Lasagna, non frozen.

I seem to have lost my muse. So I will just paste a recipe that a friend gave me. I love lasagna and this recipe is for a quick cheese lasagna, no meat. Want to add something to it? Go right ahead and add your favorite meat, I like italian sausage. Vegetarian? Add some spinach, tomatoes and peppers. Have fun.

Four cheese lasagna

INGREDIENTS

• 16 ounces uncooked lasagna noodles
• 1 (26 ounce) can spaghetti sauce
• 1 pound cottage cheese
• 8 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese
• 8 ounces shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
3. In a blender or with an electric mixer, blend tomato sauce and cottage cheese together until smooth*. Spoon a little of the sauce mixture in the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish. Place a layer of cooked noodles over the sauce, and sprinkle a portion of the mozzarella, the cheddar and the parmesan over the noodles. Repeat layering of sauce, noodles and cheese; finish with a cheese layer.
4. Bake in preheated oven 30 to 45 minutes, until cheese is bubbly and golden.

* I usually do not mix the cottage cheese(or ricotta) with the sauce like this recipe say but it works fine either way.

Enjoy

Currently listening to When a Guitar Plays the Blues by Roy Buchanan

Two Hearts Dream Delight

This is the winner of the dessert ideas from the “Dinner for a friend” post. A very special person created this one and let me help. It was fun to create. No fancy recipes here with measurements. Just get the ingredients listed below and have fun. Have fun and make this with someone you love! Oh, and I know, it is a lovey dovey sounding name for a dessert. But it has it’s logic. It is similar to another dish called “Strawberry Delight Dessert Pie”.

Strawberries, sliced
Raspberries, whole
Cool whip, strawberry flavored
Cool Whip, regular flavor
Angel food cake

Tear the angel food cake into bite size pieces
Spread a layer of the pieces into the bottom of the container you choose
Add a layer of strawberries and raspberries
Add a layer of strawberry whip cream
Now start over with the cake pieces
This time when adding whip cream, use the regular whip cream. Alternate the whip creams each time.
When you get to the top, smooth the whip cream and add a few strawberries and raspberries.

There it is, grab a special someone and have fun in the kitchen.

 

Perhaps some chocolate would be nice!

I have been thinking of desserts to go with the meal I talked about in the previous entry.

Dark Chocolate-Covered Strawberries
Ingredients
6 ounces Dark chocolate
3 tablespoons Half and half cream
1/2 tablespoon Unsalted butter
20 Large strawberries or 30 medium strawberries.

Preparation

In a one-quart glass bowl combine chocolate and cream. Heat in microwave oven on high 1 1/2 to 2 minutes, stirring occasionally, until smooth. Add butter and stir until melted.

Dip each strawberry into the chocolate mixture allowing the excess chocolate to drip back into the bowl. If necessary, add additional cream to the chocolate to achieve desired coating consistency. Transfer the coated strawberry to a baking sheet lined with foil or waxed paper and repeat process.

Allow the chocolate to cool and then chill the strawberries until chocolate is set, about 20 to 30 minutes.

From BBC Food -
“Chocolate, love and sex
Chocolate has long been associated with love. At one time, nuns were forbidden to eat it because of its sexual reputation. Casanova is believed to have thought of hot chocolate as the “elixir of love”. And in the 18th century, French doctors prescribed chocolate to women patients for a broken heart. Science may hold a clue - chocolate contains a substance called phenylethylamine, a naturally occurring chemical in the brain which promotes feelings of euphoria associated with being in love. It also contains a variety of other substances which may help create a feeling of well-being.”

Dinner, dessert and dancing.
The painting below is by RJ Hohimer. R.J. and his wife used to have a boat at the Fourwinds Resort and Marina when I worked there and I have always loved his paintings. This is one of my favorites, “Howling at the Juke Joint” .

Currently playing on iTunes, Fallin’ - Alicia Keys

Dinner for a friend?

I am looking for a recipe right now that makes one happy. Not because I am unhappy but I just feel like posting something happy. In the true sense of multi tasking I am also watching “Pans Labyrinth” or more specifically I am listening to it which puts me at a disadvantage since I am not very fluent in Spanish. It is a very visually exciting movie though. I peak over at the TV every once in awhile to check it out. I definitely need to watch it again when I can read the subtitles.

So how about a nice dinner. Would that make anybody out there happy. I think if I could, I would make a nice dinner for a friend right now. So hopefully she will see this and know that I am thinking of her and counting the days until I can make her a nice meal.

First we need a nice drink, I am thinking about something chocolate. This recipe was sent to me from a friend a couple of years ago and it is tasty. Hopefully my guest will enjoy the chocolate, while I freak out in the kitchen I may drink Tequila or Tattoo Rum

Chocolate Egg Cream
INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup chocolate syrup
1/2 cup cold milk
2/3 cup carbonated water, chilled
DIRECTIONS
Pour chocolate syrup into chilled large glass. Gently stir in milk. Holding the carbonated water about 5 inches from the top of the glass, slowly pour into the glass until a thick foam comes to the top of the glass.
Using a long swizzle stick, stir the mixture once quickly, make sure the foam does not bubble over the glass. Serve immediately.

