with a food processor until pea-sized butter pieces form. Stir in buttermilk with a rubber spatula until a wet, tacky dough comes together.

Plop spoonfuls of the biscuit dough over the filling.  Bake at 425 degrees for 20-25 minutes until the filling is bubbly and the biscuit topping is browned.

Let cool slightly and scoop it into bowls. Top with whipped cream, vanilla ice cream, whatever naughty things you have hanging around that would taste good on a cobbler.

I cut into it too early so it was a bit runny.  This can all be fixed with some well-placed ice cream to mix with and scoop up the excess.  It can also be fixed by keeping your grubby paws off the thing for just a few more minutes but I just couldn't do it.  It smelled so good.  The cornmeal, the peaches, the blueberries...it was all too much and I had to dig in.

Chinese Five-Spice Octopus

Since I'm still barely able to open my mouth, let alone chew, after my wisdom teeth surgery on Friday, I haven't been eating anything very interesting lately.  Miso soup is good for a sore mouth since everything in it is soft and easy to ingest so that's what I've been having this week.

I made this Food & Wine Five-Spice Octopus not too long ago.  I was so fed up with the lack of decent seafood in East Texas that when we went back to Atlanta recently, we paid a nostalgic visit to our old farmer's market to get some items we can't find around here.  It has the most amazing seafood section.  I wanted to hug one of the fish counter workers but I resisted.  It just felt so right to ask Josh, "Do we want just tentacles? Squid? Cuttlefish? Baby octopus?" instead of "Chicken or whitefish?".  Why don't Texans eat fish?!  I don't care anymore.  We sucked it up and drove the 100 miles to Dallas last weekend and found a nice Asian market so at least I have SOMEWHERE to get what I need to feed my Asian food addiction.

4 servings:
1/2 tsp Chinese five-spice powder
salt
vegetable oil, for frying
2 large eggs
Equal parts panko and flour, for the breading
1 lb cleaned squid or baby octopus, bodies cut into
    1/2” rings, tentacles halved
fresh ground pepper
1 tsp olive oil
2 scallions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbs minced red onion
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
lime wedges, for serving

In a small bowl, combine the five-spice powder with 1 tsp salt.

Mmm, octopus.  They look so different raw and whole.  A bit gross to those who aren't adventurous eaters.  Now suck it up and slice the bodies into 1/2" rings and the legs in half.  Sometimes you might be able to find pre-sliced cephalopod molluscs but like I say, that's one more set of hands touching my food so if I can do it myself, I will.

In a large saucepan, heat 1” of vegetable oil to 350°.  In a shallow bowl, beat the eggs.  Spread the cornstarch and panko in another shallow bowl.  You may need to refill the panko/cornstarch mixture sometime in the middle so just start with 1/2c of each and go from there.  Working in small batches, dip the squid in the egg and shake off the excess.  Dredge the squid in cornstarch/panko  and shake off the excess.  Add the squid to the oil and fry until golden and crisp, about a minute.  Only have about 10 pieces in the oil at any one time so that the oil temperature doesn't drop too much.  Transfer the squid to a baking sheet lined with paper towels and season with salt and pepper.

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil and add the scallions, garlic, onion and jalapeno.  Stir fry until fragrant, about 2 min.

Add the squid and stir fry until just heated through.  Sprinkle with the five-spice mixture, garnish with the lime wedges, and serve right away.            

   
I love octopus.  I love it even more when it's fried. The best calamari I've ever had was at a Thai place called Nan in Atlanta.  I haven't had it for a good long while since moving away so I was really pleased with how this recipe turned out.

Craft Day: Cold Compress for Your Face

It's Craft Day here on the Mrs. Mitchell blog!  In honor of getting 4 impacted wisdom teeth pulled Friday, I'm going to show you how to rig a cold compress for your face when your oral surgeon doesn't give you one, but instead operates and kicks you out as fast as they can (for those of you who aren't children of a parent in the dental profession like me, "impacted" means the teeth are still under bone but steadily growing and threatening to ruin thousands of dollars in orthodontia).

Start with your poor swollen face that makes you look like you've been hitting the Twinkies waaaaay too hard.

Acquire 2 elastic headbands, 2 bags of ice or small cold packs, and a clean dish towel.

Arrange the ice packs about 4 inches apart on the towel and fold over.

If you have long hair like me, put it in a high ponytail.  This keeps the headbands from slipping down the back of your head.  Then, preferably with help from your smartass spouse who keeps calling you a chipmunk, slip the ice packs between your cheeks and headbands.  Adjust each headband to press the ice to your face in the most comfortable spots.  Only use ice for the first 24 hours no matter how soothing it is.  Use heat after that.

Warning:  Do not leave the house with this creation on your face.  You will draw pitying stares from adults and terrified cries from small children.

Good thing to come from this ordeal:  I have renewed vigor in starting a regular exercise regimen now that I have seen what my face would look like plus 50lbs.

The prescription pain medication I was given did absolutely nothing for me all of Friday.  It wasn't my mouth that hurt where 4 large teeth had been forcibly removed.  It was my sinuses and cheeks that kept me from sleeping.  I was finally fed up at 5am Saturday morning and took some of my trusty Excedrin Migraine that always takes away any and all pain.  It worked and I was elated that I was actually going to be able to function that day. 
Josh and I ended up going to town to run some errands and I left my hair down for once so that it could act as a curtain for my disfigured face.  Since it was Saturday and it actually crossed our minds to eat at Chikfila on a day other than Sunday, we grabbed lunch.  I was so sick of eating pudding and broth that I was determined to have chicken nuggets.  I know you're thinking my plan went awry and I ripped out all my stitched but no; I was able to take tiny bites and chew with my incisors so that I could swallow the delicious solid food.  Of course, this meant taking bites that made me look even more like a chipmunk stuffing its cheeks, which just made Josh laugh more.  I told him he's in trouble the next time he's sick or injured. 
Nah, it was ok.  We were both laughing at me.  As long as I wasn't in pain, I could laugh at how cartoonish I looked.  I said I looked like a pale Snooki without a bump-it.  He said he loved me and I was still beautiful.  Then he laughed at me some more.

I can't believe how terrible a reaction I had to the surgery.  When Josh had his 4 teeth removed, he had no pain, no swelling, and he didn't even fill the prescription for the pain medication.  He'll even admit that he's a "whiny bitch" when it comes to being sick or hurt so that's really saying something (I'm just chalking it up to the fact that his teeth weren't impacted).  I'm just dreading the fact that my post-op papers say that the swelling will be the worst 72 hours after surgery...right about the time I go back to work.  I work at a local bakery decorating cakes so I'm just going to beg to stay in the back and not talk to anyone so I don't have to scare any children.  (I know my face may not look terrible up there but it's gotten worse since that was taken Saturday morning) 

Summer Vegetable Casserole

I generally hate zucchini.  It has a weird, mushy texture no matter how you cook it and I've always hated it...until Josh's dad's partner made this for us.  I love this casserole.  If I can find a recipe that will make me eat a vegetable I normally dislike, I'll make it often.  In true Meg style though, I added some jalapenos to give it a little extra kick.  The recipe is fine without them, just a little boring and might not give you heartburn.  Your choice.

4 servings:
1 tbs olive oil
3 medium zucchini, washed and sliced into 1/8" disks
2 medium onions, diced
1/2 tsp fresh thyme
2 jalapenos, seeded and diced
salt
2-10oz cans of Rotel diced tomatoes/green chiles
fresh grated Romano cheese

Saute the onions and jalapenos in the olive oil until the onions are soft and translucent.  Add the thyme and season with a pinch of salt.

Spray a 9x9 baking dish with oil and make a layer with half the zucchini slices.

Make another even layer of half the onion/jalapeno mixture.

Drain one can of the Rotel and make an even third layer.

Repeat the three layers once more and top the whole thing with a thin layer of cheese.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until the zucchini is tender and the cheese is melted.

So fresh, so healthy, so yummy.  I'm elated that I've found a way that zucchini and I can be in the same room together after all these years.  It's very unlike me to use previously prepared vegetables in my cooking but the Rotel is so yummy.  I might try chopping my own tomatoes next time and playing with seasonings but for now, I'll just be lazy and do it the quick way.

Blueberry Pie

Mmmm, nothing says summer like blueberry pie.  I actually made this over 4th of July weekend but I've been busy getting a job and constantly cleaning up dog hair and washing oil out of Josh's coveralls so I'm just posting it now.  You'll forgive me.  

I loooove my mommy's blueberry pie.  It has even served as my birthday cake a couple years.  That and coffee cake.

Anyway, Josh, his dad, his dad's partner, and I went to pick blueberries the day I made the pie.  They told me they'd do it if I made something naughty and yummy so I gladly obliged.

For an 8 or 9 inch pie crust:

2 cups of flour

1 tsp of salt

1 tsp of sugar

2/3 cup of shortening

4 to 5 Tbs of cold water

Blueberry filling:

1/3 cup of sugar

1/3 cup of flour

1/2 tsp of cinnamon

4 cups of blueberries

1 Tbs of lemon juice

2 Tbs of butter or margarine

Pulse the crust ingredients in a food processor until pea-sized balls form.  The humidity in your house can affect how much water you need so start with 3 tablespoons and add as needed.

  

In a bowl, mix the blueberries (preferably fresh but if not, then thawed, rinsed, and dried.) with the sugar, flour, and cinnamon.

Toss to coat evenly.

Meanwhile, flour a rolling mat and roll out half the dough until it's just a little bigger than your pie pan, about 1/8" thick.  Gently put it in the pie pan and trim the edges.

Add the blueberries...

...and drizzle the lemon juice on top.  Cut the 2 tbs of margarine into small pieces and put it on top of the filling.

 Roll out the other half of the dough just like the first.  Fold it into fourths, cut off the tip, and score the edges.

Unfold the top onto the bottom half of the pie and crimp the edges with your fingers or a fork.

Brush the top with milk and sprinkle with a little cinnamon sugar.

Bake at 375 degrees for an hour.  As the time draws near, check it and take it out when the crust is golden brown.

Let the pie rest for about 30 minutes so that the inside can reconstitute and not run all over when you cut it.  I know it's tough, but it's worth it in the end.

This is such a delicious crust.  I love pie crust like I love pizza crust.  It just all builds on each other to make a great dish.  Pie brings back memories for lots of people.  Like pancakes or bran muffins, blueberry pie feels like home to me.  It's something my mommy made so between the memories and the taste, this is one of my favorite dishes.