So of course we now need an appetizer. I will have to make sure that eggplant is cool with the guest, I may have to do tomato bruschetta.

Eggplant Bruschetta
1 small eggplant, peeled, diced
1/4 cup red onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1/4 cup pimiento or roasted red peppers, chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
3-4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
fresh basil, julienned
dried oregano
salt
fresh ground pepper
baguette, sliced, toasted or crackers

Directions
Heat 1 tbs olive oil in skillet and sautee eggplant, onion, garlic & pimiento until eggplant is soft. let cool.
In a separate bowl combine olive oil, balsamic vinegar, oregano, basil
Once eggplant has cooled add to olive oil mixture and stir with spoon. salt and pepper to taste.
Serve on sliced and toasted baguette or crackers.

Main Course? Who doesn’t love pasta? Since there is an abundance of veggies at this time of year, I would like to try the following recipe. It looks like light enough for the hot weather we have had but still hearty enough to fill you up. I like to mix different colors of tortellini to make it exciting to look at, especially when adding in the different colored veggies.

Tortellini Toss
1 tb Olive oil
1 medium Onion, chopped
2 medium Zucchini, chopped
2 medium Yellow squash, chopped
1 medium Red bell pepper, chopped
2 c Mushrooms, sliced
2 clove Garlic, minced
Salt & pepper to taste
1/4 ts Oregano
1 lb Cooked cheese tortellini
1/4 c Grated parmesan cheese
Heat olive oil in a large pan over high heat.
Add zucchini, onion squash and bell pepper
Stir in mushroom, garlic, oregano and salt & pepper
Cook and stir for 7 minutes or until vegetables are tender but still crisp
Toss with the tortellini and add parmesan cheese

Tasty side
Provincial Tomatoes
INGREDIENTS
2 large tomatoes, cut into 1/4 inch slices
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon olive oil, or as needed
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup grated Asiago cheese
1/4 cup dry bread crumbs
2 tablespoons dried parsley
DIRECTIONS
Preheat your oven’s broiler.
Place tomato slices in a single layer on a baking sheet or in a baking dish, season with a little salt and pepper, and drizzle with olive oil. Mix together the Parmesan cheese, Asiago cheese, bread crumbs and parsley; sprinkle over the tomato slices. Drizzle a little bit more olive oil over the top.
Broil for 5 minutes, or until the top is golden and toasty.

Now it is time for dessert and I leave that up to my many readers(I think I have 4 now ) to give me suggestions for a fun dessert. If you have a recipe, great. If not, tell me your idea and I will either find one or experiment until I figure it out. I can’t decide on one so please help me.

How do I make…

Have you ever eaten at a restaurant and thought “I wish I knew how to make that”? Of course you have. just this past Saturday I had a great bowl of soup at Opie’s, Shrimp and Corn Chowder. Although I love Opie’s and work nearby, I thought it would be nice to have this soup at home. So I searched and found what looks to be a comparable recipe. I will share it below.

But what about those times the recipe is a signature dish and the restaurant is mum on the ingredients? There is a great web site that has restaurant recipes. CopyKat Recipes offers famous restaurant recipes and options to buy cook books. Top Secret Recipes has free recipe and recipes you must pay for, but CopyKat has free recipes. Obviously I prefer CopyKat. So when you feel like trying to recreate that great dish you had at a restaurant, check out one of these sites.

And now for the Shrimp Corn Chowder. I did not get this recipe from the great people at Opie’s, I found this one at recipezaar.com.

Shrimp & Corn Chowder Recipe

6-8 servings
30 min 15 min prep
1/4 cup green onions, chopped
1 large garlic clove, minced
1/8 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon real butter, melted
2 (10 1/2 ounce) cans campbell’s cream of potato soup
1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
2 cups approx. whole milk (1 1/2 soup cans)
1 (14 1/2 ounce) can golden whole kernel corn, undrained
2 cups frozen cleaned raw shrimp
1/8 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped
1 dash frank’s hot sauce
1/8 teaspoon salt pepper, to taste
grated parmesan cheese, for garnish
In saucepan, cook onions, garlic, parsley and cayenne pepper in melted butter until tender.
Add soup, cream cheese and milk and mix thoroughly over heat until all lumps are gone.
Add shrimp and corn. Season with salt and pepper and stir.
Bring to a boil; Reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 10-12 minutes or until shrimp are pink and done. (Not overdone.) Stir occasionally.
Garnish with grated, fresh parmesan cheese.

Enjoy

Boogie Breakfast!

Now before everyone starts emailing me and telling me that disco is dead, you need to calm down. I do not think there will be any Saturday Night Fever tunes playing while you eat!

2007 marks ABATE of Indiana’s 27^th Annual Boogie. The annual festival is expected to draw 13,000 bikers to the Lawrence County Recreational Park in Springville, Indiana.

But aside from that, it is also a time to help out the Grace Center Food Pantry. “Boogie Breakfast” will feature homemade biscuits and sausage gravy served by volunteers at the Harrodsburg Community Center. So, if you are looking for a good breakfast and want to support a great local organization then come out and to the Boogie Breakfast and have a little fun. Tattoos are optional!

Kitchen Gadgets

I am a kitchen gadget junkie. I admit it. If it looks s useful and cool, I find myself buying it. I have a couple of different ice cream machines, and lots of cool little whiz bangs to help me cook. I had to buy a zester even though I know I could get the lemon zest without a specialized tool. I have a set of those cool checkerboard cake making pans I have only used once. I have a thing that looks like a grilled cheese maker but instead is to make little pies.

My favorite and most used gadget is the Egg and Muffin Toaster, I like this thing so much I have bought it as gifts for other people. I went to the store to buy a new toaster when I found this fancy machine. It has regular toast slots but it also has a little pot on the front and extra buttons on the side. The little pot at the front can be used to steam poach eggs, steam scramble eggs or make a mini omelet. In addition you can also to warm up bacon, sausage, ham etc. while you are cooking the eggs. The coolest part in case you want to make your own Egg Mcmuffin, is that the buttons on the side allow you to time the whole production so that when your muffin pops up, your eggs are done.

It is just a neat and quick way to make poached eggs, hard boil eggs, or make an entire breakfast sandwich in an easy and less mess way. If you eat this type of stuff for breakfast and want a fun cooking toy, give this thing a try.

Visit the web page for a movies and better pictures.

http://www.eggandmuffintoaster.com/

Too hot for the Oven?

How about some no bake cookies? These are easy to make and everyone loves them. I made some tonight to take to work tomorrow and I am sure I will not be bringing any home. Try the recipe below or visit Allrecipes.com through the link for more recipes.

Chocolate Peanut-Butter No Bake Cookies

2 cups sugar
4 tablespoons cocoa
1 stick butter
1/2 cup milk
1 cup peanut butter
1 tablespoon vanilla
3 cups oatmeal
Wax paper

In a saucepan bring to a boil, the sugar, cocoa, butter and milk. Let boil for 1 minute then add peanut butter, vanilla and oatmeal. On a sheet of waxed paper, drop mixture by the teaspoonfuls, until cooled and hardened.

Downtown Bloomington Restaurants

Thanks for the emails, sorry it has been awhile, I have been kind of busy. Someone suggested downtown restaurants as a subject so here goes.

I eat downtown quite a bit so I have a pretty good routine down on where to go. I have also managed to find quite a few good deals.

Opie Taylors – Burgers for $4.00 on Mondays, great burgers and I have always had good service. Located across from the Courthouse on Walnut Street.

El Norteno – They have lunch specials every day, usually a few to choose from for $5.75. The food has always been really good every time I have eaten there. They have a really well done web page as well. Located on Walnut Street in the old Princess Theater between 6^th and 7^th streets.

Village Deli – On Tuesdays they have a sandwich that is not on the menu but listed on the board, the Sir Vegalot. Lots of veggies and super tasty. After you eat here, stop by the Monroe County Library Friends of the Library Bookstore and buy a recipe book. They are open: Tuesdays, 9 a.m. - 7 p.m. Thursdays, noon - 7 p.m. Saturdays, noon - 5 p.m. Located on Kirkwood Avenue about a block from the library.

Kilroys Sports – It has been a month or 2 since I went there because they were giving some terrible service so we put them on probation. It was a shame because on Wednesdays they have ½ price food. The fish sandwich is really good. I especially like the Jerk Chicken Quesadilla. Hopefully they have hired more wait staff. Call your order in ahead and you will be better off. Located on Walnut Street

Bloomington Sandwich Company – I think they have the best Reuben in town. I also love the Muffaletta. Attention all City and County workers, show your name badge and they will give you 10% off! Located on College Avenoue across from the Courthouse

Dat’s – Formerly Yat’s, this place is awesome. The guys that work there are super friendly and will give you a sample if your are curious. I like the Chili Cheese Etouffee or the Spinach-Mushroom Etouffee. Located on Grant between 3^rd and 4^th streets.

Max’s Place – this is a really fun place. There is always good music playing and the owner is about as nice as you can ever meet. It is turning out to be a pretty good nightspot as well. The favorite among my coworkers and myself is the Pietro’s Choice calizone. The pizzas and calizones are baked in brick ovens. Located on 7^th street between Walnut and College.

There are many more excellent restaurants located in downtown Bloomington, these are just a few that I visit with coworkers. Bloomingtononline.net has a lot of local restaurants listed in their directory and menus available for download.

Taste of Bloomington

One of my favorite events is coming up this weekend, the Taste of Bloomington. I hope the weather is nice for all of the visitors. I think that I have been at every Taste of Bloomington so I hope to make it to this one. There is always good food and good music. The waiter/waitress race is a fun event to watch. At the same time, the Arts Fair on the Square is going on. So head downtown and have a fun day!